12/5/09 -- DUMMY -- The Cruise Your Heart Desires Most ; )

[captaincrash]

Looks like the 700 B bail out bill was stopped in congess today by the Republicans.

Is it REALLY certain that this is realy necessary or not (some think?) ...

... however, ALL the commentary is sensational and compelling.

Which breeds suspicion - and points to the urgency of the matter.

I tend to think we need something to be done - however the most recently voted upon bill is NOT suitable yet. That much seems certain. AND I disagree with working on anything that directly bails out individuals... as any individual is NOT threatening our entire economy - but what is being discussed is a threat exists to our entire economy here.

I understand the banking network liquidity issues being touted - however I want to see something tangible - something quantitative to consider in rendering an opinon. I don't "buy" into the broadcast media "sound bytes" and 30 second explanations. However, I am VERY interested in bringing greater stability and liquidity to our financial system.

Anyone who's seen a good technical discussion of this - please post a link as I've read a lot that seems less than conclusive IMO. Enquiring minds want to know more in a substantive manner - if any article is both insightful, supported with good data and balanced in it's explanation - please post a link.​

 

[cruisin'Mike]

Quick drive by yo say HI! Work an school have kept us very busy lately.
We are going to WDW in early June so we will probably miss y'all. Our AP's expire around June 20th so we are trying to get in another trip.
I will keep my eyes on this thread to see what the concensus is.
Have a great week everyone!

Hi Coral - You may run into us. We haven't set dates yet (depends somewhat on what is decided here) but our 20th anniversary is June 18th and we are hoping to be at WDW for it...

Pamela

I don't think we can do August, so we'll likely be at WDW in mid-June too.

Hey Coral

I was hoping to make it in June, but something came up and we might not be able to
DS may be going to Europe with his school band in June '09 if we can wing the cost.

We would have hoped to see you in WDW, but if Andrew has the opportunity to go to Europe, that would be awesome for him. How does a Baltimore meet sound at some point in time? It would be kinda central for the Philly, Southern NJ, DE, MD, and VA peeps.

 

[daipp]

Now I am jealous John and I could retire early if we could buy health insurance. If you could somehow make us British(see I said British) citizens..............you could stay at our house in Orlando sooner.

Slight technicality - in the UK we are "subjects" and not "citizens" (as we have a Monarchy).

David

 

[MrsScooby]

Looks like the 700 B bail out bill was stopped in congess today by the Republicans.


Anyone who's seen a good technical discussion of this - please post a link as I've read a lot that seems less than conclusive IMO. Enquiring minds want to know more in a substantive manner - if any article is both insightful, supported with good data and balanced in it's explanation - please post a link.

Not asking for much are we
Now, maybe you can explain something to me...if the democrats have the majority in Congress, how did the republicans manage to stop the bill
Didn't 92 democrats vote against it as well
I find it all very confusing, so if you manage to find that article supported by good data and a balanced explanation, I would seriously love to read it.

We would have hoped to see you in WDW, but if Andrew has the opportunity to go to Europe, that would be awesome for him. How does a Baltimore meet sound at some point in time? It would be kinda central for the Philly, Southern NJ, DE, MD, and VA peeps.

We're still tossing about the idea of a Europe trip with DS's band. If I work lots of overtime we may be able to all go with him. (If anyone has heard of "American Music Abroad" let me know if it is a good program.)

A Baltimore meet sounds great
We've gone to the Inner Harbor for school field trips and love the aquarium and the Maryland Science Center
http://baltimore.org/about-baltimore/inner-harbor

There is lots to do there, but we're open to new stuff as well

 

[MrsScooby]

Ok , this was really funny.
DH and I take my DS Andrew to dinner at the local Japanese Steak House yesterday because he had a really rough weekend (marching band took up the entire weekend). My DD went to her friend's house for dinner so it was just the three of us. Well we got a "chef" that was either very new or under the influence of something because he had a hard time holding onto his spatula and cutlery He dropped everything several times
At one point the spatula went flying across the grill and passed between my DH and another family over an empty chair where my DD would have been sitting if she was with us
I was ready to ask for a new chef
He also forgot DHs steak, just served him rice and veggies
I told DH to just pay for a veggie platter and he could get McDonalds on the way home if he was still hungry- I just wanted to get out of there at that point
The manager came over and apologized and someone did cook up Darren's steak at another grill and gave us a discount on the bill as well. We kept reassuring the other family at our table that this was the first time we've ever had things flying around at this restaurant and we've been there many times in the past. We wound up laughing about it with the other family and having a good time anyway.

