slidergirl

My pleasure. Allow me too pass the Grey Poupon to you. May I offer anything else? (using my best Forbes verbiage)

UPDATE: The new opener has a cool, bright light so I can actually see in the garage. New motion-sensor that will turn on the light when I walk into the garage. AND I now have a keyless entry pad outside the door so I don't have to carry a door key or opener when I go walking! Been wanting to install one of those for years but I was too lazy. They put new rollers on my old door so it won't creak or stop when they get cold. So, I'm good to go for awhile. Just have to get more tips at work to pay for it!!!

Well, the entire things go into a final rating. But, you can have mediocre food served well and as long as you have 24 hour room service you can get a decent rating. If a full Forbes "secret shop" is performed at a hotel, there are like 400+ individual items you are judged on. At one of my resorts, we could never be a 5 star rated facility because the company deliberately did not have room service so the other facility it owned didn't have to compete with us for 5 stars, even though we rated higher in the service area. Me? I'd rather be at a 4-star place. The things to be 5 star border on and over the line on "fake" to me. I stayed at the St. Regis in Puerto Rico and felt smothered by the Butlers and I had to keep from laughing at the pomposity. Once the staff I interacted with knew I was also a St. Regis employee, they let their facade go and we were much better in how we interacted.

I still say you need to learn some tricks on that scooter!! Wow them at the skate park 😸 Beware the urge to couch shop - it's fun until the credit card bills come!!! The guys are here installing a new garage door opener. Mine was 20 years old and was dying. Some money I wasn't planning on having to spend. The garage door itself will get replaced sometime this summer - I just couldn't do it all at once, money-wise. At work, we reached a compromise until we get a new body in. On my manager's days off, I'll work 9-6 (Sundays & Mondays) and work noon-7 on Fridays and Saturdays, I can deal with that. I have to go to the store when the garage door is fixed. It'll have to be lemon Noosa since I don't want to drive into town to get the Key Lime. And, OOTD will be my joggers, Tshirt and my big red Amazon coat as it's single digits around here.

Having worked at various Forbes-rated resorts and gone through years of Forbes hospitality training, there are indeed various levels of "luxury." There is the classic, pompous luxury like you find at the big city Ritz Carltons, St. Regis, Waldorf, etc. You are taught to use the same phrases when speaking to guests, the "my pleasure", the "allow me", the "lift" instead of "elevator." The relaxed luxury is where you don't have the stuffy feeling, yet you have all the anticipatory service without the pomposity. You are allowed to show some of your personality when interacting with guests. Think those beach resorts in Tahiti, some ski resort properties. I can see Forbes getting into rating cruise companies. Similar stuff.

Melody - so good to hear that the surgery went well. Now, with 8 weeks with the scooter, you need to learn some tricks! Keep up the mending. If you like the lemon Noosa, try to find the Key Lime flavor. I have seen it in just one store up here. It is very much like the lemon, but with a smidge of tang. I wonder what it would be like if a graham cracker was crushed up and mixed in??? Allow me to vent (again). Work officially sucked the past 2 days. My co-worker didn't show up for her last day of work, leaving me to myself and the maintenance man to run things. It was a mess. We were totally full. There was a big issue with one of the units and the 4 women of the pack of family friends (40 total!) all came down and were verbally agressive about it. I was texting my manager and her manager and getting no replies. Maintaince guy calls the company manager and then I get a surprise call from him to get our two ADA studios ready to put the kids in for the night. And, this was when I only had a half hour left in my shift! I was exhausted. THEN, yesterday, our new hire was a no-show, no-call on his first day!!! At least my manager was there, in body, but not mind. Still having issues with the family pack and I just made her deal with them. I did everything else. Now, she's a tad upset that she has to work by herself today and tomorrow because I have my days off. She tells the company manager that she's going to just work 9-5 the next two days because there's no one else. The big guy has the nerve to tell her to ask me to work!!! NO FREAKIN' WAY. I'm over the week. And, I have to have a garage door guy come out and fix my garage door that died yesterday (to add to the fun). She knew it was a big "no" the second she saw the look on my face. Good thing - my 3 favorite owners are coming to town for the weekend. Waiting to see if my owner with the Tuscan villa really brings us some wine, olive oil and special salt from Dario Cecchini... Vent off OOTD: sweats. Not going anywhere.

