kochleffel

When I was being discharged from the hospital after surgery for a broken arm, a first-year resident was coordinating the discharge. He didn't yet have a narcotics registration, and when we stopped at the pharmacy the order wasn't yet in--he had to get an attending physician to send it. It was ready late that night, right before closing time, and the next day was Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. I happened to have some codeine with acetaminophen left over from dental work, in the equivalent dosage, although it is slower to take effect. The discharge, btw, went in fits and starts, because the resident was trying to speed it up, while the nurse on my floor was trying to slow it down, because I was supposed to receive one more dose of a medicine administered by IV, and she was determined to keep me there until I had had it.

The Junior Cat already has a beautiful fur coat that she wears everywhere, so she is not interested in dressing up. A restaurant near me sometimes has shepherd's pie on the menu, so I checked, but it wasn't being served today. Roy's alternative would be OK, too, and if I could get a gimlet right now I'd be pleased. I'm due to visit Cartagena in the fall with the Oosterdam. The Torah reading this morning in the synagogue was the one that I learned for my bar mitzvah service, xx years ago, and I was recruited to chant it today. (The "voluntold" part took place a week ago, so I had time to practice.) The rabbi also nabbed me to lead a central part of the service, and that was to make a point: he's teaching a practical liturgy class, where members learn to lead parts of the service using traditional forms, and some of them are rather rigid in their approach. He predicted that I would use a 20th-century musical setting, one that no one else here ever uses, and he wanted to show that it's "kosher" to do that. The goal is for people to learn the traditional way but not feel locked into it.

Of course you can walk in from 12th Avenue. I've walked out and crossed 12th to meet a ride. For an upcoming cruise from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, instead of staying in New Jersey the night before, as I've done before, I'm parking at the Weehawken ferry terminal and staying in Midtown, in order to see a play. This is practical for one person, not economical for more because of the individual ferry fares.

Both the meal suggestion and the wine would be OK with me, but they don't go together. Roy's alternative menu would also be OK. However, no peanut-butter whiskey, please.

Tell-all books rarely reflect well on the teller. No further comment.

It's been dark and gloomy all day, and now it's raining. There is a chance of snow tomorrow morning. I don't think that I would intentionally imitate Hamburger Helper from scratch, but that doesn't mean that I might not end up with it anyway. I have drunk a fair amount of Carmenere but not the listed one. I haven't been to Bali. We seem to see a lot of cocktails made with Razzmatazz Schnapps. I'd be pleased with watermelon cocktail, fried chicken, and cherry crisp, not that I have the ingredients for any of those dishes. Dinner will be whatever I have the energy to make, which is even more limiting.

I hold no brief for monarchy, but I agree with this.

I just book for two. Sometimes I meet someone who wants to share the table; otherwise I just tell them when I arrive that I'm on my own. It makes no difference to the restaurant--a party of either one or two will be seated at a two-top. I haven't had to deal with booking at a fixed-price restaurant while having no FAS available.

Friends of mine had to mix a little beef broth into the water to get their dog to drink enough.

The Junior Cat is, well, a cat, but at our last v-e-t visit we were told that their current advice is to feed both: dry food for their teeth, and wet food for their kidneys. But it's a particular problem that cats eating only dry food won't drink enough water.

A NOTAM outage could affect flights over the United States even if they don't take off or land in the U.S. While many of the notices pertain to airports (e.g., closed runways, nearby obstacles), some pertain to air space (navigational aids not working, closed air space for an air show, head of state, and the like).

The problem isn't just one person: their repetitive, nasty replies subvert the thread as others argue with them. After a certain point, I'd rather just hide the entire thread.

Dinner tonight was yellow bell pepper (as salad), rainbow chard, salmon, and Riesling--rather a lot of Riesling. Today I'm wishing that Cruise Critic had an "Ignore Thread" function. Several threads that I was following, including some in which I had posted, have been taken over by individuals who are negative to the point of being nasty, and who repost essentially the same hostile reply to every other post. Thus, the thread looks very active, but half the posts are almost identical.

U.S. immigration and customs at the cruise terminal, part of embarkation. If the cruise is a closed loop and returns to Vancouver, Canada immigration and customs when you disembark. If it's one-way to Alaska, Canada immigration and customs when your return flight arrives in Canada.

