GinBoy2

To IM poster, I'not going to respond to that. But. I was an unusual Hispanic boy in the 60's as an only child, but every summer since both my parents were farm workers in California I was shipped off to relatives in Guadalajara. I generally spent 12 weeks goofing off with distant cousins while my parents worked their asses off. When my wife couldn't get a US tourist visa we all went to Mexico to meet my Grandson. So yeah I have some interests in different countries not just one, and you really need to get a real life, and you know who you are!

You are correct about our lifestyle. However with some of these guys you have to be 'All In' to be a true Believer. I contribute to this forum, general US forums as well as local forums to where we live in the US, plus a Spanish language forum in Mexico where my family originates from. I think I have some interest and say in all of them Maybe the definition of 'dull' should be redefined to someone limiting their field of view and tunnel vision!!! I prefer to embrace a wide range of my life experiences

A lot depends on the hotel. A full service hotel, well they write it off as the cost of doing business, never had an issue in the Novotel I have stayed at the boxtel in BKK, when I had a 4 hour layover, and not that I'm gonna have a period, but they make you sign to say blood will be charged. You get what you pay for. $170/night in the Novotel, $35/4 hours in the Boxtel

Thing is places work at different times in your life, until they don't. I met my wife while we were both working in Singapore. She never wanted to move back to Thailand and wanted us to move straight to the US, especially for our son's education. Of course stubborn a-hole I am I got my way. She told me at the time I'd be bored with the place within 10 years. She got it right within 11 months. I'm now happier with Thailand as a vacation destination, we still have our house there and enjoy my time there. Was I done with it full time, Yes.. Multiple factors drove us to leave. Son went to college an the US and said he wasn't coming back, I was bored, wife's career had stalled. And I am a fairly fit mid 60's guy, but I am acutely aware that the days ahead of me are fewer than the days behind me, and watching my escalating insurance premiums was a concern. So I have no problems with Thailand, enjoyed my time there, but it was just time to leave. What always intrigues me are those that protest too much about any perceived criticism To quote George Smiley. "The zealot is always harboring a secret doubt"

Delusion is a wonderful thing, but if it keeps you happy, go for it

Thing is Thailand is in general a great place in your 40's and 50's. However as you enter your 60's and later it dives. Funds are running out, and as immortal as we once were stuff breaks and that health insurance we once laughed about is now unaffordable or just not available. Now given the choice of some hovel in a Thai village or moving home to at least be with family and some healthcare, I think I know the answer

I'm an American, but have loved your country since a teenager listening to the BBC World Service on Shortwave in my bedroom. It breaks my heart how Brexit has torn your country apart, but I can't deny feeling the sense of lunacy of it all. I'm sure many of you had deep felt reasons for it, and i suspect as in my own country a lot of it was because of immigration. Probably that could have been figured out, but as it turned out you threw the baby out with the bath water

Now this has been a while, long before my wife became a US resident But we got a tourist visa for my wife to visit my family in Guadalajara along with my US daughters after my wife was denied a B1/2. I don't remember it being that difficult. The reason we did it was my youngest had just had a baby and since the US embassy seemed to think that was a reason not to give my wife a visa we all congregated at my cousins house in Mexico

So, I did my homework and found out who this guy, who I'd never heard of is. Quite the catch isn't he for some psychotic woman. I did rather like Thunberg's reply email; [email protected] Sure he's been quite the roid boy during his career so she's probably not wrong!

Jeez I must be old, I have no idea who this guy is. I guess he certainly didn't influence me!

We live in Western South Dakota so on the front end of the storm. We never got the snow that pummeled the east, but it was the rapid temperature drop that was the killer. I got to work at the airport at 0430, and it was -2°C. By 1100 it was -27°C with 50mph winds blowing horizontal snow. Wasn't the best day of my life, but unlike the folks in NY I got home safely

Thankfully, finally a little Euro self reflection on their obsession with Russian energy. A lucky break on a so far mild winter has allowed a shift to LNG imports from friendlier countries and good storage capacity You have to think for the Putin successor's what they will think will be his legacy. The world will have moved from Russia's pretty much sole export, and he's trashed that. Great move Vlad the Mad, hope you're happy with yourself and lets see what history will write about you!