Needless to say Kelly did not mind missing that dinner

 

[micmse2003]

Cheryl -- if you paid in taxes what they do there.....

Jon had to pay a *tax* to open a bank account...Jon had to pay a *tax* to sign a lease..... I can't even remember everything he paid a *tax* on but, we were both really surprised! They were not things that you have to pay a *tax* on here.
If you have to sign your name you have to pay a tax! LOL!

I think that David would tell you that there are different types of health insurance there..... I have another friend that lives in England that had to be put on a waiting list (6 months) for a simply gallbladder removal. She missed MANY days at work because she was so sick and in so much pain. Here if you have a gallbladder attack (and it's a problem) you can usually have it out within a week of deciding --- at least the people I know that have had that problem have been able to......

You know how I feel about living in a Socialist State.......

We don't see Jon ever retiring...... Or he'll do what his dad did. When he stepped down from being CEO (at age 78) he was kept on as a *consultant* specifically for the insurance. His pay is only like $25,000 a year.
I'm sure that is what Jon's boss will do, also.

Otherwise Jon will never retire. We're ok with that. We do want to get to a place where he can travel more then 3 wks a year.... Or we may have to start tagging along on his business trips again! Which is what we did for years -- instead of flying we would drive and he would arrange it so that he had several states to visit.

His big *dream* is to take the company private again.

I guess I would rather pay the taxes and just be covered by insurance!! We know we both disagree on this one. If we did not have insurance 21 years ago.....we would maybe be living in a cardboard box!! John's first heart attack ran close to $750,000 dollars. John is truly a million dollar man now.!!!!

Not everyone you know....

I had problems for many YEARS (yes years) and my Dr in Pennsyltucky always chaulked it up to me having back problems or something and just told me to bend when i lift things. He never ran any tests...

Then three years ago my GB finally went amuck and i was having full blown attacks. It took three weeks for me to get sent to a surgeon. (one week to see my dr., one week to just ultrasound done and results back, and then another week to see the surgeon) by then of course my eyes were yellow (YES WEIRLDY YELLOW) and the surgeon jaw i saw almost hit the floor when he realized how long this had gone on. He wanted to send me immediately to the hospital that day (i pushed for that evening so i could go home and get stuff)
Apparently your eyes turn yellow from your liver shutting down.

Looking back my problems with GB actually started right after DD was born 15 years ago. I was having attacks then too but they blamed it on my back without any further tests.

American health care ain't no picnic....

K.........there are a lot of great doctors, some just okay doctors, and then the bad doctors which you had!!

John's first heart attack could have been avoided but Doctor told hime to go home he just had indigestion. Three days later he had major heart attack...died and was brought back.

Slight technicality - in the UK we are "subjects" and not "citizens" (as we have a Monarchy).

David

Just adopt us and call us whatever..........I could be a very interesting "subject."

 

[goofyforlife]

How does a Baltimore meet sound at some point in time? It would be kinda central for the Philly, Southern NJ, DE, MD, and VA peeps.

I could do Baltimore... You'd want to pick before dark though..... It can be pretty rough/scary at night.

When I'm a little more on my feet...Lisa promised a grown-up princesses only trip to AC too...

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Hi everyone!

Well .. our WDW has been chosen for us in a way...we had to pick an ABD this week (it has to do with earning the trip and their deadline, etc) and so today we had to sit down and pick our date. Unfortunately, our choices were July, Aug. and Sept. due to having room for the 3 of us. I was hoping to put it off until there was a concensus here on when to go..I knew June was out for us because of Tori's school ending on June 20th.

So we picked our ABD for 8/7/08 - 8/14/08..it means we will be in WDW from 8/15/08 until 8/22/08. I tried to pick the week that it seemed other said would work for them (the week of the 15th) and I am hoping it will work out for us. We can not move the dates of our ABD or we lose the trip so I hoped for the best and booked.

We are currently booked at the AKL but hope to move the ressie to the BW at the 7 month mark.

Hoping to see everyone there! It's kind of a strange feeling..I am excited because I have a trip booked and yet not so happy because I don't know who I will get to see!

 

[eeyorelvr10]

Hi everyone!

Well .. our WDW has been chosen for us in a way...we had to pick an ABD this week (it has to do with earning the trip and their deadline, etc) and so today we had to sit down and pick our date. Unfortunately, our choices were July, Aug. and Sept. due to having room for the 3 of us. I was hoping to put it off until there was a concensus here on when to go..I knew June was out for us because of Tori's school ending on June 20th.

