Stickman
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Stickman last won the day on July 13
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Well he didn't do a great job of emailing everyone because I missed out on the email.....or perhaps that was deliberate.
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My feeling is that here in New Zealand, over 90% of transactions are done with what we term "Pay Wave" i.e. waving your card or your mobile phone. In supermarkets, it might be 96% or 97% - I seldom see people using cash in the supermarket. I understand in some countries like Sweden, cashless use is higher still. There is one exception when I use cash and that is at my favourite Indian restaurant. The owner is always sitting at the cash register and his eyes light up when I pay with cash. The transaction is not rung up on the till and it's obvious he puts the money in his pocket. I want to support his business as best I can and if me paying in cash means he makes a few extra dollars, then all good. Obviously, in big businesses like supermarkets it doesn't matter how you pay, it's all being declared. Further to this, a couple of tradesmen I have had around - one a gasfitter who repaired the stove and another an electrician who did some small jobs for us preferred payment by bank transfer. As the sparky said to me, it's just not worth it for him to take cash. Too much hassle and the tax department gets really nasty if he is caught not declaring income.
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Like most New Zealanders, I pay for almost everything by electronic transaction - but I like the option of being able to pay by cash. Perhaps only 1% of stores here don't accept cash but I expect that to slowly increase. And certainly, some stores which accept cash actually prefer you to pay by card / electronic means. With electronic transactions now very much the norm here, plenty of people don't use cash. But when something happens, you'll wish you had some cash at hand. I keep some cash in the house and given what happened here last year, I am *very* glad that I did. For anyone who thinks cash is unnecessary, here's something to think about. In February of last year, parts of the North Island of New Zealand were hit hard by Cyclone Gabrielle. The town where I live, Napier, was cut off from everywhere with roads badly damaged and no way in or out. We could not get out and outsiders could not get in (other than by plane or helicopter). The power was out for 5 days across the city. Supermarkets opened as did petrol stations and some other stores but it was cash-only (as no other means of payments would work). Plenty of people did not have cash which meant could not buy food or petrol or essential supplies.
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Most of the Bangkok forums have gone by the wayside and the few that remain have much lower traffic. Probably the only true nightlife forum with decent traffic these days is Pattaya Addicts. They'd all be in long, slow, downward trajectory which Covid really accelerated. All of this notwithstanding, I agree with what Jigger said in a previous post that there *is* demand for something different, and something potentially old school.
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Just a few random thoughts. I can't see advertising working. This site's traffic is essentially zero. Any advert would essentially be a donation from a business. If someone is prepared to donate an ad to fund the hosting, great, but otherwise I can't see any business choosing to advertise here. Nudity? No. there's plenty elsewhere for those who want it. I think the odds of attracting new users is pretty much zero. There is competition everywhere - other boards, many social media platforms etc - and this board is simply a bunch of folks keeping in touch and reliving the past. Short of an effort to attract back old members who have not frequented the board in a long time, I cannot see user numbers to this forum increasing. The net has moved in new directions and it's all social media and YouTube. I agree with Mekong. I'd happily pay a small amount for a year but $10 / month, while still a negligible amount, nah.
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Really horrible news. Marcel was a very decent fellow and genuinely one of the good guys.
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What Film (Movie) Have You Just Watched?
Stickman replied to The_Munchmaster's topic in The board bar
I'm no fan of Russell Crowe. Seems to be an arrogant hot-head. I did quite like Romper Stomper though. Remember that one, Coss? Caused a bit of a furore when it was released....imagined it would be even less well-received now. -
Old Board members…whatever happened to..?
Stickman replied to Old Hippie's topic in General discussion
How is Rusty doing? There's a fellow who was a good laugh and lived life to the beat of his own drum. How's he doing these days? Has he maintained any connections with Thailand? -
Both of these men are married and have family back in NZ. They're brothers who worked in the family business. Multiple reports in the local pres said they have travelled many times through Asia. My best guess as to what happened is that they saw a police checkpoint and decided not to stop because they didn't have motorbike licences. This was beyond dumb. They were chased and things escalated from there. What they did next was pure madness. You really get the impression the Thais are fed up with misbehaving foreigners and they could be sentenced to a few years behind bars. The maximum penalty for the most serious charge is 7 years and, amazingly, it seems they wish to fight the charges. That seems like a dumb idea. Plead guilty which comes with an automatic discount on sentencing and get it over and done with. Fight the charges and the sentence might get ugly. Whatever way, I can't see them being back in NZ with their families for some time...
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My old 2014 Macbook Pro, which I keep as a backup machine in case my main machines dies, can't be updated any more....or rather the updates are simply security fixes. Haven't been able to update the main OS for a few years. My iPad must be 4 or 5 years old. Can still update it ok. Will wait for the standard iPad to get an OLED screen and will upgrade then. I use my iPad way more than I use my iPhone (5 years and counting) so will upgrade iPad before iPhone.
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You must be one old dude now, Mekong! 4.5 million hours is 513 years
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I get the feeling the bar scene just doesn't have that addictive nature that it used to be. Where once those who were flying out from Bangkok were already planning their next trip and trying to work out how they could return as soon as possible, these days the impression I get is that the best times in the bars are very much in the past. There might just be more fun looking backwards than forwards.
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WTF did the USA health industry have to do with it?
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Dave had his leg amputated because of the complications of diabetes. He had the big toe from one foot amputated in late 2015. The wound never healed and despite some of his imploring him to seek medical treatment, he did not. In 2018 or 2019 (I cannot remember which), he had two more toes off the same foot amputated. Again, the wound never healed and he did not seek medical treatment despite many people insisting that he did. Not long after COVID broke out, Dave returned to the UK and some months later he developed a very high temperature. A doctor came to his home, saw the state he was in, called an ambulance and he went to the local hospital. He ended up in a university hospital where after a couple of operations to try and save the leg, they were forced to do a lower leg amputation. That wound didn't heal so they had to take more of the leg well above the knee. There was an infection in the bone which apparently is very hard to treat. Osteomylytis or something like that it is called - and is apparently a consequence of uncontrolled diabetes Dave's amputation was nothing to do with Covid and I never said it had anything to do with Covid. It was all as a result of diabetes that he had been diagnosed with years earlier but which, very sadly, he never took seriously. Dave complained about issues with Covid and I said that I agree that there are various health issues due to Covid as well as the Covid vaccine. I did NOT say Dave's leg was amputated because of Covid. Never said that at all. No more comment from me on this and if what I have written here is stuff you disagree with or dispute, drop Dave an email and ask him.
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Dave lost his leg due to the complications of diabetes. There have been issues with the vaccines which many experts say have contributed to various health issues.