(Old) GoGo on Vacation - A Holiday MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
241

Pottery painting was more fun than I expected, but the young women running it were more interested in chatting with each other than explaining anything to us. Luckily one of the group had been there a couple of times and knew the basics, but I found out near the end they also had silkscreen stencils and other neat things I wish I had known about. At any rate, I get to drive 45 minutes each way again next week to collect my piece once it’s been fired.

We went to dinner after pottery painting and I didn’t get home until after 10pm! And then it took a while before I could even try to go to bed as the cats needed their usual evening play time. Unfortunately the sun did not let me sleep in so I’m tired and dragging a bit.

I’m waiting for my lawn guy to show up. He’s going to trim some of the trees in the back yard for me, and it’s perfect timing as Monday is big trash day (they also collect any tree limbs) so he can just stack everything by the curb.

JtC glad you like the robot vacuum! Just the litter containment alone has been huge. And I may or may not send the bot out to vacuum a random spot when the cats are being turds as they are immediately distracted and must go watch it.

red that neighbor would be insufferable! Hopefully it was a one-off thing, otherwise I’d be complaining to the office too.

knots why did your dad bring home swords from Spain? Did he need to fight off the Spanish Inquisition??

FCM have you thought about switching to a silicone band instead? It would hold up well against all of your yard work and boat tinkering too.

242

It’s Saturday! Yay! Right now it’s 11:36am, and the weather is overcast and 86°F (“feels like 92”) with a forecasted high of 91. We had a couple of nice thunderboomers yesterday, but it’s still hot and humid today…and the next few days are supposed to be more of the same. Meh.

As usual on a Saturday I’ve spent most of the morning catching up on personal administrivia, including bill-paying (because Thursday was payday). I also finally replaced the toilet seat in the master bathroom! Go, me! :grin:

Yesterday my dad got sprung from his colonoscopy at around 1:30pm, and we went to Bob Evans for lunch. I only ever go there with him, and only once every few years, but when I do I bring home a loaf of their banana nut bread. I’m looking forward to slicing into it at lunchtime. :slight_smile: It was shortly after 3:30 by the time I dropped him off at his place and was able to head back south, but within 30 minutes I hit some serious stop-and-go traffic (mostly “stop”) due to an accident on I-95 at the I-495 exit – the one I needed to take – that closed the right lane. By the time I got past that nonsense there was rush hour traffic, plus a pretty big thunderstorm: it wound up taking 2 hours to get home, when it should have been more like 55 minutes.

I did not stop at the grocery store like I’d tentatively planned to, and also did not go see my brother in the hospital. Dad called him from the restaurant to check in: it sounded like he’d be released yesterday, but he wound up spending another night. He’s been emailing both of us (last night and this morning), and all signs point to him being discharged later today.

Anyway, I was happy to finally get home, change into jammies, and settle in at the kitchen table for some Lego time. I finished the Jaguar E-Type:

The color is a bit washed out in this photo, but you get the gist. :slight_smile: As always, a bigger version is available in my “completed Lego sets” album. After figuring out how to display the Jag I relocated to the TV room, but the day’s early start and the long drive home soon caught up with me and I was in bed by 10pm.

In keeping with this MMP’s theme – just under the wire – earlier this morning I finalized plans for a mini-vacation next month! My dad is the second oldest of 6, and his youngest sibling is only 12 years older than me; over the years he’s been more like a big brother vs an uncle. He and his wife have a place up near the Catskills, not far from the Woodstock site. I’ve been trying to plan a visit with them for a few months, and we finally nailed down plans for me to go up there for a few days at the end of September – and we’ll be seeing Ringo Starr in concert! :musical_notes: They already had tickets, and found one 1 row behind and 4 seats over from theirs: that’s just far enough away that I worried I’d feel like I was there alone (which I hate), but my awesome aunt suggested that she and my uncle trade off taking the single seat! So they grabbed the ticket, and this morning I booked a small cottage near their place for the weekend. It’ll just be a Thursday-Sunday trip, but it’s not a very long drive and I think it’ll be a great visit. Plus, at the end of September there should be some great fall foliage on display!

