# Happy Doper Milestones thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 11, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442 "2012-10-11T18:30:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/250 "2016-02-11T23:12:51Z")
I hit 10 years and 10,000 posts here at almost exactly the same time. Couldn’t have planned it better! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/251 "2016-02-13T23:14:16Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2016, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/252 "2016-02-14T18:39:18Z")
> [@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! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/253 "2016-02-29T16:19:47Z")
> [@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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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](http://www.bangkokpost.com/) 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. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/254 "2016-03-02T15:55:25Z")
I just resurrected a thread from 2013. We adopted Tonka three years ago today. I think he may get some wet food tonight. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/255 "2016-03-24T10:16:57Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/256 "2016-03-24T15:03:53Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/257 "2016-03-24T15:23:48Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Siam Sam, I was in Bangkok a week ago. Where did you stay? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/258 "2016-03-24T16:01:03Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/259 "2016-03-24T19:45:26Z")
> [@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! ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/260 "2016-03-24T19:46:30Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/261 "2016-03-24T21:43:13Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And continuing on with our Year of Change, I have now left my small management position at the [Bangkok Post](http://www.bangkokpost.com/) newspaper, the largest of Thailand’s two English-language dailies. > > \ > > 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. > > \ > > 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. > [@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. 🙂 > [@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. > [@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. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/262 "2016-03-24T22:06:20Z")
> [@ddsun](#): > > Yay! Do you mind if I ask which genre? I’ve got my metaphorical fingers crossed for you. I haven’t read her pitch letter, so I’m not entirely sure, but she submitted it to Tor so I’m going to guess sci-fi, though the sci-fi element is extremely light. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/263 "2016-03-24T22:29:43Z")
Let me know if you need a beta reader. Sounds like this is right up my alley. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/264 "2016-03-25T08:14:38Z")
> [@ddsun](#): > > 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. Honolulu. I’m pretty much city-oriented, although after Bangkok, Honolulu may feel like Mayberry. Maybe the Makiki area to start. The Big Island does get some snow you know, up on Mauna Kea. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/265 "2016-03-28T05:02:13Z")
Yep. I like the Big Island for lots of reasons. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/266 "2016-03-28T06:28:23Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > … although after Bangkok, Honolulu may feel like Mayberry. Heh. One NYC taxi driver was clearly annoyed at us four years ago. He kept trying to impress us with how large New York was, but we kept telling him how small it felt compared with Bangkok, which is much larger. He wasn’t used to that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/267 "2016-04-23T02:04:35Z")
So continuing further with our Year of Change, I now have a flight booked to Honolulu. August 1. And by sheer coincidence, really it is, that will also be the 25th anniversary of my first arrival there. I leave Bangkok that morning, and through the miracle of the International Date Line, it will be only 15 minutes later that same morning when I land in Honolulu. I have secured a place to stay in the Nuuanu Valley, north of downtown, for the entire month of August and will commence apartment hunting right away to reestablish a domicile and satisfy US Immigration for the wife’s visa. Hopefully, I can get **Mrs. Siam Sam** over there by October or November. So that will put paid to my time in Thailand. I’ve spent 24 of the past 28 years here – these last 22 years in Bangkok and two years up North in the late 1980s. A new chapter is about to open. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/268 "2016-04-24T19:57:12Z")
You’re going to have to change your Member name, you know… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442/269 "2016-04-25T01:24:50Z")
I’m considering “Honolulu Horace.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-doper-milestones-thread/637442.md?page=14)