fiddlehead

Warning folks:  I checked my banking today and saw that in the last 2 days, there was a total of 8 withdrawals of $237.60 each on my American bank's debit card.
I immediately called and cancelled and put in a claim.  
They told me it was already under suspicion and had locked my card.

They said it was from Kazan in Russia.  (ATM that they used)

I haven't used my debit card in 2 months!
So, of course I can't figure out how they got my number and pin.  
If they had a scanner inserted in the last ATM i used it in, why did they wait so long?

Anyway, it might be a good idea to check your bank balances.  
I used the K-bank ATM at the 7-11 near the light at Sai Yuan/Vichit road in Rawai.   (in Feb.)

Hopefully this will get straightened out soon enough and my money is back in my account.

Chris has been taping the 3 games of the week and showing them Monday nights (skipping the numerous commercials) at the Freebird Bar in Nai Harn.
Starting around 6 PM.
Watched my Eagles get hammered by the Giants again. (glutton for punishment)

So, we've had many discussions on here about how to cleanup the litter around the island (and all of Thailand)
I was always one to believe it has to start with education.

So, this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see about 50-60 school kids, in uniform, going around Nai Harn lake and cleaning up every scrap of litter.
I stopped to thank the leaders (who didn't seem to understand English) so, I thanked a bunch of the students anyway.  (They understood)

Some of you may not agree that it's right to use school kids to pick up litter, and maybe convicts or the lowest laborers would be better.
But, I see it as a learning process and if the kids pick up enough litter, they will be more likely to think before throwing out the next batch.

I couldn't make out which school it was as I can't read Thai at all but, Kudos to their leader.

So, I am hoping to file "Married Filing Jointly" as I got married almost 2 years ago but just filed "Single" last few years.

It seems my (Thai) wife needs an ITIN number that requires you to send in form W-7.

Form W-7 says:  Caution: If you check box b,
c, d, e, f, or g, you must file a tax return with Form W-7 unless you meet one of the exceptions (see instructions).

So, my question is:  what tax return to they want me to include with this form W-7?   Mine from last year?   My wife's from last year (of course she doesn't have one as this will be the first year we are trying this)

It seems like a catch 22 situation to me.
Any help here would be appreciated.

Does anyone here have a wife who has one of these ITIN numbers?  
Thanks in advance.

ps. i hate tax season.

After seeing all the complainers on here and the rip off stories, I had a very pleasant experience the other day with my motorbike mechanic.
My speedometer cable had broken so, he ordered me a new one.
I didn't ask but was hoping for original equipment.
When i took it in to have it installed, sure enough it was Honda original equipment.

He had to practically take the whole top front off the bike and I went to lunch.
I asked him to also check the oil as i didn't know when it was last changed because of the broken cable.

When I came back, he was oiling the chain, and adjusting it, along with the brakes, checking all lights and going over everything.
He said my oil did not need changing and when i asked him how much, he replied  Song Loy Baht.
I said :"For everything?"
He said yes.

I asked how much the cable was and he said 170 baht.
So, it took him almost an hour to do everything and he was charging me only 30 baht for that hour?  

Of course i tipped him and am thankful for such a good mechanic who doesn't rip people off.  

So, not all Thai people are our to rip off the farangs.  
There are a lot of good ones too.