dean

The one concern I have about Biden running again is having VP Harris a heartbeat away from the Presidency. I wish he would dump her and go for someone like Governor Whitmore of Michigan.    Whomever Trump finally chooses for his running mate will have the only qualification that Trump cares about; total loyalty to Trump.  So, in either case, you will have a person unqualified to be President a heartbeat away from the office. However, since Trump is totally unqualified for the job, if he dies while in office, his successor would be an improvement. 

Unfortunately, what the U.S. has that other countries don’t have is the Second Amendment.  The right to bear arms for self defense has gone from keeping a gun at home to protect against break ins to packing heat almost anywhere you go.  The defense by people of using the 2nd Amendment to allow the sale of semi automatic weapons is crazy. This is not what the founding fathers intended when they wrote the Constitution. But 2nd Amendment hard core supporters, who amount to 20-30% of the population, always talk about the “slippery slop” in allowing even modest gun control laws. Whe way things are now, those supporters, the same that support Trump, would probably start a civil war to keep their precious guns. 

I didn’t go down to the parade today, thankfully. Kansas City has Ben on a roll over the last 15=20 years. They reinvented their downtown area into a place where  millennials like to live, built a large, multipurpose arena, a new airport, brought back streetcars and are planning to help build a new baseball arena downtown (and renovate the Chief’s stadium).  The mayor, Quinton Lukas, is the third mayor in a row to dedicate his tenure to developing Kansas City, Missouri. 
However, during the same time period, infrastructure has been elected.  If you drive there, it’s an experience trying to miss all of the potholes.  If you are there during a snowstorm, you can expect that it will take at least a week to snowplow the side streets, unless you live in an affluent area. For the last 10-15 years, the rate of gun violence has gone up almost every year.  It’s only February, but the rate is higher than last year, and last year was a record year.  
Kansas City, and the State of Missouri, along with the rest of America, responds to gun violence by increasing the budgets for the police.  Politician’s response is to initially pray for the victims, then call for the arming of teachers, and spending money on schools to provide a constant police presence and redesigning schools to make it harder for shooters to enter.  Anytime serious gun legislation is proposed, the NRA and the rest of the gun lobby come out with their propaganda, and but the squeeze on politicians, mainly Republicans, to kill any gun control legislation.  Even legislation to kill regulation of semi automatic weapons (whose only place in in a war setting).  Gun control, like many things including immigration, vaccination and single payer health insurance, has become a polarizing topic, split between the MAGA Republican right wingers and the Democratic moderates and liberals. I’m 70 years old. I don’t expect to see meaningful gun legislation in my lifetime. It’s to the point that enough Americans have to be victims of gun violence, or know someone who was a victim, to get to a point that real pressure can be put on politicians. We haven’t reached that point yet.

22 hours ago, Mekong said:

Latest rantings of a mad man

 

I live in Kansas City and know Travis Kelse enough that it’s unlikely that he is a liberal Democrat.  About every commercial on TV that uses a sports figure uses Patrick Mahomes. The few commercials that he doesn’t do are done by Kelse.  I’d like nothing better than to see Taylor Swift endorse Biden and suggest that her “Swifties” also vote for him. The parade for the Chiefs is Wednesday.  I may go down to watch it as the weather should be in the low 60’s F.  It would be a perfect day (for me, anyway ) for the 2 of them to publicly endorse Biden.  

On 2/4/2024 at 12:56 PM, buffalo_bill said:

 

"Former President Donald Trump said Sunday he would consider imposing a tariff upward of 60% on all Chinese imports if he regains the presidency. "

 

Oh yes, which would his redneck followers community make paying happily a probably 40 % ? surcharge on anything that Walmart and friends have on offer. 2 years ago I though this idiot would never make it again but if the Amellica people want it like that: up to them. Oh Holy Lord.

 

Correction: Donald confirmed in the meantime it would be more than 60%

That would just cause the Chinese to open plants in other countries that have favorable tariffs with the U.S. They already have several in Mexico and that gets around the tariffs.