Time to write some replies, take a shower, and head downstairs for lunch and Lego (and banana nut bread). This evening I’ll be going to my BFFs’ for dinner: their son/my “nephew” will be heading back to TX on Monday, so it’ll be my last chance to spend some time with him before he leaves. Luckily, WifeBFF is feeling alright enough today. He’s a good cook and will be making roast beef for dinner, which means there will probably also be Yorkshire pudding (or as close to it as some Yanks can get)…YUM!

I understand each of those words separately, but not together… :joy:

Have a great vacation!

I don’t think it’s meant to be taken as one scene: it’s just a way to show both Mulder’s office and some aliens. :slight_smile: The forest scene can be removed and displayed separately, which I might do (along with Scully’s lab).

Yesterday it was 3 hours all told, but he waited on a gurney in the prep area – alone, and unbeknownst to me – for nearly 2 hours! They’d called and said they could take him early, and he still finished up earlier than he would have, but afterwards he was a little grumpy about the long and solitary wait.

My (100% Eyetalian) grandfather used to make an amazing ricotta cheesecake. It’s really hard to find on menus around here, but I’ve never tasted anything like his. I bet yours comes close! :slight_smile:

Dad said they told him that at his age (almost 78) they usually wouldn’t even bother with a colonoscopy, but when he had one five years ago there were polyps: even though they were nothing, he had to repeat the full monty. There were three polyps yesterday, too, so we may be doing this again in a few years!

He didn’t say top secret… :grin:

Heck, that was practically free! I think you need more! :seedling: :smiley:

Wow! :open_mouth: I might have had some words – and possibly a bucket of cold water – for her.

I thought it was bad enough when the recyling truck came through at 7:18am: I was already up and about, but that felt too early for a weekend. If I’d been asleep I would have been annoyed!

243

No - strikes me too much like an arcade prize.

Garage is done, until we finally get around to moving the wood rack to the paint shed after the paint shed gets cleared out, which is another story entirely. Were it up to me, all the cherry and walnut would be sold because I can’t see FCD ever doing anything with it. We’ve had it for better than 15 years and he’s barely used any of it. But I’ll hold that opinion to myself.

I was cleaning the ice maker when I managed to knock over the little pump bottle of dish soap. The stupid lid is a stupid design and it came off - before I spotted it, something over 8 oz of goo was all over the counter. And it seemed no matter how many times I wiped it, there were still bubbles.

So the pump bottle is in the garbage and I need to find another that has a more secure lid. And I need to get to the kitchen sink trap - there’s a growing clog somewhere in there and I don’t want FCD crawling under there. He’s got enough bothering his back.

Shoulda taken the BW Parkway!!

Break over. Back to it.

244

You lost me at “iced”. Feel free to help yourself to my share.

Only thing I knew about him was that a SS division was named after him.

What does that involve (whether early or on time)?

Why is Washington burning down? That’s California’s job!

When I was a kid I knew a family whose youngest (of nine) was a year younger than her oldest nephew.

Ah. I’ve only ever seen one episode, which was the first half of a two-parter, so I really don’t know much about the show.

And I did say “two”. (And in my experience, the TS stuff was usually rather boring – not nearly as interesting as the mere Secret material!)

Be cereful what you say when there are sailors listening! :laughing:


84 ferrets at 1400, out of a predicted high of 80 (not quite as bad as yesterday!); heat index 89. At least they haven’t extended the heat advisory again. Yet.

245

I love packing. It scratches my organizing itch. Right now I’m seeing if I can manage wirh a 20L pack for the Camino. I usually do a trial packing run long before the walk so I can locate anything I need (where’s my headlamp? who’s got the best tank top?), then take some longer walks with the backpack to be sure it’s balancing well.

I’m not usually a minimalist, but I’m playing a game this time–what’s the least I can do with given my route, the season, and the duration? Part of this is that some intra-Europe regional planes have been decreasing their carry-on size from 22" to 20", and my current pack is 22". In addition, I’m planning to stay in some pilgrim hostels, which will require at least a sleep sack and possibly a combo towel/blanket, plus the considerations of being in communal space (like how to hang my clothes to dry).

