nkped

Looks good. Always have been unclear what delineates a patty melt from a burger.

I have encountered sandwiches I couldn't eat with my hands in the US, but they seem to be far more common in Pattaya.

Don't believe I ever had a hamburger served on a bread roll. Usually get mine on buns.

Same two I arrived with.

On one of the islands east of Phuket and close to Krabi, I was once served a beer Chang on the last day of Ramadan by a young woman wearing a very beautiful hijab and other finery to celebrate the holiday.

More or less knew that I snored like a boar hog. The GFE provider emphatically confirmed same. So I decided it might be time to go see the medics. I made an appointment at the ears, nose and throat clinic at Bangkok Hospital Pattaya. The specialist there examined the mouth and nose. Said I had a deviated septum and, I think, something else which might have been impeding the air flow. Then she referred me to a neurologist. Here things were a little bit less obvious. Discovered I have pretty much lost the ability to stand on one foot even if I am stone cold sober. A few other things, the purpose of which was not entirely obvious. Then, as anticipated, I was scheduled for a sleep test. It takes place in a regular hospital room with hookups for the monitors and what looks like domes for IR and low light TV cameras on the ceiling. The technician attaches a bunch of electrodes and bands. Then there was the tube with two short extensions to go into the nostrils, to check respiration I suppose. However, it also had a plastic flap that hung down over my mouth. I told her, "We're not doing this." After a bit of back and forth, she checks and comes back with a rig without the mouth flap. Properly cinched up like the Xmas turkey, I'm then supposed to go to sleep. Told me if cannot sleep after 1 hour give sleeping pill. Was somewhat relaxed but no where close to asleep when they came back with the sleeping pill after 40 minutes. That did the trick. At some time during the night, they put a CPAP mask on me which was anticipated. First impression was that it was annoying, awkward and pointless. As diagnostic procedures go, it was not as bad as a colonoscopy or prostrate biopsy but it's not a very pleasant way to spend the evening. I go back next week to talk about the results. I expect the doctor will tell me I need a CPAP machine. At this point, my strong inclination is to say thanks, but no thanks.

US. I'm sure no real difference in efficacy from Colgate but prefer the taste.

I just discovered that Villa Market sells Crest toothpaste. One of those comfort items for some of us.

A couple of novels I am working on now. The Quantum Spy by David Ignatius. Ignatius is a foreign affairs columnist for the Washington Post who also writes novels and has the reputation of having good contacts in the intelligence community. Apparently quantum computing is the great holy grail in the digital world. The tone is fairly quiet, but the subject revolves around the operations of the CIA and Chinese intelligence agencies and their attempts to gain information relating to quantum computer. No real idea as to whether he is accurate as to anything, but it is well imagined and a good read. The General by C.S. Forester. This is the C.S. Forester of the Horatio Hornblower novels. The fictional "hero" is Lieutenant General Herbert Curzon who reached the level of corps commander in WWI. He's brave, incredibly hard working, humane to his troops when it is possible and not terribly imaginative. Forester published this around 1935 and was praised for getting things right about combat on the western front although he never served due to medical reasons. Curzon gets jumped from Major to Major General in short order due to casualties and people in the peace time army being relieved as being manifestly unqualified. Max Hastings wrote the introduction to this edition and says that the reputation of British leadership in the Great War didn't begin to deteriorate until about 1929. He is also of the view that much of the more recent criticism is unjustified and they did what had to be done in very difficult circumstances. Hastings quotes the figure, which I believe I have seen elsewhere, of 58 British generals who were killed in action.

Drafted responses to a few of those, less than 10 and NOT State Department. You demonstrate that what the agency did was procedurally regular and that is usually it. I have heard of them working when the agency had failed to do anything for an unreasonable period of time. Visa decisions are notoriously unreviewable.

Martin, is that a tourist visa you are trying to get for Pin?

Out on an international flight the morning of 9 April. Cleared immigration outbound in perhaps 20 minutes. Returned the evening of 16 April landing at about 9:30pm. It was one of the Bangkok Air flights which parks on the east ramp and you bus in to the terminal. Walked through the door, up the escalator and the sign said "immigration 50 meters". Didn't think that was possible. Cleared immigration in perhaps 10 minutes and my bags were already on the belt

About ten days ago I saw a train with 20-30 flat bead cars with shipping containers come through town headed north. Suspect they were empty as there was only a single locomotive.

It wasn't recent, but I had the hunter's chicken once. It was way too dry for my taste.

Hadn't heard the term before. I can grasp the idea and goal, but it's the internet. It's going to take a lot of moderation to enforce. Now, why is it that the draft at the Fighting Cock Agogo is warm?

So that's the reason for the two car garage.

Back when Singha contained formaldehyde.

Went to a farang oriented bar/grill on the darkside last night. Looked at the menu and ordered ham with eggs and chips. I ask for scrambled eggs--blank look. So I tried kai kon--blank look. Okay, I'm tone deaf so I pull out the phone and it comes back with ไข่คน. Still a blank look so at that point I let "that farang" out of his cage and say never mind. The serving wench doesn't give up so easily and goes to ask the cook who was familiar with the concept and the term. The eggs were okay and the ham was edible.

The US had a major logistics base in Sattahip during the Vietnam war. Whether that had anything to do with the existence of the rail line, I don't know.

Actually retirement age farang.

When there is a sudden influx of people getting on elevators which are going up when they clearly want to go to the first floor.

Saw it come through town on the way north a few days ago. It had several coaches so it does appear to have a good ridership.

Not counting two wisdom teeth which were impacted, I have all the teeth I had on 20th birthday. Thank God for small favors.

As stated, it does not seem likely. The U.S. position is that dual nationality can happen depending on the laws of the respective countries and is not a matter of great concern. I won't say that the U.S. couldn't inform another country that certain people had naturalized but it would probably have to be with public notice that it was going to do so as it would be the disclosure of information about U.S. citizens. I won't pretend to know the Thai law on the subject, but the ground truth seems to be that Thai consulates have no problem with issuing new passports to individuals who had them in the past. Checking at the airport would require either airline staff looking for admission stamps on the U.S. passport or a real time interface between the airline and Thai immigration computer systems. I doubt there would be any great enthusiasm about that on the part of the airlines.

No, regular mail.