Freaky Friday Rants & Raves 5-26-06
 

Rave: typing a license plate number in a web site and finding out who it is before I open the door. :-D

Rant: Too much rain here in Minnesota in the past few years. Beautiful old oak trees are drowning on lake shores and some homes are in lakes now. :-[

Rave: The corporate crooks at Enron are going to prison. :-D

Second your Enron rave, Jorr.

Rave: DS and his doubles partner got MVP award for their school tennis team.

Rant/Rave: Going to my MIL's for the weekend to celebrate her 75th birthday. Always dread going, always have a good time once I'm there. Still way too much to do to get ready for the trip.

Rant: Should have been asleep hours ago. Waiting up for laundry to dry. Now tired but wired!

Hope this weekend kicks off a great summer for all Fodorites!

Rave: Headed for DC soon!

Rave: Got my tix for Chicago today.

Rave: About to get my tix for Paris!

When you have only travel raves, how can you have rants?

Rave: Just returned from Paris yesterday.

Rant: Packing up to go camping for the long weekend.

From creme brulee to s'mores...culture shock for sure!

Christina

**== Remembering those who have sacrificed everything for us ~ those we loved and lost on this Memorial Day **==

Mystified: as to how I managed to drive around for 8 months with an expired registration sticker on my vehicle!! :-? Rave to the nice inspection agent who pointed it out to me!

Rave: DH returned after spending nearly a week in Atlanta and that after nearly 21 years of marriage I still miss him when he's gone! ((L))

Rave: The vet told me yesterday when it comes time to put our cat down that she will come to the house to do so. What a relief! I want her to be home. ((L))

Rave: To Senator Joe Biden (DE) for attending my uncle's funeral last week. Senator Biden didn't know my uncle but he knew of my uncle's actions during WWII that saved 5 mens lives.

**== I hope everyone enjoys a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend! **==

Happy Friday all!!
Rave: A three day weekend with my family.
Rave: Health and happiness, two things I am blessed with. Oh and the affordability to take some nice trips too!:)
Jor: I like the one about checking license plates before people ring the bell. I will have to try that.
Rant: State tax people claiming our refund because they typed in the wrong social security number. Give me my money!!!
Rant: SOL testing. Haven't we had enough of memorizing facts and spitting them out!!! We waste so much time preparing for standardized tests. There is no creativity left!
Rave: Our men and women whom we celebrate Memorial Day!!!
Have a great weekend!!

Thank you to all who have sacrificed so that we could enjoy this free country!! Have a wonderful Memorial Day!

Rave: Going to Vermont for the weekend. The first weekend at camp, and it looks to be a nice one!

Rave/Rant: Tried on my wedding dress last Saturday. It's too BIG!!! Of coure, I'm pleased about that, but now it's going to cost me a ton to have it taken in. Fortunately, there is one 3 sizes smaller so I may be able to have that let out just a little bit.

Rave: If that's the worst of my problems, I'm thankful.

Rave: The sun is out! Finally, after what seems like forever.
Rant: Supposed to rain tonight.

Rant: Still not getting anywhere on the honeymoon decision. Now we've thrown Puerto Vallarta and Charleston into the mix. It's going to come down to the least expensive. I think we may have to draw it out of a hat.

Rave: Spent a wonderful day by myself on Sunday taking a tour of some of Buffalo's homes in one of the historic neighborhoods. It included entry into three Frank Lloyd Wright homes. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon and $15.00!!!

Rave: Buffalo has some fabulous homes!

Rave: Joining in on the block sale tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll make a few $$$ to throw into my vacation fund.

Rave: Temperatures of 80 degrees and higher are expected this weekend!

Rave: My son is traveling with 2 friends and friend's parents to Lake George for the weekend. The boys will have a ball.

Rant: I'll miss him :-(

Rave/Rant: I'll be returning to work full time soon (that'll be hard after 14 years of part-time). BUT, I'll have more $$$. The first two things I'm going to do is look for a new(er) car and plan a little celebratory trip somewhere!

RAVE: THE BUFFALO SABRES!!! WHOO HOO!

Have a great weekend, everyone :-)

Hi, all, I'm in a hurry so I can only give you a quickie today.

....oh geez, get your minds out of the gutter, I meant a quickie R&R post!! :-O

Rave: I'm leaving work at 10am today and going to Houston. My cousin is taking her 3rd walk down the aisle tonight, and I'm sure that 3's the charm. I'm excited about seeing everyone at the wedding.

Silly Rave: Of course I can not post the groom's name on this board, but he has the exact same name as a member of the Rolling Stones!! This will be fun the next time I feel like name-dropping. :-))

Rave: ditto to stw's post.

