(Old) Trip Planning in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 3c/37f with a predicted high of 8c/46f and mostly sunny. Weather app says “The stupid fucking angry day ball is shining up in the sky again. Such a stupid fucking angry ball”. Yes, it’s sunny out there. Looks nice, I don’t have to leave the house until midday though, off to the dental hygienist for a visit.

I did not watch your superb owl, mainly because it starts in the middle of the night for me, and I much prefer to be sleeping at that point. And I have no interest in that particular superb owl.

Instead, we spent our weekend planning our US trip for next month…yes, beware, we’re heading your way again! This time it’s Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit - already found zoos to visit, and booked tickets to see Marco Mendoza, and Graham Bonnet while we’re in Chicago. 'im indoors has watched a couple of “Man vs Food” shows to see if there’s anywhere we particularly need to visit, and I’m told there are a couple of places worth the bother. Fun times!

2

First! Hah!

3

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN 'Tis 66 Amurrkin out and mostly cloudy with a predicted high of 71 with rain/tstorms/apocalypse predicted for the day. Looks like rain will start real soon and be with us most of the day. Fine by us as we have nowhere we need or want to go, so inside and dry it is. A good day for high sloth a is our wont. Sup shall be leftovers from last night’s sup, so even that is a slothful activity.

red hope the toe owie is better today.

Pilot I know you are on your way, but happy travels!

BooFae sounds like it will be a fun trip.

Legend I am flattered that I am your reminder to get your trash ready to take out.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah,

Happy Moanday Y’all!

4

Good morning everyone. I kinda watched the superbowl, but was more interested in grilling and wine, and am a little woozy this morning. This is unusual for me, but once in a while is good for ya! Anyway, I’ll be fine after some OJ and healthier habits today. On the second cuppa and enjoying the quiet.

Mizpullin is in South Texas visiting our youngest, and they’re planning lots of “girl” stuff. I chose to stay here with the new pup, and try to continue her training this week. Keyword: “try”.

It’s 38F and supposed to get to 50-something today with high winds. Not a pleasant day but at least the rain has stopped.

BooFae, cool trip you’ve got planned.

As far as trip planning, we’re doing a meta-version of that. We’re shopping for a new camping trailer. We’ve both settled on the perfect choice and floorplan, but unfortunately not the same one. I want more off-grid, and she wants the big kitchen with giant side-by-side fridge, etc. Her version is large, and can barely power itself a whole day without plugging back into an RV park. My choice is smaller with lots of tank capacity, solar, and is good for a week with no connections at all.

It’s a fun discussion though, and no one’s upset. We’ve found a compromise that is huge (12,000 lbs.) but has all the off-grid capability I want, and a sizable kitchen for her. Unfortunately there are only 3 of them in the US, and ordering a new one will take 6 months or more. But… first world problems, I guess.

Today I need to replace the kitchen blinds that Lucy (new dog) mauled last week. We made the mistake of leaving her uncrated in the kitchen, and she was frantic we were gone. I’m replacing them with the vertical kind, so if she decides to look out the window they will just move aside. We have the same type in the den, and they’ve gone unmolested so far. The good news is I don’t need to worry about it while gone to the hardware store, as they’re already destroyed.

Hope everyone has a good week!

5

Mornin’ all. It’s near sunrise and I’m sheveled, sittin’ outside on deck 16 looking north as we head west-southwest about halfway between Key West and Cuba. So about 12 hours after the ship started moving, and about 30 minutes (!) after takeoff on my internal pilot timeline for this well-worn route.

We are just passing a Carnival ship going the other way; he’s probably 2 miles distant.

The air is clear, the sea is calm, and it’s probably about 77/25 out. The ship’s pushing into a light breeze, so the wind over the deck is a bit much to just sit in. Fortunately at this hour there’s no competition for their semi-sheltered cabana things.

Virgin definitely does cruising differently. As I mentioned in passing last week (:wink: ), late evening on day 1 they have a “pajama party”. Everyone who knows about this shows up at the disco wearing, yes, pajamas. I did not know about it and my sleepwear is definitely not public-compatible, so I showed up dressed for casual sweaty dancing. I quit much later at 1am and the party was still goin’ strong. Some of these people ladies are definitely quite extroverted in their choice of sleepwear. One of my few complaints about being hetero male is it’s hard to flaunt without seeming not-quite-hetero enough. Which IME is far more off-putting to the ladies I’m interested in than it is attractive to the men I’m not.

The vibe here is non-stop party. Nothing stuffy or refined or expensive-seeming. They even create a whatsapp chat group for the singles & we’re mostly all hooked up to it. They’ve done this before.

This ship is Scarlet Lady | Virgin Voyages. If you look at the row of portholes in the white part of the ship just above the gray part nearest the water, I’m about the 7th hole back from the bow, but on the opposite side of the ship. That “porthole” is about 5 feet in diameter, so the cabin doesn’t feel closed in. This is deck 5.