I have foot issues, too. Some neuroma in both and a big toe on my left foot that has nerve damage from a nasty injury I had years ago (It feels constantly "asleep") so I have to choose wisely. I bought a pair of OluKai Pehuea Li shoes in, yes, white. But they have other colors, too. They are mesh-y so very cool to wear when it was over 100 degrees for a month. I walked for hours in them everyday. The cool part of the shoe is that the heel folds down to turn the shoe into a mule style. I wore those shoes with shorts, pants, skirts, dresses. To me, the insole was sufficient for my needs, but it is removable if you want to add your own orthotics.

Good thoughts for Melody today for her surgery!! Wait - there was a football game yesterday??? I only saw the stuff around 3-3:30 as I was baking cookies for the guests up in the lounge. We have a "family pack" of like 40 people in 4 condos here. Like vultures - the first dozen cookies didn't even make it from the sheet to the platter!! And, we have to fill up the cocoa in the machine 4 times/day. On top of that, we have a full building. At least it was quiet last night with everyone staying in the condos and watching the game. Got some of my other work done. My niece, the official "Auntie" of the Penn State football team, had 2 of her "nephews" playing yesterday, one for each team. I will say it was nice to see JuJu Smith--Schuster run out on the field after having a nasty injury the other year that kept him sidelined. My niece and his mom are good friends. His choice of attire for arriving at the game was, well, interesting. Skirt, combat boots, button-down shirt. Crazy kid!! I had a nice owner give me some clothes the other day. A nice pair of Free People jeans that actually fit me! A size down from my current ones, so that was a happy thing. They have some roses embroidered on them, so me and the owner are kindred old hippie ladies. A Ralph Lauren sweater that is a little short, but with a tank underneath and showing out will be fine. So, I don't have to go looking for jeans now! My little squirrel friend is getting friendlier. He'll now sit on the crook of my downspout and we'll "talk". I can get within 3 ft of him now. He comes by every morning now. He's such a cutie. OOTD: A nice, crisp, sunny day. I think I'll wear my "new" jeans and a fleece top. With out lobby fireplace not working, it can get cold in there when people keep opening the door. Since the jeans are ankle, I'll bring out my pink high tops.

Forgot to mention last night: if you like Noosa yogurt, give the frozen yogurt a try! I like the salted caramel flavor. It's one of my "guilty days" things to eat.

It is in the refrigerated section where they have the prepared dinners like the italian meatloaf, the chicken marsala etc. During the holidays it was where the stuffing, the potatoes were. Never saw a salted caramel flavor - now I have something else to look for!!

I was just about to pull the trigger on the Solstice cruise. Losing Monterey isn't a big deal to me - I was going to stay onboard, anyway. BUT, the overnight in San Francisco was the big thing for me. I've done an overnight before in my favorite city on a cruise and this was the thing that drew me to this one. Has anyone received a notice about a change to the Solstice itinerary? as for Monterey, bravo! I'd rather not have a few thousand people have to get tendered into town for a few hours, either.

Wow. I am so sorry that you have that outcome. You knew it could happen, but I'm sure it's still a shock. I'll keep you in my thoughts that this will be the end of it and you get a good outcome,

forgot to mention: If anyone is looking for a new rolling carryon that isn't a 4-wheeler, Sherpani has a new 2-wheeler. It's not a clamshell, but rather a nice "doctor bag"-like deal. Wheel or carry.

