May 10, 2008 Ship of Thieves! Stealing the Magic..AGAIN!!! Panama Canal FL to CA!!! Part 5

[milestogo]

I'm glad you're happy Holly . . . I had some interesting advice for you if he did not get in. I am reading (actually listening to) on my ipod one of the most interesting books I have ever heard . . . "Freakonomics".

There is a lot of research in the book that defies what would be considered "conventional wisdom". Some very interesting studies on education, showing the factors that make a significant difference in student achievement. One of the most interesting things, that really defies the current de-riguer educational assumptions is that the actual "school" that a child attends will make a difference. The data clearly shows that the parental background is what makes the difference, and children with that advantage do better no matter what school they go to, and kids without the advantage of strong parents (both intellectually and socio-economically) do just as poorly in the "good" schools.

I am sure you will feel better about Tyler in the school you have chosen, and he will too - especially with his friend going there. As a school board member dealing with NCLB, I have always touted that the building plays a far less significant role in achievement than the environment and heredity of the child. It was interesting for me to see that borne out in a study.

Oh, and BTW - the amount of TV that a child watches also has little effect on their ultimate achievement - whether a lot or a little. Having plenty of books in the house does correlate positively to achievement, but reading to your child all the time does not.

The book is fascinating, and delves into lots of other subjects other than education, like crime rates, safety, etc.

Hi guys, we are getting ourselves put back together after returning from the B2B May Med cruises and have tried to get caught up on this thread. I don't think I went back far enough to find out how the DL meet went while we were on the cruise????? Let us know how many showed up, where and fun???

There are several of us who met on the repo cruise and got together during the cruise, so I can tell you its a very, very nice group of folks. So, nice that we started a thread to continue talking since meeting.

Re: the above: this is what I spend most of my time studying and working on and I have found all of the same studies to be true. I spend quite a bit of time lecturing parents about the positive aspects of TV, it's correlation to reading, behaviors and future drug use. I enjoyed freakonomics and the irony that all studies can be manipulated and yet that is what he studies and reports on - I like that he is aware of this and laughs at himself. He is a really interesting guy, I see his reports every week and he often cracks me up.

There are so many Californians on this thread... are any of you going to the half marathon or 5K during Labor Day?

Kelly

 

[granmaz]

Rescuing this thread from disappearing on to Page 2!!!!

 

[HollyTyler]

Rescuing this thread from disappearing on to Page 2!!!!

I never ever see what page it's on, but I'll bet it dropped down there because I've actually had some work to do today at work. No time to play here like I usually do!

 

[granmaz]

I never ever see what page it's on, but I'll bet it dropped down there because I've actually had some work to do today at work. No time to play here like I usually do!

Well I didn't want to blame anyone, but yes, you have been quiet today!!!

By the way, where is AuntyBrat? I miss her posts.

 

[HollyTyler]

Well I didn't want to blame anyone, but yes, you have been quiet today!!!

By the way, where is AuntyBrat? I miss her posts.

Well, I needed to be quiet for a bit because I was feeling bad about monopolizing almost a whole page last night!

I was wondering about Auntybrat myself.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Does anyone know how long it takes to drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas? We checked flights....to do a red eye non-stop on Sat. night one week after cruise is $800 for two from LA and $300 for two from Vegas. We're considering checking out of our hotel at Rodondo Beach on Fri and driving to Vegas....staying over one night on Fri and flying out on Sat night from there. In addition to the flight savings, we would save one night in hotels. Big savings overall....it might be worth the drive....plus we have never been to Vegas and it might be fun to end the trip from there.

 

[granmaz]

Auntybrat, cooeee, come back, we miss you!

 

[HollyTyler]

Does anyone know how long it takes to drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas? We checked flights....to do a red eye non-stop on Sat. night one week after cruise is $800 for two from LA and $300 for two from Vegas. We're considering checking out of our hotel at Rodondo Beach on Fri and driving to Vegas....staying over one night on Fri and flying out on Sat night from there. In addition to the flight savings, we would save one night in hotels. Big savings overall....it might be worth the drive....plus we have never been to Vegas and it might be fun to end the trip from there.

Oooooohh.....I like that idea too! Allegiant Air has really cheap, nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Lansing, MI. Might be a cheaper option for me too.

 

[HollyTyler]

Does anyone know how long it takes to drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas? We checked flights....to do a red eye non-stop on Sat. night one week after cruise is $800 for two from LA and $300 for two from Vegas. We're considering checking out of our hotel at Rodondo Beach on Fri and driving to Vegas....staying over one night on Fri and flying out on Sat night from there. In addition to the flight savings, we would save one night in hotels. Big savings overall....it might be worth the drive....plus we have never been to Vegas and it might be fun to end the trip from there.

Deb, it looks like about 270 miles, according to this site: http://www.insidervlv.com/drivingdistances.html

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Hi Marilyn, welcome back....we have missed you! Will we be getting any reports or pics of your journey???

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Deb, it looks like about 270 miles, according to this site: http://www.insidervlv.com/drivingdistances.html

Hey thanks Holly....that's about 5 hrs....4hrs. for John....not bad, very doable. I think we'll check it out and head for Vegas...

