Have you had a hard life?

[youreavinalaff]

3 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

I aways know someone here will say that, good for you keep paying your taxes

I always know someone will say England, as a whole, is a dump. Everyone knows that simply isn't true.

 

Don't pay much tax either. What I do pay I get something back for. Swings and roundabouts.

[youreavinalaff]

1 hour ago, Eaglekott said:

Also not nice to tell your friends story. He might have told you privately because he wanted to ventilate a bit. Hope he is not suicidal and figure out his story is for everyone to read. 

Who is he then? I don't see any reference to any names.

 

Your comment is inane.

[Walker88]

Most here speak of a hard life or rough times. I'll take the opposite view.

 

Easier life than 99.99999% of all the people who ever lived. Totally undeserved.

 

Life is about 95% dumb luck and 5% actual effort. All the good things I achieved were more a result of an accident of birth than anything else, and anything I might have messed up was my own damn fault.

 

Given my circumstances of birth (white male in a highly developed country, born of intelligent and athletic parents), I would have had no excuse if I failed, and deserve precious little credit for succeeding. All I had to do was stay away from self-inflicted vices like smoking, drinking to excess, getting fat and out of shape. Good health is easy if one works at it, difficult if one is intent on self-abuse.

 

Had two careers...one exciting albeit a touch dangerous, the other compensating me infinitely more than any value I added to society. Don't need a post-death paradise, because I've already experienced it. Dumb luck.

 

Life is hardly fair, but I have no complaints.

 

[habuspasha]

On 8/11/2023 at 9:22 AM, georgegeorgia said:

"particularly Irish drunks"

???

[thaibeachlovers]

16 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

Try driving on Friday & Saturday nights to dodge drunks and idiots pisding under the driver's door so it rolls into your cabin ????

So long as they can't break in the cabin, I'd just think of the money. Better than risking injury from ratbag patients while trying to help them.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 8/11/2023 at 11:36 PM, bignok said:

Rupert Murdoch is 92 or so still works.

 

Why retire at 50 or 55? Sitting on backside for 30 years.

 

 

Anyone that can't find something to do at age 55 is a pathetic person IMO.

I have more to do than I will ever be able to do in my time remaining, and if I want to do no more than blather on here, that's up to me.

[bignok]

Just now, thaibeachlovers said:

Anyone that can't find something to do at age 55 is a pathetic person IMO.

I have more to do than I will ever be able to do in my time remaining, and if I want to do no more than blather on here, that's up to me.

What do you do?

[bignok]

7 hours ago, HampiK said:

Look it from the other side. Why working more, when you have enough money?
There are always people who think they need more and more money (strange, mostly the very rich).

 

I know of persons, who complain, how hard their life is, and how much they would love to enjoy life. Some of them would have more than enough money to stop work or at least work less. But many people can't. They don't know what to do with their time.
I many times hear from older person, when I am 65, then I will start enjoying life. But mostly (of course not always) people who never enjoyed life, can't start with 65 to change. Unfortunately, I know of 2 persons, who died shortly after retirement. As from my perspective it's much better to start enjoying life as early as possible (but of course not too early, so you have enough money to enjoy).
I read a few very interesting stories from people who retired early. And I think it's the best.

Of course, if you can retire with 45... then you have 20 extra enjoyable years till official retirement. This is something which nobody can take away anymore. Even when retire with 55... these extra years to enjoy I think is unpayable. But sadly, for this lifestyle you need saved money, which many do not have.

Some enjoy work, some dont. I dont see many farangs in Thailand looking happy except the under 40yos. The older ones look bored or grumpty.

 

 

[JayClay]

7 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Most here speak of a hard life or rough times. I'll take the opposite view.

 

Easier life than 99.99999% of all the people who ever lived. Totally undeserved.

 

Life is about 95% dumb luck and 5% actual effort. All the good things I achieved were more a result of an accident of birth than anything else, and anything I might have messed up was my own damn fault.

 

Given my circumstances of birth (white male in a highly developed country, born of intelligent and athletic parents), I would have had no excuse if I failed, and deserve precious little credit for succeeding. All I had to do was stay away from self-inflicted vices like smoking, drinking to excess, getting fat and out of shape. Good health is easy if one works at it, difficult if one is intent on self-abuse.

