The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[StarWarsGirl]

In other news....it's 42 outside.

View attachment 165350

Bleh!

Our overnight lows aren't even that cold yet. In the 60s and low 70s during the day and the 50s at night.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I can see both sides of your DD and her husband. She got cheated kinda. He on the other hand all of sudden had three to provide for and educate etc. 4 could be overwhelming when the bliss wears off and reality settles in.

The "rest of the story" is that his previous children were not living with them, they had moved clear out to Utah, his X was making massive amounts of money and had no need for Child Support, although he was providing some, and they were both about 4 years away from no longer qualifying for Child Support. He just didn't want to have any more children. That I understand, I for sure wanted to stop at two, but, then again, I didn't promise anyone, as a provision of marriage, that I was in agreement.

She wasn't asking for 6, just two and as it turns out, although they both work now, she is the primary income provider, so even that isn't a valid position. We all know who primarily takes care of babies. (Not an agreement, just a statement of fact) No, she apparently has forgiven him, and it is not my place to really care, but, it still upsets me that she only wanted two kids and he only cared about what he wanted. But, like I said it isn't any of my business.

 

[Cesar R M]

In other news....it's 42 outside.

View attachment 165350

In the other side.. we were at 100F (38C yesterday).. I was the total opposite of this (with A.C boosting to the max lol)

 

[Cesar R M]

TRIP REPORT, DAY 2!!!

Spoiler: September 1 2016 - Miami Airport, Miami Beach and Hotel

We arrived to Miami Airport. The airport itself is HUGE. The concourse we were in, was as big as concourse E from Houston Intercontinental Airport.

So we had to walk like.. 3 miles, change elevation 2 times (via staircases) and then head to the Homeland Security security center.
There was 2 very different lines. I had my card to enter via the kiosks, but again mother was with me and this was a completely different airport which we did not know. So I went with her and we braced for the lines.
The lines were big, but they had almost all the booths Open. We had no problem stating where we were heading and what was our plan for our trip. He gave us a "enjoy your cruise!" after he sealed our documents and we went on our way!.
Funny that he didnt even reviewed my passport much as I still had 5 months active permit from my prior trip to Houston.
So he just did another seal and inside I was.

Now we had to pick up our bags, declare our stuff and then leave the airport.
This was tricky as one of the doors was closed for remodel (the entire airport was under heavy remodeling and rebuilding). And our baggage chain was the farthest one.
Not to mention that as soon you get out. of the baggage area, you cant exit the "outside of the airport". You had to go using a circular ramp towards a lower floor. (this ramp had a nice world map painted with effects in the center).

Then we ordered an Ubber.
We had a nice fellow from Cuba as our driver who had no problem explaining the whole thing about Miami and Miami Beach (I did not know they were different towns with their own mayors !).

We were also surprised by the huge amount of construction that was going on almost in all zones. Specially big tall apartment buildings.







One of the things that I loved about Miami (and Cancun and St. Maarten). Is that they have water on 2 fronts, the rivers, the lakes and multiple waterways. Then the huuuge bridges in Miami's case.

Our Hotel (Lexington Hotel) was very conveniently set right by the second bridge zone (by Jew district of Miami Beach).
very close to were Collin's Avenue merges with another avenue.

The hotel was way better than we expected. I mean, seriously, there are nightmarish reviews on tripadvisor about tons of problems. From construction folks working all day in hallways, to bedbugs and other stuff.
We experienced nothing of that. Infact, our only problem was the Safe that had no power and was not working.


Heres a shot of the Hotel from the Beach zone (this was taken on the third day).
Note the tarp blocking the old "Days Inn" signage.

Rooms looked like they were recently renovated. Some even had paint splotches in some areas from the renovation.


Just a mere block away, the causeway/river was visible. Pretty!

The best part of this hotel is that it had tourist buses stop right infront. So all touristic buses did stop there to pick up people.
Taxis and Ubers are galore. so you wont have trouble finding an Uber and get to your destinations. We got nightmarish prices quoted on normal taxis so we stayed with Uber all the time. We had a very pleasant time and only one we had a subpar service (where our driver got lost and pushed me to give him 5 stars).

Anyway, we settled in, showered, got ready and we instantly left to buy tours.
We only had 2 more days and we wanted to do as much as possible.

So we settled for a 1 full day big bus tours 'on off' service. Which means you can get up in any of the stops anytime for the 24 hours your ticket lasts.

Some funny thing is, We flagged the wrong bus. It was absolutely identical to the big bus tours except it had a tiny "Miami City Tours and Safari". They nicely corrected us and we waited for the next bus.
The bus took a bit of time to appear but once we were inside. It was all good.

The bus itself is not the touristic one, but to pick people from the hotels and then "carry" them to the "loop" buses.
These buses run nonstop in loops around 3 different designated areas (miami beach, downtown miami, new miami) and you can get as many times as you want.