So we picked our ABD for 8/7/08 - 8/14/08..it means we will be in WDW from 8/15/08 until 8/22/08. I tried to pick the week that it seemed other said would work for them (the week of the 15th) and I am hoping it will work out for us. We can not move the dates of our ABD or we lose the trip so I hoped for the best and booked.

We are currently booked at the AKL but hope to move the ressie to the BW at the 7 month mark.

Hoping to see everyone there! It's kind of a strange feeling..I am excited because I have a trip booked and yet not so happy because I don't know who I will get to see!

Just reread this and got it. Must slow down. Steve and I are open to any dates, just tell me where and when.

And Des, I would be more than happy to shadow you if your up for company -

 

[eeyorelvr10]

Hey CRASH - Just an FYI

and for any others. I was cleaning today (or at least attempting too) when I came across my "free" subscription to the Smithsonian magazine that I bought in June. Inside was a VERY interesting article entitled, Iran's Rage.

Without going into controversary or wanting to start any, I found it an interesting article seeing as I lived through some of it (history) and it did a fair job at rehashing some of the history and the road that has gotten us here. As an adult, it makes more sense all the stuff that has happened. Anyway, if anyone is interested or gets the magazine, check out the article it is on page 60 of the October issue of the Smithsonian magazine.

They also have a very interesting article on a genetic mutation that was thought to only hit only Jewish women but a strain has been found in Colorado, The San Luis Valley. It has hit some Hispanic, Catholic women there. Its interesting because it can't acquired - its hereditary it seems. They have called the mutation 185delAG. This I found extremely interesting. The reason for the name is that the mutation has been found on "rung 185" of the DNA ladder meaning that at rung 185 is missing the chemicals adenine (A) and guanine (G) thus del = deletion. The article goes on to explore the possibility of these hispanic, Catholic women being maybe descendants of a group of secret Jews of New Mexico from when the Jews were expelled from Europe? - if enquiring minds want to know, check out the issue - October 2008, Volume 39, number 7.

Why didn't anyone tell me that the magazine has some interesting articles? Just read one on Stonehenge which IS STILL on my bucket list as a place to visit. I've flown over it but haven't made it yet. So anyway, thanks for listening .

DES, sign up for the membership (not sure if you can do it online) but it will save you $$ on discounts and articles bought at the Smithsonian museums when you go such as dining, travel programs and shopping discounts. Plus you get 12 free issues of the magazine. I signed up for it to get the 10% on some stuff that I bought and promptly bought me some amethest earrings at the Museum of Natural History. Can't every pass up a good bargain. Check it out at www.smithsonian.com

OK - bragging over.

 

[Downrivermama]

Hi everyone!

Well .. our WDW has been chosen for us in a way...we had to pick an ABD this week (it has to do with earning the trip and their deadline, etc) and so today we had to sit down and pick our date. Unfortunately, our choices were July, Aug. and Sept. due to having room for the 3 of us. I was hoping to put it off until there was a concensus here on when to go..I knew June was out for us because of Tori's school ending on June 20th.

So we picked our ABD for 8/7/08 - 8/14/08..it means we will be in WDW from 8/15/08 until 8/22/08. I tried to pick the week that it seemed other said would work for them (the week of the 15th) and I am hoping it will work out for us. We can not move the dates of our ABD or we lose the trip so I hoped for the best and booked.

We are currently booked at the AKL but hope to move the ressie to the BW at the 7 month mark.

Hoping to see everyone there! It's kind of a strange feeling..I am excited because I have a trip booked and yet not so happy because I don't know who I will get to see!

Hey Desiree! I picked that week in the poll! Kaitlin will be a "tweener" next summer at the SA day camp and I know she would give me holy heck, if she had to miss any. She misses the first week as it is, because her school gets out the week after all the others!

 

[Stepht5]

My DH has liver problems from a transfusion years ago so I remember how his eyes practically glowed yellow when he was sick. The doctor was focusing on the main diagnosis that was threatening his life and didn't follow up on the side effects from the treatments- so now he needs a new liver and a new hip We are very grateful to the doc that he is alive though. At the time Aplastic Anemia was considered a fatal diagnosis and they were kinda experimenting on him

WOW! I'm glad the *experiment* worked and he lived though!

