trinacriabob

That's Al Capone. I learned from the visitor center at Hot Springs.Arkansas that he used to come down there with his fellow gangsters to soak at the different resorts and get away from Chicago. He only lived to forty-eight. He wasn't murdered, nor did he die in jail. He had this debilitating illness, and he was able to spend his last years in a mansion on one of those exclusive islands off of Miami.

Good morning ... You don't know who that is? He (later) had a face that looked like a coin.

Good morning ...

I shouldn't complain since the main priority is safety. However, I think it's not especially exciting crossing an ocean, in either direction, to a different continent on a domestic carrier. I really enjoy flying on foreign airlines. It's almost part of the travel experience.

It was on Facebook Page named "Sharp as Ever" (advert ?) "Which state should you live in based on your personality?"

I took one of those stupid online quizzes to see which was the state that was most suited to me. I answered a lot of the questions with a good cup of tea, comfort food, a relaxed vibe, road trips, and nothing too gregarious. I was expecting New England, Washington, or Minnesota. The results page said: YOU ARE TEXAS! WTF?

A Border Collie requires a lot of time and energy of an owner because it is one agile dog when in its younger years. That's why I think a Shetland Sheepdog might be a more likely choice for me.

This is a tough one. Growing up, we never had cats and dogs simultaneously. We had an all black medium coat female and she had a great personality because she grew up with kids handling her and playing with her. Then we had an Australian Shepherd that lived to between 11 and 12 years. She weighed in somewhere between 35 and 40 pounds. I was her person in the household. I was spoiled by having such a breed of dog because she was so intelligent and easy to train. It was a blast to be able to take her along in the car to many different places. She was also very attuned to who was visiting ... she knew when there was an elderly person or a child visiting and would give them a lot of space. She also had a good read on who the turds were and she was right. That dog got along with other dogs very well. I didn't sense that much of a prey drive in her, so I think that she might have been able to coexist with a cat. Just a hunch. I know that a cat would be easier to take care of, but I'm a real sucker for Australian Shepherds, Border Collies, and Shetland Sheepdogs. But then I like those big goofy stray dogs that might have some Anatolian in them that roam the streets of Istanbul and freely interact with people. I've bought dog treats on occasion and gave them to these dogs. The most amazing thing is that they were "mannered" in taking the treats, but also careful enough not to hurt your hand and fingers. Of course you have to study the situation each and every time.

The savings on one auto rental done through Costco Travel can pay for the price of the renewal of a simple individual Costco membership.

^ ^ ^ @A Horse With No Name You beat me to it by a matter of minutes! LOL. Happy birthday, Drew! Celebrating? Enjoy your special day.

Back in the '90s, Dr. Ruth did a commercial for the Honda Prelude. Or should I say PRRRelude. She was one of a kind! And I mean that in a good way.

Yes. That's good to know. I reviewed my Tampa Bay Prius rental here on C&G. I liked it. It's attractive. But, at 5'-10" (average), that front pillar was overly raked and *bump* a few times a day. One is conditioned to enter a regularly proportioned coupe door. I will have to test sit a Civic hybrid. Civics are certainly not the runts they used to be. Getting ~50 mpg is a great feeling! I like economizing when I can. (I made it to Whopper Wednesday yesterday.)

While I now like the sleek design of the Prius, I wonder if the Honda Civic is easier to get in and out of.

Ditto. That may be why I'm "turning Japanese." I really think so.

I know that, in online posts, people don't want other people to keep beating a dead horse. However, Long Beach, California took on the first Queen Mary in 1967 and Long Beach is a big town, but still considered a suburb of Los Angeles. People went to the Queen Mary to eat, have brunch, have drinks, have their proms, have conferences, and even sleep there. QE2 is thankfully a floating moored hotel in the port at Dubai. I really think that the SS United States could have found a spot on the river near the Financial District in New York. Downtown New York becomes a small triangular tip on the harbor at its base. Workers and visitors go to eat and do other things at the South Street Seaport on the Brooklyn Bridge side in a matter of minutes. If placed on the Hudson near Battery Park City, you can bet that there would have been a lot of employees in the area who would have gone to the ship to eat lunch, have meetings, and sleep there if they created a hotel in part of it. The SS United States was billed as "America's flagship" and New York was the inscription on the stern. That's where she needed to be.

