from one golden to another: nice thread!

Thanks, bob. Welcome to the thread!

Give yours a good scratch for me.

Only tangentially travel-related. We've had a cold snap here in Denver. Prior to it coming, I was considering jumping on a plane for a few days to somewhere warm.

Decided not to. Turned on the furnace about 10:30-11 AM yesterday to warm up the house.

Around noon, noticed it was cool. Looked at the thermostat, it was dark. Looked at the few things I know how to check (fuse, pulled the front cover to see if there was anything obviously disconnected, made sure filter wasn't too dirty).

Went out to the circuit breaker and saw the furnace circuit was tripped. Turned it back and it immediately tripped back off.

Fortunately not a danger of freezing the pipes. Have a space heater and some fleece throws to keep warmish, it's probably ~60 inside now. Furnace guys coming this afternoon.

Since it's the original (1996) furnace, I'm anticipating several thousand for a new one. Just an unanticipated expense, not going to break me or anything.

Damn, I knew I should've bought that house in the keys when I was down there.

yea then i could come down and boat there.
tripped breaker isnt needing a new furnace. could be just a bad breaker. they go. dont let them sell you something you dont need.

if you do go the new route think about a heat pump. one quarter the cost in electric and reverses in the summer for air conditioning. ive been using them for 30 years and they are great.

Turned out to be the switch on the fuse burnt out and then shorted, thus tripping the breaker. Also noted that a capacitor was out of spec and should be replaced.

The switch failing is so rare that they don't carry them on the truck, but do have both parts in stock. Their place is ~1 mile away--a little disappointed that he didn't say "I'll be back in 10 minutes with the parts".

For now, he just took the switch and fuse out and wired straight to the motor. Assured me there's no risk, that the circuit breaker would trip if something went wrong. So far so good. Somebody from the office is supposed to call to schedule the install.

Thanks for the info on a heat pump, Ray. The furnace and AC are 1996, so I suppose it's time to start thinking about replacements. Maybe in the spring I'll get s few companies out to discuss options.

Not travel related, but wanted to write something down, and didn't see an appropriate OOT/Lounge thread.

Found out recently that one of the members of my ex- poker group passed away in December.

Our group broke up 4-5 years ago, and I'd mostly lost touch with the guys.

Got an email last week that Matt had died. He'd been diagnosed with lung cancer. Before treatment got started, he was rushed to the emergency room. Turned out he had a blood clot and they couldn't save him.

Matt was a good person, always with a quick sense of humor. Tolerated the craziness that was our games, and often threw a new twist in to make them even crazier.

In addition to be a good guy, was a good, tough competitor at the table. But, win or lose, was always nice to hang out with.

Of course, in these days of coronas, there wasn't a public ceremony. Could only sign the e-book at the funeral home.

Thanks for listening. Everyone out there take care.

good it was simple. they may want to get you for two service calls. lousy trick if that is the case. most times since its quick companies will just put it in and add the parts charge to your bill.

I see I never responded. Turns out the parts weren't in stock, so it took a few days. Lucky that it was just an early cold snap when it failed, and I could hang on for a week or two.

------------------------

The company I retired from changed HR providers at the first of the year. If you ever have a chance to work with iSolved Benefit Providers, don't. A total goat**** from the word go.

First, it took them 27 days to get an account set up and get me information to log in.

Everything about working with these people has been painful. From slow, not-interested service, to just general screw-ups.

The recent episode was when I went for an annual dental exam & cleaning. As part of that, I got referrals to a couple specialists. I went online Friday the 29th to check if the specialists were in-network. They were, yay!

Went to specialist #1 on the 4th. Got an email on the 5th that my claim was ready to view. Went to the dental provider's website, logged in, and couldn't see my account.

After hours of WTFery with the both parties, someone figured out the benefits provider had two accounts for me. When they closed the extraneous account, that caused the dental provider's account to close.

Of course, this happened on the only time in my life I've needed specialist dental work pretty quickly. If it got screwed up, but just needed to be fixed by next cleaning/exam, NBD. Bad luck there.

After days of getting the runaround with both people, they claim that my account's back to active and everything's going to work if specialist resubmits. I can't see my accounts online, so I have significant doubts. Their IT department is going to work on that issue.

USA #n health coverage.

Just came across this thread and I'm REALLY loving seeing the world through your eyes!
Anyway, I came across this photo, remembered that I know an ornithologist and sent him the photo. Five minutes later, he answered;

FRG,

Welcome to the thread, and thank you for both the compliment and the verification.

