ChiFlyer

Thai Meterological Department on the Heat https://thepattayanews.com/2024/04/28/thai-meteorological-department-debunks-rumors-of-hottest-weather-crisis-until-september/ hmmmm - 😏

My whiskey of choice is Tequila. Love that salt, tequila, citrus fruit combo. Back in the US my weapon of choice was Monte Alban Mezcal from Oxaca. Yes this is the one with the worm in the bottle made famous in "Urban Cowboy". I have been unable to find it in Bang Lamung. If someone spots it, please let me know. https://www.totalwine.com/spirits/mezcal/monte-alban-mezcal/p/662750

Same here brother. Oh, I am still in my drinking days to some extent. In my case, I found that after I stopped the drugs, I was able to resume drinking a little. Not for everyone for sure and some would say that I am a damn fool and they are likely right.

I have been battling a respiratory infection of some kind for about 10 days now. IIRC @forcebwithu reported a similar situation a few weeks back. This thing is kicking my ass some days. I must have slept 16 hours yesterday. Symptoms are respiratory congestion to the point that one's diaphragm starts to hurt from all the coughing, headaches, some dizziness, and lack of energy. The Mrs had this starting about a week ahead of me, so I am pretty sure where I caught it. She is still not fully recovered. Her bout was worse than mine. She went to a clinic and they told her she was having a Long Covid episode. To the best of my knowledge Long Covid is not transmittable. I am calling quack on the doc. Also, I have never had Covid, so from what I understand it would be impossible that I am also having a Long Covid episode. Make that quack, quack on the doc.

The Kohn Kaen area people are able to irrigate their farm land as well. We built a retention pond for them a few years back and had it shaded somewhat with trees. Cost about 40,000. Not too sure how or if this is working out given the current heat wave.

Well, we start our trip next Sunday. Given the lovely temps in Thailand at this time, we may well skip trekking around Wat Po and the Royal Palace. Really the first two days of our trip will be taken up by final prep for the visa interview and the interview itself. I plan on hitting the @lazarus restaurant recommendation and probably Asiatique one night. Other than that breakfast, pool time, and air conditioning sound appealing. 🙂

Called Bangkok Bank this Morning. Credit Card and the transaction in question are now blocked. They are sending out a new card and it should be here in about a week. Only problem is that they had my old address for the credit card even though I had changed said address on the main account. For this reason they have to send the replacement card to my Jomtien Bangkok Bank Branch. Not a big deal. I need to stop by there for something anyway. hmmm - I see a vision of myself signing 25 pieces of paper. We are leaving for Bangkok next Sunday, so looks like I may be making that trip without a Thai Bank Credit Card. Note to self -> extra stop for THB at the ATM.

I just (minutes ago) had an unusual transaction hit my Bangkok Bank Credit Card. It was for 0.03 GBP from a party I never heard of. I never have transactions against this card in anything but THB. I am very judicious in my use of this credit card, using it only for Lazada and a few restaurants. I run it (credit cards in Thailand are fixed deposit accounts) at a fairly low limit of 50,000. In all likelihood this is a typeo that occurred somewhere along the line by someone. Still discretion remains the better part of valor, so I will call Bangkok Bank tomorrow. Obviously my main concern is this might be a hacker attempt in order to set up something more nefarious. Also, just as an fyi, in checking this out tonight the Bangkok Bank Mobile App is throwing a lot of "connection unstable" messages. It is Saturday night.

Not looking forward to next month's electric bill. Out here in the Bang Lamung South Suburbs we are pushing 40 most days lately. The pool water is closing in on 34. I hope those May rains start soon. The wife's family up in the Khon Kaen area are consistently hitting 40s.

The pic is in the link.

Here is something that I was not expecting to read about today. Kanye West is looking to launch a porn company. That alone is not all that weird, but he is looking to partner with Mike Moz who is Stormy Daniels ex. https://www.tmz.com/2024/04/23/kanye-west-launch-yeezy-porn-partner-stormy-daniels-ex-husband/

Dune 2 (2024) IMDB 8.7 is available for download from IPT. I have downloaded it, but will be unlikely to get around to watching it for a while. At 2:45:47 it is a significant time commitment. I have some somewhat serious oral surgery coming up in mid-May. I may well hold off on this movie until then. I guess I will provide an enlightened analysis about what it is like to view this movie while nodding out on pain killers. 🙂

I rattled on about this once before, but the situation might be worth revisiting. Upon finishing my less than stellar college education, I rejoined my South Side of Chicago mates. We made a road trip run to Milwaukee to take in a "Humble Pie" October concert. "Humble Pie" opened with "30 Days in the Hole" and the crowd went nuts. I mean absolutely nuts. The beer tents were raided and the concert was declared a free beer concert in order to avoid riots. Me and my mates went absolutely delusional nuts after 3 days of alcohol and drug abuse. To this day I can not remember everything that happened. I do remember that at one point we stole a boat and I was driving it. One of our crew disappeared and was arrested 100 miles away for assaulting an underage girl. Good times. -> not so much. "Black Coffee" is my favorite "Humble Pie" song.

I initially posted this in a different thread, but it is a great song all by it's self. "Toad the Wet Sprocket" -> "When will we all fall down".

I am not at all certain, but it might well have been"Toad the Wet Sprocket". Or perhaps something by the "Meat Puppets".

