Gary

I have several solar systems and have had them for about ten years. I didn't build them to save any money but for the reason that the electric grid here in the boonies sucks. Tho grid goes down about every other day, it usually comes back on quickly but sometimes it is off for several hours, All the components have been very reliable. Over the years I doubt that there has been any savings on my electric bills. The main cost is replacing the VERY expensive lead acid deep cycle batteries. I am a Luddite and have avoided the Lithium batteries. One reason is that my components are not compatible with the new batteries. My small system that runs my computer system needed new batteries. This time I paid more the $500 US dollars for a Lithium battery. It is a 200AH single battery that replaced two 200AH lead acid batteries. Since the lithium batteries can be discharged much deeper than the lead acid batteries, I was hoping that the one new battery would carry the load. My hope proved correct. So as far as I am concerned, solar systems are not dead. Lead acid batteries are dead. Anyone installing solar electric would do well to use Lithium batteries.

I fell in love with a girl from Nana. She was a true bi-sexual and she had excellent taste for beautiful ladies. She spoke very good English. She had married a Brit and he divorced her when he found her in bed with another lady. I was bar-fining her on a regular basis. I went there one night to get her and she wasn't there. The mamason told me that my regular was gone and wouldn't be back. Some Aussie married her and I never saw her again. What a lucky guy he was.

Actually quite sad, but life goes on and things change, often not for the best..

I moved over here in 1991. Even back then traffic was horrible. My home away from home was Washington Square. I had been to Pat pong and liked it there but it was too difficult to get to because of the traffic. Soi Cowboy was within easy walking distance to the Square so I walked there quite often. Once in a while I would walk to Soi 4 Nana Plaza when I got bored for something different to do. After the Sky Train got running, Pat pong was then an easy trip. When the Thai economy crashed, about 1996-1997 I went back to the States to work. After five very long years working in Kalifornia, I finally was able to retire and moved back to Thailand. I lived in Washington Square and got into a huge problem with a bar I had supposedly bought. Needless to say I lost my investment, but that's another story. I really didn't go far from the Square then. If what I wanted couldn't be found in the Square, I would still make the rounds and have a few beers with my old friends. There were seven bars in the Square that I liked to patronize. After making the bar rounds, I would stumble back to my room and call it a night. A new area called Queens Park Plaza on Soi 22 opened. I did spend quite a bit of time there with friends who opened bars there.. After Washington Square was demolished, I found no reason to stay in Bangkok and moved to Jomtien. I rarely went into Pattaya and when I did go, I took a baht bus. My favorite place in Pattaya was the FLB bar. All that is left in Bangkok for me is very fond memories. Most of my old friends, Vietnam spooks, retired veterans and other acquaintances are dead and gone anyways.

One of the most expensive coffee beans come from beans the are made from beans that the civit cat shits out. Of course the Thais decided if those coffee beans were so good, a bigger animal would give more beans. Thus came coffee beans that elephants shit out. As for myself, I have never tried either. Sounds disgusting to me. I gave up on my Delonghi espresso maker. I like a big cup of coffee and not those tiny little cups. I use a simple Russel Hobbs mini drip coffee maker. I grind my beans 20 grams for each cup. For the best coffee, you need a good bean grinder. consistent grinds are very important. Conical burr grinders are are arguably the best. I have a good electric one at home and a small hand grinder for travelling. Hand grinders are not created the same. I first had a Hario and it sucks. I then bought one that has a roller bearing on the top and bottom. The burr must be rigid so that the ground coffee is consistent. The Timemore hand grinder cost 2,700 baht but is well worth it. My new one has a hardened stainless burr and the Hario has a ceramic burr. The ceramic burr is inferior because it is not sharp. Th stainless steel burr grinds much faster and more importantly much more consistently.

I was pretty much a bar hopping guy. If I had to pick a favorite, it would have been TQ2 not mentioning the FLB which was without a doubt my number one.

I was paying 50 baht here upcountry. Actually 40 baht with a 10 baht tip. Late last year I decided to grow a beard. After it got pretty long, I decided that I couldn't stand it anymore. I wasn't able to shave it off so I bought a hair clipper. That quickly took off my beard. Since then my wife has been cutting my hair. I also bought a razor that looks like a straight razor to shave my neck. It uses half of a double edge razor blade.

That cop is toast. The libs want him hung in the public square and sentencing may create riots when they think it is not severe enough.

The real but impossible answer is for permissive parents to teach their children responsibility and respect for the law.

The training and vetting is likely the answer. One major problem now is the question of who would want to be a police officer during these unsettled times? If I were a young man, no way would I want to be a police officer. This eliminates the cream of the crop candidates.

This woman was totally out of the depth of her experience. I believe she thought it was a taser, she had no idea what she was doing. We really don't know how people will react when under pressure. Unfortunately we only know when sad circumstances tell the story.

