An Invasion of a "STRANGER" Kind.... NEW THREAD IS UP!! Go Thee NOW!

[KatMark]

I think you missed this on the 1st thread, but I am really NOT a big shopper. I don't like to really browse and such, ssooooooooooooooooo... I"m going in with a very specific list, so I can be IN and OUT quickly. It's true in my real life too, I loathe clothes shopping!! And trying things on- forget it!

Yep, you are right...I missed that the first go round. I don't mind shopping for clothes--but I'd rather not have to try them on (but with my fluctuating weight that is no longer an option). My husband LOVES to window shop at Disney--we go into every single store in every single park.

He got MORE than his fill of belly dancing shenanigans in both Dubai AND at the Marakesh in Disney. We ate there in 2004 with my parents. Anara was with us and getting antsy, so Mom and I took her out and left the guys to pay the check. They walked out a half hour later with giant poop-eating grins, and it didn't take a genious to figure out what exactly kept them so long.

 

[All7OfUs]

Yep, you are right...I missed that the first go round. I don't mind shopping for clothes--but I'd rather not have to try them on (but with my fluctuating weight that is no longer an option). My husband LOVES to window shop at Disney--we go into every single store in every single park.

Then again, I may shock the pants off myself (and with all this running, I'll even look good) and become a shopper in Disney. Who knows with 3 days of solo bliss, all kinds of time on my hands and a varitible Nirvana of shopping options, I just may enjoy it. Maybe it's just that I"ve always a zillion kids tagging along.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Still catching up. Read about the cheese tendrils. And the train capades. And I did laugh. Which was good.

Had my own "What the fartknock?" travel moment last week.

We are going to Minnesota this summer to spend time with Tracy's family. I've been eyeing tickets for a while and saw a great price so I booked them. I was very proud of myself and did one final review of the confirmation email. Something was off...what was it...dates are good...times are good...names are good...airports are GREAT HEAVENLY GIBBLET JUICE! I just booked fourt tickets from Austin to.......................ORLANDO. Yeah...that's a LONG cab ride to Minneapolis. No idea what was going through my mind. In my defense, I was putting in airport codes and stuck in MCO instead of MSP. So it wasn't like I typed the name of the city out all the way. But SHEES LOUISE! I was in some deep Khim Chee. Luckily I had booked through the American Airlienes website. With their system, there is dalay from the time the tickets are booked until the time they are actually ticketed. I was able to call them and cancel without having to pay any type of penalty. Wheh! Crisis averted. I did finally manage to book us tickets to the proper destination. Though the two can hardly be compared. I mean seriously. Soaring / Mother in Law. I may need therapy for having to make that change.

 

[If U Had Wings]

Sorry about all the stress! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that you don't have any problems with your train tickets!

 

[jenbear123]

You poor thing! I know first hand about making name errors when making reservations... it happens to me at least once a day at the office. Like today, for example.... The perk of being a TA is that you can call immediately after you make the error so they can change the name without penalty. When you're just joe-blow off the street... it's a bit harder. Plus, I'm sure the train people are not the nicest either... It's so stupid though. I mean, come on. How hard is it to delete the wrong name and re-type the correct one? I see it very unfair to charge a flippen $150 (well, in your case 30 Euros) to hit backspace a few times. Okay, rant over.

It makes me very sad to see a question mark sitting beside Canada on that list of yours. What about maple syrup?? Or Ice wine?! I know we've discussed this before. There must be something in that pathetic store that supposedly represents your neighbour to the north. It really is a sad store. How about I bring you something in August??? Then it'll be genuine Canadian

Also, about all the stressful life stuff going on at home. BIG HUGS! Take a deep breath. You'll get through it. Tell that hubby of yours to breathe too. Soon you'll be outta there and home sweet home

 

[englishrose47]

Hey Liessa the Prodigal child has returned at least for tonite !!! I am sooooooo tired from all the extra hours I picked up I am definately going to bed early tonite !!But seeing as I plan on going in at 4 am that is a good thing !!! Next week should be better although I have several calls I am ignoring , that are definately begging me to work!!!

 

[All7OfUs]

Still catching up. Read about the cheese tendrils. And the train capades. And I did laugh. Which was good.

