I’m sorry for my weak memory, as I’m sure you’ve explained this, but I don’t recall what this stands for. Managing Potato A$$? Monkey Pox Agitator? Marauding Pepperoni Administrator? Help! And I hope you get through this long, grueling day OK.
MetalMouse, maybe I missed this, too, but are you over the itching? And what did you decide to do about your new Not Doggio’s Spot?
WetOne, glad your sister is better. Bushwhackers sound wonderful!
[waves hand like a freshman on Red Bull] Oo! Oo! Pick me! They’re for National Sombrero Day! From Wiki:
Sombrero Festival , also known as Sombrero Fest , is a two-nation fiesta and an annual three-day pre-Lenten celebration held in Brownsville, Texas, United States.[1] The grito—a joyous Mexican shout—opens the festivities every year. This festival is a shared heritage celebration between the two border cities of Matamoros, Tamaulipas and Brownsville, Texas.
Doesn’t that sound like fun?
VanGo, I hope you find a way to access your email and that your day gets better.
It will!
Oh, the Golden Age when kids still think chores are fun! Is Wee Weasel into machines? A washer is pretty fascinating to littles. How does it know when to stop the spin cycle? Where does the water go? OK, maybe it’s only fascinating to me. At Wee Weasel’s age, my daughter thought of the washer as the malevolent machine that ate her blankie. I see now where I went wrong!
FCM, hope you and FCD found a place to nap. And welcome back to dry land! Do you still have your sea legs, matey?
Hi folks - Midafternoon here at the airport to go home. I caught all the breaks getting here, so got to the gate 2 hours before scheduled departure, not just 1 hour as desired. To find the flight is 45 minutes late. Oh well. The gin & tonic is cold, the bartender is nice, and the Wi-Fi is strong.
I put my morning post in the old MMP. Oops.
Here it is for reference:
Despite my earlier trepidation, going ziplining, etc., at Rainforest Adventure - Rockland Estate, St Maarten worked out great. Did all their events and got back to the hotel in time to eat a lunch, take a shower in their lounge, change in to travelin’ duds and head on down the road.
Jumping off the side of a mountain was kinda fun. Not quite like BASE jumping or wingsuiting, but still a pretty good rush. Besides that mongo free-fall zipline they had a dry-land log flume ride in an innertube, and more ordinary ziplining in the usual harness. It was a relay of 5 lines across a narrow canyon, but with amazing views of the whole island and nearby sea. With the added spice of dying if the equipment failed. Great fun.
The weather home in MIA today is gloppy and in the mid 50s by the time I’ll get outside. Should clear up for the next few days but remain typically Miami winter: mostly sunny with overnight lows in the low 50s and highs in the low 70s. Not summer, but tolerable. Golfing weather, but not beaching except between noon and 2pm. At best.
Sounds like you took the best care possible of yourself and that’s now paying off. Boo for sick!! Yaay for getting better!
Ouch. I too have had vacations where the whole thing sucked due to one or an other incompatibility with the people, or an illness, or shit weather or … A failed vacation is one of the more disappointing experiences an adult can have.
Next time Sis needs to visit you and leave BIL & Faux at home.
Hooray! You did better than I did. I flunked Mondays yet again.
You’re not the first person to say that. I need to dig into that in good earnest; I’ve been doing it half-assedly for years, but now especially it might help w my other issues. Thank you.
I think you mean it’s amazing how their tasks expand to fill your time if you permit that.
How about you put away your stuff, dump their stuff in a pile in the middle of their bed or bedroom floor, and declare your part of the total job complete? Evidently they’ll be as lazy as you permit them to be.
Uggh! Hope you recover soon and well.
You hadn’t mentioned the family / hockey / U2 event before (that I noticed), but good on all y’all! Sounds like fun.
Ouch. And the ordeal is just beginning. I bet you sleep soundly on the plane.
And this is the difference between a community and a bunch of co-located selfish people aggressively defending their right to be selfish from the other selfish people around them. I do what Earl does. Confuses folks.
Hooray for phones that don’t ring late in the night. No matter why they’re not ringing.