Which supplements can I manage without, or take every other day? What’s the realistic mimimal medical packet? What will I wear while I wash my clothes? Which garments will layer well if it’s cold at night or while I’m walking? How much emergency food and water will I need on days I only pass through little mountain towns that have one store that takes a 5-hour siesta? Etc.

Maybe I’ll post a gear photo when I do my trial packing!

246

Afternoon all. Soccer has been coached and refereed, and some goalkeeping skills trained, so my work is done. Ate Muffins, applesauce and a mini-pie for lunch and will probably head over to the gym for a bit. It’s 88F outside and while rain is possible, it’s sunny and hot right now.

I usually make a list for what I am taking on my vacations, and then pack the night before I leave. And I always take a lot more clothes than I need, cannot get out of that habit.

Knots, I have a sword I paid way to much for in Jerusalem many years ago, it has Arabic writing inscribed on it and looks nice, but much too short for big, gaudy things like KofC ceremonies…

Taters, hope the Marketing was enjoyable. We have a small one not far from me that I have to visit one of these Saturdays.

boo fae, happy to hear Little Paws had a good take.

JtC, now you have me worrying about the bag of lettuce I get from Kroger every Friday…so far, nothing has happened to my system to indicate bad lettuce, so…

52, nappage is always an option. Hope the pottery looks nice.

Oopsie, haven’t had banana nut bread in a long time, may have to look for it… The car looks nice. And quite a nice little trip, family and one of the original Beatles! And interesting about the colonoscopy; we’ll see what the Doc (and my insurance) says.

FCM, yeah, dish soap can be a real bugger to clean up. Been there, cussed that…

Lily, sounds like an interesting trip. Haven’t stayed in a Hostel since my budget vacation to New Zealand about 10-11 years ago, don’t know how a 73-year old guy would do there now.

And guess I’ll head out to do some inside walking to nowhere for a bit. Take care all.

247

I cleaned the bathroom, and did a load of laundry. I took out the recycling, and took a little walk. Lunch was Southwest-ish chili cheese dogs(Hatch chilies, onion, and chorizo filling in for the chili). I had bought the Pepperidge Farms “top split” hot dog buns since they were on sale. 50% of them were split in the top middle, 50% were split 90/10. Also the cut was so shallow it barely fit the hotdog, let alone toppings. At least this gin&tonic is good.

Wake Traditional Calendar schools start August 24, with teacher start date of August 17th.

Real sword or cosplay sword?

Sounds like one of my FB memories from this morning: “Multiple face piercings and a Sillyband. WTF?”

No, that sounds right for an X-Files set.

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It’s not the first time, nor, I fear, will it be the last. It took several complaints by several neighbors to get it halted the last time. She has other issues, mostly alcohol induced.

That’s not uncommon in big families. My mom’s four youngest sibs were spaced between their oldest sister’s six kids.

I hear thunder, so I should get Nelson out to do his business before it rains.

249

Someone brought in some serrano peppers yesterday, so I brought one home. I cut it up and put it into my leftover chile colorado. I had a chile colorado, sour cream, and cheese burrito for breakfast today. I’ve been to the store to get a pound of baby spinach, to go along with the salmon tonight. Dishes are washed and put away, trash and recycling have been taken to the bins (which I’ll put out tomorrow), and Catmom took Goo to the vet to get a blood draw.

Speaking of the vet, I think Catmom is going to fire them. They decided Goo’s thyroid medication was too much, and cancelled the prescription… without telling Catmom. Goo needed to be on the meds until her blood draw, but there were only enough pills to last until Wednesday. She did get a few pills, but she is urinated at the veterinary staff. Goo is on low-iodine food. Last blood draw, they reduced the prescription from two pills a day, to half a pill twice a day. The special food is expensive. We’re wondering if we could just give her Friskies and put the medicine dose back up to two pills per day. In other news, Abbey is getting fat on the kitten food we’d originally bought for Findus. Catmom put it out in case anyone wants it (maybe an opossum or raccoon will find it), and switching back to the IAMS.

