bobmacliberty

Looks like fun. Can't wait to do the same thing in 11 days, only earlier in the night and at MSG. How was the sound level? Micheline is worried that it will be too loud. She'll definitely have her Loop earplugs with her just in case.

Any idea how they are handling people going up in status if they're on for the full cruise or a quarterly segment? Since they normally have to wait until after the cruise is over to be credited, are they allowing people to bump up after a mini-segment? If I turned Pinnacle during the first quarter, I'd definitely want the pin benefits for the other 3 quarters.

If you hover over the gingerbread man, it says "holiday sharing". Guessing it's recognition for your Sydney holiday posts.

It's Friday night and Ohio State plays in the Cotton Bowl shortly. Time for a smoked Old Fashioned, @Sea Dog style. Your Old Fashioned recipe is still my favorite Greg, although I ran out of rye and had to cheat by doubling up the bourbon. The sacrifices that I make.

I don't know much about purses (ahem...handbags), but I agree with @Keksie. I love it. Looks like you're working from John's drink list? The Newcastle is a give away.

You can download to a device if you pay an extra $10 per month for their 4K Plus add on package. In addition to downloads, it gives you 4K content where available and unlimited streams (i.e. different devices watching YouTube TV at the same time...normally limited to 3 streams). I don't think there's a limit to what you can download but I've never done it, so I'm not sure.

My guess is no, unless the game would be broadcast locally anyway. Only YouTube TV (previously DirecTV) has the residential NFL Sunday Ticket and are therefore the only provider that can broadcast out of market games to homes. Bars and restaurants buy a business version of the NFL Sunday Ticket that still comes from DirecTV. Looks like you'll need to spend 3 hours in a bar. Do a search for a nearby Eagles fan group and you can probably watch with other like-minded people. The place we go to has a big Bills group in one corner and a big Eagles group in another corner. Every now and then we'll hear " E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!", and we'll know they just scored. Almost like this:

Interesting. We've been talking a lot about cord cutting for TV recently and guess what popped up on my YouTube feed...a video about cord cutting. Coincidence? Hmmm. 🤔 I watched the video and it does a good job of discuss all aspects of the process, including several options and budgeting. If you're thinking about ditching your cable company, it's worth a watch. I've got an additional suggestion. If you're an iPhone user (I'm guessing also for Android users, but I don't know), sign up for a streaming service through their app on your phone. The fee then gets charged through Apple Pay, which in my case goes to my Amex credit card, and is managed on the phone as a subscription. The reason I suggest this is that it makes it very easy to manage all of these subscriptions in one place. Go to Settings, touch your name/Apple ID at the top, then touch subscription. Each service is listed separately including how much you're paying (either monthly or annually) and when the next payment is due. If you want to cancel anything, just touch the service and then touch cancel subscription. Very easy.

I used to keep backups on portable hard drives. I've got more than 20,000 photos though, so I finally gave up and am trusting Amazon. 😬

I get what you mean about crowds. There are a few times a year when the island gets overrun. Shrimp Fest is the worst from a crowd standpoint. That video though wasn't actually Shrimp Fest...it was just the New Year's Eve shrimp drop. The Shrimp Festival is in May and is 3 days long, Friday to Sunday. They get more than 100,000 people. 😧 Parking is the worst part. We will usually only go on Friday when the crowds are smaller. Still gives is a chance to taste the great food and typically buy a few things from the local artists. Last year, Micheline found a great set of earrings and a matching necklace from a local jeweler, and the year before we found a beautiful photo of wild horses on Cumberland Island to hang on our dining room wall. If you've not been, I'd suggest checking it out on Friday.

What's that strange thing that Bucky has in his hand? It just doesn't look normal. 😁😜

We just started watching Glitch on Netflix, as recommended by Lenny. Only one episode in but we're hooked. We like that genre...somewhat SciFi (without being over the top SciFi) and somewhat thriller. Thanks Lenny!

One more thing about the Prime increase...I take advantage of Amazon Prime photos. It's a little known part of Amazon Prime where you get unlimited photo storage. I automatically back up all of my photos from my phone and my computer to Amazon Prime photos. I therefore don't both with any other photo backup system.

I believe you are correct. I think they picked GMT for the shrimp drop purely because it lines up nicely with 7:00pm here...a good time to include kids and be done early in the evening. 😁

I'd suggest switching to YouTube TV but they've had negotiation issues with specific broadcasters in the past as well. Not sure there's any way to avoid it. It usually means that the broadcaster wants more money from the cable company/streaming service to allow them to include their content. That means either the cable company/streaming service makes less money, or they need to pass on a price increase to us, the consumers who are stuck in the middle. It usually ends up being a game of chicken where a broadcaster like CBS is temporarily dropped from the service. The cable company/streaming service then has upset customers who switch to a different service, while the broadcaster like CBS loses eyeballs and advertising money. Eventually, either one side or the other folds, or they come to a compromise, and the broadcaster is again available to use consumers. I also got the notice about Prime Video adding commercials. Yuck. I'll probably pay the $2.99 per month hostage fee just to avoid the commercials. It's not a lot of money, but it really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. We buy a LOT from Amazon, so I'll instead view it as the price going up for all of the free Prime shipping that we get. Feels better that way.

Another dad joke trifecta. 🤣

As @George C noted, we're watching the Bills game on Sunday afternoon. Then home to change out of our Bills gear and into something a little fancier for dinner with 3 other couples at 7:30. We might be able to make the big New Year's Eve event here...the shrimp drop (instead of a ball drop) and fireworks. Yes...shrimping is a big deal here, the birth place of the modern shrimping industry. The shrimp drop happens at 7:00 instead of midnight. They use 7:00 since that's midnight GMT, it allows it to be a more family friendly event, and so that everyone can be at home and in bed by 10:00. 😁 Here's the shrimp drop from 2019 before covid. I expect similar crowds this year.

Kelce's reduced production this year isn't because of Taylor or commercials. It's because KC doesn't have a number 1 WR and opposing teams can game plan Travis out. You can see how frustrating that is to him. Other team's have always tried to double team Kelce in the past but could never fully commit to this without risking leaving someone like Tyrek, Hardman, or JuJu open. In the past, it was pick your poison. Not this year. I think the Chiefs will go hard after a star free agent/draft pick WR in the off season. That should bring life back to Kelce. He could have another 2-3 good years in him and my guess is he'd want a shot at another Super Bowl if he could get it. So long as he has Mahomes... Agreed. Way too much talk that never comes true. The curse of social media where anyone can post whatever they want. Happens to Stefon Diggs all the time (this just yesterday). Even mainstream sports media is guilty of click bait reporting these days. Kelce will be done only when he says he's done. Hopefully everything went well with Linda's surgery and she is already on the mend. You guys both deserve to enjoy some extended injury free time!

We started watching All the Light We Cannot See on Netflix. Excellent. We're through the first 2 episodes with only 4 episodes total. From IMDB: The story of Marie-Laure, a blind French teenager, and Werner, a German soldier, whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

No, no, no. Not duct tape…WD-40. Remember…if it’s supposed to move and it doesn’t, WD-40 is the answer.

It was in one of John’s reviews where they did a TA in an ATS, if I remember correctly. The Genie had the cake made for Laura’s birthday.

I’ve never heard of Mary Frances and had to Google it. We’ve never met, but I’m going to guess this.

That makes a lot of sense for this type of cruise. Since they can't just resupply at the end of the cruise like normal, they've had to plan various resupply ports along the way in advance. If they see something fresh and good at one of the ports, buy it and turn it into a special meal for that evening. That would add some nice variation to the menu.

+5. Have a safe trip home and Merry Christmas!