I completely agree as well. I have only been using Maneerat for two years after receiving a recommendation from the late Striderman. Maneerat has their act together and are pleasant to deal with. I was even given a 1,000 discount on the initial Non-Im O application for having my paperwork all filled out and well organized. I had been on a Non-Im OA (long story), so I did a border run to kill the OA and then reapply for an O. The Mrs. went with me the last time that I went to renew my Extension of Stay and after viewing the available entertainment options on soi Post Office (13/2), gave me a suspicious look. 🙂

A Pattaya News article from November 2023 that speaks to financial benefits with regard to purchasing an EV. I am aware that as a Farang I may not qualify, but I intend to put the EV in the Mrs. name. https://thepattayanews.com/2023/11/17/thailand-embraces-electric-vehicle-surge-plans-for-increased-production-and-incentives-unveiled/

I found this to be a decent write-up of the BYD Dolphin. https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-reviews/byd/dolphin-ev/ Here is one for the MG5

Thanks for taking the time to write down the great info. This is a lot of help in getting a little focus on things. Looks like the MG is cheaper than the BYD. I am going to start looking around for where I can find showrooms in the general Pattaya area. I would like to do test drives at some point. I also need to reflect a bit on what really does matter to me. Like I said we are light weight mileage people for the most part (grocery shopping, out for dinner, ...). I doubt we drive 200 kms on an average week. The one longer trip we make once or twice a year is to visit the Mrs. family in Khon Kean. At 600 kms that is not going to work, plus Isan charging stations would likely be a challenge. Sounds like a good excuse to fly and rent a car for a week. I hate the drive in the first place. 🙂

For fans of "Sweet Tooth", Netflix has confirmed that S03 IMDB 7.7 will drop on June 6th, 2024. This will be the final season.

Link for best selling EVs in Thailland. https://carnewschina.com/2024/01/09/byd-is-bestselling-ev-brand-in-thailand-in-2023-neta-is-runner-up/ A link for info about EV cars in Thailand. https://www.scb.co.th/en/personal-banking/stories/home-car/buy-ev-car.html

Interesting thread. I have not had time to look through it in detail, but will do so over the coming week. I recently watched "An Optimist's Guide to the Planet" 2024 IMDB 8.7. This is an eco-travel documentary hosted by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jamie Lannister from GOT). The 6 episode documentary covers Climate Change actions that are being undertaken in a large number of countries by private citizens and startups. There is quite a lot in the TV series about EVs (including planes) and building better batteries. I noticed earlier in the thread that there was some criticism of battery material procurement of materials being unfair to African countries. There is an episode in the TV series that I have mentioned that debunks this. There are new Climate Change conscious companies in Kenya that are working on better batteries and providing much needed employment. These companies, although Euro funded, tend to be operated by Africans. I live in Thailand. We are getting nearer to the point where we need to replace our car. This is in the 2025 budget to say the least. I am starting to think seriously about going EV. We are not high mileage drivers and I think I could easily setup a charging station at my house. My other pipe dream is to convert or supplement the electric supply for our house to solar.

Sadly Dickie Betts is gone. It is interesting that one of his sons is named Duane. The dual guitars of Betts and Duane Allman were incredible. My favorite song remains "Whipping Post", which is probably more about the dual drummers, but still highlights the overall strengths of the band.

Been thinking a bit about the situation that @coxyhog posted about and I have a completely unsolicited and probably useless suggestion about this going forward. I am an American and I think you are a Brit, so maybe this affects things. Also, I live full time in Thailand on an O-NonIm retirement visa. Your situation may well be different. What I do: I have a Bangkok Bank account. I had the Mrs open an account with Bangkok Bank. My central funds are in the US with Charles Schwab. I send periodic wires from my Schwab Account to my Bangkok Bank Account. These cost $15. I can then transfer from my Bangkok Bank Account to the one that the Mrs has at no cost. I originally chose Bangkok Bank because one could route transfers through their NY branch at no cost as it was processed as a domestic transfer to the NY office. That ability was taken away a few years back. Still Bangkok Bank has pretty decent online services to enable the rest of my scheme, so I stay with them. Not at all sure, if there are any similar possibilities that might work for you from the UK, but thought I would mention this. It took me a few years to work out this cunning plan (Black Adder reference intended). btw - currently a transfer from Schwab to Bangkok Bank (at least for me) completes in less than two days. Are these two banks taking advantage of me with currency conversions? Most likely. I am wiling to put up with that in order to have a hassle free ongoing process.

A number of years ago (8 ?), before I had a Thai Bank Account, I would use XE to send a little cash to the lady who later became the Mrs. On one transaction XE held it and I had to call them. Some minor office clerk (probably a Magatard) had held the transaction because of the first name of the person I was sending a little money to. The Mrs has one of those Thai lady names that ends in "porn". This is not unusual. Anyway I get on the phone with this moron and she starts grilling me. I ask for her boss and she joins the call. At one point I hear the boss groan a little and mutter "are you trying to get us sued?". Finally I ask where their office is located and they say LA. I say "ok you probably have a person of Thai decent working in your office. Please ask them about the name". They call some guy and ask him to come to their meeting room. He verifies what I am saying and the transaction is released. I hear him chuckle a bit as he leaves the room. I never used XE again. I only put up with this in this case because the future Mrs was ill and I wanted to get her to a doctor.