kandahar

Sorry you've been sick, man. I am sure you will make a future potluck. I'll look forward to that one.

I have put some in my truck. You're good.

I know the little dog that jubby's girls fell for. It is a sweet little thing with a great personality. I'm not a guy who really thinks much of small dogs. I like the larger, slower, more thoughtful dogs. But if I had to have a small dog, that little dog is the one. It is smaller than typical of the breed. And, always in a good humor.

jubby, I am asking around for an answer to your question. I'll let you know if I find anything worth checking out.

You can find them in just about any place that sells the mustard.

I'll keep an eye on the bacon thread for you. Something may turn up there if it drifts into chatter about buns.

Mustard. The MOST important condiment out there. Asylums are full of people who don't like it. Others just waiting to get in.

I did it last night, my first try of SK patties.

No buns, just toasted sliced bread, bacon, plenty of cooked onions, cheddar cheese, a little chilli sauce and lots of lettuce.

And....................................???

All of this McD's talk did me in. I had to cook two of the big burger patties from our local Sausage King shop, pile grilled unions on top and make myself a decent burger dinner tonight. Perfect.

Tough crowd today.

The kangaroo crowd is just having their brand of fun.

Yeah, I see that.

Tough crowd today.

Woraphat is bringing the strawberries and whipped cream, as requested.

Now there's a guy who get his own facts. You're right. It is more like $73.00 a year, per capita. I typed wrong into the little calculator.

Still, not enough per year (not NEARLY enough) to be THE cause of obesity in the USA.

Yeah. He wouldn't put up this 90 day report thing we go through and the shopping at Mae Sai would bore him pretty quickly.

Interesting note (to me, anyway).

Total revenue for McDonald's worldwide in 2010 is approx. $22,700,000,000.00 (That's BILLION)

Total population of USA is approx. 310,000,000.

Divide population into total revenue and you get around $7.00. That would be seven dollars spent by every citizen of the USA on McDonald's per year. A lot of that revenue came from McD's operated in other countries. It also came from rents and licensing agreements. It came from a lot of other sources. So, food sales doesn't total up to the twenty two billion. It would be less, which would make the seven dollar figure less, per person. But at seven dollars per year spent per person in the USA, McD'd isn't making the people fat. Contributing in some cases, sure, but not primarily responsible. I know many people spend a lot each year at McD's. Others don't spend anything. Overall, McD's is just a tiny fraction of the problem.

It isn't McDonald's that is making people fat. It is a lifestyle in general. There are plenty of huge, fat people that cannot stomach McDonald's. It is the lifestyle. Most people in the US don't cook these days. Microwave meals are the way to go. Bags of chips and other snacks are the way to go. Anything that involves cooking is out. Vegetables are out. Too much work to make salad. Too much work to wash and steam veggies. Easy food is the way. True, McDonald's is easy food and not the healthiest. McD's ISN'T to blame for obesity. Until the figures can support the argument, it is an erroneous argument to put forward.

Now, the press loves a whipping boy and if one press organization crosses the line then all the rest follow.

There is no reason for us, as individuals get on the phony information bandwagon. Better to have your own opinions based on your own research.

The more modern the times, the lazier we get as a species. Closing all of the McD's in the world would not put a dent in the obesity rate. But nature has a way of fixing those things, doesn't it? Scary. Glad I'm this old. Maybe I'll pass before it happens.

I used to own several Wimpy Bar's in the UK pre-runner there for Mc, Patties, cooked on a griddle same as Mc if any of you had seen the FAT the collected in the drip tray's you would never eat another one, it used to be put in a one gallon "English" tin and disposed of every hour or so. By he end of the day it was a solid mass. That what go's inside you. Just another reason why the peep's in the US are so FAT and die of heart problem's. I wont go down the road of what sort of meat go's into them. Just plod along and DIE young. Enjoy.

Sounds like you were purchasing fat with a little meat mixed in. I hope you weren't charging meat prices to the customers.