250

My dad’s older brother married twice, first time at 18 (a few months before the birth of his eldest child) and had 5 kids. His youngest child by wife #2 is I think 12 years younger than his oldest grandchild. Yep, my cousin was born an uncle to a 12 year old, and became a great-uncle at 16…

There is, if I’m counting correctly, a 43 year difference in age between my uncle’s oldest grandchild and my Dad’s. Generations is weird.

251

If’n I still had the truck, I’d take it. But I also understand FCD’s unwillingness to part with nice lumber.

Right now I’m aggressively avoiding mowage. There are 85 ferrets and about 95 humids out there. But I must get to it tomorrow, else I be deemed “the worst lawn in the neighborhood.” Plus Ms Peach doesn’t like the grass being long and brushing her lady bits.

252

At the gym doing the daily sweating, just beat the rainstorm into the building, so no rush to finish.

VanGo, my neighbor, who also owns a lawn care business, put something on my yard that will hopefully kill the long grass that is popping up (it’s probably a weed, but looks like a blade of grass on steroids) and asked me not to mow it until after Sunday. Hey, I’m always ready for a great excuse not to perform mowage.

4:30pm now so need to get finished as the gym closes at 6pm on weekends. Back later.

253

The next paragraph was written Tuesday morning. I didn’t end up having time to send it as it was a crazy day.

Yesterday I had no idea I might be on vacation this week, nor when I woke up this morning sometime after 7am. But BF called this morning shortly after 8am and said sorry about last minute but my daughter can’t go with me to Massachusetts for 2 BTS concerts so can you go? Since I can’t go to/through Canada, it will take several hours longer so we will leave this afternoon. Won’t be back until Friday evening. So, I likely won’t be back on the mmp until Saturday, probably facing hundreds of unread posts.

It’s now Saturday evening. What a 4 days!!!
BF rented a car because she didn’t want to take the chance that her car wouldn’t make it to Gillette Stadium and back. Originally BF said she wanted to leave at 3pm. She texted shortly after 2pm to say she was on her way to the car rental place. I asked her to text me when she was heading home after renting car; she texted at 4:21pm; she said line at the car rental place was really long; didn’t understand why so many people wanted to rent cars in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon. Hubs took me to her house about 5 minutes later so I arrived at her house about 4:40. We didn’t end up leaving until 5:56pm. BF is not a good planner or the most organized person on the face of the earth. We drove until 1am-ish, got gas at one of the first service plazas on the NY turnpike I90 then she started trying to find a motel but had no idea what to do. I looked on hotels dot com and we booked and paid for one in Batavia, NY. When we arrived, there was no one at the registration desk. We called out and knocked. No one came to the desk. There was a sign that said 24/7 front desk staff available and gave a phone number. BF called the phone number and received a recording that basically said “NO SOUP FOR YOU”. We’d already paid on-line but what are you going to do? So, we drove around and went to the Red Roof Inn. It’s now getting close to 2am. A pretty nice gentleman was there but he said he only had one room available; it was a smoking room (neither of us smoke) with a king-size bed. AAAAAGGG. But with no other alternative we said ok. He said before you complete the registration let’s go look at the room and see what you think. So like rats following the Pied Piper with his piece of cheese (room key), we traipsed down the long hallway to the room. He opened the door and VOILA! Barely smelled at all and there were 2 double beds! YAY, we’ll take it. The very funny thing was that there was a sign on the wall next to the door in the hallway that said something to the effect of (and yes, it was in all caps): WHILE THIS ROOM IS A SMOKING ROOM, YOU MAY NOT SMOKE POT IN THIS ROOM. IF YOU WANT TO SMOKE POT, YOU NEED TO GO 100 YDS OUTSIDE THE FRONT DOOR OF THE MOTEL. BF was rolling on the floor laughing.

Wednesday to follow in another post.

