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@Sea Dog You're probably well on your way to Hilton Head by now so have a fabulous time but please don't cut your trip short. There are a few different ways to handle a situation like this. One way is to ignore the person, let them finish their "rant" and once they are done unloading their feelings and thoughts, resume having fun. Hopefully it'll be a short rant and not an all-nighter. Another way is to make a pact with the group about what topics are off-limits. If someone breaks the pact, the have to buy a round of drinks or make dinner or clean up the after dinner mess. Lastly, if you have the patience, ask them why they think the way they do. And then just listen and not debate/argue the point. After all, neither one of you are going to convince the other to switch viewpoints. But sometimes understanding why a person thinks a certain way makes their "rants" much more.....tolerable, for lack of a better word. Have fun .

I am so sorry for your loss.

LOL, saw this a little too late. Sorry. However, Hard Rock Casino wasted no time sending me an offer for 2 more "free" nights so there will be a next time. Hopefully you and your husband will be there returning soon! Yes! Well, mixed emotions. Happy with the sweep but I had tickets to Game 5. But I just got my money refunded so that will more than offset the money I lost in AC Actually, I rented a trailer. I like to think big. You gotta "think big to win big" 😁 In reality, all I needed was a Dixie up to bring home the spare change I had left.

I'm gone for 2 days & I feel like I missed 2 months worth of postings. So while I scroll back a few pages, enjoy some pictures of the Absecon Light House in Atlantic City. Walking up the boardwalk - The World Famous Atlantic City Boardwalk according to all the signs - with the Atlantic Ocean to my right and looking to my left, it looks like the lighthouse was seriously misplaced. Weird to put a lighthouse in the middle of the city.😂 Just kidding. Pretty sure when it was built in 1857, there was nothing but sand around. Slightly better angle. After walking 10-15 minutes, the boardwalk curves to the left & parallels the inlet from the ocean to the bay. You can see the ramp from the street to the boardwalk with the inlet right behind me. Much closer to the water. I scoured the internet for a whole 3 or 4 minutes trying to find an old picture of what it looked like before anything of the surrounding area built-up but couldn't find anything. But here is a stock picture I stole, er, downloaded showing how close it is to the water and not standing n the middle of a city as the first picture would indicate.

Off to Atlantic City for a few nights. Will be thinking of @DaniDanielle as I know she loves it there and will also be thinking of @Lionesss and hoping to channel her gambling luck "virtually" 🙂

I thought the same thing about Lenoard, that perhaps he might have ear mites. But nope, he loves having ears rubbed & doesn't mind if I get more than a little inside. He seems to prefer actually.

That happens to me occasionally when using my laptop. Then it'll correct itself after a few hours. I don't think I noticed it on my phone.

How long before you have 2 new kittens that you'll be posting pictures of?

Me trying to clean out & organize the dining room hutch. I got as far as taking everything out when Lenoard claimed it as his new cubby hole.

Minnie looks very goofy in the 2nd picture but very classy & elegant in the first picture

You may be right. I'm probably confusing my ship casinos with land-based casinos. Same principle but less extreme. Thank you for keeping me honest. 🙂

That reminds me of a similar joke. There is a long line people at the Pearly Gates waiting to get into Heaven. Rich people, poor people, celebrities, CEO's, factory workers, lawyers, homeless people, politicians, farmers, etc you get the idea. Some are getting a little impatient at having to wait thinking that their "status" on Earth should grant them express entry into Heaven, so St. Peter has to remind them & says : " No matter your occupation while you were alive, up here, everyone is equal in the eyes of The Lord and you will enter Heaven in the same order that you passed away". Just then, a man dressed in a long white coat, wearing a stethoscope & carrying a medical chart walks past the long line and thru the Pearly Gates into Heaven. Now people on line are angry that a doctor is getting special treatment & bypass the line when we are all supposed to be equal. St Peter tells them: "Oh, that was just God. Sometimes he likes to play doctor". 🤣

I'm sure most people know this already but just to clarify for non-gamblers, 25,000 points does not equate to $25,000 dollars lost/spent or even $2,500.00 dollars. At least not directly. I've put $20 into a slot machine and win $30, lose $15, win $10, lose $20, etc until the machine is empty some 15 or 30 or even 60 minutes later. I've lost my initial $20. But during that time frame I might have gambled $500, $750 maybe even a $1,000 if I'm really lucky meaning I've accumulated up to 1,000 points on my $20. Then there are other times my $20 is going in 2 minutes & I've earned 20 points. So while it's still cheaper to buy a cruise outright, the "free" comp cruise might not be as expensive as people think when factoring in the many hours of entertainment provided.

