BigDUSA

I was looking for a house in your price range last December and found that the new developments have MANY homes for rent in your price range. Rent a car and local driver and go for a drive. I can recommend the women who mans the taxi stand at Sky-Top guesthouse for a driver.

Airbus is asking European governments to help cover the $18.2 billion in development costs for the A350, threatening to reignite a debate about the level of state support for the European jet maker and U.S. rival Boeing. Airbus approached European nations for aid, and ministers have agreed "in principle" to the idea, Peter Hintze, Germany's deputy economy minister, told reporters Tuesday at the Berlin Air Show. His comments were echoed by Dominique Bussereau, junior minister for transport in France. Loan commitments for the new A350 wide-body jet may exacerbate a trade dispute between the European Union and U.S. over aid for plane makers. The U.S. filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization in 2005 about European assistance to aerospace companies. The EU filed a countersuit against the U.S. and the dispute is still being weighed at the WTO in Geneva. "It's not going to do trade diplomacy any favors, but it's not like they have a choice," said Richard Aboulafia, vice president at Teal Group, a consultant in Fairfax, Va. "Delaying the most important product for the company in the name of diplomacy doesn't sound like a smart move." The A350 will seat 250 to 350 passengers when it enters service, which is planned for 2013. The long-range jet will compete with Boeing's current 777 model and the 787 Dreamliner, due to be delivered to the first customer next year. For previous Airbus models, the governments of France, Germany and the U.K. have generally provided loans to cover a third of development costs, after a 1992 agreement with the U.S. that allowed the practice. The U.S. abandoned that accord before filing the WTO challenge. The WTO case makes it more complicated for France and Germany to move ahead with direct loans. Those governments and the U.K. have been exploring other means to help aerospace companies, such as research credits. France, Germany, the U.K. and Spain, the four countries where Airbus has its main operations, made a commitment in September 2005 to help Airbus if the manufacturer made a formal request for loans. Spanish and British ministers participated in Tuesday's presentation by their German and French counterparts. "We granted such loans for the development of the A380," Hintze said Tuesday. "We agree in principle that we will also do that with the A350, clearly complying with the rules of the World Trade Organization, clearly complying with European Union rules." The ministers have a "clear expectation that the focus of research, development and production will be in Europe." Boeing spokesman Charlie Miller said that "what is important is Peter Hintze's recognition that any support must be World Trade Organization-consistent." "So that rules out launch aid," Miller said in an interview from Geneva. "So what nature the government support would take, we clearly cannot see." Louis Gallois, chief executive officer of Airbus parent EADS — European Aeronautic, Defence & Space — said Tuesday at a briefing in Berlin that Airbus needs more state aid to compete fairly with Boeing. "We are asking only for a level playing field with the competitor," Gallois said in an interview. "We feel the competitor is getting support from its government for research and development, and from the states of Kansas and Washington." Once again it looks like Airbus goes hat in one hand and the begging bowl in the other to the EU looking for taxpayer cash to support their business. Have they no shame? EU taxpayer

I just finished a three week stay at Sky-Top where the owner has installed wired internet connection in the rooms. No extra charge for high speed internet and no joiner fees.

The first of Boeing Co.'s highly anticipated 787 jetliners is on track for a June "power on" milestone, and subsequent planes are arriving at the final assembly floor in better and better shape, the executive in charge of the 787 program says. Boeing invited reporters into its 98-acre production area Monday to show that the aircraft maker has overcome parts shortages and hiccups in its new, decentralized manufacturing model and is making steady progress toward the 787's much-delayed first flight. Last month, Boeing postponed the jet's debut in commercial service until the third quarter of 2009. The latest delay was the third revision to its delivery schedule. The delays will likely cost the company billions of dollars in additional costs and penalties. Inside the massive hangar, four planes were lined up nose-to-tail in varying states of completion. Patrick Shanahan, general manager for the 787 program, said the mood on the assembly floor had shifted from frustrated to fired-up in the last two months as the installation of critical systems on Plane No. 1 neared completion. But despite seven-day work weeks, Shanahan also said he expects some of the pieces of the first plane to come together at the last moment in a "photo finish," and joked that someone tosses the equivalent of a grenade into his office every half hour or so. Powering up the 787 for the first time — a major milestone, but one of many that remain before Boeing can deliver the first of its new planes — will show the company how successful its next-generation production model really is. The company relied almost entirely on outside companies around the world to manufacture, test and put together major parts of the aircraft before shipping them to Everett for final assembly. The 787, Boeing's first newly designed jet since airlines started flying the 777 in 1995, will be the world's first large commercial airplane made mostly of carbon-fiber composites, which are lighter and more durable than aluminum and don't corrode like metals. Boeing says it will be cheaper to maintain and offer greater fuel efficiency than comparable planes flying today. The final assembly phase was meant to be less labor-intensive than the assembly of traditional metal commercial airplanes. As an example, Shanahan said workers had to drill more than a million holes to assemble a 747 but less than 10,000 to put together the major components of a 787. But Plane No. 1, which sits at the front of the production line, arrived in Washington with far fewer parts pre-installed than Boeing expected. The factory floor wasn't designed to accommodate the extra work, as evidenced by ad-hoc scaffolding that still surrounds the planes, and local laborers were left with a much longer to-do list than they had planned. Shanahan said partner companies have since gained a clearer understanding of what's required. He reported that the fourth plane's components arrived in Everett much closer to the state in which Boeing expected them. Beyond the power-on testing, the 787 must clear several hurdles to assure the Federal Aviation Administration that it's ready for commercial service. In early July, engineers are set to begin a monthslong process of testing the plane's structural limits by simulating extreme conditions in a second, nearby hangar. During that so-called "static testing" phase, engineers will compare the test results with their predictions about how the 787, with its new materials, design and manufacturing process, should fare in extreme conditions. "This is the graduation event, if you will, for the 787," said Randy Harley, vice president of engineering and technology for the 787. Once static testing is complete, Boeing will send six of the 787s into the air to test everything from how they handle at different altitudes and in different climates to how noisy it is in the cabin. Assuming all goes well, Plane No. 7 will be delivered to All Nippon Airways in the third quarter of 2009, even as a years-long process of fatigue testing — meant to simulate decades of commercial service — continues. At each phase, Shanahan said feedback from testing is likely to force Boeing and its partners to change the manufacturing and assembly process. "Somebody will call me with their hair on fire," he said. "It's normal."

