August 13, 2011 Med - Mickey's Marauding Mates

[Kels Sem]

It's the smell that's the best part

Got my date to pick it up brought forward to this Friday too, so spent hours on the phone to the insurance company changing it onto my new car, because they had no way on there system to quote for a Nissan Juke!! (it doesn't officially get released till Friday)

Wow a Juke! My DH initally wanted me to get one of these and I really liked the look of it. It looks like a really funky wee car. The only reason I didn't go for it in the end was the running costs were going to be more than the car a got (new Fiesta). The only reason I was changing was to reduce running costs.

I love the new car smell too. Can't beat it

 

[luke]

Yeah I imagine the running costs will be more than my 1.2 Punto that I'm trading in, but we wanted a bigger car for possible future starting a family reasons, and for a 5 door it was about the same price ish as a similar specced fiesta (which DW has - although not the new model fiesta which is a great looking car!!).

Pick up the Juke on Friday, can't wait!!!

 

[Anal Annie]

OK, I am not familiar with the Nissan Juke. We don't have that here (yet). I suppose I'll have to visit their website to check it out!! Kelly's got me curious with her "really funky wee car" description!! I can't imagine driving a "wee car" as I have a Honda Pilot. I need to be able to haul STUFF!!!

I was reading an article on packing & traveling light the other day. It said to pack everything in white, black & khaki colors to mix & match EVERYTHING. But how BORING!! I can't do that! I mean, I plan to bring SOME of those colors and I plan to wear all of my bottoms at least 2x but I can't dress all monotone like that for 2 weeks!!! Hey Jeff - how did your packing go for your trip? Were you able to pack light or did you find ya'll brought a lot of extra stuff?? We may well be using Air France which allows the first checked bag free but then the NEXT bag is like $50! I am NOT digging that idea!! I am paranoid about our carry-on bags too. My FAVORITE carry-on suitcase may be an inch or two taller than their size limits & I don't know how strict they may be. That will piss me off if the wheels push it into having to be checked at the gate! I need to find someone who's familiar with Air France I guess to see what they think.

My planning for Paris is still giving me fits which is bugging me. I will be glad to settle on a plan one of these days....

 

[Anal Annie]

OK - just want to be sure that all of my UK peeps & peepettes see this: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2561725 Hope this is good news for ya'll to save even more!!!!

NEXT - I went online to look for the Nissan Juke, luke! It IS a funky lookin' sort of thing isn't it? I couldn't tell how small it was so not sure about the "wee" bit but the "funky" is accurate! I'd be more inclined to throw in the word "cute" somewhere too!! (Although I'm sure that's not masculine enough for luke!) What color did you get? Did you say or did I miss that part?! The one online was a cool red - looked sharp! Very cool - and Nissan is a good choice!!

 

[Kels Sem]

Ok- the Juke is probably not that small in the scale of things but being from Norn Iron (which is Northern Ireland to you) wee is a saying we use. Wait to you hear my accent LeeAnn! Have you ever heard the N Ireland accent before?

 

[Kels Sem]

Lee ann - I also ment to say thanks for posting about the Uk residents rates. Do you know if they become available for our cruise will we be able to have it applied to our booking or will it just apply to new bookings?

 

[Anal Annie]

Ok- the Juke is probably not that small in the scale of things but being from Norn Iron (which is Northern Ireland to you) wee is a saying we use. Wait to you hear my accent LeeAnn! Have you ever heard the N Ireland accent before?

I can't wait to hear all you all's accents!! I do NOT have personal experience with the Northern Ireland accent... I know it's NOT quite the SAME at all but I used to work with a woman from Scotland. We ate lunch at the same table etc & I loved hearing her talk. She's married to a guy from England who worked in DC at the UK Embassy. Back in the day she invited me & my roommate to a party once as there were a couple of guys she wanted us to meet! I just remember we couldn't understand a darned thing they said! Some of her fav. things to say were "bugger off" and "bloody hell" AND she said "wee" a lot. She cracked me up! Then she & her husband retired & moved to FL. She loved Sean Connery & Rod Stewart & had their pictures up in her cubicle. She was a real hoot.