Anyone who's seen a good technical discussion of this - please post a link as I've read a lot that seems less than conclusive IMO. Enquiring minds want to know more in a substantive manner - if any article is both insightful, supported with good data and balanced in it's explanation - please post a link.​

hhhmmmmmm..... I've heard alot of people talking this past weekend on NPR.....

I find it all very confusing, so if you manage to find that article supported by good data and a balanced explanation, I would seriously love to read it.

I think we all would!

Ok , this was really funny.
DH and I take my DS Andrew to dinner at the local Japanese Steak House yesterday because he had a really rough weekend (marching band took up the entire weekend). My DD went to her friend's house for dinner so it was just the three of us. Well we got a "chef" that was either very new or under the influence of something because he had a hard time holding onto his spatula and cutlery He dropped everything several times
At one point the spatula went flying across the grill and passed between my DH and another family over an empty chair where my DD would have been sitting if she was with us
I was ready to ask for a new chef
He also forgot DHs steak, just served him rice and veggies
I told DH to just pay for a veggie platter and he could get McDonalds on the way home if he was still hungry- I just wanted to get out of there at that point
The manager came over and apologized and someone did cook up Darren's steak at another grill and gave us a discount on the bill as well. We kept reassuring the other family at our table that this was the first time we've ever had things flying around at this restaurant and we've been there many times in the past. We wound up laughing about it with the other family and having a good time anyway.

Needless to say Kelly did not mind missing that dinner

Oh, my! Since no one was injured it does make a funny story.

Hey CRASH - Just an FYI

and for any others. I was cleaning today (or at least attempting too) when I came across my "free" subscription to the Smithsonian magazine that I bought in June. Inside was a VERY interesting article entitled, Iran's Rage.

Without going into controversary or wanting to start any, I found it an interesting article seeing as I lived through some of it (history) and it did a fair job at rehashing some of the history and the road that has gotten us here. As an adult, it makes more sense all the stuff that has happened. Anyway, if anyone is interested or gets the magazine, check out the article it is on page 60 of the October issue of the Smithsonian magazine.

They also have a very interesting article on a genetic mutation that was thought to only hit only Jewish women but a strain has been found in Colorado, The San Luis Valley. It has hit some Hispanic, Catholic women there. Its interesting because it can't acquired - its hereditary it seems. They have called the mutation 185delAG. This I found extremely interesting. The reason for the name is that the mutation has been found on "rung 185" of the DNA ladder meaning that at rung 185 is missing the chemicals adenine (A) and guanine (G) thus del = deletion. The article goes on to explore the possibility of these hispanic, Catholic women being maybe descendants of a group of secret Jews of New Mexico from when the Jews were expelled from Europe? - if enquiring minds want to know, check out the issue - October 2008, Volume 39, number 7.

Why didn't anyone tell me that the magazine has some interesting articles? Just read one on Stonehenge which IS STILL on my bucket list as a place to visit. I've flown over it but haven't made it yet. So anyway, thanks for listening .

DES, sign up for the membership (not sure if you can do it online) but it will save you $$ on discounts and articles bought at the Smithsonian museums when you go such as dining, travel programs and shopping discounts. Plus you get 12 free issues of the magazine. I signed up for it to get the 10% on some stuff that I bought and promptly bought me some amethest earrings at the Museum of Natural History. Can't every pass up a good bargain. Check it out at www.smithsonian.com

OK - bragging over.

Ok, you've convinced me!

 

[sk8ingmom]

Hey peeps! We're back from Expedition Everest Challenge!
WARNING - Long-winded trip report coming...

We had a great long weekend at WDW. We arrived Fri. morning, checked into AKL, went to Wide World of Sports to pick up our race packets, stopped by SOG to buy PI tickets and have lunch (cheapest restaurants 'on' property) then headed to MK for a few hours. We left MK at about 6:30 to head to the second-to-last night of PI. I wanted to get to the Adventurer's Club early, since I figured they would stop letting people in.

AC was PACKED by 7:30. We got in without waiting, but by 8 there was a line. We had several beers...but only for the souvenir 'Kungloosh' cups. Did I mention the place was packed?? Yikes. The Radiothon show in the library was great (it's about the club needing to raise $2,000 or lose their land). They've had that show for years, but as you can imagine, there was a lot of double meaning. It was neat and sad to see some of the actors get emotional during the skits.

Most of the people we met had been going to AC for years and years. Several people we talked to planned to be in line the next morning at 10 am to get in for the last night. It was really fun and sad. A lot of people really love that place and I hope the folks at Disney are smart enough to bring it back somewhere else on property.

