Chengdu Two Years Later

I'm a lot braver than I was in 2015. I tackled Chengdu on my own this time due to its expanded Metro service.

Hotel Toiletries - Take Them or Not

According to the New York Post article This is why you should steal shampoo from hotels, you should take them. However, make sure you take the toiletries you used, too, meaning the opened bottles and soap. Why?

The NY Post does not tell us anything new. Hotels throw out the toiletries you open. What gets thrown out winds up in landfill.

Walt Disney World Magic Bands - Collection is Not Done

Old & New Magic Bands

I thought I collected every single color you could of the Magic Band from staying on property. To my surprise, the latest Magic Band I got was different.

*back of hand to forehead* "Woe is me! I need to continue visiting the Mouse's house until I collect every single color."

Too Many Emails

I have multiple email accounts. I manage majority of these mail accounts by having one account retrieve them. Well, it seems the main account was having problems retrieving one of the accounts for the past month. I took care of the problem child several nights ago.

Halloween in September

That's right I did Halloween in September. After Labor Day, Disneyland got gussied up for Halloween.

Beluga Haikus

On Deck Beluga Cam

While working on the Beluga cams, the Captain worked with one of the interns to come up with an Haiku after I looked up the format for them -- 3 phrases, 1st line 5 syllables, line 2 7 and line 3 5.

I also took it on as a challenge for myself and came up with this.

What Am I Reading?

My life is not all cams -- pandas and the world of explore.org. I somehow still squeeze in reading, finishing a book or 3 a week.

I've caught up on my must-read authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon, J.D. Robb, J. Kenner, Lexi Blake, Shayla Black, Maya Banks, Lauren Dane and several others.

Maggie and Crochet

My craft email brought Maggie to mind as she was the one who peaked my interest in crochet. My memories are a bit foggy. I'm sure Maggie crocheted ponchos for us girls. She then help me with crocheting my own.

Maggie would watch television while she crocheted hats, sweaters, or ponchos for baby dolls. I never knew what happen to all those doll clothes and baby dolls.

I never thought about it until now. Yes, Maggie is the closest thing to a grandmother to us. Her son, the superintendent of the building, would have been a second father.

No, I never did go far in the world of crochet. I've done simple stuff... ponchos... scarves... granny squares. I have a tub and bags of items for yarn crafting. I picked up knitting somewhere along the way.

Well, I have several tubs of craft projects that I might get to one of these days. These days have not arrived yet. LOL

2016 Chinese New Year Celebration

Last night was the family get together to celebrate the Lunar New Year which, if you don't know already, is the year of the Monkey. Out of all of us, we only have 1 Monkey, my oldest niece.

I get into Chinatown with plenty of time to spare. As I near the new restaurant we were going to try, I see my youngest sister approach me. She stops me and says, "I think this is the place." I stare at her because she's not pointing to the restaurant we were meeting at, but at a little joint that has a line coming out the door wrapped beyond it's store front.

China & Hong Kong: Trip Tips

China

Things I learned from doing this trip. This is only for a leisure trip from an U.S. national point of view.

China & Hong Kong: Travel Agencies

I was suppose to go to China in 2014. I had the plane ticket and even the hotel room booked. You had to or else you could not get a China visa.

With booked plane and hotel for China, I decided to use a friend who was a travel agent to do the rest, namely book some tours.

China & Hong Kong: Bucklet List Checked

I really don't do lists, but if I did, visiting China and Hong Kong will be on it. Why? I have to see the homeland of pandas. Plus, I need to visit all the Disney playgrounds. Some might think I need to visit the land I was born in. Nope, pandas and Disney were the main reasons for this trip.

The Osbourne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights - Final Year

This will the last year that Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studio will have the Osbourne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, presented by Siemens. The over 5 million lights were turned on Friday, November 6, 2015 and will be turned off Sunday, January 3, 2016. Hollywood Studios will undergo some major enhancements as Disney takes away and adds new "lands" to this park, like Cars Land and Star Wars.

The House Knows

First it was the refrigerator. Yep, it decided that it no longer want to be cold. It got replaced and the old one acts as extra space in the garage when I can get it to maintain a freeze for 3-4 months. It seems the oldie wants to be defrosted periodically. One of these days, it will be kicked out the door.

Then the AC unit went. The service guy said he could patch it up and it should last for the rest of the season. As for the next summer, that's a coin toss.

Next the water heater wanted to try to flood my basement. Lucky me, I caught it in time so I only had a wading pool in one corner. A water heater rated to last 10 years served me well for 16 years. Maybe I should have done what my sister did and just replace it before it went. Oh well, I did not think of it soon enough.

Yes, the house knew I was getting close to my last mortgage payment. I now have 100% equity on my place. A place I plan on spending the rest of my life with or possibly part ways when I can no longer deal with the stairs.

The house's gift to me... the AC died. The coin toss was not in my favor. It went on one of the most humid days ever. Thank goodness the next several days were spring like while I went seeking estimates and getting the work done.

Central air is a costly replacement expenditure. However, it's something I've always had since I moved out of New York City over 20 years ago. I guess the mortgage money needs to go somewhere. I just calculated my monthly payment...at least it's a lot smaller than my mortgage.

I get to look forward to more appliances and siding and roof reaching its life expectancy.

Another Desktop

My almost 5 year old laptop was slowing down. The last year or so I started recording and editing videos. The laptop just took too long to do all I need to create a finish product for upload to my Youtube account.

Pantyhose Does Not Last Forever

It really doesn't.

I finally decided to tackle a drawer today--the one that holds all my slips and pantyhose. A drawer that I've not opened since business casual became the norm.

Wary of New Technology... You Should Be

Verizon tweeted this article -- Wary of New Technology? I liked the beginning because it gave me more information about something I heard about -- the evolution of phone numbers. However, the end of the article is another thing. It's a marketing article.

Seems to be Pouring

Not the wet kind but things that you just want to stay away or not happen at all. I was going away for a week the next day and one thing after the other just keep happening.

First... My sister brings in the mail and there's a notice that I have to pick up a certified letter.

Where is the Cloud?

When you hear that you can store your stuff up in the "cloud", do you really know what that is? Are you using it just because it's the latest fad?

Bottomline, the "cloud" is someone else's hardware. It is not those fluffy white stuff floating in the sky who some think that's how toilet paper is made.

Worthwhile Dumpster Dive

My sister brought several of these home -- the speaker, not the player. I even like the blue. I wish she was able to get a couple more speakers, but they were all gone when she went back. If we had a couple more, then they would be put in other rooms and our Bluetooth devices that can tap into them.