The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[Mr Ferret 75]

@SteveBrickNJ you're forgetting about the oldster in Goinsey

 

[Cesar R M]

I just can't believe it. All the art inside, too. Such a loss.

The art was supposedly moved because of the restoration process, almost all the sacred, statues, art is safe.
Also.. if some of the pictures from inside the place is correct. only water affected the actual church. The pews are mostly intact.
The fire seemed to have been contained whiting the stone arches and the top wood roof.

Now some people are debating about the status of the irreplaceable pipe organ.

 

[Gabe1]

Thanks for the well wishes, but unfortunately, it was a disaster. The early highway bus was a no show, (for 6:30 AM, and I was there 10 minutes early at that . . . ). Then it started to pour right at that time. My bus app said it would be another 28 minutes before the next bus would come. I had an umbrella. so I walked to the city hall area to wait for the bus there, as there's an overhang from the roof which helps a bit.

Unfortunately, the city hall area had flooded (and was worse under the overhang). So I waited out on the sidewalk with my feet under about 3 inches of water. Oh yah--there was thunder and lightning -- and I kinda felt like a beacon for a lightning strike, standing in moving water, holding a metal handle umbrella.

 

[Cesar R M]

Spoke to my stepdad (who is German), about this just a few minutes ago. He said the Germans purposely did not burn Paris or cause any damage to it or the cathedral. He said Hitler did want to destroy it, but a German general made sure Paris was not harmed in WW2.

Very interesting, considering in the past wars they did shell the crap out of Paris with their super long railguns.

 

[Gabe1]

Crazy weekend. Yesterday we drove through white out conditions to get to DD's competition. Just regular snow coming back. But, that was yesterday. Right now, the sun is shining.

Ah, springtime in Chicagoland!

It wasn't good. I never left yesterday. Kid went downtown for a (prepaid) $60 dollar brunch.
Blurg close to Wrigley Field, but hey at least the Cubs game was cancelled.

 

[Figgy1]

It's still windy as heck here but at least we still have power knock wood. I slept a little better last night thnx

 

[Figgy1]

 

[Songbird76]

So true... I have stated before that our mouth open bewilderment that someone would not be aware of what is necessary is snobbish on our part. I would wonder in that case if they even made reservations to stay onsite. Anyway to get to my point, to the vast population in this country, WDW is a theme park. A glorified amusement park. There is no need to spend days researching to go to an amusement park. They went before and if they weren't part of a Disney discussion group, they would have no reason to think that anything has changed. After all, in this case, they were veterans, they had been there before, but, it was before the NEW Disney came into existence. This idea that people have to spend time on planning when it wasn't at all that way the last time they went, is just us feeling superior to them because we do know.

That said, I know what is necessary, but, my touring plan does not make it necessary to do any of that. I stay offsite, if I plan on eating onsite in a full service I just try a few days ahead, if I can get one, great, if not, still just fine. I even made my fastpass reservations the night before I went to the park. It was in February, but, we all know that WDW no longer has an off season. I do feel bad for people that don't know this, but, I understand why it never crosses their minds that they need to do all that intricate planning. It is just a fancy amusement park and what other one requires someone to be aware of anymore then how to get there.

Even Disney advertisement downplays all that need. When they do mention it they presented it as an enhancement. It's never if you don't make ADR's you are going to be very hungry before you find a place to eat a balanced meal and you are not going to ride very many attractions. They just make you feel that it might be good to do this stuff, but, it isn't necessary, you'll still have a great time. I still do, but, I know in advance what is going to be difficult and plan my time differently. It is much easier to be flexible when one knows exactly what will happen when you don't take those things into consideration. It seems to me that, especially if they sign up for the Magic Bus, that if they don't do this stuff they are going to be very frustrated and unhappy campers, that Disney does not finalize resort reservation until those are made an extra effort is made to make sure that everyone that agrees to be confined onsite know EXACTLY what they will need to do to make their experience a good one.

To me it's not about intricate planning, it's about BASIC planning. For example, in 2016 when we went to South Dakota with my brother's family and my cousins, we looked up opening hours for all the places we wanted to go, along with looking for hotel rooms, etc. We looked up what there was to do, discussed which of those things were must-dos, and which we could miss...and we grew up going there a few times a year. But we know that things change....that hotel where we always stayed no longer exists, Flintstone park closed down, that highway was re-routed, etc. Even if you've been there before, you can't assume nothing has changed in the last 5 years. No matter WHERE you go, you have to do SOME planning, and any blog, guide book, forum, youtube channel you look at will tell you about the fastpass system. I joined this site to help me plan our last trip, and we had been there several times before. I guess I look at it as.....if I'm going to spend that much money on a vacation, I want to know where I'm going. And even if I've been there before, I want to know what's changed, and I want to know the things I missed last time...when can I experience those things this time? That's basic planning in my mind...not intricate at all. Things like restaurants, like I said, that's different because it doesn't work the way other restaurants work, so why would you plan out where you want to eat 6 months in advance? We don't do that for other vacations. But when we went to Paris, we looked into the museum pass, and metro pass options, and all the opening times and I had a tentative schedule because this place isn't open on Tuesdays, and this place is only open on Saturday mornings, etc...I could never just show up and then go....I feel like seeing the <insert site here>. Because what happens when you get there and it's closed? Now you wasted all that time to get there and you could have been doing something else that was open. It just doesn't make sense to go in blind, whether it's Disney or any other destination.