We did something at Disney that we never, ever do...slept in! Unfortunately, with our sleeping in and my cell phone messages acting weird, we missed connecting with Arlene. We planned an easy day since the EE Challenge race started at 7 pm. We moseyed over to AK at about 12:30 and just strolled around for a while and did some of the things that would be closed during the race party.

The race was A LOT of fun! 5K run through the park (although more parking lot and backstage than I would have thought). OH! I ran into Liz at the start! Her son was running. I saw her later after the obstacle course and she cheered for us. We were easy to pick out...we realized at midnight before we left that if we wanted to wear matching shirts, our only options were the cruise thread pirate shirts or a shirt from the org. that just laid me off...pirates it was!

Back to the race...5K, then there was an obstacle course set up in a big grass area in the parking lot. There was a series of 3 boards about 4-4.5' off the ground to get over, a rope ladder about 8' high to get up and over, a pretty long balance beam, and a low net we had to combat crawl under. Before the race, I figured the ‘obstacles’ would be more ‘fun’ like giant inflatable things, no – these were like boot camp! After the obstacle course we got our "Passports". Each had 4 clues & there were 8 different passports, so people were running all over the park. We figured out where our clues were and what the answers were pretty easily, but we did have to run all over the park (again!) to do it. At one point, as we were running from Africa to Asia...Steve started singing the "Adventure's" song...Marching along we're adventurers, Singing the song of adventurers...it was fun. When we crossed the finish line, we knew our time, but had no idea how we did. Turns out we did pretty well! 99th out of 669 co-ed teams. (time 1:04:25). We probably could have hit the top 50 or so, but I've had the Disney crud, or bronchitis, or black lung, or something since about 4 days after the cruise, so I haven't been running since a few jaunts around deck 4, so I ended up power walking about a mile of the 3.1 miles.

The after party was a little weak, but fun. EE was open, as was Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, It's Tough to be a Bug, and the Dumbosaur ride (I can't remember the real name...we just call it Dumbosaur.) Primeval Hurl is down for rehab. There were DJs playing music all over the park. It was fun. The big Disney difference is that usually after a race, all the competitors get free food and a few drink tickets for beer at the after party. After a Disney race, you get a bagel, a banana, and a Poweraid. Food and beverages are available for purchase. The party went until midnight. We left the park at about 11:30.

Sunday we spent the day circling the World Showcase eating and drinking. I love the food and wine festival! Our anniversary is next week, but since we were going out for our anniversary dinner at Jiko that night, we decided that Sunday would be our Disney anniversary. We got anniversary buttons at guest services. We heard “Happy Anniversary” a lot, from both CMs and guests. OH! We ran into Barbara (VillagesBarbara) & DH! We were wearing our EE Challenge shirts and they stopped to ask us about the race. They were wearing DCL PC cruise shirts & when I said we were on that cruise, it all clicked! We had a nice chat. It was really nice since we never had a chance to meet on the cruise.

Oh, another fun thing. We went into America to hear the Voices of Liberty, the CM stopped us at the door. He asked our name and said there was a call for us and pointed to a little table in the lobby with a box on top. There was a phone in the box and when we picked it up, Mickey and Minnie sang happy anniversary to us! FUN! We also got a magical moment certificate.

Dinner at Jiko was fabulous. We even tried the ostrich appetizer. And we found a new wine. Pinotage from South Africa.

Monday, we had planned to rush out to DHS for rope drop and Toy Story Mania…then the alarm went off at 0700…and we decided to just lounge and enjoy the resort. We spent the day walking around and seeing the animals, lounging in the hot tub and chatting with the bartender. We caught our Magic Express bus at 2:05 and headed home.

It was a great trip…I was on vacation…now I’m just unemployed…

 

[goofyforlife]

now I’m just unemployed…

Welcome to my club....

Looks like the Zoo needs someone of your talents possibly though... Look in WPost on last sunday.

 

[m&m's mom]

Hey Coral

I was hoping to make it in June, but something came up and we might not be able to
DS may be going to Europe with his school band in June '09 if we can wing the cost.

Well a trip to Europe sounds fun too!

Hi Coral - You may run into us. We haven't set dates yet (depends somewhat on what is decided here) but our 20th anniversary is June 18th and we are hoping to be at WDW for it...

Pamela

That would be great ! We are doing a big debate about whether we stay at WDW and then stay in my boss condo outside WDW too. We were thinking Universal, Discovery Cove etc. Or just do WDW. Airfare and economy will come into play there.

Looks like the 700 B bail out bill was stopped in congess today by the Republicans.