I’ll second buying direct from airlines over from a 3rd party travel agency whose Customer Service department is non existent.   I flew Singapore Airlines last September for 2 months at my house in Chiangmai, working on it.  On October 18, I got a call that my brother suddenly died and I needed to get home for the funeral. I contacted Singapore Airlines and they wouldn’t offer any help, telling me to contact my 3rd party travel agency that sold me the ticket. The only way I could contact them was by email.  After 3 days of waiting for a reply, I gave up and bought a one way ticket on Qatar airline to get home. I’ve been fighting with both Singapore airlines and BugetAir (don’t use them) ever since and after giving them my brother’s birth and death certificates in PDF form and DNA samples from both of us, two days ago, I was told I would receive a refund of $236 sometime in the next 2 months 

In the meantime, not wanting to use Singapore Airlines, I’m flying China Airline one way to Chiangmai for 23 days.  Currently, I’m being treated for stage 3 melanoma with a 13 stage one treatment approximately every 28 days, so I need to get back at the end of December or first part of January. At some point, I checked Philippines Airlines and round trips run $600 if I fly BKK to LAX.  I then use FF points to fly Southwest Airlines to Kansas City. That’s the cheapest that I’ve seen post Covid. I’ve got 2.5 years left until my son graduates from high school. Then, I can move to Chiangmai, be rid of U.S. healthcare, which would be a lot less expensive for me here with Medicare paying almost all of my costs. I just can’t stand dealing with the bureaucracy of our healthcare system. If my Thai wife decides to stay and run her Thai restaurant here, I may come back once or twice a year for short stays and get whatever expensive testing done here rather than in Thailand. I’m pretty sure that coastwise, I can’t get health insurance in Thailand because of preexisting conditions (cancer and Afib) and age, 70.

Cav, I went to College from 1971-1975.   Going to 2 Jesuit institutions, Holy Cross and Creighton University, the tuition my senior year was around $1,200 a semester. “For the students who are admitted to Creighton in Fall 2022, the estimated tuition for four(4) years is $189,918. The estimated total costs of attendance with living costs and personal expenses is $254,397 for four(4) years.”  That increase isn’t just from cost of living.

My Thai step daughter just graduated from Pharmacy school with about $80,000 in debt.  That should be reduced by $20,000, as she had a Pell Grant as an undergraduate.  
Not related to the topic, but the most famous graduates of the 2 schools that I went to are Clarence Thomas at Holy Cross and Jenni Thomas at Creighton.  Not overly proud of that. 

On 8/13/2022 at 9:24 PM, cavanami said:

You want Bill Clinton back so he can fuck more underage girls?

You want Obama back so he can do NOTHING for the black people in the USA?

Bidumb is doing his best to get a war started!!

I was involved with the first of the Farm Aids...I saw the great work that Willie Nelson was doing but they put the IRS on him! I've got eyes, I saw it up close and personal!!!!

Trump and the GOP are the only hope for the USA! mark my words and then all you know it alls can eat 

Trump was best friends with Jeffery Epstein, who liked them as young as 12 years old.  Certainly, Clinton was acquainted with Epstein, but not as well as Trump was.  Do you really think that being a paedophile makes you a Democrat but Republicans are as pure as the driven snow?

If Trump runs, the Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee has said that the RNC will no longer pay his legal bills.  In Trump’s case, that’s a powerful incentive not to run.  On the other hand, if he runs and is elected before being thrown in jail, he can pardon himself or claim the privilege of not being indictable as a sitting President. I think that he wants to stay out of jail more than have his legal bills paid by someone else. 

On 6/24/2022 at 9:52 PM, cavanami said:

For the know it all stooges....

  Trump just steals government papers/documents, like classified information including nuclear weapons secrets

Yesterday, I received an email from the Thai Consulate in Chicago, stating I had made a mistake on my application and it was being denied.  They said the name that I use on the application has to be the same as the one on the Passport. My last name starts with a “D” and they said I used “O” instead.  I don’t know the number of times that I’ve typed my full name but if you look at a keyboard, the letter “D” is on the left side and “O” is on the right side.  It’s not like I hit “F” or “S” which are next to “D.”  
pits not like I can check the old application because they deleated it.  When I E filled for the visa, I assumed, incorrectly, that I could change any portions of the application after filing, like the letter of residence that was required.  They want me to start completely over, which should take me at least 90 minutes to do.  I’m assuming that they want me to pay the $40 again.  These assumptions are made because I can’t get ahold of anyone there by phone or email.  They lost my business. I’ll dispute the $40 charge with my credit card company and handle the extra 30 days that I need at immigration, in person.  If I need an airline ticket that shows me leaving within 30 days, I’ll buy a fully refundable one way ticket to a neighboring country.   
I’d hate to see how Thailand treats it’s unwelcome tourists, if this is how they try to jumpstart their big reopening campaign.  

