Augie

That was what I was afraid of. Venice is the one I have not seen, and it’s kind of tugging on me. I’d like to include that in a trip also seeing Lake Como and some of Switzerland. We just saw the Amalfi coast on a day trip and I’d love more time there, but I want to see more new places.

Thanks. Obviously their music was part of the backdrop of the times, but it was never really my thing. While I never went out of my way to hear their music, I’d love to see their story if it’s easily accessible.

I really doubt anyone wanted to touch him there!

Happy birthday! Be thankful for your blessings and take nothing for granted.

That is officially for reading menus in dark restaurants. As far as you know.

I mentioned above the 3 hour drive to Sorrento to take a small boat to Capri. There were 4-5 couples on this boat, and I had been up since 5:30am to get there on time. We’re running late to leave because one couple has not shown up yet. A little more time passes, and nobody is yet looking TOO annoyed….and then they show up and he was in a Bills shirt. We were brothers, and all was forgiven. .

My sister regularly uses a travel service and goes with groups and they LOVE it. It’s a family who own a hardware store who used a travel agent to plan a big trip and they said “We could have done better than that!” And they did. She’s been using them for decades and they have run out of places to go….from Viet Nam to most recently the Antarctic. For that trip there is stuff you need to know and gear you have to have. They tell you what to bring and provide the rest. It’s a LOT more than just booking hotel rooms. Someone who knows the lay of the land adds value as long as you keep flexibility. I’m very curious, I’ve been to two of the three cities in Italy. How would you rank them? .

Fred Jackson didn’t feel like just another player on the team. Somehow he felt more like Uncle Freddie, one of us.

I found the language barrier to be intimidating before going to Europe the first time, but my first trip was on a small cruise ship. The cruise aspect with the side excursions booked made me feel more comfortable. I quickly realized my fears were greatly overblown. As one of my sisters said, “You know what I see most of in Europe? Other tourists.” The places we traveled are generally geared to serving us in exchange for our euros. My SIL used to take college kids on trips to Europe for Penn State. She worked with a French lady who splits her time between Paris and NYC and got all the agendas worked out. This lady knows the ropes and we had an amazing trip. I don’t know how much extra that’s cost was on the Paris/Italy trip, but I’d say it was well worth it.

I took 6 years of French as a kid, and I currently have over 600 consecutive days of French lessons on Duolingo (free, easy and helpful). We went to Paris then Italy a couple years ago, but I’m glad I didn’t have to rely on my language skills. I’d ask for the check or simple things in French trying to be polite with my attempt, but there was no way I was keeping up in a conversation. English was spoken almost everywhere, and where it’s not, you will figure it out. We had a driver take us from Rome to Sorrento for a day trip to Capri, about 3 hours each way. We left at 6am and after a couple hours of him driving and me sleeping we stopped at this “gas station” for a break and to fill up. The “gas station” was also a first class deli and bakery, with restrooms that looked like a spa with showers, etc. The driver goes out to fill up, and we were the only English speaking people inside. We went to the bakery, took a pic of what we wanted and showed it to the cashier and held up 2 fingers. We paid, and we took the receipt to the baker who gave us our food. This was before we had the translate app, and figuring out how to get it done was half the fun. The translate app makes everything super easy. You just talk into it and it does the translation for you. One thing about Italy that surprised me was the archaic plumbing in places. You might go into a nice restaurant in a nice area, and even toilet paper doesn’t go in the toilet. Flushing was not always a given, but I’d love to go back. Helpful hint: Learn a couple basic phrases to save you in a pinch. We were in a very touristy area in Spain a few years ago but nobody spoke English. Knowing “Donde esta el bano” came in extremely handy on one occasion! 😂 EDIT: They have earbuds now that will do the translation for you, but I don’t have any experience with that yet. These translation apps are a very cool thing about living right now. They knock down barriers and that’s a good thing. .

Do you mean….the famous millionaire? I know who he is!

I would have done better on the SAT’s if they didn’t take place so early in the morning. The hangover didn’t help either.

….generally if you are the under-performer.

Golf is more between the ears than on the club face. Everybody is up and down, that is the nature of the game and it always has been.

But I’ll take the over on how many plays he lasts. Vegas has the over/under line kinda low since he was gone after the 4th play a couple years ago. I bet he gets into double digits before something goes south. That’s an interesting point I had not considered. We need to move Hard Knocks stat!

….except I may or may not actually show up….drama is everything.

I’ll finally be able to sleep tonight…

Well, that is their loss. What time should we be there?

My wife teases me because she says I’m a rule follower, which is generally true. I’m not one who goes looking for free streams, but I have no problem with anyone who goes that route. The NFL deserves it for their greed. I’m sure the NFL doesn’t like that, but they like the alternative even less - I can stop caring. I’m much more of a Bills fan than an NFL fan these days. .

We have to wait a few years for the fast stuff until our little 68 home neighborhood has to tear up and replace the road. It comes up every HOA meeting, especially after everyone worked from home with Covid. It’s all around us, but not available to us.

The Washington game I saw live and had it set to record at home. When we got home I immediately deleted it. Now my TV knows to automatically records Bills games, but I never watch them. I already saw it. .

That’s up to you to decide, to a large degree. I try to be happy about things that are within my control. Anything else is gravy. .

RIP That’s some of the earliest stuff I remember.

I can’t even count the number of times a girl has not said that about me.

I don’t mean to sound like I’m telling others how to feel or act, because that’s not the case. It’s very personal and individual. But for me I’ve learned that I have no control over what happens to the Bills, but I can have some control over my emotions. I get upset like everybody else, and nobody wants a Bills Super Bowl more than I do. But we have learned some difficult life lessons, and I find it is healthier for me if I keep some perspective. It’s a game. My wife leaves to see her brother tomorrow who is caring for his wife with stage 4 breast cancer and starting a new round of chemo. He needs surgery and is having a hard time getting around, so my wife is going to help. She’s unexpectedly available to go because her job was eliminated last month. (That’s actually a blessing, because they will pay her well NOT to work and she could have a job next week if she wants, or maybe just retire.) We all have “stuff” in our lives that is more important than the Bills, I hope. It’s not productive or healthy for me to hold my angst over 13 seconds or Music City Miracle or Wide Right. It happened, some changes were made, lessons were hopefully learned, and we move on. I didn’t used to be quite like this, but you learn some survival techniques when life kicks you around a little bit. It’s the old what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger deal, I suppose.