Blow That Dough! - 2019

[braumeister]

After long resisting, I finally blew the dough on a Roomba, thanks to a remarkable half-off Prime Day deal. After living with it for a while I'm really glad I did. What a great little gadget!

 

[Teacher Terry]

I love my roomba.

 

[pb4uski]

+1 and we recently bought an iRobot Braava 240 robot mop to mop the floors... I think I like the Braava more then the Roomba... because I hate mopping more than I hate sweeping.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I have the mop robot also)

 

[Moemg]

+1 and we recently bought an iRobot Braava 240 robot mop to mop the floors... I think I like the Braava more then the Roomba... because I hate mopping more than I hate sweeping.

Does it work around area rugs ? Does it do a decent job cleaning ?

 

[rrppve]

Rented a Lamborghini Huracan for a day. A little over $800 after taxes and fees. It was a blast. Unfortunately used up all 100 free miles before the 24 hours was up.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We don’t have area rugs. Does a great job.

 

[GravitySucks]

Paid $550 to have 3 burly men with a bucket truck, saws, and a stump grinder to take down a tree. Less than 2 hours to finish makes me feel like I over paid. Ash Borer Beetle are making the tree guys around here rich. Took 5 weeks to get him here. Now trying to get a hold of my fence guy to dig up the broken posts. Getting lazy.
The saying pay for experiences not things. It also works to pay to avoid experiences.

 

[braumeister]

Paid $550 to have 3 burly men with a bucket truck, saws, and a stump grinder to take down a tree. Less than 2 hours to finish makes me feel like I over paid.

Probably not.
Five years ago I paid $1,800 to have three big ash trees removed, and that's without grinding the stumps.

 

[RunningBum]

Paid $550 to have 3 burly men with a bucket truck, saws, and a stump grinder to take down a tree. Less than 2 hours to finish makes me feel like I over paid. Ash Borer Beetle are making the tree guys around here rich. Took 5 weeks to get him here. Now trying to get a hold of my fence guy to dig up the broken posts. Getting lazy.
The saying pay for experiences not things. It also works to pay to avoid experiences.

Probably not.
Five years ago I paid $1,800 to have three big ash trees removed, and that's without grinding the stumps.

Yeah, it doesn't sound out of line at all. I paid more than that, for a few more trees. One of them was really tricky and dangerous. I figure I was not just paying for their time, but also for their equipment, insurance, and expertise. Joe Chainsaw might have dropped my double trunk ash on both my roof and my neighbor's. These guys knew what they were doing. And as you say, the ash borer is making it harder to get good tree guys at a good price.

 

[sengsational]

My new "Blow That Dough" lift recliner is better than perfect. I think I got my money's worth already. It is great for napping, even when I didn't intend to nap. I didn't realize how sleep deprived I must be!

Spent half the night sleeping in my recliner, until I awakened and realized what I was doing, and went to bed. Then today I have already taken two naps in it.

Late to the party but had to comment on how my FIL rates recliners. He rates them on SPEED, as in "this new recliner is faster than my old one". I didn't get it at first but, but I looked over there 30 seconds later, and he was asleep

 

[GravitySucks]

Oh I know I got a good deal. Other quotes were around $700. The cheapskate in me says I could have done it myself over a weekend.

Might also broke a bone or my or the neighbors house too.

The cheapskate says I can dig up the broken fence posts, but last time I could barely walk for two days when I was done.
Money well spent.

 

[pb4uski]

We don’t have area rugs. Does a great job.

+1 no area rugs here either.... we used to have some but our (now deceased) cat was having bowel control issues and seemed to favor the rugs so we took them all up and put down pee pads... once he passed on we haven't felt any need to put the area rugs back down. We have a handful of doorway sized rugs and I just put them aside, let Braava do its thing and then put them back.

However, I "think" that it would stop and turn around if it encountered an area rug.... I say that because we have a short ~1/8" transition from wood floor to tile and Braava stays on the wood floor and doesn't go up onto the tile. YMMV

 

[Teacher Terry]

The robot vacuum can adjust itself to clean both rugs and floors. No clue what the mopping robot would do. My little dogs can’t tell the difference between pee pads and rugs.

 

[athena53]

Not in Robbieb's league, but... my older granddaughter is 5. Last October I took her on an overnight from Des Moines, where she lives, to Chicago. We stayed at the Hilton O'Hare, and had a view of planes taking off and landing, which she loved. We went again in May for 2 nights and explored the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum. I asked her if she'd rather stay in the city next time. Nope. Gotta have the airport view from the room.

I decided to take her again in September after she tactfully asked me when we'd do it again. Used miles for the flights but Hilton was playing silly games with the room rates and I didn't have enough HHonors points for the full stay. Because a room with a guaranteed runway view is considered a "premium" reward room, it's 128,000 points per night instead of 55,000 even though the paid rate is only $30 more plus tax. I ended up keeping the points and paying cash for 2 nights. Gotta get the runway view. She has Grandma wrapped around her little finger.

Younger sister can't WAIT to visit this exotic place called Chicago but she's not quite 3 and just getting the hang of toilet training. She's also a little more happy-go-lucky than her older sister and I want to make sure she's mature enough not to wander off in a crowd. I think Older Sister is just as glad to leave Younger Sister at home for another year or two.