Taters sorry MPA is such a thorn in every one of your sides. Far better to work alone than listen to yabberage all day while stuck unnecessarily in traffic to accommodate the yabberer’s restrictive schedule. Are there any secluded bridges on your route that (s)he could fall off?
Readers may remember that Autumn pumpkin Mrs. L.A. put in the back yard. It kept its shape until the har freeze and it melted with the snow. It’s well and truly flat now. There’s a black squirrel gathering seeds and burying them hither and thither.
Wifey, RN only had one patient today, and now she’s home. She says she’s going out for a walk. She doesn’t do the hill, so she’ll drive down to the beach and then drive to a parking place. She’ll probably do less than a mile, but at least she’s out walking.
Just had a bowl of that leftover salmon chowder only with clams instead of salmon for lunch. Finished off the chicken stir-fry for breakfast this morning.
Started Typing: 3:39 PM ET
Clicked Reply: 3:57 PM ET
Man, today has been pretty nonstop…I can’t believe I’m just now getting around to slacking and it’s almost 4pm already! And I’m not done; I just have time for a quick break. I’m glad I have no plans after work, so I can be a vegetable in front of the TV later (except for playing the NY Times Connections and Spelling Bee games, which actually help me relax in the evenings). I really hope today isn’t indicative of how the week is gonna be.
Good stories as usual, shoe!
Hey now, be careful…don’t be a hero!!
Booooo!
This made me laugh…which startled the dog…which also made me laugh.
I’d much rather make you laugh than make you annoyed:
Sorry to have stepped stomped on your toes. I meant well, even if I did it real clumsily. As you graciously noticed.
I too am an Android person for phones, and Windows PC for laptops & desktops
At work they issued us iPads which were OK / great except if I/we/you needed to type anything. Then they sucked extreme pond scum. There are, IMO, no good keyboard solutions for i-devices. So when somebody expresses displeasure at a tablet of any or unknown flavor, my assumption is the real complaint is the difficulties in keyboarding. I’m sorry to have projected my problem onto your experience.
I’m sure we can figure out how to make amends for this faux pax.
Afternoon, everyone. Back from a week at a very lonely beach, with no wifi and my phone’s app on the fritz. Could read SDMB but not post.
Some important catch up: Pilot… really sorry to hear of our separation from HL. Although you seem to deal with it better than most, it still sucks. Wishing you the best, and sorry I didn’t say anything last week.
FCM, hope your final flight(s) go well. Long trip but enjoyed reading about it.
Impressed you’re actually looking forward to this. At this point we’d have packed up and fled to the hinterlands.
Whine away. There a few things worse than a ruined vacation. I’m really sorry to hear this.
Still unpacking from a weeklong trip to the beach. With judicious use of 4WD I managed to find a stretch with no humans on it. There was a vehicle or two just barely visible a few miles north, but enjoyed real solitude for a while. Lucy (new dog) went with me and kept me company. This is a sorta-annual wintertime trip for me. I take a load of fishing gear as an excuse for being there, but luckily the fish left me alone all week.
Da’ beach (and Lucy):
On to the week here: First, clean about 200 lbs. of sand out of the truck – I swear it’s everywhere. Then fashion a weirdly shaped section of fence to block the new escape route Lucy has found (balance atop the retaining wall for 8 feet and then jump over the fence there). Then clean off the back deck which seems to attract tools, ladders, and debris all by itself. Then slothage and hot-tubbing for the remainder. The missus was away doing errands as I finished my two day trip home. I helpfully picked up a case of beer and some wine, thinking there wasn’t any at the house. So did she. And there was a full case and several bottles already here. So our garage fridge looks like an alcoholic’s wet dream with all the booze therein. We’re really not big drinkers, so I guess we need to invite the neighbors over to help with this unintentional supply. But it’s a good problem, right?
Hope all have a good week, and I’ll try to keep up better.