I wonder if they will have the huge McDonald's Arch on the grounds in front. It seems very popular with the youthful couples these days to get their pictures taken standing under the arch of that big letter "M", kissing each other between the legs. Could become a real tourist thing.

Note to self: Watch your wording more carefully in the future.

:lol:

In one of the Ducati forums I frequent, I mentioned to a poster that there are some words that should not be placed in the same sentence.

He crapped himself when he realised what he had posted

Married with a 17YO DAUGHTER.....she wants to ride my Monster!

Yup

I'm kinda old but still enjoying.

To paraphrase you - your soft spot is your stomache: Hot Dogs if I remember correctly! Anyway I will be keeping my eye on you

The wife is joining if that helps?? Have already filled up the bike so we are ready to go.

Would love brekkie as we will not eat before leaving. Your Eggs Benedict (2 on english muffins), mushrooms sauteed in butter with garlic, the homemade hashbrowns and bacon sound wondeful expecially with freshly squeezed navel ornages and 2 Italian sized cups of imported expresso coffee, but I am unsure of our arrival time.

While we will leave home circa 0800 we are dropping off the house dog in CR for a day at the Spa so I am unsure what time we will get to your place.

Think of us while you are eating.

Okay. My wife worked out her indecision and she IS going.

Yes, I'm crazy about hot dogs, but not the poisoned ones. But keep an eye on me just in case.

Note to self: Watch your wording more carefully in the future.

I wonder if they will have the huge McDonald's Arch on the grounds in front. It seems very popular with the youthful couples these days to get their pictures taken standing under the arch of that big letter "M", kissing each other between the legs. Could become a real tourist thing.

If indeed you lost your dog, I am sorry to hear that. I have a soft spot for dogs.

The route, date and times are still on, no changes except, the wife may not be joining us.

There are food and drinks "in the vicinity" of the springs. Not sure if it is the same as all tourist hot springs sites. Dunno anything about those places. But Sven seems to be in the know about that area. We'll be fine.

Now, if you guys decide you need to show up here early, let me know. I have a recipe for a pretty good breakfast but I'll need some warning time.

If Don's place was open you could have stopped for breakfast there but hes closed on Sundays , he has some nice sausages

I'm lost on this one. Today isn't Sunday. At least at my house it isn't. I'll check with the guy across the street.

Pancakes and sausage at my house for breakfast this morning. Where are you? You've got about ten minutes left before your share gets eaten.

bad directions? I've heard they can cost you 10 minutes

Exactly!

I've mentioned McDonalds before and been flamed and then flamed again

Any way, I do like the McD's breakfast and a couple of observations: 1) Most of the customers are Thais; even the locals can have Big Mac attacks,; 2) I like thai food but sometimes when I see the rancid oil used, I'm thinking hmmmm, maybe McD's is actually healthier

I'm quite partial to a 'big breakfast' myself. Hopefully they'll being doing em. I can imagine a trip to town, a quick breckie and off on a Bike ride somewhere.

As for being healthy, I'm pretty sure they are all well-balanced meals in moderation. The coffee has medicinal affects on me too.

Let em flame away ...... MFCS Limeys

Pancakes and sausage at my house for breakfast this morning. Where are you? You've got about ten minutes left before your share gets eaten.

I knew I was going to get some disagreement over this.

Mosquito need water to breed, their larvae are aquatic. They'll happily breed in any ground water.

I agree that light attracts them, for the rest I can only go on my personal experience, I've lived in mosquito infested parts of the world all my life.

There's plenty seem to live at ground level, how else would you get bitten so often on the ankles?

Plenty of sources, just google.

Mossies can smell you for hundreds of yards and then home in on that smell. They are particularly attracted to the smell of your feet. Maybe that is why the ankles get it so often. I didn't Google that. It is something I learned years ago. But they do tend to "hang out" or congregate in lower areas. I see here that every day.

Second floor would be out of the question for me as I grow older. Facts of life dictate that sooner or later, I won't be up to climbing stairs and neither will she.

