Thread: Reverse Culture shock......Naaaaaaah

Looking at those wonderful pics I don't think I would have bothered to go and live anywhere else in the first place with all that on my doorstep , and the perfect climate, and the beer and the food etc

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

Looking at those wonderful pics I don't think I would have bothered to go and live anywhere else in the first place with all that on my doorstep , and the perfect climate, and the beer and the food etc

Moving abroad is the best thing anyone can do for themselves IMHO. You either respect what you left and appreciate it more when you return or you left for all the right reasons.

I loved living in Thailand and traveling around SE Asia. But it is good to be back in many respects.

Keeping inline with the thread, I went furniture shopping tonight to get an idea of what is in front of me. Depending on how one wants to live clearly depicts the price of various furniture. I will say I am a middle of the road kind of guy and when we priced out a couch and bed with a few other little support things it is actually cheaper then Thailand by about a 1/3. Now I am not talking high end furniture nor living on a piece of plywood. But even the low end products were far less then Thailand's low end. Quite a few places have no tax sales and delivery free within 25 miles.

I may do a craigslist search. I have had great luck finding used quality items in the past. This could save hundreds more rather then buying new(However I never buy a used mattress)

Originally Posted by JPPR2

Nice form with the arm parallel with the weapon.

Originally Posted by SEA Traveler

Nice form with the arm parallel with the weapon.

Yup and the crossbow's inline to

Originally Posted by sabang

Why do temperate climes enjoy such pristine water, yet are mostly too cold to swim in? But here in ze tropics the water is varying shades of milk tea, but otherwise would be very tempting to plunge into?

Probably due to the winter temperatures and velocity of water flow.

Originally Posted by SEA Traveler

Nice form with the arm parallel with the weapon.

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

Yup and the crossbow's inline to

Thanks guys. Never thought about it much but growing up duck, goose and turkey hunting I guess you just learn.

I have found bow hunting for Turkeys to be extremely challenging. It takes super patience, your calling and working a wiley ol Tom to no more then 35 yds or less away is difficult(ideal range is 20 yds). Then you get 1 shot.

For anyone interested, Wild Turkeys are incredibly smart. They are not the stupid animal they are made out to be based on the fat dumb white farm raised Thanksgiving bird. They have wicked keen eye sight, use cover well and run at clips of 25mph.

Originally Posted by JPPR2

Wild Turkeys

Had me quite a few of them, but Makers Mark is still my preference, when you can find it.
In Australia, we strangle emu's with our bare hands. Try not to resort to an RPG, or even an Uzi.

Been listening on the radio today about the A+E department during the thanksgiving period in the States ,, apparently many people are burnt every year deep frying turkeys

^ not to mention all the turkeys hurt in the process

So you're idea of living is sharing a co-op in San Jose? wow!

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

Been listening on the radio today about the A+E department during the thanksgiving period in the States ,, apparently many people are burnt every year deep frying turkeys

They don't have A&E in the US, they have ER because it makes better TV.

Originally Posted by ltnt

So you're idea of living is sharing a co-op in San Jose? wow!

Yep for now. Works out perfect. Do not want to rush into a new home. Have Realtor looking now. Way easier, far cheaper and no 1 year lease. I mean come on, I just left Thailand where your entire family lives with you almost, no diff here except they are roommates and I can tell them to 'F" off and leave me alone...

Here are 2 things I will miss. Room accommodations while traveling in Thailand and a LPG/CNG powered car.

In Thailand we have always been able to take off and find a place to stay with minimal effort. Usually a cheap pantip or patio. 600 baht to 1000 baht depending on amenities. To travel around California takes more planning and lot more effort to find cheap stay hotels that are near the area you want to visit or stay. These places range from 1500 to 2000 but can soar to as high as 3000.

We had (well she still does) Nissan Altima LPG powered car. They are awesome and saved us a ton traveling compared to the 1250 to 1500 baht petrol fill ups I have now. We could fill up her car for 400 to 500 baht. I guess for the folks in Thailand who have Diesel or Petrol only cars you would not appreciate this at all but it is significant on a long trip. Petrol in Thailand and the US are within pennies of each other in price so that's a wash, but LPG is a HUGE savings.

If you come to the UK for a drive around vacation , make sure your credit ratings ok ,

Diesel £1.46p per litre

Petrol about £ 1. 40p per litre

Originally Posted by JPPR2

Today was a US Cell phone wake up call.

When we landed I set us up with T Mobile pay as you go SIMS. We both have unlocked tele's so I did not want to buy new phones. It is $50 a month flat, unlimited text, voice, internet and 100MB data at 4G with no contract. The problem with this deal is after you leave a major metro area the service diminishes.

So I decided to visit ATT and Verizon today. FFS!!!!!. Firstly they will not power up a phone not branded by them, second if you happen to have a phone branded by them but do not have a contract they charge you a hefty service charge to do it. So out of morbid curiosity I asked them what the fee was to set up 2 smart phones.

ATT: For the Android phone it was $650 plus a 2 year contract with a monthly service charge of ~ $165 a month. So doing the math over a 2 year period you would be out nearly $4500. I walked down 5 doors to Verizon.....No surprise here. For the Samsung Galaxy was $680 for 2 phones set up and ~$160 a month service charge. Again about $4500 if you go the 2 full years. The cancellation fees on both are steep.

It is quite interesting, Verizon and ATT are clearly price fixing and the way its going it will be back to where it was when the FCC and US gov broke up "Ma Bell" for this monopoly type price fixing. What was more eye opening was the lines at each store buying up and paying it. Most people are clearly clueless and terribly misinformed about what they actually get and what they need.

Needless to say T Mobile will work just fine. But that is still 1000 baht more a month then I paid in Thailand and got far better service everywhere I went.

Anyway just a FWIIW comment.

Go with Virgin mobile prepaid. I bought their LG optimus andriod phone for $100. I pay $25 a month and get 300 voice minutes, unlimited text and data. It is on the sprint network so coverage is excellent. Best deal on the market.

Perfect night here. Sunset was noteworthy. Thought I would post a pic



Tomorrow off to Nevada for 3 days or so.

Originally Posted by bsnub

Go with Virgin mobile prepaid. I bought their LG optimus andriod phone for $100. I pay $25 a month and get 300 voice minutes, unlimited text and data. It is on the sprint network so coverage is excellent. Best deal on the market.

Thanks, I will look into it. T-Mobile not to bad thus far.

Originally Posted by SEA Traveler

the deer road kill are picked up by the game veterinarians or some one like that and the meat given to orphanages and other such institutions.

I dont know how long it has been since you have been in the US but there have not been orphanages here in decades.

OK, a Google search show me that they are now called "children's homes". OK, if that is what they want to call them it's ok with me. The need exists so good that there remains a place for those children in need.

BTW, here is a list of "children's homes" from one of the sites that a "US Orphanage" google search provided. Christian Orphanages: A Directory

Yeah and if you were 5 foot 2 you would not be short anymore, you would be vertically challenged. 5555. Political correctness is BS.