ChiFlyer

First full day back in Pattaya. A story with a small irony. I was feeling perkier this Morning, so the Mrs. and I headed out to do the grocery shopping and buy some red wine. I remember thinking the pleasant thought that no one was scheduled to put anything up my butt hole for the next few months. Drove to the Little Walk Villa Market and Wine Connection. Started home making the u-turn on Sukhumvit just before Pattaya Klang. Started positioning lanes in order to get on I-7. Made first lane change and was eyeing for a good position for the next one. Bam. A person a little behind me does a sudden lane change and rams their car up my ass. I was able to keep an eye on them, so that they could not make a run for it while I was navigating trying not to get into a secondary accident in this busy traffic area. In the other person's defense they pulled to the curb and put on their flashers. The Mrs. got out to talk with the other driver who immediately admitted that it was their fault. Am I still in Thailand? I asked the Mrs. if we should call the police. She gave me her "you must have just arrived from Mars" look and a very loud "NO". Both drivers contacted their insurance companies, who were there in about 15 minutes. They took pics, recorded vehicle ID #s, and checked DLs and car stickers. Paper time. Yes, this is still Thailand. All in all the process took about an hour and I was able to get the eggs and chicken home without spoiling them. We got a call a few hours later from the other driver's insurance company saying they would pay for our repairs and that they would be sending a list of 5 locations near our house where we can have the repairs done. Here comes the small irony. The Mrs is a sociable person and the other driver told her that she was distracted thinking about being on her way for a cancer treatment at BPH. I can have some sympathy for that.

Back home. 🙂 The radiation treatment is complete. Doc says all signs look good. PSA test is scheduled for April 10th in Pattaya. Based upon that I will likely get one more hormonal injection. Tiredness persists, but is lessening. A hormonal injection will likely set that back a little once again. Everyone's risk from this disease is unique. I am lucky in that the cancer was localized (only one prostate segment) and relatively small. My odds of recovery are very good (90%). However, I will need to monitor for any resurgence for the rest of my life. I repeat, if you are 40+, you need to be getting an annual PSA and have a urologist to analyze the results. Yeah, I used to be 10 foot tall and bulletproof too.

Hello yourself, regardless of where you are from. 🙂

Oh, I left out that one is supposed to drink a lot of water during this, about 2 L a day. I keep bottles next to the laptop and in the bedroom to remind myself. I doubt I am hitting the full 2 L, but I am coming close. I am permitted to have a few glasses of red wine at night, but no hard liquor.

I have completed 3 of the 5 radiation treatments now. They are not painful and take a little under 30 minutes a piece. They do leave me feeling tired. I sleep 12 hours a day. Pretty boring for the Mrs, but she hangs in like a trooper and has been a lot of support help. I have been told that the tiredness will wear off in about one month after the final radiation treatment. Back home to Huay Yai on March 11th. 🙂 I was made aware that I need to have a high protein diet during the radiation treatments and also for one month afterwards. Suggested food sources are: Protein Bars with Milk. Cheese with crakers Eggs Oatmeal Chicken, Pork, and Fish for dinner Limited spicy foods Guava and Avocados Doc says that things are going well. Big test will be a PSA just before Songkran.

Tell me about it. I was worried that DaRump might win the election, so I started going more conservative a year ago. I have trimmed my stock holdings to more conservative companies such as BRKB, V, and JPM. I still hold a couple of techs (MSFT and NVDA), but they have gone from 45% yo 20% of my overall holdings. I have also moved over 30% of my liquidity to UST and CDs. Still I am down for the year.

@forcebwithu you are a top flight tech. However, what I think is going on here is: Skype blocks texts with attachments. Schwab probably added a boilerplate attachment to their OTP texts. I request that Schwab OTPs are sent via voice to my Skype phone number. No problems. I certainly share your curiosity how the Teams approach will work. Since they said they will be rolling it out over the next few days, I will wait a few weeks before trying it out. I have no desire no be an unpaid MSFT alpha tester. 🙂

I may have solved my own problem here. Skype allows you to transfer your phone number to MSFT Teams Free. In my case my only need is a valid US phone number. I almost never make or receive calls on my Skype number. Lots of holes in the below description, but it would be clean hopefully for my purrposes. From a MSFT Account write up. What happens to my existing Skype account? / Will I need to create a new account for Teams Free, or can I log in directly with my Skype credentials? You can log in to Teams Free with your existing Skype account and your chats and contacts will be automatically available for you. There is no requirement to create a new Teams Free account. What about my chat history and contacts? Your chats and contacts will automatically transfer to Teams Free when you log in with your Skype credentials. What data doesn’t migrate to Teams Free? Chats between Skype users and Teams work or school accounts will not be migrated. Users can use Teams Free to start a new conversation with Teams work or school users and enjoy even more functionality. Skype to Skype for Business chat history will not be migrated. 1:1 chat with self history will not be migrated. Private conversations data will not be migrated. Copilot and bots content will not be supported in Teams Free and no chat history will be available. How long will the transition process take? The syncing of your data from Skype to Teams Free should take less than a minute. Can I continue using Skype for now? You can continue using Skype until May 5, 2025, giving you plenty of time to explore Teams Free.