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Oooooohh.....I like that idea too! Allegiant Air has really cheap, nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Lansing, MI. Might be a cheaper option for me too.

If you could get the time....we'll be leaving for Vegas on Fri am after cruise....want to come with???

 

[HollyTyler]

If you could get the time....we'll be leaving for Vegas on Fri am after cruise....want to come with???

Unfortunately, I'll be broke enough losing 2 weeks of pay. 3 would put me in the poorhouse! So, no, I'll have to pass. But I'm thinking of asking Cindy if she would be interested in renting a car and heading straight there from the ship Sunday morning, spending that night there in Vegas, then fly home Monday. But I'm not sure because I originally figured that Monday would be a great day to spend with Tyler since it's a day off work anyway. Unless I call in Tuesday and pretend I missed my flight or something! Then I'd still get a whole day with Tyler after being without him for over 2 weeks (because he'll head to his dad's Wed before the cruise). I guess after giving it some thought, I'd better skip the whole Vegas idea and just head home right after the cruise. As it is, this will be only 3 days short of 3 weeks away from Tyler and I don't want him to think I've abandoned him! I can do Vegas any time for a quick weekend trip because it's only around $130 round trip from here all the time.

 

[granmaz]

Hi Marilyn, welcome back....we have missed you! Will we be getting any reports or pics of your journey???

Deb, I will try and get some pictures up. I am technically challenged, but can manage once they have been loaded on to the computer. At the moment John has to do that bit!!

It is a very beautiful island, basically an old volcano with nightmare roads snaking up and down high cliffs and hills! Our property was lovely, but built too high, so can be covered in cloud. You can be sunbathing one minute and cold the next. We hardly ever sat out on the balcony and it was too cool in the evenings with a brisk wind.

We loved the capital Funchal which had a long sea front and marina with sailing boats and catermarans to sail, but this trip we couldn't afford that. Perhaps if we return.

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Unfortunately, I'll be broke enough losing 2 weeks of pay. 3 would put me in the poorhouse! So, no, I'll have to pass. But I'm thinking of asking Cindy if she would be interested in renting a car and heading straight there from the ship Sunday morning, spending that night there in Vegas, then fly home Monday. But I'm not sure because I originally figured that Monday would be a great day to spend with Tyler since it's a day off work anyway. Unless I call in Tuesday and pretend I missed my flight or something! Then I'd still get a whole day with Tyler after being without him for over 2 weeks (because he'll head to his dad's Wed before the cruise). I guess after giving it some thought, I'd better skip the whole Vegas idea and just head home right after the cruise. As it is, this will be only 3 days short of 3 weeks away from Tyler and I don't want him to think I've abandoned him! I can do Vegas any time for a quick weekend trip because it's only around $130 round trip from here all the time.

Sounds like a miniDISmeet after cruise....I just checked out hotels and decided that I want to stay at the Luxor....it's the pyramid....but I'm going to love it so much that I'm going to want to go back coz we'll only be staying one night there.....so we'll have to do it again and meet up with you and others that want to come some time after cruise. How FUN would that be!!!

 

[EllaEnchanted]

Deb, I will try and get some pictures up. I am technically challenged, but can manage once they have been loaded on to the computer. At the moment John has to do that bit!!

It is a very beautiful island, basically an old volcano with nightmare roads snaking up and down high cliffs and hills! Our property was lovely, but built too high, so can be covered in cloud. You can be sunbathing one minute and cold the next. We hardly ever sat out on the balcony and it was too cool in the evenings with a brisk wind.

We loved the capital Funchal which had a long sea front and marina with sailing boats and catermarans to sail, but this trip we couldn't afford that. Perhaps if we return.

.....Sounds great!!! Definitely would love to see the pics when you get John to do his part. Those kind of roads make me shiver too....we did a bus tour on St. Lucia as an excursion on our 11 night Southern Caribbean....and I could not look out the window.....although, very beautiful....it was soooooo scary because you thought you were going to go straight down off the road.

 

[gydell]

Does anyone know where we dock in Acapulco? Near the cliff divers or more towards town? I know where we dock in PV and unless there is a new dock in Aruba then we are right downtown. Thanks!

 

[kymma]

It takes us about 4 hours to drive to vegas from the Santa Clarita area. It's not a bad drive at all really. Very pretty and you get to see the World's Largest Thermometer!

 

[JLSE50]

I have been very busy with our son's wedding in NY and our family reception here in Indy this past Saturday so I am still on page 1220 of our thread.

What is the latest on the travels of Bobby Banana?
When we get that going can we coordinate who he visits next and can we set up a thread about his adventures on our own special SHIP OF THIEVES website?

Wedding was lovely and family party went well. All my stressing led to detail that people appreciated and none of my anxiety was warrented, everyone behaved nicely.

What have I missed? Do I need to read all those pages?
Jan

 

[NotSoLittleMermaid]

Sounds like a miniDISmeet after cruise....I just checked out hotels and decided that I want to stay at the Luxor....it's the pyramid....but I'm going to love it so much that I'm going to want to go back coz we'll only be staying one night there.....so we'll have to do it again and meet up with you and others that want to come some time after cruise. How FUN would that be!!!

Sounds like fun! I haven't been to LV in years!