Happy New Year from me

Investment Analysis Clubs Macro Economic Trends and Risks
21

Great mental outlook! Do they have any idea why?

Try the eucalyptus oil. Simply put a few drops in a carrier oil, (I used vitamin E oil,) and put it on the blisters. It has some antiviral properties and helps to control inflammation. In hindsight, the vitamin E oil was perhaps a contributor to the healing process as well, but here is an article on essential oils and shingles: Essential Oils for Shingles: Do They Work and Are They Safe?

My last and hopefully only case was about 25 years ago, an easy date to remember as I was nursing youngest and had to be super careful that he was not exposed to the fluid from the blisters, which could give him chicken pox. I am glad you have new meds to help with this, but confess to being curious if it works for you. It’s really impressive the natural remedies that have worked for me, (from shingles, to eczema and carpel tunnel,) and kept me from surgery or prescriptions. Being a chemist, I have a healthy respect for minimizing chemical exposure when possible!

IP

22

That seems right to me based on my own experience.

Many years ago after surgery, I was given an opioid that did not work at all at the prescribed dosage. I was told to double it and it solved the pain problem, but made me “high” but not in a good way (accompanying nausea and head swirling). Turns out the right dosage was in between. Got rid of the pain, but no other effects. Many others I’ve talked to about this (misery loves company) have experienced something similar.

Pete

23

Back when I had my practice, on my medical history questionnaire under “allergies”, the 2nd most commonly listed medication by patients (after antibiotics) was…codeine. On further questioning…because sorting out what folk might be allergic to is kind of important…these allergies manifest themselves as nausea, constipation and “feeling out if it”. I swear that, when I would explain that these aren’t allergies but common effects of opioids in general, patients would be very skeptical…presumably thinking I must be wrong because NO ONE would opt for these symptoms voluntarily or for fun.

24

Hi David,

Doing a test to see if I can reply to you directly, as I have a question that probably doesn’t belong on the Macro board. Please let me know if you get this, and I will check on the board to see if it pops up there. Nothing controversial…just doesn’t involve macroeconomics.

25

So I take it my test was a complete failure, and you all can see my reply to DavidFB? Trying to ask a question about Mexico, but no idea how to email directly anymore, if that’s even possible.

IP

26

I can see it, IP. I bet everyone else can but want to trick you into revealing something :rofl:

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27

No, it’s not. We were told when these new boards were created that the mail feature would not be available - some sort of “liability” issue. Maybe TMF had been sued a bunch over that feature? I can’t imagine how or why, but that’s always possible in our litigious society.

Pete

28

It is really hard for everyone. We face such tough choices. Lack of knowledge not education is hard. The doctors do not know things in advance.

My minor root canal going on now the dentist keeps his opinions in check. Easy to accuse him of running up a bill but that is not true. Until he sees things he does not know. I have one tooth missing it is above the root canal. The small crack in the tooth was caused decades ago because the upper tooth could not have caused it. That tooth was taken out seven years ago. The dentist did not notice that tooth was missing. LOL He is a great guy but it is on me. This is just minor. Still the crown would be another $1650 out of pocket and there is next to no pressure on the tooth plus the crack is minor going back to my 20s probably and chewing on ice back then. I get a permanent filling and call it a day. The dentist is not objecting. What to make of that? I have no clue or confidence.

Who can have much confidence in any of it? I will see the dentist about two weeks from now and ask for a full discussion of the crack in the tooth. I want confirmation it is minor. That was his first impression in the first visit when he found the crack. Then in the second visit he was set on a crown because of the crack. Now he is good with no crown.

I guess if I had five broken clocks at different times I’d have a shot at knowing what is in my mouth. I’d be right ten times a day. And I have good teeth.

adding, I think the dentist keeps forgetting the tooth above is missing. He definitely did not notice that at first. Then I think he forgets the details between visits. Okay that is fair. I do not know if he can describe the crack now. Ouch! Leaves me in the dark.

The patient concierge service thing was a bust years ago. It made things worse because doctors stopped talking to each other. Talk about playing telephone. When the concierge stopped as usual then entire thing fell apart.

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29

Yeah, that’s what I thought. However, there was one thread where I was replying to Vee frequently and they flashed me a message that I could just have a private conversation with her, which I thought they had done away with.

IP,
who may have to pollute the board with an OT thread

30

I see that message periodically as well. You would figure that if they turned off the email capability that the message wouldn’t show.

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31

It might be a subsystem users do not get emails. Notifications might go out as emails.

32

Hi IP

Just go ahead and post question in this thread. I bet we have leeway from our friendly mob here.

