Let’s not be foolish. There are risks that come with jobs, and some jobs involve a higher level of risk than others. Naturally, a worker in a higher risk occupation is going to be compensated one way or another. Yet when injury occurs, the down time and lost wages are a drop in the bucket compared to the company expense of getting the injured party off the rig and into an appropriate medical facility.

Oil rig companies cringe at the word injury. Offshore oil rig injury lawyers should most likely be the second phone call placed after the injured party returns to solid ground. The first phone call should always be to the family members, especially the mother. Any competent attorney will tell you, it’s very important how you deal with the insurance company, doctors, and even fellow co-worker.

An innocent comment can cost you thousands upon thousands of dollars in medical expenses. The Jones Act is in place to protect the special needs of offshore oil rig workers. However, just like ordinary worker’s compensation plans, the insurance company would love to find your claim voided. Insurance companies are in business to make money, not spend it, and the instant they can save a few thousand dollars, don’t think that they’ll be concerned with how this may affect your family or your house payment.

Ironically, a large number of injured rig workers are hesitant to call an offshore oil rig lawyer after an injury. Their loyalties to their company are admirable, but reality is clear and a company isn’t worth the health of any employee. Cases almost invariably begin with an injured worker who didn’t call a lawyer right away.

The majority of offshore oil rig injury cases begin with a compliant and willing injured worker who slowly begins to realize that their rights under the Jones Act are being subtly trampled. Only then do most sea going people reach for the phone and call an attorney. A good percentage of these cases end up going from a compliant injured party to a lawsuit in a matter of a year.

Many sea going employees live by a code of conduct that is highly honorable and notable. One of the basic codes of course, is not taking more than belongs to them. Too many of these highly honorable men and women do not realize that an offshore oil rig injury lawsuit is not taking more than (or asking for more than) is rightfully theirs.

You’re not looking to become an overnight wealth story, but you are simply trying to take care of home and family, and there is just as much honor in that. Many insurance companies rely in this unwritten code of conduct to dissuade potential litigants from filing a lawsuit. This “power of persuasion” is in fact illegal, yet it is employed by oil rig insurance companies throughout the world to keep their legal costs to a minimum whenever possible.

Offshore oil rig injury cases are nothing new and nothing that can be accomplished with a fly by night lawyer. Naturally, the nature of the lawyer will in effect determine the power of the outcome of any injury case. This is simply common sense. Violations of the Jones Act have been around for as long as the Jones Act.

Specialized lawyers were only too soon to follow and pretty soon a niche industry was born. The niche industry was born from necessity rather than desire, and before long offshore oil rig injury cases were becoming more commonplace with regard to the care that injured workers were receiving.

Every oil rig worker deserves the proper care for injury under law, and that’s at a bare minimum. Insurance companies, which naturally need to be skeptical in regards to claims, are turning every long term case in to a lawsuit simply by denying the injured workers their most basic of rights.

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As with any large city there are an abundance of fine restaurants catering to different tastes and budgets. Chiang Mai is no different. Thai people love to eat. Restaurants are full of Thai’s and foreigners enjoying all types of cuisine. Rather than deal with fine restaurants which we all dine at but not every day this article deals with the day to day dining of the Thai people here in Chiang Mai.

Popular restaurants in North America are Harvey’s, McDonalds, and Burger King. Here we have the street vendors. The end result is a quickly prepared affordable meal.

The street vendors may sell fresh fruits such as pineapple, mango, watermelon, strawberries (locally grown), and more. Each fruit is cut up into small pieces and placed in a plastic bag and you are provided a long wooden stick with which to eat it. Cost is normally 10 baht which comes to about 25 cents U.S. and the fruits are kept cool and are delicious. Also vendors here sell fast foods and snacks. Get a meal of cooked rice, meat and veggies again placed in a plastic bag but this time wrapped tightly by an elastic band for about 20 baht or 50 cents U.S. Take your pick of a rice dish, or a noodle dish or a soup. Tasty and normally already prepared and wrapped and still warm or if you want to wait one minute they will take it out of the pot and put it into the bag while you wait. So a cooked meal and a tasty snack for a total of about 75 cents U.S. For many Thai’s in Chiang Mai this is there most common meal. They then proceed to drive home, unwrap the elastic, put some rice in a bowl, place several cups of the table with a bottle of water and that is one of their meals.

We all love fast foods and we all want it to be affordable. That we have in common. What you will find different between here and there is the price, quality and service.