Farewell Here is a fairly intact S.S. United States with the modest Mobile, Alabama skyline behind her, after being towed there all the way from Philadelphia. At this point, her funnels and mast have been removed, and they are getting closer to sinking her in the Gulf of Mexico to be an artificial reef.

It's Whopper* Wednesday! Get the app and eat ... eat - - - - - * regular or Impossible

You're right. At the time, the forum was more GM-centric and all of the car divisions were around, with Oldsmobile just having exited. The Canadians on here were just like the Americans and they themselves also had a long history with GM cars that they owned or that their families had owned. Some of these folks were interesting, and even funny. One such person was a Torontonian who had held a lot of different jobs, one of which was selling GM cars. He took us back to the Toronto that had a sizable middle class thriving there, unlike the very expensive Toronto of today. He told quite a few ribald stories, sometimes oversharing, but they made for interesting reading. He had a significant other from Brazil, so he began dividing his time between Toronto and Brazil and then participated less and less. But he made some eye opening posts! Yep, it was just normal back and forth car stuff - commenting about mostly ICE coupes and sedans that were still around - or just random daily cartoon strip stuff that was happening in our lives. During this period, I met one of the more understated Canadians on the forum when I was in Canada on vacation and he had recently picked up a babied rust-free Cutlass Supreme colonnade. That meeting was a good experience.

Just for its humor value, the guy that was running for mayor of New York City who had 16 cats in his apartment got 16% of the vote. For being as eccentric as he was, it was surprising to see that he was the GOP candidate. He's got quite the local accent, so the whole kit of parts is really quirky. Probably an interesting guy to talk to.

There used to be a fair number of Canadians on the forum. Things change over time.

That's fantastic. I've heard that 2 pounds a week is the maximum safe amount, so about 8 pounds a month. I just want to lose about 12 pounds. They are stubborn. When they put in my height and weight at the doctor's office, it shows an above optimal BMI. I wear jeans and pants with a 34 inch waist - for at least 2 decades now - and I don't really have a stomach, so these BMI charts don't account for all situations. The holidays really mean about 2 or 3 gluttonous meals. The real problem is when you travel by ship. One guy at the table back on the April crossing said that the 5 to 7 pound weight gain usually comes off on its own because you return to eating much smaller meals like an on-off switch. He was sort of right.

You wanna lose weight? Put down the fork.

Yes, people over things, but they say the handover of confiscated goods happens quickly. Let's see how this goes. These people are probably gonna have to finger other people or some type of organization who would be on the receiving end. When I read about this, I started thinking about how many weird things are happening in france. First there was the fire at Notre Dame and now this at the Louvre. Weird.

Amazing that the French government is possibly onto the perpetrators of the brazen Louvre heist. Someone got sloppy and there was some DNA left behind. I guess there will be more to come.

As you know, when you go to rent cars, they are giving the electric ones to customers at a lower price. This brings me to some rentals in the prospective year that are offering the same kind of price structure. The electric ones are much more nicely priced. If going to a place like Italy, Spain and Portugal, how would I get a comprehensive list of charging stations ... basically a locator? How would I ensure that they are the baseline station ... meaning one that the more basic econobox brands can charge up at? Lastly, I don't have debit cards or those linked banking payment systems they have over there. How do I find out if I need an app or if I can just pay with a credit card at at the site? Reddit is really messy and about three quarters of it is mud flinging garbage, but one person said not to get an electric car when in a less developed area while on vacation so that you don't encounter that stressor. What do you think about that? If I could get some brief direction on this, I'd appreciate it.