GinBoy2

Well I'm 65 she's 55 we're both past the scene, more now 'shall we have a cup of cocoa and go to bed' Been together since 2004, so we've gone the distance. Up's and down's, who doesn't Kids are gown up, now we revel in juicing up the grandkids up then letting mom and dad settle them down lol

So this is interesting. I'm a latino, but like many of us I'm white as the driven snow, but with black hair. I've grown up my whole life in the US, but I'm still latino. I can bounce between full blown white American and pseudo Mexican in a heartbeat, and in reality Mexican apart from the language is basically the same. So what 'white' culture 'is' not exactly sure what that means When I lived in San Diego I could go to the mall on a Saturday and probably half the people would have crossed the border from TJ, looking exactly like me talking Spanish, and basically 'white'

Yeah I've kinda thought about this. I'm sure most of their parents are just devastated by it. Brought them up right, but violent video games and the toxic internet world in their bedroom, can warp a young man's mind

My Dad fought in WW2, hated the nazi ideology, and was pretty OK with killing nazi fighters. But he came home and wasn't radicalized against all Germans That's what's different now. Kids living a suburban life in a Western country get their heads turned around and thinking killing innocent people for some mythical cause is OK in some way.

You are quite right the US was built on immigrants. But my family didn't arrive at Ellis Island but walked over the border at San Ysidro. Different times, empty country looking for people. But for immigrants back then they wanted to assimilate and become part of American society. My Mom would actually rap my knuckles if I spoke Spanish outside the house. In no way am I endorsing that, but it illustrates how immigrants back then are different from today. And I hate myself for saying this, but I can see the difference between my parents and grandparents and today's people crossing the southern border. A lot of European countries also contain a large proportion of immigrants, especially from former colonies who have integrated and become part of the fabric of those countries. I think the jury is certainly out on how this new wave will work out

I 'think' a lot of the problem of immigration into the EU is the fact it is made of largely young males. Young men are a problem even when they are indigenous to a country. My Grandparents went to the US as a family. Both they and my parents learnt English within a few years and were fully integrated, not sure thats true for the demographic entering the EU, who, if the media is to be believed seem to want to live in ethnic enclaves. I'm now a third generation latino, my daughters fourth and I would never consider myself anything but an American. I speak Spanish but I'm most definitely not a Mexican. Even my Thai son, born in Singapore educated in the US see's himself as American, while still recognizing his ethnic roots I think thats the real difference with this wave of migration we're seeing across the world

well of course I'm not native American. But accents are subtle. I'm Mexican decent, but even visiting family, even though I speak Spanish as a primary language every Mexican knows I'm American. I think that why I tried to get the Spanish lisp. If you don't speak Spanish who probably don''t get it, but it's a very cool way to speak Spanish. Now I'm too old to be bothered, and my Californian Spanish is what it is

Well as a native American Spanish speaker I take a little offense to that. But I do wish I could perfect that Spanish lisp It is kinda cool And i know it's ridiculous but I have actually tried to change my Spanish accent, to well 'Spanish' never with much success. My Mom, wise woman that she was just called me an idiot and told me to embrace my own culture and not try to hijack someone else's

So on the Thai medical insurance thing Going back to the fact it's a real insurance thing. Probably 15-20 years ago my wife had a ruptured fallopian tube which ended up with sepsis. had to go through emergency surgery to save her life. The outcome was Cigna added a rider to our policy excluding any gyno issues. So don't have any heart, prostate, or anything else, because soon as you do thats going to be excluded

I think you're creating a justification for why you won't go home. Nobody in their right mind thinks that you can drop into any insurance scheme right when they need it. Oops had a car crash, better sign up for insurance. Not how it works. As for the deductible stuff, did you actually read what I posted about my plan? I have no deductible. If I get sick they pay from the first $. Medicare may not be perfect but add Advantage and it's a hell of a lot better than you'll get in Thailand, especially as you age. Medical insurance in Thailand is a real insurance market. It rackets up based on your age to a point where you can't afford it or they just won't insure you A lot of folks talk about the low cost of medical care in Thailand. Well that depends. If you want something similar to what you would expect in the West, it's gonna cost

Well you live overseas away from your home country income source and you live with it. Not a lot you can do but tighten your belt when things get tough, then splurge when things get good

Yeah I git the same email. I don't take anything exotic but my Part t D costs are zero

When moved our cat back to the US, I caved and paid an agent to handle it, I couldn't be dealing with it all Curiously the paperwork and procedure to export her was a lot more complicated than the import into the US! Which in many ways doesn't/didn't surprise me