Price. The price of meals whether it be at restaurants, or street vendors is cheap compared to what we are used to. A filling meal can be had for less than a 1US dollar for a meal I described above which includes a bowl of rice, cooked meal from street vendor and fruit from street vendor. For only $2.50 U.S. you can dine out at an all you can eat full course buffet, desserts, coffee, tip and taxes included as well as a tip for the parking lot attendant The prices are low because the ingredients are locally grown and because the labor cost is inexpensive.

Quality. The quality of the food is much healthier here than back home. Back home KFC, McDonalds, and Harvey’s are popular lunch and dinner restaurants. If you think you are thinking healthy foods there think again. Here you do not have the greasy French fries, Hamburgers stuffed full of ketchup, mustard, onions, mayo and more to hide the taste of the meat you are eating. Here you eat rice, fresh vegetables, fresh fish, drink water with the meals as opposed to a bucket sized plastic container packed full of ice and watered down sugar flavored soft drink.

Service. A teenager earning a few extra bucks in a fast food restaurant or an adult making a living out of working full time in a restaurant here. Which one would you expect to provide the best service? Nothing more needs to be said.

If you come to Chiang Mai do not go searching for restaurants that have what you normally eat. You may as well stay home and buy a video about Thailand, or watch a TV program about Thailand.

The foods here are tasty, healthy, and inexpensive.

The basic ingredient in all the meals is rice. Yes rice for breakfast too. I have never been one for rice. Potatoes was my staple. But here potatoes are pricey and although I admit to buying them and making potato soup and french fries it is the exception and not the rule.

As I have said before, the Thai’s are known for making anything taste good.

So take fresh ingredients combine that with rice and special sauces which are the key to the taste and there you have it - Healthy, Tasty, and Inexpensive meals.

Top if off with locally grown fresh pineapple, watermelon, mango, strawberries or a dozen or more fruits and you have a meal you will enjoy and which is good for you.

The funny thing about foods is that whatever you really like is NO GOOD for you. What are your favorites? Cake, pies, French fries, hamburgers, ice-cream. Well they are not that good for you in terms of eating them regularly. What do you hate to eat? Broccoli, asparagus, spinach, brown rice, boiled chicken. Well these are good for you.

So if you come here to Thailand. do try several different types of Thai foods. You may find a soup that you just cannot get enough of, or a Thai dessert that you have no idea what it was and which you absolutely enjoyed, or fresh fish which is abundant here. Prawns, sea bass and more cooked up on a large plate will leave you wanting more.

I have eaten meals, snacks and fruits sold by small roadside food vendors and never experienced any problems. The ingredients are fresh, kept on ice if required and cooking areas cleaned regularly. So I see this as a safe, inexpensive way to buy snacks and meals. I would recommend that you carry a bottle of water which can be purchased at 7-11 for only 13 cents as you may get a bit dehydrated especially if you are doing a lot of walking and this if anything may be the cause of a quick jaunt to the rest room.

Are there things that I do not eat that Thai’s eat? Yes there is a fruit called Durian, the Thai’s just love it but it has such a foul odor that when I gave it a try I had to breathe through my mouth. Apart from the odor it has the texture of a pudding and is rich in flavor. What I did not have the courage to try and which I expect would be healthy to eat was the fried insects. I suppose that it is just a matter of getting used to the sight of them. Perhaps I could dine on both the fruit and insects regularly if I kept breathing through my nose and kept my eyes shut while I ate.

But you should try what we call Suki. It is a soup that you cook on your table in a pot with hot coals underneath. You decide on the ingredients such as chicken, beef, liver, fish and add them and take them out when they are cooked. Normally the meats go in first as they take longer to cook and then the vegetables. In about 5 minutes you have your soup. Two small bowls will accompany the meal. They are both made of hot peppers. One has the appearance of a green paste and the other a red paste. You can either dip your meat or fish into the paste or put a teaspoonful into your soup. The green paste is spicy, makes me perspire a bit and gives me a longing for a cold glass of water during I eat my soup. The red paste I do not touch and would not recommend you try it unless you are accustomed to eating it or you are Mexican. My girlfriend eats her Suki with the green paste and admits to making trips to the washroom during the middle of the night and not to brush here teeth. A filling meal for 4 people for about $3 U.S. and that includes taxes, tip, and bottled water with a bucket of ice.

Remember how earlier on I said that the Thai’s have a reputation for making any food taste delicious. That is true. The KEY is the sauce. I do not know what ingredients go into the sauces but I do know that I was not a rice eater and now with I will be scraping the bottom of each bowl of food that is served to me. Normal white rice cooked in a rice cooker combined with fried vegetables and meat with the special sauce is simply delicious.

