What is your vacation plan?

Leaving for Chongqing tomorrow. Gonna head to Nanning after that and maybe head down to the Vietnam border to see if it's open.

Take it easy Billy...have a good one.

Thanks. I've walked from China to Vietnam before. It's always an interesting trip.

Thanks. I've walked from China to Vietnam before. It's always an interesting trip.

The Chinese army have regetted doing that long ago!...

Hail the Trung sisters (and their mom who trained them)! I it's been 24 years since i read the story but the Trung sisters were top-100 listed women of all time, heralded for stopping  the foreign invaders from taking their land, Vietnamese women trained to slit the throats of Chinese officers in their sleep, thinking they had successfully occupied Vietnamese villages of mere women and children, the men in the jungle preparing counteratracks. Over one thousand years later Americans thought they could repeat the Chinese tactic, and met the same result. That battleground ain't yours for the taking.

But throw money at it, come and go, and it's paradise!

Probably Detroit. Hear it's beautiful this time of year.

Probably Detroit. Hear it's beautiful this time of year.

It is.

Basically if you start with Downtown as the center and draw a, uh, male anatomy over to Mexicantown to the West and over to the Marina/Indian Village in the East and go NE from Downtown up Woodward past the Ford Freeway into New Town and you're fine. Don't go past into Highland Park. In Downtown go to American Coney Island for the best coney dogs in the U.S. Xochilmico's in Mexican village is awesome. My dad did the payroll for them and would always bring home sacks of tamales.

Detroit may have its rough parts. Well, a lot of rough parts. And very rough. But it still beats Windsor because Windsor is in Canada.

On the airplane waiting for take-off. I'm going to hit up all the best craft beer places in Chongqing! (Don't tell L I) 

Edit: currently in Chongqing getting DDDRUNK at a local craft beer place. Gonna find some chains to yank. Hope L I and VanIslander approve. "hashtag BOREDINCHINA"

And visiting the dispensary, downing a few Leo, and laying on the beach, sounds like a good way to go.  At least occasionally.  What do other folks do in retirement? 

That's fine as like a weekend thing plus an extra day a week. But as you yourself said, occasionally. Everyday? You're just existing to get high. That's not living.

My folks are retired. In between their cottage up North, my dad stays active by flying his plane,  working on several restoration projects, visiting various family friends and helping out with things mechanical, participating in political activities, being a member of several clubs such as the Michigan Theater, the local EAA chapter, the Detroit Theater Organ Society and so on. My momis learning the tuba, is studying Italian, knits quilts for charity and has various other minor hobbies.

Different strokes, but I know which one I'd choose. I also know which one is far better for both mental and physical health. I mean, what do you think getting drugged and drunk on a beach does to the body and brain in an elderly person? Wouldn't you rather be one of those people still sharp at 85 than a mumbling husk? If you have kids don't you want to be there to support them and share in the good times? My grandparents were positive influences in my life and I'd want to be the same.

And Marti, many people would say doing (legal) drugs and lying on the beach is just as fulfilling as being a sanctimonious git on a teachers' forum.

Thank you for agreeing that it isn't fulfilling.

On the airplane waiting for take-off. I'm going to hit up all the best craft beer places in Chongqing! (Don't tell L I) 

Edit: currently in Chongqing getting DDDRUNK at a local craft beer place. Gonna find some chains to yank. Hope L I and VanIslander approve. "hashtag BOREDINCHINA"

What's the Craft bar name? I'll look it up. I'm curious.

And Marti, many people would say doing (legal) drugs and lying on the beach is just as fulfilling as being a sanctimonious git on a teachers' forum.
 

Characters like this and this kind of behavior is actually quite concerning.
Christian Nationalists is the US want everyone to live their lives according
their set of limited values and want the power of government to make
this nightmare actually happen.

I think acceptable behaviour, both online and offline, comes with age
and experience. In the future he will, hopefully, acquire both. So, there
is hope.

As an aside, I watched a great ABC Australia program the other night on weed in Thailand. Interviews with growers and seller, plus a great tour of an indoor grow-house run by a couple of sisters...amazing.. .also doctors and locals. Some of the weed in the shops looked mouth-watering.

PS: Unblock JonVoightCar, he isn't talking nonsense. He's being harsh but realistic and genuinely seems to care.

You think he's dumping on SPQR out of love? 