The itching has pretty much disappeared, used up a bunch of the hydrocortisone last night and seems to have helped, I’ll sleep tonight without any doctoring and see how it goes. As for the Black Spot, it’s still there, just haven’t gotten around to making a Drs. appointment yet (and yes, Moth…nellie, I will do so this week, promise.
When I coach soccer I usually end up with a couple dozen cones and several soccer balls scattered around the field; I tell the kids "I bet you can’t get all of that picked up in 30 seconds and they are off to ‘beat the coach’ (they always do). A bit of Tom Sawyer there.
Afternoon all. Best wishes to our travellers (FCM and Pilot), may they be home safe and sound and on-time.
Have completed the shop-sammich-swim-sauna routine and will shortly decide on what seller of globs of meat/bread/potatoes (i.e., burger and fries) I will patronize tonight. Being on a calorie-watching binge, I pulled up my usual orders from 5-6 places, all of them are in the 1200-1300 calorie range save for Five Guys, which is over 1600 (those damn delicious fries). Will probably pick blindly, weight is stable so will take the benefit of the exercise.
Welcome back yanker. Lovely picture of Lucy. I’m not much for solitude but if you are, you picked one great place to find it.
shoe, always look forward to your stories; that one could qualify for Reader’s Digest (is that still around?). Just keep remembering there are good and decent folks out there.
Oopsie, enjoy your evening sloth, sounds like you earned it.
Pilot, have always been intrigued by zip lines but never have had the opportunity (or the desire) to do it. Yours sounds a bit more exciting than I would want. One of these days…
Wheelie, hope you get to feeling better soon. And that is quite a family gathering…hope everyone is still speaking to each other by the time it is over…
IL, I subscibe to the idea of folding your own and leaving the rest in a pile. They’ll get the idea (one hopes).
doggio, I did say ‘normal’ human beings…
wet one, hang in there and think of home sweet home.
OK TV time and work on the NY Times puzzles a bit. Good evening all.
Yanker thanks for the kind wishes. I’d like to know roughly where that beach is if you don’t mind sharing. Don’t want to drag a crowd there and ruin it for you, but sometimes solitude is the best revenge.
You are wise in the ways of the younglings.
…
My day would have been better had I not missed my flight due to a second gin & tonic ands some confusion about which time zone we were in vs which one my tablet was displaying.
All’s well that ends well though, and as I type I’m somewhere over the Atlantic on the next flight to MIA which left just 30 minutes after the delayed one I missed. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying a row of coach to myself. Gonna be sleepy by the time I get home, but not that bad.
Have picked out a nice cruise I might go on a couple days. Like the airlines, the cruise lines have gotten real good at selling last minute deals for bupkiss rather than letting the cabin go empty. Still TBD, but plausible.
Here’s hoping FCM has fewer screwups than I did.
…
As to ziplines, the chunky woman with the cane who jumped off the mountain ahead of me had plenty of wherewithall. I expect you do too. Really, the more ordinary ones are nothing but fun. Next time you’re where one is available, break that ice.
Howdy Y’all! Been a day of high sloth here except for takin’ the biiiiiig trash can all the way down to the road for pickup and haulin’ it all the way back to where it lives durin’ the week. Oh, and the makeage of sup counts as productivity as well, I suppose. I read about a quarter of the book today and am definitely into it. It’s a fascintatin’ study.
Taters hope the day is not too awful, even though it sounds awful. I also agree about folks who yak way too much. Always makes me want to say, “let’s play a game to see how long we can be quiet.”
MOOOOOOM hope FCD and you found a place for nappage.
WetOne sorry the vacation has been such a downer. I haven’t been to Flora-Bama in years!
Nellie I want to be a Marauding Pepperoni Administrator in my next life. I’m not sure what I’d be doin’ but, hey, if it involves maraudin’ and pepperoni, how could it be bad!
VanGo that sucks about your email.
Wheelie that’s a whole lotta family at one time. I love mine but probably not that much.
We’re checked in, thru security and immigration, and waiting to find out which gate is ours. A nice young man took pity on us and sent us to the priority security line, which probably saved us half an hour.
