Music Lover
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Bought new golf shoes for $150, on sale from $200 but still about double what I would normally spend.
Blow That Dough - 2022
- Thread starter wmc1000
- Start date
- Status
ShokWaveRider
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Purchased Maltese (EU) Citizenship for DW this week. 
audreyh1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Was that expensive?
Koolau
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Purchased Maltese (EU) Citizenship for DW this week.
Idol curiosity, but will she live there? Pay for/collect EU "social benefits?" Have relatives there? Etc.?
None of my business. Literally, just curious.
kcowan
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Just got back from our BTD trip originally booked for Sept 2020. Five cities all first class. Starting at Aria Budapest, then Vienna, Prague, Lisbon, Porto and Madrid, ending with 7 days in The Palace. Boat cruise up the Duoro. Fantastic. Would have done better with spending in 2020 but WTH.
ShokWaveRider
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Idol curiosity, but will she live there? Pay for/collect EU "social benefits?" Have relatives there? Etc.?
None of my business. Literally, just curious.
Probably not, but I am a Maltese citizen as my UK passport is no good there anymore. Just covering our bases. We will see what 2024 brings.
Leaving Thursday for 72 day trip to South America and beyond. Santiago, Easter Island, Monte Video, a day in Buenos Aires to eat at Don Julio's again and catch a flight to the main event. The main event is 3 week Falklands/South_Georgia/Antartica cruise (our first cruise!). Then, from Ushuaia, we go by bus to Chile and rent a 4WD vehicle for a month of driving/hiking through Patagonia and northwards. We'll bounce a bit between the two countries in the Andes, and include several days on Chiloe Island to explore its food and perhaps go Blue Whale watching.
Booked the cruise in February of 2019, but was postponed for two years. Hoping that they aren't going to impose any type of covid restrictions once we board, but we'll see.
Saving a little from redeeming points for some of the Business Class airfare, by booking so long ago and getting an upgrade in room on the boat. Nonetheless, Ouch.
Booked the cruise in February of 2019, but was postponed for two years. Hoping that they aren't going to impose any type of covid restrictions once we board, but we'll see.
Saving a little from redeeming points for some of the Business Class airfare, by booking so long ago and getting an upgrade in room on the boat. Nonetheless, Ouch.
street
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Outstanding!!
That is quite the travel trip! If you love to travel nothing better to BTD on.
NW-Bound
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2008
- Messages
- 35,712
Purchased Maltese (EU) Citizenship for DW this week.
Interesting that I just now read that Peter Thiel is also looking to get Maltese Citizenship. I wonder if Malta charges per applicant's ability to pay.
And this from the Web: "Thiel, who was born in Germany, is also an American and New Zealand citizen".
This guy likes to collect citizenship certificates. I wonder if it makes his tax return a whole lot more complicated.
PS. Some years ago, I looked into getting Maltese residency as a retiree (not citizenship). It was not that hard nor too expensive as I recall. I only needed to demonstrate certain level of financial independence. Then, the thought of it wore off, and I never initiated any action toward it.
Last edited:
ShokWaveRider
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Interesting that I just now read that Peter Thiel is also looking to get Maltese Citizenship. I wonder if Malta charges per applicant's ability to pay.
Yes, but for us as I am a Citizen it is just fees and travel to get the documents ratified with the Maltese Consulate, in our case Washington DC.
Me Too: I have 4 so far
. Tax is not complicated unless one chooses to live out of America for a long time. Even then it is just a form. America is archaic and one of only 2 countries in the whole world that taxes based on Citizenship as opposed to residency. The other is the 3rd world country of Eritrea.
mpeirce
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
We’re going to be in Buenos Aires in February and would like to eat there. Is it hard to get reservations?
They generally sell out pretty fast via the online reservation service. What we did this time was email them and ask if they had any tables that weren't on the system, or if they could squeeze us in for an early seating despite being sold out. So, we ended up with 7pm, which is VERY early in that City.
One of the best bang for the buck options among the "top restaurants in the world." In '20, we were there with another couple and had their amazing steaks, some sides, and shared two bottles of wine. Our part of the bill was $122.68!
Last edited:
Wow. Quite the trip. I'm fascinated by the Antarctic leg and hiking thru Patagonia. Hope to see trip reports.
street
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Another BTD on a trip of a lifetime. Good for you and would like to see some updates on your journey.
Yeah, this will be one of our two biggest trips so far. I only post trip summaries here rarely. I'll try to remember to do so on this one. (Of course, my summaries usually include a cheat link to DW's photo heavy blog, which is what we do to ensure that we can keep track of when we went where--and, at some future time, perhaps to be able to see where we went at all...)
