brillohead

Can you ask him what the winning PowerBall lottery numbers are going to be? 😉

A local bar has a seasonal specialty cocktail made with apple cider and Fireball, garnished with a cinnamon-sugar coated donut hole on a stick. I'm not much of a drinker, but that one is quite tasty!

A friend of mine repeats that line every time she sees a Carnival cruise ship, in tribute to the Carnival Triumph cruise where they lost power and the toilets were overflowing while they drifted aimlessly at sea!

There are all kinds of vehicles that can be retrofitted for "drive in" capability (versus a lift being installed), and they don't all necessarily have to be lowered. In my work with disabled patients as a private duty nurse, I've seen a few different types. Some have installed / automatic ramps that work with the press of a button, and some have manual ramps that just unfold and hook onto the doorway. Some load from the side and some load from the rear. This webpage shows some of the many options that are available -- Clock Mobility is a local (Michigan) company, but a Google search will help you find a similar company closer to home.

Do you have a history of urinary retention after surgery? I'm used to Foley catheters being removed while you're still in the OR, before you even wake up, unless it was for a urological type of surgery (like John/Bella's dad recently had). Even with a urologist inserting the catheter due to BPH, unless you have a history of post-surgical retention, I can't think of a reason to continue the catheter beyond the surgical procedure itself. Maybe @Ocean Boy can think of something I'm missing? We (meaning the hospital I work at) have to track the number of days people have a Foley and how many UTIs are contracted hospital-wide related to a Foley, so unless there are extenuating circumstances (urinary retention, health issue requiring strict intake/output tracking, sacral wound healing problem on an incontinent patient, etc.), a Foley gets pulled immediately after it's no longer absolutely medically necessary. (Foleys are a huge infection risk.) Glad to hear you'll soon be home with Linda and the pups!!!

We had a sprinkling in my area when I left for work last night, and by the time I got to the hospital it was coming down pretty heavily. Not much stuck, though, because the ground is still on the warm side.

Those dang lighthouse cookies will live on in this thread forever, just like the can opener at the rental! 🤣

It's amazing, isn't it? It makes me wonder if those people can find any of their belongings at home.

Found on FB and had to share here for @Ocean Boy and the rest of the Swifties! 🤣

I have an even easier way to peel eggs... https://www.samsclub.com/p/great-day-farms-cage-free-hard-boiled-eggs-peeled-single-serving/prod24622070

I would get a private driver for the day. I've used Let's Go Roatan Tours probably a dozen times, very reliable, safe drivers in safe vehicles. Contact them at https://letsgoroatantours.com/ to set it up. The driver will stay at the sanctuary the whole time you're there. You can pay cash at the sanctuary (make sure you bring bills with absolutely NO tears/rips in them, as the bank won't accept them so the sanctuary can't take them) with no reservations needed.

Anything that crosses the border that might have been purchased elsewhere is subject to customs.

I wonder if it was the SHIPPING cost or the CUSTOMS fee that they had to pay?

The Michigan Liquor Control Commission sets all prices for liquor (spirits, not beer or wine). All stores purchase it from the state at the same set price, and have to sell it at or above a minimum set price. Lots of convenience stores have signs out front that say "liquor at state minimum prices!" as if that's something special... due to competition, I've never seen ANY type of store not just sell it at the state minimum price!

Interesting, the only time I've had someone take my bag (also at Canaveral) it was a British couple. I called the number on the bag that they left behind (which wasn't even the same shade of purple as mine that they took) and I got their son back in England. He tried calling his folks but they were driving to Orlando. He eventually got in touch with them after I was already at the airport, and they had to drive back to Canaveral with my bag and pick up theirs. Royal did FedEx my bag to my house... I don't know if they charged the "thief" for the shipping costs or not.

