bobmacliberty

Been there, done that, for more than 10 years. Add in studio costs, competition costs, travel costs, etc. and it's the equivalent of several nice cruises a year. Glad I'm done (I mean my daughter's done 😜). My daughter isn't actually done as she's now coaching part time at her old studio. That doesn't cost me anything though. Even though it's been a few years for me, I'm going to guess, in the order that you posted the pictures, that these routines were lyrical, ballet, jazz, and hip hop.

We had a relatively easy experience getting a taxi at pier 91, other than another porter trying to cut in front of everyone else and take our taxi (our porter wasn't having it). There was a line, but it was moving continuously and took less than 10 minutes. They were pretty efficient in getting people and taxis in/out quickly. We were the only ship that day, and we waited until many passengers had debarked before leaving the ship. I imagine that the taxi wait will vary greatly based on one or two ships at the pier and when during the debarkation process you leave (i.e. is everyone else leaving at the same time). We normally would have walked to the ride share area, but my wife hurt her back during our cruise so chose the closer option.

I'm 6'0" and this has been a problem for every Broadway show that I've seen. My knees are right against the seat in front of me. I can't imagine squeezing in another 4 inches of legroom. These theaters were built when everyone was a lot smaller. 🤣 Are you staying at the Michelangelo? That was a great suggestion for our stay in January...especially that Grand Suite. Enjoy the Bar-Bill Tavern when you get to Buffalo!

I'm interested in this question as well. We're considering one of the Hideout Cabanas because the Beach Club cabanas cost more than our cabin. Insane. I like the idea of the little private infinity pool, and the ability to spend some time in the main pool party atmosphere, but don't want to have to deal with loud music in the cabana itself.

I always seem to run into weather at O'Hare. Not my favorite. Thanks for a great review!

Chris sounds like a very impressive young man.

That's what happened to us. A refrigerant leak meant that the AC unit couldn't keep up. The repair guy had a device that could somehow detect leaks and thought that it was probably in the evaporator coil but couldn't be absolutely sure. $1900 for a new coil plus $800 for install and then refrigerant recharge. Fortunately, it seems to have done the trick. Hopefully, if you have a leak, it's a cheaper repair. The part that bothered me is that the coil has a 10 year warranty and was only 7 years old. The 10 year warranty only applies though to the original owner. When the house gets sold, the warranty drops to 5 years for the new owner. 🤬

Try Reddit. It has a VERY large forum section covering a very VERY wide array of topics. It's almost too large. There are Communities...sometimes called subreddits...that are like individual forums here. If you find the right community, you can talk to people with similar interests (or who have questions, or who share news, etc.). We also recently had AC problems ($2700 to replace an evaporator coil...ouch) and I used Reddit to check that the AC company's solution made sense and that I was being charged a reasonable price. From the main Reddit page, try various search terms in the search box at the top to see if you can find a community that meets your needs. The Communities will be listed as "r/community name". There's a r/surgery community but a quick look at the discussion topics seems to be that it's for medical professionals rather than patients. There's actually a community for broken ankles. Good luck. Obviously, be careful of any medical advice from strangers on the internet.

Not sure what your problem is, but it's important to keep the drainage pipe clear so that condensation doesn't back up into your air handler. If condensation backs up too much in the pipe, it will trip a switch that shuts off the system to protect it. If this is in fact your problem, you can clear the pipe so that it drains (hook up a shop vac to where the end of the pipe is located outside) and the switch will reset, allowing the system to turn on again. You should have a removable cap where the drain pipe leaves the AC unit. It's recommended to pour a little bit of a water/bleach mix into the pipe periodically to get rid of anything that may be growing in the pipe that might eventually clog it. I do it every 2 months when I change the air filter. This little bit of preventive maintenance is particularly important if you live in a high humidity location.

Agreed. I think Survivor got a lot of negative feedback. No discussion that I remember at all this season.

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day to play golf. I saw this egret sitting atop a tree next to the 11th green. He didn't seem at all bothered by us and continued to clean himself while we putted. Then he flew away. Beautiful to watch. I also saw 2 eagles atop a taller tree on a different hole, but they were too far away for a good picture. I am so lucky to live in such a beautiful place.

I think Venus also felt the same way. It's probably just entitlement for that generation, but we only see what the producers decide to put into 90 minutes of show each week. They will show us what they think will generate the most viewers, which may or may not accurately represent what really happened.

I've had the same thought after the last couple of cruises. But I don't know if a "better class" of cruise line will actually have people with more class. Money doesn't equal class and in fact, money can sometimes equal entitlement. I'm working hard...not very successfully...to harden my delicate sensibilities and learn how to just ignore those people. Or at least learn how to laugh at them.

Got home from our weekly trivia contest last night (we won 😁) and decided that I'd better watch the Survival final before going to bed. Otherwise, I'd need to avoid this place (even though everyone is doing a good job of not giving away the results) and I'd still probably hear the results from somewhere else. Too many people watch the show. I was happy with the winner. It's who I picked to win (along with the person who came in second) several weeks ago. Q even messed up the jury question session. 🤣 I really don't think he knows what he does or says.

Do they have "senior skip day" near you???

You must have a whole flock by now. And yes...I had to Google, "what do you call a group of ducks".

You're always up before then anyway...no problem. 😁 Spectacular photos of a spectacular place. Can't wait to see what's in store for you today. I've only been to Iceland once, making a refueling stop at the Keflavik Airport. Never got to leave the airport. I remember that it felt like we were landing on the moon with nothing but rocky wasteland in site until we touched down. I hope today is as good for you as yesterday.

I must have somewhere recently heard Black Velvet by Alannah Myles and it's now stuck in my head. Fortunately, it's a good song and is a much better ear worm than any of the Disney songs. I'm afraid to even click on The Muppet Show video!

That's impressive. It's tough to match Julie Andrews. Lady Gaga's version of La Vie En Rose in A Star Is Born gives me chills.

I was never a big American Idol fan. I hated the early years where they would purposely put terrible singers on for the tryouts, essentially making fun of them. Although they stopped doing that several years ago, I never got hooked earlier. Micheline however was a fan. One of her favorite judges was Harry Connick Jr. He too was very technical with his coaching, and you could really see how much he understood being a musical performer. I often wonder if Simon Cowell was really as much of a grouch as he originally portrayed. Maybe his recent softening is him just being more what he's really like. His role as the nasty judge I think is partly what made the show successful, and he may have been doing it on purpose. Other shows with 3 judges seemed to follow the same formula as Idol. There was a "Paula" judge (you look very nice today), a "Randy" judge (the insider who knows the business), and a "Simon" judge (the curmudgeon). Then again, Brits tend to be very straight forward and don't get their feelings hurt as easily as Americans, so maybe Simon really was like that.

Our dog in Cincinnati would hear the garage door going up and would be waiting at the door from the garage to the house, tail wagging, every time I came home. After we lost her, it hit me every time I walked through that door. I'll even occassionally get that feeling walking through the similar door here in Florida, even though she never lived here with us.

I like and completely understand this post. We've always been interested in trying new things, especially when life limits you to fewer opportunities to travel. Now that we're retired and have flexibility, we mix in new things for the adventure, and things we've done several times for the ease/comfort. Given the choice of one or the other, I'd always choose the new and exciting option.

New grand kitty pictures. They are now cuddling together...sort of. Untitled video (25).mp4

You always were a Sir Mix-A-Lot fan. 😜

There was definitely another rockslide. We were scheduled to visit Skagway in Sept of 2022 but had to cancel due to the rockslide that happened a few weeks prior. I too would be interested in knowing the current situation.