Can, maybe Kavanaugh and his wife can stand outside their house with assault rifles, just like the St. Louis lawyer/couple did during a Black Lives Matter protest.  Even bad publicity for Kavanaugh is better than no publicity. The St. Louis commando is now a serious candidate for the U.S. Senate.  

Business partner in the only respect that matters, splitting the profits.  Plus, I get someone that keeps an eye on the house (as does her nephew who lives across the street and niece and her husband that live next to the nephew.  That involves keeping the gras cut, trees trimmed, the inside cleaned every 3-4 months, the sprinkler system working and the termite company in once a month to spray.  Legally, I do have a contract signed.  I didn’t apply for a work visa over the apartments but I’m also not applying for a work permit this September and October, as I plan on working on my house, my wife’s house that she inherited and our 1 bedroom house in Saraphi that I gave her as a wedding present.  I guess that I’m not much different than the digital nomads that come to Thailand and work on their computers.  I admit that I’m much too trusting.  Eventually, I’d like to put house and land in my son’s name.  He can do whatever he wants to do with house after I croak.  I trust him enough to respect my wishes.  As far as who owns the house, as long as no one contests my staying there and I can eventually die there in peace, that’s all I care about.  Knowing Thai culture, no one is going to want the house with my spirit inhabiting it anyway.  I probably wouldn’t be a friendly ghost. 

I’ll worry about that when I’m there in September.  She also is a business partner of mine, co owner of a small (15 units) apartment complex since 2008 (next door to my house). I could say the famous last words “I trust her,” but will get answers about it in per, rather than a phone call. 
 

I’ve called the Thai consulate in Chicago, Washington DC and Atlanta.  Nobody answers the phone, so my option is to email them and ask the question. If that fails, I’ll type a letter giving permission to stay at my house and have my wife sign it.  I seriously doubt if they will ever check on it.  In the past, when arriving with a 30 day automatic visa, I usually just stayed at house but would put on the arrival card the name of a hotel in Bangkok where I had stayed in the past. 

It was my understanding when my wife acquired the land, she also acquired the right to the property once the 30 year lease is up.  In 4 years, I want the ownership transferred to my then 18 year old son.  I’ll take a copy of the documents that my wife signed with me in September and have a lawyer check it out.  I’d be very surprised if the 3rd party has any claim, as my wife reads everything that she signed and is no body’s fool 

Obviously, the land belongs to a Thai, my wife.  Before I married her, I paid for the land in 2005  and signed a 30 year lease on the house with the same lady that’s been a friend since 1999 and who takes care of house up to the present day.  I could have been really screwed by her but before we moved to the U.S. in October, 2008, she signed over the land to my wife.  I still have the lease if I wanted to press it but will try not to laugh over the phone when they explain how that letter from the owner of the house will work.  If this wasn’t so comical, I’d be really pissed off over what they are making me do to get an extra 30 day tourist visa 

One of the requirements of a 60 day tourist visa is you have to be within 90 days of arriving before applying, which was Sunday.  This visa has not been altered by Covid and is an interesting show of Thai government making a simple process extremely complicated. After about 5-6 pages of personal information, they require that I upload 9 documents/photos. A picture of me, of my passport information page, a photo of me holding my passport open to the passport information page, proof of U.S. citizenship, proof of my residence in my hometown, proof that I have at least 40,000 baht in my bank account (I’ll find out tomorrow if I have to leave the bank account number visible).  That’s a lot of information for a short term tourist visa. The kicker is they want to know where I’m staying for the 59 days. They do allow me to choose private residence but then require a letter from the person that owns the private residence, stating that I am allowed to stay at that private residence. This should be interesting, as I’m staying at my house (legally my wife’s house)     I guess that I need a letter from my wife, who is living in the U.S. that I have permission to stay in my house. I can’t wait to hear what the people at the Chicago Thai consulate tell me tomorrow. At this point, I’d be willing to waste 3 hours on my 29th day and go to Thai immigration to get the 30 day extension    From what I’ve seen on YouTube, basically all that is required is many copies of 3-4 things in your passport, including the arrival card, and 4 passport photos. I’ll at least hear what they say tomorrow before I go to Plan B.   

I’ll find out if cash beats ghosts in a couple of months. I’ll be in Chiangmai 3 September until 31 October.  The first thing that I’ll do is stop by the house and see for myself if it’s worth sinking 500,000 to 1,000,000 baht to fix it up.  If it is, I’ll pay my respects to my wife’s ex and ask him, as a favor to the person that helped his daughter to graduate from Pharmacy school in the U.S., to not haunt his house.  When the contractor shows up for his first day of work, I’ll go around with 500,000 baht in my hand, hitting every wall with that wad of cash. Just like merchants do after their first sale of the day. Thereafter, it will be known as the “lucky house.”

