trinacriabob

Happy Nixon's birthday!

Love the "sled" and, in this case, I do mean sled. However, I wouldn't want to sacrifice a sweet 1979 Bonneville Brougham sedan, probably with a smooth running small block Pontiac 301 (4.9L) V8, on a tree for that kind of fun. Not only that, it would remind me of Sonny Bono, which I always get reminded of in the Sonny Bono concourse at the Palm Springs Airport. RIP Sonny Bono.

Not "local" by any stretch of the imagination! It appears to be expensive. Maybe every now and then. Comments point to others like this in the U.S., most of which are no longer around. While I like trains, I love urban transit rail systems that have heavy rail as opposed to light rail.

Mostly the Italian and Greek food. Beyond American food and some seafood, that is mostly what I eat when going out to eat. Of the others, French food isn't something you run into often, even though it can be stratospherically good. Also, a satisfying (Cantonese) Chinese or Japanese meal is sometimes a much needed change of pace.

I think "comfort food" is just an embellishment for what MAGAs eat.

Legitimate (laptop) safe This one fits a good sized laptop.

A few tidbits of travel advice for the new year ... I'll keep it at three: 1. If you have a full membership at an airline travel lounge, this does not apply. If you get but a few passes, possibly through a credit card, take note. Do not visit these places during breakfast hours. Do it if your connection allows for it and it's either lunch or dinner hours. Why? The spread at breakfast is weak. At lunch and dinner, it makes for a filling meal. I've used 2 passes at Houston-IAH over the last year. There are salads with many ingredients, wraps, soups, and there can be other things such as hummus or ingredients to fill up tortillas, etc. 2. When reserving a hotel, look for a hotel safe in the room. Nothing is ever 100% guaranteed, but it gives a little more peace of mind. On web sites, you will have to dig down through the list of amenities to see if one is available in each room. You might even have to crosscheck the website with a booking site. One may show it and the other may not. If you're at a low-cost brand, work around this a little/lot more cautiously. It is not admissible when a high-end brand does not have these in the room. If in a foreign location, definitely look for in-room safes. Also, find out if it's a combination key pad because a few are still operated with small keys they give you, which is a little old fashioned and inconvenient. In all cases, you might want to check if it can store a laptop. 3. Consider buying luggage straps for your luggage. These not only keep luggage from opening, but they also help identify luggage. I have black Travelpro brand luggage. That year, AAA only had that and burgundy. And the burgundy was more berry than burgundy, so I passed on it. In 2 cases, I've had people try to pull the smaller rollaboard off the carousel. I was right there and told them, "Hey." You need to hustle to baggage claim when you deplane. The worst was a change of planes in Stockholm, a place you'd never expect this to happen. The big piece was underneath on a shuttle bus. At the airport, the hold was opened at each terminal. I was sitting by the window. Fortunately. One stop before mine, I saw my big piece standing up outside by the curb. I told the driver to stay for an extra moment or two. I approached the guy and asked him WTF? I didn't use those words, but I was steamed. I also told him it even had American Airlines tags attached to it. He said to me, "You don't have to be an ass hole about it. Why don't you go back there?" He was not Scandinavian, but from the Middle East, appeared to have a Scandinavian wife, and was distracted with a baby they had in a stroller. When he did reach in for his bag, it was not even black, but the darkest possible shade of midnight blue!?! His bag also had completely different piping and seams. Had he taken mine, what would I have done? Reached for the dark midnight blue one just to have a piece of luggage? I am astounded at this because it tells me that people's ability in noticing details or understanding spatial things is a good bit less than mine. I'm sure he was skilled, but probably in tech or commerce. I'm sure he was also distracted. Looking on line in the last few days, the straps at Wally World are weird colors like lime or Pontiac Grand Am blue. Fine. These might definitely help. Also, make sure at least 2 readable tags are attached to the luggage on the outside and there is a tag inside. Anytime that the hatch door opens and luggage is going on or coming off during a shuttle ride, don't hesitate to step off and look into the hatch. This was the only time this happened with the big piece, I'm sure it was accidental, and it was, of all places, in a Scandinavian location. - - - - - Safe travels in the new year and beyond.

A time or two, friends and I have been in malls and department stores and, when it was more commonly done, asked to have them page "Gus Pacho" and "Al Bondigas." It was an American woman phone operator, but SoCal's Hispanic population is large and she obviously didn't get it. But the end result was what we wanted ... a good laugh.

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope that people with this surname reflect heavily on whether to name their offspring Michael.

