The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[donaldtoo]

If you'll indulge me, just a few more pictures of our day of fun at the Arboretum....
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On one of the trails it took us past a large marsh. We saw a loon, and it must of been on its nest, at least it looked like a nest under it.
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And a duck! Looks like a mallard
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Gorgeous, to all 3 posts!!!
Sooooo beautiful! Thanks for sharing...!!!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

In my travels today I seemed to have cornered the market on cucumbers. Somebody at the grocer ordered way too many organic baby cukes their sale is my gain I have 3 large bowls with marinating cucumbers 1 with onions and apple cider vinegar mustard dressing 2 spring onions rice wine vinegar, siracha and sesame oil and 3 onion, tomato, white beans with balsamic vinegarette

Sorry, all I heard was sriracha...!!!
OK, all that other stuff sounds great, too, but, the sriracha was what really got my attention...!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

As long as we've been going there has always been some type of dining perk in the fall. Before free dining we had a TS breakfast including character breakfasts. We also had tacked on free waterpark (once Typhoon opened) and free minigolf. Plus it was booked at value season rate not like Rack Rate it is tied to now. Last time we did free dining it was required we stay minimum in a garden view room rack rate.

We've added it all up and deemed the room discount a better deal now. I can only imagine how many guests switched from Moderate to Value today when they formally announced both would receive quick service. Wonder how many guests cancelled? DD said all sorts of dining reservations popped up today.

To quote a former (and since passed ) local radio talk show host (in the part of a Disney exec.) "I'm a money-grubbin' skumbag!!!"...!!!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

We always found that we do financially better with the room discount as well. With the dining plan we felt we lost a lot of park time because we always had to make sure we had enough time for ADR's.

Yep, another great point...!

 

[donaldtoo]

Dandelion Greens are not in my diet. I guess I can't miss what I've never had. Makes me think of all the Beverly Hillbilly episodes that I watched. Eating stuff, I would never let touch my lips.

 

[BAChicagoGal]

Thanks for all the wonderful flower photos. When we lived in our very first house, I had a lot of spring flowers. I would order the bulbs from the Burpee catalogue, and plant them in the Fall. Then in the Spring, my garden would be so colorful. I didn't do that as much in the house we live in now. Although, I do still have a few bulbs that pop up every Spring. I used to spend lots of time on soil preparation, and had good luck with my plants. Now, I can't get the grass seed to grow. My soil is terrible. I guess I need to rework the soil, before reseeding the bare spots again.

 

[Gabe1]

Soon we will need a Doctorate in Military strategy, dangers and counters. All to just be able to run all the hops for planning a vacation to a Disney property.

Ha! That genuinely made me laugh. Just being in the know of how to actually be able to reach Disney reservations on the days offers are released, setting an alarm to book FP+ and ADRs is a challenge to seasoned veterans.

Now do you pay the upcharge of $25 to ride an internal bus between parks so you don't waste touring time going through security areas.

 

[Gabe1]

We saw a goose family, with 6 little ones
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And a turtle family
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Some more flowers
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There were some neat sculptures around the Arboretum, they had kaleidoscopes, to look at the flowers through and the tray with flowers spun as well.
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Then we did the 3 mile drive and saw some blooming crab apples tress.
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Awe. Flowers so pretty but loved the baby geese and turtles.

 

[Gabe1]

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We decided to drive into St. Paul then for lunch, we thought we would eat at an Italian deli, but we saw a new Bierhaus and Sausage place had opened so we decided to eat there and then have dessert at the Italian deli. It ended up being a good choice. The sausages were very tasty.
I started with a local beer flight, the beers were a little light for me but still tasty.
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A wild rice and asiago sausage with beer buttered onions.
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fresh cut fries with a bbq and sriracha mayo dipping sauces.
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And a German knockwurst with caramelized onions.
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A view of the Italian deli. We got hazelnut and dark chocolate gelato here and a chocolate peanut butter mousse bomb. Then we shopped the deli and brought home a bunch of good stuff.
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It was a fun time!

All of that food looked so awesome. Slurp.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

All of that food looked so awesome. Slurp.

It was pretty awesome, especially the gelato!

