Straight Dope Message Board

[not what you'd expect]

Hey, Congrats youse guys! 201

[Johnny L.A.]

Originally Posted by Eliahna

Congratulations!

Originally Posted by faithfool

That's awesome! Many happy trails to you guys.

Originally Posted by Digital is the new Analog

Congrats! And nice understated post.

Originally Posted by Siam Sam

Congrats to both.

Originally Posted by Elendil's Heir

Congratulations! May you have a long and happy marriage.

Originally Posted by not what you'd expect

Hey, Congrats youse guys!

Thanks for noticing me.

202

[needscoffee]

Originally Posted by Johnny L.A.

I got married tonight.

Congratulations!!!!! 203

[Sunny Daze]

Congratulations! Would you like share any details? Did Tonka and Creamsicle participate? 204

[Cartooniverse]

Wahooooo!!! A long and deliriously happy life. 205

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by ddsun

Congratulations! Would you like share any details? Did Tonka and Creamsicle participate?

And pictures. Gotta have pictures. 206

[Johnny L.A.]

Originally Posted by ddsun

Congratulations! Would you like share any details? Did Tonka and Creamsicle participate?

Details? OK...

There's this girl, right? And we got married!

Seriously, let me see... We've known each other since high school. She lived across the street and two doors down from me. She got married, got divorced, joined the Army and flew Black Hawks in Iraq during the Gulf War, a couple more marriages, a couple more divorces... But she visited my dad whenever she was in town, and I visited her dad whenever I was in town. Lost touch for a while, until she sent me a letter after my dad died. I guess a year later I helped her out when her dad died. Just as I moved to Washington, she moved from Washington to Tennessee. She came back to the West Coast to get her nurse's training and moved in with me December 2010 and finished her BSN.

So. It was a small wedding. Me, The Bride, an officiant, The Bride's former boss, her former coworker (who still works for that boss) and her husband, and my boss. There's this little park thingy that looks like it's set up with a stage and a sunken viewing area in Blaine. You can see the marina and Drayton Harbor from there. (Fortunately the tide was in, so it's prettier than the Google picture.) We gathered in the 'stage' area and had a generic ceremony. (She's Christian, and I'm Heathen.) Photos were taken (with the sun in my eyes, dammit!) and then we went across the street to the steak house for some really excellent bacon-wrapped filet mignon.

Funny thing about her ring that I may as well share. We were engaged for a few months in 2004. My mom was dying at the time, and she gave me her wedding ring (from her second husband) to give to The Wife. Anyway a couple of months ago, when we decided to get married, I mentioned that my mom said the ring cost $13,000. The Wife-To-Be had to have it re-sized and the two rings made into one, and I asked her to have it appraised so I could put it on the insurance. She chided me when she got the ring back that she had to pay $360 for everything. She brought back two copies of the appraisal, and we read them together. She read out loud. She read the weight (1.13 ct.), the description, etc. When she got to the appraised value she read '"Appraise value ten thou..." Ten thousand, six hundred dollars?' See, when I said my mom said it cost $13,000, she thought I said thirteen hundred. She had no idea it was a five-figure ring. (Incidentally, the jeweler told me that diamonds were going through the roof in the '80s, so that's why the current appraised value is lower than the purchase price was.)

The Wife loves the ring (for itself, not the price), and jokes 'And it didn't cost you a penny!' I retort, 'Nope. It only cost my mother's life!' "p

Originally Posted by Elendil's Heir

And pictures. Gotta have pictures.

Someone took some photos with The Wife's smartphone, the officiant took some photos, and my boss took some. I'll post one/some when I get them. 207

[Elendil's Heir]

Thanks! Congrats to you both. 208

[Cicero]

Congratulations Johnny LA. I don't get here all that often anymore but I assume your lovely lady is not that lodger you had a few years back.

Anyway, good luck to both of you and we wish you all the best. 209

[Elendil's Heir]

Quite so. Still waiting on those pics, though.... 210

[Johnny L.A.]

Originally Posted by Cicero

Congratulations Johnny LA. I don't get here all that often anymore but I assume your lovely lady is not that lodger you had a few years back.

She is.

Originally Posted by Elendil's Heir

Quite so. Still waiting on those pics, though....

I don't have any! The officiant, Wifey's friend, and my boss took pics. No one's sent me any! 211

[Elendil's Heir]

Ask politely, then demand. You're the groom, gol-durnit! 212

[Johnny L.A.]

Originally Posted by Elendil's Heir

Ask politely, then demand. You're the groom, gol-durnit!

There are two strategies for arguing with a woman.

Neither one works.

EDIT: Whoops! I was still thinking of the bow tie.