 

Had two careers...one exciting albeit a touch dangerous, the other compensating me infinitely more than any value I added to society. Don't need a post-death paradise, because I've already experienced it. Dumb luck.

 

Life is hardly fair, but I have no complaints.

 

Excellent post. It's rare to meet a "have" who aknowledges the role luck played in their journey.

[KhunLA]

7 hours ago, Walker88 said:

Most here speak of a hard life or rough times. I'll take the opposite view.

 

Easier life than 99.99999% of all the people who ever lived. Totally undeserved.

 

Life is about 95% dumb luck and 5% actual effort. All the good things I achieved were more a result of an accident of birth than anything else, and anything I might have messed up was my own damn fault.

 

Given my circumstances of birth (white male in a highly developed country, born of intelligent and athletic parents), I would have had no excuse if I failed, and deserve precious little credit for succeeding. All I had to do was stay away from self-inflicted vices like smoking, drinking to excess, getting fat and out of shape. Good health is easy if one works at it, difficult if one is intent on self-abuse.

 

Had two careers...one exciting albeit a touch dangerous, the other compensating me infinitely more than any value I added to society. Don't need a post-death paradise, because I've already experienced it. Dumb luck.

 

Life is hardly fair, but I have no complaints.

 

If not for bad luck, I wouldn't have any.   It's only dumb luck, that I didn't kill myself, with some of the stupid crap I did & survived.

 

I had every excuse to be a total failure; home life, useless parents, no guidance, access & use to some of the most powerful drugs.

 

Once past that stage of suicidal behavior, self taught & self motivation got me to financial independence & early retirement.  And a few speed bumps along the way, after giving up the recklessness, but all worth the effort.

[Felton Jarvis]

On 8/11/2023 at 11:34 AM, NextG said:

Another made up topic?

As opposed to WHAT???

[Felton Jarvis]

27 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

If not for bad luck, I wouldn't have any.   It's only dumb luck, that I didn't kill myself, with some of the stupid crap I did & survived.

 

I had every excuse to be a total failure; home life, useless parents, no guidance, access & use to some of the most powerful drugs.

 

Once past that stage of suicidal behavior, self taught & self motivation got me to financial independence & early retirement.  And a few speed bumps along the way, after giving up the recklessness, but all worth the effort.

I agree with this. All I have to do is compare my life with that of the average Thai and mine looks pretty good. You can’t pick and choose your supervisors and that has been 90 percent of the problem. I have watched people succeed who would do as little as possible while I put in extra hours and endured humiliation that only a wage-slave would tolerate.

[LaosLover]

We ate at The Freebird Vegan Cafe last week (a great place to get a tarot card reading), and they were having some kind of big board meeting. Freebird is also a charity that helps Myanmar refugees in Chiang Mai. We have donated to them and will again.

 

What we will not do, is ever be on The Freebird board of advisors. We are permanently retired from good deed-doing and the ego's and complications that go with it.

 

After a life of such, if we want to stay in bed and watch Love and Death on HBO all day, we will. I recco it; I mean the stay in bed all day part. 

 

So much old people activity is just acting out and grandstanding. I laugh at the *KISS Kruise. What the hell are they doing that for? Not the paltry money to toss atop their millions. It's to be adored and admired. We have no such neurosis.

 

We like that Thailand has a higher quotient of people upopularly doing exactly what they want compared to 99% of the world. It's very FreeBird, I mean the song, not the jackfruit burger restaurant.

 

*I thought about going on the Kiss Kruise, but they were doing their worst album, The Elder, their concept album. Me and my brother debated whether seeing them do The Elder live on a boat was either too Spinal Tap or not Spinal Tap enough.

[bignok]

12 hours ago, JayClay said:

Excellent post. It's rare to meet a "have" who aknowledges the role luck played in their journey.

Is he helping sick children or animals?

[bignok]

11 hours ago, Felton Jarvis said:

As opposed to WHAT???

Made down topic. The topic is the topic. 

[Walker88]

5 minutes ago, bignok said:

Is he helping sick children or animals?

Since you ask....yes on the kids.