And if you want to know where I would eat given the choice now, a fast food restaurant there or a street vendor here? My reply would be a street vendor here. After the meal here I am filled up, the food is delicious, the fruits are fantastic and prices are so low and I feel fitter.

Want to learn more about Thai foods. Check out our Thai foods and recipes on our website.

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Dry skin that eventually leads to irritation and rashes are among the main concerns of every manufacturer of skin care nursing home medical products. But, how do they really work? Babies and elderly are the ones who are prone to dry skin, making them the perfect target for these products. But, in order for you to appreciate how effective skin care nursing home medical products, it is better if you understand first the reasons of manufacturing such products in the first place.

We know that dry skin is an irritation caused by a lack of moisture in our skin and it is very common, which means anybody can have dry skin at any period of time. And because babies need the best care possible at all times, we’ll first deal with them.

Skin irritation or rashes in infants and toddlers are not very surprising to know as they can develop every now and then. Due to the sensitivity of baby’s skin, if it made contact with irritating urine and feces for a little more than a few minutes, then expect extreme redness from your baby’s behind. What happen really is that when bacteria found in stool mix with chemicals found in urine, ammonia is formed, which is a known an irritant to your baby’s skin. Also, you should know that using moist towelettes in wiping your babies behind can worsen more than it can help.

Now, for dry skin in adults particularly the elderly people, they tend to develop dry skin most often in the winter months, when cold air in the outdoors and dry and heated air inside the house can cause a decrease a decrease in humidity. These instances can result to skin’s moisture loss, which in many cases may cause it to get dry, crack and peel, becomes irritated and worse, get infected.

In response to these problems, skin care nursing home medical products are introduced to the public. The good thing about most of these products is that they contain mineral oil and water, which are essential to keep the moisture level of your skin normal. One of the skin care nursing home medical products known in the market is Formula II. Its special combination of three waxes, such as beeswax, cerasin, and paraffin, are what makes this product line stand out from the others. What it does is lock in the moisture of your skin or your baby’s skin to prevent it from drying all the time.

There, you are know familiar the efficiency of skin care nursing home medical products, so make sure that you have one in your medicine cabinet just in case you are going to, I’m sure you will, need it.

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The first thing that you should work towards is your port folio. Have a good port folio which would include your pictures. This is done to give the commercial photographer a good idea about how you look and how well would you fit in any kind of commercial. The keen eye of a good commercial photographer would know exactly where you fit in and would give you projects accordingly.

It is always good to include different kinds of photographs in your port folio. You can do with about 15-20 good ones. Some can be full length pictures, some waist up shots, some three fourth shots and also don’t forget the tight head-shots. Try to put in pictures in different kind of outfits. This will help the commercial photographer to make better decisions and put you in the right spot.

Apart from this, you really have to devote time to this profession. Your ‘other life’ should be really flexible and you should always be ready for a shoot. Your commercial photographer will, most of the time, give you a call in the last moment and you would have to leave everything else for the shoot. Being available for the commercial photographer whenever he requires, will give you an advantage in your career as your commercial photographer would consider you reliable.

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But safety should not take a backseat to all these characteristics. A car’s safety features should also play a major part in the choice of a car. One car manufacturer that comes to mind when safety is mentioned is, of course, that Ford Motor Co. owned Sweden-based outfit, Volvo. They have been known for years to produce safe cars no matter what segment of the market they are competing in.

One of their recent success stories is their sturdy sports utility vehicle in the form of the Volvo XC90. This tough SUV is one of their best-selling models out in the market today. The car’s strong selling point is, of course, its safety features that only Volvo vehicles can offer. In fact, the sports utility vehicle earned good ratings on the safety tests posed on it by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Tests include front crashes at 40 miles per hour, side crashes at 31 miles per hour, and rear crashes at 20 miles per hour.

The Volvo XC90 is one of just 13 vehicles to be rated “Top Safety Pick” of the said institute. The third test posed by the institute to the car shows that it can protect the third row seats that are normally reserved for children.

The safety rating of the car comes as no surprise given its wide array of safety features that are a given for nay Volvo models. The Volvo XC90 has the standard safety features like the antilock brake system, an electronic rollover prevention system, and stability and traction control. It also comes with a complete lineup of airbags, including side curtain airbags that covers all three rows of seating. Not to mention the pre-tensioning three-point seatbelts on all seats. Optional safety feature is the BLIS or Blindspot Information System that uses cameras mounted on the outside mirrors that warns the driver if a vehicle has entered his blindspot. These line of safety features rivals those of its toughest competitors.

