BigStar

You can get a new (used) AM3+ motherboard from Aliexpress cheaply. My spare computer runs an FX-8350; good 'nuff, so if the old Gigabyte M/B died, I'd just replace it.

And given that the feeling would be mutual, staying away works best for you and the Patts economy.

Very true. You've no doubt heard the old saying that "you can take the Brit out of the council estate, but you can't take the council estate out of the Brit." A lot of it, but, with some notable exceptions, it seems to emanate from a particular nationality. An Australian joke you may not have heard: Q: How can you tell when a jet landing in Australia is from England? A: When the engines are turned off the whining continues. So you can safely ignore the vast majority of complaints. OK, maybe you won't like that haircut you got for B60, but there are plenty of other barbers. You're agile enough to dodge the occasional misplaced paving stone.????Think: local Third World charm. Personally, if I go to a foreign country, I like it to be foreign. The "show stoppers" our professional whingers always bring up mostly have nothing to do with themselves. Like, their critical plans to sun themselves on the beach in the rain during low season were intolerably disrupted by one of those occasional afternoon FLOODS! Their fave hangout, the Bali Hai pier, isn't sufficiently beautified for their delicate sensibilities. The distinctively dystopian modernist Waterfront sculpture is offending them all the way in New Zealand! The only one of any personal relevance might be the lack of seating on the newer Promenade. In the good ole days our mongers could drink Changs from a 7/11 and chat w/ a lot of ho's w/o buying them a drink and maybe arrange a short-time, no bar fine. That's what it all comes down to. So, the Authorities ended most of that, a scene disgusting to normal tourists and hostile for normal women; now more people enjoy the Promenade than ever before. True, the aesthetics were better before, but time moves on. Roll with it.

Sheryl earlier explained the difference between the old age benefit contributions and the medical cover: I signed up to continue medical cover. I took the old age benefit as a lump sum. My continuing w/ the medical had no effect on the amount paid for the old age benefit. I got no brochure explaining anything. HR took care of it all. If there were a brochure at that time, it would likely be in Thai and given out to Thais. HR showed me the list of hospitals from which to choose, in Thai, but I simply asked for Sirikit, as it's good and not so far away from my residence. I'd say the total of my medical contributions over the years more than covers the amount they've so far paid out. But that will surely change at some point.

Taking out and putting back is a little something, but best clean the contacts while the components are out. Pencil eraser, classic. I'd spray a little contact cleaner into the ports before connecting back. Disconnect the video card when you disconnect the RAM etc. Also clean the contacts before reconnecting.

But as you've called attention to your impressive awareness of stereotypical vids about Pattaya's famous red light district, you may watch those to your heart's content, as may the OP.???? Personally, having lived here for decades, I find those videos quite boring, esp. the idiot commentary over them.

Sure. When I said "sweet side," were you perhaps thinking "cunnilingus?" Anybody don't know that? And so I chose a vid avoiding exactly those. I don't see your problem.

Great idea. Pattaya has something for everyone, very diverse area. Quiet suburbs, beach, small Thai town (Naklua, Banglmung), Thai Riviera, nightlife (or not), fleabag rooms to penthouses. Extremely convenient--not just for buying Branston Pickle and the like but for restos, medical care, transportation, golf and other resorts, proximity to airports and Bangkok, visa services, etc. Weather's a bit better here than in other parts of Thailand. Inflation is worldwide, but Pattaya's prices will likely remain relatively cheap in competition with other resort areas. You wanna move out to the weeds, that's always an option. Here, for decades our trolls have always been proclaiming that everyone's leaving Pattaya and indeed Thailand. You may ignore those. Lot of sour grapes and revenge for imagined mistreatment. Most know little about greater Pattaya. Few wish to leave unless for financially relevant reasons such as for free medical care back home or free schooling for kids. Sometimes a Thai woman will persuade them to move upcountry to her village.???? A few get infected with the hellish brain-eating Whither Pattaya? Whither Thailand? space monkeys and troll until they finally win relief by leaving, with much noise & fanfare. Meanwhile, the vast majority moving here don't bother announcing it on the forum. Why would they? The vast majority contented with living here don't bother posting about it. Nobody in my building posts here. Anyway, if they did, our trolls would soon attack. So you'll need to live around in various areas and talk to people living here. Probably the cheaper rent you pay (or cheaper price you pay for a property) the greater the chance you'll run into malcontents. Having sufficient income and being able to afford more comfortable living conditions makes a big difference in one's attitude anywhere. Pattaya doesn't really offer that champagne lifestyle on a beer budget so many have sought in vain here; that's been a source of disappointment and whinging; but if you're adaptable, a beer budget will do.???? Here ya go: the sweet side of Pattaya:

Nowt but its taste. How about just pouring half a shot of Red Cock white spirits into a glass of grape juice?

