onlyano

I'm having a doozy of a day too. Nothing bad, just weird.

I ordered 100 individually wrapped straws from Amazon. I figured I would take a dozen or so on my cruises.

I received 1,000 individually wrapped straws for $5.99. Unless I start cruising a lot these are going to last a long time. 

Finding a place to put all of them is going to be a challenge.

Today in the middle of my packing for my May 9-13 Las Vegas trip and my May 19-26 Magic Cruise I got an upgrade email from Carnival. I thought it was for my cruise in a few weeks, but it was for my December 29th cruise on the Celebration.

Warning, this is a long messy story. I have a B2B scheduled for December 22 - 29 and December 29 - January 5th. The upgrade was for a Havana balcony on the second leg. I was booked to stay in the same room for both legs. I wasn't all that excited about my room location. 

I looked up current prices. With the upgrade, I was still paying about $2,500 less to move to the Havana cabin. So I figured what the heck.

Here's where it went south for a bit.

The first time I tried to upgrade online, I got an error. The second time I got an error again. 

When I logged into my Carnival account, it said the upgrade was pending.

I checked my credit card and I had been charged twice. I checked my Carnival account and now my cruise is paid off and then some. 

So, I make the dreaded call to Carnival. The first time, I was disconnected. I call back and I get this lady who is confused as to why I overpaid when paying off my cruise. She was totally missing the "upgrade online" part. 

I got her to remove two-thirds of my overpayment, but she made a comment about different rooms, which concerned me. Finally, she decided I needed to talk to casino booking since I am on a casino rate.

OMG, this next person was so knowledgeable. 

She was able to upgrade my room and answer a few other questions.

I've heard Tribers rave about the Havana area, but it has always been more than I've wanted to spend. I'm excited to try it out.

Now I'm trying to figure out a trip for July. I'm leaning toward a land trip to Key West. But, I also was thinking about getting season tickets to the theater. If I do the season tickets, I need to figure out a cheaper July option.

For some reason, I am being decision-making adverse right now. I think dealing with Carnival broke my brain for now.

27 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Oh that thing that talked about the crosses. These line the road to the church.

Stations of the Cross. 

I know that lady too. She wouldn't let a woman who didn't have a $1, just a credit card, in the bathroom. I gave the lady a $1 and she offered to buy me a coffee (odd choice) with her credit card. I declined. I will say the bathroom was very clean.

Here's a picture of the storm as it rolled through Fort Worth this morning. This picture is from Brian Luenser. I follow him on FB. 

I heard the storm, but since the sirens didn't go off, I stayed in bed. I live about a 1/2 mile to the left of this picture.

Did I miss an update from @MeganGC1983?

9 hours ago, CallistaSkye said:

aww your mom looks great!

 

I seem to be having some weird luck with booking things. I booked a hotel last month for mothers day so we could do a staycation. I have the email confirmation. I went to look at it on the hotel website just to make sure it's what we wanted, and it keeps saying that it can't find the reservation and that the number doesn't exist. I emailed the front desk 2 days ago. Nothing. Then I submitted it again on their website asking for help. No answer. so now I'm going to have to call them, but haven't been able to. and it's really annoying that I have emailed twice and heard nothing back.

 

I went to see if Faster to the Fun was available on our Alaska cruise and now when I log into to my carnival account, there are zero cruises showing up in my account as booked. I just paid the Alaska one off in full a few days ago and it was there earlier. So I have no idea what is going on.

Hopefully it's just a fluke and shows back up tomorrow.

I have had both of these things happen to me.

On the hotel room, I booked it through AARP so the reservation number was different. I finally had to call the hotel to get the reservation number that would show up online.

At one point last year, I had five cruises booked. I wish that was the case now! The one closest to me leaving dropped off the reservations page. I had to use the booking number to add it back.

2 hours ago, pebbles1102 said:

I live near the largest Amish community in the USA. E-bikes are very popular here. 

This led me down the rabbit hole of researching the Amish and e-bikes. I was wondering about how they charge them. I found out they are okay with using solar power and natural-gas generators to produce energy.

I survived volunteering for my 12th Main ST. This was the 37th year of the festival. 

After the Saturday rainout, the weather on Sunday was nice.

Despite the weather, we had great volunteers.

Because of Saturday's weather, we had a lot of leftover volunteer t-shirts. 

These puzzle pieces are the names of people who have volunteered for 10 years or more.  

At five years they get a special button.

Sometimes I get to go out and look at the art and listen to the music, but this year I wasn't able to explore much. I did get a few pictures.

My favorite is the robot dogs.

My job with Main ST is not easy. I have over 1,000 volunteer spots, 700+ volunteers, and five people that work under me. I set schedules, send emails, set up and monitor the online volunteer system, recruit volunteers, and set up and manage the volunteer center.

It also involves dealing with four different online systems. 

I often wonder how I did all of this when I was working. Being retired makes it a bit easier.

I stay in a downtown hotel Thursday - Saturday nights. I live close to downtown, but since my days are 16 hours long during the festival, it's easier to stay downtown.

Except for sorting through the supplies and putting them away it's over until next year.