Have a happy, safe holiday weekend, as you remember why we celebrate Memorial Day.

One more rave: Until 6 months ago I worked in the oil and gas industry in TX. I did a lot of work with some fine people at Enron, and those people did not deserve to lost their jobs because of a few crooks. Hooray for the verdict!!

Rave:
DW came home from the county shelter yesterday with a cat and two two wek old kittens. They will be with us four or five weeks until they are ready for adoption. ((@))

Rant:
Sitework began Wednesday on the twenty five acres behind us for a twenty one house subdivision. Noise and dust will be a daily thing for months to come. Even worse is losing most of the mountain views from our backyard.

Happy holiday weekend to everyone, and thank you to all those that have served our country!

Rave: The weather is going to be beautiful all weekend - which is good, because I will be camping in a tent!

Rant: My husband has to work all weekend so he can't go.

Rave: He gets 2 days of double pay!

Rave: Without him around this weekend, I may actually get to finish that book I started a few months ago.

Rave: The Enron execs experiencing karma. (What goes around comes around!)

Happy travels to everyone!

Re the Enron raves: For anyone interested, I rented a movie "Enron, The Smartest Guys in the Room" this week that I thought was a very interesting and good documentary on what happened at Enron. You may ask, "How did they ever think they'd get away with it", but after seeing this movie I realized that they did get away with it for a long time, and a lot of people not only inside Enron but also outside of Enron knew about it and supported it.

Kind of makes you wonder who's getting away with it today, doesn't it?

Rave: Finally things are back to normal enough that I can take time on a Friday to post on FFRR.

Rave: Went to Europe for the first time for 2 weeks.

Rant: It was for work and it was miserable much of the time. Saw the inside of way too many Hiltons.

Rave: Did get to spend a Saturday in London on my own and I loved it. Can't wait to go back again with my family and really enjoy it. Also did get out to the English countryside even though it was for work. Had lunch in a beautiful thatched roof barn with with most modern and trendy interior. Very cool. Also had lunch in Windsor at a restaurant on the Thames in the shadow of the castle. Very sweet - it was a working business lunch but still better than the usual. Also was in Amsterdam which I did not enjoy and Florence which I fell in love with despite being there for less than 18 hours. Had dinner at the home of an associate. House was in the hills overlooking Florence. We had cocktails at sunset on a beautiful terrace with potted lemon trees, uniformed waiters and a view of the Duomo. Absolutely magnificent.

Rave: Mom was well enough for me to leave and not be too concerned. We almost lost her the week before. She is the most amazingly strong person I know.

Rave: My DH who held down the fort while I was gone and coped with the floods, no school, cranky kids and screwed up schedules. I love that guy for that and so many other reasons.

Rave: DD auditioned again last night for a very competitive youth orchestra. She practiced her heart out. Even if she doesn't get selected I am so proud of her determination. She has the best of both of her grandmothers in her.

Rant: My baby girl is sick and is miserable. Wouldn't it be nice if a kiss and a hug was all that was neccessary to make her feel better. She's recovering and will be fine but it is hard to see her suffer. Cannot image what the parents of truly ill children go through.

Rave: Memorial Day - for the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice. And for the best day of the year in our small town. Its time for our annual ride on the fire trucks. WOOHOO!!

Rave: Celebrating a Bar Mitzvah this weekend with dear friends. Lots of parties and celebrating.

Double Rave-having friends who are are so close knit that we all look at each other's children like our own, and the kids all treat each other like brothers and sisters. It is such a pleasure to celebrate the joys of life together, and to have each other for support in times of sorrow.

Rant: DS decided against trip to Israel in a few weeks. I am the one who should be worried, but he is. I guess he will take the journey when he is ready. ON the other hand, I won't have to miss him because he won't be away.

Rave: Enjoying the Sabres run at the cup. One of these times a Buffalo team will win.!

Thanks to those who served, and the families of those we have lost.

As always, thoughts for strength and healing for those in need.

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Rave: Leaving tomorrow for 2 weeks in Italy.

Rant: Family members that don't do a thing to get ready and especially the husband who won't even crack open a guide book much less do any of the planning.

I hope everyone has a good holiday weekend. A big thank you to all who have served as we reflect back.

Rave/Rant--Rant is we are not going anywhere this weekend. Rave is we plan to just relax here and not deal with any traffic.

Rave--DH and a few friends had a good climb of Mt. Hood last weekend.

Rave--My best friend and her kids are coming out this summer and we are headed to the coast! Reservations are all in place:)

Rave--I finally finished my first "big" knitting project. A camisole for DD and it looks cute on her and fits (thank goodness!!!).