Is it REALLY certain that this is realy necessary or not (some think?) ...

... however, ALL the commentary is sensational and compelling.

Which breeds suspicion - and points to the urgency of the matter.

I tend to think we need something to be done - however the most recently voted upon bill is NOT suitable yet. That much seems certain. AND I disagree with working on anything that directly bails out individuals... as any individual is NOT threatening our entire economy - but what is being discussed is a threat exists to our entire economy here.

I understand the banking network liquidity issues being touted - however I want to see something tangible - something quantitative to consider in rendering an opinon. I don't "buy" into the broadcast media "sound bytes" and 30 second explanations. However, I am VERY interested in bringing greater stability and liquidity to our financial system.

Anyone who's seen a good technical discussion of this - please post a link as I've read a lot that seems less than conclusive IMO. Enquiring minds want to know more in a substantive manner - if any article is both insightful, supported with good data and balanced in it's explanation - please post a link.​

I hear ya- me too. That is a very good point about personal vs company bailouts. One affects us all and one does not.

I don't think we can do August, so we'll likely be at WDW in mid-June too.

That would be fun to see a lot of y'all again!

Ok , this was really funny.
DH and I take my DS Andrew to dinner at the local Japanese Steak House yesterday because he had a really rough weekend (marching band took up the entire weekend). My DD went to her friend's house for dinner so it was just the three of us. Well we got a "chef" that was either very new or under the influence of something because he had a hard time holding onto his spatula and cutlery He dropped everything several times
At one point the spatula went flying across the grill and passed between my DH and another family over an empty chair where my DD would have been sitting if she was with us
I was ready to ask for a new chef
He also forgot DHs steak, just served him rice and veggies
I told DH to just pay for a veggie platter and he could get McDonalds on the way home if he was still hungry- I just wanted to get out of there at that point
The manager came over and apologized and someone did cook up Darren's steak at another grill and gave us a discount on the bill as well. We kept reassuring the other family at our table that this was the first time we've ever had things flying around at this restaurant and we've been there many times in the past. We wound up laughing about it with the other family and having a good time anyway.

Needless to say Kelly did not mind missing that dinner

Poor Darren! At least he eventually got his steak.

Hey CRASH - Just an FYI

and for any others. I was cleaning today (or at least attempting too) when I came across my "free" subscription to the Smithsonian magazine that I bought in June. Inside was a VERY interesting article entitled, Iran's Rage.

Without going into controversary or wanting to start any, I found it an interesting article seeing as I lived through some of it (history) and it did a fair job at rehashing some of the history and the road that has gotten us here. As an adult, it makes more sense all the stuff that has happened. Anyway, if anyone is interested or gets the magazine, check out the article it is on page 60 of the October issue of the Smithsonian magazine.

They also have a very interesting article on a genetic mutation that was thought to only hit only Jewish women but a strain has been found in Colorado, The San Luis Valley. It has hit some Hispanic, Catholic women there. Its interesting because it can't acquired - its hereditary it seems. They have called the mutation 185delAG. This I found extremely interesting. The reason for the name is that the mutation has been found on "rung 185" of the DNA ladder meaning that at rung 185 is missing the chemicals adenine (A) and guanine (G) thus del = deletion. The article goes on to explore the possibility of these hispanic, Catholic women being maybe descendants of a group of secret Jews of New Mexico from when the Jews were expelled from Europe? - if enquiring minds want to know, check out the issue - October 2008, Volume 39, number 7.

Why didn't anyone tell me that the magazine has some interesting articles? Just read one on Stonehenge which IS STILL on my bucket list as a place to visit. I've flown over it but haven't made it yet. So anyway, thanks for listening .

DES, sign up for the membership (not sure if you can do it online) but it will save you $$ on discounts and articles bought at the Smithsonian museums when you go such as dining, travel programs and shopping discounts. Plus you get 12 free issues of the magazine. I signed up for it to get the 10% on some stuff that I bought and promptly bought me some amethest earrings at the Museum of Natural History. Can't every pass up a good bargain. Check it out at www.smithsonian.com

OK - bragging over.

You know my Mom passes all her magazines down to me except Smithsonian.
I get my nieces magazine subscriptions for Christmas every year. Last year my niece asked for Smithsonian instead of Cosmo Girl. I guess that is what college will do to ya!

 

[micmse2003]

Hi everyone!