 

[Songbird76]

Ugh...yesterday, DS had a stomach ache and stayed home from school, which meant I couldn't go to work. So I called into work and told them my son was sick and couldn't go to school, so I had to stay home with him. She took me off the schedule. So now, today I get a phonecall from the work doctor asking if I'm better or if there's something I need from them, and I explain that -I- am not sick, my SON was sick. So she says "But you called in sick....if you aren't sick, you shouldn't call in sick, you should use your accumulated time off." I tell her I don't HAVE accumulated time off, I'm an on call person. We don't have set hours we have to work, so we also don't get time off. "Oh....well, you shouldn't have told them you were sick." I DIDN'T tell them I was sick, I told them my SON was sick and I couldn't leave him home alone! "Oh...well then I will have to call them and speak with them, because I don't think they understood that." Great....you do that.

 

[Songbird76]

Today is day 1 of the End Exam for all the kids in 6th grade. DS has been SO stressed about it, and we keep telling him it doesn't matter for him, but he says it feels so huge. But he already has his advice for next year, and it's the highest his school offers, and they can't use the test results to lower the advice, so even if he completely bombs it, he's still going to the school at Havo level. He's worried they won't be able to read his handwriting, so his teacher is going to check his test book and make him rewrite anything that isn't legible, though most questions are multiple choice so it's not an issue. Anyway, positive thoughts today and tomorrow, please!

 

[Go.Nijntje]

So glad you had a great day with your mom. Leiden is also the city where the “Pilgrims” lived after they left England, but before they decided to travel to “The New World”.
I have never seen a fuzzy pig before.

I'd never seen a pig like that before either but thought it was super cute.

 

[Goofyernmost]

To me it's not about intricate planning, it's about BASIC planning. For example, in 2016 when we went to South Dakota with my brother's family and my cousins, we looked up opening hours for all the places we wanted to go, along with looking for hotel rooms, etc. We looked up what there was to do, discussed which of those things were must-dos, and which we could miss...and we grew up going there a few times a year. But we know that things change....that hotel where we always stayed no longer exists, Flintstone park closed down, that highway was re-routed, etc. Even if you've been there before, you can't assume nothing has changed in the last 5 years. No matter WHERE you go, you have to do SOME planning, and any blog, guide book, forum, youtube channel you look at will tell you about the fastpass system. I joined this site to help me plan our last trip, and we had been there several times before. I guess I look at it as.....if I'm going to spend that much money on a vacation, I want to know where I'm going. And even if I've been there before, I want to know what's changed, and I want to know the things I missed last time...when can I experience those things this time? That's basic planning in my mind...not intricate at all. Things like restaurants, like I said, that's different because it doesn't work the way other restaurants work, so why would you plan out where you want to eat 6 months in advance? We don't do that for other vacations. But when we went to Paris, we looked into the museum pass, and metro pass options, and all the opening times and I had a tentative schedule because this place isn't open on Tuesdays, and this place is only open on Saturday mornings, etc...I could never just show up and then go....I feel like seeing the <insert site here>. Because what happens when you get there and it's closed? Now you wasted all that time to get there and you could have been doing something else that was open. It just doesn't make sense to go in blind, whether it's Disney or any other destination.

Checking for opening times in this instance is the same as breathing. (If only they had checked to find out if Wally World was closed it would have saved the Griswold family a lot of grief) As far as comparing to a trip to Paris, I don't see a comparison at all. Disney World really is a glorified amusement park with identifiable boundaries and multitudes of people to help guide you around as part of the package deal. If someone is going to stay on property, why wouldn't they assume that there were always be a restaurant or establishment that is going to allow them access, even if there is a wait. Why wouldn't they think that all attractions will be accessible even if there is a wait. There is no real lack of advertising that makes it seem like it is the closest thing to perfection possible. You wonder around and characters approach you, there are all kinds of restaurants why would you need to worry about getting in especially when you consider that because of a promotion that allows you to be basically landlocked with the Magic Express offer.

I went to Europe three years ago and there was massive amounts of planning required. It was a given, even though I am notoriously a person that wings just about all of my adventures. I would still be lost somewhere in Rome if there hadn't been careful planning and research, but, it is not the same thing. I wasn't paying one individual organization thousands of dollars to make sure that I was going to have a flawless experience and they were going to make sure that happened. That is the message that Disney promotes and implies.

 

[Go.Nijntje]

A friend texted me about this while I was at work. It is just devastating. Hubs and I went to Paris a few years ago and seeing and being in Notre Dame was just amazing to me. Our hotel was near Notre Dame so we spent a lot of time admiring the building. I know it's just a building but it has so much history and special place in my heart.

