MM

I recommend Sugar Mama Bakery for all your baking needs. Her pecan pie is delicious, but her peach cobbler is outstanding Call and order the day before for next day pickup, hot out of the oven .

This has turned into a fascinating thread, in spite of the Fred Thucks

Atlas, that was one weird performance!

I think this might be that thread!

I did. Even up here Big C carries electronics...just no decent beef.

So can we talk about Rinty now?

I really liked Rin Tin Tin. Never got into Lassie. Rin was a real action dog, whereas I found Lassie to be just too saccharine for even my child aged tastes.

I haven't read or heard of this trilogy, though I do have an unwatched copy of the movie by the same name.How does the movie hold up to the books?

Some of these in San Jose have promise!http://bfy.tw/tUq I only mentioned San Francisco because you didn't specify any particular place on the west coast...I'm trying to make sure people don't think of the west coast as only fast food places.

This is the point I had issue with. The west coast is found on the coast, like San Francisco, not the central valley. There's lots more than chain restaurants on the west coast...even fish and chip places. Elsewhere in the "western region", I'd not dispute your claim. I used to be in a dart league and would have fish and chips in downtown San Francisco at a dumpy place called Edinburgh Castle. I believe it closed around 2007. Their F&C were served in SF Chronicle newspapers.

Let's try it another way... Click this http://bfy.tw/tRg Not a chain place in there and some interesting reviews.

Lots of small, independent restaurants in SF. You just need to get away from the chain restaurant fixation. I've never set foot in a Red Lobster BTW. I lived there for a decade, and never spent time in chain or fast food places..well, except for Clown Alley on Columbus.

Come on, MLC!That's pure baloney. Go to the SF Bay Area and you'll find a slew of great restaurants...even very good fish and chips!

I've seen a few of these dual front wheeled bikes around. What's the advantage to that setup? Oh, and you gave us the new price...what's the selling price?

If you and Saa are going to use this ID, please sign each post with your name so we know who is writing.

I don't have a Mac, but the program I use to manage my Kindle library is available for the Mac as well as the Windows system. It's called Calibre, and can be downloaded from here http://download.cnet.com/Calibre/3000-20412_4-10910278.html Read the reviews at this link to decide if it's for you.

You can smoke an e cig quite openly from everything I've seen in Pattaya. Shouldn't be any problem, and the girls love them!

It worked for that Brit-Thai actress, and she killed a cop.

I'm guessing my compatriots would have shot her

BKK Traffic Cops Told to Respect Bosses' Privilege A police officer giving away free mango at a traffic checkpoint in Nakhon Sawan province, 15 April 2012. BANGKOK — Traffic police have been ordered to memorize the license plates and faces of their superiors after Bangkok's police chief complained yesterday that he was asked to take a breathalyzer test despite his insistence that he was not intoxicated. Pol.Lt.Gen. Sriwarah Rangsipramkul, the commander of the city’s police force, told reporters yesterday that volunteer traffic cops failed to recognize him when he was flagged down at a road checkpoint – he was off-duty and not wearing a uniform at the time – and insisted that he take a breathalyzer test even though he told them he was sober "five times." “Eventually, I had to tell them who I was and get out of my car and criticize them,” he told reporters yesterday. Today, Pol.Maj.Gen. Thanapon Techatanon, a senior officer at Traffic Police Division, said he has asked all traffic officers to familiarize themselves with their superiors to avoid similar incidents in the future. "I have instructed all volunteers and police officers to memorize faces, names, and license plates of their commanders well, so that this mistake will not happen again," Pol.Maj.Gen. Thanapon said. He added that volunteer traffic officers will need to go through "a short orientation to see if they are qualified." "They must speak politely,” he said. "They have to be gentle with people. As for selecting which car for alcohol test, we will judge by the clothes, manner, and the way they talk. For example, some people use too much perfume to hide alcohol smell, this will a factor that will merit an alcohol test." Pol.Maj.Gen. Thanapon said people who do not test positive for alcohol will be thanked for their cooperation. The maximum penalty for driving under influence in Thailand is one year in prison, a 20,000 baht fine, and the revocation of the driver's license. Refusing to take breathalyzer test also carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison. Police have not said whether Pol.Lt.Gen. Sriwarah will face any legal action. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Pol.Lt.Gen. Sriwarah said the traffic officers should have been able to tell that he was not intoxicated. "After talking to someone who is sober for one to two minutes, you should be able to tell that they don’t smell of alcohol," he said. "Those people shouldn't be called to take the test. You have to look. Don't just randomly inspect people." "After I identified myself to [the volunteer cops], they turned pale," Pol.Lt.Gen. Sriwarah said, according to Matichon. "I only lectured them because they lacked judgment in their inspection." When a Matichon reporter asked how police should respond to celebrities or other VIPs who object to taking breathalyzer tests, Sriwarah replied, "If that's the case, police officers should file me a report about the incident." He stressed, "It wasn’t right that they wanted to test me even though I did not drink any alcohol. If ordinary people have this experience, what would they think? I have ordered them not to allow this kind of incident to happen ever again." Last month, police allowed a Thai-British actress, Anna Hambawaris, to leave without taking a breathalyzer test after she crashed her car into a police vehicle and killed the officer who was sleeping inside. The incident has drawn criticism from those who believe police gave the actress privileged treatment. From http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1437029021