. 213

[Elendil's Heir]

Happy birthday to Zoid, Cervaise, Spoons... and me! 214

[Spoons]

Backatcha, Elendil's Heir! Hope you and Zoid and Cervaise have great birthdays today! 215

[Johnny L.A.]

Originally Posted by Elendil's Heir

Happy birthday to Zoid, Cervaise, Spoons... and me!

Happy birthday to (collective) you! 216

[zoid]

Originally Posted by Johnny L.A.

Happy birthday to (collective) you!

To quote the venerable Sam Malone, "Ditto.
217

[OneCentStamp]

Originally Posted by zoid

To quote the venerable Sam Malone, "Ditto.

Pretty sure that's Sam Wheat from Ghost. Sam Malone was that one from Cheers, wasn't he? 218

[zoid]

Originally Posted by OneCentStamp

Pretty sure that's Sam Wheat from Ghost. Sam Malone was that one from Cheers, wasn't he?

Yeah there's this great scene were Diane declares her love for him very eloquently and she's waiting for his response and he just says "Ditto", it's hilarious. 219

[Siam Sam]

Originally Posted by OneCentStamp

Pretty sure that's Sam Wheat from Ghost. Sam Malone was that one from Cheers, wasn't he?

Originally Posted by zoid

Yeah there's this great scene were Diane declares her love for him very eloquently and she's waiting for his response and he just says "Ditto", it's hilarious.

I remember the scene in Ghost but not the one in Cheers. Which one came first? 220

[NotherYinzer]

I had my thyroid cancer removed and my husband, Library1900, had his heart ablation! He's doing great so far -- no more A Fib or V Tach. Me, I'm waiting to hear if I need the radiation therapy. 221

[stillownedbysetters]

I found out on Sunday that I am about to be a grandmother for the second time. This will happen sometime in late May or early June 2016. (happy dancing as I type) 222

[Annie-Xmas]

I just became a great-great-great-great aunt! My sister's 18 year old great-granddaughter had a baby boy! Wow! My family is now five generations long. 223

[Atomic Mama]

Yay! Chuck and I celebrated out FIFTH wedding anniversary on Sept. 17 ... we commemorated the occasion by adopting a bouncy SPCA adolescent kitty! THAT'll keep us young ... I'm soon-to-be 66 and Chuck is soon-to-be 72. The new addition's name is MicroBurst. To give y'all an idea of her energy levels 224

[Infovore]

Originally Posted by Atomic Mama

Yay! Chuck and I celebrated out FIFTH wedding anniversary on Sept. 17 ... we commemorated the occasion by adopting a bouncy SPCA adolescent kitty! THAT'll keep us young ... I'm soon-to-be 66 and Chuck is soon-to-be 72. The new addition's name is MicroBurst. To give y'all an idea of her energy levels

Congrats! And come on, you know the rules: Kitty pic, please! 225

[Atomic Mama]

Here is a linky to our happy new kitteh:

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://s1171.photobucket.com/user/Atomic_Mama/embed/slideshow/"></iframe>

I hope this works

I just checked the link and a few more photos turned up in a slide show ... enjoy! 226

[Infovore]

Aww, cute! 227

[NotherYinzer]

After a total thyroidectomy in August and a round of Iodine 131 radioactive ablation, I have been declared cancer free!! 228

[Siam Sam]

Originally Posted by NotherYinzer

After a total thyroidectomy in August and a round of Iodine 131 radioactive ablation, I have been declared cancer free!!

Good news indeed, especially for the holiday season. 229

[Sticks and Scones]

This past Saturday my boyfriend of 2 1/2 years asked me to marry him. (I said yes!)

He is not a doper, but the Mumpers know him as RT. 230

[Siam Sam]

The wife reaches a milestone today (Wednesday, December 30.) It's her last day on the job. Since New Year's Eve is always a public holiday in Thailand in addition to New Year's Day, she finishes out the month today instead of tomorrow. For 30 (and a half!) years, since April 1, 1985, she has been an assistant professor at Chulalongkorn University, widely considered the top educational institution in this country. I've mentioned before that she is a civil servant, and it's true. Chula being government-run (although they are in the midst of privatizing), her position gives her the rank of a C9-level civil servant. Or gave her the rank, I'll be saying from tomorrow. That is quite high. For comparison, upcountry the provincial head of, say, Agriculture or Labor, any of the provincial offices of a ministry, carries the rank of C9.

2016 will be a year of transition for us. In addition to the wife's retirement, we're starting the process of getting her an Immigrant Visa to the US and may very well be moving back to our beloved Hawaii before the year is out. (She recently started a big project for a national think tank, one that will last two years, but the second year will entail just number crunching, and she can complete the task from anywhere in the world.) 231

[Elendil's Heir]

Thanks for the update, Siam Sam, and I hope the New Year unfolds just the way you like.