The Volvo XC90 comes in different trim levels so as to suit the need of any costumer. The choice of engines starts with the base model which employs a 3.2-liter in-line six-cylinder engine to the Sport version which offers a V8 engine. This engine is the first V8 engine that the company has employed in its long history. The six-cylinder engine gives out 235 horsepower and to increase its fuel economy, it employs a variable cam timing and cam-profile switching which allows the intake valves to open at different heights depending on the power demand while the 4.4-liter V8 engine produces 311 horsepower. All these power from the engine, be it from the in-line or the V8 engine, gets through to all the wheels via a wide array of high performance Volvo XC90 parts that are known to be precision engineered and also much popularized because of their reliability.

The sports utility vehicle has amazing off-road driving credentials that make it a top choice for the generation that would like to trek the outdoors onboard their SUVs. While a large part of the American car buyers are turning their back on the SUV market due to the increasing prices of petroleum products, the Volvo XC90’s fuel economy is not so bad compared to other vehicles in its class. That fact and the safety and comfort that the vehicle offers makes the XC90 Volvo’s top seller in the US market with a young buyer base at an average of 44 years old.

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Decorating Home Theater

When you are planning the design of your home theater, you should not restrict yourself to chairs and seating. They are very important in setting up a home theater, but you should also have some colored posters and cuttings of the movies. This will enhance the ambience of the home theater and will making watching the movie more enjoyable. You should decorate the room in the best possible way by using vast collection of accessories like carpets, wall papers, etc.

Furniture For Home Theater

There are so many things to be considered while purchasing the furniture for the home theater. There are many companies in the market that manufacture furniture especially for home theaters according to your requirements. The following items are necessary to have a pleasure of real theaters in home theatres:

1 - You should buy an entertainment stand, which will hold all of your equipment like a television, DVD player, and stereo. This will make your system look organized and will save the consumption of your space.

2 - The next important thing is the purchase of comfortable furniture. There are a number of choices in the market for the chairs and couches. Along with comfort, you should also consider the style and color of the chairs and couches, as they should suit your decor. There are many designs of the loungers that possess wide arm rests with beverages holders and sliding foot rests. You should have a proper survey of the furniture market in order to get the best according to your requirements.

3 - While going for purchasing the home theater furniture, the main thing that should be considered is the room in which you are having your home theater system. The furniture should be selected accordingly.

4 - There are many other different accessories like audio visual cabinets, video cabinets, TV cabinets, stereo cabinets, multimedia, storage cabinets, or entertainment cabinets, They come in various shapes, colors, designs, and companies to enhance the look of your home theatre.

5 - Depending upon your budget, you can even opt for some of the enjoyable things like popcorn machines or to have a small bar at the back of the room in order to have great pleasurable time while watching a 2 hours full length movie.

Therefore, the selection of the furniture should be done by considering the above-mentioned points in order to enjoy the fun and excitement of the actual theatre in the premises of your home theater.

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The tilt in the earth’s axis causes the seasonal variations as different parts of the earth receives varied amount of the sunrays everyday. The Tropical Zone between 23.5 degrees north and 23.5 degrees south receives maximum heat throughout the year. This effects convection. This convection causes the hot air to rise up, form a low pressure and come down again as rainfall.

Until it reaches the tropopause (the juncture of the stratosphere and the troposphere) the hot air keeps moving up. It cannot cross the tropopause. It spreads towards the pole and then cools and sinks down generally in between the 30 degrees north and south. The sinking air produces a high pressure belt which causes dry and sunny climate. The deserts on the earth are located mostly in these zones.

In the zone between the 30 degrees north and south latitudes the sinking air displaces a considerable mass of air that was already there. Some of it moves towards the equatorial area as trade winds. By the time it reaches the equator, it dies out and this was called the doldrums by sailors.

Thus we can see that the global circulation of air is to a large extent a cause of the rise of air in the tropics, sinking of the same in between the 30 degrees north and south latitude and also the eventual flowing back of it to the equator. This whole process was first observed by English scientist George Hadley and thus it gets its name as the Hadley cells.

The whole of the rising equatorial wind do not sink in the 30 degrees’ zone. Some continues to flow till they reach the poles. They meet the polar air at 60 degrees north and south. This zone is called the polar fronts. From here the warmer air moves towards the 30 degrees’ area and this was first observed by William Ferrel in 1856. Thus this process earns its name: the Ferrel cells.
There are some air that rises at the 60 degree and flows towards the 60 degrees north and south zone. This is quite a weak process and is popularly called the polar Hadley cells.

