Scarlett

...red as Alabama Clay *slaps self*

Like a snoball down a mountain or a carnival balloon... Hee!

I think it went something like....Yo ho ho and a bottle of Rum!

Well if that counts how about Twinkie-le Twinkie-le Little Star?

Did anyone ever write a song to a Ho Ho? (whatever they are) No, wait I think I heard a rap song that sounded like that...

Stay safe, Cotton! :thbighug-1: Remember that if you can't call out, text messages may still get through with a slight delay. That's how we kept in touch with people from the Borgata during Katrina.

*hopes the deer will be fine as well!

ETA:

Kareneh, looking forward to seeing you soon! October 1, is it? LOL! /jk Just backup the entire registry before you fiddle with it and you should be ok. It could be borderline power. Do you get fluctuations in the area? Some of my externals have 2 USB connections just so they can take in enough power.

Hey,

DH and I were just watching the Hungry Detective on the food channel.

He was in Houston!

Now I wanna go to Bubba's Buffalo Burgers, The Breakfast Klub, and Mai Vietnamese Restaurant! He also did a strip mall restaurant that had Gumbo and Po Boy as the special and a BBQ place, neither of which I can remember the name of!

Yum!

From the website:

Bubba's Texas Burger Shack, Mai's, the oldest Vietnamese restaurant in Houston, the Breakfast Klub, Tony Mandola's Gulf Coast Kitchen and Goode Company BBQ.

Hi Cotton! I've been to Mai's, Tony Mandola's and Goode Company BBQ lots of times!

{{{keepingfaith and mom}}}

Ahem, Scarlett? Oh, Scarlett? There is a sporking I'm planning on diverting to you because of an insistance about a particular AIW performance...

I don't wanna work today...

I already uploaded both the 2006 AND 2007 Merrillville AIW's -- before we went to HK! Luckiest1 and ldj even commented on the 06 one because they were seated directly behind me and so that was their POV of the show.

{{{luckiest1}}} and {{{preden}}}

goldarngirl, I got the Set2 mp3 of Merrillville 07 up this morning -- let me know if you can't find it!

Thanks for the pretty pix tho I can't see a thing from photobucket over here. Can't wait to get home to view! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

*waves back madly at kimiye*

Good morning! Wishing Twinkies to anyone facing a crazy work week!!!

I have a whole unopened pack from the non-Gustav weekend (thankfully it turned out ok!) -- Soothes my soul for half an hour (well 5 hours for the enitre box)!!!

:nature-smiley-014:

Actually, I would like a reminder. How many people do I owe Clack to? This is what I have off the top of my head:

1. keepingfaith - Boston JBT

2. Solo - DCAT Frisco

3. Gibby - parts of Omaha JNT07

4. luckiest1&goldarngirl - HD of Erie JNT07 TFN

???

Thanks!

*nothing to see here*

ETA:

{{{keepingfaith and mom}}}

Clack? What would I ever do without clack? It's only been in my life for two years and I still have tours undiscovered and so much more JBT Motown in my future. At least that's what I'm told by a certain super adorable, world-traveling, Empress of Clack. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I just realized tonight that there's internet in her hospital room. Monitor, keyboard, connection, cool.

You mean ldj's front-row Boston? Arrrgh! Yes it's coming.

Internet in your hospital? I'm green with envy!

... just wanted to post this.

G'night, Cotton!

Hee, I work in a Sybase shop, so I hear ya!

Eeeee! *High-fives luckiest!*

I have been an Oracle/Sybase/SQLServer DBA

Huh?!

:lmaosmiley-1:

English might help.

Oh - glad you and KAndre made it home safely!!! And had a fun trip!

Sorry, Cotton. I meant that I used to design and build databases & data warehouses on Oracle servers so I'm used to keeping multiple backups of everything. Remember how I used to carry backup cameras and cell phones? That's where it came from too!

:F_05BL17blowkiss: SB -- yes, you read me don't you? LOL!

Thanks for the welcome. I'm glad to be back!!!

I didn't live through the Depression but I have been an Oracle/Sybase/SQLServer DBA so I'm a pack rat too!

