SinceThe70s

No propulsion, his control was limited to going up or down and spinning the balloon. At one point he dropped down to the river and the balloon started going backwards. What was cool was that he has multiple launch sites and he picks the site based on the prevailing winds to try to maximize time over the gorge.

Are you folks aware of who is batting 9th tonight for the Braves? It's our old friend Robinson Cano!

I don't follow the farm system at all, I generally know the names of the top prospects but I don't follow their progress, so it was nice to see the post from @ExWNYer What I hope Cohen does is use his financial might in any deals instead of mortgaging the farm system. I think it's important to have a pipeline of talent to fill some of the MLB roster spots. For example, 2 of the 3 4 Met All Stars this year are home grown.

Thanks! I got some great tips from this thread - very much appreciated. We had the Ginny Lee Cafe on the to-do list but it didn't work out. The driving was just a bit too much.

RIP Corporal Agarn. He was the main reason I tuned in to F Troop. Well, maybe Wrangler Jane too. Ironically a friend brought up F Troop in a few days ago.

On our way back from Watkins Glen we took a detour to Cindy's, but we ended up having a Chevy Chase/Vacation moment - 'Sorry folks, park's closed. Moose out front should have told you'. After a beautiful drive through farm and vineyard country when we got to Cindy's she had a sign up that she was away for the week visting relatives. We ended up buying a grape pie at the local diner. Good times!

Cool. Our operator gives a bottle of wine to the property owner - apparently it's a tradition dating back to the first balloon flights in France.

Apologies in advance that this is long-winded - cliff's notes version is it turned out great and adventure is somewhat apropo. First day of vacay we're settling in to our airbnb (i.e. - cocktails) and my boys spot balloons. We are pumped! We had made a reservation for a few days later but weather for that day looked sketchy so fingers were crossed. We see balloons every night, but forecast doesn't improve for launch day so anxiety rises. At some point we realize there is more than one balloon company and maybe the other one is better than the one we reserved. Weather doesn't improve, our ride is cancelled and by a stroke of luck we are able to reserve for the next day with the other company. Launch: The weather is better but windy enough that it might get cancelled as we are preparing to launch. At the launch site (basically someone's backyard that the pilot knows) it's still a game time decision - but we get the thumbs up. In retrospect, the pilot called the launch 'sporty'. Ahead of the launch I was concerned about clearing the tree line. During the launch I was convinced we were dumping into the pond next to the launch but we got off the ground and cleared the trees. Ride: More amazing than I imagined. Reached an altitude of 4000 feet. He would have gone higher but wifey balked (which I was fine with). The crazier part was dropping down low. He skimmed trees so we could (and did) grab leaves off the top of trees in Letchworth and then to my amazement dropped down into the gorge to the point that the bottom of the basket was probably inches from the water (a bit downstream from the lower falls). At one point he asked some Letchworth hikers to post pictures of us to his Facebook page. Saw an amazing sunset - before the trip he told me that on the sunrise trips he rises and lowers so they can see multiple sunrises. Landing: a bit sketchy. He had to find an open field and spoke to a few people on terra firma requesting permission to land - not everyone is amenable to having a balloon land on their crops. Landing was a bit rough - we were running out of daylight and the wind was kicking up and it was a bouncy landing that ended up just shy of a tree line. I could go into a lot more detail about how awesome it and the operator was and why if anyone wanted to do this they would want to use https://balloonletchworth.com/ and not the company sanctioned by the state park.

Looping in @SDS - might be related to recent issues with the site.

It's amusing that it was pretty much because of Madoff.

I've been eviscerated by friends for a similar opinion. As an aside, if someone likes a post in this thread does it mean that they agree with the unpopular opinion or that they agree that it's an unpopular opinion?

We took this trip to Garden Grove It smelled like Lou-dog inside the van, oh yeah

When all hope is gone Sad songs say so much

You make me come You make me complete You make me completely miserable

Losin' friends, losin' friends You got nothin' to lose You don't lose when you lose fake friends

Will the Yankees allow the bobblehead to have a beard?

Both of these teams would be better off not to have to face each other in the post season. But it feels like they are on a collision course.

After the Ben drama and shocking ending of season 3 I couldn't wait for season 4 of Ozark. I watched season 4 part 1 and an episode or two of part 2 but grew bored and never finished the series.

I'm not buying what he tried to sell but the killer claimed it was a mercy killing to put her out of misery after she suffered an injury: https://nypost.com/2022/06/24/i-thought-it-was-merciful-brian-laundrie-confessed-to-gabby-petito-murder/

If it makes you happy It can't be that bad

I gotta get home, there's a garden to tend There's fruit on the ground and the birds have all moved back Into my attic, whistling static When the young learn to fly I will patch all the holes up again

Bruce Smith O.J. Simpson Peter Griffin

Also, it's not at all uncommon for the team that's getting dominated to pop an unexpected goal in OT. Tbh that's what I expected last night.

Ironically Tampa Bay has benefitted from scoring goals with too many men on the ice in the two previous Stanley Cup finals. https://eyesonisles.com/posts/islanders-fans-have-no-pity-on-tampa-game-4-loss