l Where are you located? Map would help plus when are you open?

I've stopped by a couple of times and enjoyed the new bar. Good food at a reasonable price. Music played was decent and not to loud.

Less then 3 days till wheels UP and I'm on my way to Pattaya. See you later this week. I do like the sound of later this week.

Leading US jet builder Boeing denied Saturday German media reports that deliveries of its next-generation B787 Dreamliner would be delayed by another nine weeks. "There is no further delay. It is exactly what we announced in April. It is the same schedule, no further delay," Boeing spokeswoman Yvonne Leach told AFP. Earlier Saturday German newspaper Die Welt reported that Boeing had signalled a further nine-month delay to clients for the Dreamliner. The report cited a letter sent by the company explaining that orders will now be fulfilled a total of 27 months late. Die Welt said the delay would affect primarily companies expecting to take delivery from 2012 and beyond, including Air Europe, Gulf Air, Vietnam Airlines and British Airways. On April 9, Boeing said the first B787 flight would move into the fourth quarter of this year rather than the end of the second, with first delivery planned for the third quarter of 2009 instead of the first.

Sorry we missed each other. I give a shout out in the baggage area for a ride share. So far I have a 50% success rate.

Looking to share a car arriving on UA at 2310, 7 May.

Looking forward to the next progress report. See you 8 May. Are you going to offer brewed coffee? I have two cans of my favorite coffee ready to go as a bar warming gift.

I own this TV and love it. Shows a fantastic picture. I paid $1200 and it's now on closeout for $699.USD plus shipping. It's now on closeout as Panasonic has stopped making the 37". IMHO you can't buy a better TV at this price. Brand new. www.ritzcamera.com Tell them Denny sent you. You might get a discount.

How much does your working wife make? Does she have a 4 year college degree and did she graduate with a 3.997 GPA. Is your wife in any honors society like my wife is? BTW now that my working wife has retired our income from pensions and investments are equal. Once again you don't know what your talking about with regards to our move to LOS. The move is on for the future but we did look at houses in Pattaya awhile ago.

Friend of ours that's in the same school district where in had their home on the market for three days. They sold it for $650,000USD three months ago. When you live in a wealthy neighborhood like we do with one of the top ten school districts in the state it's not hard to sell your house. People who look to buy where we live have the price of admission with high paying jobs to qualify for a mortgage.

I leave my camera on P mode as I find there's always a shoot it or lose it shot. I like to play around with the manual mode when I have time to compose the shot. I'm going on a 19 day cruise through the Panama Canal starting next week. I have a 2gig memory card and my daughter is loaning me one of hers so I'll be snapping away. I like the idea of not having to change film. BTW camera and lens are made in Thailand.

I pulled the trigger and bought a new Nikon D80 with a 18-135 Nikkor lens. Cheap Charley paid less then 1K USD for it. Even when I buy a camera I don't like to over pay. BTW D40x is not at the bottom of the Nikon food change. The D40 is.

How much is cheap? Do they offer in room safe. I've walked by many times but next month I'll stop by and try some of the pub grub. BTW, I like the sound of next month in Pattaya.

For a guy who doesn't care you seem to get real worked up about it.

Decent "tude" from the staff is expected. No matter what the cost of the room.

Fortunately we don't have to sell our house to pay for the move to LOS unlike some on this forum.

D200 looks to be a sweet camera. Good luck with it. I like "stuff", good quality at a reasonable price works for me. D3 is a great camera with a price to match. I find that top of the line is to expensive and generally speaking bottom of the line has to few features. I've got a line on a used D80 at a good price, I might buy it.

Fortunately I don't have to work since I retired when I was 44 with enough money to travel to Pattaya 3 to 5 times a year.

I've no problem with your response. I told the guy upfront what I was willing to do. Checking out the lens and running a test roll would take about 15 minutes. Getting it developed would take a day and paypal is almost instantaneous. Works for me.

I bought a 37" Toshiba last week got it home uncrated it and it was dead on arrival. Crated it back up and hauled it back to the store. No hassle return and they handed me another crate. I insisted the salesman uncrate it and plug it in. No problem with the second TV. My point may be silly to you but I like to make sure used equipment works as advertised before I pay my money.