No doubt about it. I am only looking for an ios based replacement app to be able to make limited cost international calls between the US and Thailand.

I dug a little further into my Skype Account info. My expriation date is November 12th, 2025. There seems to be an option to move the phone ability to something called Microsoft Teams Free. I will look into that. Skype is retiring in May 2025: What you need to know In May 2025, Skype will be retired. This change will impact both free and paid Skype users. This does not impact Skype for Business. Skype users will have the option to move to Microsoft Teams Free, which offers many of the same core features and more. By logging in to Teams Free with your Skype account, your chats and contacts will appear in the app so you can pick up where you left off. This capability will gradually roll out to Skype and Teams users on the latest app versions over the coming days. If you do not wish to use Microsoft Teams Free, you can export your Skype data. If you have active recurring calling and Skype Number subscriptions ending before April 3, 2025, these will be renewed for one more renewal cycle. If you have an active calling or Skype Number subscription ending after April 3, 2025, you will continue to be able to use your subscription and Skype Number until the end of your current subscription period. To keep using your Skype Number after your subscription ends, you'll need to port out the number. Please reach out to your new provider directly to start the porting process or learn more here. Additionally, we will no longer offer paid Skype features to new customers. The Skype Dial Pad will be available starting in May to remaining paid users from the Skype web portal and within Teams Free.

hmmm - my reason for using Skype was to have a VOIP US phone number that could be called or make international calls to/from the US. Skype provided that ability at no cost to the caller and seldom a cost to me. It's only significant glitch was one could not send or receive texts that had attachments. Many US businesses require that one provide a US phone number. I used Skype for that purpose. I need to get a new method so I do not have problems with Schwab and Amex. I really only want to install a replacement app on my iPhone. That is all I care about. I installed Google Voice on my ios device today and it was a no go. The message was not available in Thailand. This link provides descriptions as to why and what workarounds are available. The workarounds sound like more than I want to get into. https://www.calilio.com/blogs/how-to-get-a-google-voice-number-outside-the-us There appears to be a fair amount of alternative products available. I will spend the next few days checking these out. More later .....

I received an email from MSFT/Skype a few minutes ago indicating that MSFT is discontinuing Skype. The email appears to be legit and not part of a scam. I use a Skype number for a US phone number so that I can be contacted by US families and business contacts. It is the later that concerns me. My current Skype contract runs through November 2025, so I have time to react. I have read that @forcebwithu uses Google. Could he or others explain once again what needs to be done to establish an account there. As I recall the Google number must be linked to an existing US phone number with no charge to the owner of that Number. The Skype email in italics. Please read on for detailed information about the updates and what they mean for your services. Subscriptions & Automatic Top-Ups: Existing subscriptions will continue to automatically renew until April 3, 2025. After this, all subscriptions will be retired and no longer be available for purchase, renewal, or reactivation. Automatic top-ups will end on April 3, 2025. Skype Number: Your Skype Number subscription will continue to automatically renew until April 3, 2025 and will remain active until the end of your next renewal period. To port your Skype Number, please contact your new provider directly. Learn more Skype Manager: Skype Manager users can purchase and renew paid products, including automatic credit top-ups, until April 3, 2025. After this date, only existing credit balances can be allocated to group members for calling. For SMS services: SMS services will be discontinued on May 5, 2025. Skype Dial Pad: After May 5, 2025, the Skype Dial Pad will be available to remaining paid users from the Skype web portal and Teams, where you will continue to be able to use your subscription or Skype Credits.

I had the first radiation treatment tonight. It went very well and I even got a good job from the doc saying you did everything we said and we hit the target perfectly. I am feeling no after affects on night one. Restaurant Q -> The Mrs. birthday occurs during this trip to Bangkok. Our hotel is on on the intersection of Sukhumvit 55 and Thong Lor. I have noticed some nice looking restaurants on Thong Lor. Anyone have a recommendation for a classy restaurant in the area. She dislikes Indian food and is not all that fond of Italian. Obviously, top notch Isan Thai would be a winner. She has been a great support spouse during this process. I would like to give her a special thanks.

I have completed the prep work for the radiation, which included 3 hours in various imaging machines on Friday. The actual radiation treatments start Tuesday afternoon and run through March 10th. I have Titanium status with Marriott so we are enjoying our stay at their Executive Apartments in Thong Lor. Free buffet breakfast and complimentary food and drinks for dinner. I practically lived in Marriott properties during my 20 year IT roadie career. From the lounge.

Good to read. I have it queued up, but it will be a few weeks before I get to it. I did enjoy S01 despite the rather low IMDB of 6.8.