I was arrested and jailed once. Myself and a friend of mine were visiting a female friend. Her boyfriend came and we were not too polite telling him to leave. He came back with four of his friends, My friend got the worst of it. We were arrested and accused of assault. We didn't figure anything would come of it because those five guys were also charged with assault. The cops were polite and so were we. The cops found the whole thing amusing and we were released the next day.

Police officers are certainly not prefect, BUT, being polite and cooperating with them gives them no reason to be heavy handed. Why is that so difficult for some to understand? Those police officers are in constant danger of being murdered.

When I was a young boy, I don't know if I had any respect for the law, but I did have a fear of it. No way would I do anything to insult or talk back to a police officer. Everything worked fine that way. A good friend of mine later in life was a deputy sheriff and he was all business. Anyone who spit on him got a free trip to the hospital with a broken nose. No respect, or at least fear, for police officers have gotten to the place we are today. We have gone totally in the wrong direction, that's my opinion.

Does anyone think that piece of shit criminal was worth 27 million dollars? The people who made that decision are obviously insane. Of course the taxpayers have no say in that insane judgement.

This cop is going to be railroaded regardless if he is innocent or guilty. They simply have to find him guilty because of all the shit that will happen if he is left off. The politicians will gladly throw him under the bus. I think we can agree that this criminal doper was no loss to society. Giving his family that huge settlement tells the tale what the trial verdict will be.

I think the cop was wrong, BUT, not a mistake that would make him guilty of murder. Once handcuffed and not resisting, he should have been left up.

My family has a reunion every year. It was normally held at the VFW hall. Their pool table was very good and high quality. Several of us young guys considered ourselves very good players. One of my uncles took a keen interest watching us play. We invited him to play and he turned us down. We finally goaded him into playing. To say the least, we were amazed at how good he was. He was a school teacher and no way would you ever see him in a local pool room. We were curious where he learned to play and how he got to be so good. He grinned and told us playing pool was how he worked himself through college.

Building and running a forum involves a considerable amount of work, aggravation and expense. The facts are that if there were no benefits there would be no forums. Then there are crotchety members to deal with. Some people just enjoy being contrary and constantly complain. Those people usually take themselves far too seriously. Forums are for information and often amusement. If a particular forum, thread or topic irritates you, just don't open it. It's a simple choice. Hatred is not good for your health. You are free to leave anytime you like.

I have a different opinion about Thai Visa. I was given a "vacation" and was told I had to apologize for a post I made. I was accused of being homophobic. I considered the post in question entirely proper and advised that moderator not to hold his breath waiting. That was a couple of years ago. I refused to apologize and have not been back.

Why would I care who owns the forum? As long as the content is interesting, I'll remain. My feelings about bar owners are just like this. If a bar has nice friendly scenery and prices are competitive I don't care who owns what. Live and let live.

Having played regularly on the local bar's tight snooker pockets, and gotten used to them, I was actually surprised during a trip to Pattaya/Jomtien and playing on the 6 foot bar room tables. The pockets are huge. I think the reason for that is the bigger pockets make the games go much faster. As with many other things, it's all about money. My 8 foot Rhino table pockets are not nearly as big as the bar room tables. The side pockets are wider than the corner pockets. I don't know if the smaller diameter snooker balls would make it easier or not. I opted for the 8 foot table even though I have plenty or room for a bigger table. I bought the 8 foot because I want to enjoy playing and having to reach for too many shots is uncomfortable.

Why do I wear a shooting glove? Because it irritated me using the baby powder and having it make a mess on the floor and the table itself. Guests seem to forget who has to keep that powder cleaned up. The ladies were the worst offenders. I have extra gloves for whoever is playing. I didn't replace the baby powder. The gloves last a long time and at 20 baht apiece, I don't mind buying them. Up to you.

Our local farang bar had a pool table with snooker pockets. If you shot just a bit too hard and nicked the side of the pocket, the ball wasn't going in. That used to frustrate the hell out of me. My table is an eight foot pool table. The pockets are shaped a little different and are bit bigger. The farang bar is now history, gutted and gone forever. I ordered my table when the police ordered the farang bar closed because of the virus. A friend and myself play pool and drink beer every Friday night at my home. It sure helps the cabin fever. My friend is a European and although we are fairly evenly matched, he used to play billiards and plays bank shots better than I do. He uses a 9.5 mm tip cue because he uses a lot of English. My cue has an 11.5 mm tip. Most pool cues use a 13 mm tip. My wife thought I was crazy paying 85,000 baht for a pool table but she has now changed her mind and is enjoying learning how to play. I don't have a set of snooker balls.

I enjoy playing pool and even have a good quality slate top pool table in my game room. I have never actually played snooker. Eight ball is the game usually played. That said, watching these pro snooker players is actually depressing. It is amazing just how good they are. Besides potting the balls, they are able to precisely play position for their next shot. I think it is a blend of talent PLUS a lot of practice. I'm jealous.