No rants:)

Jorr--You lost me...what is the license plate thing?

Caph--congrats to DS and his partner!

AnneMarie--What a nice vet. We had that for one dog and it made a big difference to do it at home. Also, so glad to hear about the Senator.

Ethel--WOOHOO!!!

PM--LOL!

Rave: received our tax refund in the mail yesterday!! I hope it will be my Paris spending money :)

Rave: our 3 mos. old shih tzu is finally house trained!

Rave: my oldest daughter is kayaking around the Channel Islands Sunday for the first time

No Rants. Life is good!

Caph: Congrats to your son!

Bennie: I hope you're baby is feeling better soon. It's so hard when they're sick and you can't do a thing to help.

Mms: My husband and dad are climbing Mt. Hood in a few weeks. They plan to snowboard part way down. It ought to be interesting as my dad's not a very good snowboarder. :)

Rave: For all those who serve their country, happy Memorial Day!

Rant: It is rainy and cold with winter storm warnings here in Montana.

Rave: I'll be in Portland with my husband next week. I can't wait to get away!

Rant: Potty-training. This has been an on-going rant for me. As I was changing my daughter's diaper last night, I was extolling the virtues of using the toilet. She patted my cheek and said, "Mommy, just change Kate's diaper."

Have a good weekend everyone.

rave: i'm going to the beach for the first time this season.

rave: for long weekend, even took off tuesday!!

rave: dinner w/best friend tonight!

that's all the raves i need. ;-)

rave: enron. eh-eh! anyone familiar with the bully on "the simpsons"? i'm thinkig of his laugh. it's a relief to know at least some justice right now. must be a relief somewhat for the former employees as well. there was a listing of the charges against them this morning in the paper. good for the jury. although from what i can tell, they were totally busted. proof and everything!

rave: i think i'd like my next trips to be yellowstone/glacier/jackson, mexico, and italy is on the list as well.


:-D

kureiff--Please let me know how their climb goes! My husband has done it several times, but has never snowboarded down. That would not be a pretty sight to see I am sure, lol! have a great trip out here:)

mms: I'll let you know how it goes. My dad has done Hood a couple of times but never with the snowboard. I'm afraid it won't be a pretty sight for my dad either, but I guess it's his neck. Lol.

LOL about potty training, Kureiff! I remember the days when my daughter would only "go" if she could stand up -- like her big brother! :)

Rave: Going to Chicago next week!

Rant: The Spurs lost -- :(

Rave: Broken foot will not need surgery, and custom-fitted boot is making walking tons easier! Hurray - no crutches or wheelchair in Chicago!!

Have a safe and blessed Memorial Day everyone!

Rant; Being in the hospitality business, I don't get Monday off.

Rave; Mr. GoTravel and I are spending the weekend shacked up at a resort near one of his restaurants! Room service and fruity boat drinks by the pool for me!

Rave; Hotdogs for lunch!

Rant; My silly kitty (the older one who is 16, is turning into a picky eater and has decided she will only eat baby food. Oh well.

RAVE: **== Regardless of the various issues in America, we're still FREE to live wonderfully full lives, which include the great joy of TRAVELING. **==

**== A heartfelt thank you to all our veterans and to all our service people around the world. God bless you! **==

Wishing the wonderful fodorite community a safe and peaceful weekend! **==

Had a good week. Last Friday the younger daughter arrived home from BU, voerlapping Older sister's one week week visit by two days. We were able to have a couple of nice meals together before sending older daughter back to NYC on Sunday.

Older daughter had come home to see a doctor, and she was examined carefully and declared fine! On top of that, she got a paid internship in NYC that schedules nicely around her classes!

By Monday, younger daughter was enrolled in classes at UH, joined a paddling team, resumed dance classes, and scheduled social events with other friends. Thank goodness we kept our extra car!!

I try acupuncture today. Friends swear by this woman, so I go with an open mind!

Fodorite Ronkala learned I was hunting down some military medals of my late Father, and sent me one of his own! For a web site that should be full of axe murderers, we sure have some nice people here, don't we?

Have a nice holiday weekend everyone!

Rave 1: Son earned his first-level brown belt in karate this week. I'm so proud of him.

Rave 2: 2nd brood of bluebirds hatched in our backyard.

Rave 3: Gotta go with Enron. Hope they use up all their money on appeals and then go to jail anyway.

Rave 4: Huge admiration and respect for Melinda Gates, wife of Bill.

Rant 1: Co-worker of husband died unexpectedly Tues night. Husband is very sad.

