I knew Paultain fairly well as it happens. I worked overseas in the Middle East since 2007 and started my own mongering around 2009. As with many lads in the various forums, I met and enjoyed many a wild time of it during those (mad) years, Paultain being one of them, amongst many others.
We did have a good yard about the old days - The Troubles and his exploits in Thailand. When I was in his company, I didn't find he elaborated his ''stories''. The longer I knew him, it was just a case of picking up where we left off the previous trip. You can often tell when the BS is blatant and I couldn't honestly say he told a story for the sake of getting some kind of reaction. We would message when our travel dates were and if they linked up, then we would arrange to meet up from time to time. However, the more plastered he got, the more incoherent he would become and yes, ramblings would then be the order of the evening. At that point, ending the night or simply me moving off alone was sometimes the better option.
We had things in common and some not but I did enjoy his company, his tales and the stories. Yes indeed, the man could tell a tall tale. Maybe that's just what it was - A Tall Tale. In the end, we lost touch due to my rotations being out of sync with his and then I found out of his passing. So yeah, I think we all in some way or other being a version of Paultain in different degrees.