Off to launch my day of whatevering. Food & more caffinatin’ sounds like an excellent first step. I just used the whatapp group to secure a breakfast companion.

6

Sweeite, no biggie. My sister not only spells Roxy’s name as you did, but she spelled Daughter’s name wrong for years, even tho I corrected her every time. Ain’t worth sweating.

BooFae - just a few minutes ago, I sent an email to cancel our Iceland cruise. While we were on the ship, we discussed - FCD doesn’t like cruising as much as I do, and 25 days would be beyond his limit. Plus just the cruise would stretch our budget beyond what would be comfortable (granted, we did book a suite with a bunch of bennies.) And that cost didn’t include getting to and from Boston, or any excursions, and in Iceland, you have to take the excursions or you don’t see much of anything interesting.

We’re going to do something like this instead. There are several companies offering several packages, and we’ll decide which we want. We can fly out of BWI to Reykjavik, leaving our car at my sister’s house, so no parking fees. I figure bottom line will be no more than half the cost of the cruise. So that’s our current trip planning for summer 2025.

OMG, what a horrible night I had! What wasn’t coming out of one end was coming out of the other. I suspect Tobias may have shared a bug with me - I just hope MIL didn’t get it, too. It would kill her. I was up and down all night, and I’m exhausted, but I had to get up and rehydrate. I also had a piece of toast - here’s hoping I can keep it down. So as soon as I post this, it’ll be Recliner Time.

FCD has left to take his mom to the Dr. I had to ask him to get a copy of my mammogram order because I can’t find it. Unless she sent it electronically to the imaging center, since all MedStar facilities are magically connected. And he reminded me to make a dermatology appointment for his mother - I think I can do that now, as it’s after 8.

Slug/sloth day ahead, and with luck, I won’t wear a track to the terlit. A nap would be nice, too.

Happy Moanday - don’t get too close to me!!!

7

Have the day off because of carnival, so I can try to catch up with last week’s MMP.

@missred, I did something like Fleet Feet for my hiking shoes, so there is hopefully something for running shoes as well. Speaking of toes, I hope your has healed.

I just looked at mine - there are about 5 or 6 coming up and at least one has buds already. It’s not even March!

@Old_Wench My husband wears womens running shoes, so I’d be balancing him out if I wear mens running shoes. Thanks for the tips about Uranus - Richmond, IN is close to wear my parents will be later this year, so they can also visit there, if they so desire.

@InternetLegend Thanks for sharing the kitty pics. I’m not familiar with the description “dilute tortoiseshell”, but I see what you mean after seeing Roxy.

Not much travel plans at the moment. We’re replacing 30 year old carpet in two bedrooms, plus electrical work and painting, so we have to see how much that will cost. Hoping to go to London and Amsterdam this year, and my parents want us to join them on a cruise in Nova Scotia area in September/October.

FCM, hope everything stabilizes soon - up all night is no fun at all.

(Hmm, do I want to post just after the ailing FCM? Will that be too close?)

8

Well, we watched the game after all. I even made wings, which were passable. Some of the ads were amusing or clever, but I have to admit that some of them were just confusing to me, or starred people that are apparently famous but who I didn’t recognize, or were for products that were a mystery to me. Sigh.

Have a good week, all.

9

I notice this more and more. Sometimes I at least have heard the names, but not always. Like I’d heard of Usher, but that’s all I knew. Then again, I’m not his demographic. I’m more in the 60-years-ago-the-Beatles-were-on-Ed-Sullivan demo.

Dermatologist appt made - the recliner beckons…

10

I’m back from the dental hygienist - my teeth just don’t feel right any more! On the plus side, she gave me some fancy inter-dental brushes to use so that’ll be fun…

Moooom sorry to hear you had such a bad night, I hope reclining and dreaming about your Iceland trip helps you feel better. I went to Iceland many years ago on a group trip, mainly to see the Northern Lights. It’s a fascinating place, ridiculously expensive, but the scenery is more than worth it.

Cookie I share the mystification about the Superb Owl, most of it would mean nothing to me either which is why I am content to let it pass me by. Plus it’s all supposed to be about a game that should take an hour but gets played in 2-minute segments. Fortunately, I have the six nations rugby to watch instead, where we do it right :slight_smile:

11

Morning all. The Handyman is here and at work on a couple minor jobs that will hopefully not take a lot of time (or cost). Still cloudy with rain and the occasional tunder-boomers in the area, but dry for the moment. The usual 4-S’s are planned (shopping/sammich/sauna/swimming) but we’ll see how long the repairing takes.

As for trip planning, I had three trips in 2023, two long cruises and one week in South Carolina (Myrtle Beach) and haven’t yet made any plans for this year. Probably will stay in the US of A, unless something comes along that is just too tempting. Overseas adventures will probably wait until 2025.

