Specialist

Thunderball, starring Sean Connery as James Bond. American Airlines had it on the video system in Business Class on my flight from Hong Kong to Dallas. First time I've ever been able to watch the whole thing, beginning to end, no commercial breaks. I never realized how much underwater footage they did for that film. Lots of fun.

I'm flying in next week, landing at Swampy very late Friday 2 Sep, flying out very early Sunday 18 Sep. 30 Sep is too late for me...

There is a lot to be said for the Hooters waitstaff, especially when they are armed with genuine Thai smiles!

A friend who works at Hooters Soi 4 just posted a photo of her on the mechanical bull. The implication was that the photo was taken some hours ago.

Hooters on Soi 4 was in the front of the Nana Hotel, not the Rajah.

I hate to see it. A friend works there.

T minus 6 weeks and counting. ETA Swampypoom 2 Sep just before midnight. DEROS 18 Sep too early in the morning.

How easy is it to live out of downtown and still be close (5-10 minutes MAX) from a good hospital ER? Bumrungrad ER is good. Police Hospital, across from Central World if I remember correctly, is good, but quite a bit farther away. (I had to run an acquaintance to ER one night. She refused to let me take her to Bumrungrad, saying it was too expensive.)

And the NEXT move is for the UN to demand that the member nations all contribute military support to back up their declaration. Unfortunately, the only nations with navies that can really operate in that part of the world and at that scale are...

I want one!

I don't remember where I saw it, but SOMEONE was recently saying that EU bureaucracy and inefficiency and policies were all parts of the price that Europe had to pay to avoid another war between Germany and France. Apparently, the concept was that this was a price the UK had to pay, to avoid war between Germany and France. As soon as the UK voted to leave, France started talking about holding a similar referendum. One is tempted to speculate that the French thing the pricetag to France will be too high if the UK is not there to pick up the check.

I finally gave up on "The Virgin Way". I did manage to finish "50 Shades of Grey". Oy DRECK! The girl who was pushing me HARD to read it dropped out of sight shortly after I finished it, before we really had a chance to discuss it. Just started "The Way of the SEAL". Working my way slowly through "The Personal MBA". And I started reading Lisa Ann's (porn star) autobiography, for giggles. (It would be a MUCH easier read if she'd bothered to note DATES, even just in years.)

As I understand it, fecal coliform bacteria is not so much a problem in and of itself as it is an easy marker to tell whether the rest of the operation is clean enough.

If this is happening, it started since I was there in January. I've been going to Bangkok for about ten years now. It can be hit-or-miss as to which ATMs will accept my card. The machine outside my usual hotel has had no problem at all with it.

The orange juice isn't that overpriced, and the eye candy, to my eyes at least, makes it worth it. Of course, I may be prejudiced. A friend of several years standing works there these days.

It got me over the weekend. I'm now running Windows 10. I am NOT impressed. As far as I am concerned, Microsoft has consented to remodeling of their corporate headquarters. Using tactical nuclear weapons as earthmovers.

There's a small clinic near the north end of the back soi off Soi 11 that houses Cheap Charlie's and Charley Brown's. They used to do all the periodic routine STD testing, including HIV tests, for the girls at the notorious Eden Club.

Captain America: Civil War. Mixed emotions.

Thanks, Flash. It has been YEARS since I last saw that drawing.

Royal President, Suk Soi 15. I think it is somewhere in the USD 50-60/night range, for a 41 sq m room. They've always treated me very well. The Ambassador Hotel on Suk Soi 11 isn't bad, but I rather resent their attempt to bake me and my companion alive about a year ago. (I was in a room near the top of their tower. They lost the aircon Saturday evening. By 8 AM Sunday the room was quite literally uninhabitable. I was scheduled to move over to Royal President at about noon. I telephoned them, explained my situation, and asked if they could get me in early. The desk clerk said "Let me check", then came back a moment later and said "No problem, come on over." It took until almost 9 AM to haul everything downstairs, get checked out, and take the cab ride. (It would have been quicker, but I got stuck in the check-out line at the desk behind two Arabs who believed that yelling abuse at the desk clerks would make the hotel fix the aircon sooner.) Royal President moved heaven and earth to get me a room ready on very sudden very short notice, and I appreciate it.

T minus 4 months and counting. Wheels up HSV 1 Sep 2018 at oh-dark-something or so, arriving BKK around 11 PM local time. DEROS 18 Sep morning. Hotel reservations in place, airfare paid.

The first rule of military combat is this: If it is a fair fight, you are doing it WRONG.

Some of the 9/11 terrorists spent their last night on Earth in strip clubs.

Occasionally I've seen Windows update sequences that wanted/needed to reboot/install the first few updates before continuing to download updates. If you haven't already, restart it and try again to download. If that doesn't work, the next step is to USE A DIFFERENT MACHINE to download current versions of antimalware stuff, then reboot your main machine into Safe Mode and let the antimalware software take a long, hard look at things. Some of the nasties out there block Windows updates.

That would raise some VERY interesting legal questions about the chain of custody on the iPhone...