Things that are good about living in 2025

[May Day 10]

I would say it is pretty awesome to have an infinite amount of information in the palm of your hand, ready for recall in a matter of seconds.  I can decide to look up Tris Speaker's OBP from 1920...... It was .483.  It took me 7 seconds to find that.  Additionally I learned he won the MVP in 1912 and I hadn't realized he finished his career with the Philadelphia A's at the age of 40 in 1928.

 

Social networking/social media is a pretty neat thing too if used in moderation.  You can be in touch with so many people with similar interests, stay connected with friends throughout the different phases of life.  There is a lot of bad things with social media too I realize and people who mis-use it and base living off it.

 

Streaming in general.  Podcasting, youtube, music apps, streaming television.  Wonderful.  Some downsides with it.  I can think of something or a scene I saw 40 years ago, and watch it on youtube usually.  Music video, sporting event, funny movie scene, tv show, etc.  The audio things hook up seamlessly in my car.

 

I know it is in fashion to publicly loathe technology and go back to simpler times, but it is pretty awesome. 

 

 

Other than that, relative peace (sorry Ukraine, Gaza, and Ethiopia).  General prosperity/comfort for middle class.  

 

 

 

[US Egg]

41 minutes ago, Augie said:

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. 

Thank you, much appeciated. It's the kind of encouragement I need to hear. I admit there's apprehension on my part as I more than likely would be arranging most everything myself. I have an aversion to staying in hotels, almost always rent places with added conveniences (separate beds/bedrooms too, hey I admit it, want it to be just like at home). But wanting that staying 3-4 nights and hopscotching around for at least 2 weeks seems daunting, and adds to my excuses for not going.

 

....see you caught me again in a rephrase.   
 

Oh, and to bring it back to the op’s posit of thankfulness in 2025, I couldn’t have imagined seriously being able to do something like this not so long ago.

Edited 9 hours ago by US Egg

[Augie]

1 minute ago, US Egg said:

Thank you, much appeciated. It's the kind of encouragement I need to hear. I admit there's apprehension on my part as I more than likely would be arranging most everything myself. I have an aversion staying in hotels, almost always rent places. Would plan the same in Italy, but staying 3-4 nights in different places for at least 2 weeks seems daunting.  

 

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.  

[SinceThe70s]

3 hours ago, US Egg said:

My wife’s been wanting to go Italy. Apprehensive of being a stranger in a strange land because of a language barrier, I was able to instead sway her to go to London last year. Upon getting home, actually on the plane home, she starts up with the Italy thing. I told her to learn Italian because I do not want any part of a tour group vacation and want to do and see more than the Florence, Venice, Rome package seemingly commonly offered.
 

She’s been studying like crazy, drops hints of her progress almost daily. So…..???

 

The only time I've been to Europe was a pre-pandemic trip to Italy: Rome, Florence, Venice. I was also apprehensive about the language barrier and it wasn't a big deal - except that time I tried to order a vodka tonic, that was a chore and I stuck with wine after that.

 

We actually did a tour and it was fantastic. Our tour included 'free time' in each city - it was a great compromise as the tour got us perks like dinner at the Vatican and bypassing the line at the Coliseum. Plus it took all the guess work out of transportation and accommodations. Anyway, if you decide to go (and you should) I wouldn't dismiss a tour out of hand.

 

 

[US Egg]

58 minutes ago, SinceThe70s said:

The only time I've been to Europe was a pre-pandemic trip to Italy: Rome, Florence, Venice. I was also apprehensive about the language barrier and it wasn't a big deal - except that time I tried to order a vodka tonic, that was a chore and I stuck with wine after that.

 

We actually did a tour and it was fantastic. Our tour included 'free time' in each city - it was a great compromise as the tour got us perks like dinner at the Vatican and bypassing the line at the Coliseum. Plus it took all the guess work out of transportation and accommodations. Anyway, if you decide to go (and you should) I wouldn't dismiss a tour out of hand.