Had my own "What the fartknock?" travel moment last week.


I was putting in airport codes and stuck in MCO instead of MSP. So it wasn't like I typed the name of the city out all the way. But SHEES LOUISE! I was in some deep Khim Chee.

That's pretty funny, GB! I can't imagine what you were thinking of! Mind you, I can only laugh because everything turned out well. If it hadn't I'd have been comiserating with you big time.

As for being in deep Kim Chee.... Let's just say that's a fartknock waiting to happen right there! Ask me how I know...

Haven't heard from you in a spell. Can you tell us how things are in your family??

Sorry about all the stress! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that you don't have any problems with your train tickets!

Thanks so much, Crissy!! I'm really confident that it won't be a problem; between my marriage cert. and the middle initial on my credit card being the same.... I think we'll be fine.

You poor thing! I know first hand about making name errors when making reservations... it happens to me at least once a day at the office. Like today, for example.... The perk of being a TA is that you can call immediately after you make the error so they can change the name without penalty. When you're just joe-blow off the street... it's a bit harder. Plus, I'm sure the train people are not the nicest either... It's so stupid though. I mean, come on. How hard is it to delete the wrong name and re-type the correct one? I see it very unfair to charge a flippen $150 (well, in your case 30 Euros) to hit backspace a few times. Okay, rant over.

Rant accepted. Seriously! It just can't be hard to have an easy to locate and USE customer service numbers for dolts. It could be called something like the idiot bonehead line for quick fixes, or such. To make it so that's it's only used for stupid mistakes, they could make minor changes available for only like 1 hour, so they don't just get a buch of people who are simply changing their plans for vacation (ie dates). I don't know, seems like something could be done.

It makes me very sad to see a question mark sitting beside Canada on that list of yours. What about maple syrup?? Or Ice wine?! I know we've discussed this before. There must be something in that pathetic store that supposedly represents your neighbour to the north. It really is a sad store. How about I bring you something in August??? Then it'll be genuine Canadian

I KNEW you were going to point that out. I can get maple syrup in the grocery store for like 1/3 of the price, and ice wine is out of the $4 limit, by about 100 times. BUT, I just had a brain flash. I wonder if they have some little tiny carved totems in there?? My MIL was a Canadian (never changed her paperwork/citizenship in 50 years) and had a real heart for the Native Canadians in your far north. Hmmm.....

Also, about all the stressful life stuff going on at home. BIG HUGS! Take a deep breath. You'll get through it. Tell that hubby of yours to breathe too. Soon you'll be outta there and home sweet home

Breathing. But not too deeply. GOOD NEWS FLASH, though...

Mike just walked in the door (funny I should be typing about this at this particualar moment) and said the 3 feet of sewer water is GONE!!?? Overnight, it went somewhere- supposedly down the pipe out to the street. We are mystified at how a clog can just dissipate.

Hey Liessa the Prodigal child has returned at least for tonite !!! I am sooooooo tired from all the extra hours I picked up I am definately going to bed early tonite !!But seeing as I plan on going in at 4 am that is a good thing !!! Next week should be better although I have several calls I am ignoring , that are definately begging me to work!!!

I saw that you were picking up all kinds of extra crazy hours, Rosie! 4AM is wayyyyyyyyyy to early. Hope you ARE getting the rest you need to stay healthy!

 

[tinkgurl]

All that I noticed too was your backwards check marks!

 

[All7OfUs]

All that I noticed too was your backwards check marks!

Are you sure you weren't looking at them cross-eyed?

 

[that's nice]

I like your backwards checks! LOL

Both my parents are lefties- My brother, sister, and I are all righties!

The craziness has started.. my Dis time is going to be very limited for the next 5 weeks. So if I'm MIA for a while don't get worried.

I still have to finish my TR which I really hope to have an update for on Sunday night.

 

[All7OfUs]

Yesterday brought Attempt #2 at Buying Train Tickets. Will I succeed? Read on to find out- The Rest of the Story...



Truthfully speaking, as I said before, the German train website is easy to use with a ton of pull down menus. It's easy to navigate to find the info you need quickly and should be, in practice, fool proof.