As usual, Mekong, you got about half of it right.  I did check U.S.. hazardous materials regulations and complied with them.  Concerning FlyerTalk, I posted on China Eastern’s sub category around 4 years ago.  It should come up if you search for” lithium “. My name there is Dean1953.  Several posters said that the Chinese are very strict about lithium batteries, not my words.  As I said, I was much more concerned about those pricks keeping my luggage for 13 days without contacting me.  It is normal procedure to confiscate the forbidden items, place an official note in the luggage to let the passenger know that his items were confiscated and let the luggage continue on its way.    It took time to track the luggage down and 2 trips to CNX airport. If you want to, please take the Chinese government’s and China Eastern position on keeping luggage with 2 prohibited items in it and not informing the passenger that his baggage isn’t lost, just kept on their whim. 

I learned by posting this at the the on FlyerTalk that the Chinese government has a particular vendetta against lithium batteries.  While I wasn’t thrilled about losing $40 in batteries, I was pissed off about them keeping the bag.  I had. 3 hour layover in Shanghai.  I filed a lost luggage claim In Kumming. I had to spend 10-15 minutes calling China Eastern every day to see if they found my bag.  I make a trip to Chiangmai airport to discuss it with them. An official with CE told me to contact Thai Airways in Bangkok   The bag was found in Shanghai and I had it at Chiangmai airport in 3 days. I’ll never fly through China again. 

I specifically asked TSA in the U.S. before flying and they said lithium batteries were allowed in checked luggage, not carryon. I flew KC to LAX with the batteries in checked luggage with no problem.  If I had known international rules were different from U.S. rules, I would have switched them to carryon.  It would be nice if these rules would be adapted for all countries to follow. 

I learned 5 years ago, flying China Eastern through Shanghai and Kumming, that lithium batteries are not welcome in checked luggage and China Eastern will keep your bag and not not contact you that they are keeping it.  Thai Airlines found the bag in Shanghai and got CE to ship it to Chiangmai 13 days after I arrived. I’ll bring stuff for my house but nothing on the prohibited list. 
 

Back in 2004, I brought a water pump through TSA in the U.S. and then Narita, where they looked at it for 10 minutes and let me through. Now, it’s weight alone would make it doubtful that it would make to Thailand in my carryon. 

I feel somewhat safe in buying my ticket yesterday for leaving for Thailand September 1, returning October 31.   With Taipei transit traffic restricted and Not trusting the Chinese handling Covid in Hong Kong, I chose Singapore over Japan and Korea.  I’ll get my 4th vaccine shot about 3 weeks before leaving and check to see if the Covid insurance is still required. I’ve noticed that travelers to Thailand have been able to extend their visa while in Thailand for several months at a time.  In June, I’ll apply through the Thai Consulate in Chicago for a 60 day visa and pay the $40 fee (they recommend not getting visa issued until you are within 90 days of using it).   
Hopefully, there’s not a Covid surge in the next 5 months.   I’ll be very happy to leave the political climate in the U.S., even if it’s only for 2 months. 

On 2/28/2022 at 1:46 PM, buffalo_bill said:

Sir, this is really serious. And it is the full truth which I swear by the Almighty:

Several years ago I coincidentially walked down Soi 7 and passing by the Beergarden I saw a woman of almost uncredible beauty. She did even smile at me and I asked her if she probably could sacrifice some spare time to accompany me for dinner and discuss further possibilities. Only if her time allowed of course. Later we arrived at a hotel deep into Soi 18 ( Park Plaza) and she finally refused to enter the room because the door of the room had been painted in black colour. They always say it is the Land of Smiles but it isn´t. Later Madame decided to abandon her doubts but I am still sure it was because I had not settled the bill yet.

Conclusion: cash beats ghost.

That will work in hiring to fix up house but doesn’t help in renting it.  Hopefully, it’s a neighborhood that would attract foreigners 

I saw a Doctor and it turns out that my blood pressure wasn’t as high as I thought: 140/82. It must have been abstaining from soft drinks for 2 weeks.  Also, not a diabetic, at least not yet.  I. Do have bad cholesterol at 290, so I’m taking cholesterol medication now. I suppose next is a colonoscopy but that’s about it for now.  All things considered, I got off easy.