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Some companies are in purposeful violation of this safe guard, relying on being just under the limit of American sailors or other restriction which make them exempt from the requirements and obligations. Of course, lawmakers can do nothing to enforce a law that they initially wrote with such exemptions.

However, the law is fluid, and offshore oil rig injury lawyers are making large gains on behalf of the average worker to ensure that they are receiving proper benefits under these laws. Any good offshore oil rig injury lawyer will be able to explain how the restriction may affect a personal case, but the basics of the law are clear. Accidents and injury on the offshore oil rigs are almost unavoidable, and when they happen they can be very dramatic. Almost every accident should have a lawyer to review the case and to ensure that obligations of the company are being met.

These types of cases are very personal to those who are injured. A life of service to any company that is willing to put someone through test after test and doctor after doctor to verify that they are even telling the truth to begin with is insulting. Having to fight a lawsuit just to get the basic medical needs met is highly insulting.

Lawmakers are concerned with the validation of the workers’ rights while offshore oil rig injury lawyers are concerned with their rights as well as their overall wellbeing. Just like workers’ compensation claims, there will always be one or two bad eggs who fabricate injury for some “free” pay, but the majority should not have to suffer because of this small and unworthy percentage.

Rather, attorneys are finding more and more companies claiming that they do not fall under the Jones Act requirements when in reality they do. If the worker never inquires with an attorney, the likelihood of them ever realizing the scope of their rights is marginal. Lawmakers are aware of this as well and are passing tighter laws for companies who claim to be outside the scope of the Jones Act.

These types of lawsuits take about a year to complete after filing. When you’re talking about the quality of someone’s life and their health, this is a long time for their world to be left in limbo. For an offshore oil rig injury lawyer to be able to pull together a viable lawsuit in less than a year would be a serious achievement, yet they do understand that while these issues are tied up in court there is an injured worker who likely isn’t getting any better and who isn’t financially surviving.

This makes cases a test of endurance for some clients. With no other alternative but to wait it out and try to accomplish the task of recovery, many clients find themselves frustrated, and rightfully angered by the process itself. It takes an exceptional attorney to be able to understand the unique needs of every client and to be able to perform the appropriate services for each client on an individual basis. Lawsuits are unique to each client, and no two fall under identical parameters.

Many offshore oil rig injury cases could be avoided if clients simply knew their rights and expressed their knowledge of their rights at the time of injury. However, the laws regarding the Jones Act are complex and without complete understanding of the laws, injured workers find that understanding these laws without professional interpretation is very difficult.

At the same time, lawmakers are continuously scrutinizing the laws and determining how to best serve the needs of both parties. As long as companies continue to deny their injured workers their basic rights, these types of lawsuits will continue to be fought and won in court rooms across America. Until these battles are won, injured workers have issues to cope with that will forever be unfair and undeserving.

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Well aged 54 and separated from my wife and seeing my friends gain weight and have health problems made me think. I was gaining weight also, I was not happy with the direction my life was headed, so what can I do? I starting thinking of the alternatives.

Retirement? No one wants to talk about it or even think about. Perhaps it makes us feel older if we do that. So years go by and things do not change. We do the same things, eat the same foods until the doctor tells us to make some changes, and we carry on like we will live forever. Unfortunately we won’t live forever and we should be thinking of retirement before we kick the bucket. After all what did you work all those years for anyways?

Well to cut to the chase I was thinking of going to the Dominican Republic to live. But after going there twice I found that the power was unreliable, there were safety concerns, doctors and dentists were not easily accessible and it was pricey.

With time on my hands I sat in front of my computer and did some research. and discovered that Thailand was a popular retirement destination. In fact I read that Chiang Mai was the most popular retirement destination in all of South East Asia.

Hundreds of hours of research later by methodical, planner George and he has come up with the best retirement country and also the best retirement city in all of South East Asia and perhaps the world. Chiang Mai, a city of several hundred thousand inhabitants. Located about 420 miles north of Bangkok and less polluted, less expensive, and with less traffic than Bangkok and also cooler than Bangkok. Chiang Mai, unknown to most of North Americans yet visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists yearly, and home to thousands of foreigners who have visited there, found it to their liking and decided to make this their new home.

I arrived in Bangkok on Nov. 23, 2004 and that is where we will start our real life experiences, adventures and misadventures.