 

[Friendish Friends]

Not in Robbieb's league, but... my older granddaughter is 5. Last October I took her on an overnight from Des Moines, where she lives, to Chicago. We stayed at the Hilton O'Hare, and had a view of planes taking off and landing, which she loved. We went again in May for 2 nights and explored the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum. I asked her if she'd rather stay in the city next time. Nope. Gotta have the airport view from the room.

I decided to take her again in September after she tactfully asked me when we'd do it again. Used miles for the flights but Hilton was playing silly games with the room rates and I didn't have enough HHonors points for the full stay. Because a room with a guaranteed runway view is considered a "premium" reward room, it's 128,000 points per night instead of 55,000 even though the paid rate is only $30 more plus tax. I ended up keeping the points and paying cash for 2 nights. Gotta get the runway view. She has Grandma wrapped around her little finger.

Younger sister can't WAIT to visit this exotic place called Chicago but she's not quite 3 and just getting the hang of toilet training. She's also a little more happy-go-lucky than her older sister and I want to make sure she's mature enough not to wander off in a crowd. I think Older Sister is just as glad to leave Younger Sister at home for another year or two.

We'll be staying at the same Hilton, and I splurged in the runway view as well. I doubt my kids will care -- I'm the spoiled one who had to have it!

 

[pb4uski]

I remember when I was 5 or so that our occasional entertainment was going to the local small airport and watching planes take off and land.

 

[athena53]

I remember when I was 5 or so that our occasional entertainment was going to the local small airport and watching planes take off and land.

Well, now you can't get close enough and in some places you get hassled by "security" people. I've heard that from friends who enjoy planespotting.

It warmed my heart, though, that the first thing my granddaughter did on that first trip when she woke up in the morning was open the curtain so she could see the airport again. I SO want to give all of them travel experiences but need to balance that with my wish to help with their educations. DS has a decent job and DDIL is a SAHM so I doubt they'll be able to accumulate much for college. I want to fill in that gap but am hoping that as each turns about 12, I can take him/her on a "dream trip"- however they define it. One rule: no theme parks.

 

[Winemaker]

We blew $11,000 on a Viking cruise out of Budapest to Germany next year. It'll be our first trip to Europe for both of us.

 

[Souschef]

We blew $11,000 on a Viking cruise out of Budapest to Germany next year. It'll be our first trip to Europe for both of us.

Great! I have attached a copy of the story of our trip. Try to find a book called
d Castles Along the Rhine. It will give you the history of the castles you sail by.

 

[explanade]

How many days?

Does it include extras like excursions or those are additional too?

 

[ERD50]

OK, here goes. Background on this is DW hates flying (just won't do it at this point) and I really dislike driving more than about 3 hours at a time. But I really want to do some vacation time.

Gave DW the gift of any rail vacation she wanted. We decided on the Chicago to Grand Canyon trip, 5 days, coming up soon. Long enough to get somewhere I've never seen, short enough that if we hate it, we just chalk it up as an experience.

But since we don't travel much, I went for every possible upgrade available. Blow that dough! Too bad we didn't book a year or more ahead of time, some of the best things are booked.

I added the helicopter tour, DW would not want to partake! I'm hoping I like it, the reviews fro m people on this forum and others are sort of love it or hate it, but most of the hate is for things we won't care about (delays - who cares if we are late?).

These Amtrak tours are not cheap. I think I did a European trip for less (with my buddy, since DW won't fly), but I think it will be better for us than driving/flying. I hope so, I'd like to do more in the future, I have spent almost no time out East.

And on the other end of the spectrum, my back was acting up, so I 'splurged and bought the 25# bags of water softener salt, so much easier to carry than the 40# or 50# bags, and more convenient than splitting the large bags into a bucket. Blow that dough indeed!

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

We blew $11,000 on a Viking cruise out of Budapest to Germany next year. It'll be our first trip to Europe for both of us.

Sounds fantastic! I was in Budapest with my buddy in 2011. It was March, during their Spring Music festival. That was great, plenty to do/see, but not the tourist season, so it was great. Weather much like the Midwest at that ime, any day could be cool to warm, rainy or clear. We saw lots of those cruise ships up/down the Danube.

-ERD50

 

[Winemaker]

How many days?

Does it include extras like excursions or those are additional too?

I'm not totally up on all particulars, as we are traveling with friends, and we copied their basic itinerary. First class air travel from Grapetown to Budapest and back, basic cabin, 2 early days in Budapest on our own to get acclimated, 8 day cruise. Extra excursions have not been picked out yet but there is a wide choice that comes with cruise and several add-ons, we do not have to pick them as yet.

We will have to get further info from our FIRE forum members as to acquiring Euros, CPAP machine power converters and cell phone convertability.

 

[Souschef]

OK, here goes. Background on this is DW hates flying (just won't do it at this point) and I really dislike driving more than about 3 hours at a time. But I really want to do some vacation time.

But since we don't travel much, I went for every possible upgrade available. Blow that dough! Too bad we didn't book a year or more ahead of time, some of the best things are booked.
-ERD50

ERD,

I am with you! We hate airports and flying. We were going to fly to Hawaii and spend s week there, but DW was concerned that there was no place to land if she had a medical emergency.
We booked a cruise from Los Angeles (no airports), and as you said, since we do not travel much, we booked a full suite..
To add a little fun to your trip, here is a link to the "Solari" board like you see in train stations. You put in the three letter identifier for any station, and it give info on all the trains.

Amtrak Station Status Boards
To check it out, put LAX in there and you will see all the trains going to and from LA Union Station.
Have a great trip!