We were talking to another couple in the waiting area who are also bound for Miami. Their flight was supposed to leave at 9 or so. It was delayed till midnight. Glad I didn’t book that flight.
We just split an empanada and we’re taking up space till we figure out where we need to be. Totally exhausted and expecting to sleep on the flight. I have to say - the extra cost of Premium economy is definitely worth it!
That was a hell of a day. No joy getting back into my Windows mail. And couldn’t get to my mail server provider either. Then, what I thought was going to be a go over to the other school to see what the hell I’m going to be doing there for their next show turned into 3+ hours of hanging lights in the theatre. Sooo much up and down ladders. I’ve sweated so much that I have water in my ear.
On the plus side, I talked to some people.
Time for a medicinal beverage. (or 3)
FCM Hope the rest of the travels go smoothly.
flyboy Sounds like you may indeed get volunteer punkins next season.
pullin Nice dog, and beach. Looks like someplace near Myrtle to me? Clever Lucy. The back deck is a horizontal surface, which, as we all know, serve simply to collect crap.
And loading is supposed to start now. Except the plane isn’t at the gate. It’s somewhere at the airport according to a crew member who’s waiting here with us. I’m pretty sure I hate Buenos Aires airport.
And now I wonder if we’ll make our connection in Miami. Not amused.
We are under a flood warning. Our home will be just fine, but that means the roads will get sloppy and the grocery store will be filled with panic shoppers. It is so good to be retired drains on society, we don’t have to go anywhere or do anything. I am going to order a take and bake pizza in the morning, some people know how to plan for weather issues.
That also came in handy on Saturday, the I17 closed for a couple of hours and despite all of the TURN BACK signs, folks still thought they could go through the Junction and Lakes to that unimproved muddy dirt road and then down to the interstate again. A few cars made it. Then a semi got stuck on the second turn and everything stopped, backing traffic up three miles to the off ramp. This of course stopped anyone from being able to get out of the junction due to the gridlock through the only intersection leading to the egresses.
A couple of bored locals got on their tractors to see it they could do anything to unblock traffic, but the semi driver got offended by the suggestion that he was a bad driver and then got physical with a couple of laughing bystanders and things went downhill from there. Meth is bad, mkay?
Awwww! Imma buy a pumpkin next year just to see if I get to see cool things like that!
I got to Miami in OK shape; there had been thunderstorms and the air was rough and everything was wet. But no delays flying or taxiing. The customs area is now under construction, so was more backed up than usual. Which doesn’t matter for those travelers with Global Entry, but will for others.
Once formally welcomed back to the good 'ol US of A, I was starving, so bought an overpriced burger at one of the very few eateries on the outside of security still open at 8:30pm. Sometimes it’s nice to know where everything is, and especially the stuff that keeps extended hours.
When I finished eating I realized I could wait an hour for the next / last train of the night, to then spend 80 minutes on the train, then 15 minutes ubering home, or just jump in an uber right now and be home in 50 minutes total for a few extra bucks. I’m ubering up the freeway now and will get home a bit before the train will leave MIA. Tomorrow me will be very happy about the extra hour+ of sleep.
Gonna feel good to sleep in a different strange bed tonight.
Good luck FCM; there were (as always) a lot of people nervously dashing to/through immigration hoping to make tight connections.
I’m starved for a creative outlet that is satisfying. Sometimes I write, or create art in Photoshop, but I don’t do it often enough, and it’s so exhausting and frustrating to create things like that in themselves, let alone then having no audience for them so they just sit there, unconsumed.
So I am tempted into the (potentially very expensive) hobby of making Lego MOCs. I’m going to noodle with some cheap parts, then probably scour for pre-used bulk sets on eBay or Gumtree, or even more likely the cheap knock-offs from AliExpress and Temu.
Anyway, it’s something I hope will occupy me for a few months, so let’s see how it goes.
And I’m not done; I just have time for a quick break. I’m glad I have no plans after work, so I can be a vegetable in front of the TV later (except for playing the NY Times Connections and Spelling Bee games, which actually help me relax in the evenings). I really hope today isn’t indicative of how the week is gonna be.
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