White Lotus

I realize that if held more than 1 year and sold at a profit, the gains made are taxable at a rate of 28% because the gold coin would be considered a collectible. That information is very easy to come by and it's all over the net. The question I have is not easily found. What if the gold coin was a gift? What if I bought the gold from my next door neighbor for cash and sold it 30 years later (I'm 40 yrs old right now) and I can't remember exactly when I bought it or how much I paid for it?!?

These curvy straws used to be popular during the 70's and 80's. I know I can find it online but then I have to pay for shipping. Does anyone know a retailer that has these?

I live in Seattle and I noticed that the twilight (the light you get after the sun sets) lasts a lot longer than when I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. I also noticed during summer time the morning light seems to come up earlier as well. Why is this? I figured it would be the opposite because we are farther from the equator?

They were supposed to open a while back did they ever open the BTS Skytrain from BKK airport to downtown Bangkok?

Leaving Seattle Oct 21 for BKK coming back home Nov 12. What is typical Thai weather during this time? I think the monsoon should be over, yes? Very hot maybe 90 deg F? Thinking of going Pattaya/Jomtien, Chiang Mai, and maybe Krabi or Trang.

So many times I see Jewish people saying, "he was born Jewish". You can't be born Jewish like you can be born Chinese. Judaism is a religion. Religion is a matter of choice. You can be born Jewish but end your life as a Catholic. If you are born white that's it, you can't change it. Why do Jewish people talk like this?

I have a 2001 Honda Civic LX 146,000 miles, body definitely has a few dings and dents but it's nothing I can't polish up and make decent. Went to the Honda dealership and they told me I needed to do this to my car:

Replace front motor mount (broken) $225

Replace leaking seal under timing belt (likely crank seal - would require opening up engine compartment) $655

Replace leaking oil pan gasket ($340)

Ok, I knew that my car was leaking oil before because every time I went under there, there was always oil all over the place so I'm pretty sure they were not exaggerating here. I didn't know the front motor arm was broken. These prices so far are total including parts and labor. These are recommended to me as the most critical things to get done. It's $1,220 total (not including tax). I'm estimating my car to be worth not more than $5,000 in it's current condition after checking out Craigslist and Kelley Blue Book online.

Now for some more work to be done:

Rec major (dirty brake fluid, engine air filter, etc)

Rec both front lower control arms (bushings broken) and then 4 way alignment

Ok, I knew the front control arms were leaking and needed replacing. These are not cheap. On top of this, some of the lights inside the cabin have gone out so when I look at the tachometer at night some of the number are hard to read and some of the temperature dials no longer illuminate.

I have never had the clutch replaced and I know that's at least $850 probably and it's gotta get replaced at some point. My car is worth about $2,200 straight up trade in for decent condition according to Kelley Blue Book.

Should I opt for the bare minimum options above and hold off on the rest later when I can afford it? Sort of a half-way option, until I can afford a better car? Or should I just do a trade in for a 2009 Subaru Impreza with 25,000 miles on it? Or should I just bite the bullet and make my beloved Civic whole again

I have a 2001 Honda Civic LX 146,000 miles, body definitely has a few dings and dents but it's nothing I can't polish up and make decent. Went to the Honda dealership and they told me I needed to do this to my car:

Replace front motor mount (broken) $225

Replace leaking seal under timing belt (likely crank seal - would require opening up engine compartment) $655

Replace leaking oil pan gasket ($340)

Ok, I knew that my car was leaking oil before because every time I went under there, there was always oil all over the place so I'm pretty sure they were not exaggerating here. I didn't know the front motor arm was broken. These prices so far are total including parts and labor. These are recommended to me as the most critical things to get done. It's $1,220 total (not including tax). I'm estimating my car to be worth not more than $5,000 in it's current condition after checking out Craigslist and Kelley Blue Book online.

Now for some more work to be done:

Rec major (dirty brake fluid, engine air filter, etc)

Rec both front lower control arms (bushings broken) and then 4 way alignment

Ok, I knew the front control arms were leaking and needed replacing. These are not cheap. On top of this, some of the lights inside the cabin have gone out so when I look at the tachometer at night some of the number are hard to read and some of the temperature dials no longer illuminate.

I have never had the clutch replaced and I know that's at least $850 probably and it's gotta get replaced at some point. My car is worth about $2,200 straight up trade in for decent condition according to Kelley Blue Book.

Should I opt for the bare minimum options above and hold off on the rest later when I can afford it? Sort of a half-way option, until I can afford a better car? Or should I just do a trade in for a 2009 Subaru Impreza with 25,000 miles on it? Or should I just bite the bullet and make my beloved Civic whole again?

I live in the U.S. I know I can get a Visa to Laos or Nepal from here. I want to goto Thailand and then travel to Laos. The Visa to Thailand is incredibly easy, just get it on the plane or airport. To travel from Thailand to Laos do I need a special Visa or is the Visa I get from the U.S. to Laos good enough?

The thing that makes this complicated is that I'm not planning on traveling directly to Laos from the U.S. I'm planning on travelling to Laos from Thailand. Not sure if the rules change or not.