That's why I told the drink umbrella story. Kids tend to make their own fun if given the opportunity. My son doesn't remember either of his cruises at 3yo and 4yo (but when he cruised again at 15yo he was as addicted as his parent!), but I have fond memories. We were in an "outside view" (large porthole window) room and his bed was a bunk above our bed, but we rarely spent time in the room, so the cramped quarters didn't matter to us. Back then, Costa Maya was just a pier and a parking lot, and we took a taxi into "town" (which was about a dozen little shacks back then) then paid a local to take us out in his fishing boat (which was just an open boat with an outboard motor). He took us to a private beach (private as in it was just a long strip of sand with nobody there the entire day we were there) and we swam and snorkeled and built sandcastles -- one of those relaxing days making memories. I often tell people that cruising is the BEST kind of vacation, because you can make it as busy or as slow as you want. There are activities all day long if you want to "do stuff" all the time, or you can just lounge on a deck chair and have a waiter bring you drinks all day long. You can turn in early at night and get up early to watch the sunrise, or you can stay up late listening to live music or dancing to a DJ and sleep in. You make it what YOU want in a vacation, not what anyone else says it "should" be. At 4yo my son did enjoy the kiddie club (not on Royal at that time, but probably similar), but he was used to a preschool/daycare program. He liked going to the evening movie time in his jammies (evening hours that you pay for babysitting in the club) while the adults went out and enjoyed the nightlife. I think enjoyment of the kiddie club depends more on the temperament of the child than the quality of the club's programming.

In Costa Maya, you can look into Maya Chan (https://costamayabeachresort.com/)... each group gets their own palapa, and it's a private beach (so nobody pestering you offering massages, selling trinkets, etc.), and it's never crowded because they stop taking reservations when all the palapas are spoken for. If you let them know in advance, you can get chicken nuggets or hot dogs or something for the kids instead of the fresh-grilled taco bar. For Roatan, if you want a relaxing day, get yourself a private driver to take you to a beach club. I've probably used Let's Go Roatan (https://letsgoroatantours.com/) a dozen times. The kids can swim in the ocean, build sandcastles, etc. As others have said, I think Wonder is going to work fine for you. With the OVB, you and the wife can sit out on the balcony while the kids nap during the day. The carousel, splash zone, etc., will make the whole thing more fun for the kids. And the Aqua Theater and Ice Skating shows will definitely bring the WOW! factor. FWIW, I cruised with my son at 3yo and 4yo a couple decades ago (before splash pads and carousels and ice skating shows), and the cruise can be as busy or as relaxing as you want to make it. He loved getting dressed up to go to dinner (he already knew "restaurant manners" as we ate out a lot at home), and he found fun in the most obscure places. One afternoon he and I ended up in a mostly-empty lounge, and our cocktail waitress from the MDR was working there. She doted on him and he was a little bit in love with her... she gave him a little paper umbrella in his drink and he spent the better part of an hour climbing up on a bar stool and dropping the umbrella and watching it drift to the floor. At the end of our cruise, she gave him a whole package of drink umbrellas; twenty years later, and that's still a fond memory for me. If you do choose Wonder, do NOT try to do everything on the ship -- you'll wear yourselves out for sure. Do what interests you most, and tell yourself you can take another cruise to try the things you didn't have time for.

I was waiting for someone to point that out!

Like Jack, I prefer ships with a Promenade and skating rink. Freedom is my fave class overall, with Voyager class being second, and Oasis class coming in third. However, given the option between B2B 5-day cruises with (I'm assuming) Cozumel and Costa Maya repeated each cruise, or an 11-day with the different ports, I'd be taking the Jewel cruise in a heartbeat! I love the southern islands, and not many itineraries include them because you need an extra day to go the extra distance. As others have stated, you can get snacks at the Lattetudes coffee shop or the Park Cafe in the Solarium. The entertainment is a bit more "meh" on the smaller ships, but I don't cruise for the shows, I cruise for the cruise experience.... days at sea, tropical islands, someone else cooking the food and making my bed, etc. And the demographic is likely to be very different between the two itineraries. The 5-days will have younger adults and kids, while the 11-day will have an older demographic. Since Radiance doesn't have water slides or a Flowrider, people with kids tend to book the bigger ships. And most people who are working can't get away long enough for an 11-day vacation, so more of the passengers are retired on the longer cruises. Just my .02.

I'm gonna need a caretaker whenever I do go visit Down Under. I'll be walking around trying to pet kangaroos and cassowaries and crocodiles and Taz-devils.....

Hey @Ocean Boy, did I ever post this book for you?

Growing up you always had to plan your Halloween costume for the possibility that you'd need to wear a coat/snowsuit underneath it.

I've often said that we need our own support group.... instead of being "Friends of Bill W." we could call it "Friends of Ken H"!!!!

I love that you've trained DS to take CC-style pics with feet and lighthouses! 🤣