And happy birthday to BMalion! 232

[Tripler]

I just retired from active duty Air Force, and landed a dream job at Los Alamos.

Same job as previous, now just a bigger yield.

. . . and my furniture just got delivered today. I am fully set.

Tripler
. . . and my transition to the Dark Side is complete. 233

[Elendil's Heir]

The Force is strong in this one. 234

[OneCentStamp]

Yesterday was my fifth wedding anniversary. Five = wood, so my wife got me some American Oak, in the form of a locally crafted small batch bourbon.

A couple weeks ago was my five year anniversary at work. Well, I actually hit the five year mark in July, but the company Christmas party was when I got a nice watch from my boss. 235

[Suburban Plankton]

It was 25 years ago today that Rhiannon8404 and I had our first date.

Happy Anniversary, girl! 236

[Tripler]

Originally Posted by OneCentStamp

Yesterday was my fifth wedding anniversary. Five = wood, so my wife got me some American Oak, in the form of a locally crafted small batch bourbon.

Originally Posted by Suburban Plankton

It was 25 years ago today that Rhiannon8404 and I had our first date.

Congratulations to both of you!

Tripler
A double-whammy! 237

[Mister Rik]

Originally Posted by DiggitCamara

There's a reason I thought this up: on September 19th of this year, my little girl Lile María was born!

3+ years late, but Lile María shares my baby sister's birthday 238

[OneCentStamp]

I hit 10 years and 10,000 posts here at almost exactly the same time. Couldn't have planned it better! 239

[Tripler]

Originally Posted by OneCentStamp

I hit 10 years and 10,000 posts here at almost exactly the same time. Couldn't have planned it better!

Dang, I've been here fifteen years and haven't even hit 7k. What is it with you people?

Tripler
I play outside too much, methinks. 240

[Infovore]

Originally Posted by Tripler

Dang, I've been here fifteen years and haven't even hit 7k. What is it with you people?

Tripler
I play outside too much, methinks.

The one who always blows me away is Prof. Pepperwinkle, who's only been here since March of 2013 and already has over 33,500 posts. Now that's a dedicated Doper! 241

[Siam Sam]

Originally Posted by Siam Sam

The wife reaches a milestone today (Wednesday, December 30.) It's her last day on the job. Since New Year's Eve is always a public holiday in Thailand in addition to New Year's Day, she finishes out the month today instead of tomorrow. For 30 (and a half!) years, since April 1, 1985, she has been an assistant professor at Chulalongkorn University, widely considered the top educational institution in this country. I've mentioned before that she is a civil servant, and it's true. Chula being government-run (although they are in the midst of privatizing), her position gives her the rank of a C9-level civil servant. Or gave her the rank, I'll be saying from tomorrow. That is quite high. For comparison, upcountry the provincial head of, say, Agriculture or Labor, any of the provincial offices of a ministry, carries the rank of C9.

2016 will be a year of transition for us. In addition to the wife's retirement, we're starting the process of getting her an Immigrant Visa to the US and may very well be moving back to our beloved Hawaii before the year is out. (She recently started a big project for a national think tank, one that will last two years, but the second year will entail just number crunching, and she can complete the task from anywhere in the world.)

And continuing on with our Year of Change, I have now left my small management position at the Bangkok Post newspaper, the largest of Thailand's two English-language dailies. I suspect many posters here have wondered just what it was old Siam Sam was doing over here, human trafficker probably being a top guess, but only a handful ever knew. Although I would point out that just because I was working at a newspaper, that doesn't mean I couldn't also be a human trafficker, heh.

I actually first came to Thailand as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the 1980s, which will probably come as a surprise to most posters, especially since I've never participated in Peace Corps discussions on the Board. The truth is I didn't think much of the Peace Corps operation in Thailand, but I liked living here and intended to come back. That intention strengthened upon meeting the future Mrs. Siam Sam at the University of Hawaii, where her office here in Bangkok had sent her to pick up a second master's degree in Biostatistics for use in her research.

But it's been 22 years since returning to Bangkok after uni in Hawaii, and we feel that's enough. We want to set up again back in our beloved Hawaii. We've just entered the next stage in getting the wife her Immigrant Visa to the US, and I'll be spending a good part of March wading through the paperwork. I'm also about to embark upon four months of dental work. The dental work should be finished by July, and that's about the time I figure to head for Honolulu and try to establish a domicile to make the US visa granters happy. I'll go first, and the wife will follow along after a month or so, depending on her visa status. And we're having our condo here in Bangkok appraised soon and will put it on the market.

It's shaping up to be a big year for us. 242

[Johnny L.A.]

I just resurrected a thread from 2013.