After the tiring trip I decided to stay over a few nights in Bangkok. Then well rested I was ready to continue onwards to Chiang Mai.

A quick one hour plane flight or a relaxing 13 hours train ride which one was it to be? With the extra luggage I was bringing including computer and golf clubs I decided on the train. The bumpy ride in a very comfortable reclining seat (2nd class A/C) set me back all of $15 dollar U.S. and this included two meals, a refreshment and a pastry. It was a bumpy ride with little to see but the forest. But I had all my luggage aboard, no extra charge, and the bumpy ride was just what my legs needed for their circulation.

My research enabled me to be well prepared for my journey and I am not one to leave things to chance. Things went as planned and I arrived at Chiang Mai train station and had reserved a room for 21 days at the Bossotel Inn which was directly across the road from the train station.

Like a normal tourist eh? Yes, I am Canadian how did you know?

I think in total I spent something in the neighborhood of 600 hours of research on the internet and I learned what I could but there was more, much more to learn.

I lived like a tourist at first living in a hotel, eating my meals there. I played pool before breakfast at a snooker establishment behind the hotel. After breakfast TV was the norm and then later in the day I would walk to the Night Bazaar shopping and tourist district about 30 minutes away. The walk there was good exercise, it gave me a chance to see the people and businesses along the way and get familiar with the city. Walk, look around, pop into O’Malley’s pub for a cool drink and to meet Scot, a fellow Canadian, and the owner.

The hotel rate was $16U.S. a night with taxes and breakfast included. I wanted to stay in a serviced apartment later but did not want to book it until I had seen it first. I was favorably impressed when I visited the apartment and proceeded to book it. So three weeks at the hotel and then on to the serviced apartment which would run about $250 a month with utilities and water included, and breakfast extra. The apartment had internet available in the rooms at an extra fee, or internet on site, massage spa on site, rooftop pool, motorcycle rental, beauty salon and restaurant which had entertainment in the evenings. The TV has a large selection of channels by way of satellite, there was free parking on site, and a great location near the Central Mall. So it had it all

Other retirees recommend staying in a condo or serviced apartment for 6 months or more to get familiar with the city before proceeding with any sort of long term rental arrangements.

I met a lovely lady name Nichaya. She was a hairdresser during the day and my tour guide, companion, means of transportation during the evenings. Although I weigh more than twice her weight we rode around town on her motorbike. Her driving the motorbike and me on back. This may seem odd but it is not uncommon. Unless you know the city and really know how to drive a motorcycle you shouldn’t. These motorcycles are 100 and 110 cc engines which means they are not powerful but they are very economical in terms of fuel. We could drive around all week all over town for only $2 U.S. in diesel fuel.

To learn more about living in Chiang Mai one has to live with the people. Find out what they eat, where they shop, what they do daily.

By this time Nichaya or Wan her nickname which everyone has here and I were becoming very close and fond of each other. I invited here to Patong a beach resort for a weeks holiday. She refused but each day I would ask again. Finally she relented and agreed. Have any of you heard of the December, 2004 tsuanmi? Well guess where I was at the time? Right. Right there.

The tsunami hit a few days before we were scheduled to return to Chiang Mai. We lost a camera, some clothing, some pictures but found each other. She handled the situation calmly and we were unharmed. In case you are interested this is what happened.

Tremor about 3 a.m. Woke me up and I wondered whether it was an earthquake. Around 4:30 a.m. another tremor. Awakened me again. At around 7 a.m. a large boom sounded like a shotgun blast and then a minute later another such loud boom.

I thought it may be terrorists out by the pool area and I recommended staying in the room. Nichaya told me to get out of the room. We grabbed a few valuables, passport and ran out of the hotel. Our hotel room was on the lower level facing the pool area which is about 6 feet lower than the lobby area of the hotel. We ran by the pool, up the stairs to the lobby and out the front entrance. Just as we crossed the road water gushed out from the hotel and on to the street. So the water level needed to be at least 6 feet high just to reach the lobby area. Motorcycles, vehicles were being carried down the streets in all directions by the sudden gush of water. We were on higher ground across the street and took off our shoes and I rolled up my pants.

After an hour or so the water level began to recede. It was about this time when a motorcycle policeman drove by and alerted everyone that there would be another wave coming shortly. He was right. Another similar wave went through the lobby and on to the streets again. Now the water level was back to where it was before and we could do nothing but wait.

