Saying Goodbye To The Two-Year Contract
Like most everyone else, since getting my first cell phone in early 1990, I’ve signed a service contract. That first one was for a year, but now they’re all mostly two-year contracts. But when our last contract ran out a year ago, we didn’t rush in to get a newer – read: more expensive – phone because we just didn’t want to sign up for another two years. We’re getting more resistant in our… (cough)… maturity. Whenever we’d talk to our provider and ask about new phones over the past year, we’d learn that we’d have to buy a minimum data package which would push our monthly bill up to $130 between us, and that would be with limited minutes and data, plus that ubiquitous two-year contract. We had looked...
Read MoreRandom Observations on Celebrity Equinox
•Have you ever noticed how the slowest people will not only just suddenly stop in the middle of things but then, as if they were not a big enough obstacle, plant both hands on their hips to become an even larger impediment? •I heard the following from a fellow passenger as he exited the elevator on Deck 14 just outside the cafeteria. “Well, once more, off to the trough.” •I wonder why the Tour Desk is closed when the ship is in port. Wouldn’t that be a time when passengers might need assistance and answers to specific tour questions? •On the ship, you can tell when the thrusters engage – the whole vessel quivers. There’s a sex joke in there somewhere. •One evening Ellen and I arrived at...
Read MoreCharlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, American Virgin Islands
Three days into our cruise, we docked in the Virgin Islands right about sunrise, shortly after seven a.m. There was a little bit of sprinkle in the air but the clouds were already beginning to scatter and promise a clear day to come. We went to the big cafeteria on Deck 14 for breakfast so we could get off the ship before the day got too hot. Since our snorkeling with the turtles excursion had been canceled, we were free to do whatever we wanted. So, we were going to prowl the shops at the pier. Yeah, I’m a guy and I like to shop. So sue me. Luckily, we got the obligatory shirts-for-kids purchases out of the way pretty quickly, so won’t have to worry about that for the rest of the trip. There were jewelry stores, watch stores, jewelry and watch...
Read More“This Holiday, Unwrap a Little Romance”
That’s the headline on a print ad that arrived with the local newspaper suggesting a gift for Christmas – K-Y Date Night Couples Lubricants. Wait, what!? Yup, K-Y ‘His and Hers Bonus Packs’ to “turn dinner into an unforgettable evening.” It features a $2 coupon for either ‘Yours+Mine Couples Lubricants’ or ‘Yours+Mine Kissable Sensations.’ And it includes a description on the front both in English and… wait for it…French! Mais oui! Am I the only one who thinks this whole deal is just a little…over-the-top? It’s tied to an offer for a $25-off restaurant coupon. Seems to me restaurants would frown on folks throwing down in one of their booths during the busy dinner rush. “Good...
Read MoreHave Tuxedo – Will Travel
Well, it was a chance to wear one of my tuxedos, reconnect with some people I hadn’t seen in quite a while, and score some free eats. Plus, create a little fodder for this blog. At first, when our friend Christine asked if I was available to don a tux and be a greeter at the latest Women Business Owners’ Network charity auction, I was hesitant. It takes a lot to drag me out in the evening, and it was promising to be a chilly gray and rainy Tuesday evening. But, Ellen thought I’d enjoy it and get to see some folks I had lost contact with since we retired from the business. So, I agreed. In hindsight, I’m glad I did it. I like dressing up (a big crowd of women doesn’t hurt) and I was tempted more than once to say, “Welcome to...
Read MoreXYZ-PDQ
There was a columnist whom I especially enjoyed reading in the seventies whenever he wrote one of his “Things I Learned En Route To Looking Up Other Things” columns. Well, I thought of him recently as I had my own TILERTLUOT* moment when Ellen was reading the comics in the local paper – she always gets to them well after I have already read them (and written comments where called for) – and she asked me about one in particular. In this episode of Pickles, one of our favorites about a “mature” retired couple, the wife informs her husband that his zipper is down by merely whispering, “X-Y-Z.” Well, I knew this reference although I couldn’t recall the etymology of it, but Ellen had never heard of it. So, away I went to Google to find out just...
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