Next up Vegas May 8th and the Carnival Magic May 19th!

I think it was @TxTeach79 who mentioned that the Main ST Arts Festival in Fort Worth, TX usually has at least one day of bad weather.

Today was the day. 

Because of wind and storms, we had to close at 4:00 pm. One band started playing and made it 15 minutes before they had to stop.

It is currently 49 and rainy with a wind chill of 45.

So much for sunny Texas!

Yes, that is wind blowing the side of that tent.

2 hours ago, figmentfreak said:

And if you get the Target debit card you get 5% off all purchases. 

I have my Target debit card on my phone Target app. I don't even carry my Target debit card. I get 5% off and lots of deals. I recently got $10 of a $40 purchase.

1 minute ago, MeganGC1983 said:

know a lot of AKAs

I'm a Delta. Lol! I pledged as a graduate. My Mom was my sponsor, so I had it fairly easy. The required amount of community service is no joke. 

I belong to that demographic and I sort of have dimples. If I lost weight they would probably be more prominent. I never thought much about them.

Also, in my demographic, for some, sororities are a big deal, especially after college graduation.
I belong to one of the largest African-American sororities in the world with over 350,000 members.

Our national conventions have upwards of 15,000 attendees. Our national and regional conventions are so large, that I no longer attend.

At one sorority convention I attended in Washington DC, I stepped outside the convention center to make a phone call. While I was outside the fire marshall closed the center down because it was over capacity. I was stuck outside for hours. I finally gave up.

Hopefully, the person in that episode will find the right goals. 
Weight loss goals can be elusive. Mine was to fit into some of the clothes I grew out of. Finally, I just tossed them and bought larger sizes. Controlling food consumption is a difficult burden for me.

I’m also one of those people that wasn’t too hyped about the eclipse.

I bought glasses from Amazon a while back, JIC.

Because I am on the wrong side of the building, I had to go to the other side to see it.

I went down to my pool deck.

As an aside, I’m not really a hang out at the pool person.

I always forget how nice our pool area is.

The clouds didn’t obstruct viewing that much. 

At first the lights around the pool started to turn on. 

Then you could see the lights on the buildings downtown. 

When the sky was completely dark I heard lots of wows. 

It is pretty warm here, so you could feel the temperature change.

I wish it could have lasted longer.

It was pretty amazing. 

I was having an amazing dream during my colonoscopy. I was at the casino winning thousands of dollars. I was sort of annoyed when they woke me up. 

42 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Battery died again today. Apparently, it’s five years old, and that’s old for car batteries?

Five years has been about it for my car batteries.

3 minutes ago, MeganGC1983 said:

And I fly out on sweet, sweet May 19th. 😁

I fly out on May 18th to Miami for my May 19th cruise. I'm on the Magic with Brian Christopher, the slot playing influencer.

4 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

And right on time…. Weather updates from

home can stay home

Yes, enjoy the weather! North Texas (Fort Worth) is the pits right now.

REBELLIOUS FISH

• Ingredients:
• 1/2 oz. Passion Fruit Liqueur
• 1 oz. Vodka
• 1/4 oz. Orange Liqueur
• 2 oz. Orange Juice
• Sparkling Wine (for topping)

• Garnish:
• Fresh Berries

5 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Seats are pretty good and I have suite access. Hoping the bulls “win”. And I hear Cake By the Ocean. 😆

Technically "Cake by the Ocean" is by DNCE. I saw them in Vegas during a Billboards Awards show. The guitarist with DNCE JinJoo Lee is amazing. Maybe she will be with the Jonas Bros. 

I think the fact that I know this and I am 67 is pretty funny.

17 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Thanks. Around $140 on Amazon. It's on my wish list. I need to figure out some counter space.

6 minutes ago, Funsince1983 said:

You will be very disappointed. If you truly want pebble ice this is a splurge item. Ask me how I know and why I spent over $600 on an ice maker. 🫣

$600 for an ice maker probably won't work for me. 😁 But you never know, I might hit the lottery or win big in Vegas.

Airfare prices have been all over the place. I use Hopper to help me decide when to purchase.
Right now, people are traveling even though the prices are incredibly high. I was in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. The airport was packed.
As long as people are willing to pay, the prices will stay up.
I was able to get my May cruise, Miami flight from DFW for $530 round trip on American from DFW.
I also have a May event in Las Vegas. I did one-way for $300 and used points for the other leg.
I probably should bargain hunt more. I fly exclusively on American and non-stop unless there is no other choice. 
I'm going a few months without travel, so I can save up some money.
Unfortunately, I find myself eyeing things like a countertop pebble ice machine.

3 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

Thanks to everyone who’s following along! I know it’s a shorty and it’s not the most exciting thing (and the wifi is really working me over) but I truly appreciate it!

Since I can't be on a cruise right now, virtually cruising with you is the next best thing!

In Fort Worth, TX it was 94 earlier today. Now the temperature is dropping. Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 50's. 

I'm heading to Las Vegas tomorrow, where the weather is crazy too!

Thank you for such a wonderful review! I hope to cruise with you, Patti, and The Tribe again one day. 

Beverly