We had purchased the package that included a "cruise" on the bay as well. So we were pretty ready for the whole affair.

Once we got to the bus stop for the Miami Beach loop, we graciously were lead to the correct bus and aboard we went!. The bus was almost empty so It was very pleasant. Only downside was.. THE SUN WAS SO HOT IT WAS MELTING US D:









After passing most of Miami Beach, we were headed to the "main operations" base to switch Buses.
This was in downtown Miami in the main marina. (where bubba gump and the main show arena is )

END OF PART 1.. NEXT.. BUS CHANGE AND VIZCAYA HOUSE AND GARDENS

 

[Cesar R M]

And again , sorry to pest you guys..
If you can share with in your social networks.. would be really appreciated.

https://www.plumfund.com/medical-fund/help-me-maintain-my-hearing

 

[Songbird76]

Me, I see no problem with the news addressing exactly what is happening. Me< I question more the administrators of the school for subjecting young students with overwhelming reports and images. Our school system informed all parents the day after 9/11 that the school would stick to cirriculm and not address 9/11 at the Elementary level schools and they would leave that to parents descression at home.

I think it's more the children's news program...they need to think about what they are including. Pretty much all the schools use the same news source and it's made especially FOR children. So it needs to be child appropriate, and some of the things just aren't. I mean, they called in counselors and everything 2 weeks ago when the father was attacked and the kids all saw it. How do they expect children to react to images of children washing up on the shore, or bloody from a bomb?

 

[Cesar R M]

PART 2: Big Bus Tours Downtown and Vizcaya House and Gardens.

Spoiler: September 1 - Part 2

As I was explaining.. We got close to the "big bus tours" main central station, where all the big bus loops start.

right by the center of Miami Downtown.

Moving Towards downtown


Some of the many centers, cultural centers, theaters, etc.. in this area.




Which also include the Arena (they were announcing Disney on Ice, shows starting 1 week AFTER we left.. bummer lol)

American Airlines Arena

We were getting close to the change of bus.
It was nicely set right next to a big market, fishing points, tons of restaurants and tons of boat tours.


At the Port Miami

Once we took the tour to the city.. mostly was boring stuff about big buildings, kinda hard to take photos because the buildings were HUGE and the bus was driving pretty fast..

Also, some of the connectors of the "sound" of the bus were not working.

Luckily for me, I was always watching everywhere and checking everything.
We seen some guys stop then noticed it was a Museum.
My mother didn't want to get down the bus claiming it might not be important. And the bus sound loop hasnt said much other than "Viscaya Museum".
We got down.. surprise.. Viscaya Museum and Garden is HUGE.. and absolutely beautiful. Id say that state is worth a half day visit to check the gardens and the views. As well the house exhibits. Unfortunately no photos from inside the House, there were armed police officers (I wonder if robbers armed to the teeth tried to steal, because these officers had pistols, one had shotgun and the other a submachinegun)


Entrance to the Vizcaya state.

The Museum requires a bit of walk so better get comfy shoes or tennis.

This is the "car" entrance and leads directly to the parking lot for visitors.
There is also a different trail that has a very small walking road that goes into a trail on the outside "forested" area of the house.
Then you will see quite a bit of statues like these around the place.


There is also a small mobile stand for paying the entrance fees( to maintain the place).


Then theres this really nice entrance to the front of the House (visible in the background). It has a series of fountains on what it seems carved in Sea/coral rocks.

The place is full of fountains and greens. I love it!



There were some heavy renovation processes going on. 2 rooms were completely inaccessible and another did display the techniques they used to restore some of the original furniture. Which was ravaged by Pests and wood eating insects.

But this house was amazing in different ways. Every single room is different from the other. From style to details. They clash of very modern (at the time) stuff with the ancient Greco and Roman, Napoleonic and Italian styles.

I particularly liked the "music" room. It was beyond surreal. There was not a single part of the walls that was not detailed by either paintings, rugs or plasters.


Side of the house, facing the main gardens

They eve had a huge pool in one of the corners leading to the museum's store and restaurant.

The main room was partially accessible and was also impressive.

Onwards to Part 3!!!

 

[Cesar R M]

More of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens

Spoiler: September 1 - Part 3

The Gardens also are gorgeous. There are so many areas to view. We were limited in time so we didnt check the place fully.
Wishing we had more time.

The gardens also feature a ton of sculptures inspired in Roman and Italian works.




And fountains everywhere..


Not to mention some very pretty flowers!


Staircases with lots of Coral rocks

View to the villa from the same spot as last photo (just 180 degree).


They even had these really big fountains.

and even tunnels and bridges.