I'm with the others, he was just acting on his own prejudice and personal grudges, which he's always proclaiming to be above but the things he says and does are always steeped in it. And you're surprised when he insults working folks (again revealing his superiority complex) after you basically gave him a pass to be cruel and toxic?

SPQR might need to hear a cautionary tale or two, but I wasn't getting that from DM here, and not from you, either, at least not from the get-go, although you recovered a little by actually getting to the point after the fact. You might have been well-intentioned, but DM certainly wasn't, and your initial delivery sucked. The gif you dropped, while not full of malice as DM's posts were, was obviously full of judgment, and I get why SPQR reacted poorly to it. Then add to the fact that SPQR is also from an entirely different generation, and you're surprised when your memes don't land with him? You guys aren't speaking the same language, and you're mocking him for it instead of trying to understand where he's coming from. That doesn't exactly scream "I'm just trying to have an honest conversation with you, bro."

There's a difference between being honest and being blunt and cruel. You can't excuse the latter as "just being real" because it's not coming from a good place.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/you-brutally-blunt-helpfully-honest-kate-nasser#:~:text=Honesty%20moves%20everyone%20forward%3B%20bluntness,the%20pain%20of%20the%20past.

As an aside, I watched a great ABC Australia program the other night on weed in Thailand. Interviews with growers and seller, plus a great tour of an indoor grow-house run by a couple of sisters...amazing.. .also doctors and locals. Some of the weed in the shops looked mouth-watering.

The unfortunate thing is, weed used to part of the Korean culture. Then
the right wing scumbag dictator, Park Chun_Hee, made it illegal in order to crack
down on dissent. Unfortunately most Koreans are just like their North
Korean counterparts and never question authority and blindly abide by
laws no matter how arbitrary or stupid. However this is changing as
younger Koreans visit the US and get advanced tutoring on bongs, edibles
and smokables.
 

Characters like this and this kind of behavior is actually quite concerning.
Christian Nationalists is the US want everyone to live their lives according
their set of limited values and want the power of government to make
this nightmare actually happen.

I can see how years of drug and alcohol abuse could cause you to think that I mentioned religion or legality even once when all I talked about were the impacts on physical health, mental health, happiness, wanting to be there for your family, and whether you wanted to be a consumer or a contributor.

You are 100% free to waste the last 20 years of life waking up everyday just to get high and I think that should be your right. Of course, it is quite likely that about 5 years in you'll probably see some sort of financial issue, massive social isolation, and/or severe physical issues as drugs, booze and old-age tend to go together about as well as warm sunlight and milk. But hey, maybe you'll pull a Keith Richards and beat the overwhelming odds.

Or you could try to find something to give your last 20 years of life on this Earth some meaning beyond getting high and lying around. Maybe try and show that you are only old in body, not in mind and heart. Maybe try and do something for others or at least for those in your family. I mean, since you are obviously such a wonderful, insightful, brilliant, and well-adjusted person, it would be a shame to not share all of that with the world or at least your children and their children. Unless, you think you aren't that wonderful, insightful, brilliant, and well-adjusted and so want to hide from the world because you really do have nothing real of value to offer.

Seriously dude, I know you think I'm the biggest POS on this forum, but before you set off on this, you really need to ask yourself why all you're dreaming of is just getting high and lying around. You need to seriously examine why that is. Once you set off on this path, it's going to be really hard to turn back. And by all accounts, there's A LOT of guys who have done this in Thailand who have found themselves in a really sad place and are basically trapped there until they drink themselves to death or some other physical malady takes them or they off themselves. You may find that about a year or two in, that it isn't the great experience you think it is.

At least try and carve out something like confusedsaffer where he tries to be part of his wife's family and interact and support the community and give back to those around him. I may give him crap for his savior complex, but at the end of the day I've also defended him for having good intentions and actually wanting to contribute and help and willing to respond.

Unfortunately most Koreans are just like their North
Korean counterparts and never question authority and blindly abide by
laws no matter how arbitrary or stupid. However this is changing as
younger Koreans visit the US and get advanced tutoring on bongs, edibles
and smokables.

Yeah, that whole Korean Independence Movement. Then Communism vs. Capitalism thing. Then the Gwangju Uprising. And decades of student protest. Then constant strikes and protests. There are hundreds of thousands of Koreans alive today who did more standing up to the man in one day than you ever have in your lifetime. This whole 'Koreans are Sheeple' thing is based on YOUR bigotry and racism.