Q: Why can't leopards hide? A: Because they are always spotted.

I will explain. Let me put some meat on its bones and do this a little later. I had a feeling you might say something. My comment was not meant to be negative, because they are not negative places. It's meant to be relative.

When I lived in the Seattle area, I'd go to Vancouver BC about once a month ... just because ... no reason other than its being so close and getting to be in another country. Back then, I'd think, "What would I have to do to live here?" They're realistically more tightly wound than PNWers. Eastern Canadians who make the move to their west coast often returrn to where they came from - Ontario, Quebec, etc., because they're not (as) tightly wound. Then, the light bulb went on: "Vancouver is their Miami." Hmmm. Pass. There is something to be said for abundant sunshine. And how it can impact your outlook and health.

This would be more of a random thought than a spotting. This Texan had a Christmas wreath in front of his truck, but did its engine bay have a motor in it? I was more interested in getting this photo than asking him to find out.

Happy Sunday: This is one of the funniest scenes in "Beverly Hills Cop." My college friends knew all these lines as well. This is 1 minute of Eddie's genius - he talked them into this improvisation .... "I think that would be best." Did you hear me? "I think that would be best." - - - - - Hey, he even got a street named after him in the California desert. Nah, it was already there. But, after the epic movie, I do laugh when I'm there and I see the sign. Ramon, or Ray, is a popular name among Puerto Ricans ... lots of Rays. But it took Eddie to make it funny.

Well, it's a good idea because it's very A to B in terms of from their kitchen to your table. Less overhead for marketing and fluff. Not only that, it helps smaller businesses succeed.

Denny's items have a uniform taste. What you get on your platter is it! I have had some good meals at Golden Corral - you can start out with putting together a salad and all sorts of vegetables on it or on the side of your plate, there are a lot of main dishes (at nighttime, you can also get small steaks grilled for you), and, then, taking it slow (in terms of time), I'll add a slice of cake and a few other desserts. For less than $20, with taxes. A drink is extra. I do this about once every 3 months.

Good morning ... from "Lionel Joseph"

It (thankfully) happens infrequently, but, "when Golden Corral calls, you listen!"

Sending a Christmas eve chuckle your way: Here's Dyan Cannon, who has again poured herself into her clothing to attend a Lakers game, which she does often. It looks like she can easily fit down many chimneys. Maybe even into a Christmas gift stocking. I find the different chapters of Dyan Cannon humorous.

I think I'm dreaming ... this vehicle would be the oldest of my handful of favorite "blast from the past" cars. A Cutlass Salon coupe in perfect condition, the first year I liked the colonnade Cutlass (and it's last year, of 3, with round headlamps in the colonnade), those huge bucket seats, and, oddly, A/C is there, but with manual windows. It featured the new but not as popular 260 (4.3L) V8. It also featured the light enamel blue they didn't repeat. If the exhaust system is tight, this car will be whisper quiet. 1975 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon (Numbers Matching Drivetrain) for sale: photos, technical specifications, description See anything odd? Come on. Quick. . . . It has Buick rally wheels instead of Oldsmobile rally wheels. * sigh ... I wonder what time frame this ad goes back to *

She can afford it ... whatever that may be. Money talks and bullshit walks, as they say.

Happened to stumble into this buried somewhere on my homepage. The Linda Blair of current times, in front of the famous poster for this landmark movie. It's a classic and only jarring the first few times you see it. I'd like to get that poster. They've redone that house in Georgetown to drive away the looky-loos. The big money caused her to leave her native St. Louis. She supposedly lives on a spread of high desert land north of L.A. where she keeps horses and dogs. There's no husband and there are no kids. She seems to prefer the slow lane because she was once in the fast lane. Shacking up with Rick James would be considered the fast lane. What was she thinking? What was she on?

Las Vegas is a resort. Yes ... point taken. I've gotten safes in some FL hotels that could hold a 14" to 16" laptop and other stuff layered in. It comes with the territory that, when there are resort fees, there will be other cheesy ways to jack up the tab. The issue I'm lamenting is when there isn't one in the room, yet the location and price point call for it.

Who said Germans don't have a sense of humor? Happy Sunday.

@Robert Hall Thank you. There is now some "advertising" in hotel websites calling out a "laptop safe" when it's bigger than a regular one. What is really off-putting is when it's a brand of hotels that should have in-room safes ... and they don't. Or, worse yet, when the description shows that there is a safe and, then, it's not there because the website description hasn't been updated: they're either transitioning to another model or they've removed them altogether.