 

[Anal Annie]

Lee ann - I also ment to say thanks for posting about the Uk residents rates. Do you know if they become available for our cruise will we be able to have it applied to our booking or will it just apply to new bookings?

I don't know anything about it other than what I read on K8T's thread... I just wanted you guys to all be aware of it so you could keep an eye out for it!!!

 

[Kels Sem]

I can't wait to hear all you all's accents!! I do NOT have personal experience with the Northern Ireland accent... I know it's NOT quite the SAME at all but I used to work with a woman from Scotland. We ate lunch at the same table etc & I loved hearing her talk. She's married to a guy from England who worked in DC at the UK Embassy. Back in the day she invited me & my roommate to a party once as there were a couple of guys she wanted us to meet! I just remember we couldn't understand a darned thing they said! Some of her fav. things to say were "bugger off" and "bloody hell" AND she said "wee" a lot. She cracked me up! Then she & her husband retired & moved to FL. She loved Sean Connery & Rod Stewart & had their pictures up in her cubicle. She was a real hoot.

I do like the Scottish accent myself! Just noticed that you had posted and we are online at the same time! It is 8.20 in the evening here and I'm just about to put the kids to bed.
Nathan just graduated tonight from Squirrels to Beavers tonight (this is part of the Scout movement) it was so cute seeing them all in their wee uniforms.
he thinks he is great because he's a big boy now

 

[Anal Annie]

I do like the Scottish accent myself! Just noticed that you had posted and we are online at the same time! It is 8.20 in the evening here and I'm just about to put the kids to bed.
Nathan just graduated tonight from Squirrels to Beavers tonight (this is part of the Scout movement) it was so cute seeing them all in their wee uniforms.
he thinks he is great because he's a big boy now

Awww...post some pics!! My DS did what we call Cub Scouts thru 5th grade. They had Tigers & bears but no squirrels. He quit then as the next group are the Boy Scouts & it requires more of an interest in camping etc - which he is NOT interested!

 

[Kels Sem]

Sorry no pics as we forgot to take the camera When he gets his Beavers uniform I will take a pic and then attempt to post!
Squirrels I believe is specific to N ireland. They don't have it in England, Scotland or Wales.
After Beavers he will become a Cub Scout (age 8) and then a Scout if he sticks it that long!

The kids are now in bed and I have just poured myself a large glass of wine. DH is out and I have the TV to myself!!

Enjoy your weekend. Any plans?

 

[Anal Annie]

Sorry no pics as we forgot to take the camera When he gets his Beavers uniform I will take a pic and then attempt to post!
Squirrels I believe is specific to N ireland. They don't have it in England, Scotland or Wales.
After Beavers he will become a Cub Scout (age 8) and then a Scout if he sticks it that long!

The kids are now in bed and I have just poured myself a large glass of wine. DH is out and I have the TV to myself!!

Enjoy your weekend. Any plans?

Good job on the wine!! I've been thinking about a dirty martini all day!! That will have to wait until later tho. About to head out to take DS to swim practice in about 5 minutes. He has dryland from 4:50-5:20 then water practice from 5:30-7:00. Then we have a 20 min. conference with his coach until from 7-7:20.

TOMORROW I have to make a dish to take to DH's company picnic which I think is at like 1:00 then swim practice again at 3:00 I think it is (which is FINE 'cuz it gets me out of the picnic early). Sunday practice is 11:30-1:00.... Sigh. Rinse & repeat!!

ENJOY your wine!! I'll toast you later with my martini!!!!

 

[luke]

Well my weekend plans (apart from going to watch Liverpool depress me at football) is to drive, drive, drive!