Thanks for posting the clip, annabear! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

*rubs eyes sleepily*

Good morning to everyone! The sun's shining brightly outside and Gustav is nowhere in sight but I think I should go out to get supplies anyway. Thanks to the good wishes, it's down to a Category 2. I'm still getting the Twinkies -- because I want them.

ausdon, it's so nice to hear someone else calling them "Happy Feet" and I was actually thinking of "Happy Feet" while we were walking around the Senado Piazza in Macau looking for comfortable shoes for KAndre. (Eeeee! for the pictures & will post/upload more)

I think Indian food goes through the entire range from not spicy at all to very spicy. The commercial packs tend to be the spicy varieties because that's what most people look for in Indian food (ie. a change from regular non-spicy fare) but made-from-scratch dishes let you control the amount of spices and also keep out the strange non-traditional ingredients added to commercial packs. It is a lot of work but it's worth it. Kudos to wandacleo for the successful party!!!

Twinkies. I think they have a shelf life of 100 years unless they have invented a new organic Twinkie which would have a shelf life of 1 week.

I'd go for canned goods along with fruit, bread, preserved meat and cheese. Oh don't forget the raw nuts too. I like almonds. Cereal and you can get that milk that is preserved in boxes. Don't forget ice to put in coolers. We've lost power several times for days on end. Propane if you can use it too.

100 years?!! LOL! I'll get a box of Twinkies along with some fruit, bread and cheese. And preserved meat = spam? Hee! I only eat raw nuts when I'm on a diet, would peanut brittle or pumpkins seeds be a good equivalent? I'm more used to the canned evaporated or condensed milk than those preserved in boxes. I wonder if the boxed ones taste better.

In honor of wandacleo's dinner I'll have some heat & eat Palak Paneer tonight because I'm too exhausted to cook. Never thought I'd like this but it's now one of my favorites.

ETA. I counting my pennies already! But first to NewYorkalot!

lilyshine & jmh, I'm also counting pennies and days too but I know it.will.happen!

The girls, SIL and I did an authentic Indian supper once...everything from scratch...we were tired in the end and the Kitchen was a mess but the supper was delicious. Then one day I was in the grocery store and I see these bottled Indian Sauces...papadams and basmatti rice. I could have

recreated our dinner by myself...hee

Me too! I now keep those instant sauce packs because they cut down on time tremendously. Do you also have lots of Filipino Tamarind soup mix?

Ansa Here's the menu:

Sambhar dhal (spicy lentil soup with chopped vegetables and coconut-- squash, eggplant, potatoes, onions, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes).

Medu vada--pureed lentils mixed with spices, onion, chilis and deep-fried to float in the soup. (Like a spicy light salty donut).

Pohe--spicy parched rice with chilis and peanuts

Paratha--fried flat bread.

I just finished chopping the cilantro that gets sprinkled on everything. Everything else is in some stage of preparation. I have to fry the medu vada at the last minute and finish the pohe right before dinner too.

I will fry myself a paratha in a few minutes as a test. I just had a big bowl of test dhal. I'll be stuffed like a damned toad by the time I serve dinner.

Wish you all were here!!!!

Oh I wish I were there too! Any chance for pictures?

Aloha,

I'm still a little lost over here, but will find my way soon, I'm sure.

Welcome, BettyJean!

I love, love Indian food and feel just like bellying up to wandacleo's table tonight. Just read the book

The Space Between Us: A Novel by the Indian author Thrity Umrigar, a wonderful, emotional read. I highly recommend it!

Glad to see you back woo! Do you like Indian movies too?

wooo woooo for wooooo heee

Nice to see you. I just love that name and smile when I think of you changing your usual screen name to woo lovereyes. It's just really cute.

SO I'm all alone today. For the past few days I had noticed a little slip backwards for my mom... not with depression but with her anxiety. So that was a bit depressing. It's no where near as bad as it was though and I had my sister take her on a little road trip. Just getting up and taking a shower and getting dresses up and hanging around different people (not to mention that cute little pooch) will probably be good for her.

Wandacleo..hope your dinner turns out well. Cracking up at your tasting everyting. Hey I do that when I cook. Have to get it just right!

{{{Couchie&mom}}} I will try to post on the caregivers thread about things I learned while visiting my aunt. I think she is receiving excellent care.

Thanks for all the good wishes! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

The weather in Newark is gorgeous. Wish we could take it home with us. Have a great time at the beach playbiller! *waves enthusiastically!!!*

jmh, I hope you don't forget our date to do this + Shanghai/Beijing someday!

That was fun but it's great to be back. Just wish I don't have to write recaps by candlelight.

BTW, any recommendations on food items that will keep forever but aren't boring? When we get back to Houston tonight I'm going out to get a few supplies -- I don't want to have to cut open and eat my banana plants, thought these used to be the staple "after a hurricane substitute for heart-of-palm" back when I was a child, owing to the number of plants uprooted by a storm.