We now have a Noosa Fan Club here! This morning it was Peach for me. Cynthia - my one skeleton friends just took her family over to Sapporo for some winter fun and skiing while they are based on Okinawa (DH is a Marine copter pilot). She posted some photos from the way back and it showed some of the blossoms appearing already. Good news on the work front - we got a new person! He starts in a week. I am relieved. He likes working mornings and he doesn't mind driving in the snow, so he's OK for me 😸 I had 2 "new" (for me) TJs things for dinner the past 2 nights. The Roasted Cauliflower and Orzo casserole and the Spinich and Artichoke Timbales. The timbales were so-so. Kind of like a chunky souffle. But the Cauliflower and Orzo was tasty. I'll buy it again if it shows up in the refrigerated section. I'm going down there tomorrow as I do need to pick up more sunflower and pumpkin seeds for my little squirrel friend. OOTD: sweats. I'm just taking it easy today after not sleeping well all week.

The regular tub of lemon is 39 carbs so it's under my 40 carb deal for breakfast. And adding blueberries is good for me! I had my blueberry one this morning. Probably peach tomorrow. The peaches come from the Palisades, CO area, which raises fantastic peaches. The strawberry rhubarb is good, the vanilla bean is good, the tart cherry is good, the key lime is good. The coconut is good. The pumpkin is good. Haven't had the mango. I didn't like raspberry and blackberry because it has the berry seeds in there. BOOOORING day today. Quiet. No check ins. And I couldn't sleep last night. So, I'm hanging on. At least it's my Friday so I can sleep all day tomorrow if I have to.

Thanks for answering, Cynthia. Having not stayed at the HGI, I was not sure of their logistics of hotel to train or airport. Thanks so much. This basically what we wanted to know. We can take a shuttle from Civi to the Airport and if we are staying at the HGI they supply a shuttle from the airport to their hotel. Also, from the airport there is a train that goes into Rome proper if we want to see what we want to see. Am I correct on these? Cheers Len

Cynthia - I had to chuckle at the "more money" comment. The big boss is a cheapskate - I'd be lucky to squeeze an extra penny/hour out of him! We don't need a full time person. We just need someone who can do 4 days a week to cover my 2 days off and boss' 2 days off. Fingers crossed! I had a bit of a sticker shock moment at the pharmacy yesterday. $550 for 30 days of Rybelsus!!! I know it's the beginning of the deductible year, but wowza! I had the prescription for 90 days BUT the pharmacy couldn't get hold of that much. Those idiot people are still buying it off label to lose weight to get into those size 00 jeans. My pharmacist is really good, though - he's going to put 2 bottles away for me to get a month at a time when he can get them. Ozempic is still hard to get, too. Bothers me to no end that people are taking needed medicine away from people to satisfy a vanity. I wore one of my favorite outfits to work yesterday. All the ladies commented on how nice I looked. It's just a fun way to be able to wear leggings. I almost want to take a cruise to Alaska so I can wear it some more! The insulated mini skirts are just so perfect to put on over the leggings so you don't have to wear a long tunic to cover up the potential "camel toe" effect. Took a pic of me last night as I was closing up the Fitness Center.. OOTD: jeans, black hoodie. Low key day.

Purple - good to hear you finished jury duty. It sounds like it was a nasty case. If the ADA has another case in the works, this felon isn't going to see the outside of a prison. You all in the East - stay inside and stay warm!!! some of the overnight lows were astounding - -100 degrees!!! Makes the -7 I had this week seem absolutely balmy. we have some more snow on the way maybe tomorrow. But not as awful cold. Hopefully a quiet day at work. I'm still spinning about the co-worker giving notice. With Presidents Week coming up, I am cringing. No movement on a off-season vacation. I'm actually thinking of just camping this summer and doing some major chores around the house. Gratuities this year at work are pretty bad, outside of the Holiday gratuities from the owners so it won't be enough to fund anything. I even looked at one of my easy Coastal repositionings from Southern California to Canada and couldn't get excited. Maybe I have a major case of post-vacation letdown - my month in Europe will be hard to top.