Lots and lots of sculptures (this is the opposite side of the other photos)

Have some Panoramas:

Viewing the entrance of the Fountain, going towards the main garden. On my left, the dark bridges and tunnels.

Wildlifet is interesting too, never seen this kind of lizard before.
Very bright yellow head.


Then we decided to return to the house area and go towards the bay view.
The bay view is beautiful. But whats stunning is that there is an imitation of a frigate/ship carved in rock. Which works as barrier to let small boats dock.

All inspired in Venetian design and style.

The "Boat" had some damage. NO surprise as the house has suffered its varied row of hurricane hits.

Tune in for PART 4 later on! More related to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens and more of Big Bus Tours.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

 

[Gabe1]

I think it's more the children's news program...they need to think about what they are including. Pretty much all the schools use the same news source and it's made especially FOR children. So it needs to be child appropriate, and some of the things just aren't. I mean, they called in counselors and everything 2 weeks ago when the father was attacked and the kids all saw it. How do they expect children to react to images of children washing up on the shore, or bloody from a bomb?

Again I don't have a good understanding of how your school systems work over there. I can only speak to how student cirriculm is approved here. Here the schools and district have control and while some items must be taught there is latitutde on how it is implemented at a district, school level.

If we, the School District finds anything that is not appropriate we drop it. So if this Childrens News Program is that inappropriate they'd be gone. We had a similar issue with which outside vendor handled our Sex Education instruction. We moved onto another vendor. As a board member when I would heard too many rummblings and complaints I knew that was the time for the board to ask our administrators for a review though often it was the teachers and principals that would get wind of something going wrong first, as it hopefully should be. But that is the pecking order here in the state, like I said I have no idea how your schools are structured and what powers your administrators and teachers have to institute changes.

 

[Cesar R M]

View attachment 165472

dont forget the spider one.. that is "nope nope nope nope"

 

[Gabe1]

The "rest of the story" is that his previous children were not living with them, they had moved clear out to Utah, his X was making massive amounts of money and had no need for Child Support, although he was providing some, and they were both about 4 years away from no longer qualifying for Child Support. He just didn't want to have any more children. That I understand, I for sure wanted to stop at two, but, then again, I didn't promise anyone, as a provision of marriage, that I was in agreement.

She wasn't asking for 6, just two and as it turns out, although they both work now, she is the primary income provider, so even that isn't a valid position. We all know who primarily takes care of babies. (Not an agreement, just a statement of fact) No, she apparently has forgiven him, and it is not my place to really care, but, it still upsets me that she only wanted two kids and he only cared about what he wanted. But, like I said it isn't any of my business.

Curious, what is the age difference between your DD and her hubby? He is a fortunate man, give the wage disparities between men and women on the grand scale, to have 2 wifes that were the primary income he beat the odds on that one.

Me there wasn't much discussion. I just flat out said I can't do a third (on purpose anyhow and he took care of that issue.) Raising kids as you know is a lot of work and very expensive. My second kid came with some Special Needs that needed attending to and that fell soley in my lap. Then we found out she had a very high IQ despite being an IEP student. For me I was done. No regrets, it gave us time to devote to each kid, we conquored and divided often-one would have baseball the other softball and so forth. And when it came to college, Dear Lord 2 kids beyond expensive.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Curious, what is the age difference between your DD and her hubby? He is a fortunate man, give the wage disparities between men and women on the grand scale, to have 2 wifes that were the primary income he beat the odds on that one.

Me there wasn't much discussion. I just flat out said I can't do a third (on purpose anyhow and he took care of that issue.) Raising kids as you know is a lot of work and very expensive. My second kid came with some Special Needs that needed attending to and that fell soley in my lap. Then we found out she had a very high IQ despite being an IEP student. For me I was done. No regrets, it gave us time to devote to each kid, we conquored and divided often-one would have baseball the other softball and so forth. And when it came to college, Dear Lord 2 kids beyond expensive.

He is 14 years older then she is. And yes he was very "fortunate" to hook up with two women that had the ability to achieve a strong income potential. I don't know if that was the original case with his first wife or not. I do know that when he married my daughter she was just out of College, had a minor job and other then a degree from Tulane, no real skill yet. So it wasn't an intentional fruitful hookup. I would guess that it probably worked out for the better, because although he is a very intelligent and hard working guy, he has the temperament of a certain orange politician and has quit more jobs in anger then many people have ever applied for. He had a sting of good luck and then after a blistering couple of years of "where's he working today", for good money, his luck finally ended and he is now contributing, but, about half of what his wife is. Had she had more children one has to wonder if that might have prevented her from reaching a high level in the business world, so I guess, even though she still mentions it from time to time, I don't think it is a big issue right now. It just makes me feel sad, because when one gets older and have more time to consider the woulda, coulda and shoulda's of life we tend to start a lot of sentences with "if only I had". But, it's all conjecture and probably the case is that we do and get where we are supposed to be in life.

