While your excursion idea might save you money, it might also get you left behind. I agree that most excursions are too expensive, but if you go on a Cruise-Line-sponsored excursion and something goes awry so that your group can’t get back to the ship before its scheduled departure time, the ship will wait for your…

Is running your car in cold weather to warm it up still illegal in Germany? (Or was it ever and perhaps someone was “pulling my leg” back in 2008?)

So, imagine Hugh Laurie thinking about “Will this enable me to lead troops into battle? Me being a commander and whatnot? Forward, boys, forward into the breeches, bitches! Whose britches? Those bitches.”

Funny how many of the replies are from 1/09/17. And one purported to be from 1969? At any rate, to commiserate with the lack of Wee Heavies available in the US (or at least the East Coast near DC), my favorite ever Scotch Ale was the McEwans’ Scotch Ale. Discontinued, I believe, when the brewery was bought by some…

Well, then, in the spirit of inquiry, what was McEwans’ Scotch Ale? That was my all-time favorite. I don’t think it’s made any more. Sam Adams made a Wee Heavy. Dogfish Head seems to be phasing out its Palo San Marron, sadly. (Hopefully, I am wrong.) I do wish there were more Wee Heavies available in the USA (or at…

dWhat I really would like to see in movies is great, great, books brought to the screen as closely aligned to the books as possible and as well done as possible. If the scriptwriter didn’t have the creative idea (or muse or whatever) to think up a new great idea (it does happen), and decides to use someone else’s…

I am a big, big fan of Magicians, both Series and Books. I will ask how old your son is as the Magicians very soon gets NSFW and young kids. In the US, it’s TV-14 and, for the uncensored version, TV-MA. (I never noticed the “TV” prefix before as I don’t watch much TV nor do I pay attention to cert. ratings now that my…

I am not sure you even need a green card. For example, there are (or, at least, were, when I was in) a lot of Phillipino nationals in the US military, notably the US Navy. I am not sure (though could be wrong) that all of them had green cards. The Phillipines had (or has) some special status for the military (as a…

If you stay at a hotel outside Zone 1 (or even close to outside Zone 1, like Earl’s Court), you can save a bunch of money. The Underground is quite good so getting to and from the hotel will be quite easy and quick. (see Oyster card site >>> for Zone Map.) Also get a Visitor Oyster card for the Metro. There is so much…

George Brett’s mouth is consistently the worst. He was my favorite player as I grew up, but he just lives in his own little weird world.

Dogfish Head also makes the Indian Head Brown Ale. That tastes so much better from a key than the bottle, and the bottled stuff is pretty good. Or you could go with the excellent suggestion above of the Dogfish Head Palo San Marron, an awesome beer but many find that one too strong. It is my current favorite, since…

Really, the underlying issue here is that the “office” is a “team” in any sense of the word. And that is rubbish. That is just another way to introduce tribal identity, us vs. them, etc. People who need that sort of thing really need to be a bit more introspective to see how much this attitude hurts them, their…

I am just beginning to appreciate how the transition to the aluminum can or bottle from draft beer rarely works well. (Although I don’t think any of these beers would be much better from a keg.) My favorite beers taste so much better on draft. I usually have to go to restaurants that carry them to get the best taste.

For standing-room only tickets to the outdoor White House Presidential receptions of foreign dignitaries (on the South Lawn), check with your state’s Congressional representatives’ offices. You’ll probably need to check some months ahead to get the tickets mailed to you. You will also have to arrive like 2-3 hours…

Yup. Got to agree. I was in from 1971 - 1984, then worked for the US Army from 2005 - 2015. Then again, I have always felt that the military reflects the general population over all.* There are notable particular places like the USAF Academy where white religionists (is that a word?) are notorious. Interestingly, the…

I think that every place I have ever worked in the last 15 years, to include SAIC, CACI, Verizon, and the Federal Goverment, have ALL sent me nice form letters that my “information” was lost or stolen on someone’s laptop. At this point, I am not sure there is any real protection anywhere from this stuff. Then again,…

My kids (26+) have the genes to party. (If anything, their parents (us) are good for bad examples.) I did tell them repeatedly that anything eaten or drank (drunk?) should be chosen for its taste(s), texture, etc., and should be enjoyed and appreciated appropriately. So far, so good. A little planning, both for the…

Somehow, my wife taught one of our cats to fetch his toys back to her when she tosses them. Well, most of the time. Ok, sometimes, anyways. He carries his toys all over the house. We bought him a frog-like that that could be launched w/a rubber band. Well, one of its green paws “fell” off. Now he carries that green…

Germany just finally gave up on roundabouts and now has stop signs on all roundabout entry points. (At least they did in 2008-2010 when I lived there.)

Korean does not appear to be available via the web. Nor do I see it on the Duolingo app. Having used the app to try to learn French and Japanese, I can say have had issues with the app on my Ipad, the courses are great or not great, depending on who happened to happened create that particular course, and there is…