kochleffel

Have it your way but I refuse to pay the price of 500 grams for what is really only 454. It is too late for me to edit or delete my post but I will flag it for a moderator to remove if it bothers you that much.

I won't say that I knew who Ada Lovelace was, because that would be bragging. In the 1970s, Ohio had a highway director who believed that the U.S. would eventually transition to the metric system, and he started to prepare us for it by posting signs along the interstate highways that were 60 miles from destinations: COLUMBUS 60 mi 100 km That's not strictly accurate, but it was close enough for government work. My father hated the metric system with a passion, and nearly had apoplexy every time he saw one of these. There are restaurants in Europe that price fish, especially, and sometimes meat by the 100 grams. It's not that hard to remember that a pound is 454 grams, so 100 grams would be a little less than 1/4 pound. I would like the versions of chicken penne pasta that don't also contain dairy ingredients, but would pass on the drink. For Pinot Noir, I'd consider Fulkerson 2019 Pinot Noir (again). I haven't been to Wellington, NZ, but I've been to Wellington, Ohio. 1899 African-American inventor Issac R. Johnson patents the bicycle frame. To be clear, he didn't invent the bicycle; he was working on a bicycle frame that could be folded or disassembled, but the modular frame he invented is the one we use today for most bicycles.

The only curious event that comes readily to mind is that of Sherlock Holmes and the dog in the night-time. The meal does not sound really good to me. I'd rather have Roy's alternative, but I'd also rather be aboard a cruise ship. The drink is just a gimmick to sell more Jim Beam. It's not as if no one has ever thought of putting Bourbon in lemonade. For the wine, I might consider Fulkerson Red Blend, made with Noiret and Cabernet Franc, "aromas of plum and white pepper with flavors of black cherry, vanilla and spice." I haven't been to Jeju/Cheju or anywhere in Korea. A former colleague of mine, trained as a sociologist, was almost denied entry into South Korea. Apparently they thought that a sociologist was a professional socialist. Today is the first day of donations for the rummage sale, and I have things to take. I also need to get to the organic growers' market and a supermarket, and do the assigned reading for my class.

I'm back from the Abrahamic Path Walk. It only rained a little. The meal suggestion doesn't sound very good to me, but I would probably like the drink (once, at least). Rack and return is fairly widely used, especially with Pinot Noir, but the only Finger Lakes winery that I know for sure uses it is Keuka Spring, for their Epic Reserve, which is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet. I haven't been to Split.

I walked to school in elementary school. After that my dad usually drove me, or I took the city bus, but I walked home. Does anyone have a recipe for Mongolian lasagna? I'm imagining that it would be cooked at the table. Actual dinner tonight will be beef stew. I used some Hungarian paprika but not enough for it to be a goulash, and some red cardboardeaux, but not enough for it to be a bourgignon. The drink sounds awfully complicated. They do not dry grapes after harvest in the Finger Lakes--it's too rainy--but they do let some of them stay on the vine and freeze, for ice wine. The result of that, and of some mold growth, is a sweet wine that can taste of any other kind of fruit. It is not really different from an Auslese but no one admits that. Sheldrake Point's 2019 Riesling Ice Wine would be an example, but as it's $60 for a half bottle, I'm unlikely to try it. I haven't been to Skye. The r-a-i-n has stopped and I hope that it doesn't resume, because tomorrow I'm one of the hosts for an Abrahamic Walk. The pure form of that is for a group of people to walk the route that Abraham and Sarah presumably took from Ur to Haran to Jerusalem. People do this, when conditions permit, and it's a source of income for villages along the way. The impure form is for an interreligious group to walk together on a route that includes a synagogue, a church, and a mosque. We can't even do that fully, because the only synagogue and the only mosque are too far apart and there is no safe walking route between them anyway. So we walk between two of them, both ways, and then drive to the third, where everyone eats together.

Doctors, of course, used a large medical book, to make it more scientific.

I'm aware of the Norröna from a visit to the Faroes several years ago (on Atlantic Airways, not the ship), but that route doesn't go to Ireland.

I have been following the tale of the radio station in North Carolina that decided to drop six broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera season. The reasons given were that the works were not in classical music style, depicted violence and adult themes, contained bad language, and were in English. Several people people pointed out that various of the other operas, those that the station would allow, were vulnerable to the same objections, except that they weren't in English, so I guess no one would notice. The station has since reversed its position, but there were several new or newish operas in the list that I thought I'd like to see. One that I have seen, at the Washington National Opera, is Dead Man Walking, based on the book by Sister Helen Prejean, which has become one of the most-performed operas in the U.S. The Met's production will star Joyce De Donato and Ryan McKinny, who is singing the role of De Rocher almost everywhere right now. Two are by Black composers and have Black casts. One of these is about Malcolm X. A third, El Niño, is about the Nativity, with lyrics in English, Spanish, and Latin. One of them is running in November, and I'd have to go to it soon after returning from the Spanish Farewell (obligatory cruise tie-in). Since I'm going to New York at the beginning of January for a cruise from Cape Liberty, I'll probably let that one go by. In New York I might see Nabucco, by Verdi, which is about the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in the 6th century B.C.E. and probably not controversial. Two others are playing consecutively a couple of times in April, but I can't buy tickets now, because I don't know what day my class in the spring will meet. And I need to order Glimmerglass tickets as soon as possible, not because it's hard to get tickets, but because it's hard to book rooms in Cooperstown.

