Babepecker

I could not have put it better - thanks, wombat. So, jackie45, it is for the benefit of the quality of our community.

jackcorbett, thanks for taking time to reply - it was very interesting to read. Skytrooper, I am sorry that you see it so exclusively. IMHO, liberty is not defined as only the simple freedom to move wherever you wish to. Or were you absolutely forbidden to think and/or speak while being imprisoned?

Tweety, I do not know about the Netherlands, but dowry, payable by the bride (as defined above) existed all over Europe till not too long ago and it is still a part of old ethnic customs in many places (Germany, Austria, ex-Yugoslavian countries...). Regarding the quality of the deal you have struck, this sounds encouraging, IMO: "No money being send to her parents after marriage, etc." OTOH, I fear for the future of your relationship when I read a line from you like this: "I have to accept." As it is your relationship/marriage, only you can say whether it is worth it - and I do not necessarily mean the financial expense, but the idea of really having to pay for a person, a wife in your case. Another question, IMO, is: what do her parents need those 400k Baht for, if they are really "middle/high-class"? Furthermore, it surprizes me a lot that they would think that a Dutch with a job would have a problem showing up with 10 000 Euro, especially considering that you have known each other for 5 years and that their daughter visited you in Europe. Anyway, good luck to you and 'have a parachute ready, please'.

Hub, the good old Webster's Encyclopedic etc. Dictionary says: dowry 1. Also, dower. the money, goods, or estate which a woman brings to her husband at marriage. 2. ... Now, I obviously do not know that particular 'deal', as I am not a party in his relationship, really , but I am pretty sure that Tweety is a grown-up who can accept that characterising a payment of 10 000 US$ (500k Baht - 100k Baht that he hopes to get back) for a wife, in the year 2004 , as 'being played' is not necessarily an exaggeration. It is my opinion and I believe that it depends on one's personal angle. If I read Tweety's initial post well, his Thai wife is going to move to Europe to live with him, meaning that he believes that she is civilized enough to be able to do it. Compare that with the 'reverse-dowry' (see above) custom and see how it fits... Btw, the dowry as described at the beginning of this post is still alive and well in the rural parts of Croatia - but only as a show. OTOH, I heard rumours that some foreign women really believed the story. On to Hubby's 2nd installment: I credit the members of this Forum for having their own mind about anything they read on the Internet. You, seemingly, do not. We shall both have to live with the imperfections of the other one. Btw, I still believe that Tweety is being played - read below for the, simplicistic, explanation.

jackcorbett, I read your posts and it is still not clear to me: for what purpose, exactly, would you like to bring 5-6 guns to Thailand? Skytrooper, individual liberty begins and ends in a person's mind - not with the purchase and/or sale of a firearm/gun, IMO. :D Btw, to most 'Westerners/Farang' that old line "freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose" is applicable - as everyone feels that there is a lot to lose (it is in one's mind, remember ) if they really try to exercise their freedom(s).

ting_tong, I guess clubman has a special "license to brag in the Open to Everyone Forum". Will have to obtain one for myself.

Tweety, sorry to break it to you, but: you are being played. Take care of yourself before it is too late - forget her.

Phonetic would look like: skedjul This from a speaker of a phonetically (at least we strive to accomplish this) written language ('lengvidž' ).

Congratulations!

Thanks for the info, suitcase - it is highly and widely appreciated.

scarface, you've just won a decaf diet Coke... ...though you might have to settle for something more toxic if we ever meet in Pattaya. Btw, we have, since a month or so ago, a Brasilian playing for Croatia's side... ...oooops, I mean a South-American-Croatian-citizen.

...and so believes about 95% of the world's population. Anyone willing to guess the place of residence of the other 5%? CheshireTom, thanks for the link.

Could you, please, be more precise: which site, what kind of proxy etc.?

growler, now that was funny. He was lucky that Santa hadn't shot back. To the topic: a pine in front of the building I live in got its Xmas decoration yesterday - it is all getting very weird.

LeoTex, thanks - it worked. I somehow failed to check whether it had anything to do with my personal settings - I guess I got too used to complete automation... Cheers

Skytrooper, I am glad that you were able to make it to Thailand, despite everything. Some of the Skytrooper's rich history on this forum (accessible only for the Members) - introduction: topic=10946&st=120entry127192 topic=11213&st=0entry127136 topic=10946&st=90entry126626 and a really interesting 1, regarding his (in)ability to travel to Thailand: topic=10946&st=0entry123977 Let's see whether those stay unaltered...

Don't know about the USA, but around here (Croatia, Austria,...) it started on the November 2nd.

Yep, it is accurate now. Something else, though similar: the Board didn't adjust the time for the daylight-energy-saving: -1 hour that we in Europe have had from the 31st of October onwards (until the last sunday in March 2005). It is 03:32 here, right now, my PC tells me the same, but the Board shall report back to me that I posted this at 04:32.

echster, thanks for reporting - very interesting and informative. :lol:

I guess HM The Queen would know about Utah... Cute, thanks for posting that link.

monkeyman, well, yes, any media/press, anywhere, IMO, is willing to put a spin on anything that they believe would increase their circulation and could get through with... So, I can not really know whether this had actually happened or not. Hope it had not.

Even if it is/was a media stitch-up, Connolly did make a joke involving a private person (as opposed to a public one) who was, at the time, in danger of becoming a victim of a public-to-be murder - and it did happen, eventually...

shane_sangthip#1, am I drunk, high or did you manage to hit that 'Add Reply' button really fast about 6 times in a row?

Well, at the risk of sounding like a know-it-all, it could be quite a lot of different things. Off the top of my head it sounds a bit like that virus/worm from May of this year: Sasser, version A thru F (or more). A patch for Win XP is available from the Microsoft site (www.msn.com). It could, of course, also be a dialer or a very strange configuration of your Dial-Up Networking, though I believe that it is less likely. Question time: have you got an anti-virus program on your PC? Do you regularly (at least once a week) update its virus database? Have you got a personal firewall installed on your PC? Have you got a spyware detector? If the answer to all of these questions is yes: did you run it on your PC since your PC started misbehaving and what did those programs report? If not: check Avast anti-virus (www.avast.com), Zone Alarm or Kerio Personal Firewall (firewalls) and Spyware Search & Destroy plus Ad-Aware (spyware detectors). All of these are freeware and downloadable from the internet. Back to your problem: Do you know how to get your PC to boot in the Safe Mode? If not: get someone who knows what he is doing to help you with your PC on-site (where you are...). If you do know: get (download) the above mentioned software from a friend's PC, burn it onto a CD-ROM, boot your PC in the Safe Mode and run/install the programmes. One of those should find the culprit. If all of this sounds unintelligible, ask cybers - I believe that he could help you further. Good luck

Not before saturday evening, but then... - Zagreb beware! growler, I am sure that you meant: they were dancing in a street in Vaduz. Btw, Andorra-Macedonia 1:0 (a few days ago it was Macedonia-Holland 2:2 ).