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33

Not really. What it does is stop an outsider (an e-mail address farmer) from obtaining a way to contact/profit from (sell lists of) contacts obtained on TMF (even if members do not want it).

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34

OK. Three recs tells me it’s not totally a rejected idea by the community.

We are planning extensive world wide travel, almost full time, in part to scope out areas we may consider relocating to when we end the gypsy travel in about 10 years. We will both be in our 70’s by then. We would probably still keep a residence in the US and retain citizenship, but essentially want 2 “primary” residences. I want to put Mexico on that list, but DH is concerned about the crime. Clearly you have found a way to make Mexico work for you, and am curious about what you have to say on the subject.

Checked over on Manlobbi’s “new Fool” board, which allows direct emailing, but you are not over there, at least under TMF’s handle. Shrewd'm: A Merry and Shrewd Investing Research and Education Community

Apologies to the board for the OT, if it is. Frankly a small part of our selling our primary and hitting the road is because we are increasingly uncomfortable here, given the great and seemingly increasing political insanity. But while Mexico would no doubt be a great place to visit, and we are doing much of that as well, as a residence it may be a case of jumping from the frying pan and into the fire.

IP,
happy to consider other locations as well

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35

My sisters and I have the option to live anywhere in the EU and UK. We are US and Irish citizens.

Visiting in retirement and traveling around for weeks on end is less expensive than buying a house or apartment.

One sister has had two melanoma biopsies. She can not join our cousins in the South of Spain for the winter of sun and watch them smoke and drink.

The other sister is very nervous about Trump. She wants to own in Dublin. But there are rules in Ireland the 1 and 2-year residency rules. The 1-year rule is only 140 days stay before you pay Irish taxes. Evan as a doctor would find that expensive.

Now the kicker Evan flies in to Dublin last April. It is raining and sleeting. They fly from Dublin to Spain and it is better than Florida. Evan says, “Why would I buy in Dublin”? But my other sister can not stay the winter with melanoma in Spain.

The other problem my sisters have two kids each. Those four will be marrying and having children. If the politics explode sideways their kids can not uproot easily and move. Yet nothing might happen so why would my sisters move? And without their kids?

This was supposed to be better times. Our time horizon is six to seven years. One sister and Evan turn 60 this year. Reminds me there will be incredible parties. I need to start to schedule time off.

Good luck you will figure it out.

I call it owning two sets of silverware. It changes what is affordable in each place. The golf course where I live is not a full-on country club. The guys who have places in Florida on golf courses do not want the expense up here of a full country club. There are ways to make it work.

36

Alrighty!

First and most important is your plan to

YES! The world is big, people are very different, and you will need some time to discover who you are away from your origins, and what appeals to you in this huge world. I am now in my 70’s and have pretty much finished sliding into retirement, while husband in mid 60’s keeps on working as a NGO executive (unpaid) and singing paid gigs as they show up. We have just put down a deposit on our “final home” in an isolated location we love, but will not move there for at least five more years.

Some things I know well now:

  1. Language is the superpower of travel, and necessary if you move abroad unless to live in an enclave of USAians or Brits. If you and husband already speak a foreign language(s), at least somewhat, hooray! If not, then consider making a significant push to learn or relearn enough to get by. If you settle and immerse that getting by will bloom into talking like a human being. When we started traveling husband was already fluent in Spanish, and I was competent. Now we live our daily lives, even with each other, mostly in Spanish, and our friends are now mostly locals. Doing things like attending a Baptismal party for neighbors’ newborn girl, singing and dancing and eating and then sitting next to an ancient man who told me a detailed warning and centuries long history of a dangerously seductive river fog spirit residing in a nearby river bottom, all over shots of tequila, well, that was irreplaceable. Language is transformative for life abroad. Obviously, English is somewhat spoken by many, but being monolingual leaves you, as Blanche said, dependent “on the kindnesses of strangers.”

  2. Dangers of different sorts can exist anywhere. The emergence of political insanity and amped up ignorant fears and hatreds in the USA is unfortunately quasi-normal. I adore Tennessee’s land and people, but it is becoming almost grotesquely unpleasant for gay couples outside major urban centers. Crime in Mexico varies widely by region, and extremely widely by neighborhood. It requires prudent attention beyond fears based on rumor. When we first moved to the State of Guanajuato it was one of the safest, but now statistically is one of the deadliest. As husband and I grew up in central New York and Los Angeles respectively, when gang wars and street crime were real issues, we both have deeply instilled habits of “street scene awareness” that serve us well wherever we are. We are used to turning aside or back as necessary. We feel perfectly safe, but that is based on knowledge and some skill. Police corruption is also a major problem, and similarly balkanized in its effects. Dealing with police and other governmental corruption sensibly varies from place to place, and your best guides are your local neighbors.

