Gary

I blame the so called health experts. They say a hard mattress is the best. I say they are full of shit.This old man has lots of morning pain from sleeping on a "firm" mattress. My wife thought I was crazy for spending a LOT of money on a seven inch thick latex mattress. They have different hardness's available, I regret that I didn't order a softer one than I got.

I had a stroke several years ago. My wife took me to the provincial government hospital. Three days there and a dozen tests even including a chest X-ray. They have a body MRI machine and a smaller one for apparently whatever will fit inside it. My head fit in with no problems. Anyways I was afraid they were just running my bill up with so many tests. When I was discharged I went to the pharmacy and they gave me a bag full of drugs, then to the cashier. My total bill including the drugs was 7,000 baht. Based on that, the MRI on my head couldn't have have been very expensive. The Thai private ho

I too like air purifiers. The problem I have found is that new filters are difficult to find. I actually have two machines, both Hataris. The first one apparently went obsolete and filters were no longer available. I researched different brands but could not find replacement filters for them. That prompted me to buy another Hatari. Replacement filters are available but the price is around 1,300 baht. Pretty expensive for no longer than they last. As a side note, the difference between the older model filters and the newer model is the newer ones are a little longer. I did cut the top off a new

I'm fairly adventurous and will try to eat most anything, BUT, I draw the line at rats and insects. The girls tell me not to confuse rice rats with city rats. I see it as a rat is a rat regardless of where it came from. My wife doesn't eat rats because they are far more expensive than chicken, fish or pork.

Typical government work. "Hi, we're from the government and we're here to help you".

I recently watched a video that showed how to clear up headlight lenses. The magic treatment used WD 40 and it worked wonders.

The thing that bothers me the most is the eyewitnesses reports that the plane had parts falling off and that there was smoke. There were a number of witnesses. Are they all wrong? I was sure that the flight recorders would clear that up but there is no mention of it yet. If there was a structural failure while in flight Boeing will deserve to have their tit in the wringer big time.

I learned a lesson from lost baggage. I always carry a backpack as a carry on. I keep a couple changes of clothes plus anything small or expensive as well. The last time my luggage was lost was on Thai Air. I was working in Thailand at the time. I got a call while working that I could go to the airport to pick up my bag. I told them that they lost it and they could get it back to me at my work place. That afternoon a Thai limo came to the factory and gave me the suitcase. It wasn't a disaster or anything but it was irritating. And yes, I have a bright pink piece of twine tied aroun

My loving wife put Line on my phone. When I got a look at all the crap that came from Line, I took it back off. I told my wife that if it is important enough to call me that she can spend a few baht. My wife loves all that social crap and she uses it all.

Most farangs likely know that they cannot own land in Thailand in their own name. There are many bent lawyers that will tell you that there are ways to get around this. Regardless of which scheme they use, the farang will get the short end of the stick and the scheme will be illegal. Even condos have ownership rules. If the farang allotment is used up (49 percent) you cannot own the condo in your name. I have also noticed that some corrupt companies are still offering 90 year leases. The maximum length of a legal lease is 30 years, period.

I used True for several years, then started having problems with the WiFi Internet. I discovered that their service department sucks big time. I had a hissy fit and cut up three True SIM cards, credit and all. The office where my wife signed up for post paid refused to cancel the post paid and she had to drive 50 kilometers to a bigger shop to cancel. They charged her an extra month to cancel. I'll NEVER use True again. I now have four AIS Sim's. I think AIS has the best coverage and signal strength. I was a little irritated when AIS got into a pissing contest with 7-11 and you can no longer t

I too was sitting through the video. After 20 or 25 minutes a lady who works there asked me if I understood Thai. I told he that I did not and she took me out of the room to get my reflexes checked. That wasn't a problem and I got my new license. All in all not a difficult deal.

I have a story about the Louis Vuitton shop in Paris. I was in Paris with my Thai boss. He was going into the Louis Vuitton shop. I told him that I would wait for him in a restaurant across the street. I was the only customer in the place. I ordered a beer and was told that if I didn't order food, I had to sit outside to drink my beer. That didn't do much for my mood. My boss came from the shop and asked me if I would go back to the Louis Vuitton. He explained that he had bought his quota and he needed one more item. I started laughing and told him that I had never heard of a store that had

Anyone who buys anything from Louis Vuitton definitely has more money than sense.