Did watch the Stupor Bowl, the game was alright, the commercials were fairly good and I recognized about 85% of the famous people (the Kennedy one was weird). As usual, I set the alarm for 6:30am today and woke up at 5:50am (cannot sleep in when I have a morning alarm).

boo fae, sounds like a nice trip, the northern states you are visiting in March should resemble your British weather, so pack accordingly. Enjoy!

yanker, never been a camper, but I like the sound of the compromise candidate, even if you have to postpone your wanderings for awhile. Maybe there is something close to it that is available.

Pilot, never cruised with Virgin and since I usually sleep without the use of PJ’s, it would be a bit-awkward for me… :dizzy_face: :grinning: :wink: Keep on having fun.

FCM, had an old friend do the Iceland driving tour, he really enjoyed it, hope you guys will too. Feel better soon.

Dicey, a little jealous that you can visit London/Amsterdam with a 60-90 minute flight when it’s take me a couple connections and a 6-8 hour overseas trek. And I hear Nove Scotia is beautiful in the Fall.

OK, need to glance at what the handyman is doing, just so I look involved, then onward into the week. Have a good one, all.

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@purplehorseshoe, have you found that blanket? :slight_smile:

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Yeah, hence my sigh. The half-time show seemed. . .desperate, somehow. Like they were trying to cram in everything they could. I’m not familiar with Usher, but if that’s an example of his music, then his popularity is a mystery to me. But like a lot of people my age, good music stopped being produced (for the most part) in the 80s-90s.

I haven’t followed football since the Vikings of the 70s, but I was pleased to see that they’ve streamlined the game somewhat, so it moves more quickly. But still, it was some four hours, including ads and halftime.

14

My next trip is to Lexington KY for the Defender Kentucky Three Day. It’s a horse thing and this year the event is part of the Olympic selection trials. The big names will be there. I have a condo rented about 30 minutes away. $60 a night which is dirt cheap. A hotel room near the event is close to $200 a night. Back to Lexington in the fall for the Retired Racehorse Project that a friend has entered her OTTB. I should go back to L.A. to see my sister before the end of the year. There is vague talk of Scotland but my knee is not up to all that walking. Hoping the gel shots take care of that.

15

My mom and I took a cruise 10 years ago that included the British Isles, Norway,. Iceland, and Canada. I fell in love with Iceland - a fascinating place! FCD and I will make plans to accommodate his mobility issues - specifically no strenuous climbing. Unfortunately, summer is the wrong time for Northern Lights. Dammit.

That one had me shaking my head for sure.

It turns out my overnight purge reduced my bulk by 7#! I know it’s not permanent, dammit, but it did surprise me. Was I that full of… oh, look who I"m asking. :stuck_out_tongue:

One piece of toast didn’t do much for me - I have a killer headache. So I’m going to have an early lunch. Turkey on a tortilla seems pretty benign.

16

I started with the heaving, then sorting in Secondary, then loading. A light day, hopefully all that cash Temu dropped on 2 Superb Owl commercials will boost the volume.And I did watch the game, and I’m glad the Chefs won. Tripwise, I might head down to Wilmington(N.C.) for a day trip in April.
Naptime!

< gets off the FairyChat lawn >
But hope you feel better.

Sounds like a fun ship, Pilot.

17

44º Ferret Height, or 7º Centipede, and a bit wet out.

Getting a little peckish. I might nuke a piece of chicharron con carne in a bit. I’m thinking about mashing up an avocado with cilantro, onions, and pickled jalapeños (since I don’t have a fresh jalapeño) and making a pulled pork burrito for lunch. I only have four hours to think about it.

18

No!

Maddening.

It’s not that I’m chilly without it (dear gawd, how many blankets can one never-cold woman friggin’ own?!?) but it’s the principle of the thing, yanno?

Like, I wouldn’t have thrown it away, so it must be somewhere, right?

… maybe it’s wadded up with those damn documents I never found & had to replace.

Apparently, you and FCM both!

19

I’ve got 4 trips currently in planning stage for this year:

  • April in Nice, France
  • July to Grindelwald, Switzerland
  • Thanksgiving in Dublin
  • XMas to the Caribbean

Too many trips in process at once, but I like the look of the upcoming year.

20

Trips. . .hmmmm. Well, we kicked around the idea of a river cruise somewhere or one of those Road Scholar jaunts, but the idea of dealing with air travel, customs, etc. just makes me tired. We will most likely make a pilgrimage to Buffalo, NY, where my wife is from, and perhaps stop over in NYC to see friends and have a pastrami sandwich at Katz’s. Her older sister is in a care facility in Buffalo and I’ll tag along for the pizza and fish fry. We also may try to go up north here in MN; I’d like to see the North Shore area. The biggest problem for any travel is our aging cat, who must be cared for.

Well, exercises are done, puzzles solved, etc. Time to get on with the rest of the day, which won’t entail a whole lot.