leemo

No way...1988 had me handing out 100s for traffic offenses whether real, imagined or created. Stop me and take one was the going principle, which resulted in a few to-dos (when they demanded more), but was never guilty of parting with more than a single. 18 yrs down the road and 200 seems fair, but only if I know or concede that I may have committed an offence, and every stop in the past 5 years has been legit. By contrast, somebody mentioned the PI (lived there a year)...sure, if BiB stop you in PI for whatever reason, best advice is sauwow and have your road tax ready. leemo

Had me doubled over first thing this morning...now some body thinks I'm a crazy farang, but was worth it.

Priceless. Two Irishmen in London whilst looking for work were strolling down Oxford Street. After walking for a few minutes, Paddy turns to Murphy with a look of amazement on his face and says: "Murphy, will you have a look at that shop over there. I thought that London was supposed to be expensive but that shop is as cheap as chips!" Murphy says: "Paddy you're right so you are, will you have a look at that. Suits £10.00, Shirts £4.00, Trousers £5.00, I think that we Should buy the lot and take them back to Ireland. We would make a tidy profit selling them in Dublin, so we would." Paddy says in agreement: "Murphy that is as good an idea as you'll ever have, but I'm pretty sure that you have to pay Taxes and duty on things like that. The shopkeeper will never let us have them if he thinks we're going to export them and make our fortune, so he won't." Murphy thinks and says: "Paddy, I've got idea! You can do the best English accent, out of the pair of us. You go in there and do the talking and I'll just stand behind you and say nothing. He'll never guess we're Irish. No he won't." "OK Murphy", agrees Paddy, "I'll do the talking, you just stand there and look English." So the two visitors to the illustrious capital city go into the shop, where Paddy is greeted politely by the owner. Paddy then proceeds to do his best Cockney impression: "Awwwight Guvnor, I'll 'ave 20 of yer Whistles, 20 Dickie Dirts' and 20 pairs of strides. And if yer don't mind I'll be paying with the 380 'Pictures of the Queen' in my 'Sky Rocket'." Upon hearing this request from Paddy, the owner smiles, takes a look at Murphy as well, then says to Paddy "You're Irish aren't you?" Quite bemused, Paddy replies, "Oh be'Jesus. Mary Mother of Christ, if that ain't me best English accent? How in God's name did you know that we were Irish?" The owner replies: "This is a Dry Cleaners".

And they're not a bit shy on pricing either. The 88er is running at 80k psm with 100k being touted, and at the rate things are going by the time they get the foundation laid the top floors will be trading at 120-150k psm, which is a respectable challenge to bkk's creamiest properties. leemo

Seems they're putting together some 88 floors of luxury condo and supposedly the tallest residential block in the world...here in Jomtien! Exciting, except that I am familiar with the background of one of the 'agents' for this project, and wouldn't touch anything he was involved in with someone else's ten-foot bargepole. leemo

As a newbie 5 years ago I was taken on a tour of sois Bukhao and its estuaries when I had the same sentiment...now it's changed from the middle of nowhere to the centre of the universe. Far from an authority on such things, but never seen such a massive construction programme as in Pattaya over the past 3 years, and strangely enough the buyers still seem to be backed up. Is it a trend, or a bubble that's gonna leave a lot of losers, mostly farang? leemo

Is marriage an institution, or is that men who marry belong in one?

You'll read this joke two times, I know you will, you will, you will! No Speaka de English A bus stops and 2 Italian men get on. They sit down and engage in an animated conversation. The lady sitting next to them ignores them at first, but her attention is galvanized when she hears one of them say the following: "Emma comefirst. Den I come. Den two asses come together. I come once-a-more. Two asses, they come together again. I come again and pee twice. Then I acome one lasta time." "You foul-mouthed, sex-obsessed swine, " retorted the lady indignantly. "In this country....we don't speak aloud in public places about our sex lives." "Hey, coola down lady," said the man. "Who talkin' abouta sex? I'm a justa tellin' my frienda how to spell Mississippi'." leemo

Just discovered that my Vaio's DVD ROM doesn't function; right now only CDs work, and though I have never tried to use a DVD in it, this still comes as a bit of a surprise. Ok, ran through troubleshooter, which said I need a decoder to engage the DVD function. It's a HITACHI DVD-ROM GD 5200. Any help appreciated since live-in uses it not only to shed off boredom but also wants to learn Engrish. Oh yes, on this score, can anyone recommend a suitable DVD (once the ROM actually works)? Tia leemo

Some classic responses, and as amply demonstrated on this thread, newbies asking the same ol' questions are not only tolerated but extremely well treated compared to some boards I have stumbled upon, where members take themselves too seriously. leemo

I thought I posted on this board but must've been another, about Bangkok Air's BKK-PP-BKK red-eye offering at 3920, which is either a promo or one of those regular deals that tend to go by unnoticed because most travel agents are more interested in commission than getting you the cheapest ticket. All booked now, off next week, but been bushwhacked into staying at the F*ckabout! Re - Air Asia: Though I happily sent tilak-du-jour to someplace in Isaan a couple of years ago for all of 9 baht + taxes, I have since found many of their 'specials' not competitive at all once the surcharges are added in. Still, a carrier worth keeping tabs on. leemo