The Juke is just am amazing little car, yet not that little either! Pictures just don't do it justice, you don't get a scale of it's great height for it's length ratio!
We drove a Beetle in Orlando last month so I really like a car with 'personality' if you know what I mean.
Oh I got it in 'blade silver'

Hope everyone has a great weekend

 

[jd99]

I was reading an article on packing & traveling light the other day. It said to pack everything in white, black & khaki colors to mix & match EVERYTHING. But how BORING!! I can't do that! I mean, I plan to bring SOME of those colors and I plan to wear all of my bottoms at least 2x but I can't dress all monotone like that for 2 weeks!!! Hey Jeff - how did your packing go for your trip? Were you able to pack light or did you find ya'll brought a lot of extra stuff?? We may well be using Air France which allows the first checked bag free but then the NEXT bag is like $50! I am NOT digging that idea!! I am paranoid about our carry-on bags too. My FAVORITE carry-on suitcase may be an inch or two taller than their size limits & I don't know how strict they may be. That will piss me off if the wheels push it into having to be checked at the gate! I need to find someone who's familiar with Air France I guess to see what they think.

My planning for Paris is still giving me fits which is bugging me. I will be glad to settle on a plan one of these days....

We are the world's worst overpackers. The worst. I admit I'm part of the problem too but mostly it's the girls (esp. the 12 yo daughter). WE came home with - no lie - a 29 inch suitcase filled with clean clothes. Yep. that's right. Mina did some laundry on the ship which impacted that but not by much. So if we head on this sailing we are bound and determined to pack at least 30 percent less. We can do it. Yes we can. Need a week of casual clothes for Greece, then clothes for the cruise (and we can do laundry of some of those clothes to lighten the load). We really need a support group. Hi, I'm Jeff and I'm an overpacker.

 

[Anal Annie]

We are the world's worst overpackers. The worst. I admit I'm part of the problem too but mostly it's the girls (esp. the 12 yo daughter). WE came home with - no lie - a 29 inch suitcase filled with clean clothes. Yep. that's right. Mina did some laundry on the ship which impacted that but not by much. So if we head on this sailing we are bound and determined to pack at least 30 percent less. We can do it. Yes we can. Need a week of casual clothes for Greece, then clothes for the cruise (and we can do laundry of some of those clothes to lighten the load). We really need a support group. Hi, I'm Jeff and I'm an overpacker.

I have been practicing to try to pack less for awhile now. Started by getting an Owners Locker for our WDW stuff in FLA. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our Owners Locker. Then I started using packing cubes & packing folders to cut down & organize better. We actually went to WDW for 6 nights in March with only carry-ons!! I felt that was QUITE an accomplishment!! March weather is still a little fickle so I packed layers & long stuff too (which we NEEDED). When we just went to HHI for a week in August I got all 3 of us into 2 medium/large-ish duffles & one carry-on size duffle & one reg. carry-on suitcase. Did not drag out our BIGGEST duffle so I thought that was also pretty good. But it was still too much stuff. A lot less than I USED to pack but there was still stuff not worn. I am hopeful that for next summer I can get us into 1 large checked bag per person & 1 carry-on of some sort per person. I really need to find out more about Air France's rules. I am COUNTING ON being able to stuff 1 "personal article" under the seat and also put 1 carry-on in the overhead bins EACH. I know that's not a problem for our domestic airlines but I am concerned about the different rules that I may not interpret right beforehand on a foreign airline. I figure if I can do this 1 checked bag pp GOING then I'll try to also pack a fold-flat duffle to bring as an overflow bag for the return trip. If we can avoid having to check it until the ride home we'll be doing good. I also need to find out if they make us transfer planes if that counts as 2 flights with 2 checked bag fees or if since it would be a connecting leg if it would just be 1 charge. There are simply NO direct non-stop flights from Barcelona to DC on ANY airline right now so I don't want to get a big surprise at the airport when they tell me it will be 2 separate charges or something.