Except for me, as we found out on our last episodes of The Great Train Debacle. Yesterday, I logged on and whizzed through the booking process until I came to a choice. Basically, I could choose between a non-stop which was about 30 Euros more expensive AND left at 11:00, OR I could save 30 Euro, but would have to switch trains at the Frankfurt Main terminal before continuing on to the Airport AND it left at 11:30.

Here's what I chose and why:

I called up Magedelena, and consulted with the expert and she said that if it were her, she's take the earlier train- that the trains have had delays before. She also reminded us that getting the luggage might take extra time.

So....

We chose to spend the extra 30 Euro for a non-stop, as they were only allowing 4 minutes to switch trains. With kids, 5 carryons, and not knowing the lay of the land, 4 minutes was a little too close for me and my gray hair situation. Added to this, our flight takes off at 5:00. If we need to check in 2 hours before, AND retrieve our luggage from baggage storage, the later train would have put us at the airport, again, just a little too close. For 30 extra Euro, we bought a wee bit of "mind at ease". We've had countless delays before on ALL modes of transportation in our long traveling careers, and having too tight a connection is just stress that isn't necessary if given a choice.

Because of my call to Magdelena, my session timed-out, and I had to start over. So in went ALL the information- again. But this time, I managed to retreive the RIGHT name for myself (who forgets their own name??) and I did indeed discover that Goof Up #1 was my own stupid fault. But I am convinced that the word "surname" tripped me up.

And in order to make a long story, long, I have a nice set of both departing and returning tickets to and from Frankfurt/Nuremberg for our dwindling family. I cannot tell you how odd it feels to know that only 3 of our kids will be with us, on this first EVER family vacation without all 5. Very strange indeed!!! (I'm trying not to cry.)


----------------------------------------------------------------------
One more really COOL development happened this week concerning the Week 'O Freedom!!!

For over a year, we've been trying to recruit compatriots who would share a bit of our Victory with us. We prodded, invited, begged and cajoled, but no takers to join our Happy Threesome. But just this week, I opened up a new PTR, and discovered that one of the DIS's most famous, and well-loved Posters--------------------

LADY LALLIE!​

is going the same time as us! I've followed all of her TRs (as well as JenJolt's), but only lurked (now I could kick myself!), and was thirlled that a Meet might work out for us! I PM'd her a couple days ago, and it turns out that we will both be in AK the same day, and we both agreed that if we met up at the entrance to the Pangani Trail at 10:00, it would suit both of our schedules. I'd like to hit up EE first thing, try to catch a Safari, and then be ready to meet them at 10:00. Do you think it's do-able??


Anyway, if you aren't on Leslie's PTR, you can find it:

HERE!!!

She's a very gracious hostess.

Finally, a taker in some of our Tour of Victory zaniness!! I was Skyping with maroo the other day, and I think she's planning on joining us as well, so it's shaping up to be quite a bit of fun for all of us. I have no idea what maroo's plans are for the rest of the day, ; as for me, I'll be laying low, watching the music groups, people watching, walking the trails VERY leisurely, finding DeVine, maybe hitting up the Flights of Wonder show--- who knows. The sky's the limit!

 

[All7OfUs]

I like your backwards checks! LOL

Both my parents are lefties- My brother, sister, and I are all righties!

The craziness has started.. my Dis time is going to be very limited for the next 5 weeks. So if I'm MIA for a while don't get worried.

I still have to finish my TR which I really hope to have an update for on Sunday night.

WOW! And they ended up with not one lefty kid! Amazing! And sad.

What kinds of events are they? Weddings? proms?

I won't worry, but I will miss you! Post when you can, we'll leave the lights on- figuratively speaking.

Yes, you do need to finish; we need the grand finale(s).

 

[Flossbolna]

Good to know that you got your train tickets this time without problems!

I think rope drop, EE and Safari can be easily accomplished by 10 am! Katharina and I nearly met up with LL in January, there were just two weeks between our trips! I am sure the two of you will have a wonderful meet, she is such a sweet lady!

 

[All7OfUs]

Good to know that you got your train tickets this time without problems!