Well pretty much I guess. I do part time retired work, she's the one that earns the real money from DoD on the local base I earn the pocket money and the flight benefits

I kinda am in that 'normal' world. My wife wasn't a hooker, we worked together in Singapore so I guess you'd count us as a normal couple. Been together 25+ years kids all that good stuff so we're solid But it's naive to believe that a good percentage of Thai/Farang relationships aren't based on bargirl/sex/money/old/young it's just reality. You can try to spin it as best you can but thats reality

Well set aside the old guy young woman dynamic thats just a money thing. Apart from that there is just an attraction thing Walk down any street in San Francisco and I'd bet 50% of the young couples holding hands are young white guy and some version of asian female Same thing when it comes to white females and black guys. Thats nature we all have certain things that attract us But Thailand, that really does have a different dynamic which I'm not sure is attraction but more money focused

She's pretty much right. Now I'm married to Thai woman, pretty much same age as me so lets get that off the table, Oh and we met at work in Singapore not in a bar! But lets get real, how many couples do you see slopping around the mall, a guy with a girl half his age and a couple of rugrats in tow? Maybe in Bangkok real expats (not old guys on retirement visa extensions) have real girlfriends but for the majority it's paid for sex Now is it 'sad'? Now that's up for debate. Probably both are in it for different reasons. The woman if half his age is in it for money and some security The guy, twice her age is in it for sex that he can't get at home with women his own age So if that transactional relationship works, go for it. Problem often happens when that transactional relationship go's back to the home country Thats when the ridicule starts!

Yeah you might be right there. Eligible and enrolled are two different things

Hmmm interesting question to ask. Unless you are in a 'transactional' relationship I think most couples would say, whatever it takes. Me and MrsG are similar ages, 50/60's so who knows what happens in the future, health risks increase exponentially as we get into middle and old age, unfortunately to say So in our blended family, Thai son, American daughters would sure as sh**t hold both our feet to the fire to take care of each other if, and we wouldn't, step up to care for one another. The kids are all in their 20/30's brother and sisters, aunts and uncle to the grandkids, so we're a pretty tight family. So the idea of any of us abandoning anyone is unthinkable, so I guess we are 'all in' Now if you're shacked up with a bar girl, she'll probably dump you after a bad cold, or an ATM 'insufficient funds'

EV's are kinda OK depending on where you live. Small dense countries, it kinda makes sense I guess distances are short. For me driving to see our kids in Denver is 360 miles, through basically Wyoming nothingness. Now I can do it on a tank of gas, and refueling takes me less than 5 minutes when I do reach civilization. Now if I run out of charge in said middle of nothingness, not sure that AAA can bring me a 'tank' of electricity to get me on my way. I never believed EV's are the long term future, much more inclined to believe Hydrogen fuel cells are the real green solution to climate change for transportation

Yes and No. What I did was I signed up for B in the three months ahead of my birthday., A happens automatically you don't have to do anything I'd been researching all the options for additional coverage so I knew who I was going with. I contacted Wellmark (or whoever you choose) to tell them I was enrolled in B, they do some online check with Medicare and within 10 mins I was signed up. I filed away my Medicare card and just carry the Wellmark card. After my initial confusion of the baffling array of options, the actual sign up was curiously rather easy. If you then go back to the Medicare website and look at your account it shows you are signed up with an outside provider

Well thats a little bit alarmist. That why most people add Medigap or Advantage policies. I pay Part B and an additional $64/month for the gold plated Advantage. Gives me medical, dental, vision, medication(Part D) and hearing. The dental and vision coverage is actually better than I had at work My maximum out of pocket is $3800 So here are main points of my plan, make of it what you will. But those of you who make annual trips home something to thing about. I do the enhanced PPO for $64

So this is the telehealth option I was talking about. Might be great option to talk to your US Doctor via zoom for free

$500k was a typo, yes $50K so is a fix you up and get you home. I was just reading through my Advantage info book, something occurred to me My plan pays for Telehealth Virtual visits with zero copay. That might be much more usual for expats than it would be for me

Well, I'm happily married to a Thai lady for over 25 years. I would certainly say we don't do it like the rabbit's we were back then, but we maintain a pretty decent sex life, but it changes, you need to accept that. Mrs G is a little, well a lot menopausal so hormones are all over the place. I'm just not quite the horn dog I was 10, 20 years ago. But strangely now when we do it it turns out more like a fine wine, I think I can live with that