Jeff - did you pack a suit or rent a tux or what did you do for formal & semi-formal nights? Our last 2 cruises were on the Wonder which only has "dress up nights" so it wasn't an issue. On our first DCL on the Magic we rented a tux & shoes for DH so I wouldn't have to pack them. Actually, DH has a sport coat but not a suit. He works for a casual dress organization so he only has to wear like Docker style khaki's & collared shirts to work. This is very nice on a daily basis but it leaves us short on what he has available to pack for a cruise. He wore his sport coat to dinner at Palo on the Wonder...but I was even thinking for THIS cruise to just book Palo for brunch rather than dinner in order to cut down on having to bring as much dressy stuff. I was thinking with the luggage restrictions now maybe we should just rent a tux or suit again for him and be done with it so we don't have to go out & buy him a suit.

 

[MRAven]

We are defenetly an overpacking family especialy DW and DD with the shoes, it's crazy the shoe thing.

I thought I had kind of fixed this when I told them "The less you bring the more you buy"; on our last cruise it worked fine only half way; to return home I had to buy an aditional suitcase to pack everything.

But I did learn something; since we were carriing an aditional big suitcase and all were overweigh (5 big ones total) I had to pay US $ 100 aditionally at the airline counter (American Airlines) all of our suitcases arrived at our destination and they were the first ones to come out from the luggage belt, one right after the other; It was funny because people were staring asking themselve how come we got our luggage so fast (even before first class). So my theory is that our luggage did fly in first class and all for US 100.

 

[Anal Annie]

We are defenetly an overpacking family especialy DW and DD with the shoes, it's crazy the shoe thing.

I thought I had kind of fixed this when I told them "The less you bring the more you buy"; on our last cruise it worked fine only half way; to return home I had to buy an aditional suitcase to pack everything.

But I did learn something; since we were carriing an aditional big suitcase and all were overweigh (5 big ones total) I had to pay US $ 100 aditionally at the airline counter (American Airlines) all of our suitcases arrived at our destination and they were the first ones to come out from the luggage belt, one right after the other; It was funny because people were staring asking themselve how come we got our luggage so fast (even before first class). So my theory is that our luggage did fly in first class and all for US 100.

Oh MrA you must pass this website on to your DW & DD!!!

http://www.lindsay-phillips.com/switch-flops.aspx

I am planning on bringing about 2 pair of these + about 6 of the straps!! I will also bring 1 pr. of dressy sandals for formal night & about 2 pr. of Merrell's for daytime touring. But I will wear these for the cruise casual nights, Palo brunch & the pool etc!!! Mix and match shoes!! What a genius idea!!!

 

[jd99]

I
Jeff - did you pack a suit or rent a tux or what did you do for formal & semi-formal nights? Our last 2 cruises were on the Wonder which only has "dress up nights" so it wasn't an issue. On our first DCL on the Magic we rented a tux & shoes for DH so I wouldn't have to pack them. Actually, DH has a sport coat but not a suit. He works for a casual dress organization so he only has to wear like Docker style khaki's & collared shirts to work. This is very nice on a daily basis but it leaves us short on what he has available to pack for a cruise. He wore his sport coat to dinner at Palo on the Wonder...but I was even thinking for THIS cruise to just book Palo for brunch rather than dinner in order to cut down on having to bring as much dressy stuff. I was thinking with the luggage restrictions now maybe we should just rent a tux or suit again for him and be done with it so we don't have to go out & buy him a suit.

I have to confess. Neither. On our first Magic cruise, I brought my tux and the big clunky shoes and everything but because we haven't tried to get formal pix since then, I haven't bothered with the tux. On the Med sailing, I didn't even bring a suit. I brought a couple of pairs of khakis, a blazer and a couple of ties. I was a bit nervous for formal night but I was nowhere close to being the most casual guy there. Not even close. I was somewhere in the middle of the pack. There were only a couple of tuxes, lots of suits, lots of folks dressed like me, lots with dress shirts and khakis (no jacket or tie), some with golf shirts and khakis and yes, some with jeans and a couple with shorts. So between our night at Palo, formal night and semi formal, I just mixed up shirts and ties and wore the same jacket and various khakis. I doubt that I will bring the full suit or tux on the ship again unless we are planning formal pix. I wouldn't sweat it at all. Bring him good khakis, a jacket and a tie and he'll fit right in at formal night and at Palo dinner.

