BigDUSA

BOSTON - Boeing Co. said Thursday it has completed 50% of the design releases for the new 747-8 Freighter. The Chicago-based manufacturer of commercial jetliners said the program has released the 747-8 Freighter's detailed designs to Boeing (nyse: BA - news - people ) factories and its suppliers in order to begin building parts, assemblies and tools for the new cargo airplane. Boeing said the 747-8 Freighter, which launched in November 2005, is scheduled to start delivering in late 2009 to launch customers Cargolux and Nippon Cargo Airlines.

May is the start of the summer high season for air travel in the US.

Just checking airfare and came up with late March depart and come back in mid April. Best fare I've found was UA for $902. R/T all in. Not a bad price considering oil is over $100USD per barrel.

SQ has a non stop from EWR to SIN then on to BKK. They may fly from JFK to FRA then SIN. Earlier you can book the higher your chances of getting a flight. I'm a premier executive with UA and the shortest lead time was 7 days.

I've used Lost in Space a few times and it's nice to have Jan meet me and I know a few COLD Heineken will be in the truck and She's a SAFE driver and I like the idea the trucks in excellent shape with good tires. On the other hand when I used to recommend Alex he was reliable at first then he started stiffing guys at the airport. I like having someone meet me plus I can usually share the ride and cost with a guy I hook up with at the airport.

Bullshit I did answer the OP enquiry about the part I know something about and that's all the bullshit that a few guys can lay on the owner of a guest house that cost $14USD per night. That's right and I ended up losing money on the deal. I would have been better off following my own advice. Let me add one more thing about not buying a business till you live here for a year. Don't buy a condo either. Rent see what the lay of the land is and think twice and hard about any 'investment' one may consider making. FWIW and IMHO Thailand has been in a political crisis for the last two years since the military coup and now with the former Prime Minister back in country along with a new government in place and very shaky military support. I wouldn't invest in this country. Oh I almost forgot the insurrection down south with the Muslims killing...................................

Check out in the member section the topic on Sky-Top a small well run guest house. It's a cheap $14USD per night place and some guys think they're checking into the Westin/Hilton/Four Seasons and expect amenities, service to match. Come and live here for a year before you even think about buying a business.

According to three hotel owners I know don't buy a cheap one. They are nothing but a major hassle and no, I don't know what a good brand is.

I eat at the Queen Vic on a regular basis. Fish chip is an excellent choice and the carvery is top notch.

I had a typical American breakfast this morning. I had a small apple juice, coffee, two eggs, three sausages, fried potatoes and two slices of rye toast. I paid $4.50 including tax, tip was extra.

When you go into a ethnic restaurant ask them to cook the food the way they eat it. Interesting combination of flavors. When I was stationed in Vietnam, American rice was priced cheaper then Vietnamese rice. According to the locals our rice tasted different from the local rice and they didn't like it. I never could taste any difference.

I would pay for two legal opinions from the Thai law firms and bring this before the UK court. I would be willing to set up a fully funded bank account that would be administered by the court to pay for her travel. This may be enough for the court to approve his permanent removal. What does your former spouse think of this? I would think if she doesn't oppose what you want to do................................ Good luck with all this.

It's sad you don't have a sense of humor. Sitting on the sidelines watching the so called "civilized Europeans" beat the shit out of each other. As soon as Hitler declared war on the US we came in and beat them for you. If I remember this was the second time in the 20th century we came to your rescue.

All I can say, come and take them. If I remember correctly we handed you your hat on the way out of Yorktown and we did it again in New Orleans. Seems like the Brits are thick as a brick. You never learn.

I take it you have a limited sense of humor or non at all.

Looks like good value for the money and close to Walking Street. Do the rooms have in room safe?

I'm going to assume that your version of the events that happened are true. What this tells me that how quickly a fun night can turn into a nightmare and that security will kick your ass in a New York minute. One thing I'll take away from your post as soon as I see trouble starting, I'll back off, pay check bin and leave. Thanks for the heads up and I'm glad your not seriously injured.