Rant 2: Another case of packing paralysis. Decided to cook up all remaining food in the fridge instead. Now we'll get a late start for sure.

Rant---new jeans that should fit and are a bit too tight.

Rave-- really good espresso in the morning and not having to share the office with my co-worker who usually plays music too loud.

Rave - the younger son is at his first week of work after graduating the Berkeley University with honors, and they've decided to keep him :) He's doing some research work there.

Rave - finished air/train/hotel reservations for Chicago in September, GTG anyone?

Rave/rant - going to South Tahoe for an extended weekend, with Mr Again, but with my father and his woman, why did I need this additional stress?

AnnMarie_C, get this. Back when I lived in Texas I discovered that my license plate was expired I and drove to the Leon Valley TX DMV to get it renewed. A cop actually gave me a ticket in the DMV PARKING LOT for the expired plates. When I walked into the building the fine was already added to my bill on their data base as well as an expiration fee.

mms. I am an employer in a contracting business (no not building contracting!). I use a web site created for employers to do background checks on prospective employees. You must be an employer to use the site and I can not give the site name. One of the search options is by license plate number. I can type in the plate number of someone driving onto my property and know their name, address and other info before they even get to the door.

My cousin had a bad habit of flipping the bird to people on the freeway who she thought were getting in her way. One time when I was riding in the car with her she did it and I told her that the person she just got done ticking off could easily know who she was and were she lived before she even got home. I don't think she flips off people anymore.

jorr, are you sure you are not violating any privacy issues by using the license plate tracking program for uses other than its intent?

This is when "big brother" type issues REALLY concern me.

Sounds like I'm preaching to the choir, but it never hurts to say it:

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE

For all those who have served and died, like my son Airman 1st Class David Gregory; like those of the greatest generation like my Dad JTT; like my son's buddy Airman Jason R who is in Iraq now...

Thanks....

lcuy--That is great news that DD is fine! Very cool that Ronkala did that!!!

jorr--Wow, that can be good or bad, depending on who has access to it.

rncheryl--My thoughts are with you.

Hi Jorr, I believe I was at that same office on Bandera Road! When the clerk asked me if I had received a ticket for the expired sticker I told her no--she had a funny look on her face and I thought, oh no, here it comes! But nothing--not even a late penalty which surprises me. I drive through Leon Valley all the time--as you know, that police dept. has quite the reputation! I truly am mystified as to how no one, myself included, noticed the expired sticker!

Hi mms, our girl is 17 now, she's had a great life and it makes us happy to know she can go in peace at home. I hope other pet owners who are interested in doing this can do so.

I'll spend the weekend catching up on everyone's rants and raves. Sending good thoughts to all those who need them. ((f))

Rave: My DH is home early from his trip!

Rant: My DH has pink eye, ugh!

Rave: He wasn't stubborn and went right away to the doctor for eye drops.

Rant: Men behaving like children when you have to put drops in their eyes, lol. :)

Rave: I had two interviews this weeks. One was a second interview and the other was a first.

Rant: Trying to keep up with both working and the job hunt is tiring. The job hunt is becoming my second full-time job. :(

Rave: The DH mentioned something about a flower show in Newport, RI at the end of June -- might head up for the weekend. :)

Rave: Youngest son likes being an intern.

Rave: Oldest son visiting on Monday before heading up to Boston for his next grad school module.

Rave: Resting for the next 3 days.

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day.

Rave---It being friday.

Rant--- No plans made. :(

rncheryl - Thanks for the reminder. My thoughts are with you and your family this Memorial Day Weekend. Take care.

Rave: It's FRIDAY of a long weekend, woohoo!

Rant: OK, this is long and I knew it was a rant all the while it was happening today.

I went to get a manicure, which is something I don't do often enough and is a treat for me. I was really looking forward to this little bit of pampering (mostly the free massage that comes with it), anyway, after I sit down a mom, freshly pedicured, in her bathing suit and coverup plops down next to me with her 2 kids, a daughter about 6 and a son about 9, ALSO freshly pedicured! (OK, I've seen my share of overindulged little girls getting mani-pedis, but a BOY?), anyway, while I'm trying to destress, mom is loudly encouraging kids to get their massages, then she whips out the check book and says "OK, so it's $39 each for the kids, right?" and starts totally up her broods day of beauty. I don't know, the whole scene just made me....well, ill.

The whole family (except dad who no doubt was at work funding his pampered loved ones), was in their wet bathing suits, getting the works and ruining my peace and quiet. I had to hear all about their fab day at the club. AAAARRRGGHHHH.

I don't care if your last name is Gates, for godsakes don't let your little children get mani-pedis, especially if their name is Michael!