Lucky

Thanks, Hoover. In going to Thailand, it's best to have a hotel on arrival as the planes from the US get in very late, such as midnight. After customs and the taxi, it's about 2 am when you arrive in the city. Even then the Holiday Inn Silom once told me my room was not ready! It should have been ready at 3 pm the previous day.

The headline you used did not make me connect the article, thus I missed your thread. Sorry.

Now that I recall, I stayed at the Pan Pacific when they had a soft opening years ago. They claimed that they had no construction going on, but all day the noise was clear from whole floors of rooms that workmen were inside the rooms, but they denied to my face at the front desk that any construction was underway. I checked out and they didn't care. The lobby is about 28 floors up, or was, and the elevators were not air-conditioned. Glad to hear that Crowne is giving it a go. I hope they make it work. I did like the room.

So I had a nice hotel booked in Bangkok on Priceline. Because these are not cancelable, I bought the insurance Priceline offers, only to find it does not cover cancellations due to airline mechanical problems causing the flight itself to be canceled. I called Priceline, and although she was eager to call and cancel the reservation for me, (no doubt because then Priceline gets to keep all of the money) she also told me that the hotel could, at its choice, rebook my reservation for the new dates and I would not lose the money. She emphasized that his was the hotel's discretion. When I spoke with the hotel, they at first were eager to rebook me, except now the last night of the new stay would be unavailable as they were booked, and the King room they had reserved for me would not be available for the last 3 nights if I stayed. It would be a twin. She then started to claim that Priceline would not let them rebook me after all. SO, hours later, I get an email offering from the hotel to let me keep the last two nights of my prepaid stay, no longer a King but a twin, and I would then forfeit the first three nights I had paid for. One who has traveled to Bangkok knows the first night is often a check-in at 2 a.m., giving you about ten hours in the hotel. The hotel then said that additional deposits and penalties had yet to be determined, but I would be notified of them. So, my 5 night stay is reduced to 34 hours, with penalties yet to come. I also bought Trip coverage on Delta. All of my expenses for the delay, including the hotel, would be covered, except that Delta's insurer limited the amount to $500. The hotel alone is over $600. So, right now I am back at home, writing this at the exact moment I should be landing in Bangkok. My temptation is to just stay here, although I am rebooked out for Monday.

Did you ever stay on the fourth floor? It's the Priceline floor, so named because that's what they give Priceline customers. It's totally shabby. The clerk said he'd give me a room on the quieter side of the hotel. Right. The A/c was so incredibly loud (and old) that I shut it off and opened the window. If that was the quiet side...

Was Arthur Clarke "one of our own" or was he a pedophile?

Not that death is ruling my day, but this article bout the death by suicide of a 27 year old computer programmer who was raised in a fundamentalist christian family and sexually raped for years fascinates, mostly because of the calm explanation he gives in a lengthy suicide note of what it is like to be haunted for the rest of your life by the horrors of the sexual injustice perpetrated on him: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/07/bill-zeller-dead-princeto_n_805689.html

Did this young Portuguese stud kill his older man friend? Death...and castration....came to the older man who was in a posh New york hotel with the hot young man. It all points to an angry murder: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/01/07/2011-01-07_times_square_murder_man_found_dead_in_bloodsplattered_room_at_intercontinental_h.html

Yes- Day 1. We boarded the flight, everyone was on, then they announced a mechanical problem, and then after an hour or so canceled the flight. The line to rebook was horrible, and they could not get me out until Monday, which means I lost my Priceline Bangkok reservation even though I bought insurance from both the airline and Priceline. They don't cover flight cancellations! I am pissed...and feeling very unlucky.

I stayed last night at the Crowne Plaza LAX and it was a dump!

Yuck. Is every price going up? I thought inflation was nil.

I'll be finding out soon enough!

Or is he just a cannibal? A Virginia man has lost his long battle to keep his license plate:

Here's a shocking photo that gives new meaning to the phrase "Here's lookin at you." http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/politician_captures_own_killer_on_GmnYyAZ7EoPFdP1suNurRP

The NY Post tells us not to get our hopes up on the bare skin thing. with cast pic: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/skins_deep_NMXGttcQHO3zJzIgS5jcQJ

It's the light bulb that adds that touch of class. Congratulations,lurker speaks and all lurkers yet to speak.

The hair styles sure have changed. But a smile is always welcome.

Young pop star Justin Bieber should fall right to sleep after his busy days, but no, he tells Vanity Fair, he suffers from insomnia. Surely there are many teen girls who would sing a lullaby- he should go for it- over the phone, of course. From NY Times, via AP, via Vanity Fair: While many girls dream about Justin Bieber at night, the singing sensation is struggling to fall asleep. The 16-year-old tells Vanity Fair magazine that sometimes he suffers from insomnia. Bieber says his "mind races" at night and it happens because he begins to "think about all the things I didn't have time to think about during the day — like family and God." Bieber says he doesn't always have time to think about these important things because "you just get caught up (in everything else) during the day." Bieber's multiplatinum-selling album, "My World 2.0," is up for a Grammy for best pop vocal album; he's also up for best new artist. The February issue of Vanity Fair hits newsstands in New York and Los Angeles on Jan. 6 and nationally on Jan. 11.

Aging attacks again! I meant to say in the post above this!!!!

I liked the guys on the British TV show SKINS, but I could never understand what they were saying. Now an American version is coming to MTV on January 17th, with the prospect of lots of bare skin in HD! http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/arts/television/04skins.html?hpw

The airport provides this info on taking a taxi: Bangkok Airport Public Taxi Service Public taxi stand is located on Level 1 (Ground Level). > Contact Taxi counter, Level 1 - Ground Level, near entrances 3, 4, 7 and 8. > Pick up area: taxi stand Level 1 - Ground Level > Taxi fare: metered taxi fare plus 50 Baht airport surcharge, and expressway fees. > Public taxis serving Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport must be less than 5 years old. > Public taxi drives must be certified by Airports of Thailand.

One Finger- 4Aces offered some good advice on this in the thread above this!

The navy is in a tizzy over this one: Read the story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/01/02/national/a071738S44.DTL

From blogger Andy Towle we learn that "Tom Gene Daniels, a California pastor who supported Proposition 8 is facing six felony counts of child molestation and lewd or lascivious act with a child under 14. The Modesto Bee reports: "Citrus Heights police said that Daniels was arrested Dec. 9. Daniels has been employed as a foster parent and day care provider, and currently is the head pastor at Rio Linda Baptist Church." The board of his church is standing by him: "'Until such time as the courts prove Pastor Tom Daniels guilty, we have an obligation to support him and his family,' said the statement. The statement also said that accusations such as those facing Daniels need to be tried in the court and not the media." Daniels bail is set at $6 million. Read more at towleroad.com under CA Pastor Who Supported Prop 8

The Google bot is not too friendly lookin: