GinBoy2

True and the policies vary massively by State I was bombarded with mail and phone calls trying to pitch products. I ended up actually talking to folks who had the 'products' Who knew getting old should be this hard

I just tried to check it out and as far as I can see expats repatriating have no special exemption from the standard enrollment period, so get sick and want to come home for treatment, that's a problem. On another note, I have part C, an Advantage policy, costs me an extra $64 a month but fills in the gaps and gives me drug, dental and vision. But the interesting thing is it also gives me emergency coverage overseas for $500K, rather handy when I'm in Thailand

Actually 'Spanish' flu originated in Kansas! The Spanish got an unfair rap for that The only reason it's called Spanish flu was that during WW1 Spain being neutral had an uncensored press and were reporting the epidemic, whereas other countries wartime press censorship suppressed the news

I kinda get that. I also eat because I know I need to eat, but not necessarily because i want too. There are many an evening when my wife is cooking and I know I like what she's cooking but I just don't have any appetite to eat. Very strange how our bodies change as we age I also think this phenomenon is mainly a male thing. I don't think women experience the same thing, as not all men experience it too

My recommendation without a doubt, Air Fryer We had a halogen years ago, but the air fryer is way better

The other thing that comes into my equation. I just aged into Medicare so I don't worry about healthcare, When we lived in Thailand full time insurance was already crazy expensive. Now I'm not sure that I could even get insurance at at any price Unlike many of you I do worry about health insurance and couldn't deal with the risk of 'self insure' which is a nonsense concept. That will bankrupt you in a couple of weeks if you get seriously ill. My Medicare Advantage covers me for our annual trip to Thailand so I'm good with that

Ok @frantick one last food thing before we revert to money. The Thai ladies here love Storming Crab at Rushmore Crossing, and I do too. Their fresh oysters are amazing. Of course my wife is tasked with providing the Thai chutney and chili sauce!

I like that, I'm gonna work on my job title before the next disaster. But for today focused on the fact I got a damn FAA audit today. I'm kinda feeling I'd prefer that parachuting into enemy territory thing!

Not sure if someone put a slide rule in my hands today I could actually remember what to do with it. The Texas Instruments Scientific Calculator transformed my college life back in the day. From the day I owned one never looked at a slide rule again

I get this. I'm 65, and I still live a pretty active physical life, at home and work But I really don't want to eat that much anymore. I basically eat one meal a day at dinner. I 'might' get a snack during the day, but thats rare For whatever reason, regardless of what we are doing, our bodies just slow down

Now I feel a little sad Never held a gun, no secret agent, no crypto genius. Just a regular retired old crusty, albeit working as an airline grunt in my latter days I just gotta get an alter ego to compete! I have no stories of parachuting in to enemy territory to heroically rescue fallen comrades. Best I can do is get someones lost bag to them! So sad lol

Awful to say, but 'hopefully' he's just hooked up with some Thai 'honey', obviously isn't going to share that with the girlfriend or his parents back hone!

So this is another slightly off topic, but may be humorous, sad or just downright dark. I've been IM's with @frantick before his move to Rapid, I wan't him come work for me at the airport. I was telling him a couple of days ago the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally(google it) generally ends up with us shipping out a few dead bodies. Literally within 10 hours of my message to him, sure as shi++++t I'm shipping out the first one in the morning on the first flight to Minneapolis Middle aged men, motorcycles, alcohol, no crash hats, and general mayhem is never a good combo for life expectancy

I think we have strayed from @frantick money question!

They are really nice people. I work for United and if I fly down for free, my wife will call ahead and they will have everything ready for me. The lady's name is Tim, and she'll have everything boxed up ready for me to head back to DIA

Yeah they have kapow. My wife grows it here, but as I'm sure you aware the growing season is short. They ship it in from California. Thai Basil, you can get that in Safeway Oh if you want spicy, that Philippino store I mentioned before, they stock Vietnamese chillies. I never thought I would hear this from my wife, but she calls them 'evil chillies' since they are so spicy

Without wanting to delve into the mind of Bob, or whatever AI bot he is, made me think a little. Me and Mrs G were discussing a couple of evenings ago maybe returning to Thailand. Then we got in to the hassles for me. In the US Mrs G is a Permanent Resident, soon to be citizen. No 90 day checks, no money in the bank, apart from the fact she can't vote she looks just like me. I just don't think I'm ready for all that hassle again. Just bring in something looking like when Thai spouses go to the West and maybe I'll think again.

Actually non existent. There is a Philippino store on E North St where you can get some stuff, at a price I might add! What we do is make a trip to Denver every couple of months where you can get everything. Lao Market on Federal Blvd in Westminster and GW in Aurora are our go to places. Couple of ice chests and load up the car. You can do it there and back in a day. We normally do an overnighter since my daughter and our son both live in Denver Let me put it this way. Unless we eat out my wife never eats farang food, which probably tells you everything!

Good choice. We live over in Chapel Valley If you have a Thai partner in tow we can hook her up with the local Thai ladies

Can't help you on the banking questions, but where are you headed?

You really haven't lived in Thailand log enough. How many versions of Pheu Thai have there been? This one where you roll your eyes and accept you are in Thailand

To add to absurdity of my previous post Literally my son and his friends spoke Lao up to the school gates then switched to Thai. Then bizarrely, my son and a few friends who also spoke English, mostly lukungs, would congregate and talk away from the language police

Well it's one of the weird quirks of the Thai system. My son was born in Singapore, we spoke English, Lao and Thai at home, in equal I might add. When we moved to Thailand he went to a what I think was a top notch international school in Khon Kaen. Of course as soon as he entered the school gates he couldn't utter a word in Lao without getting his knuckles rapped Strangely it was fine for him to talk in English, which of course was his first language

Wow, looks good. I don't eat very much I think that would be my calorie intake for two days!

I think that is true, and ironically Vietnam has also strengthened the relationship with the US. The common theme of course is that both the Philippines and Vietnam oppose China in the South China Sea Whereas Thailand is viewed almost as a vassal State of the CCP