 

[donaldtoo]

With current tech, I dont think the cataract surgery is that much of a fuzz.

Yep, my pops pop had the surgery way back in '76, and, even back then, it did wonders for his vision.
Unfortunately, we lost him to colon cancer 2 years later.

 

[donaldtoo]

Hahaaa...!
Essentially, the same thing my pop, as a coach, used to tell all parents on the first day of little league practice...!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

So do you remember making gum wrapper chains?

or remember Grandma with her rain bonnets she kept in her purse? (I saw a guy last week with a grocery bag around his hair during a rain storm)

Or do you remember the original Jolly Ranchers?

Or remember playing with Romper Stompers

Or do you remember riding a bike with a banana seat?

Or remember how expensive it was to take a photo?

All of the above, again...!

 

[donaldtoo]

OK gang, off like a dirty shirt for tonight...!
Y'all be cool, and sweet Disney dreams to all...!!!
Laterrrrrrrrrrr...!!!!!

 

[Gabe1]

They're also sturdy watches, at a very reasonable price (especially at Kohls with various coupon offers, etc.). I have a bunch of Timex watches in various colors, etc., that I've collected over the years. Only one actually broke, but the others were great. All I've ever done is occasionally have to replace a battery.

I've had all sorts of watches over the years too but like you and @betty rose my Timex watches gave me the least grief. I had one real cute Mickey white glove watch that I bought at the beginning of a trip that broke before the trip was over. One trip when my son was very small I forgot my watch (at a time I always wore a watch) and bought a cheap Timex at the Publix
grocery store in Orlando. Thing still works. It winds. No batteries to die.

But now I rarely wear a watch good ones or cheap. My FitBit has a digital clock and my iPhone does too.

 

[Gabe1]

Bets, do what's right for you. And, because I work in the healthcare industry, I can tell you that sometimes things are not what they may appear to be. Every patient's case is different, of course; but not all doctors are out to fleece their patients, and sometimes there are valid reasons for choosing specific medical tests for their patients. As someone else mentioned, you can always get a second opinion, as that is your right as well.

And sometimes it is that bad. I am to the point of needing to go with my Mom now 'cause I can't get her off the revolving door of appointments and further testing when everything is coming back negative. I have to take her to a bone marrow biopsy on Friday. They had sufficiently scared her into the test-so Friday it is and then the next week for results. Her primary has her seeing a specialist from her eyes to her toes. She does have real vision issues beyond that everything is stable. Last month it was every heart test one after the next even though all of the tests from EKG's, stress and echoes came back perfect. So they scheduled an angio and I threw a fit. Some of these tests are not without risk, it can be the test that kills you vs having disease or condition.

We wonder why healthcare is so freak'n expensive just look at what my Mom has been through since January without being ill or feeling badly. Just the flip side of my 2 cents.

 

[Gabe1]

This is actually a green business out here. You can hire someone to bring their goats to munch your lawn short. Of course, it is very against zoning for most towns.

I believe with all the steep mountains of dirt they put up around Ohare Airport when they expanded it and likely for security they hired in goats and donkey's to mow the grass. Designed so steep that the lawnmowers couldn't navigate the mountains. Enter Goats and Donkey's.

 

[Cesar R M]

Some more tulips, it was wonderful to see so many different varieties too. The theme for the year was orange, yellow and white. I can't remember why those colors, but I guess they try to do a different theme every year. There were some beds that had pinks and purples though.
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hella preety!

 

[Cesar R M]

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IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

RIIGHT?!

Definitively great, the intro was so fun!

 

[Cesar R M]

I've had all sorts of watches over the years too but like you and @betty rose my Timex watches gave me the least grief. I had one real cute Mickey white glove watch that I bought at the beginning of a trip that broke before the trip was over. One trip when my son was very small I forgot my watch (at a time I always wore a watch) and bought a cheap Timex at the Publix
grocery store in Orlando. Thing still works. It winds. No batteries to die.

But now I rarely wear a watch good ones or cheap. My FitBit has a digital clock and my iPhone does too.

You must be really unlucky, all my watches have lasted years, but then I'm a man and we get a ton of generic ones that are pretty sturdy and not so expensive.

I have been using my Mickey gold one (Pandora) since 2016
Love it!