HBE4

Ding, Ding, Ding. Winner, winner. Chicken Dinner.

Now we are getting closer. Hint: the only recognizable feature is his eye. As in only one shows up in the photo. If it wasn't for the fact that he was trying to unwrap a bag, we would've never noticed him

Very good guess. But no.

Where is Leonard?

I always thought Christmas should be late Feb or early March. It's a cold weather holiday but at least we'd have something to look forward to during the dreary days of Jan and Feb. The only problem with my idea is that it's give people 8 more weeks of shopping......and 8 more weeks of Black Friday sales! 😄

Posting of both Dani and Bella threads. I had posted last week about how this year, my step daughter and I had decided this would be the year of “Christmas Different”, meaning that instead of trying to recreate that special Christmas feeling that my wife could somehow magically and effortless create, we would try to come up with new traditions while holding on to just a few of the precious old ones. Also, I had posted on the Bella thread about losing power last week and somehow the two became intertwined in an unexpected and touching way. Bear with me as I try my best to explain. First off, some background. Growing up, Christmas Eve was the main holiday. Even as little kids, my parents would wake us up in the middle of the night usually around midnight give or take an hour to let us know that Santa has JUST visited and if we hurry we might catch a glimpse of him before he leaves. Of course, we never did but the tray of cookies left by the fireplace would be gone, nothing left but crumbs. And presents under the tree that were not there when we went to bed. We’d spend the rest of the night tearing open presents, snacking on sandwiches and appetizers before finally crashing to sleep shortly before sun rise. As a child, staying up all night as a big deal as it made us feel very adult! And as an adult, this worked out beautifully. My side of the family celebrated Christmas Eve - first at my parents and when they passed away, we hosted – and Christmas Day was always at my in-laws. We were basically going to follow the same schedule until we lost power for roughly 40 hours on Dec 23 and 24th. Outside temps plunged to 2 degrees while temps inside the house fell to the mid-40’s. We spent the night at a friend’s house. With an estimated time to restore power at 11:00 pm in Christmas Eve and not wanting to overstay our welcome, we decided to spend the day doing some last minute shopping at Kohl’s (open until 6:00 pm), followed by dinner at the Applebee’s in the Kohl’s parking lot (open until 8:00 pm) and finish up the night at a local bar (open until 10:00 pm). And if the power was not back on by 11, then back to a friend’s house. Now, I don’t know if this is a guy thing or a me thing, but I’m pretty much a solo shopper. I prefer to go on my own. I can’t remember the last time I shopped with someone else, much less my step daughter. To both of our surprise, it was more enjoyable than expected. So things were really becoming "Christmas Different". Was a new tradition born? Maybe. We’ll wait and see. But it was while dining at Applebee’s that things got interesting. The place was pretty quiet and we sat at the bar, engaging the bartender in small talk. There was a guy at the other end of the bar, by himself and looking kinda down-on-his-luck, kept glancing our way. He approached us, said we looked like nice people and offered us $20 to drive him to his house 5 minutes away. I declined as I didn’t want to be robbed and left for dead on the side of the road on a frigid Christmas Eve. He was persistent and I tried to be dismissive hoping he would get the hint and go away. Finally, I told him I would order him an Uber or Taxi, whichever could get here first. He was thankful, bought us a round of drinks and while waiting we started to talk. Turns out, he was recently separated from his childhood sweetheart and this was the first Christmas he would not be spending without wife and his kids. This of course tugged at my heartstrings for obvious reasons and I immediately regretted being so dismissive earlier. He showed us pictures of his kids and we had the loveliest of conversations. By the time the taxi showed up, he was smiling, looking more upbeat and while not wanting to leave, when he did, he said he felt like we were brought together for a reason. But there’s more. I had gotten a text message from NYSEG (the electric company) that power was restored a few hours early. Knowing that it would take a few hours for the house to warm up, we decided to linger a little while longer when two very exhausted guys, wearing power company vests walked in & sat at the bar. Little Miss HBE4 and I look at each other and in unison said those are the guys that restored our power. Well, maybe not the exact guys but least they are part of the team. Beginning to feel the Christmas spirit, we offer to buy them a round of drinks and engage them in some amazing conversation for the next hour. Turns out, one is from Iowa and the other from Missouri and they were brought it to help out the local power crews. They are spending the holidays thousands of miles away from family, working around the clock in frigid temperature, all so we can be warm and cozy for Christmas. And while they assured us they are being well-compensated, they genuinely did appreciate the 2 rounds of drinks we bought from them but declined the offer from us to buy them dinner (they get reimbursed for food). While police, firemen, nurses and military all get the accolades they richly deserve, I asked those guys if they ever feel thankless. Their response was diplomatic but the message was they get more complaints than compliments. After thanking them a few more times, we left to figure out how to rearrange our plans, throw away spoiled food and scramble with last minute gift wrapping and other pre-Christmas chores. I know this might sound like I’m patting myself on the back but that’s not my intent. I think going forward, for me “Christmas Different” will be trying to find a way to either help those in need or finding a way to thank those to give back that those that are helping us. I just need to find a better venue to channel that energy than an Applebee’s bar. 😉

BTW, I'm taking copious notes on Anthem cabin hints/recommendations. 👍 I almost feel like I'm planning for a cruise.