The idea that weed makes everything better and everything would be better if people just did more weed is the kind of thinking you get when you do too much weed and your mind doesn't mature.

You think he's dumping on SPQR out of love? 

I just wanna see him and Marti go at it. Heh

I just wanna see him and Marti go at it. Heh

On a beach in Thailand

You think he's dumping on SPQR out of love? 

No and I never said I was. I even acknowledged the mixed feelings. Maybe you can't because you've blocked me, but that's the consequence of blocking. I'll tell you this, you aren't being SPQR's friend by hand-waving this to have a go at me. If you want what's best for him, you'd agree that yeah, he probably needs to sort out why he's so focused on drugs and self-medicating to the point of having to strictly regulate his consumption (he has posted about how he has to limit himself to 14 units a week- that doesn't just happen randomly, especially given that the person carries on so much about drugs and partying), indifference to loved ones and family (apparently he has a kid) to the point where he is apparently prioritizing drug consumption in retirement OVER them, and is apparently uneasy in his normal unaltered state ("need something to take the edge off"- What edge are you on? What is this edge?). You put those three together and it's not a good place to be.

And you're surprised when he insults working folks (again revealing his superiority complex)

Read SPQR's post above if you want to see a superiority complex. My point about 3D workers was to show how people with limited resources and education are able to do this task with ease and he doesn't have any excuses. They are smart and adaptive, why can't he be? He's born on 3rd base and can't be bothered to walk home while the the people who got hit by a pitch are scrambling to make a play.

and you're mocking him for it instead of trying to understand where he's coming from

Well, between his posts that he's made on here bragging about how we were saps if we didn't have property, then us doing some digging on his posts that revealed significant inconsistencies in his story regarding time of purchase and price paid, which led us to the conclusion that in all likelihood it was his wife who did most of the action both in buying and financing (and he hasn't really denied it). This also led us to point out the...improbability of his retirement dream, which again he was bragging about. It's highly unlikely that his wife would be fine with him getting blasted on drugs and banging hookers in Thailand with her money. Especially considering that they have a kid. Also, he's basically referred to his wife as little more than a ball and chain on his dreams.

This is before we get to his racism, his being unwilling to help himself with various simple things because "it's in Korean" or involves dealing with Korean stuff, his sexism, his juvenile attitude towards drugs and his view of things like prostitution in SE Asia as basically a favor to the locals and a source of upliftment and yeah, there is some animus coming from some of us towards him.

So you're right. There is animus and mockery. Now given all that, frankly, he kind of has it coming. Thing is he loves to dish it out. Why can't he take it? Regardless, at the end of the day, despite all the animus, I and I think CO2 DO want something better. CO2 has posted about substance abuse issues and trying some AA type meeting stuff and also discussed his own issues with overconsumption. I'm talking about those things as well and clearly establishing a connection between things he's said/actions and signs of substance abuse issues and the consequences therein.

Anyways, you probably have a point regarding tactics and method. It's a bit hard to get someone to listen when you both pile on them but want the best for them in picking themselves up. That being said, there's something to be said for that as well. I think all of us can recall at least one time where someone we know was blunt or mocked us but also was trying to get some sense into us and made us realize what we were thinking was a load of nonsense.

I just wanna see him and Marti go at it. Heh

CO2 that kid that bumps one kid into the other during a staredown just to see sh*t go down. 

*Walking away* "Dude, i just don't want no trouble"
CO2: "Did you hear that? he said 'Dude, I just hate that muthaf*cker!"

*Pulls out phone, of course not bothering to turn it sideways, makes various Waffle House/Denny's Fight bystander noises.*

I just wanna see him and Marti go at it. Heh

Fair enough.

I just don't like credit being given where credit is not due. 

---------------------------

On topic:

I have spent every day of my vacation doing everyday normal things so far (hanging with friends, visiting stores, eating at restaurants we've been wanting to try, hiking, rock-climbing, skinny-dipping in freezing water, etc.). Been also spending extra time in the gym before Seollal. Winter is when I can use my pent-up rage for something more constructive, like setting new PRs.

So yeah, no real plans, but I keep busy. Sometimes I do things on my own, sometimes people invite me to do things with them. Actually about to head out to help a friend paint her furniture, then we'll probably eat a late dinner at her favorite bar. Another friend will probably join us after she finishes up at work. It's humdrum but it keeps me sane.