Thanks. Really appreciate the input. My wife thinks a tour be fine. I see the plus of the perks you point out, the must sees are probably brutal without pre-planning no matter when you go. I don’t like being held to a schedule, or told how I have to go about my days on vacation, but when in Rome….

My bigger problem is this is a one and done trip, I want to see Naples and the Amalfi Coast. My wife would be happy with the Big Three, which would be less demanding.

Edited 8 hours ago by US Egg

[SinceThe70s]

7 minutes ago, US Egg said:

Thanks. Really appreciate the input. My wife thinks a tour be fine. I see the plus of the perks you point out, the must sees are probably brutal without pre-planning no matter when you go. I don’t like being held to a schedule, or told how I have to go about my days on vacation, but when in Rome….

 

100% agreed! Feel free to message me if you have any questions. 

[Augie]

2 hours ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

The only time I've been to Europe was a pre-pandemic trip to Italy: Rome, Florence, Venice. I was also apprehensive about the language barrier and it wasn't a big deal - except that time I tried to order a vodka tonic, that was a chore and I stuck with wine after that.

 

We actually did a tour and it was fantastic. Our tour included 'free time' in each city - it was a great compromise as the tour got us perks like dinner at the Vatican and bypassing the line at the Coliseum. Plus it took all the guess work out of transportation and accommodations. Anyway, if you decide to go (and you should) I wouldn't dismiss a tour out of hand.

 

 

 

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? 

 

 

.

Edited 6 hours ago by Augie

[Wacka]

6 hours ago, US Egg said:

My wife’s been wanting to go Italy. Apprehensive of being a stranger in a strange land because of a language barrier, I was able to instead sway her to go to London last year. Upon getting home, actually on the plane home, she starts up with the Italy thing. I told her to learn Italian because I do not want any part of a tour group vacation and want to do and see more than the Florence, Venice, Rome package seemingly commonly offered.
 

She’s been studying like crazy, drops hints of her progress almost daily. So…..???

You might even meet some Bills fans.  My sister and B-I-L went on a cruise last June Flew to Rome and  cruised to Malta Greece and somewhere else. They stayed in Rome for 3 days.  Went to the Coliseum and were walkung back to their hotel about a mile away as they couldn't get a taxi there. It was in the 90s, so they decided to go into a cafe for a drink. They were talking  and an adult woman  and her mother heard them speaking English.  They were American too and asked where they were from. My sister said  Buffalo and they said they were too! The woman is the head chef for the Bills at the stadium!

[Augie]

6 minutes ago, Wacka said:

You might even meet some Bills fans.  My sister and B-I-L went on a cruise last June Flew to Rome and  cruised to Malta Greece and somewhere else. They stayed in Rome for 3 days.  Went to the Coliseum and were walkung back to their hotel about a mile away as they couldn't get a taxi there. It was in the 90s, so they decided to go into a cafe for a drink. They were talking  and an adult woman  and her mother heard them speaking English.  They were American too and asked where they were from. My sister said  Buffalo and they said they were too! The woman is the head chef for the Bills at the stadium!

 

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 annoyed….and then they show up and he was in a Bills shirt. We were brothers, and all was forgiven. 

[UConn James]

Agreed on the streaming and such where you can pretty much see whatever you want these days. Time was not very very long ago that my Bills fandom was reading the score & recap in the Monday newspaper. That said, there’s PLENTY to dislike about the modern flow & speed of information, coming from all corners. The human mind wasn’t built to hear about all the bad things that happen everywhere every day.

 

Goldendoodles. Love my Ace. He’s perfect.

 

 

 

[SinceThe70s]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

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? 

 

 

.

 

Venice was my favorite, just so unique. My favorite part was just walking around the back streets and canals.

 

Rome blew me away for the history, mind-boggling coming from a country whose history is so short. I'll never forget walking inside the Pantheon, had no idea what it was, just came across it randomly, walked in - and it took my breath away.

