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Got in last night from a 7 day trip through the Virgin Islands with friends on a crewed 54 foot catamaran. We were beyond spoiled. The captain (female) was friendly, experienced and anticipated everyone's want and need. The chef somehow created 3 gourmet meals a day, every day. Plus Hors...

I've said for years that watching the morning news was a terrible way to start the day. It sets an entirely wrong tone for the rest of the day.

Glad to hear it's just not me. That is one of the most irritating / painful noises that I know. Where I live there we have to take our own recyclables to a recycling center. I keep a set of ear plugs in my vehicle because the sound of unloading the bottles is terrible.

That stuff is not as good as you think.

I'm doing Roth conversions to the top of our current 12% for two reasons. 1. I don't think the rate will ever get lower and is much more likely to increase. 2. We are married filing jointly. If and/or when one of us passes away, the survivor will inherit the other's IRA and thus the surviving...

We've wanted to go to Thailand for years but have just never pulled the trigger. I think it's because we just don't know that much about it. Do we stay inland or on the coast? What's the best time of year to go? What cities should we consider,etc. I would hate to fly half way around the globe...

The wenge against the walnut is a nice touch. And the curly maple it's sitting on looks pretty good too!

I get one every 10 years. I've even keep the date of my last one on the wall in my woodworking shop to remind me.

Welcome to the forum. Like many here we retired a bit early. 55 for me and 52 for the wife, who retired with a modest teacher pension. Fortunately it came with a good health care plan. We were VERY frugal the first 6 years but the market has been good to us so this year we are finally spending...

I have an late 1980's era Weber Genesis that was given to me about 10 years ago. A friend was moving out of the country and couldn't take it. I used it for 8 years and it was looking tired. The frame was rusting away and the lid somehow got a hole in it. I thought about buying a new one but ran...

To the OP. You say that you're at only 22% in stocks/equities. If the market has a major correction and dips down a whopping 50%, you yourself are only down 11% of your portfolio. If you can't take an 11% dip in your investments without it disrupting your retirement, I politely would question if...

This made a severe dent in our annual travel budget. Just came back from a two week trip to Belize. We had rented an ocean front beach house and invited two other couples to join us as invited guests. Even though it had a full kitchen, we ate out every meal except for two breakfasts. Before we...

Back in the 80's I traveled a lot for work and racked up frequent flyer points. My girlfriend (now wife of 33 years) had never been out of the country so to impress her I booked us a week in the Virgin islands. We boarded the flight out of Atlanta and was settling in our seats when someone came...

Venice- We've stayed there at least three times. I don't know how long you're going to be there, but here are some hints. Venice at sunrise is fantastic. At that time the city is yours. The Rialto bridge is almost empty of tourists and St Marks Square is not packed. By 10:00am every tourist...

I read a lot here and seldom comment but....well done my friend. I'm not the biggest fan of Dave Ramsey but I do like his tag line. "Live like no one else and one day you can live like no one else"

I read a story about a guy who lost his job. To make ends meet he started picking up free appliances (washers, dryers, refridgerators) that didn't work. He stripped them of working parts and started selling them on Ebay. Sometimes he'll buy one cheap if it's a popular model. A fridge he buys for...

I met a couple who bought into one of the original ones and they had no idea who JImmy Buffett was, or even cared. They did a introduction weekend there and just loved the whole vibe.

This.

Roatan is nice but I caught dengue fever there from a mosquito bite so I'll not return.

That was an exceptionally nice and thoughtful thing to do. Good on ya!

Good for you. In my younger days I had one of the original Volkswagen GTI's with golf ball stick and Pirelli P6 tires that stuck to the pavement like glue. It was an absoute blast to drive and I miss it to this day.

Heading to Belize in a couple of weeks for a couple of weeks. This will be our 6th trip there. Then in May we are joining friends for a week cruising the BVI's on a large catamaran. This time they've hired a captain and a cook. It's been at least 17 years or more since we've done this. Can't wait.

Plumbers are expensive and hard to schedule. I would think this falls into handy-man territory as it might just need to be tightened again. If not, it's something any reasonably skilled handy-person could handle.

We've been drinking Running Wild for a while now when we want a NA beer. It tastes very close to a "normal" beer but you can still tell a small difference.

Nice tool cabinet Ronstar. You make this old woodworker want to try hand-cut dovetails.