Hey y'all! Just checking in quickly to let everyone know I'm on my way out of Dodge. Our county has a mandatory evacuation starting tomorrow morning but I've convinced my family we might as well leave tonight. It doesn't look like Gustav will hit us directly but better safe than sorry.

Stay safe! We're onboard and hoping to see you soon!!!

Well, if you are stranded at the airport, come to the beach with me, I am leaving tomorrow night. Surely another week off is nothing to world travlers, a nice labor day weekend at the beach should be fun. The water is warm, the life guards are here for the last week and the restaurants will all be open. And everyone speaks English - should make it easier to get around. As long as I don't have to start back before Tuesday - that is when the rebuilder is coming to get paid for what he did so far and discuss the new counters. After that, I can bring you back - no bathing suit? They are all on sale!

Oh, I wish!!! Is it wrong to hope for somewhat bad weather in Houston where no one gets injured but the planes still can't land? This is probably the only weekend I can make it to the beach. The ocean's my Tara. I can't go on opening weekend because I'll only be able to fly in on Friday afternoon. I hope that's ok with you? Yes, I'll need a bathing suit if this weekend happens & it's great they're on sale!

BTW, play, thanks v. much for taking me around the country/farm store and the boardwalk and the nice seafood dinner on the Sinatra tribute weekend last year. Really appreciated that! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Thanks for the pretty pictures, keepingfaith! Are you ok? I think you, Solo and desertrose are the closest to the Gulf. I think Solo's the closest to the actual path.

txflwrgrl, are you close to the Gulf too?

It's 5:34 am here and we're packing and doing some last minute checks before leaving for the airport for our 10:25 am flight home. Didn't get to write this about the flight over but we passed over or close to Wuhan, Beijing, Ulan Bataar, parts of Russia (I was asleep so didn't note the cities), the Arctic region and then Norway, Greenland and Canada to Newark. Looked neat on the monitors.

Please take care all of our gulf buddies. If I were closer I would take you in, but I am a long, long car ride from there. It is a category 4 and growing and aiming at west of New Orleans. So eHP - take care as wel!

Playbiller, thanks and don't be too sure. We're leaving early enough to get home before the storm hits land but in case things speed up then KAndre and I might end up getting stranded in Newark airport again, eeeep(!)

ETA:

And most likely, he found out right around his Birthday last year that Parker was on the way...makes me schmoopie thinking about it.

Oh, that would have been a great birthday gift!

Thanks for sharing, nc rocks! Welcome!!!

K and I will be flying back to the outer edge of the storm before it hits; we should be home on Sunday night. I'll be filling my bathtub and washing machine with water (that's for flushing -- should I get kitty litter too just in case I really run out of flushing water? ewwww!) and getting some no-cook supplies.

*Gibby stealthily creeps in from work to post a few mosacis on the first page. Sssshhhhh!*

Thanks, Gibby! and Cha cha! And btw... we could use some on this page too!

ETA:

Or at least I think it was without mishap - no telling what went down in the old thread! Bwaahahaha.

Oh, there were lots of adventures and opportunities ("mishaps" to you) but they are yet to be told. They're not in the old thread because we're not caught up either. I hope we don't have work on Tuesday but we have power so we could get all the stories written and pictures uploaded.

ETAA:

Today was a mall and driving day, but I did get to stop at one of the largest bead stores in the country (Caravan Beads) and spend several hours there indulging my (other) obsession, to the detriment of my Mastercard....and when I took a quick jaunt through Macy's at the Maine Mall, I found a 2-piece dress which I am thrilled with, for the Gala! Regular $200-something, on sale for $71, rang up at $55...and it looks great! How much better could that be!! Now we're down to the shoes....I hate shoe shopping.

FromClaygary, thanks for sharing your adventures. I'm especially interested in seeing some of the beads you found!!! Have a safe trip home. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

EYATA:

The services for my mil were really very, very nice. All her grandchildren spoke and told stories about her (some I had never heard - like at the age of 85 chasing my son's half-brother and his friend with a paint ball gun all over the orchard and the neighbors thinking someone was trying to rob her.....) My g-daughter was pretty upset most of the day. When my son spoke he really had to hold it together because she was hanging on his every word. Anyway, I saw people I haven't seen in years and we all gave her a great send off.

Your MIL played paintball at 85!!! She totally rocked! I'm glad the services were very nice. I know it's not a good thing to have a memorial service but otoh it's a good way for people to catch up with family.

Hi all! It's 9:45 am on Saturday here and I just wanted to check in to say that we made the 7:30 ferry back from Macau to Hong Kong. We're back at the Courtyard, with a slightly smaller room but the view is still pretty.