No, not at their registered hospital. I got a virtual CT colonoscopy a couple months ago free of charge.

Soy, of course.

Sour grapes ever present on the Pattaya forum. Enhances cred w/ the peanut gallery. too.

You feel all better after getting in that obligatory Pattaya bash? Time for cookies and milk?

True, we may surmise he's English and from the North.

When will they ever learn?

Maybe just the opposite. All that panting, tongues hanging out, and fawning seem so weak. It suggests how easily farang can be manipulated and later led around by the nose, as indeed they almost always are, here and esp. back home. Women don't find it particularly attractive. Thai men, more macho, more dominating in a society still patriarchal. A Thai saying all Thais know is about women being the "hind legs of the elephant."

Would it be to run in front of the cameras?

Recreation, with added beauty show to draw more interest. Good 'nuff; worked.

"Our" lads, with huge overhanging beer bellies? Merely spectators, I assume.

I'm seeing Russian hotties out on the beach and in beach restos in Pattaya again. Very, very nice. Spillover from Phuket?

Depends on whether you've got something else better to do, I suppose. If you plan to retire in Thailand, it would be worth it to teach a few years at an institution that will enroll you in Thai SS. When you leave the school, arrange to continue the (modest) payments. Then you can get continue to get free medical care and prescriptions for life.

Be sure the installer and related .exe programs aren't being blocked by the firewall.

This. Cancelled my cable subscription years ago. Convenient to watch while exercising at home, too.

Clint's last moments and death seem well-kept secrets indeed. You may want to sell that info to the celebrity sites and make a killing. Jack LaLanne's a good example.

Ah, just a Freudian slip. Your credit, rescinded. It's entirely your responsibility, not theirs, to perform your own prior due diligence whether what they're offering is worth your cash to you. Hence you can end your countless little whinges about how they're not doing, and didn't do, what you'd like. Yep, they don't owe you a d.a.mn thing. You think you can find that champagne on a beer budget you've always thought you should have, go find it and report back. Reminds me of a P. D. Mangan tweet the other day. There's nothing that gets people more upset than telling them that they might be responsible for their problems. He gets a lot of grief as a fitness trainer when he refuses to accept all the usual excuses. Anyway, works well for me. What I buy, I usually find more than worth paying for. I tend to appreciate the intrinsics as well. And I also receive quite a lot free of charge, 'cause I don't need to pay. It's an entirely different mindset, you see; it's perceived as such and rewarded. ???? And so they of course didn't and then took all your cash, since it's all you really had to offer. Therein we find a reason you're stuck shovelling dirt in NZ and longing to get back to Pattaya. Only karma, eh. I do my humble part, sustainably, without the usual Delusions of Farang Grandeur, along with the other expats who live here--while you merely point fingers from abroad accompanied by gratuitous well-seasoned Economic Advice. Moreover, Pattaya's doing pretty well considering the global devastation wrought by COVID. It's another crowded weekend, in fact. Having had my own walk on the beach, I may later head in for the Bikini Beach Run and a party afterwards. Now I dunno how many "people" will actually attend, so that may be a particular issue for you, but a lot of businesses will certainly benefit. Nor do you have the slightest evidence that any more tourists, including "people" looking to exploit impoverished girls, would be arriving even anyone paid attention to your whinges and redressed them. Before COVID, Pattaya had about 9 million international visitors, making it a top resort in SE Asia already. That, just doing what it does, same as it always has. It could do with far fewer tourists, actually. Your goal should be to shrink the economy back to the 1995 level.???? So the urgent need for "more" is mostly forum rhetoric for justifying posters' superior wisdom and bigotry. Nonetheless, the big money, paying no attention as usual to forum Economists--or perhaps using them as a reverse indicator--is planning for more, not less. Ironically, more of your people wouldn't be much attracted by all the improvements mandated by the members of the ace ANF Urban Planning Governance Board. That's cause their main problem is they're skint. Drop the THB to 100/GBPeso and then you'll see a flood.