The day before the tsunami hit we were on a boat cruise to Phi Phi Islands. Two days before the tsunami hit we rented motor boats at the beach. If this had happened a day earlier or at a different time then you would not be reading this article.

When the water level receded and it deemed safe we re-entered our hotel lobby to find a young boy who was in the pool when the tsunami hit lying of the floor with someone trying to resuscitate him. Unfortunately the boy did not make it. The hotel staff were totally unprepared. Nice people as they are they did not have a clue what to do. Guests were yelling out, Call a Doctor, Have you called a Doctor? The hotel staff smiled politely but either did not understand or were unable to reach anyone.

When we approached our room we found it was devastated. The outside window smashed by the water, the door broken, mattress and furniture upside down and the room inaccessible.

Hotel guests were taken to higher ground by buses and trucks. We sat by the roadside on higher ground waiting. The hotels found alternate accommodations in nearby Phuket which was about one half drive away from Patong. We left the others who sat by the roadside and went to some hillside shacks where Wan was able to greet the people, speak their language and explain the situation. They offered us refreshments and a place to lay down and wait.

Only when we reached the airport a day later did we realize the true extent of the devastation. There were tourists at the airport with cuts, bandages, broken bones but worse yet there were many people unaccounted for.

Wan and I were unhurt but learned something about each other through the experience. We showed how we react in emergencies and also we learned something about hotels and Thai people. After writing to hotel management at the Patong Merlin hotel on at least 6 occasions to that location and to their sister Phuket hotel which was undamaged by the tsunami we received one reply after 5 weeks. They did not try to clean any of the clothes left behind, did not try to return any of the contents, did not even try to contact us with a letter or e-mail saying sorry about this experience. We stayed there for a week at $100 U.S. a night and will never stay in a Merlin hotel again.

Would it have been handled differently or better in North America?

Well a one hour flight back to Bangkok for some shopping and then the short one hour flight back to Chiang Mai, my new home.

Now life is different. Wan and I live in her townhouse with her daughter and mother. Her husband passed away and she has been the one they rely on. Wan has a beauty salon downstairs in her townhouse.

What is different now?

Well I have learned how to live here on less. There are accommodations to be had here from $80 a MONTH and excellent accommodations can be had for $200 U.S. a month. By excellent I mean similar to a hotel room, TV with cable or satellite, pool, restaurant on site and in a good location with twice weekly or weekly cleaning.

I eat Thai food now with chicken wings, French fries, and some homemade potato soap several times a week. I read that Thai’s can make anything taste delicious. That is TRUE.

They use fresh ingredients in their cooking. There are many farms nearby and the produce from fruits, to vegetables is abundant year around and very cheap. There is also a fantastic selection of seafood’s to pick from. You can buy the seafood from the market or from a large grocery store where the selection is varied and fresh. If you want you can pick out a live fish, continue with your shopping and when you are checking out pick up your cooked fish to take home for dinner or lunch.

I recently bought pineapples at the large grocery store. Large, fresh, mouth watering pineapples. Ten baht each or .25 cents U.S. each. They will cut if for you and put it on styrofoam with cellophane wrapping for free.

Back to the cooking. The reason Thai food is so delicious is partly the freshness of the ingredients but mainly the sauces. Simple cooked rice with fried vegetables becomes a delicious meal with the right sauce added. Something to watch out for if you do visit here. Two small bowls are presented with many of the meals. One has a green paste/sauce and the other a red colored paste/sauce. These are added to fish or meat by way of dipping or by placing a small amount on a tablespoon from the bowl and then on to your food. WATCH OUT!!!! The red is spicy hot and should be added in measured quantities. The green should not be added at all unless you are Thai or Mexican in my opinion. The green one is the hottest of the two and can make you perspire, reach quickly for a glass of water and visit the washroom in the middle of the night and not to brush your teeth.

Fantastic food and bargain prices.

Great accommodations and bargain prices.

Friendly people who go out of their way to make you feel at home.

So many things to do that I can not even list them all.

Cable TV with 54 channels for $8.25 U.S. a month. Installation cost of cable was around $7 U.S. and $2.50 extra for the second TV. Internet and telephone for about $20 U.S. a month total .

People work hard. Many have their own businesses and work 16 hour days 7 days a week.

The business may consist of setting up a table and a few chairs and selling noodles, cooked meat, fruits or a small convenience store with home cooked foods on the side.

I see the parents take their children to school which is expensive here. About 80,000 baht or $2,000 U.S. per year for schooling, clothing and textbooks for a 7 year old. They teach the children English even at this age. The parents have to work damm hard to pay for the schooling but they are doing this in hopes of their children obtaining good jobs and having a better life with more to look forward to.