 

[Kels Sem]

Well my weekend plans (apart from going to watch Liverpool depress me at football) is to drive, drive, drive!

The Juke is just am amazing little car, yet not that little either! Pictures just don't do it justice, you don't get a scale of it's great height for it's length ratio!
We drove a Beetle in Orlando last month so I really like a car with 'personality' if you know what I mean.
Oh I got it in 'blade silver'

Hope everyone has a great weekend

Hey Luke - I hear the Pool only managed to draw on Saturday My dad and brother are both big Liverpool fans. My Dad took me once to Anfield it was a great experience even better that they won that particular match! It was a long time ago now!

 

[Kels Sem]

I have been practicing to try to pack less for awhile now. Started by getting an Owners Locker for our WDW stuff in FLA. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our Owners Locker. Then I started using packing cubes & packing folders to cut down & organize better. We actually went to WDW for 6 nights in March with only carry-ons!! I felt that was QUITE an accomplishment!! March weather is still a little fickle so I packed layers & long stuff too (which we NEEDED). When we just went to HHI for a week in August I got all 3 of us into 2 medium/large-ish duffles & one carry-on size duffle & one reg. carry-on suitcase. Did not drag out our BIGGEST duffle so I thought that was also pretty good. But it was still too much stuff. A lot less than I USED to pack but there was still stuff not worn. I am hopeful that for next summer I can get us into 1 large checked bag per person & 1 carry-on of some sort per person. I really need to find out more about Air France's rules. I am COUNTING ON being able to stuff 1 "personal article" under the seat and also put 1 carry-on in the overhead bins EACH. I know that's not a problem for our domestic airlines but I am concerned about the different rules that I may not interpret right beforehand on a foreign airline. I figure if I can do this 1 checked bag pp GOING then I'll try to also pack a fold-flat duffle to bring as an overflow bag for the return trip. If we can avoid having to check it until the ride home we'll be doing good. I also need to find out if they make us transfer planes if that counts as 2 flights with 2 checked bag fees or if since it would be a connecting leg if it would just be 1 charge. There are simply NO direct non-stop flights from Barcelona to DC on ANY airline right now so I don't want to get a big surprise at the airport when they tell me it will be 2 separate charges or something.

Jeff - did you pack a suit or rent a tux or what did you do for formal & semi-formal nights? Our last 2 cruises were on the Wonder which only has "dress up nights" so it wasn't an issue. On our first DCL on the Magic we rented a tux & shoes for DH so I wouldn't have to pack them. Actually, DH has a sport coat but not a suit. He works for a casual dress organization so he only has to wear like Docker style khaki's & collared shirts to work. This is very nice on a daily basis but it leaves us short on what he has available to pack for a cruise. He wore his sport coat to dinner at Palo on the Wonder...but I was even thinking for THIS cruise to just book Palo for brunch rather than dinner in order to cut down on having to bring as much dressy stuff. I was thinking with the luggage restrictions now maybe we should just rent a tux or suit again for him and be done with it so we don't have to go out & buy him a suit.

I have managed to learn to pack less over the years as I used to go on holiday and come home and still have loads of clothes not worn. Going on holiday to Florida the last few years I have been way below the luggage allowance but maybe that's because I knew I would have a washer/dyer available to use! Certainly those packing cubes have helped.
Not sure how I will fair packing for the cruise but I figure that each of the kids will also have a luggage allowance and their clothes will not weigh very much so more allowance for me
I don't think we will take a tux or suit for DH if we can get away without.

With regard to airlines hand luggage rules it really does vary by airline. Some in the UK will only let you take on 1 carry on bag and handbags are not allowed in addition to this. Some will let you take a handbag as well so it really depand on the airline you are using. The last few times we have been to the States we have only been allowed to take on 1 carryon each and no handbags and they are very strict on this especially travelling home again.