Are there any cruises that follow this itinerary?

The term "mad as a hatter" comes from the hatmaking industry, where mercury was used, causing poisoning with symptoms that resembled insanity. "Mad Hatter" refers to Alice in Wonderland, but the character there is called just the Hatter. The physician assistants I've encountered, in primary care and at the ER, were excellent. I agree with Einstein but I would not limit it to fairy tales, which are a specific subgenre of folk tales. I remember the mass vaccination campaigns using the Sabin oral vaccine, which began in the U.S. in 1961. The trials of it took place outside the U.S., mostly in the Soviet Union, because the introduction of the Salk injected vaccine in 1955 had reduced the community circulation of the polio virus too much to make a U.S. trial valid. Oral polio vaccines are used in much of the world, but an improved version of the injectable one is used now in the U.S. I would be fine with the cod in tomato curry, might like the drink but not too often. For a Pinot Noir, I'd go with Lakewood Vineyards 2022, although it's another one that's only available by subscription. I've been to Albany in Oregon and New York, and New Albany in Indiana, but never to the one in Australia.

(Not that all Canada geese are Canadian.)

My top one would be starting political discussions with strangers. It has happened to me twice. Once just a (possibly drunk) British passenger at a shared dinner table carrying on about American politics, once several different passengers, all from the U.S., starting to yell at me the moment they learned where I lived.

I don't think you need a prescription for the RSV vaccine in the U.S., if you are in a group for which it's intended: adults over 60, those who are pregnant, and young children. HOWEVER, the recommendation is for "shared decision-making," meaning that you're supposed to consult your health-care provider. As far as I can tell, a pharmacy won't ask you to prove that you did. "Adults 60 years and older should talk with their health care provider about whether RSV vaccination is right for them. There is no maximum age for getting RSV vaccination. RSV vaccine is given as a single dose." https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/rsv/index.html One other thing to consider is that, because it goes to Medicare Part D, not Part B, your Part D plan may not cover it in full. As it's a new, brand-name drug, my plan will have it in Tier I and I haven't met the deductible this year, there will be a large co-pay, like there was for Shingrix.

It's discouraging that there is a special day for doing something nice. I would want to know what the squash is stuffed with, or is it stuffed with wild rice? I might like the drink, but not too frequently. For a Finger Lakes Pinot Blanc, I'd consider Weis Vineyards Pinot Blanc 2021, although I couldn't buy it, as the sale is restricted to "club members." In other words, an annual subscription that is sort of like a CSA. I've been to Norway but not to Tromsø.

That's why I also didn't say more.

In some products it's just the spices, not any pumpkin. OTOH.... I wonder how long before stores begin offering pumpkin-spiced kale.

I'll add to the frappe/frappé discussion that in Boston, a frappe is what the rest of the U.S. calls a milkshake, and a milkshake is chocolate milk that has been shaken or blended until it's foamy. Tortellini soup would be OK with me in principle, but not "creamy" and "with sausage" at the same time. The cocktail frightens me: a Roku is a streaming device, and I don't think it should be added to gin. No Finger Lakes wine that is really similar to a Rioja, so I'll treat it as a wild card and go with Keuka Spring Millers Cove Red. I haven't been to Villefranche. I spent the morning writing an assignment due at 1:00 today, and at 1:30 I have a meeting with my professor about a different assignment. That one is due while I'll be aboard ship, and because of uncertainty about Internet access, I want to finish it before I go.

I was just about to post that Delta would want to keep you on Skyteam--and you would want that, too, because they could just refund the money instead of booking you on an airline of another alliance. In addition to Boston, there are flights to Amsterdam from Detroit, Minneapolis, and Atlanta, plus Air France routings via Paris. Those would be less convenient. Congrats on keeping the premium seats.

My Panama Canal booking is on the Gem, on which I sailed in 2018 for a New England and Canada itinerary. The Alaska booking is on the Jade, which I was on last year from Athens. They're nearly identical.

In 2021, I traveled in Alaska using the state ferry system, with three overnights. On one ferry I had an oceanview cabin, but the window was tiny. On another, an inside. Since I spent almost all of the daylight hours on deck, it didn't matter.

In December, I was driving back from Washington, D.C. and stopped at a Waffle House. Waffle Houses are open 24/7/365 and people in emergency management even use them as an indicator: if the Waffle House is closed, conditions are really bad. As I reached for the door handle, the manager opened the door from inside, with a CLOSED sign in his hand. Reason: no workers for the next shift. Not a weather disaster, but a medical one. They all all the flu.

I had a balcony for a Baltic cruise a few years ago. It was wonderful in the Stockholm archipelago and unusable for most of the rest of the cruise.

Yes. But on CC there are always people who say that Alaska cruises must, must, must be on Holland America or Princess, in a balcony cabin, include Glacier Bay, you name it, someone jumps in with it. I also have a booking for a Panama Canal cruise on another NCL ship, sibling of this one, with the same cabin number and type. But these will finally use up my FCC.

Thank you, @VMax1700. I was just about to post that your live reports include the daily programs and that tai chi was at 8:00.

After vacillating as long as possible, I placed a deposit on the 2025 cruise to Whittier. From the point of view of many people here, I'm doing everything wrong: it's on NCL, the itinerary doesn't include Glacier Bay even though NCL will have cruises that do in 2025, and I booked an inside cabin. One of the reasons I didn't let the hold expire is that it's a "sideways" inside, which feels more spacious to me even though it's really the same size.