Cats and dogs here are numerous. Just about everyone in our neighborhood has either a cat or dog or both. Our neighbor has 6 cats plus 2 kittens and he does not have a fulltime job. It is difficult for him but I know he loves the cats. He has offered to give us a few but we do not have the space.

So to sum things up. It isn’t perfect here. You can find something to complain about if you look hard enough but for me it is as close to perfection as I will find.

I can tell you about one or two things that I do not like and I could tell you about the hundred things I like. I am a picky person so if I like it here and have very little or nothing to complain about then I am sure others will love it here also.

So enamored by Chiang Mai am I that I have created a website to help other retire here. First to come here on vacation and then to retire here.

If you want you can retire here on less than that, but to live a comfortable life here that is all that it takes.

Visit our website for Thai foods and recipes, to learn more about living here, and to see pictures of Chiang Mai.

So from a healthier, happier George who is living here on less and enjoying it

Khop Khun Khrap or thank you in Thai for reading the article. If you come here on vacation or to stay long term give me a call and we can go to a buffet and watch them make sushi, where you can select the ingredients of a soup they call Suki, where you can eat an unlimited amount of fresh salad with a choice of dressings and shredded chicken on the side, pick from an assortment of cooked meats, noodles, or fish, and then top it off with a variety of desserts and the best cup of coffee I have had in years for $2.50 U.S. after taxes and tip. The best selection of freshly prepared food and lowest priced all you can eat buffet restaurant in Chiang Mai in my opinion.

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Well, umm, no, they have… well they have made a decision to become hooked, trapped and desperate.

See the news blog tumbling out… Scottish smokers, hooked on their smoking addiction have vowed to fight the smoking bans.

Read the Press Release from the pharmaceutical company announcing… Smokers trapped by their smoking addiction are offered a new drug.

Hear the media babbling… Britney Spears’ husband is desperate to quit smoking for the sake of their children.

I bet if you are a smoker, you don’t really use these strong words… more like, “I’d really like to quit, but I enjoy smoking, or, I’ve tried to quit but it’s too hard, or, I want to quit, but I’m so addicted I don’t think I can, or, I’m too scared, what if… ” and so on.

But are smokers totally at the mercy of their habit and spinelessly despairing of escaping its bonds? Would they describe their smoking addiction like that? Trapped? Trapped by a chemical and emotional fix? They’re not trapped by their decision, that’s for sure, because we all have the ability to make our own decisions, yes or no as we wish.

A person makes a decision to try smoking. For some that leads to more decisions to reach out and take more cigarettes maybe a week or so later. Then some more, then pretty soon as the nicotine gets its grips into the brain’s receptors, the person finds it becomes harder and harder not to go out of his or her way to acquire cigarettes to smoke… and hey presto, because of their decisions, they are now supposedly a hooked, trapped smoker, and if they want to quit, they are desperate.

But it still comes down to a decision to smoke. Every time a smoker lights up it is a decision they have made. A simple, personal decision, along with 1000’s of other decisions each day that make up that person’s character, lifestyle, mood, health and future.

A daily decision to get out of bed is made.

A decision not to have another helping of food is made.

You decide to clean the house, take the dog out in the rain, stack the dishes, and sort out your accounts for tax.

You don’t dwell on how you’ll miss lingering in your warm bed, or how you’ll suffer without more food, or how unpleasant it will be to walk the dog in the rain, do the dishes, tax etc.

No, with unpleasant decisions you simply do what needs to be done because the consequences not to would be worse.

Some people make daily major decisions, sacrificing a lot because of a goal worth aiming for, such as a champion swimmer rising at 5am to practice 2 hrs before breakfast. Thus it is with smoking, or exercise, or getting out of bed in the morning. It’s a matter of making the decision and focusing on the outcome.

You know it’s absolutely pointless to try to worm your way out of getting out of bed. Who would you worm to anyway! But the point is it’s automatic, although for some people it’s an effort, to get up in the morning, but it has to be done. Has to… and your decision is made, because the day beckons and there’s a whole lot of living to do.

You’re in charge of your decisions. You are not trapped; your brain and body are resisting, but no-one is tying you to your bed, so up you get… no-one is forcing you to have your smoking addiction, although your brain and body crave a smoke, so decide to get help to control it and focus on something better.

It’s your decision and the consequences are not that crash hot if you don’t make the right decisions.

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