I think rope drop, EE and Safari can be easily accomplished by 10 am! Katharina and I nearly met up with LL in January, there were just two weeks between our trips! I am sure the two of you will have a wonderful meet, she is such a sweet lady!

I forgot to mention that I am LOVING that we got the table seating both ways! How convenient to eat our breakfast and play cards - or better yet, update the TR Journal.

Oh! Too bad you missed LL by only a couple weeks!!! I'm very excited for our Meet- she's such a lovely poster with all kinds of great information. I picture her as very "down to earth" and practical.

 

[Lady Lallie]

----------------------------------------------------------------------
One more really COOL development happened this week concerning the Week 'O Freedom!!!

For over a year, we've been trying to recruit compatriots who would share a bit of our Victory with us. We prodded, invited, begged and cajoled, but no takers to join our Happy Threesome. But just this week, I opened up a new PTR, and discovered that one of the DIS's most famous, and well-loved Posters--------------------

LADY LALLIE!​

is going the same time as us! I've followed all of her TRs (as well as JenJolt's), but only lurked (now I could kick myself!), and was thirlled that a Meet might work out for us! I PM'd her a couple days ago, and it turns out that we will both be in AK the same day, and we both agreed that if we met up at the entrance to the Pangani Trail at 10:00, it would suit both of our schedules. I'd like to hit up EE first thing, try to catch a Safari, and then be ready to meet them at 10:00. Do you think it's do-able??


Anyway, if you aren't on Leslie's PTR, you can find it:

HERE!!!

She's a very gracious hostess.

Finally, a taker in some of our Tour of Victory zaniness!! I was Skyping with maroo the other day, and I think she's planning on joining us as well, so it's shaping up to be quite a bit of fun for all of us. I have no idea what maroo's plans are for the rest of the day, ; as for me, I'll be laying low, watching the music groups, people watching, walking the trails VERY leisurely, finding DeVine, maybe hitting up the Flights of Wonder show--- who knows. The sky's the limit!

Awwww, shucks!

I feel like I'm famous or something.

I am so excited for our meet and super excited that Maroo might be joining us, I've lurked on some of her TRs.

Okay, I have to be honest. I'm a little shy in person, I'm worried I'm going to disappoint you.

Oh and I finally looked up what animals are on the Pangani trail and it's the one with the gorillas and meerkats. I'm very excited about the meerkats, they are just too adorable.

 

[KatMark]

YAY for train ticket #2 working out and getting the right name.

And congratulations on the recruitment of yet another DIS member.

 

[If U Had Wings]

Don't believe her, LL is utterly charming, and I didn't think she was overly shy when I met her at all. Your going to have a lovely Dis meet.

 

[All7OfUs]

Awwww, shucks!

I feel like I'm famous or something.

I am so excited for our meet and super excited that Maroo might be joining us, I've lurked on some of her TRs.

Okay, I have to be honest. I'm a little shy in person, I'm worried I'm going to disappoint you.

Oh and I finally looked up what animals are on the Pangani trail and it's the one with the gorillas and meerkats. I'm very excited about the meerkats, they are just too adorable.

You ARE famous, but then again, so it maroo!! I promise, we'll make it a fun Meet, and make sure that the shining NON-shy Leslie sparkles through!!

I am very excited too for our Walking Safari!! Birds are my thing, so I hope to catch a few on film on our stroll. But you are right, meerkats ARE fun too. The Portland ZOO has some< and they are great entertainment!

YAY for train ticket #2 working out and getting the right name.

And congratulations on the recruitment of yet another DIS member.

Yeah, always good to remember the name on your documents.

I'll be sure to bring you all along on our Meet! Expect photos of our fun together.

 

[All7OfUs]

Don't believe her, LL is utterly charming, and I didn't think she was overly shy when I met her at all. Your going to have a lovely Dis meet.

I suspected so all along! I think most of us on here, are pretty much exactly what we are like in real life.

 

[Pyrate_Pryncess]

I suspected so all along! I think most of us on here, are pretty much exactly what we are like in real life.

Real life????????/ On here Im a hot little, less than 5 ft tall, red headed lady.......In real life, Im a crusty, 74 year old bald fat man! My online life is much better than my real life!