We adopted Tonka three years ago today. I think he may get some wet food tonight. 243

[jtur88]

In the past year, I've completely turned my life around. Legally blind for 30 years with continuously diminishing eyesight, I had given up my passion for traveling, and pretty much stayed home for the past 20 years. Then, a year ago, I finally broke down and started walking with a white cane, which I found to be tremendously liberating. I started to realize that I could do things that I had given up doing, particularly traveling.

So last summer (at age 76), I started looking at airline fares, and booked a flight, all by myself, to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Just got off the plane and started winging it. Took a minivan to Karakol, near the border with China, and checked into a hostel. Fell in love with the place. Since then I've been to sixteen countries, ten of them that I'd never been to before, from Moldova to Cambodia. Siam Sam, I was in Bangkok a week ago.

I do still have some vision, so I can be visually aware of my surroundings, but not perceptive of details. 244

[Sattua]

jtur88, that's awesome. You are far more adventurous than me.

My literary agent has my first novel on submission. She sent me the list of editors and houses--all the Big 5 are there, many of them multiple times, as well as some non-Big-5 heavy hitters. She sold a trilogy from a debut author for a six-figure advance last week, sooo ... here's hoping she can work some magic for me, too. 245

[Siam Sam]

Originally Posted by jtur88

Siam Sam, I was in Bangkok a week ago.

Where did you stay? 246

[jtur88]

Originally Posted by Siam Sam

Where did you stay?

Floral Shire Hotel, near the airport in Lat Krabang. I flew into and out of Bangkok four times, and always went back there, they treated me like family. 247

[steatopygia]

Originally Posted by Sattua

jtur88, that's awesome. You are far more adventurous than me.

My literary agent has my first novel on submission. She sent me the list of editors and houses--all the Big 5 are there, many of them multiple times, as well as some non-Big-5 heavy hitters. She sold a trilogy from a debut author for a six-figure advance last week, sooo ... here's hoping she can work some magic for me, too.

Good Luck! 248

[steatopygia]

Originally Posted by jtur88

In the past year, I've completely turned my life around. Legally blind for 30 years with continuously diminishing eyesight, I had given up my passion for traveling, and pretty much stayed home for the past 20 years. Then, a year ago, I finally broke down and started walking with a white cane, which I found to be tremendously liberating. I started to realize that I could do things that I had given up doing, particularly traveling.

So last summer (at age 76), I started looking at airline fares, and booked a flight, all by myself, to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Just got off the plane and started winging it. Took a minivan to Karakol, near the border with China, and checked into a hostel. Fell in love with the place. Since then I've been to sixteen countries, ten of them that I'd never been to before, from Moldova to Cambodia. Siam Sam, I was in Bangkok a week ago.

I do still have some vision, so I can be visually aware of my surroundings, but not perceptive of details.

Awesome on several levels. 249

[Sunny Daze]

Originally Posted by Siam Sam

And continuing on with our Year of Change, I have now left my small management position at the Bangkok Post newspaper, the largest of Thailand's two English-language dailies.

<snip>

But it's been 22 years since returning to Bangkok after uni in Hawaii, and we feel that's enough. We want to set up again back in our beloved Hawaii.

<snip>

It's shaping up to be a big year for us.

Congrats on all of the changes! Where in Hawai'i are you planning to move? (I'm sure you mentioned this already and I have skipped past it.) We occasionally talk about the Big Island, but the truth is we also like snow, so Hawai'i will probably remain a favorite vacation spot.

Originally Posted by Johnny L.A.

We adopted Tonka three years ago today. I think he may get some wet food tonight.

Yay Tonka! I remember that he was originally considered quite sickly, but he seems to be doing very well.

Originally Posted by jtur88

In the past year, I've completely turned my life around. Legally blind for 30 years with continuously diminishing eyesight, I had given up my passion for traveling, and pretty much stayed home for the past 20 years. Then, a year ago, I finally broke down and started walking with a white cane, which I found to be tremendously liberating. I started to realize that I could do things that I had given up doing, particularly traveling.

Good for you! I hope to be half as adventuresome as you are someday. I'm glad you figured out a way to get back to what you love. I may start a thread on this, to counterpoint the one that's currently up about giving up things you love.

Originally Posted by Sattua

My literary agent has my first novel on submission. She sent me the list of editors and houses--all the Big 5 are there, many of them multiple times, as well as some non-Big-5 heavy hitters. She sold a trilogy from a debut author for a six-figure advance last week, sooo ... here's hoping she can work some magic for me, too.

Yay! Do you mind if I ask which genre? I've got my metaphorical fingers crossed for you.


No news on my side.. Just re-discovered this thread and wanted to acknowledge the latest news. 250