The Boeing Co., which is at least eight months behind schedule on delivering the Dreamliner commercial jet, may get a lift by beating Northrop Grumman Corp. on a $40 billion U.S. Air Force aerial refueling tanker purchase. The planemaker has built the KC-135 tankers flown by the Air Force since 1956. A replacement contract, which may be announced this month, would run for 15 years and could add 20 cents to Boeing's consensus earnings estimate of $7.92 a share in 2010, said Paul Nisbet, an analyst with JSA Research Inc. in Newport, R.I. Boeing's KC-767 is predicted to win the order, according to all 10 respondents in a Bloomberg survey of industry analysts. "The preferred supplier is Boeing," said Eric Hugel, a New York-based analyst who follows Northrop for Stephens Inc. and rates the stock "equal weight." The award "is Boeing's to lose, and Boeing would have to do something really stupid to lose it." Air Force and Pentagon acquisition officials are scheduled to review the process for assessing bids on Feb. 13. A winner may be announced by the end of the month. The order for 179 tankers could grow into the Pentagon's second-largest program, exceeding $100 billion, as the Air Force replaces its entire fleet over 40 years, said Loren Thompson, an analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va. Los Angeles-based Northrop and partner European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. of Paris and Munich, parent of Airbus, aren't expected to remain silent if their competing KC-30 tanker, which is based on the civilian A330 plane, should lose. Nine of the 10 respondents to the Bloomberg survey said Northrop would protest any Boeing victory. Five said a protest might result in a split award. "We certainly have an extraordinarily competitive airplane," Northrop Chief Executive Ronald Sugar said in a Jan. 24 interview. "It's a more capable aircraft. It's larger and carries more fuel." A Boeing decision would be closely examined because of the ethical breaches that led to the current contest, Thompson said. Air Force official Darleen Druyun was sentenced to nine months in prison after pleading guilty to conflict-of-interest charges for discussing a job offer from the Chicago-based plane maker while negotiating the original tanker order, which collapsed in 2004. Boeing "is under such scrutiny after the procurement scandal," said Thompson, who projects it will win the contest and face a protest. Even Boeing's program manager, Mark McGraw, acknowledges the likelihood of a challenge. "Do we expect a protest if we win? Probably so," McGraw said in a Jan. 21 interview. "One of the negatives of protest is it delays things. They are going to be forced to use old equipment longer." The KC-135 is based on the four-engine 707 jetliner. The last tanker will be 80 years old when it's retired under the current plan, said Lt. Col. Jennifer Cassidy, an Air Force spokeswoman. Boeing's replacement is based on the two-engine 767 aircraft. It has an 80 percent chance of winning the order, said Joseph Nadol, a New York-based analyst with J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. He sees a 20 percent likelihood Northrop could force a split purchase. If the Air Force awards "even a part" of the contract to Northrop's team, "there could be significant implications," Nadol wrote in a Jan. 10 note. "The tanker would be a major strategic win for EADS, positioning the company as a bigger player in the U.S." "There are so few multibillion competitions out there for new weapons that every one is being fought tooth-and-nail," Nisbet said. He predicts Boeing will win. The number of protests ruled on by the U.S. Government Accountability Office rose 16 percent to 335 in the past four years, while the number sustained jumped to 91, from 50. That doesn't imply a protest will occur in any particular contest, said Michael Golden, the GAO's managing associate general counsel for procurement law. "We look at them individually," Golden said. Whatever the service decides, it's unlikely to be the end of the story, Thompson said. "When the Air Force makes its choice, we're only in the fifth inning of a nine-inning game," he said. "Then the real political struggle begins."

The operative word is "tried" and I take it your still employed at Burger King. As she told me "as long as what you find in Thailand stays in Thailand, I have no problem with you going there". I'd say she's incredibly sensitive to her husbands needs.

Other then paying for it I can imagine your hand gets quite a work out. How long does it take for a women in the US to figure out your a loser is it within the first two minutes or five minutes of you starting to talk to her?

Two key Boeing Co. defense executives have been quietly transferred to the troubled 787 jetliner program, suggesting that problems with developing the plane could be worse than the company has revealed. In what some analysts said was an unusual move, the two executives were placed on "special assignment" with the commercial aircraft division in Seattle in early January, two weeks before Boeing announced that production problems had forced a further delay in initial deliveries of the Dreamliner. Boeing disclosed the transfers Friday as it announced that it was making a flurry of executive changes at its defense business. The highly-touted and hot-selling 787 is now about nine months behind schedule and the first jets are not expected to reach airlines until early next year. Boeing has sold nearly 860 Dreamliners, which can carry about 250 passengers and fly farther while burning less fuel than the current generation of mid-size commercial jets. "Problems are more severe than Boeing is letting on," said Scott Hamilton, an aviation consultant in Issaquah, Wash. "I suspect there will be more delays." But Boeing spokesman Dan Beck said the move did not indicate anything more than one division helping out another. "They are two very skilled individuals who are supporting a program that is an important part of Boeing's future." The two executives are John Van Gels, who was head of operations and supplier management for Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems, and Howard Chambers, who ran the company's Space and Intelligence Systems business, which includes the satellite-making operations in El Segundo. Van Gels is considered Boeing's guru on managing the complex network of suppliers who make parts for military aircraft and weapons. Chambers is credited with turning around the company's C-17 military transport program in Long Beach and the satellite-making business. They follow Pat Shanahan, another defense executive, who was tapped to lead the 787 program after the company announced the initial six-month delay last fall. Boeing has said that one of the main causes of the delays has been problems with major components provided by outside suppliers. The transfers -- initially temporary assignments -- apparently have left a deep void at the defense units, which Boeing began filling this week. In Friday's announcement, the company said it was promoting several executives, many of them as a result of the transfers. In addition to the executives, hundreds of engineers and technicians from its defense business have also been shifted to the Dreamliner program, Boeing sources said.

Your right a 10 y/o car will get you down the road but not as reliably or with all the new safety features as safely. Kind of hard to make a presentation to senior management in jeans and a tee shirt unless you work at an ad agency. Spend your money wisely and you should go broke the day after your buried. It funny how the LDOP will resent guys like you and me who started to save at an early age because we wanted to enjoy our retirement and not be balloon chasers.