HBE4

I watched the original American Idol almost to the end. Only watched the revived version sporadically the first season or two and not all the last 3 years. I managed to catch the last hour of the finale and from the judges and audience reactions, it seemed like Abi was clearly the hands-down winner. I know Ryan said it was close vote but I feel like he always used to say that. Too bad they never release the vote count. And what is up with Katy chowing down on a slice of pizza in the middle of a live show? Is that just part of her fun, quirky personality?

Are you there for just the weekend? There does seem to be plenty of activities. It is on my list of places to visit when I kick-off my "Where will I move to" tour of the south, which at this moment is just a distant thought.

I was sitting in the English pub one night when they stared to remove the Shiner from the shelves on Night One. I asked why & he said they can only sell in while in Texas water but didn't offer up a reason. He did allow me to take a few bottles back to my room before all the bottles were put away for the rest of the cruise.

The Lockhorns was probably my #3 favorite comic strip after The Far Side and Calvin&Hobbs.

That's great they are getting along & it seems they got acclimated to each other quickly. My step daughter has mentioned a few times recently that we should get a kitten as she feels Leonard gets bored, especially when we are not home. When she lived in Houston, he was one of three cats she had in a tiny 900 sq ft 1 BR apartment so he's used to being around other cats but it's been a few years now. Although one of her cats , Cat #1 (Lucy), didn't really like the other two but at least now we have plenty of space for them to spread out should the potential new kitten & Leonard don't get along. As of right now, it's a "we'll see about it" Slight change of subject, how is your daughters house coming along? If I remember correctly, you spent a few weeks there last year helping restore her old Victorian house.

Now that's a pretty good concert, especially with Little Big Town as a guest performer. You should make an entire day of it. Ballgame during the day & concert in the evening. And I see they are playing up my way at the MetLife Stadium in June. Need to scope out ticket prices.

Pretty sure I saw a guy wearing a NY Rangers jersey sitting on the seats behind the Bruins bench up in Boston. I think he was having a mind-numbing moment. 😉😇

And I wonder why I gain 5 pounds every time I go to a game. People will say it's impossible but my scale doesn't lie & I weight myself every day. Take a good 3-4 days to return to normal.

I'm going to have to bounce around the stadium for this one. Which is a good thing, burns calories and helps digestion. The fries look really tasty so maybe the chicken sandwich from Flashpoint Grill (sec 105/123) Then, grab some Funnel Fries from Sweets in Sec 112 on the way to Steakadelphia (sec 117) for Philly Cheese steak. That's pre-game. Once the game starts, take a break, have a few beers to cleanse the palate and then nibble on a pizza from Hungry Howies. Probably personal size so it shouldn't be filling. Around the 4th inning, walk past Frankx - they look too messy to be ball park food - and grab a Pulled Pork sandwich with Mac-n-Cheese (back to sec 112). Cause, you know, that's not going to be messy😉 Finally, just before closing time - is it sill 7th inning?? - grab some Street Taco's from Sala's (sec 116). That's good for mopping up any residue alcohol in the stomach. Make sure you take an antacid before & after the game.

Starter will be Snow Fries. Mains (since it's plural) will be Smash Burger and Grilled Chicken Panini (to be healthy) with Truffle Mac & Cheese as a side dish Treat will be back to Ballpark Poutine as that's my idea of a treat. 👍

When I turned 18, the drinking age in NY was still 18. One of the local bars - now long gone - never checked ID's so plenty of their customers were 16 or 17. Local law enforcement wasn't all that strict. There would be 1 or 2 police cars in the parking lot at closing time but there were there just to make sure drunken brawls didn't break out or that people didn't smashed glass in the parking lot. DWI wasn't really enforced either other than warnings "to be careful" Three months after I turned 18, the drinking age was raised to 19. Because I "looked more mature" for my age, I was rarely "proofed" as we called it, i.e. show ID, "Carded", etc. When I turned 19, I could legally drink for 3 months until NY raised the drinking age again, to 21. This time, bars were serious about checking ID's and DWI's were fortunately becoming more strictly enforced. I still had a 50-50 success rate getting into bars but since many of my friends couldn't, I stopped going. Oh and bar with the 16/17 year old customers went out of business shortly after the drinking age was raised to 21 since most of their customers were under 21 to begin with.