Last edited:
audreyh1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Definitely bring on the cheat link to your DW’s photo heavy blog!
Koolau
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I had secretly been concerned about you as we hadn't heard from you for a few months. Welcome home. Hoping for a trip report (with pics if you wish to share.)
John Galt III
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2008
- Messages
- 2,808
A few 'Blow that Dough' events for me, a frugal guy. Went on a few dates at a pub and 'had to' spend some bucks. Had lunch and beer. Worth it, to be nice to my honey, of course.
It's in my "about me" page. But, I'll provide a direct link when I post anything about this next trip.
skyking1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I ordered some new tow mirrors for my truck, with puddle lights and turn signals. I also ordered some modules that allow for both the running lights and turn signals to work on the mirrors, rather than either/or.
ShokWaveRider
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Anyone BTD on a new Dell XPS 13 i7 Laptop? Or a Lenovo X1 Carbon i7? If so how do you like it?
TheWizard
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I ordered some new tow mirrors for my truck, with puddle lights and turn signals. I also ordered some modules that allow for both the running lights and turn signals to work on the mirrors, rather than either/or.
I think those features are pretty much standard on my F-150. Some people wanted automatic folding mirrors when you turn off the engine, but not available in 2016 anyway.
Easy to fold them with one button push when situation dictates...
SecondAttempt
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Got my partner an XPS 13 almost a year ago and she loves it. No problems at all so far.
I've been running XPS14 or 15 for at least my last 3 computers and have found them to be excellent. I rarely do anything too demanding but I do use mine a LOT, especially during covid.
One thing I highly recommend is the full 4 year warranty including accidental damage. It pretty much doubles the price but they will come to your house, hotel, or office almost anywhere in the world and fix it next business day. About a year ago when the warranty was close to expiring on my current machine I had it repaired because the case had a minor crack. They replaced almost everything but the motherboard! A past computer was replaced no questions asked after I spilled a beer on it. They were also very helpful in solving a power issue (battery not lasting very long even fater replacement). My 5 year old computer still has a battery life over 8 hours. I did replace the battery 2.5 years ago. So, it 5 years my total cost of ownership has been $80 plus the original price I paid of around $1500 (XPS 15) including the warranty. My partner's was right at $1000 (XPS 13) a year ago including 4 year warranty.
I always buy through the small business section. You get treated very well and avoid all the bloatware. You can get a shorter warranty or reduce coverage to mail in or exclude accidental damage to save money. It's true that computers are pretty reliable these days and a warranty might be unnecessary. But they also get tossed around, have drinks spilled on them and so forth so it is worth it to me. Personal choice though.
SecondAttempt
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Drones
Can anyone recommend a drone? I've been thinking about getting one for a couple of years but have not said anything. Then tonight my partner say, out of the blue, "What would you think of us getting a drone?" So I'm pretty sure that means we are getting a drone.
Honestly, it would be 90% just to have fun with. But I could see using it to survey my 5 acre property after a storm, scare off wild pigs, and so forth. I am aware that there are many places that don't allow them including national parks and beaches. That covers much of the area where I live.
In looking on Amazon it looks like you can pay anywhere from $50 or less to well over $500. I would want something of decent quality and probably at least 1080p camera. I don't see myself traveling much with it but would not rule that out either.
The brands mean nothing to me because I have never heard of any of them.
I would appreciate any suggestions either about specific models or brands or general considerations.
Can anyone recommend a drone? I've been thinking about getting one for a couple of years but have not said anything. Then tonight my partner say, out of the blue, "What would you think of us getting a drone?" So I'm pretty sure that means we are getting a drone.
Honestly, it would be 90% just to have fun with. But I could see using it to survey my 5 acre property after a storm, scare off wild pigs, and so forth. I am aware that there are many places that don't allow them including national parks and beaches. That covers much of the area where I live.
In looking on Amazon it looks like you can pay anywhere from $50 or less to well over $500. I would want something of decent quality and probably at least 1080p camera. I don't see myself traveling much with it but would not rule that out either.
The brands mean nothing to me because I have never heard of any of them.
I would appreciate any suggestions either about specific models or brands or general considerations.
Koolau
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
My Mac is about 8 years old. Obviously, it is obsolete but still does most things I want to do. I'm just wondering about a 4 year warranty - especially if it doubles the price (IOW 18 months after you buy, you are obsolete, so paying double seems excessive. 2 years later you could just buy another computer instead of spending on the warrantee.) Just wondering about your motivation. Is it the fact that they come to you? That sounds kinda nice but you still have an "old" computer in a couple of years.
- Status
