mommio

2 hours ago, #55worktoplay said:

In the high tech hat days we got some kind extra pay every month to keep us. I and many others were getting offers with huge sign on bonuses. I held in with the safe route through those times. Did get out at 50 to return as consultant though. 

I wasn’t in high tech in the eighties, but in the flooring business. The chain I worked for make money like crazy, the owner made sure to spread it around. Shake your hand and there’s at least $200 there. 
 

Was it above board? Mmm, probably not. Did I question it? Not so much. But I did love it. 

2 hours ago, WhiteOptima said:

I did Alaska for my DH.  I am beach and sun only.  But I have to say it was one of my top cruises. It was different but we saw a lot.  We went in May and not sure what I was thinking but didn’t pack a jacket.  I very quickly became an owner of a Carnival rain coat with liner. Some days was sunny and 60 but some cold.  We were on Spirit so the dome was always closed and there was a group on the cruise so they wanted my extended balcony and for $100 we got an ocean suite.

 

We are doing a 14 day next September.

Been there and bought the outlandish gift shop gloves 🧤 

2 hours ago, Hogladyrider said:

Alaska cruises are totally different from Caribbean, however Alaska is special in its own way.

 

My 1st Alaska cruise was in 2009 and went back for just a land trip in 2014 which was AMAZING, 7-day all inclusive with Alaska Wildland Adventures.  Best vacation I've had in my life.

 

Going back to Alaska 2025 on B2B cruise taking Gary this time as he has never been.

 

We have cruised the Caribbean so many times it is time for new places, new adventures.

 I totally agree with this. It’s a place I never wanted to visit until I did. 
 

I grew up in Southern California and had relatives all up the western coast. We took a ferry once t Buchard (t)? gardens and it was beautiful. 
 

Half of the pictures were of my mother with a death hold on on one of my brothers (I was still the good child then. 
 

a return to Alaska is on our agenda. 

3 hours ago, MeganGC1983 said:

I’ve made an executive decision… June 2026, I’ll finally do Alaska. 

Good for you!!

Mr Mommio booked us a cruise last year to Alaska. Umm, I don’t recall either of us having any discussions or opinions about Alaska. Plus I hate being cold. 
 

Well, I put on my big smile and said “I can handle this”  

It was one of the best experiences of our lives. 
 

Have fun!

5 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

That's my thought as well. Hurricanes you can watch and run if necessary. When we moved from Texas (hurricanes) to California my co-workers were surprised I was more afraid of earthquakes than hurricanes. Earthquakes come out of nowhere with no warning. 

Hmm, my thoughts are reversed. Born in California and moved to Texas. There is such a build up on the news here it causes my anxiety to go crazy.  At least with an earthquake I didn’t have to watch a path for a week praying for a turn. 
 

No one in my family has had damage from an earthquake, but we all know how to spackle and fix stucco. 

21 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

 

That's really a nice room.

23 hours ago, Hogladyrider said:

Overcast cool and cloudy today but we opted to stroll around downtown Helper to get some fresh air.

OMG the Vintage Motorcycle place was amazing and FREE.  Folks from the show The Pickers will be paying them a visit to go thru their basement goodies.

Very cool place. We always keep an eye out for unique museums and stores. 

13 hours ago, mommio said:

We’ve got a drive through zoo near us too. You can buy feed if you want to. We had our dogs with us so no rolling down windows. The biggest reaction they had was to the ostriches. It was like having two toddlers in the back seat. Really fun day!

3 hours ago, Hogladyrider said:

@MeganGC1983..good to hear everyone is fine.

 

The zoo looks like a FUN day.  OMG that gorilla is a big boy!

 

There is something similar in Florida called Wild Florida, it is a drive thru and if you want for $5 you can feed the giraffes.  It is pretty amazing, but no gorillas.

We’ve got a drive through zoo near us too. You can buy feed if you want to. We had our dogs with us so no rolling down windows. The biggest reaction they had was to the ostriches. It was like having two toddlers in the back seat. Really fun day!

34 minutes ago, Funsince1983 said:

Didn't think it'd still be cold enough for the kids to be asking for soup for dinner at the end of April. 🫠🫠🫠

 

Serious warm up on da way tomorrow though. 
 

Yes ❤️. Still soup, roasts, and dumplings time here. Give it a couple of weeks and the oven will only go on for major sweet needs. 

On 4/26/2024 at 5:09 PM, Hogladyrider said:

So thought I would share with my TRIBE family.

 

My sister in law who was kind enough to accompany my mom to California.

Mom and her sister who is younger than my mom.  It was a surprise to my Aunt she did not know my mom was coming.

