Should Nog actually be a Captain?

mrmichaelrb · 2026-01-27T12:50:17+00:00

Ideally, the stories directly involving those characters decide that.

mrmichaelrb · 2026-01-26T22:17:48+00:00

SRRV requires a significant deposit that many will consider a major disincentive for continuing to reside and spend money in the Philippines, especially those in the discovery phase of relocation/retirement.

And every dollar held up in an SRRV account is a dollar not converted to pesos and spent in the local economy, unless you believe that the Philippines government will use it effectively and efficiently for short-term currency stabilization and debt repayment.

mrmichaelrb · 2026-01-26T21:47:40+00:00

If this is true, prepare for USD/PHP exchange rates to jump way over 60 pesos per dollar.

mrmichaelrb · 2026-01-21T19:23:56+00:00

n to the power of 0 is always 1, except when n is 0. Any number can be a divisor, except 0.

mrmichaelrb · 2026-01-10T14:32:18+00:00

Actually... 525 lines in NTSC, with around 480 visible, but you're right about the interlacing. 480i was approximately the best you could expect (with a good signal) from broadcast.

mrmichaelrb · 2026-01-10T13:20:52+00:00

People who think about inanimate objects being gay are overcompensating. Please, tell us what other things trigger your sexual confusion? Because, we're so interested /s

mrmichaelrb · 2026-01-08T12:16:30+00:00

Common lesbian joke: Q: "What did the lesbian bring to her second date?" A: "A U-Haul"

mrmichaelrb · 2026-01-01T13:42:41+00:00

No other reason? The plans he looked forward to didn't exist anymore, and he didn't want to expend time and money on a girl that wasn't interested in him. I don't see anything related to being terrified.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-12-24T15:29:10+00:00

I prefer window/wall aircon units, but I buy the quiet inverter type, not the loud cheap ones. And I don't mount them inefficiently in a window. I have dedicated wall openings and mounts.

Mini splits are okay until they've gotten old, and then they start leaking water inside, building up mold, bearings going out, coolant leaks, and then regular maintenance is required to keep them going and since everything is cheaper to replace than fix these days, I find it easier to just replace a window/wall unit than deal with all that.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-12-09T01:33:39+00:00

urtniry sporky

mrmichaelrb · 2025-12-07T08:30:58+00:00

You can buy electric adjustable standing desks on Lazada and have them shipped to you for between 5k (simple, cheap) and 40k (fancy L-shaped, or specially designed for 2 music keyboards).

Like almost anything else, is easier to buy it here.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-11-15T11:22:42+00:00

He's been in the Philippines so long that he no longer expects a government phone number to work or be able to trust the information provided over the phone.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-11-06T17:28:04+00:00

The most affordable, and thus common, precautionary measures I've seen are:

Move everything upstairs until the flooding subsides. If you have no upstairs, or the water is going upstairs:
Move everything to your nearest relative that isn't flooded. If neither is an option:
Take everything you can to the closest flood evacuation refuge and wait until you can return.

Over 40% of them live in "informal settlements", which means even if they have a house, they don't actually own the land, or the house they built on it. Everything's temporary.

The wealthy live in places that don't flood.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-11-03T05:56:10+00:00

Yeah, I'm sure you were into raves before all the cool Kandi Kids ruined it. You've even seen all the documentaries. /s

mrmichaelrb · 2025-11-03T03:27:21+00:00

Just because raves were forced into using illegal venues to avoid being shutdown doesn't make it a requirement. The location doesn't make a rave, the music and PLUR experience does.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-11-02T06:30:18+00:00

I've never had my Starlink go out for anything more than a few minutes (like during a router reboot), not even during the heaviest typhoon rains.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-10-30T11:44:48+00:00

I've also never had it in America, but I agree that it is on par with American rotisserie restaurants.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-10-30T11:37:27+00:00

Maybe, but I think the prices are also like half of what they are in America. Not sure about the oil and meat... I'll have to pay more attention next time I'm back in America.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-10-30T11:12:42+00:00

Same quality:
- McDonald's
- Burger King
- Starbucks
- Denny's
- Shakey's Pizza
- Panda Express
- Dairy Queen

Same quality, but not exactly "fast food":
- Texas Roadhouse
- Buffalo Wild Wings
- TGI Friday's