Been flying EVA for years (when the upgrade used to be 10k miles, since upped to 15k, now 20k!), and for the first couple of years was always hopelessly overweight LHR-BKK with never a problem - until the day I took the piss...travelling with a friend, we had a combined checkin weight of 150k (you read right, 90kg me, 60kg him), which did not include refugee-style carry-on baggage. At first they thought we were part of a group, but when they discovered the mean truth their backs arched...long story, but they separated our luggage and ended up giving me upgrade and other weight concessions that I was not entitled to, plus a heap of discretionary allowance, leeway, consideration, sympathy (I was booked as wheelchair disabled), plus other pretend allowances to bring me down to a bare minimum of 5kg overweight, for which they charged me the princely sum of £207. Oh yes, they were not amused when I offered to bin 5kg weight in the form of a couple of Marmites and other items of dubious import, to bring me into line. Anyway, it was my fault, not theirs, but aside from this incident, and keeping in mind I've mellowed in LoS a while, their overall service is tolerable and the individual screens in their new planes tend to make the haul easier. As a side note, I think I once read that overweight is generally charged at 1% of the first-class fare per kilo, so this rates the EVA first-class LHR-BKK-LHR fare at around £4140! Sounds a tad dear, as in dear me! leemo

I normally pay around £500 (35-37000 baht) for the EVA bkk-lhr-bkk route, but have recently heard the same ticket is available somewhere on the web for around £400-420. Guidance appreciated if anyone happens to know, but will otherwise be booking through my regular agent probably on Monday 7th for Saturday 12th if available. Tia leemo

Thanks a heap; lots to go on, also discovered bittorrents, so adsl working 24/7. leemo

Most downloaded comes in winmediaplayer format...will DivX play these too?

Thanks

Any suggestions on converting downloaded movies to a DVD format for viewing on TV? leemo

Here we go with a little knowledge being lethal...ok... Sunny: It's a domestic setup, one computer with no plans for networking, so I guess I shan't be needing the router, but with no reinforced concrete between modem and anything, wireless becomes an option. wombat: the DLinks I saw were router and USB, so that sort of narrows it down to DLink USB or wireless, of which there were several in the 3000 - 5000 range. Another week for connection, and if no further info/recs/advice forthcoming, bladder will make the decision on the day. Many thanks. leemo

Mid-June will be no shortage of accommodation, mobiles, or beer. You're made! leemo

Welcome to Pty, and VT takes very little getting used to. Seems a USB ADSL modem is required, but according to all the stallholders I spoke with at ComCity only externals are available, so I guess the choice now is between USB and wireless. Phone due for install (crossed fingers legs and eyes) 26th and connecting on the 2nd, so am sure to research until the last minute. leemo

This morning I was pulled up by the lobby lady and told that TT&T have got it together for an ADSL service in my block, provided you have a TT&T phone line. My 17 months of patience had finally paid off, but TiT so the past is forgiven! OK, off to TT&T at Carrefour, organised a line for 3k which includes a telephone, 12 month free caller ID and a couple of other extras, and was shown a sheet with dozens of internet service options...from drought to abundance! Did the rest of the paperwork and I'm pretty sure there's a catch somewhere because according to my understanding the monthly rate for the TT&T service I subscribed to is a suspiciously low 790 bt/month for unlimited 512/256. They asked for 2 months up front...at that rate I was prepared to tie in by paying a year up front, but the girl said their system does not support advance payments beyond 2 months. Taking this together with other access availability and pricing, it may be that 790 is their fishing rate for only the first 2 months, so expect a major whinge around this time in July. Then they said I would need a USB modem, so off to ComCity to look for an internal, but none available and the externals run from 1200 - 5000 (wireless), with True doing a compact USB for 1800. Now, a couple of years ago, wireless was generally regarded as a bit unreliable, so if anyone has info on current wireless tech (i.e. is it really worth the extra 3-4k) that would be appreciated, and also, having not had any previous experience with ADSL, is there any difference between one regular USB modem and another, or are they much the same? Also, as I'm now committed to TT&T, the best I can hope for is a positive service review by other TT&T subscribers. Tx in advance. leemo

Not all, monkey, not all; only 5% casualties.

I see, cybers, but when the puter was new and unpartitioned I naturally checked the disk sizes and explorer's breakdown of used/free space totalled 200 on each. Seems somewhere between then and partitioning it resolved the issue. Fair enough, and many thanks. leemo

Here's one for the nerds...my hdds seem to have lost around 5% of their capacity. Started life with 2x200, and all was fine on that front for a while. Checking hdd status immediately before partitioning, they showed (as current) 186 + 187 with Explorer, whilst Partition Magic gave them (as current) each 190.779 post-partition. I have run through all diags that my limited knowledge and software allows, and every disk check and test shows all in order, but somewhere between installing XP and partitioning the drives seem to have lost 14 + 13 gb, which was somehow reduced to 9+9gb after partition (10'ish under treesizepro). All partitions use NTFS. Current status (explorer/properties) reads: C: 11.9 used + 37.2 free = 49.1 G: 21.0 used + 116.0 free = 137 total: 186.1 D: 6.55 used + 81.3 free = 87.85 Z: 32.4 used + 65.9 free = 98.3 total: 187.15 Current status (partition magic) reads: C: 12.243 used + 38.108 free = 50.351 G: 21.556 used + 118.871 free = 140.427 total: 190.779 D: 6.71 used + 83.326 free = 90.036 Z: 33.242 used + 67.501 free = 100.743 total: 190.779 Current status (treesizepro) reads: C: 12.638 used + 38.109 free = 50.747 G: 20.658 used + 118.871 free = 139.529 total: 190.276 D: 6.420 used + 83.326 free = 89.726 Z: 32.359 used + 67.501 free = 99.860 total: 189.576 I realise the three progs may be using different criteria to examine disk space, but I would be happy if just one gave me the target reading. Thanks in anticipation, and again all round for the enormous public and PMed responses to my previous dilema. leemo

Yep, his predecessor also stood up for what he thought was right, like investigating Vatican fiscal shenanigans - and look what happened to him! leemo