Redbaron

Still here mate, saw some of the ashes but as you know, working shift work can make it hard at times. Most of my viewing was done via a slow internet connection & radio at work. Some good moments though.

Used to watch a lot of Peter Kay when I was over there in 2000-2003, one of the best comics going around I reckon. He's improved with age too..

Peter Kay - Pure Gold, thanks for that one..

Who said that? I can hear you but can't quite make out the face....

Hey hey! Welcome back.

Logically Atheists must have higher IQ's - they, along with ,it could be argued, Agnostics, have somehow become the only "religions" (or non-religions?) who can freely sprout their beliefs on forums, social media and traditional media without being scrutinized. If a Catholic, Anglican, Mormon, etc tried the same on any forum/website/tv/radio/newsprint other that their own (especially here) they would be shouted down, and flamed ad nauseum. Pure genius.

Got glasses myself about a month ago now, got to say the difference is amazing. Re the frames, one of my ex clients was/is an optometrist - even the genuine ones they get for a LOT less than the big $$ they charge... think hundreds of baht each rather than thousands when they buy in bulk, that's the name brands - cheap brands even less. Doesn't make the good brands lesser quality though, that's just what the retailers pay..

What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?

Do a Youtube search on how to open a hotel safe - it isn't exactly confidence inspiring. On a brighter note, one day I'd love for all these characters who don't exactly get along so well to all meet in a restaurant or bar and have a good old fashioned chin wag, oblivious to their monikers on the board and realise they all have a lot more in common than they appear not to - on the board. Mekong, MM, BB, Gobble, and the rest - probably find you would all get along famously in real life.

Must say the Hospital in Phuket we went to in Feb was fantastic. The Good Lady had a migraine - a bad one, not a headache, and I think the hospital staff were grateful to see a patient who hadn't been on the booze all night. She was treated like a princess, really. Had insurance but the total cost wasn't much (less than the excess amount) so just paid for it then and there. Hats off to them all.

10 packets of a powder, you describe as "bricks"? I'm surprised you weren't strip searched and the long glove bought out. Internal flights (CM-BKK) don't have as many restrictions. Not sure about the US, but down here we aren't allowed to bring many (any?) foodstuff back from anywhere.

The Lone Ranger - Not bad, as one could imagine Johnny Depp did a good job playing Tonto (he seems to like dressing up now doesn't he), and the final 30 odd minutes were fantastic. However a good 30-40 minutes could have been sliced out of the middle and we found ourselves wondering when something was going to happen at that point.

With the possible exception of #'s 2, 3, 5 and 8 - I can't see a negative here...

WB Jack - was speaking of said ponytail with the good lady just last night - has been gone for a decade or more, but may just make a comeback soon....

Well done, think I have read this somewhere else though..

Good on you - i bought my (farang) GF to LOS this year as well, and we both loved it. We just did BKK and Phuket, and she'd been there (without me) twice before so knew what she was getting into. Re : bars. IMO taking the GF to any of your regular old hunting grounds could be recipe for disaster, especially if it's the third or fourth venue, and the bar girls recognize you... again. Re : 3way. As stated, be wary, but if it is on the cards and something you want to do - go for it. The best advice I can give (not knowing you or your girl) is to let her pick the girl. Sure if she picks an ugly one, you can say no, but something along the lines of, "If it's something you want to do honey - then you pick the girl," would be what I'd be telling the GF. That way she will have some kind of control over the whole situation, and you can't be accused of anything regarding which one was picked. Hopefully she picks a real girl, mine seemed to have a predisposition towards the third sex. Enjoy your trip.

Read the link, and I stand by what I said. Even if a re enactment is inadmissible in court, can you imagine an offender of any crime doing a re enactment if they had not already admitted guilt? Think about it.

The re-enactment's a all about getting a bit of publicity, a few photos in the paper - and a confession all in one. Thais love a photo op

Yeah Qantas had a sale not so long ago, $698 to Singapore/KL/HK, $798 BKK - very good value, cheaper than a low cost carrier when you consider what's included.. Often around $900 now (QF), which is still good when you consider anything under $1000 was considered cheap during the SARS days (2004?) nearly 10 years ago?

This comes up every now and then, and I hope nobody on here ever gets stung. We all know things are "a bit different" in LOS, and it isn't illegal to drive without an IDL/IDP, yes it may be possible to hire a car, motorbike, truck bus or plane without one, even with a reputable car hire place (eg Avis). However should you become involved in an accident, without one you may not be covered by insurance, which could become costly. It should be said however, an IDL is useless if not accompanied by the original valid driving/riding license from that country.

In one of the books gobbledonk mentioned a decent sized group held up well in a prison. I think that'd be my plan. Have been watching "Falling Skies" lately and getting a few ideas from there.. Depending on how the good lady's health is tomorrow will be seeing WWZ then.

The new Lone Ranger movie looks good.

I used to suffer badly from hayfever. About 9 years ago I got "desensitized" by the doctor. It was a simple process of scratching the skin on my arm about 12-20 times, and the doc putting a drop of known allergy pollens onto each scratch. Within seconds my skin reacted and I had a course of injections over a couple of months to desensitize my allergies. Has worked well since. FWIW I had zero allergies during my 3 years in the UK, as well as travelling through Europe, the US and SEA. When I told my doctor this she wasn't surprised as Australia has one of the highest pollen counts in the world, not a lot of pollen in polluted cities like BKK and London, NY etc. A lot in the outer suburbs where I live now.

Flash, I did the same thing recently, although I got mine online through work. You should have a 25 digit code somewhere (maybe on the DVD case, mine was in the email from the seller). You need to key in that code. Mine was Microsoft Pro Plus 2013 and the going rate for that retail was around the 15,000 baht range (down here), so brace yourself if you need that version. I recently installed Microsoft Word and Excel on my mum's laptop free (legitimately) through Microsoft's website, not sure if you need the whole Pro version, that could do the job.

How do you know it's ruined if you haven't been in 25 years? loving the place - there's a lot more to Phuket than Patong.