Now that sounds interesting!

Great feedback in this thread... Just a few additions...up until I got started on the monstrously long series, like G.R.R. Martin's and GMF's Flashman, I did read all of the available Stephen Leather stories with Spider Shepherd. Great entertainment...also a few other Leather books on other topics, with the exception of the Jack Nightingale books which I just didn't care for at all. tallguy: thanks for the mention of the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell...I started that series years ago after seeing the Sean Bean portrayal of Sharpe. Over the years since, I think I managed to read most, if not all, of the books out of order (usually), by scrounging in second hand book stores. I really liked Cornwell's style and research abilities after that, and started reading as many of his works as I could find. I even "LIKEd" his page on Facebook, where sometimes he posts interview videos. Also, I read two of John Burdett's Bangkok novels...they were okay, but not as gripping as the other books I've mentioned. The same applies to my attempts to get "into" John Connelly..maybe they were too cerebral for my tastes As for the Kindle, I chose the Kindle Paperwhite model, which is a single purpose book reading device...it's not backlit, but lights from the sides, so it's easy to read in the dark, and outside, it appears much like the pages in a book. It's only black on light background, so no fancy color or videos. I've never had problems reading it in any environment, the battery last 3 weeks or so with regular reading (turn off WiFi). I avoided the Kindle Fire because it is more a tablet computer than a reading device, and has higher power consumption with shorter battery life. The Kindle Paperwhite is so convenient and sturdy, I just put it in my cargo pants pocket when I go out for a breakfast alone. Highly recommended! P.S, For the gentleman who roused me from a late morning (or was it early afternoon sleep?) to deliver a book to me, I thank you. I also appreciate your giving me book 1 of the series! I will attempt to do it justice by reading it, but TBH, it's the first actual paper book I have handled in 3 or 4 years, so I have no idea how well it will go with my breakfast. It might get a bit spotty with bacon and coffee! The thought was much appreciated.

Since I acquired a Kindle several years ago, I've found that I can read all of an author's books in a series IN ORDER, rather than scouring 2nd hand bookstores for one of the books in a series and taking whatever was available in the order it was found. So, in the last few years, I've gotten stuck into several authors that have caught my attention... So, going back to the acquisition of the Kindle....authors in order and their series are: Stephen Hunter, the Sniper series with Bobby Lee Swaggart -- 14 books G.R.R. Martin Game of Thrones -- 5 books...months and months Chris Ryan - author of the Strike Back series...SAS exploits... Andy McNab - Nick Stone, ex SAS adventures...13 or so books ... good reads Bernard Cornwell - Starbuck Copperhead series of 4 books about the USA Civil War - 4 books I took a break and read some single books (not series), one of which was by Tom Kratman "Caliphate", about the Islamic takeover of Europe..very interesting...let's hope it doesn't happen. And finally, the series that I thought I'd never finish... George Macdonald Fraser - Flashman Chronicles -- 12 books and I wish there were more I'd have to say that the best of the last 3 years or so was the Flashman series...witty, informative, entertaining, and suspenseful. If you ever want to get a picture of the imperialism of the UK in the mid 19th century, this is the series for you. I finished book 12 last week, and now have to find something else. I think I'll be trying to catch up with Bernard Cornwell's tales of pre-Norman England, but might just go for something else. For the moment, however, I have just finished Midnight Train: Sidetracked, the second book in a trilogy about an Issan girl who comes to Pattaya to work...some interesting insights there, clearly written by an author (David Geoffries) who knows what he is talking about. Of course, you should read book 1 first...Midnight Train: Destination: Pattaya Just yesterday, I started a book written by a pair of defense analysts, many compare it to Tom Clancy's :"RED STORM RISING". It's called GHOST FLEET, a novel of the next world war that is started by China against the USA. So, if any of you are readers, fiction or otherwise, what books do you find most interesting?