My aunt was able to leave the assisted living facility and my mom opened the house door to surprise her!  Look at the smiles on those faces.

Oh my goodness!  Such a precious reunion and thank you for sharing ❤️🩷🥰

24 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Does anyone know if there is way to find out who sent something through Amazon? I arrived home to a package containing a Sephora gift card. My name on the envelope. No idea who it is from or why it was sent. Not sure if it’s for me or my teen (it’s her bday tomorrow). If nothing else, I would like to thank whoever sent it. I’ve asked everyone I can think of and came up with nothing…

Maybe one of your admirers 

Just now, mommio said:

FYI once you go single serve deliciousness you’ll never go back. 
 

I scoffed at it. Within a week I was addicted. Not saying this lightly.

 

It’s one of our favorite luxury items 

 

Do we need it? Absolutely not. Do we love it?  Absolutely yes. Find out what kind it is and get some pods or whatever. 

Works for us as I like heavy dark brews and he prefers lighter blonde brews. 

5 hours ago, AmyJA said:

I've done the same thing with the premium. Money-wise the upgrade didn’t work out as being less for me.  Now I just pay a few extra dollars whenever I want to have something special. I remember when you were thinking about the package, and I didn't want to say anything. Ya know, to each their own. 

 

I don’t know about the single serving coffee machines. September will be the first time I’m in a solo cabin. So your assignment, if you choose to accept it, ….and I will not disavow any knowledge.

FYI once you go single serve deliciousness you’ll never go back. 
 

I scoffed at it. Within a week I was addicted. Not saying this lightly.

It’s one of our favorite luxury items 

Do we need it? Absolutely not. Do we love it?  Absolutely yes. Find out what kind it is and get some pods or whatever. 

5 hours ago, AmyJA said:

@ceilidh1

 

I didn’t do the ice rink. I can’t ice skate. I have tried MANY times. Ain’t got no ankle power. But I do know that the times book fast of course.

 

For the ice skating show, be sure to sit at the ends zone area as that’s where the performers will be coming straight at you

 

Deck 7 aft balcony just behind the rock wall. Has a great view out at the ocean and inward to the Aqua Theatre, and close to the Sabor Bar. There's about 8 chairs in this area (not fold down loungers) and I rarely saw anyone here expect when shows/events were taking place.

 

On deck 5 of the walking track, there are 2 recessed areas near the front of the ship, with some lounge chairs. Very quiet there, and usually a nice (or not so nice) breeze blowing while you enjoy the view.

 

Oasis class ships are known for their bridge wings, which offer small observational platforms on either side of the ship that extend away from the ship's main structure.  The bridge wings are located on deck 14 of the Solarium, at the very front of the ship.  Each bridge wing is different from the other.  The port bridge wing has a see-through floor panel in one point, so you can see the ocean below.  The starboard side does'nt have the see-through panel, but does have a telescope.

 

I practically lived at the ice rink as a teen. My older brother was the manager and we were rink rats 🤣

2 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

My temporary ride. I feel like I’m driving a bus. 
 

We had one as a rental. I lost count of how many curbs my husband hit. 
 

Definitely not on the shortlist of what car to buy next. 

1 hour ago, sid_9169 said:

Afternoon walk done, with a stop by Whole Foods for a bag of ice. If you guessed margaritas and Survivor give yourself twenty points. Let the record show that I had two non drinking nights in a row this week... Also whipped up a batch of my hobo soup including half of a Publix rotisserie chicken, a big head of broccoli cut up into small pieces, and a box of chicken bone broth with some jerk seasoning for flavor... I'm jealous of all the recent, current, and near future cruises, and I've got one coming up for myself one month from today!... Well, actually the cruise begins a month from tomorrow, but I leave a month from today if I can ever find a decent flight plan...

 

 

 

All right you and your cooking skills. 
 

Already bought the ingredients for meatloaf and now need to get a rotisserie chicken so I can make chicken and dumplings. 

58 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

Afternoon walk is in the books, and I picked up a rotisserie chicken at Publix on the way back home. I guess I'm going to go for another non drinking night this evening, to at least try and get two in a row. Tomorrow night, who knows.

 

Plan is to work on a couple of my paintings and then finish The Godfather Part II... By the time that's over it'll probably be almost bedtime...

I can’t thank the inventors of grocery store rotisserie chicken enough 

5 minutes ago, mommio said:

I’m sending daughter all these various meatloaf recipes. She may never eat at our house again

A little background we moved to Texas from Southern California in the 90’s. 
 

Yes, I spent months saying “pardon me” because I couldn’t understand people here.

Fast forward to now and my mother declares I have an accent.  I can accept this as I believe a Texas accent is kind of like “just say it and let them figure it out”

We have lots of conversations about ***** are they sayin. 