Up here in the boonies of Loei province, one would think the air would be pretty clean. It is good most of the time but this time of year many farmers burn the leaves off sugar cane. I get up in the mornings and see black ash all over everything. There really is no good valid reason to burn the cane. If the government would forbid the burning, farmers would probably still burn it. The easy sure way to stop this is for the sugar mills to simply refuse to buy burnt cane. The government could easily enforce that. Burning would be totally eliminated. Hopefully the government should realize this an

I'm not a big fan of Chinese products but I am a Xiaomi fan. I use what works best for me. When my wife's Samsung S5 died, I too was looking at new phones. My trusty old Nokia was working and still works fine but the tiny screen and my old eyes no longer work well together. After a lot of research, I bought her a top of the line Xiaomi. I bought a top of the line because she uses all that social crap and uses the speaker while she is cooking or doing something that keeps her hands busy. I had thought that when the S5 came back from the shop, I'd get the Xiaomi. I ended up with the S5 because s

I have been using Chrome as my default browser for quite some time. It started freezing after the latest update. I was going to change to Firefox but decided to download the latest Opera. It is working like a charm. I had one minor problem with Opera not working to view some videos. Opera has a built in ad blocker that was blocking those videos. I disabled it and am using AdBlock Plus. I am surprised how well Opera is working. It is now my default browser. It is faster than Chrome or Firefox.

I keep track of currency exchange rates with XE. I find the the online rates closely match what I get when I make a wire transfer; https://www.xe.com/currency/thb-thai-baht

I remember the first year I put the 800,000 baht in the bank. The immigration officer said that was good and had been in more than three months. He then asked me if I was working. I told him the I was not working and was retired. He then asked me how I could live in Thailand without spending any money. I showed him my Citibank ATM card and told him I draw money from my US bank, I had saved a few of the withdrawal slips and showed them to him. He told me it would be best to live on the 800,000 and top it up three months before my visa expired. I have done it that way ever since.

If I had not had a passport copy, I'd have probably had to drive back home with the cops following me. I did offer. Since I live only about 8 kilometers from there it may not have been a problem. I really don't know.

I have no particular loyalty to any airline. I do avoid United and Philippine Air because of really shitty service. I hate long layovers so that is always the first thing I look at. I will pay more for direct flights or short layovers. Over the years I have used a number of online agencies and never had any problems with any of them. I Google "book flights" and work through the hits. Many years ago I used to fly courier. I don't think that even exists anymore.

A friend of mine and I were up on a mountain having lunch. It is a very small scenic village with very few farangs who visit. I was surprised to see two immigration cops. I carry a copy of my passport and the latest extension stamp. I showed them my Thai drivers license and the copies. My friend did the same and they were satisfied and left. I'm sure that we were the only farangs in the village

A GUY GOES INTO A BAR IN NEW YORK WHERE ALL THE BARTENDERS ARE ROBOTS: THE GUY SITS DOWN AT THE BAR AND THE ROBOT ASKS: "WHAT WILL YOU HAVE? THE GUY REPLIES, "WHISKEY." THE ROBOT BRINGS BACK HIS DRINK AND ASKS, "WHAT'S YOUR IQ?" THE GUY SAYS, "168" The robot talks about physics, space exploration and medical technology. AFTER THE GUY LEAVES, HE PAUSES AT THE STREET CORNER AND THINKS ABOUT WHAT HE JUST ENCOUNTERED, AND THE MORE HE THINKS ABOUT IT THE MORE CURIOUS HE GETS, SO HE DECIDES TO GO BACK. THE ROBOT ASKS, "WHAT'S YOUR DRINK?" THE GUY ANSWER

AN OLD DOBERMAN An old Doberman was chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a hungry mountain lion heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch. The old Doberman thinks, “Uh oh! I'm in deep trouble now!” Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the lion is about to leap, the old Doberman exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious lion! I wonder, if there are any more around here?” Hearing this, the young lion halt

He will indeed live forever.