I need someplace to write down the often confusing thoughts that enter my mind, while my stories give voice to the characters that wander through periodically, this is the place for my voice. Join me if you wish, comment if you wish, all are welcomed and appreciated.
I use cash except for large purchases when I use my debit card.
The ATM machines in Thailand charge 220 baht no matter how much or how little I take out. I take out the max... 20.000 baht. The fee is therefore 1.1%.
I boycott card-only places in general and absolutely in Montana. They discriminate against the poor. Here in Udon Thani many Thais use "Line" to send or receive payment. Even many small operations have that. I still use baht. Street vendors sell produce for as little as 5 baht. It would be silly to use anything but cash. If a person refuses to carry up to 500 baht (~$14) I have no sympathy. Theft here is uncommon; assault is almost unheard of. Honesty is the rule. "Finders-keepers" is not acceptable.
I rarely see foreigners at the local market. There are many staying in the condos where I reside. I don't understand. Perhaps, I'm assuming here, it's a matter of convenience and comfort. They are used to canned food and processed food and produce that looks pretty. And... peanut butter and hazelnut spread must be bought regardless of the exorbitant price. They bring their culture of personal comfort with them.
What does that rant have to do with your blog entry? Credit is delaying the pain unless one pays it off every month. I don't buy what I can't afford. I don't go into debt. I live well by living well within my means.
Fortunately we don't have tipping here or "mandatory tipping" which I consider criminal. That would be a whole nother blog entry!
Recently I used my credit card to buy some foreign currency at a place which charges no commission. When I got my Credit Card bill, I had been charged £3.00 for the privaledge of using my credit card - not interest, mind, just for using it. So it literally cost me money to change money in to other money
I rarely see discounts for using cash, but I know they happen. I try to avoid such establishments if I can. I use a credit card for just about everything, and yet I don't pay even one cent in interest, because I treat it like a debit card, paying it off in full every cycle.
Actually, because of cash rewards, they pay me. This likely comes out of other peoples' interest payments and merchant processing fee. Thanks, people paying interest!
I usually fear the feeling of being lost.it’s so easy to do in the Australian bush. But the only time I relished the feeling was when we were in our first years of travelling in South East Asian countries. We (my husband and I) were in our sixties then, never having had the opportunity before to travel because of work and kids, would find ourselves lost in the big cities daily. It didn’t really matter because so long as we had a little money for a taxi and the address of our cheap hotel we would be able to find our back to our few belongings.
About the above...that was when I lived in Oregon near Crater Lake. Being lost in Alaska would have been different because we had no hounds or electric poles. Just stay put.
Down that is something I was taught never to do. (I was told to stay put) If I didn't come home someone would let the hounds find me. When I was lost in the forest I climbed the highest tree and looked for electric poles then followed them .
My mom was... not the best cook. My dad was old-fashioned enough to proclaim it Not His Job, but he stepped up when he had to, though he didn't have much experience.
Thus, I learned to cook in self-defense. But I enjoy doing it, most of the time.
5 DAY Andre the Blog Monkey's April Fools Mystery Writing Challenge
Blog Prompt for Day 1 - When mystery surrounds an object, that object then becomes a clue. Have you ever discovered a mysterious item, which became a clue to an investigation? Tell us about what you found and where the investigation led to.
When I was much younger, way back around 1965, making me about 10 or 11 years old my family put an addition on our house. That addition created an attic space with ready access. My Father decided to take advantage of that by "flooring" that space.
My job was to move boxes stored in the crawl space to a temporary holding spot and put them back after Dad and my big brother put the plywood floor down. It was late fall, so it wasn't to bad heat wise, and I liked the idea that I had a project to myself.
In the process of moving the boxes I found one way in the back that was identified in my Mom's neat hand writing. In fact, there was no writing at all on this box. Cleverly, I decided to leave that box till last as I put the others away for easy access later.
Later came, we finished renovating the house, and I transferred my mystery box to my room. Opening it in secret, I found training manuals, flight logs and other documents associated with the Army Air Corp, the precursor of the modern day Air Force.
Like any good detective I questioned witnesses, My Mom being the most likely "suspect". I found out that five years earlier we had bought our house from a former pilot, a member of the Air Corp during World War Two. He and his wife had purchased the house one year earlier. My family bought the house when he was recalled into the service during the Korean War.
Mom helped me write a letter to the address we had, but we never received a reply.
Jump forward to the present; I came across the box again, now cleaning up in preparation for selling the house. Now armed with the internet and it search capabilities I decided to try one more time.
Alas, sadly my quest found rather bad news. I found the pilot in question, his name listed on the dry casualty reports from a War that still goes on.
The box? It's now in the hands of the local Air Power Museum, built on the site that most likely manufactured the jet the pilot was flying.
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