I just turned 5 when I started Kindergarten. I barely remember it. I think it was only 1/2 day & I'm pretty sure all we did was draw, play games, have story time, take a nap & try to learn how to socialize with others. I don't think I was "taught" anything. Or maybe I was and it wasn't memorable. 🙂

I was hesitant to respond at first but I just wanted to say that I wish I had some advice or words of wisdom to provide. But I don't. Unfortunately , she's in a club that nobody wants to be part of and it's hard for others to understand what it's like. Everyone grieves in there own way but hopefully she has support from family, in-laws, friends or professionals. Sometimes seeking out someone in a similar situation could help. All my best to her and to you too! I'm sure it's not easy on you to see her struggle.

Are the crew and/or passengers on BD real or are the professional reality show "stars"?

😎😎😎😎 I've been too busy shopping for a new carpet to replace the one I wore a hole in as I paced back and forth the last 20 minutes of the game. 😀 Needless to say I'm ecstatic. I had an opportunity to go to MSG for a viewing party. $10 a ticket, all proceeds going to charity. But instead, I stayed home where the beer is cheaper (MSG Price is $18 + tip = twice the price of the seat) & recorded the game as I was watching it so I'll re-watch the 3rd period again tonight. Maybe twice. Kreiders natural hat trick in one period of a playoff game puts him in very select company, joining only The Great One Wayne Gretzky & Mark Messier who is pretty much a god in this town, as the only other players for the Rangers to do it. Messier did it in 1994 on the way to a Stanley Cup victory so naturally this is being added to the ever growing list of parallels between the 2024 & 1994 teams.

I used to say the same thing. I'd like to be one either show & then be one of the first voted off or to lose a leg of the race. Why? Because you have to wait until filming is complete before you can go home, so free vacation courtesy of the show. The Ponderosa for Survivor https://www.businessinsider.com/where-survivor-players-go-when-voted-off-ponderosa-secrets-2021-7 Sequesterville for Amazing Race. https://amazingrace.fandom.com/wiki/Sequesterville#After_Elimination

You'd think after the first 3, numbers 4 and 5 wouldn't be so over confident. I haven't watched Survivor in at least 10 years & I "unintentionally " watched about 30 minutes of it a few weeks ago. I instantly hated everyone they interviewed - the manipulative one, the lazy one, the wishy-washy one, the over-confident one, and the one that has an axe to grind over some perceived minor slight (LOL, sorry, I can't remember names). I can see myself being sucked back into being a regular viewer again. 🙂 Especially after seeing the recaps here

You seem to always have the perfect meme for when a pet crosses over the rainbow bridge. @SteelCityCruiser10 Sorry for you lost. A handsome dog he will always be.

Not sure if it's been answered yet but for some of us, we could not "click into" Dani's thread. Would get an error message like "Something is Wrong, Contact Us" or "Configuration Error". Oddly we could get into other threads and I was receiving notifications of people posting here. Thankfully it was just temporary.

Whenever I check into this thread while having my morning coffee, your posts are often one of the first I see. I enjoy the daily update of weather conditions & if there is a picture of the North Sea from the front seat of your car while eating breakfast or lunch, that's just an extra bonus. It's a nice way to start the day so please keep it up.

And entertainment!

The more, the merrier! As long as stranger toes are not touching me, I'm in!

You mean you don't attend every single 70's dance party or Love&Marriage show on every cruise you take? 😉 EDIT: From previous posts, I know you take more than a few cruises each year, hence the light hearted sarcasm. 😇

You are correct with everything you wrote but there are a few factors as to why. Cruising has been touted by many as a great value compared to the cost of a land-based vacation & families have taken note. Also, even with today's higher prices, cruising is still cheaper today than it was in the 1980's. I have seen many stories posted here on CC of people paying $1500 pp for an interior cabin in the 1980's which wold be over $5,000 pp in 2024 prices when factoring in inflation. So yes, cruisers are becoming younger and more family oriented and Royal is catering to that market. Like many other companies in many other industries are. As for losing long-time customers, that is going to eventually happen as they "age-out" for various reasons. The cruise industry is constantly evolving. Nothing stays the same forever. Except death and taxes. And Cats on Oasis. 🙂

Exactly! There was a change at the corporate level where a long time Royal executive was replaced by an even longer term corporate executive, most likely a direct report, with many years of experience in Royals entertainment department. Stuff like that happens all the time without much fanfare. Heck, if it wasn't for CC, I wouldn't even know the names of any of Royal's executives, much like I don't know the name of any executive at my cable company, credit card company, supermarkets I shop at, etc....