We also spent years living mostly in Spain (husband was an active performer in Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, Granada…). We loved it, but the visa laws finally made living there to complicated and expensive, and we both had elderly parents who were needing attention and so Mexico became our alternate choice.

  1. Expatriate colonies can be found in many places, and the lingua franca of expatriates is English. Living in an expatriate community can be a huge help, but also is usually more costly and less delightful if you want cultural delights. They can be a perfect base from which to “test out” a country or locale.

Ask me more?!

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37

Awesome reply.

You raise many issues that I have also considered…more concerned about DH than myself as I once was fluent in French, Spanish and spoke some German. I spent a year via van camper exploring Europe, from as far north as Norway, west to Portugal, south to Greece, east to what was then Yugoslavia, and everywhere in between. A “common” language doesn’t always provide understanding, and a foreign one doesn’t always get in the way of friendship. (I will never forget a conversation in a campground in England where a woman asked me if I had any “pegs” she could use, referring to clothespins to hang laundry. I told her we didn’t have a tent, so no, which resulted in hilarity and explanation.) I was also an au pair in France for a year, (with mandatory school attendance,) with extended visits to a good friend in Malaga, Spain, whom I had met when I was 12 while staying solo in her parent’s home and taking intensive Spanish lessons with Mom and Dad, (living elsewhere,) and a bunch of businessmen, at Malaga Instituto. Dated a Spaniard, was engaged to a Frenchman, got into a discussion on women’s rights with a foursome of Spanish military on a train back to France. Fun, though your tequila episode sounds as though it trumped mine with a bottle of wine.

While DH has traveled as well, it was a week or two at a time overseas, involving resorts and hotels. His math skills are much better than what might remain of his limited high school French. I am frankly not sure he can live in a non-English speaking community, but we have 10 years to figure that out, and it will be fun to do so!

I give kudos to DH for being willing to go on this adventure with me, as I would not go if he were not willing to do so. He is really more of a homebody, and I need to expose him gently to the wild gypsy world, and respect his feedback. Poor guy has often looked at me and stated, “well, you are not boring.” I choose to take that as a complement, though I am not 100% sure it’s always meant that way.

IP,
needing daily life to be interesting, and really encouraged by DH’s US gypsy life inauguration, which was a blast

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38

Your fluency is potent, and will be enough to carry your husband if he gets himself to high beginner level the language of your domicile: civilities, numerals, simple question answer (where is the Y, do you have X, how much is Z, and very powerfully "I am very sorry I do not understand, but I will ask my wife to come and talk to you about this…).

The crux is to live so it is obvious to your hosts-neighbors that you know it is up to you to learn and communicate. And then, wow, some of them will suddenly show they know a little English and can help out. Absurdly, when husband and I go to visit friends in Quebec we never speak a word of English but only Spanish and scatterings of polite French, especially in nice shops and local restaurants. We almost instantly get a particularly warm welcome and careful attentive care…and then delighted laughter when we confess that we are USAians and can speak English but prefer not to…

Our home of 8 years, San Miguel de Allende in the state Guanajuato, besides being of modest size, beautiful, and historically interesting, is one of the largest USAian ex-pat communities in the world. Think about it as a candidate for one of your “dipping a toe in” experiments as a significant part of the population is bilingual, and many expats are around on streets and in shops who can help out.

One thing for certain, and that is that Europe is safer and easier to cope with for us gringos than any other place I have been. Picking a place to live there is an art – you want to be close enough to a big city to enjoy big culture, but life in a small community is extremely rewarding and usually much cheaper. Southern Italy, rural Catalonia, Extremadura in Spain, central France, Slovenia, all still have amazingly beautiful villages that can make great places to retire.

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david fb

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39

I might be overly tech-happy, but I think that handheld universal translators will be a thing very shortly. Not very long after that will come in ear devices that do real-time translation of spoken words.

While it might be a bit awkward at first, I’m pretty sure that language issues will no longer be the primary problem when traveling anywhere.

“I speak Jive” won’t be just a joke any more. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzIcec_bQss)

-IGU-

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40

IGU

I agree with you about universal translators coming soon, and to some extent useful rapid translation is already here. My last trip to Germany one night late we were entangled in changes in very complicated train schedules due to a rail accident. I pulled out my iPad and “carried on” using voice translation via google translate.

However, for living in a place, you want to actually be able to personally speak person to person with friends and neighbors. Only eating and loving are more “meat based.”

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