You may take the Leonardo Express train from the airport into Rome. Easy. Pre-COVID the Hilton/HGI had a shuttle that went to some pickup spot in Rome. Don't know if it still runs. How "senior" are you? I'm 68 and I'll schlep my bag. How much luggage do you bring? I always walk from the Hilton to the airport proper or from the train station to the Hilton. I don't remember if the Hilton will drive you to the terminals, but the HGI does.

Kind of a generic question: Are people using "Airbnb" as a generic term now for private rentals or are people using AirBnb only for their searches? Curious because I don't see anyone mentioning VRBO or Plum Guide or others.

If you want a little more peace of mind, you could always buy a bag tracker so you can see where your bags are. If you are flying Delta, their app has bag tracker built-in for you. If you are flying Spirit, well... you're on your own there.

I love to put blueberries in my Lemon Noosa!!! Different stores here have different flavors so I go a Noosa hunt! Lemon, Key Lime, Sour Cherry, Blueberry, Blackberry, Strawberry Rhubarb, Vanilla bean... all so good, Sometimes I'll add a little TJ's Coconut Granola to the yogurt. Bad news at work - my co-worker just gave notice. There's no way my boss and I can do it all. She's trying to find another person, but she's been looking for an addition for a good month without success. Time to start panicking...

I don't buy much yogurt at TJ's. I do like their full-fat vanilla bean. But, I like Noosa so I get mine at my local market. I think of TJ's as more of a "specialty" store - get things I can't find at Smith's (like a Publix). Day off today! It's been bone-chilling cold the past few days, lows around -7 and maybe a high to high teens. Supposed to warm a little to the 30s this weekend. At least I got a lot of use out of my Amazon coat!!

Tonight, I had a wonderful chat with my owner and her husband who own the villa in Tuscany. I didn't realize how wealthy they are. Well, they are wealthy with a capital W. Villa in Tuscany, penthouse in Nashville, house in Knoxville. Vacations in Italy, weeks at Amangiri in S. Utah ($3-4,000 a night!!!), private jet. She said she's bringing me and my boss some Chianti that doesn't get sold except at the winery, some seasoning she got from Dario Cecchini (the famous Tuscan butcher), some olive oil pressed at her neighbor's place. Yozah!!!! I just want to stay at her villa!!!!!! They are renovating their condo here - she asked if I want any of her furniture! Unfortunately, I don't like her furniture taste 😞 After talking to them, I really want to go back to Tuscany. Another hamster on my wheel... Another winter storm coming tonight. I am soooo over it. I can't heave my shoveling over my mounds anymore!!!

Medicare gives you one wellness check a year. The cognitive test is pretty lame. I was given 3 words and repeat them back. Then, I'm given a piece of paper with a big circle on it. Told to label it like a clock face. Then, told to put clock hands on for 10 past 11. Then, repeat back the 3 words. I have some boxes with hard copies of computer programs I wrote when I worked for Cisco Systems in the 90s!!! I have no idea why I wanted to keep them! They are so old that I probably could not understand what they did anymore. Today is the end of Sundance!!! It was actually a mellow week for a Sundance. But, next weekend comes the World Cup competition for ski moguls and aerials at Deer Valley (Thu, Fri, Sat). That one will be an evening traffic mess. The road I take up to work and the road to the ski area funnel into the same little roundabout and out of town. No way around it. I've taken 2 hours to get home when I usually go within 20-25 minutes. THEN we get Presidents Week and then the start of the Spring Breaks. It's one long, busy time. OOTD: Snowing again and I have to be outside for awhile to day to help with icicle removal on the condos, so it'll be my Woolx leggings, a long sleeve Tshirt and my new red Amazon jacket. Probably have my Chaco booties on my feet and my granny square beanie on my head.