If you're in an area that suffers the 100 to 500 year floods, then two stories makes sense. The weather is getting more and more fickle as time goes on and it is just a matter of time. If you had the option of moving all of your stuff to the second floor and just hosing out the downstairs afterwards and moving back in, then you would be better off than those with one story. Having lost one home to a fire, one to a tornado and three to divorces, I'm not into setting myself up for such work. I wouldn't bother with living in a flood plain. And if you study the topography and the geology of this place, you see that indeed, there is a lot of this area that is flood plain. It has just been too long ago to remember.

Building a "typical" house in CR would be out of the question, too. Just too many empty houses, of every configuration, out there already and so many of them on offer for less than the cost of buying the land and constructing them. Too many broken hearts and broken dreams out there and the pieces are for sale cheap enough. I also can't imagine going through the hassle of building a typical Thai house. I suspect that would add ten years to me. I haven't the patience for the way things get done here and I don't need that much aggravation. This is an easy life. I wouldn't want to throw such a wrench into it now. Someone with a different personality would see it differently. However, I spent most of my life as a fighter and I'm ready to live differently now. I could see myself building a small, comfortable house in a style much different than typical Thai. It would be pretty easy to lay out the steel frame walls on a concrete slab, weld them up, stand them up, lock them together and apply Smartwood and insulation. Same with the rafters. Lay them out, weld them up and set them on top. Easy and quick. But they don't do things that way here. I do, but THEY don't. It would be easy to start a house and have it livable in four to five weeks and take your time finishing it out on the inside.

Speaking of rafters makes me think of typical Thai roofs. Who with sense wants a concrete roof sitting over themselves and their family? This is an earthquake area. Having 10 tons of little concrete plates looking for a place to go when the ground shakes isn't wise, in my mind. And have you seen how they weld the rafters together here? No joint plates; just a few gobs of weld here and there. So, the rafters WILL fail quickly, and more quickly than that, if they have all of that concrete sitting on top of them. There ARE other roofing materials available.

One story or two? One story, for all the right reasons. Want a view? Build on a hill top and enjoy the view and the breeze into old age.

Large or small? The smaller, the better. Upkeep, cleaning, initial cost and re-sale price all figure into that decision. I don't want my wife or I to have to work any harder than necessary to keep the place clean. We enjoy day to day life too much for that. Upkeep and maintenance use baht that we could use for something else, so, keep it small and spend less on upkeep. Resale- If the place is smaller, then it will be cheaper at sale time and therefore, be available to a much larger group of prospective buyers than the multi-million baht homes out there. If it has to sell, get it sold and go on with your life instead of being stuck with something for years, waiting for that "perfect" buyer to come along. Look around. The market is currently saturated with homes waiting for the "perfect" buyer and it stays saturated. Many of the houses on the market here today have been empty and for sale for five years or more. Aren't we all glad when it isn't us holding that property, not able to move on until we recoup that initial investment?

New construction or old? Old, if the house passes the value and safety test. New, if you can do it yourself or get a few guys together who can do it the way it should be done. Old, if you're planning on letting someone else build it, unless you don't mind the stress.

One big thought here, in my opinion, should always be, how much can you afford to lose? Bad things happen here. Spouses pass away. Farang really don't have much security here. For every bit of security provided by the laws, there are ways for others to get around that. With that in mind, the less invested, the more you have stored away somewhere else for future living. How much space and prestige do you need in a home? Different answer for different people. And certainly different answers for me, compared to how I would have thought through the same questions ten years ago. So, always try to think of what you would give for an answer ten years from now, or twenty. That is the correct answer.

Gonna build a new one? Let me know. It can be fairly easy, fairly inexpensive and if done correctly, be of greater resale value than the original cost of building. If I am still here, I would be happy to advise/oversee your little workforce on building a small structure for storing garden tools or to house a small workshop before you start building the house. You will see how quickly and less costly it can be over the traditional way of doing things here. And then, no matter which way you go, you'll already have a little building for maid's quarter's, storage, guest house or whatever you want to use it for on your place and that won't detract from the value when it is time for re-sale.

In my opinion, the original question is a big one. There are other things that figure into it that are just as important. But, for many of the reasons listed above, one story is the way to go.