midzo

My father had an MD, a PhD in Anatomy and Physiology AND a PhD in Pharmacology. He was a medical school professor for many years. In the mid 70s, the US Department of Transportation commissioned a study examining the effects of illegal drugs and driving competency. My father headed up the research. It was not safe or sensible to get people high and put them on the road, so an arcade game-like machine was developed. Volunteers "drove" in a virtual car while sober and their performance was evaluated. They were then given alcohol, cocaine, barbiturate or cannabis and asked to repeat the course. To no one's surprise, alcohol dramatically reduced performance. So did barbiturates. Cocaine appeared to slightly reduce performance, but the effect could not be determined, as the numbers were within the margin of error. Here's the kicker. Drivers using cannabis performed *better* than they did while sober. These results were so unexpected the experiment was repeated with cannabis several times, until the DEA stopped giving exemptions for the illicit drugs. The DOT did not like the results and quashed the data. I'd be interested in another scientific look at driving and cannabis. Not likely to happen here.

Actor. Loved my job despite the constant rejection and financial insecurity. Still working part-part time, although I’m directing a lot more and acting a lot less. I still love it.

Most Thais pay no income tax. All working foreigners do. Everyone pays VAT. Foreigners pay MUCH higher taxes per capita than Thais. Arguing that tax-payers should pay less for tax-payer supported services would mean farangs should get DISCOUNTED rates.

Excellent hard product and service in the air. Terrific lounge in Doha (Spend the money for the QSuite biz class upgrade if you can--it's spectacular!) Terrible, terrible service from reservations. I spent hours on hold, many times from within the US, never reached a soul. Finally made contact on social media, got helped finally --needed more clearly-printed itinerary for Thai COE application. Once in thailand, I tried to reschedule my return trip to the US. Never got anybody from within Thailand, social media referred me to a phone number in Doha. Hours of hold time, no answer. Too bad, as I was going to abandon EVA and Cathay Pacific for Qatar, but now I wouldn't trust Qatar to walk my dog. And as I am now I a no-show on my return flight, the ticket and money are likely lost forever. I fly CNX-SFO biz cloass at least once a year. Both EVA and Cathay Pacific service CNX. Qatar does not. Both airlines use the same fully-flat Zodiac seat. Cathay has far superior lounges in Hong Kong. VERY nice. But wants $100/year to join their Marco Polo FF program. I don't think so. Their Asia Miles program is free, but you cannot earn any status. Join a OneWorld partner airline's program. EVA has better onboard service and amenities (as EVA has no first class, their Royal Laurel class is essentially first class without the caviar.) EVA Lounge in Taipei is a disappointment. Go to the Singapore Air Krisflyers Lounge, it's marginally better. EVA's Star Alliance FF program is free, but stingy. Join Asiana's instead---use that number when flying EVA.