254

Howdy Y’all! We had quality cee-mint pond time, achieved nappage and day drinkin’ and had sup. A good day for us. I have Verger duty tomorrow which means I am also Lector for the nine a.m. service. Guess I should go look at the lessons to ascertain if’n there are words I need to find the pronunciation of therein.

Taters packin’ for the hubs, really? OYKW would be nekkid the whole trip if’n he depended on me to pack for him. Forget that noise! I don’t mind him nekkid, but the general public might find it a bit of a problem.

BooFae I get exhausted at the idea of goin’ out at night. Mind you, there was a time Firday and Sattidy nights, and sometimes a weeknight, was partay time!

Herald when there is to be a funeral, my main jobs are to make sure the Pascal candle is full and in place, if there’s to be a Eucharist, to make sure the Altar candles and candelabra (that workd always looks mispelled) are full, if there are cremains to make sure the little table we use to set them on is in place and place the pall over the cremains and place them in the small chapel, also making sure the candles on that Altar are filled and lit (the cremains remain there until they are brought in at the start of the service, set the hymn board, and maybe other stuff. Sounds like a lot, but in reality I can get it done in about half an hour if by myself. Longer if someone is there to bother me and get in the way. Sometimes “help” ain’t help.

Cat_Glove sounds like you had an adventure. I await further tales with bated breath!

255

Good visit with the eldest and his kids. His wife is back in England to see her mother and sisters. Went to 5 Guys and have massive blotation as a result. Also, while I like to see them, it’s very tiring. I think it will likely be an early bedtime.

256

Hubs is mowing as I type. We’ve been hearing mowers going, Harry’s included, all day and he just couldn’t take the peer pressure.

Kids always wear me out as well. They always have so much going on!

Hubs has been putting dried cobs of corn in the chainlink fence for the birds. Last night Jolene’s fierce battle cry woke us up shortly before George flung himself across the bed to hide on the other side. Hubs got out to the living room in time to see something deer sized and shaped running across the highway and the corn was gone this morning.

He replaced the corn. I think this is a bad idea. I don’t really like trying to go back to sleep after the adrenaline rush that happens when hearing a cat scream and I also don’t like the idea of attracting deer across the highway. It wasn’t that busy back when gas was around two bucks a gallon and traffic has slowed quite a lot since then, but it is very dark and some folks drive very fast.

I’m seeing that Cat Glove is posting again so will step down and allow her to have the floor. I barely left the house today and she is doing very interesting things!

257

And now I see I was right; there are hundreds of unread posts. :laughing: I had only read up through post 11 when I wrote that one paragraph, I just posted #253. I likely won’t be able to read 240 posts so Yays, Boos, Hugs, Noogies (no trouts or chitlins, I’m not about to strike anyone upside the haid) to all as needed.

Woke up about 7:10am Wednesday morning. Sheveled, went to breakfast in motel’s breakfast room; had a waffle, scrambled eggs, sausage links and coffee. On the road after getting gas at 9am. I mistakenly thought that when we got to the Foxborough area, that BF would find a motel so we could change, stow our gear, have a bite. AAAAAGGG! No, BF drove straight through NY onto Mass Turnpike, got off on road south to Foxborough then exited onto Washington Street which is the street that Gillette Stadium is on; she didn’t stop for gas, potty break or to eat. We crept along at about 5-8 mph and she turned in when she saw a young guy waving us into an office building parking lot with a sign that said PARKING $40; he said it was a mile walk to the stadium (I consulted my Health ap on my iPhone and after 2 days of walking to the stadium and back, can confirm it is indeed a mile walk). It was now 3:15. She parked under the shade of some trees and we sat there for almost 2 hrs since a) the gates didn’t open until 4pm then there was some other restriction until 6pm; concert supposed to start at 8pm. The first question I had asked young guy was is there a bathroom I can use, yes a porta potty. When I jumped out of the car, I made a beeline for the porta potty; it was very clean and smelled pleasant. Note: it was 3:15 and there were barely any cars in the parking lot.

