Browncoat

I'm jealous! I've only ever gotten to fly with crying babies and the dumbass who couldn't figure out how to turn off the light over his seat. Or indeed, that it was his light and not mine, despite my turning mine off and on and off again to prove it. His light stayed on for the entirety of our nine-hour, overnight flight to Argentina.

I've flown first class a couple of times, and it really is so much better, mostly because you have more leg room and the seats are a bit wider. I flew Business to Argentina a few years ago, and it was so worth the price of admission. For my flight to Heathrow tomorrow (!) I got an upgrade with miles to a lie-flat seat. That'll be my first time with one of those, and I'll be the bumpkin taking photos.

Oh yes -- tall metal slides on hot summer days. Brutal.

We'd run to our Teacup and immediately start spinning it as fast as our tiny arms could get it to go. We'd get a pretty good spin going before the ride even started! I even loved those playground death traps. We'd take turns pushing, running as fast as we could and jumping on -- and holding on for dear life. The playgrounds were often gravel, too. It's truly amazing we survived at all. There was the rare broken arm from the monkey bars, but I don't really remember any injuries except scrapes and minor cuts/scratches.

If you bite the bottom off your butter cookie wrapped Haagen Dazs before you've eaten any of the ice cream, all your ice cream is going to leak out. Is the bottom of the cone empty? Do you then just suck it out the bottom? How do you keep it from melting all down your arm?

It generally takes a couple of weeks after the shot for the best protection. Covid is not going away. It does seem to have gotten to about the same level as flu, though. Still a fairly major health threat, but we now have vaccines and medications to help. That said, I still wear a mask if I'm going to be in a crowd (even outdoors), and at work, and absolutely when I travel. I might be the only person in the airport/airplane with a mask, but that's my future. I don't expect ever to stop wearing a mask when I fly.

I work for the state, and we accrue annual leave based on how long we've worked (from 8 hours per month up to 18 hours per month). A certain amount will roll over, and a slightly higher amount will be paid out when you leave employment. Sick leave is given in a lump sum at the beginning of the calendar year, with a maximum of 80 hours per year. It does not roll over. We also get up to a week of "Family Personal" time per year, which does not roll over. That was meant to cover employees if they have an emergency before annual leave accumulates.

I just got back from seeing this, and I really enjoyed it a lot! Halle Bailey is amazing! I'd never heard of her before this, and was genuinely impressed by her voice. I think Eric's was the weakest, but it was not weak in general -- just in comparison to Halle and Melissa McCarthy, who was great. She clearly enjoyed herself as Ursula. I did like all the extra backstory for Eric and the part with him and Ariel in the market was so fun. Nitpicks, because of course I have nitpicks -- they should have kept Scuttle as a gull. Gannets typically aren't tropical, and wherever this kingdom was, was clearly tropical (palm trees and coconuts!). And, like the horse of a different color in Wizard of Oz, the horse in the carriage ride scene was two very different horses. The first one looked like a Friesian, and the second looked like some random black horse. I mean, I get it, but if you're going to use different animals, at least get more similar looking ones. I also agree that it was quite hard to see during some of the Ursula scenes. Overall, though, I thought it was one of Disney's better live-action efforts. It was a very beautiful film.

We used to, but it was two cars, four adults, and seven kids. We went from Illinois to Daytona, where we stayed (OG Spring Breakers!). Back then, though, there was only the Magic Kingdom, so it was easy to "do" Disney in a day trip from the beach. The last time we went, it was three cars and Amtrak from four different directions, with six adults and two kids. We rented a house in Kissimmee and did the day trip to the beach, with the rest of the week split between Disney and Universal.

I remember those ticket books! I always had to make sure I got the one that included the Haunted Mansion and the Teacups. It was quite complicated to figure out which ones were the best for what you wanted to do. Or maybe it wasn't for grown-ups. I was somewhere in the 6-8 year old range, and mostly just reminded my parents (repeatedly) to get the right books!

I've never heard of that, either! I know people whose regular pronunciation of "research" sounds like "ree-search", and on occasion when I have an experiment that fails, I will say, "That's why they call it 'REE- search' instead of just 'search'."

What was the point of that? Showing us where the DDs are adds nothing, imo.

I like Disney, or I used to. I'm not sure if I even understand how DisneyWorld works anymore, what with all the apps and timed entries and all. Seems like it takes way too much planning -- certainly more than it did the last time I went. We just sort of meandered around and rode rides as we came to them. I don't know if you can visit Disney that way now and actually get to do anything other than just meander around.

I never watched The Office, so it made no sense to me.

A sad 1/5 this week. See y'all in two weeks! I'll catch up with FJs when I get back from vacation.

I didn't get FJ tonight. So easy in hindsight, though! Oh well. I did get the TS of two-toed, Georgia, Jim, and quiet desperation. Congrats to the new champ. Jesse was making me tired with all the leaning.

Mingo.

Wondering does not equal wandering.

Could the miniature Adirondack chairs be used as phone stands?

Instaget FJ for me tonight, which keeps me from being skunked this week! I also got the TS of swallowtail, John Glenn, 1040, 86, violinist, and viviparous.

I'm pretty sure I learned to pronounce quahog from Rosie Perez in "White Men Can't Jump." In her Jeopardy game, there was a whole category called "Foods that start with Q", and quahog was one of them. She pronounced it kwa-hog.

I watched this a second time last night, and even knowing exactly what was coming and when, it still hit me hard in spots. The Yondu appearance wasn't quite as powerful the second time around, but all the other tear-jerking times were. I kind of wish Lylla, Floor, and Teefs had been restored to their true bodies in the afterlife, but would that have made them ordinary animals, unable to talk? I noticed this time that Rocket called Nebula, "Nebs" -- further proof of their deep friendship. I can't imagine anyone else calling her anything except her full name. I will always laugh at all the different animal names they call Rocket. He's so adamant that he's not a raccoon, too! So, badger, squirrel, hedgehog, trash panda (my favorite), and I don't even know what else, but it always cracks me up.

Well, that's three FJ misses in a row for me! I knew the composer, but would never have come up with the conductor. Only three TS, too -- Gold Coast, fission, and magnitude. Here's hoping for some speedier clue-pickers tomorrow. (I may have been unclear about my vacation -- I'm leaving Monday.)

Aw, man, this one hurts! Tina was awesome!

Last night was an archive game for me. I couldn't think of anything except Romeo and Juliet for FJ, so I wrote that down even though I knew with absolute certainty that it was incorrect. I agree, though, that Benedict is not pronounced the same as Benedick, and the ruling was fair. I only got three TS -- missing man, summit, and succumb. I'll be out of town the next two weeks -- Norway, y'all! -- but I'll catch up when I return.