KAndre just headed out to the Western Market to get some more brocade and I'll be meeting her shortly as soon as I upload the pics I intended to last night. Was trying to get most of the Thursday and half of Friday up but the connection from Macau was flaky.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

KAndre and I are done sightseeing for the day (Friday) though I see that the day's just starting out for everyone so have a nice one! :nature-smiley-014:

We split up close to our hotel -- she's heading out to a casino/karaoke place so I picked up some street food for dinner and headed to our room where I'll have the internet connection all to myself. We didn't bring a router this time so we've been sharing the ethernet in macau; I'm glad to have it to myself tonight but next time I won't forget the router (well, next time I won't pack at 2am after being awakened by ant bites!)

So... I'll be uploading pictures the rest of the night (morning to you) and then tomorrow we'll be checing out of this macau hotel and riding the turbojet/hydrofoil back for our last day in Hong Kong!

Thanks to all who've been with us on this journey, we'll have a great last day tomorrow! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

ETA:

21 Days (3 weeks!) until "Spam, Wonderful, Spam!"

Hey, Scarlett, I'm hoping for another travelogue! Or at least a little bit of info how things are going for you. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I saw that speech, too! Pretty darn cool, and it was right here in Colorado!

I'm jealous -- I wanted to be there but KAndre had planned this for a long time. When keepingfaith talked about going to Denver, though, I was v. tempted to reschedule. Wasn't it amazing!!!

I'm at the Macau hotel with KAndre having arrived last night after a series of adventures. Initially I didn't want to go to Macau because everyone I knew who went here just stayed at the casinos the entire time. I don't plan to go to one in the near future. Well, unless Clay performs in one again.

I left Manila at 8:00 am Thursday morning. My aunt was still asleep at 4:30 am when we left for the airport but she's been doing very well. The previous day, she was out in the patio among the orchids, working on her physical exercises. My cousin who's an RN in the US trained her caregiver very well -- she was bedridden for months but has absolutely no sign of bedsores, has a bedbath twice a day, had constant mental and physical exercises and a steady stream of people talking to her, helping her stay alert and focused.

Our flight arrived in Hongkong at about 10 am. Since the Buddhist monastery was on the same island as the airport, I just left my baggage at the left luggage counter and then took a bus to the foot of the mountain and rode a cable car up to the monastery/status. The cable car ride took about 20 minutes and the views of the island and across the water to Hong Kong were gorgeous. This was going to be my "Serenity Day" in Hong Kong, so I spent some time walking around the village, viewing the Buddha statue which is supposed to be the world's largest sitting Buddha. I skipped the restaurants in the nearby "Disney-esque" village and signed up for the vegetarian meal at the monestary -- and it turned out to be quite good. I'll post some pictures and more details in the picture thread tonight (your Friday morning).

After spending the day at the monastery, I took the bus to the Macau ferry terminal (lots of adventures there because it was rush hour in Hong Kong) and arrived at a nicely lit port in Macau just 1 hour later. This place turned out to be much nicer than I expected - old world european mixed with old asia. We're going out right now, but will post details and pics soon.

:F_05BL17blowkiss:

I see Scarlett down there!

Hi annabear! Trying to get caught up before posting while watching a mesmerizing speech...

Awwww, I just missed Cotton. Sweet dreams!

*waves right back* Well I was trying to get semi-caught up before posting but now that I think of it, that's never stopped me before so why start now?

Thanks to everyone for all the good wishes for my aunt! We took her home yesterday evening and my cousins spent the rest of the time teasing her about her adventures in the ICU. She's back to her usual sweet self but apparently while she was in the ICU (when I wasn't here yet) she was very feisty and being a doctor herself was arguing with everyone, eg. huffily telling the nurses that "Dr. Chavez did not consult ME on that. I need to see her right now!"

I don't own a single coach bag but an officemate of mine told me that she got a very good bargain on one at some sekrit Neiman Marcus outlet store in Austin -- can look up the addy for anyone interested!

I still prefer this one:

Scarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrletttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt - are you doing okay????

Doing fine and will be back on a regular high-speed connection tomorrow from that hotel in Macau where KAndre is going to leave a hotel key at the front desk for me, right? Right? *crickets*

Missing y'all and will write more soon. :F_05BL17blowkiss:

BTW, the McMango frappe was to die for!!!

Awwww, I missed the JBT discussion -- can we start another one when we get back to Houston? But thanks for the yummy pictures, though!!!

Missed page 69 too! Pbbbbttttt!!!