 

The city of Florence was my least favorite. Didn't care for the high end retail shops mixed in with the culture. But outside the city was cool. Went to Tuscany (allegedly we were in the room where Machiavelli wrote the Prince)  and did a day trip to the Tower of Pisa which was a must.

[WotAGuy]

I really appreciate how our two major political parties are coming together to reduce the deficit for the benefit of our children and grandchildren. 
 

Whoa!  What was in that gummy???

[BillsPride12]

Memes/Internet Humor 

Edited 3 hours ago by BillsPride12

[SinceThe70s]

5 hours ago, US Egg said:

Thanks. Really appreciate the input. My wife thinks a tour be fine. I see the plus of the perks you point out, the must sees are probably brutal without pre-planning no matter when you go. I don’t like being held to a schedule, or told how I have to go about my days on vacation, but when in Rome….

My bigger problem is this is a one and done trip, I want to see Naples and the Amalfi Coast. My wife would be happy with the Big Three, which would be less demanding.

 

I somehow missed this earlier. Totally get it. Our trip to Italy started as a Med cruise that included Italy. When I was informed that the trip would include a stop in France that I could care less about but I wouldn't get to Venice I told wifey there was no way I was going to Italy without visiting Venice. Shifting to Italy we wanted to squeeze in Vesuvius and the Blue Grotto, but time and money prevented both.

[SinceThe70s]

1 hour ago, WotAGuy said:

I really appreciate how our two major political parties are coming together to reduce the deficit for the benefit of our children and grandchildren. 
 

Whoa!  What was in that gummy???

 

 

[CookieG]

9 hours ago, May Day 10 said:

I would say it is pretty awesome to have an infinite amount of information in the palm of your hand, ready for recall in a matter of seconds.  I can decide to look up Tris Speaker's OBP from 1920...... It was .483.  It took me 7 seconds to find that.  Additionally I learned he won the MVP in 1912 and I hadn't realized he finished his career with the Philadelphia A's at the age of 40 in 1928.

 

Social networking/social media is a pretty neat thing too if used in moderation.  You can be in touch with so many people with similar interests, stay connected with friends throughout the different phases of life.  There is a lot of bad things with social media too I realize and people who mis-use it and base living off it.

 

Streaming in general.  Podcasting, youtube, music apps, streaming television.  Wonderful.  Some downsides with it.  I can think of something or a scene I saw 40 years ago, and watch it on youtube usually.  Music video, sporting event, funny movie scene, tv show, etc.  The audio things hook up seamlessly in my car.

 

I know it is in fashion to publicly loathe technology and go back to simpler times, but it is pretty awesome. 

 

 

Other than that, relative peace (sorry Ukraine, Gaza, and Ethiopia).  General prosperity/comfort for middle class.  

 

 

 

there are still ways to avoid/escape technology and to many, an off-grid lifestyle is fashionable.  

 

Of course, most of them have a monetized Youtube channel, a solar array and a Jackery to power their laptops, phones and other electronic items.  So in a way, they are missing the point, but to each his own.

 

I always had a certain mode of respect for a Dick Proenneke, a guy who found an uninhabited lake in Alaska and built his retirement cabin there.  He stayed for 30+ years, finally leaving in his early 80s.  He built his cabin with non-power hand tools and 95+ percent of his building materials came off the land. His modes of transportation were his feet and a canoe, and supplies were flown in every month or two by a bush pilot friend.  His nearest neighbor was at least 40 miles away

 

  The only reason anyone knew about him was because he filmed himself building his cabin with a wind up camera to send to his family.  Someone came up with a way to market his film, photos and journals and he became a PBS sensation.   

 

He was a survivalist before there were survivalists, 

A Youtuber before there were Youtubers

An Into the Wild personality decades before that foolish young guy, Chris McCandles went Into the Wild and never came out.