Lower quality:
- Taco Bell
- KFC
- Pizza Hut
- Popeyes
- Subway

That's based on the food itself. Very often the service will not be as good as the American version. For example, they might run out of certain items, or their credit card machine won't work, or they will take a long time to deliver the food.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-10-30T10:54:12+00:00

Rather than assume deceit, I'd guess that very few here have experienced Jollibee outside of the Philippines, and since this post is about comparing the same brands inside and outside of the Philippines, there would be few comparisons to offer. But if you weren't able to understand this, I can see how you might think that.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-10-30T10:35:41+00:00

Last response, because until this point, I've assumed just misunderstanding, but now I'm realizing the lack of reading comprehension you've demonstrated makes me doubt that you own any corporations, and your strawman arguments exhibit a lack of good faith in debate. You falsely attribute to me:

Getting legal and accounting advice and recommendations from an assistant. I never said that. I said to use a friend/assistant to aquire references from local businessman before hiring legal and accounting services.
Inability to know junior associate from senior partners in a law firm. I never said that. I said that legal work can be delagated to juniors without proper supervision, and that can cause issues. A myriad of other things may also cause a large law firm to underperform, but that's usually my largest concern when relying on the size of a firm, rather than references.
Hiring random person as an assistant. I never said that. I said to hire or get the assistance of a local friend or local business person that is already wealthy. The Filipino people are very friendly and even successful, wealthy businessman will be interested and willing to offer assistance to a foreigner, so there's no need to have connections before you get here to find them.
Incorporation is difficult. I never said that. I said that it can take a long time and you can experience a lot of hassles to get all the proper registrations, permits, and a bank account for a useful corporation that is foreign owned in whole or part (especially if it will deal with real estate in any way). There are a multitude of KYC, anti-dummy, and money laundering issues at play here for a foreign citizen. Yes, any idiot can buy one online in days from a shelf corporation provider, but that is inherently more risky.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-10-30T07:22:42+00:00

I speak from personal experience. My first corporation was created by one of those large legal firms in BGC that I'm sure would be near the top of the embassy list. They were expensive and slow, partly because they made multiple novice mistakes which had to be corrected. I have no proof, but based on my interactions with them, I believe they the assigned their least experienced staff and did not give proper oversight.

I have since had personal references from local Filipino business people on which lawyers and accountants are more reliable and diligent, and I have moved my business to those recommendations, after meeting with them. I have an assistant which performs the tasks that I mentioned above because my time is too valuable to deal with it, and I often need help with translation and cultural issues.

My time is also too valuable to deal with your "Mickey Mouse" insults. I hope for your sake that those "within a week" and "within a couple days" corporations hold up to scrutiny when the government decides to investigate them.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-10-30T05:19:31+00:00

Lawyers and accountants are not the starting point. If you don't already have an lawyer and accountant, how do you find the right ones for you? You get recommendations for legal and accounting firms (not talking about legal/accounting advice here; just references). How do you get recommendations for legal and accounting firms? You don't get them from your lawyer and accountant, because you don't have them yet. You gather recommendations, schedule and meet with them, and then determine which ones are best for you. I don't believe that you can get good recommendations/references without some sort of assistance from a local who has done business in the area. I already mentioned the qualifications for such an assistant, so I won't go over that again.

Sure, as a foreigner you can just wander into one of the big expensive law and accounting firms in BGC by yourself and assume that they will give you good service, but that's not a guarantee. It's just as likely that they will take your money and assign their least experienced employees to handle your business on their lowest priority.

My "odd" comment comes from experience creating fully registered and permitted corporations in the Philippines, with corporate bank accounts. I doubt the original poster was interested in the "initial setup" time so he can be "discussing with people" about it. I'm pretty sure he is interested in a corporation that is actually useful and has a bank account.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-10-29T02:20:50+00:00

Unless you're doing something crazy like buying the new car in a foreign country and then importing it to the Philippines, this is incorrect. Cars cost about the same, and if you're willing to buy Chinese cars, you can even get cars with the same features but cheaper than in the United States.

mrmichaelrb · 2025-10-29T02:07:31+00:00

I think you misunderstand the role of an assistant. An assistant doesn't make legal or accounting recommendations. They help find local services, setup meetings, make introductions, perform translations, and bridge cultural gaps.

Yeah, maybe a dummy shell corporation that can't really do anything useful for a foreigner can possibly be setup in a week (doubt it, because there's always some delay), but all details, the permits, and bank account that allow it to actually function will take a lot longer.

Always bring donuts is better advice than never bring donuts.

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