Thank you. Sorry for the long winded rant. I guess I was in a "mood". 🙂 Gonna pour myself a little eggnog with Kraken. Kraken makes everything better.

In general, mostly mentally and emotionally drained. I'd gone thru the "traditional grieving" stages (sadness / denial / anger, etc) over the past 19 months but the enormity of everything that has happened finally caught up to me. So I just focus on what I need to do today & tomorrow and don't look past that. As for the paper work side, well, let's just say that keeps me pretty busy. Between 2 life insurance policies, several different retirement accounts that need to be transferred, employee stock programs, and several options for transferring health care coverage, - as well as a few other things I can't remember - I spend half my days on the phone or filling out forms or writing e-mails, etc. When I'm not running in circles, I'm running in place. 🙄. One phone call today resulted in the person on the other end telling me a that packet of information should have been mailed to me end of November but was not so they will send it out now. Should get it in 2 weeks although I'm sure the holidays will delay it longer. Another phone call was to follow-up on some information I submitted via an online portal on Dec 6th and I was told it was never received, even though I got auto-email confirming it was received. Makes Royal IT seem like perfection. Usually when I'm on the phone on-hold waiting (like right now as I type this🙂), I come to CC for distraction and humor and to read about the cruises people are taking / planning etc. We are. My wife was all about Christmas and knew how to fill a house with warmth, love, smells (she baked thousands of cookies each year) and over-decorating the house. Obviously, we can't recreate the past but we decided this year we are doing "Christmas Different". What is "Christmas Different" you ask? Not really sure but it's about creating new traditions while holding on to just some of the most precious of the old ones. Plus, we are thinking of a little getaway. Might be hitting the slopes of Killington, Vermont. As soon as I scrape the spider webs off my skis 🙂

😠😠😠 LOL, just kidding. Sorry you are being left out of winter weather misery. Enjoy the boring weather. 😉 😇😊

I have a Lexus RX 350 which is the mechanical twin of the Highlander, with some slightly nicer (and more expensive!!) clothing. 😉. AWD is always engaged and the car will figure out which of the wheels needs more or less power to maximize traction and reduce slipping. The snow flake button will basically start the car off in a higher gear, 4th instead of 1st I think(i.e.less engine power), which also helps maximize traction when trying to get the car moving from a standstill. Basically, it's the car using a light foot to "feather" the gas pedal. The only time I've used it was in very deep snow or when trying to accelerate up a steep, slippery hill from a standstill. Maybe 4 or 5 times over the 6 years I've owned it. Again, it's only useful when the car is at a standstill. Once under way, it'll have little or minimal impact. Sorry if I man-splained it . 😄

I know, right? Go figure. Although I should add that the 54 degrees is early Friday morning and the temps will steadily decline to 11 degrees Saturday morning. Fortunately, the rain will stop before the temps go below freezing although the wet roads could ice up overnight.

I had read a post that there were deletions. Tonight was the first time I read the thread. Definitely, some personality-conflict between a couple of them as well as one that seems to invent long-winded debates out of thin air. Just posted on the Blizzard thread (now in Floataway) that's it'll be mid-40's on Thursday & 54 on Friday here in northern NYC suburbs.

Like a moth to a flame, I had to seek out the Bistro thread. I can only imagine what it was like before the deletions. And I think some breathing exercises or mediation videos might be in order as well.

Key Chain or Lanyard maybe?

Wonder how long its going to last and if it will provide any comedic material. 😇

That's a darn shame. I was just about to reach into my bag of snarky, er, I mean witty one-liners and was about to join the party. 😀

Your pictures were great. My fault for throwing things in a different direction. Keep the pictures coming.

LOL. Not only was your room not ready, the previous occupants hadn't even checked out! Apparently, they were "distracted" and lost track of time. 😆 Only in Vegas.....

The calm before the storm?

A few years ago, there was a twin sister team on Amazing Race. I worked with one of the twins briefly years before. We never kept in touch afterwards but it was weird to see someone I remotely knew on a reality TV show. Afterwards, I wished I had kept in touch. So much for my brush with fame.😃

I find that time flys by more quickly the older I get. When I was a kid, a month seemed like a year. Now a year feels like a month.

Wow, I can't believe that they did not have your room available at 1 am & you had to wait until 4 am. I guess housekeeping works 24/7 cleaning rooms as guest arrive. I wonder what would have happened if you arrived at 4 or 5 pm. Nice that they gave you an upgrade.

Too bad, that was always their thing. Kinda the only reason to go there. Except for breakfast on Oasis-class ships. That was always pretty good.

Does the staff still sing & dance?