Bendy-Friendies V.4 ... Drinks-A-Plenty with a Side Order of Tasty Food!!!

[PNO4TE]

Thanks for all the good thoughts, everyone. They mean a lot to both of us. We were feeling a little better today after Bob went in and met with HR and got the details of all of this. They are being very generous and, although insurance will have to be COBRA, I think we will be OK for a while.

However, about 2 hours ago Kristin called me to tell me that her bank had been robbed. She is still with the police. I am so glad the stupid people who did this chose a Friday night since she is there alone M-Th. She just texted her Dad to say the police might have caught the two suspects. I hope that is true.

What a helluva a couple of days!

 

[oybolshoi]

Damn .... you folks need some wine, STAT! BTW, very glad she's OK ... scary stuff dealing with bank robberies.

if you want a little distraction, swing by the blog and take a read about our fabulous lunch at the Brown Derby ... one of the best meals of the entire trip!

 

[FirstMagic]

Things are not so happy here today. Bob was laid off at work yesterday. It came out of the blue at the end of his completion of a huge project. It is also due to the company-wide loss of a national homebuilder's business. To say he is devastated is such an understatement. In the 39 years he has been in the workforce since college, he has never been laid off. He has lost his job before because of corporate takeovers, etc. But to be told he was the one they could "do without" more easily than any of the other designers that are left has been crushing to him.

Not sure where we go from here. He has to go into work later this morning to talk to corporate HR and they will discuss the package his boss insisted they put together for him.

My biggest concern at this point is the loss of all our insurance. My greatest happiness in all of this is that our daughters are not directly impacted by it.

Elin - ours hearts go out to Bob, you and your family. I say "our" because I told my husband this news and he was sad to hear it too. Even though we didn't meet in person, we all consider you our friend. And when a friend is hurting, we hurt.

That is scary news about Kristin's bank getting robbed! I'm glad she's ok and I hope they did catch the robbers.

Thinking of you, we're all here for you!

 

[PNO4TE]

Damn .... you folks need some wine, STAT! BTW, very glad she's OK ... scary stuff dealing with bank robberies.

if you want a little distraction, swing by the blog and take a read about our fabulous lunch at the Brown Derby ... one of the best meals of the entire trip!

Off to read. She is at home drinking buckets of wine with her roommate... this was a bad one... armed robbery. Gun-toting, point them at your heads kind of stuff.

I am afraid if I start to drink I won't stop and I have to judge a Jazz Festival in the morning!

 

[cbg1027]

Oh my goodness Elin, I am so sorry to hear all that bad news! We're here for you.

 

[TigerKat]

Elin - I'm so sorry your girl had to go through something like that. Please tell her I'm sending hugs and also give Bob one for me.

 

[PNO4TE]

Seeing Kristin yesterday and spending time with Bob and her last night made me a very thankful person. What happened to our family in the short space of 36 hours made me realize how much worse it could have been. So, as planned about 6 weeks ago, we celebrated. Little did we know when the three of us made the pact to go to kybecca together (for dinner, wine, beer and good music) did we realize how very much we would have to be thankful for.

I started the evening with a glass of this from the enomatics:

Hazy Blur Shiraz

We had a couple of bottles of this:

Kristin and Ashley and I enjoyed this year's Beaujolais Nouveau more than last year's!

Bob drank his favorite Polish beer:

Started the evening with these little babies that were presented to us as a gift to Kristin's safety (this made her tear up):

Lamb Chop Trio with Pesto and Parmigianno Reggiano

Then, Bob and I shared (Ashley also had):

Sherry-braised Short Ribs with Roasted Autumn Root Vegetables

Bow-tie Mac & Cheese

Kristin had:

Boquerones and a Fresh Baguette

(DISCLAIMER: I have to admit that I stole the photos from the web. My phone just didn't do the food justice so I found what looked exactly like what we ate.)

There is always a reason to be thankful and to celebrate what we have. Good food and drink, family and friends just make it all a little better. Thanks for letting me share this celebration with you all.

 

[TigerKat]

Elin - OMG those short ribs look so good!!!!!!!!

 

[RachelTori]

There is always a reason to be thankful and to celebrate what we have. Good food and drink, family and friends just make it all a little better. Thanks for letting me share this celebration with you all.

We love you, Elin.

 

[Me&3]

Elin I'm so sorry

 

[TDC Nala]

Hey Elin....how's Bob, how's Kristin...just been reading what a sucky week y'all have had. Good to end it with food and wine. Although I gotta tell you...those lamb chops look like something from Alien.

I have info on the impending jacking up of my condo fees to the point where I may pay an extra 1k a month just to live here, so sucky news is rampant.

 

[oybolshoi]

Hey Elin....how's Bob, how's Kristin...just been reading what a sucky week y'all have had. Good to end it with food and wine. Although I gotta tell you...those lamb chops look like something from Alien.

I have info on the impending jacking up of my condo fees to the point where I may pay an extra 1k a month just to live here, so sucky news is rampant.

how can they charge that much for condo fees? Our RE property tax is only about $2300 per year and that's a 1600 SF (finished) house on 1/4 acre of land. That is insane ... unless your condo is in the Watergate.

 

[TDC Nala]

it's for a major structural renovation that apparently must be done, and there are no residual funds to use. Either that or the condo board wants to go to Paris or something.

 

[oybolshoi]

it's for a major structural renovation that apparently must be done, and there are no residual funds to use. Either that or the condo board wants to go to Paris or something.

then it sounds like someone mismanaged the assessments or didn't take care of repairs when they should have. Either way it sucks - I'm sorry you have to deal with this.

BTW ... I'm pretty sure that elephant should be in quarrantine.