Not a TA, but I had an aft cabin for a cruise that had more sea days than planned (this was my infamous Bermuda Triangle cruise where we docked for only one day) and it was very pleasant for all those sea days.

Everyone is peculiar in some way, so maybe Peculiar People day celebrates everyone, but I thought first of the definition that Graham posted, referring either to strict Wesleyans or to Quakers. I've also heard the term used to denote any religion with which the speaker is unfamiliar. Either of the meal suggestions would be OK with me, as would the wine, although I think that Oregon produces the best Pinot Noir and as a practical matter I'm more likely to be drinking one from the Finger Lakes. The cocktail would not -- no pumpkin drinks, please. I have been to Bar Harbour on the Norwegian Gem. It was cold and rainy and I don't think I have a lot of pictures, but I do have a story (possibly everyone who has visited Bar Harbour has heard it, whether it's true or not): Martha Stewart had a vacation house there and at one point decided that she wanted a yacht. There is a trade in used yachts, but she wanted to have one built to her specifications. She went to the best yacht builder, reviewed typical designs, discussed customizations, and worked out all the details of interior finishing, etc. When she was ready to place the order, the yacht builder told her that it would take 18 months, because there were 15 orders ahead of hers. She objected, but he wouldn't budge. Eventually she asked, "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" He replied, "Yes. You're number 16." Cartoon for Jacqui, flying with a broken elbow.

Thanks. Yes, that's what I meant (or Vancouver/Seattle to Japan). I see that the Millenium will have Japan sailings in 2024, but will have been sailing in Asia for some time before they begin.

Is there any hint of whether this itinerary will be offered in 2024? I was booked for it before, when it was cancelled; I couldn't travel on the dates for the later sailings, but 2024 might be possible. Nothing is listed on the X website, although there are Fiji and Tahiti TPACs.

I'm from northern Ohio and one part of my family believed strongly in eating sauerkraut on New Year's Day, but they were from Pennsylvania and it may have been Pennsylvania Dutch influence. Unfortunately, they had forgotten how to prepare it: just bought it in cans and ate it straight out of the can. (Well, heated up.) I didn't learn to like it until I used the recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which also has a version for uncured red cabbage. Pork doesn't feature in my cooking but duck or goose is excellent in it. Leftover turkey dark meat would work, too.

I haven't been to Bornholm Island, but I have a bottle of Bornholm Snaps, hand carried from Copenhagen. AFAIK it's only available in Denmark and Sweden.

No. LATREW* just represents whatever normal tier benefits you will receive.

I probably don't have as much experience on HAL as you do, but this was not at all my experience. No funerary music whatsoever. And not all old people -- the cruise had an unusual number (for HAL) of young couples and many of them came to the concerts, every one of which was SRO.

I noticed that Lincoln Center Stage is described as "on select cruises," but I didn't know whether that was a change. It's still listed for the fall TATL on the Oosterdam that I have booked, and I really hope that it stays, because it's the main reason I chose HAL over other cruises lines for an itinerary with lots of sea days.

I haven't yet taken a cruise longer than seven or eight days, because of a job that limits when I can travel. After June of this year, that won't be a concern, but I'm still not likely to book very long cruises -- a TATL this fall, 14 days on the ship plus a week before embarkation, will be the longest so far. I chose HAL for that, and the amenities offered on other lines' megaships are negatives as far as I'm concerned, but if HAL shifts entirely to cruise that are a lot longer than that, I probably won't be booking. The Junior Cat wouldn't let me.

I especially remember the complaints from residents of Venice that cruise-ship passengers didn't spend money on shore and yet managed to make a mess. Specifically, passengers on day calls bought nothing but trinkets probably made in China, and didn't eat in restaurants, just picked up McD's and then threw the wrappers into the canals. Passengers embarking from Venice would have been likely to stay on land before, after, or both, which is what I had planned, but in the end I concluded that travelers like me weren't really welcome in Venice, even if no cruise was involved. Although I would certainly eat in real restaurants, I wouldn't spend a fortune in shops. I'd rather put money into travel than into shopping. When the embarkation port was changed to Ravenna, I switched to a cruise embarking from Athens.