I can live with that statement. And as for my own statement, I'm not sure in Russia we have entered Authoritarianism or Totalitarianism. Neither of which are good

Well I think we may need to agree to disagree on the latter. Merkel herself has said that she thought tightening the economic ties to Europe would bind Russia to Europe. Problem is it did exactly to opposite. It made Europe a cuckold to Russia, as the regime became increasingly more authoritarian

Almost all all airlines are in debt. Aircraft either bought or leased are expensive. The important thing is having the income to support that debt. TG has in the past lived in a fantasy world where the government would just write off the debt. Oooooh SQ has has the A380, we gotta gotta get some, regardless of whether it made any economic sense to the network. Thats the craziness that has to change, I wait with bated breath

So, I'm an American so not commenting on the UK's mental breakdown. Globalization, wonderful concept. We were all going to benefit from trade between friends, The former Soviet Union, China would be raised up and become just like us. Well has that worked out? Both have become more totalitarian and the West has found itself shackled to them for manufacturing and energy. On the plus side, in the US there has been a full throated push to onshore manufacturing to uncouple China On the downside, the insane Merkel policy of total dependance on Russian energy is going to take a little more time to unravel in Europe

Hmmm, I'm seeing six 772 airframes sold. Interested to see what the other two are

Cant remember who the lady was. .....he never knew her name! I must admit in my youth I've had hook up sex with women who I couldn't tell you their name, and they weren't hookers, as was more than likely this woman

Oh Dear, this is just the 'news' story that just keeps on giving. Unless you are fresh off the boat, you just read this cr#$p and roll your eyes. Same story rehashed, and I can't remember how many times over and over. Anyone that has lived in Thailand for any length of time knows what the endgame is. So as for farang naiveté on Thai justice; been there done that got the tee shirt a decade or so ago. Just stop posting these works of fiction, it's pointless.

I'm not sure why this even made the news. People get randomly attacked all over the world. God knows I was beaten up in Khon Kaen by a group of drunken Thai's just cos I was walking with my wife. My wife has never experienced any anti asian bigotry, and we live in a 99% white all guns and God State. So this just looks like a typical random event of living in the big city

Cherry Garcia or Strawberry Cheesecake

It's pretty bleak. I don't get it. The ones that find their way into Rapid City to get away from it all are great. To quote another co-worker, who his an ex Ranger "I know they are my people, but I hate them" The rez just oozes drugs and addiction. It's bizarre, booze is illegal on the rez so them come into Rapid to get drink. Yet weed is totally legal on the rez. It's totally out of control. So it gets to a totally weird world were we live so close but it's a totally alien. The Native Americans I work with you have moved out will slam it. Not quite sure how you fix it

I'm trying to be sympathetic here. My co-coworker lives on the rez and was gonna sub for me today Of course they let the sole gas station on the rez run out of of gas. I try to be sympathetic, but it gets to a point where your neighbors seems to be able to cope, so what the Hell is going on

It was the speed of temperature drop that was so freaky. We live in Western South Dakota, and it literally dropped from 2°C to -27°C in 2 hours Then there was the wind. 40mph winds in -27°C is life threatening. We really didn't get that much snow, but the wind just created a total white out, you couldn't see more than a few feet. I work at the local airport and I watched as the snow and wind moved in, and from being to see the runway to barely being able to see the other side of the ramp. Aircraft tried to land but every single one diverted Yet here we are a few days later and the weather forecast is for 44°F/7°Ç and sunny blue skies. Strange times

This is all horribly complicated. The US and the West didn't create this, it's internal, the same way no one enabled the Germans to fall for the cult of Nazism. The very fact that after the US withdrawal the Government fell so quickly tells you something. Within the Afghan people there must be some underlying desire for this. We focus on cities like Kabul, but the majority of Afghans live in rural areas and in truth we have no idea what they want. I think it's abhorrent, but we tried for 20 years and trillions of Dollars to give them a better society and failed. So now, it's up to them