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Should not have waited and just got it "on the rocks". ;)

I hate to go off topic, but I would suggest if you do decide to take your mother on that Mediterranean cruise, you look into a smaller ship. My wife and I have done about a half dozen cruises over the years. Our best experience was on a 180 passenger ship on a cruise around Iceland. Our worst...

I wouldn't blame this on COVID attitudes, so much as just some people are jackasses under any circumstances. Any illness -- flu, covid, even a cold -- in elderly people need to be treated seriously. My mother-in-law passed away due to cardiac arrest when she had the flu (she had other medical...

I spent a good deal of last week at a hockey tournament -- The World Junior Summer Showcase. I attended 8 of the 11 games, passing on the final two games last Saturday because (1) the weather was too nice to spend another day indoors in a hockey arena, and (2) I was kinda "hockeyed out" at that...

I'm sending positive thoughts her way. Hope she and your nephew both get through this okay.

For the past few years, my wife has been volunteering at two local senior citizen independent living facilities, running activities and visiting with residents. Since this pandemic, those facilities have been locked down pretty tight, so she has been unable to volunteer in person (she's still...

The freezer section of the small refrigerator we have in our basement bar area stopped keeping food frozen, so we decided to get a freezer chest to replace it. My wife has always wanted more freezer space, and we cannot fit anything bigger than an apartment-sized fridge in the basement bar. We...

I think with VISA and Mastercard, the level of service really depends on the issuing bank. American Express is an entity on thier own and provides their own customer service, while VISA & Mastercard rely on another financial institution for that service. Personally, we've had great service from...

We love The Spaghetti Factory. Haven't been to Toronto in quite a few years (other than just driving through), but we always tried to dine there when we were in town.

It varies. My current 2018 GMC Acadia has a power tailgate that can be opened from the driver's seat. My wife's 2019 Buick Encore does not, nor did my 2011 GMC Terrain, my wife's 2009 Saturn Vue or her two Mercury Villagers. I think my 2002 Nissan Altima had a button to pop the trunk -- it's...

Good luck, Johnny.

I went to my normal place to get my hair cut this past week, and they were taking the proper precautions to make me feel comfortable. I had my hair cut twice when the salons were closed by a friend of the family who is a long time hair stylist, so I haven't been too shaggy (I normally get my...

I am just not seeing this behavior around here. Just today, we were walking around the downtown area of our hometown (decided to go out for lunch), and there were a combination of people walking outside in the park with and without masks. Everyone was polite and respecting distances -- the same...

How could they? Nobody expects The Spanish Inquisition!

We had our first restaurant experience yesterday at Apache Trout Grill in Traverse City. We got there just before 5pm, and with their reduced seating capacity there was about a 30 minute wait. However, they had an outdoor tiki bar with lots of social distance seating that they were using for a...

Thanks, Nelson. FYI, that last shot of the tractors on the bridge was take with my Canon 5d3 digital SLR, but the others were scans of either 35mm slides or negatives. So as not to derail this thread, if you are interested in scanning your slides / negatives, I have this thread in the...

My dad had a very good idea of the worth of the tractors. He loved going to tractor shows and tractor parades in northern Michigan during the summertime. We think the '46 John Deere is worth somewhere between $3,500 - $4,000. The auctioneer will take a 15% commission whenever the auction...

We are heading up to Traverse City for an over night trip this week, so it will be interesting to see the contrast from the past several times we headed north. Around here, traffic is picking up some, but it is still not back to normal levels -- especially during the morning & evening commute...

Here's my Dad with his 1946 John Deere farm tractor. He also had a restored 1975 John Deere lawn tractor that he used to mow the lawn and clear snow. FYI, both the photos were scans of old 35mm color negatives that I did as part of a recent project to digitize all my Dad's old family photos...

Here's an old photo of my father standing beside the Allis-Chalmers he restored:

We have a family friend who manages a salon and has been cutting hair for decades. She has a mini-salon with a single chair in her basement, so I've had my hair cut twice during the "barber ban". If I cannot get an appointment easily when my normal place has re-opened, I will go back to her one...

Fortunately, all the lockdown rules here in Michigan did not prevent us from selling my parents home in northern Michigan. The closing was completed on Wednesday, and my mother received her check yesterday. So now the only business issue yet to be completed is the estate sale, and it looks like...

Today I enjoyed my first round of golf with two from my normal weekend golf group. Since we didn't have a foursome, we had to come up with a couple of different gambling games (we play for very little money -- it's mostly for fun). It was nice to have some male bonding time, even though I came...

We had a cool event at our local USA Hockey Arena today. The restaurant, called CJ's Brewery, attached to the arena does take out / curbside pickup. Today former USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP) alumni and current NHL players Quinn and Jack Hughes, along with current NTDP...

Sounds like an owner with a sense of humor. Nothing wrong with that. One of my favorite signs is from a winery we go to in South Carolina that reads "Unattended Children Will Be Given a Red Bull and a Puppy".

Looks great, Mark. I grilled chicken tonight out on our new deck, too, after I waxed my wife's car. We didn't have martini's, though... just some nice Michigan craft beers (Founders All Day IPA for me, and Bell's Oberon for my wife). :cheers:

Our local lumber store was doing that today, as well, when I returned the excess materials left over from our new deck. ...and speaking of masks, one of the employees at the Home Depot near our house had on an Ohio State mask. He was helping us get down a gas grill for my mom (it's her...

Our local Kroger was placing limits on chicken the last time my wife was in there a couple of days ago. And, yes, we are finally seeing toilet paper in the stores here regularly (no pun intended ;)).

Our stimulus money went to pay for most of the labor for our new deck, which was completed just yesterday. The original deck was over 40 years old and was beginning to show its age, even with us staining it every 3 years. The new deck is composite material, so we just need to clean it -- no...

We can play golf, but cannot use a power cart -- the governor's edict said no golf carts. It's not very logical, since the courses were only permitting one golfer per cart before they got shutdown, and could continue to do so. In fact, this morning my home course was allowing power carts for...