HBE4

Same with me except i stopped halfway. I figured I'm still going on the cruise no matter what it says so why bother. After spending several thousand dollars on the cruise, plus flights and hotels/meals for pre- or post- cruise vacations, an extra $50 or $100 in pass thru taxes & fees tacked on is basically nickles and dimes. Annoying? Absolutely yes. Deal breaker? Nope.

I consider "breaking even" to be winning in any casino, land or sea. It's free entertainment as far as I'm concerned. I usually have a budget on how much I plan to lose and if I come in under budget, I consider that winning too!

And I was thinking the yum-yum sauce was in the tall glass in the background. 😁

One of my all time favorite movies, mostly because I fell madly in love with Marisa Tomei. She has a supporting role in a new movie called "Upgraded" and she still has "it"! 🥰

I love some of those old John Wayne westerns. In addition to "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon", there is "Fort Apache", "Red River" and "The Searchers" that are some of my favorites, along with "True Grit", his only Oscar winning performance. I just recently watched John Wayne's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" with Jimmy Stewart and "Stage Coach which was his breakout movie that made him a star. I had seen both before. Amazon Prime has a 1954 movie called "The High and the Mighty" in which Wayne plays a co-pilot whose passenger plane develops engine trouble over the Pacific. It's considered the granddaddy of disaster films, 20 years before the "Airport" series of disaster movies as well as "The Towering Inferno", "Poseidon Adventure", etc. and serves as a template for those movies with their all-star casts. Fun Fact: Robert Stack plays a serious role the pilot fighting his own inner demons which he would later lampoon in the "Airplane" satire spoof movies 20 years later.

Link has been bookmarked & saved for a rainy day or sleepless night. The whole premise of Postmodern Jukebox sound very familiar and now I realize I have seen some of their performances when one of my most favorite American Idols to never win Idol "guest performed (??)" on some of their songs. It seems they have a rotating cast of lead singers. Haley Reinhart performing Radio Heads "Creep"

I just turned on the news & saw video of the Iron Dome at work. Impressive. Good news is always welcomed.

One more electric vehicle post? At the NY Auto Show, Dodge* was showing off their not-yet-released 2025 full-sized, electric RAM pickup truck. with an almost 700 mile range (better than most diesel trucks), that can haul 14,000 pounds (that more than most other pickups) and go from 0-60 in 4.4 seconds (faster than most exotic sports cars). The secret to this magic is a V6 gas engine that powers a generator that charges the batteries that provide power to the electric motor. . You can plug it in at night or take it to a charging station and when the batteries run dry, the gas engine will charge the battery. Technically, it's not a hybrid as the gas engine is not connected to the transmission/drive train so it doesn't drive the car, just recharges the batteries. But with a 700 mile range, that should satisfy the most ardent back country, off-road adventurers. It's the best of both worlds. How real world production models perform is yet to be seen & I'm sure it will be outrageously expensive when it first comes out but with time, price may drop??? And of course, it will suffer the usual first year teething problems but it seems like a step in the right direction. * Officially, RAM is it's own brand, no longer under Dodge. But they will always be Dodge to me.

I saw what you did there. Glad you enjoyed the cruise, in spite of all the uncertainly leading up to it.

I did hit the "Like" button on @dani negreanu's post but it's really me just acknowledging her horrible situation. I did hit the "Like" button on your post because I like it and extend my virtual arms into the virtual group hug as well.

Probably when I was growing up, some of my Italian friends used that word fairly often so I just associated with them.

Agreed. And perhaps both technologies can peacefully co-exist. EV's in densely populated areas where range isn't an issue & the car spends more time sitting in traffic jams than it does moving (and where auto-restart engines really shine!) and gasoline engines in sparsely populated areas or when towing power is really needed. Families might have a few of each depending on their needs. I can hear the arguments now. "Honey, can I use the EV, I don't like driving that loud, smelly, car that's leaking oil!" or "Dad, can I borrow your car because I forgot to plug in my EV last night".

I learn something new every day. I've heard the word used in conversation before & was always a bit confused as to context. I thought it was an insult like saying someone is just "meh!" Unexceptional, dull or average at best. Now I know better when someone is using mensch was a way of praise. Other Yiddish words like Chutzpah and Kvetch actually sound like their meanings. 😉 And since I'm looking at a Yiddish online dictionary, never knew Nosh, Klutz and Schmuck were Yiddish words and always thought Putz was Italian. 🙂

I believe people reap what they sow. The fact that you are on the receiving end of so much love and caring tells me a lot about YOU as a person. And I doubt it's because they want to hear the latest dad joke. 😉🙂

Speaking of TV shows, I just finished watching "Midnight Mass", a horror show on Netflix. Great acting and interesting story line although every episode was about 15 minutes too long, Very preachy. Literally. The ending is pretty heavy too so now I'm alternating between "The Gentleman" and "Kleo" for some lighter, more fun topics.