I only visited once many years ago, now I wish I had gone back recently.
I'm happy some French billionaires are pledging money for the restoration so it can be brought back to it's former glory.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I only visited once many years ago, now I wish I had gone back recently.
I'm happy some French billionaires are pledging money for the restoration so it can be brought back to it's former glory.

If it takes as long to restore it as it did to build it I don't think I will make any plans to revisit. I'll just have to content myself with having seen it as it was.

I have read that most of the art had been removed for the restoration process.

 

[21stamps]

Today is day 1 of the End Exam for all the kids in 6th grade. DS has been SO stressed about it, and we keep telling him it doesn't matter for him, but he says it feels so huge. But he already has his advice for next year, and it's the highest his school offers, and they can't use the test results to lower the advice, so even if he completely bombs it, he's still going to the school at Havo level. He's worried they won't be able to read his handwriting, so his teacher is going to check his test book and make him rewrite anything that isn't legible, though most questions are multiple choice so it's not an issue. Anyway, positive thoughts today and tomorrow, please!

Sending positive vibes to your DS, and you!

 

[MouseDreaming]

Ugh...yesterday, DS had a stomach ache and stayed home from school, which meant I couldn't go to work. So I called into work and told them my son was sick and couldn't go to school, so I had to stay home with him. She took me off the schedule. So now, today I get a phonecall from the work doctor asking if I'm better or if there's something I need from them, and I explain that -I- am not sick, my SON was sick. So she says "But you called in sick....if you aren't sick, you shouldn't call in sick, you should use your accumulated time off." I tell her I don't HAVE accumulated time off, I'm an on call person. We don't have set hours we have to work, so we also don't get time off. "Oh....well, you shouldn't have told them you were sick." I DIDN'T tell them I was sick, I told them my SON was sick and I couldn't leave him home alone! "Oh...well then I will have to call them and speak with them, because I don't think they understood that." Great....you do that.

You have a work doctor, and that person calls?
Sorry about the miscommunication, but doctor from work? Wow.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Today is day 1 of the End Exam for all the kids in 6th grade. DS has been SO stressed about it, and we keep telling him it doesn't matter for him, but he says it feels so huge. But he already has his advice for next year, and it's the highest his school offers, and they can't use the test results to lower the advice, so even if he completely bombs it, he's still going to the school at Havo level. He's worried they won't be able to read his handwriting, so his teacher is going to check his test book and make him rewrite anything that isn't legible, though most questions are multiple choice so it's not an issue. Anyway, positive thoughts today and tomorrow, please!

I bet he will do great! Hope his stomach is better.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Checking for opening times in this instance is the same as breathing. (If only they had checked to find out of Wally World was closed it would have saved the Griswold family a lot of grief) As far as comparing to a trip to Paris, I don't see a comparison at all. Disney World really is a glorified amusement park with identifiable boundaries and multitudes of people to help guide you around as part of the package deal. If someone is going to stay on property, why wouldn't they assume that there were always be a restaurant or establishment that is going to allow them access, even if there is a wait. Why wouldn't they think that all attractions will be accessible even if there is a wait. There is no real lack of advertising that makes it seem like it is the closest thing to perfection possible. You wonder around and characters approach you, there are all kinds of restaurants why would you need to worry about getting in especially when you consider that because of a promotion that allows you to be basically landlocked with the Magic Express offer.

I went to Europe three years ago and there was massive amounts of planning required. It was a given, even though I am notoriously a person that wings just about all of my adventures. I would still be lost somewhere in Rome if there hadn't been careful planning and research, but, it is not the same thing. I wasn't paying one individual organization thousands of dollars to make sure that I was going to have a flawless experience and they were going to make sure that happened. That is the message that Disney promotes and implies.

I get your point. Unless you are an obsessed Disney person like most of us on the board you wouldn't think it would need intricate planning. It is advertised a ms a resort and a resort should be relaxing(cough, cough). You go, you walk, you go on rides, swim, then eat somewhere. That was actually how it was up until the whole fast pass plus system. Wish they never brought that online.

 

[Go.Nijntje]

Today is day 1 of the End Exam for all the kids in 6th grade. DS has been SO stressed about it, and we keep telling him it doesn't matter for him, but he says it feels so huge. But he already has his advice for next year, and it's the highest his school offers, and they can't use the test results to lower the advice, so even if he completely bombs it, he's still going to the school at Havo level. He's worried they won't be able to read his handwriting, so his teacher is going to check his test book and make him rewrite anything that isn't legible, though most questions are multiple choice so it's not an issue. Anyway, positive thoughts today and tomorrow, please!

Best of luck to DS!

 

[Go.Nijntje]

You have a work doctor, and that person calls?
Sorry about the miscommunication, but doctor from work? Wow.

In the Netherlands there is a work health department that checks up on people that are signed of sick from work. It's a government health office so not a work doctor.