rickudon

The dog issue us why our daughter rarely plays outside and every time I drive i have the dog slalom to contend with. Half the accidents on the road outside our house are dog related. I am really, really tempted to drive straight but some Somchai might see that ......... When i first moved here there where even more dogs and they barked all night. One night a neighbour shot one so he could sleep! 5 days of peace and quiet before they began to return.

Breathing car exhaust gases isn't all that pleasant, a charcoal fire (as long as you wait for the smoke to burn off) is ok. I'm off to buy a charcoal pot now, it will keep until i need it ......

I was wondering how that works ..... does Hungarian water burn well?

The contracted out bit ..... if you were contracted out due to an employers pension, your NI contributions still count as a year, but at a reduced rate for each year (in the new state pension scheme). So you can have 35 years, but still not get the full new pension rate at retirement (not sure how much they deduct, but about 12-15%). Now, you can top up with extra contributions (or keep working) and each new year will replace an older discounted year (as i understand it). But that means in reality you are only adding about one sixth of a year for each year paid. May be worth it for some, maybe not. And remember your extra pension may result in more income tax ...... I was unfortunate to have been contracted out, so lost a fair bit under the new state pension rules (one year too young) - I ended up only ONE POUND better off than under the old pension system, but without the benefits like married pension rate/survivor benefits (which would have been really useful with a Thai wife) If you do not have 35 years to start with, topping up is a good idea.

Democratic Republic of Congo showed the way to go, allow a vote but inflate a no hopers share of the vote above that of the real winner, then do a deal with them ..... Thailand will have taken note. Poorsuckers wiki poll list sure shows how 'honest' that poll was!