I have to get to USC on Dec 19 at 8am and I'm driving from LAX. How bad is the traffic on Saturday mornings? I have to drive from 105 east to 110 north to get to USC School of Dentistry.

Arriving in Los Angeles today. Are there any hotel "rows" or streets where I can find a very good selection of hotels near Los Angeles International Airport?

I'm taking an exam near USC, but I'm willing to stay at a hotel as far as 30 minutes out as long as it's relatively inexpensive (between $70/night and $100/night) and clean.

I'm planning to travel and I don't want to spend the money to take a cab to the airport. Is there bus or other transportation (inexpensive) that I can take from 348th Ave in Federal Way to the Seatac airport?

I will be in Southern California for approximately 1 1/2 weeks from Dec 11 thru Dec 21. I will be taking an exam at USC during that time. Can someone recommend decent (clean) and inexpensive accomodations during that time?

I want to know how much battery life is drained by having the image stabilization effect on. I know the H20 has both electronic as well as manual image stabilization. Is there an option to turn on one but not the other? Most of you probably have not experimented with the IS off or on, you may have to experiment before being able to answer my question. I appreciate your honest feedbacks. I'm thinking of getting this camera for my trip to Thailand in Dec.

I bought some pretty good size pieces of wood (about 14" long by about 5" thick) and they are pretty hard (maybe alder?). Anyways, I always have trouble getting the wood to burn. It's DEFINITELY not as easy as people say it is.

People say: "Oh it's easy! Just put some newspaper, and kindling (firestarter) underneath the log and burn it!"

Well, in real life it's not that easy and I've done this half a dozen times and come up empty each time. My dad got the fire to burn, but it took a little bit of time. I don't know what he did, maybe I should talk to him instead. I even used charcoal fluid and put it all over the log and it still wouldn't burn!

Do I need to buy one of those air blowers (accordion looking things)? Will this help to put more airflow and increase my chances of making a fire?

Woke up this morning and found 12 emails in Hotmail confirming 12 separate purchases of $150 each from Zynga Networks Games. The purchases were made from my Paypal account. A search showed that Zynga games is popular for Texas Hold'em, Poker and other such games and many people play it on Facebook. I suppose you can buy online poker chips for real money and that's what this scammer was doing.

In any case, I called Paypal and they said they would "take care of it". The guy did offer a security key which he couldn't even tell if it was electronic or not, despite the fact that he said he had one himself. I hung up, feeling less than reassured and called up Wells Fargo Bank to ask what I could do at this point.

The total bills racked up was $1800 (12X$150) and my bank account would be left with almost nothing in it so I can't afford to take a hit. I did a search online and found another person on the East Coast who had a wife who also had her Paypal account hacked. They lost their money and were forced to file a police report. This story scared me.

Should the CEO of a bank by liable for a ponzi scheme run by an outside investment firm? Personally I don't think so because how could a bank executive be able to know what is going on inside a completely different business? It's not like they have auditing power over Dressel. The full story can be found in the link below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/04...

Here is a snippet of the link if you don't want to read the article: "Regal Financial Bank and its holding company have been sued in U.S. District Court in Western Washington by people who claim that the bank and holding company assisted in a multimillion-dollar, worldwide Ponzi scheme.

The 36-page complaint alleges that a firm known as Dressel Investment, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, began offering Indonesian residents two separate investment funds in 2001. The company distributed information to citizens that was false, the complaint says.

Between 2001 and 2007, Dressel raised $300 million from more than 10,000 investors, according to the complaint. The company had an account at Regal Financial, according to the complaint.

The suit alleges that deposits made into Dressel’s account at Regal Financial helped initially fund the bank, which was formed in 2001. Meanwhile, Tam, the chief executive, did not report suspicious activity to authorities, the suit claims.

“It is extraordinary for a chief executive of a bank to establish such a close business relationship between his bank and an individual running a ponzi scheme,” the complaint states."

So I just realized a few minutes ago that someone entered my 1BR apartment last nite. The footprint is still fresh on the window sill and the screen of the window is sitting on the ground next to a thorny bush. My question is, besides the obvious things I need to buy, like wooden dowels to secure the windows, and a baseball bat for self defense, what else should I purchase? Can anyone give me ideas?

I plan on making one of those big Lasagna dishes from Costco. Making some baby leaf spinach salad with vinaigrette, blue cheese shreds and dried cranberry. Since it's hot I'll make some freshly squeezed lemon juice and maybe some chocolate chip cookies for dessert and some pot stickers for appetizers (we're Chinese). There will be about 10-12 people in attendance. I want to make sure there will be enough food because I hate it when there's not enough and people are still hungry. I want to make something else but I'm not sure what else to make. Does anyone have ideas? I'm no expert cook. This is the first time in my whole life I've ever hosted a party of any kind and this is my very first place (it's an apartment). I was thinking maybe chicken patties or something or maybe some brown rice?

Bout to build a custom set of speakers. I have my choice of Red Oak or Walnut. Neither looks particularly striking. I'd like Cherry if I could, but he doesn't have it in stock so right now I'm just wondering if one will sound better than the other.