So, I was informed that at the BTS concerts (BF has been to 5 previously this year; 3 at Stanford and 2 in Tampa), many concert goers bring goodie baggies of giveaways to trade or just give away as freebies. BF hadn’t put together the baggies she wanted to give away so we kinda went Henry Ford and had a production line. She put a wallet-size picture of one of the guys (BTS is a Korean boy band that was started about 13 years ago; there’s 7 of them that now range in age from 28-33) and a heart sticker in 2" x 3" baggies then I put in a strawberry creme or orange creme hard candy, sealed them and stuck in a big transparent plastic bag. Oh, first she was working on a fabric flag that she wanted to take. She glued letters on saying MAKE IT RIGHT which apparently is one of their songs that is her favorite then set it on the grass in a bit of sun so the glue could dry/harden. NARRATOR: the glue did not dry/harden and BF was quite disappointed she couldn’t take it to the concert.

You may be wondering (or not) what the heck I was doing the whole time BF was driving and while sitting in car while she was fiddling with her fabric flag. While I was waiting at her house on Tuesday, I spied a James Patterson book that I hadn’t read “Alex Cross Must Die” so I borrowed it and read it throughout Ohio, not Penn as it had gotten dark, NY on Wed then Mass. Question for Oopsie: do you read the Alex Cross series? I like that series but my favorite is the Women’s Murder Club; just googled and apparently there are 25; each one has a number in the title; I’ve read about 10 of them. I also ate half an apple with extra sharp cheddar cheese, yes, I had brought along a paring knife, and drank the rest of my water bottle.

Back to the ‘adventure’. Finally BF changed into her concert attire-a purple T-shirt (purple is the band’s favorite color) that said something like BTS Mitten Army (meaning she’s from Michigan and is a HUGE fan) and some purple pajama type pants that had names of their songs all over it. I had been intending to wear a nice high collared top (since I thought it might get chilly since the concert was expected to last until 11pm) and long pants. It was 90F so kept on my sleeveless deep V-neck and zipped off pants (legs zip off to convert into shorts) that I had been wearing in the car. I stuffed the legs into the pockets as I was still expecting that it might cool down by time we had to walk back to car; note: it did not, it was still in the mid 80s after 11pm. I slathered on sunscreen, first, special sunscreen from Dermatologist on face (I previously had Mohs surgery and don’t wish to have to undergo that again) and Hawaiian Topic 50 SPF on neck, upper chest, arms and legs. Then I put on my hiking sun hat that has ear flaps and a back neck flap. Fastened my transparent fanny pack around waist (can’t take any purses, bags, etc that aren’t transparent in and can’t exceed a certain size). Lastly wrapped the arms of my Spartan hoodie jacket around waist and tied in front. I was ready to go.

Now it was getting close to 5:30. We walked along with a full sidewalk of joyful, energetic fans and traded some goodie bags with others. About halfway BF was dying because of the heat so we took a break in some shade along the way. Finally got close to the stadium. Now BF was having extreme trouble getting her tickets to load, then the scanner wouldn’t accept them. Luckily the person working the turnstile that we were at took pity on us, confirmed that we had tickets on the phone (which is on it’s last legs and had 2 pink lines running through the bar code) and let us squeeze through between the turnstile and the fence. Bought water 2 bottles $14 plus tip. Found seats then I went in search of food. Found a counter selling things in buns, hot dogs, kielbasa, italian sausage, etc. I went with italian sausage that had sauteed onions and sauteed green, red and yellow bell peppers on top. I went to the condiment counter and put a little mustard on. BF did not get anything to eat, she’s GF and was having a lot of fun giving out goodie baggies and talking with the other fans. After eating the italian sausage, I walked the entire concourse around the stadium. Many people, 98% female, were wearing costumes that related to one of the BTS songs. It was very interesting to people watch as I walked along. I was also scoping out the concessions for Thursday’s dinner.