Well .. our WDW has been chosen for us in a way...we had to pick an ABD this week (it has to do with earning the trip and their deadline, etc) and so today we had to sit down and pick our date. Unfortunately, our choices were July, Aug. and Sept. due to having room for the 3 of us. I was hoping to put it off until there was a concensus here on when to go..I knew June was out for us because of Tori's school ending on June 20th.

So we picked our ABD for 8/7/08 - 8/14/08..it means we will be in WDW from 8/15/08 until 8/22/08. I tried to pick the week that it seemed other said would work for them (the week of the 15th) and I am hoping it will work out for us. We can not move the dates of our ABD or we lose the trip so I hoped for the best and booked.

We are currently booked at the AKL but hope to move the ressie to the BW at the 7 month mark.

Hoping to see everyone there! It's kind of a strange feeling..I am excited because I have a trip booked and yet not so happy because I don't know who I will get to see!

Looks like a winner time although I do like September. I think it is the people you are meeting that spoil me for a great vacation.!!

Just reread this and got it. Must slow down. Steve and I are open to any dates, just tell me where and when.

And Des, I would be more than happy to shadow you if your up for company -

I hope you won't mind shadowing me but John and I will be there too!! John owes steve something anyway.

Hey peeps! We're back from Expedition Everest Challenge!
WARNING - Long-winded trip report coming...

We had a great long weekend at WDW. We arrived Fri. morning, checked into AKL, went to Wide World of Sports to pick up our race packets, stopped by SOG to buy PI tickets and have lunch (cheapest restaurants 'on' property) then headed to MK for a few hours. We left MK at about 6:30 to head to the second-to-last night of PI. I wanted to get to the Adventurer's Club early, since I figured they would stop letting people in.

AC was PACKED by 7:30. We got in without waiting, but by 8 there was a line. We had several beers...but only for the souvenir 'Kungloosh' cups. Did I mention the place was packed?? Yikes. The Radiothon show in the library was great (it's about the club needing to raise $2,000 or lose their land). They've had that show for years, but as you can imagine, there was a lot of double meaning. It was neat and sad to see some of the actors get emotional during the skits.

Most of the people we met had been going to AC for years and years. Several people we talked to planned to be in line the next morning at 10 am to get in for the last night. It was really fun and sad. A lot of people really love that place and I hope the folks at Disney are smart enough to bring it back somewhere else on property.

We did something at Disney that we never, ever do...slept in! Unfortunately, with our sleeping in and my cell phone messages acting weird, we missed connecting with Arlene. We planned an easy day since the EE Challenge race started at 7 pm. We moseyed over to AK at about 12:30 and just strolled around for a while and did some of the things that would be closed during the race party.

The race was A LOT of fun! 5K run through the park (although more parking lot and backstage than I would have thought). OH! I ran into Liz at the start! Her son was running. I saw her later after the obstacle course and she cheered for us. We were easy to pick out...we realized at midnight before we left that if we wanted to wear matching shirts, our only options were the cruise thread pirate shirts or a shirt from the org. that just laid me off...pirates it was!

Back to the race...5K, then there was an obstacle course set up in a big grass area in the parking lot. There was a series of 3 boards about 4-4.5' off the ground to get over, a rope ladder about 8' high to get up and over, a pretty long balance beam, and a low net we had to combat crawl under. Before the race, I figured the ‘obstacles’ would be more ‘fun’ like giant inflatable things, no – these were like boot camp! After the obstacle course we got our "Passports". Each had 4 clues & there were 8 different passports, so people were running all over the park. We figured out where our clues were and what the answers were pretty easily, but we did have to run all over the park (again!) to do it. At one point, as we were running from Africa to Asia...Steve started singing the "Adventure's" song...Marching along we're adventurers, Singing the song of adventurers...it was fun. When we crossed the finish line, we knew our time, but had no idea how we did. Turns out we did pretty well! 99th out of 669 co-ed teams. (time 1:04:25). We probably could have hit the top 50 or so, but I've had the Disney crud, or bronchitis, or black lung, or something since about 4 days after the cruise, so I haven't been running since a few jaunts around deck 4, so I ended up power walking about a mile of the 3.1 miles.

The after party was a little weak, but fun. EE was open, as was Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, It's Tough to be a Bug, and the Dumbosaur ride (I can't remember the real name...we just call it Dumbosaur.) Primeval Hurl is down for rehab. There were DJs playing music all over the park. It was fun. The big Disney difference is that usually after a race, all the competitors get free food and a few drink tickets for beer at the after party. After a Disney race, you get a bagel, a banana, and a Poweraid. Food and beverages are available for purchase. The party went until midnight. We left the park at about 11:30.