Snow fries sound yummy.

One of you must be maturing! 😉

Check to make sure the gas cap is on tight. Clean it as dirt build-up can sometimes cause it to not seal tightly. I've owned a half-a-dozen Fords over the years & my father was a Ford-only guy from 1951 until he passed away in 2004.

I've also been shopping / researching / looking at TV's since the beginning of the year. I've put that purchase on-hold for now due to a few other big expenses occurring but I can give you some insight from my experience. Short Story: Follow @bobmacliberty & the CNET guide advice. I'll also throw out Tom's Guide as they usually speak plain English https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-tvs,review-2224.html#section-tv-benchmarks-comparison Long Story: I've been all over the map. Initially not wanting to spend a lot of money (TCL, Hisense), then deciding I was going to go high-end for premium picture quality since I watch a lot TV, probably to much. Finally decided on a few mid-range to high-end models from Sony & Samsung that I was waiting to go on sale. First, pick the TV size you'd like. The picture resolution is so good these days you can probably go bigger than you realize without eye-strain. There are online guides out there to help you choose. Ignore all the tech-spec numbers & acronyms as it can become confusing since different manufacture with use different acronyms form the same technology*. Pretty much all TV's are smart TV with 4K resolution, also called UHD (Ultra-High Def) or FHD (Full High Def). Decide on price & where to buy. I've found that Best Buy, Amazon, B&H Photo, Walmart generally have the same "sale" price. I've had good experience dealing with knowledgeable, non-pushy sales people at Best Buy. I'm usually a "middle-of-the-road" guy, not the cheapest or the most expensive but I won't mind spending a little more for something that I'm going to use every day for the next 10 years. * I know more about OLED,QLED, QNED, nits, color temperature, blooming, dimming zones than any sane person should ever know. LOL

I was deep into a conversation with someone reminiscing about cruising on Liberty. Except none of the venues she mentioned sounded familiar. It took about 10 minutes to realize she as talking about Carnival Liberty while I was talking Royal LOS. 😆

Can Monarch or Majesty of the Seas be far behind? If the rumored Project Discovery is to be a small(er) ship-class, might as well use small ship names. Heck, let's go way back and update some old names. "Nordic Prince of the Seas" anyone?

Yes, indirectly. Royal pays the usual port fees & Carnival gets to keep 75% of port free collected

Why swap out? Why not both? I think you're missing the point of Reward Night😜

@dani negreanu Add me to the list of people who are happy to see you spend some much needed family time.

Agreed. I think the big challenge would be how to fit the must-have Royal amenities in a smaller package. I can almost imagine the discussion in the product design team meetings. Team leader hold up a list with 7 items: "okay, we can only pick 4 of the following 7 items. What should they be?" "Water Slides, Bumper Cars, Flow Riders, Central Park, Ice Skating Rink, Aqua Theater, Royal Promenade". And Go! 🙂

I've read both sizes - Radiance and Voyager - mentioned in various articles. Royal's design team must be working overtime trying to figure out how to squeeze the modern amenities that Royal is known for into a smaller package. I would expect some version of a Royal Promenade, dozen(s) of eating & drinking establishments, several entertainment venues, solarium, etc. It seems like a lot of pack into an under-100,000 ton ship. I can't post the link but on Matts blog there is a quote (bold & underlined is mine): "Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President and Chief Product Innovation Officer Jay Schneider alluded to the fact this new ship would be relatively smaller, "I'm careful to say small, but a less than large size class of ship."

Page halfway down to the small(er) ship discussion. https://www.thestreet.com/travel/forget-icon-of-the-seas-royal-caribbean-has-a-plan-to-go-small This part caught my attention: "Bayley implied during the media event that the company understood the need for smaller ships and implied that some work had begun. It's likely, but not confirmed, that any new class of ships would not be an update of Radiance or Vision class, but a white paper/blank page reimagining like Icon class. That does not mean the any new ships would not borrow heavily from its predecessors. Icon of the Seas builds upon a lot of Oasis-class concepts including its neighborhoods while also introducing new innovations." I think fans of older/smaller ships may be in for a disappointment when Discovery is announced not as a newer Vision-class but as a mini Icon-class. JMO.