The concert started close to half hour late but the fans didn’t seem to care as the BTS music constantly played from the moment we walked in and there was video on the giant screens above the in the round stage which had 4 long walkways stretching out to the corners of the stadium. Yes, the guys made use of all the real estate. I’m a classic rock person myself. My music is that of the late 60’s, 70’s (no disco, TY), and early 80’s. I also like classical and jazz. The BTS music is kinda pop, some rap but musical rap, and it was fine. What wasn’t fine was all the screaming. I understand screaming at the end of a song or the beginning but every time one of the guys was shown on the video screens, people screamed for their favorites. I wanted to ask each of them: don’t you want to hear the music? But apparently screaming for the young men that were their favorites was more important and I’m not in my 20s anymore, those days of screaming for young men have been over for quite some time, quite a few decades. Oh, and pretty much everyone stood and jumped and danced for the entire time the band was on stage. They had 3 sets with about 15 minute breaks in between each so that was when people sat down. There were fireworks at the beginning, huge flames erupting at times and other pyrotechnics. Confetti that measured 1" x 2" was shot out during each set with fans reaching up to catch some to take home. Near the end the band sits and each one thanks the fans then talked about coming to the Boston area, some mostly in Korean then there was an interpreter who repeated in English. Lastly they finished with the song that I think was titled Into the Sun ie I’ll follow you into the sun.

We were in row 18 and there were at least 30-some odd rows, possibly more, so we waited until the steps were mostly clear before getting up so we didn’t have to wait on stairs. Went to bathroom as didn’t want to have to walk back and use porta potty in dark. As the stadium can seat almost 69k and I’m not sure if that includes seating on the field, there were literally thousands walking along with us out of the stadium and along the sidewalks heading to the car. When we got to the car, BF then started the search for a place to stay. It was around midnight and the pickings were extremely thin. One reservation number that she tried told her rooms were going for anywhere from $500-$1,000 a night. Finally I said try the Red Roof Inn website; there appeared to be one in Sutton, MA that was about 25 miles away so she called but it was the general reservation number and the person quoted her a rate that was double what was on the website. So, I found the direct number for that particular Red Roof Inn and we were able to make a reservation at a reasonable rate. Even though it was now about 12:20am there still was a long line of traffic along Washington Street and we inched along at 5 mph until we reached I495 to I295 to US146; part of this drive was in Rhode Island. We finally made it to the motel at 1:30. I took a shower then into dreamland.

258

GENIUS!!!

259

Dinner with the church kids went well. The salmon filets were large, so Church Girl gave at least a third of hers to her b/f. He finished off his, hers, and went back for seconds on the creamed spinach w/feta. They left about 25 minutes ago. Now we can have some wine.

ETA: We ate in the catio. The smell of the salmon attracted a mama raccoon and her three small kits. They were cute. :raccoon:

260

9:30pm and I’m tired, so this will be my late night final before logging off and wending my way to bed. Rain has departed but a 1-in-4 chance of more tomorrow. Still need to put the new chair together, but the old one is doing alright so not a rush. Temperature is down to 73F so should be good sleeping weather.

doggio, have bought those split-top hot dog buns too, and had a similar experience, so I’m sticking with the old-fashioned ones.

Flyboy, cancelling a pet’s prescription without informing the owner is a big no-no, hope it gets resolved.

Cat Glove, thanks for the trip report, good thing you went with BF, she sounds like a good person but overwhelmed by the way things work. Glad the Red Roof could step up. And after reading the follow-up report, how the heck does she manage to get to and survive in far-away places like Standford and Tampa–I always book my hotel well in advance of my travel, doesn’t everybody? A book is always a good thing to have on a road trip, IMHO. And I’ve heard BTS, they aren’t bad but like you my type of concert music is way back in the 70’s/80’s.

swampy, Happy Vergering as always.

Cookie, Logan’s Meatloaf is on the list for Sunday Dinner but now you have me thinking about 5 Guys…I swear, one day I’m going there and just get a large order of fries, don’t need anything else to get my full daily caloric (and weight) allowance.

JtC, I tend to agree with you, there must be other options to feed the birds instead of what appears to be a Deer Buffet that the cats will alert too.

And just about 10pm, so need to perform the evening bathroom duties and drift off to Slumberland. Catch y’all tomorrow.