 

[MinnieM123]

PART 2: Big Bus Tours Downtown and Vizcaya House and Gardens.

Spoiler: September 1 - Part 2

As I was explaining.. We got close to the "big bus tours" main central station, where all the big bus loops start.

right by the center of Miami Downtown.
View attachment 165437
Moving Towards downtown

View attachment 165438
Some of the many centers, cultural centers, theaters, etc.. in this area.

View attachment 165439


Which also include the Arena (they were announcing Disney on Ice, shows starting 1 week AFTER we left.. bummer lol)
View attachment 165440
American Airlines Arena

We were getting close to the change of bus.
It was nicely set right next to a big market, fishing points, tons of restaurants and tons of boat tours.

View attachment 165441
At the Port Miami

Once we took the tour to the city.. mostly was boring stuff about big buildings, kinda hard to take photos because the buildings were HUGE and the bus was driving pretty fast..

Also, some of the connectors of the "sound" of the bus were not working.

Luckily for me, I was always watching everywhere and checking everything.
We seen some guys stop then noticed it was a Museum.
My mother didn't want to get down the bus claiming it might not be important. And the bus sound loop hasnt said much other than "Viscaya Museum".
We got down.. surprise.. Viscaya Museum and Garden is HUGE.. and absolutely beautiful. Id say that state is worth a half day visit to check the gardens and the views. As well the house exhibits. Unfortunately no photos from inside the House, there were armed police officers (I wonder if robbers armed to the teeth tried to steal, because these officers had pistols, one had shotgun and the other a submachinegun)

View attachment 165443
Entrance to the Vizcaya state.

The Museum requires a bit of walk so better get comfy shoes or tennis.

This is the "car" entrance and leads directly to the parking lot for visitors.
There is also a different trail that has a very small walking road that goes into a trail on the outside "forested" area of the house.
Then you will see quite a bit of statues like these around the place.
View attachment 165444

There is also a small mobile stand for paying the entrance fees( to maintain the place).

View attachment 165445
Then theres this really nice entrance to the front of the House (visible in the background). It has a series of fountains on what it seems carved in Sea/coral rocks.

The place is full of fountains and greens. I love it!
View attachment 165446


There were some heavy renovation processes going on. 2 rooms were completely inaccessible and another did display the techniques they used to restore some of the original furniture. Which was ravaged by Pests and wood eating insects.

But this house was amazing in different ways. Every single room is different from the other. From style to details. They clash of very modern (at the time) stuff with the ancient Greco and Roman, Napoleonic and Italian styles.

I particularly liked the "music" room. It was beyond surreal. There was not a single part of the walls that was not detailed by either paintings, rugs or plasters.

View attachment 165447
Side of the house, facing the main gardens

They eve had a huge pool in one of the corners leading to the museum's store and restaurant.

The main room was partially accessible and was also impressive.

Onwards to Part 3!!!

Cesar, I like your trip report. I've also been to Vizcaya years ago when I worked for a hotel company. One of our properties was over in Key Biscayne, and I took a taxi over to visit Vizcaya. It was gorgeous, and a lovely place to take your mom.

I also like Miami Beach--very exciting and colorful city. But man, it can get HOT down there!!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Today was in the low 50's and we had some rain, I'm not really liking this cooler weather.

On a funny and strange note...my 7th graders were giving presentations today and during one group's presentation all of a sudden one kid (who is presenting) starts crawling around on the floor. I was like WHAT?!? It had nothing to do with the topic either....I think it will be a long school year with these 7th graders. My 8th and 9th graders are fine, at least as of right now.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

 

[MOXOMUMD]

Today was in the low 50's and we had some rain, I'm not really liking this cooler weather.

On a funny and strange note...my 7th graders were giving presentations today and during one group's presentation all of a sudden one kid (who is presenting) starts crawling around on the floor. I was like WHAT?!? It had nothing to do with the topic either....I think it will be a long school year with these 7th graders. My 8th and 9th graders are fine, at least as of right now.

You sure have some interesting students!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

You sure have some interesting students!

Yeah, I think this year I will have some interesting stories. This group is the most immature group we have had in a long time. The boys are especially needy, we have already had a lot of crying boys because someone looked at them funny. And the girls seemed to either ignore the boys or "mother" the boys. So I have to try some humor in them.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

@figmentfan423 Did your boys see the final episodes of Regular Show are on every night this week at 8? Steven Universe is on at 830 so my daughter has been extra good so she can stay up until 9.

 

[Cesar R M]

I also like Miami Beach--very exciting and colorful city. But man, it can get HOT down there!!!

I know.. We ended Sunburned when we boarded the Oasis on the third day. We had bought some very strong sun block in the local pharmacy to prevent getting more.