 

[TDC Nala]

Ok, the story is...
The structural problems are allegedly entirely the fault of the builders.

The condo board sued the builders and spend tons of money on lawyers to try and get the builders to pay for repairs.

They won, but the builders went bankrupt and cannot pay the judgment.

Therefore we pay for the repairs ourselves. Plus the lawyers.

 

[cbg1027]

Boy what a stinky situation Catherine! Sorry to hear about it.

But you know what you can do to make it a little better? Go buy some Beaujolais Nouveau!!!! Nov 18 was the third Thursday of November (almost a national holiday in France)...which means the new Beaujolais is here. I'm drinking some right now and am very happy because of it.

 

[PNO4TE]

Thanks, everyone. And I agree with Abby - drink some of this year's Beaujolais Nouveau. Very nice, indeed.

Catherine - you had a sucky week too!! Condo fees in the DC area are bad enough as it is, but that is like highway robbery!! I hope everything can be worked out. Maybe your management is planning to go to Paris and drink the Beaujolais Nouveau!)

As for our Christmas trip to WDW... AirTran charges a $75 cancellation fee for each ticket and our tickets were only $81 each way. Basically we would lose our airfare if we canceled. So, after much discussion we decided to keep the trip, but modify it a bit. We moved to POFQ for the first 3 nights and then will check into AKL CL for Christmas night. That way we can still do the Sunrise Safari we have booked and we get a little of what we had originally planned. We don't leave until 9:00 PM on the 26th so we will have use of the CL Lounge for two full days and can spend lots of time relaxing there. All four of us seem happy with what I worked out, and I think we need this family time together. We had already paid for almost all of this anyway, so... seemed like a no-brainer to Bob and me.

I thank you all for your continued thoughts. They are much appreciated.

 

[hmgray95]

Things are not so happy here today. Bob was laid off at work yesterday. It came out of the blue at the end of his completion of a huge project. It is also due to the company-wide loss of a national homebuilder's business. To say he is devastated is such an understatement. In the 39 years he has been in the workforce since college, he has never been laid off. He has lost his job before because of corporate takeovers, etc. But to be told he was the one they could "do without" more easily than any of the other designers that are left has been crushing to him.

Not sure where we go from here. He has to go into work later this morning to talk to corporate HR and they will discuss the package his boss insisted they put together for him.

My biggest concern at this point is the loss of all our insurance. My greatest happiness in all of this is that our daughters are not directly impacted by it.

Thanks for all the good thoughts, everyone. They mean a lot to both of us. We were feeling a little better today after Bob went in and met with HR and got the details of all of this. They are being very generous and, although insurance will have to be COBRA, I think we will be OK for a while.

However, about 2 hours ago Kristin called me to tell me that her bank had been robbed. She is still with the police. I am so glad the stupid people who did this chose a Friday night since she is there alone M-Th. She just texted her Dad to say the police might have caught the two suspects. I hope that is true.

What a helluva a couple of days!

Oh Elin, so sorry to hear all of this! Sending lots of hugs and prayers to you, my friend.

Hey Elin....how's Bob, how's Kristin...just been reading what a sucky week y'all have had. Good to end it with food and wine. Although I gotta tell you...those lamb chops look like something from Alien.

I have info on the impending jacking up of my condo fees to the point where I may pay an extra 1k a month just to live here, so sucky news is rampant.

Wow....and to think I was mad when my HOA fees went up $8 bucks per month this year. Will they lower them once the renovations are complete?

 

[dgbg100106]

Thanks, everyone. And I agree with Abby - drink some of this year's Beaujolais Nouveau. Very nice, indeed.

Catherine - you had a sucky week too!! Condo fees in the DC area are bad enough as it is, but that is like highway robbery!! I hope everything can be worked out. Maybe your management is planning to go to Paris and drink the Beaujolais Nouveau!)

As for our Christmas trip to WDW... AirTran charges a $75 cancellation fee for each ticket and our tickets were only $81 each way. Basically we would lose our airfare if we canceled. So, after much discussion we decided to keep the trip, but modify it a bit. We moved to POFQ for the first 3 nights and then will check into AKL CL for Christmas night. That way we can still do the Sunrise Safari we have booked and we get a little of what we had originally planned. We don't leave until 9:00 PM on the 26th so we will have use of the CL Lounge for two full days and can spend lots of time relaxing there. All four of us seem happy with what I worked out, and I think we need this family time together. We had already paid for almost all of this anyway, so... seemed like a no-brainer to Bob and me.

I thank you all for your continued thoughts. They are much appreciated.

Glad you guys get to be with one another this Christmas, you all deserve a magical holiday!

 

[TigerKat]

Ok, the story is...
The structural problems are allegedly entirely the fault of the builders.

The condo board sued the builders and spend tons of money on lawyers to try and get the builders to pay for repairs.

They won, but the builders went bankrupt and cannot pay the judgment.

Therefore we pay for the repairs ourselves. Plus the lawyers.

That just stinks!

As for our Christmas trip to WDW... AirTran charges a $75 cancellation fee for each ticket and our tickets were only $81 each way. Basically we would lose our airfare if we canceled. So, after much discussion we decided to keep the trip, but modify it a bit. We moved to POFQ for the first 3 nights and then will check into AKL CL for Christmas night. That way we can still do the Sunrise Safari we have booked and we get a little of what we had originally planned. We don't leave until 9:00 PM on the 26th so we will have use of the CL Lounge for two full days and can spend lots of time relaxing there. All four of us seem happy with what I worked out, and I think we need this family time together. We had already paid for almost all of this anyway, so... seemed like a no-brainer to Bob and me.

I thank you all for your continued thoughts. They are much appreciated.

I'm so glad y'all are still going.