Sunday we spent the day circling the World Showcase eating and drinking. I love the food and wine festival! Our anniversary is next week, but since we were going out for our anniversary dinner at Jiko that night, we decided that Sunday would be our Disney anniversary. We got anniversary buttons at guest services. We heard “Happy Anniversary” a lot, from both CMs and guests. OH! We ran into Barbara (VillagesBarbara) & DH! We were wearing our EE Challenge shirts and they stopped to ask us about the race. They were wearing DCL PC cruise shirts & when I said we were on that cruise, it all clicked! We had a nice chat. It was really nice since we never had a chance to meet on the cruise.

Oh, another fun thing. We went into America to hear the Voices of Liberty, the CM stopped us at the door. He asked our name and said there was a call for us and pointed to a little table in the lobby with a box on top. There was a phone in the box and when we picked it up, Mickey and Minnie sang happy anniversary to us! FUN! We also got a magical moment certificate.

Dinner at Jiko was fabulous. We even tried the ostrich appetizer. And we found a new wine. Pinotage from South Africa.

Monday, we had planned to rush out to DHS for rope drop and Toy Story Mania…then the alarm went off at 0700…and we decided to just lounge and enjoy the resort. We spent the day walking around and seeing the animals, lounging in the hot tub and chatting with the bartender. We caught our Magic Express bus at 2:05 and headed home.

It was a great trip…I was on vacation…now I’m just unemployed…

I am soo glad you had fun. Finishing in under a hundred people is excellent!!

Happy belated anniversary to you and Steve!! John loves Ostrich burgers from Fuddruckers all the time. I know it tastes like chicken!!

 

[sk8ingmom]

Welcome to my club....

Looks like the Zoo needs someone of your talents possibly though... Look in WPost on last sunday.

Hmm...monkey wrangler?? Or corporate realtions???

Thanks for the tip!

Happy belated anniversary to you and Steve!! John loves Ostrich burgers from Fuddruckers all the time. I know it tastes like chicken!!

Thanks! It's not belated. The real anniversary (14 years) and birthday (30-) isn't until 10/8. We just celebrated early since were were in WDW and frankly, right now we can't afford to celebrate twice!

 

[A Litle Pixie Dust]

Just reread this and got it. Must slow down. Steve and I are open to any dates, just tell me where and when.

And Des, I would be more than happy to shadow you if your up for company -

We would love to be shadowed! If you want..you can shadow us in DC too

Hey Desiree! I picked that week in the poll! Kaitlin will be a "tweener" next summer at the SA day camp and I know she would give me holy heck, if she had to miss any. She misses the first week as it is, because her school gets out the week after all the others!

Tori would be thrilled to have Kaitlin there...she misses everyone too.

Hey peeps! We're back from Expedition Everest Challenge!
WARNING - Long-winded trip report coming...

Sounds like a great weekend! I am glad you had so much fun.

 

[tom31b]

I could do Baltimore... You'd want to pick before dark though..... It can be pretty rough/scary at night.

When I'm a little more on my feet...Lisa promised a grown-up princesses only trip to AC too...

That's a great recipe for knocking you back off you feet.....

So swabbies, what should we do that night?

 

[allshookup]

Hi everyone!

Well .. our WDW has been chosen for us in a way...we had to pick an ABD this week (it has to do with earning the trip and their deadline, etc) and so today we had to sit down and pick our date. Unfortunately, our choices were July, Aug. and Sept. due to having room for the 3 of us. I was hoping to put it off until there was a concensus here on when to go..I knew June was out for us because of Tori's school ending on June 20th.

So we picked our ABD for 8/7/08 - 8/14/08..it means we will be in WDW from 8/15/08 until 8/22/08. I tried to pick the week that it seemed other said would work for them (the week of the 15th) and I am hoping it will work out for us. We can not move the dates of our ABD or we lose the trip so I hoped for the best and booked.

We are currently booked at the AKL but hope to move the ressie to the BW at the 7 month mark.

Hoping to see everyone there! It's kind of a strange feeling..I am excited because I have a trip booked and yet not so happy because I don't know who I will get to see!

Desiree I mentioned this on the 8/17 thread but in case you missed it...there is a poll on the Pirate website & so far that week appears to be winning. Looks like we might do a short extended family RCCL cruise Aug. 14-17 so we will plan to be in WDW 17-22.

Poll here: http://www.thepiratezone.us/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=323&start=0