 

They did not materialize in this world in good circumstances. It's my middle finger raised to the deities in which I do not believe.

[Ben Zioner]

On 8/11/2023 at 12:57 PM, Neeranam said:

 

I had a hard life in some regards, 20 years as an alcoholic/drug addicts isn't easy.

And that's the lot of most Thais, like you, isn't?

[Ben Zioner]

On 8/11/2023 at 9:53 PM, StayinThailand2much said:

I could write a book. But many would call my autobiography (if I ever were to write it) a work of fiction.

Mine would be deemed a work of friction. I can picture my book's title: "Confessions of a vvanker"..

Edited August 14, 2023 by Ben Zioner

[scorecard]

Not so bad for me, but my dad had it tough.

 

Eldest of 10 kids on a big sheep station in the far west of NSW just under Q'land border. Dad's father  wouldn't allow any of them to go to school or spend any time outside the fences of the property.

 

Dad met my mum (both 21 yo) when she visited the family homestead to see if there was any work available teaching kids (she was a qualified/experienced teacher).

 

Grandfather heard her and threw her off the property. He wanted all 10 kids to stay illiterate so he had their labour on the sheep station forever.

 

Weeks later dad made a plan to met mum at an out station rarely visited and they did this for a year.

 

Dad wanted to go to the big city (was aware that cities existed in Aust. but didn't know where or any city names, had never seen a map of Aust).

 

They decided to run away together and mum made a travel plan to get them to Adelaide. Mum got work as a teacher in Adelaide, dad couldn't get a job because he couldn't read or write profitiently although mum had been teaching him these skills for several months.

 

But by the time dad was 35 years old he had the equivalent of 3 mechanical engineering degrees. He got work as an engineer but made excuses to take all his documents home every night so mum could help him complete reports etc.

 

Enough for today... 

 

[georgegeorgia]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

Not so bad for me, but my dad had it tough.

 

Eldest of 10 kids on a big sheep station in the far west of NSW just under Q'land border. Dad's father  wouldn't allow any of them to go to school or spend any time outside the fences of the property.

 

Dad met my mum (both 21 yo) when she visited the family homestead to see if there was any work available teaching kids (she was a qualified/experienced teacher).

 

Grandfather heard her and threw her off the property. He wanted all 10 kids to stay illiterate so he had their labour on the sheep station forever.

 

Weeks later dad made a plan to met mum at an out station rarely visited and they did this for a year.

 

Dad wanted to go to the big city (was aware that cities existed in Aust. but didn't know where or any city names, had never seen a map of Aust).

 

They decided to run away together and mum made a travel plan to get them to Adelaide. Mum got work as a teacher in Adelaide, dad couldn't get a job because he couldn't read or write profitiently although mum had been teaching him these skills for several months.

 

But by the time dad was 35 years old he had the equivalent of 3 mechanical engineering degrees. He got work as an engineer but made excuses to take all his documents home every night so mum could help him complete reports etc.

 

Enough for today... 

 

Wow  , great story 

Is your Dad still alive or how old would he be today ?

 

[JayClay]

9 hours ago, bignok said:

Is he helping sick children or animals?

How is tha relevant to my post?

[bignok]

Just now, JayClay said:

How is tha relevant to my post?

What any lucky person should do

[JayClay]

1 minute ago, bignok said:

What any lucky person should do

So not at all relevant, thanks.

[bignok]

5 minutes ago, JayClay said:

So not at all relevant, thanks.

So rich people should not help charity. Ok poor will do it then

.

[JayClay]

1 minute ago, bignok said:

So rich people should not help charity. 

.

I did not say that. Please provide a quote where I did.

[bignok]

Just now, JayClay said:

I did not say that. Please provide a quote where I did.

Then dont argue.

[JayClay]

1 minute ago, bignok said:

Then dont argue.

How can I argue with you? You're being completely incoherent.

[bignok]

3 minutes ago, JayClay said:

How can I argue with you? You're being completely incoherent.

Say I agree with you.

[scorecard]

7 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

Wow  , great story 

Is your Dad still alive or how old would he be today ?

 

Not alive, died at 60, massive stroe, a few weeks after he retired. If alive today would be about 110 yo.