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I guess I was expecting a "cruise ship on land" type experience which isn't really fair. It was also one of the few times I did minimal research & pcked the resort based on the recommendation of a co-worker. BTW, I had the name of the resort wrong, it was "Majestic Colonial" with her sister property, the adults only "Majestic Excellence" next door that had an up-graded experience - better shows, better selection of restaurants. That's probably the one I should have picked. And based on many conversations with different people over the years, Sandals & Iberostar are the resorts your can't go wrong with.

I am not. But they did show your good friend Stephane Matteau on the big screen last night so he was at the game. He should have suited up, another lop-sided loss by the Rangers 5-2. 😖

It was one and done for me but maybe I picked the wrong resort?? Im sure the big chains are much better. And no, there you couldn't just walk off the resort. The main gate was like a mile away & nothing but jungle beyond. We did do a few catamaran excursions but everything was an hour cab away. Ended up going to Hard Rock a few nights for a real casino and shows. But it's a perfect resort for those that like lounge of the beach with a book. Nothing wrong with that but I just needed to explore on my own & couldn't really.

Looking forward to your thoughts. I only did AI once in Punta Cana, back in 2007 for 10 days. Which is 3-5 days to long according to my AI friends. Colonial Manor which was a beautiful resort in the mid-price range but I started to get cabin fever by day 6. Casino was a joke & shows were nit-n-miss. The activities staff (aka cruise directors) did their best to make the beach games fun. Drinks were weak & food was just ok.

Rangers vs last year's Stanley Cup Champs Vegas Golden Knights. Hoping for a competitive game. Last time these 2 teams met it was a lop-sided loss for Rangers.

Adding my happy feelings 💖 along with the rest of the gang. So nice to see you post & to get away from the griminess. Hopefully there will be more getaways like this in the future, for longer periods of time too. Like 12 or 18+ months, if that's possible & something you'd want. 🙂 Glad the kids got to enjoy ice & snow. After all, who doesn't? 😉

I had to look it up. His last new song was 17 years ago but his last new album was 1993! I remember reading a long time ago that he was going to stop writing new songs since he felt he reached an age where he thought is was difficult to connect with younger audiences, the kind thay buys new music, plus the grind of the studio. He did say he wanted to compose some classical songs.

Reading about the Texas Religion of High School Football reminds me of the TV Show "Friday Night Lights", probably one of the best written, best acted, all around great but underrated TV shows there ever was. There is a movie by the same name which is a true story but the TV show is mostly fictional, although some of the actors from the movie are on the TV show. The first couple of seasons were on NBC but the later seasons were a joint production between NBC & DirectTV, with DirectTV getting to air it first & then NBC at a later date. It was a cost sharing thing & I'm pretty sure I never saw the last season so now I'm off to see if one of the many streaming services I subscribe to have it.

That seems like poor planning on Royal's part. 😆

Isn't that the very definition of retirement? Assuming you are financially secure, you can do what you want, when you want, wherever you want. You can even go back to work part time if you like. It's a great feeling going to work knowing you don't have to & can quit anytime.

Happy Anniversary. I was `16 months old when you got married. 😁

2nd place is really first place loser. - George Steinbreener

Nope! None. Nada.

Now that you've mentioned it, I haven't seen him post at all this week. I'm probably in the minority with this but I kind of miss our resident back seat captain. I hope he's not in a "time out". He brings an certain perspective to things. And of course, some of the hysterical, over the top responses to his posts keep me entertained too. 🙂

It's one of those rare instances where locations south of us are getting more snow. Speaking of Atlantic City, Hard Rock Casino keeps reminding me I have 2 free nights. It's about time I take them up on their offer. Same with Foxwoods in CT. I'll probably do one in Feb & the other in March. Just deciding in which direction I want to go first. 🙂

It's going to snow for 8 hours but will only get an 1 inch when all is said & done? Can't really capture it in a picture but there is a lot of snow just swirling around. Feels like I'm living in a snow globe.

And when you do, go for Samsung Galaxy "S" series. They're really cameras that just happen to a phone built-in. 😃

Not a dumb question at all and there is no easy answer other than "It depends". Traffic from either airport is a crap shoot but plan on at least 1 hour from either. As @George C, JFK has a flat rate taxi fee which is $70+tolls and a $10 "rush hour" surcharge where EWR will be variable. However, JFK is a much bigger & busier airport that is the middle of a 4 year, $19 billion renovation project that I'm sure will snarl the roads. When LGA was being renovated, taxi's literally would drop people off on the shoulder of the parkway as it was impossible to get into the airport. JFK officials have said they learn from those mistakes but well...... I can't tell you how many years of my life I lost sitting in traffic on the VanWyck Expressway (the main highway out of JFK to Manhattan) & that was before construction. Also, Jet Blue's Terminal 6 is slated for construction this year. Personally, I might lean towards EWR but I never flew into a NYC airport to go into Manhattan as I live north of NYC. So take my advice with a grain of salt. However, this person seems to have it figured out. Very wordy links but much of it deals with public transportation which is not great for either airport. But if you focus on the taxi & ride share portions, it's a quick & informative read. https://www.imjustagirl16.co.uk/best-ways-to-get-from-newark-airport-to-manhattan/ https://www.imjustagirl16.co.uk/best-ways-to-get-from-jfk-to-manhattan/ Good luck!!

I think he wants you to learn how to play the harmonica 😉 No it certainly doesn't. Would sound very awkward in the song.

Heard on an interview, Billy Joel said looking back he should have named the song Harmonica Man. Forgot what the reason was. It was on Sirus XM CH79 which is currently the Billy Joel channel. If you listen to it long enough, it's probably only a matter of time before they replay the interview. I've been to a couple of Garth Brooks concerts where he barely sing a verse or two of a song, just strums his guitar & let's the crowd do all the singing. "Unanswered Prayers" is one of them. It's like a giant hoot-n-nanny sing-a-long with 10,000 of your best friends.

I'm not a big fan of the tall, skinny skyscrapers. From the distance, they look like smoke stacks & give the NYC skyline an "industrial look", and not in a cool, hip way.

Same. \Billy Joel is one of my favorite and love just about all of his songs. Some of my favorite are "Moving Out", "Big Shot", "Goodnight Saigon", "Only the Good Die Young". I guess 70's & early 80's Billy.

I've never been to the Statue of Liberty. Tried once, about 30+ years ago, hottest day of the summer. Made it to the island but the line to get into the Statue was 2+ hours long & there were stories of people fainting inside due to the heat. Decided I'd come back in the fall when it'd be cooler & less crowded. I guess I'm still deciding fall of which year. 😏

My cousin lives in the Buffalo area & posted on FB yesterday a pic of the 42 inches of snow in her yard with another 18 inches on the way. Granted, that's only another 1 1/2 feet but with those narrow bands on lake effect snow, someone 1/2 mile away might be getting close to 3 feet.

While mental health issue @ GCT was always there, it's gotten so much worse since the pandemic. Did you try the whispering gallery/echo chamber?