1 hour ago, princess76021 said:

I'm going to try it! Sounds delish!!

Hugs from Texas

I’m sending daughter all these various meatloaf recipes. She may never eat at our house again

3 hours ago, AmyJA said:

I have never liked meatloaf either. But one day mother found a recipe that leans Mexican. Mom kept the recipe and named it 'Mexican Meat Loaf even Amy liked". Not kidding. See below. haha Well gues that idn't work and I can't fix right now as I have company...... later...

 

@sid_9169 Maybe you can adapt to your tastes.

You can put so many different flavors in it. Sometimes it’s our favorite chunky salsa and ground tortilla chips to replace breadcrumbs.  Pretty easy to play with. We love it but that’s a maybe thrice a year thing. Gotta keep our old bodies somewhat healthy 

1 hour ago, AmyJA said:

I have never liked meatloaf either. But one day mother found a recipe that leans Mexican. Mom kept the recipe and named it 'Mexican Meat Loaf even Amy liked". Not kidding. See below. haha Well gues that idn't work and I can't fix right now as I have company...... later...

 

@sid_9169 Maybe you can adapt to your tastes.

Our daughter hated meatloaf but loved meatballs. I made both exactly the same way and explained this. Her reply was “so, meatloaf is just a big hillbilly meatball”

19 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

My dad is struggling in the digital age. He sends me this picture of a jet blue plane painted in the yankee paint scheme and tells me it’s the Yankees plane. I tell him it’s not and show him where that came from. 
 

Last time he sent me one of those leaning tower of Pisa pictures where someone was acting like it was on an ice cream cone. He thought it was actually ice cream made to look like the tower. 

Here’s one you can send your Dad. I actually had a woman I knew ask me if this was real!

On 4/20/2024 at 2:16 PM, Etta1213 said:

😝 (I've read that the protocol involves draping/tenting a blanket over the person, for privacy. I guess paraplegics, etc, have no choice.

Two words “splash zone”. I imagined Saint Greg and Sid with their wrapped and sealed baggage!

This trip was only eclipsed by a much delayed Dallas to Houston flight that involved my very inebriated seat  mate and a gallon sized bag of cold cuts and cheese. 
 

He had tried to rally up people to go commandeer the plane. I don’t know how they let him board. 
 

But yet, he and his gallon bag of pilfered cold cuts are etched in my brain. 

4 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

Pretty low key do nothing kind of weekend here... I've been having a spell of "writers block / painter's block", as well as trying to figure out some kind of greater purpose for my life. I'm finding it difficult to get excited about anything anymore. All I want to do is eat, drink, and sleep... If I could figure out a way to do that without working I'd never leave the house again. Well, that's a bit of a stretch, since I'm not exactly the greatest cook ever.

 

Anyhoo, yesterday I didn't do much of anything constructive. Lunch out at Scoville Hot Chicken for my usual extra hot chicken sandwich with their recently new tater tots. Started day drinking with some fresh lime margaritas and eventually walked over to Woody's Cheese Steaks for a pepper and mushroom cheese steak sandwich. Watcheda new to me episode of Antiques Roadshow at 6:00, which is one of my all time favorites. The younger generation just doesn't appreciate the craftsmanship and elegance of things built hundreds or even thousands of years ago. 

 

After that I ended up pulling out some old CDs since I couldn't think of a movie I wanted to watch. Bad Brains and Danzig were among the selections. My mind went down the rabbit hole, and I had an idea. Like I said, I don't plan on doing a big "live review" on my cruise coming up around Memorial Day. It'll probably be a very small "limited review" if anything. I had an idea to create an entirely new username and do a live review through "them". But, then I figured that'd defeat the whole idea of taking an actual vacation for myself, without being bothered with writing and uploading pictures. Anyhoo, idea scrapped. 

 

Today, not much of anything again, with takeout from Urban Wu, something "new to me" from there: spicy Hunan chicken. Then I had an idea to make a meatloaf, something which I've never done. I went through several recipes online, but I didn't officially write anything down, I just got ideas in my head. Seems that 90% of them were beef, eggs, onions, and various types of bread crumbs with other various things for flavor. I stopped by Publix on the way home and picked up whatever I didn't already have at home. Worst case scenario it'll taste like crap but I'll eat it anyway, and with plenty of leftovers...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I totally get your “block” thing

i am in the midst of a “It’s time for me to shut down phase”. It happens every once in a while and I just can’t socialize much. Some really long time “you’re my family”, yeah we’re cool. 
 

Other than that, please just accept my nerdy little wave and please don’t touch me!