Pretty quiet around here nowdays, ofc not traveling due to the coronas. Looked on my county's website yesterday, they're projecting the group I'm in to have access to the vaccine in summer.

On another thread, someone's claiming the WSOP is tentatively scheduled for October-November, so maybe that will be a breakout trip.

-----------------

In other news, finally got my dental insurance's online access fixed yesterday. Had to spend multiple hours on the phone with various CSR-types over more than a week.

A very frustrating experience. It seemed as if nothing happened unless I was sticking a foot in someone's ass. For example, they made a ticket for IT and set my expectations that I'd hear in 3-4 business days later.

Ofc, they went dark, and it wasn't until I called to check seven days later that something happened. Fortunately this time I got a CSR who was diligent and worked through it until my access was restored.

Got the initial documents for the Kentucky Derby yesterday. Instructions on what to do, vouchers for the taxi from the airport to the hotel and the hotel itself.

Had to download the Churchill Downs app, the tickets will supposedly be delivered electronically on the 29th.

Upon hotel check-in I get the voucher for the return to the airport, and some sort of wristbands. The transfer to the track is from a hotel a couple blocks away, I assume the wristband is for that.

There was also something a while back that they wanted an extortionate, required price (only $394/pp, so you won't have to stand in line!) for drinks/food during the day, I assume that's part of the wristbands. Fortunately, my travel agent worked that out, since it wasn't something I signed up for.

So, it looks like I'm on, if I can manage to get to the airport and not lose my vouchers.

Turns out the Derby is the 12th race that day. Should be fun watching the ponies and losing a few bucks.

I was going to try to use Trotter's bets from Let It Ride for fun, but I couldn't find any info on "3 horse to win in the 1st, then #6 to place in 2nd, get shut out in the 3rd..." etc.

protect yourself from pickpockets as some come to town for the derby.

Thanks, Ray, good point. When traveling in busy/unfamiliar areas, wallet always in front pocket. Generally take some spending cash out, and put it in other front pocket, so I can just pull out a little at a time when placing a bet/buying something.

At this point, they're saying expecting to limit to 40-50% of capacity. So, I won't get the full-on experience, but maybe that will help limit the scumbags too.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I'm returning Monday, hoping to avoid insane Sunday airport crowds. Thus, will have Sunday free.

I'm getting a rental car and planning to tool around N Ky/S Indiana a little bit, then find a hotel nearish the airport for Sunday night.

If any 2p2ers are in the area and interested in going for a beer or something, feel free to let me know, would be glad to meet up. I'll be fully vaccinated by then.

Totally understand if that makes people uncomfortable too.

dont have cash or valuables in the wallet as thats what they get. front pocket or not.
you will likely be fine though.

Here I am at DIA. Got here early, as is my nature.

Get to Louisville tonight. Several friends & family have me putting wagers down for them, hopefully at least some of us have a good day at the track tomorrow.

My gate to Louisville is right next to a gate for LV. Seems like we should get a craps game going.

As Tom Jackson used to say, "Louisville!"

Reminds me of Denver, 25 years or so ago. Downtown kind of coming around from a seedy past. Taking old buildings and turning them into lofts/restaurants/businesses, but still kind of run-down.

Still, when in Rome...



The hotel I'm in had a cocktail hour, mint juleps on offer.

Afterward, walked around, found a brewery and had one. Went to the liquor store down the street, which closes at 8 on Friday. Sigh. Eventually found some local beer at a gas station, one or two more then time for bed and off to the races tomorrow.

your living the life most people dream of but dont have the nerve to do it.

No, that's chopstick. I'm a distant second. But thank you.

Pretty fun, 70s and breezy, perfect weather. Lost a couple hundred, as I'm a low roller.

In the first, the was a horse called Cool Bobby, so I put a win bet on him in honor of our friend YTF. Unfortunately ran second.

The father of my best friend growing up was a truck driver, and also loved the ponies. Dad passed away a few years ago..

Had texted my friend's mom to see if she wanted to place a Derby bet.

In the fourth, there was a horse named Gear Jockey, so went across the board in Dad's honor. Fourth, but my friend's mom appreciated it.

Unfortunately the picked the second horse to win in the Derby. So close!

...she picked second..." at the end. I don't see an edit function in tapatalk

wire to wire is always a boring race. i would have had him if i was there
best jockey, best trainer, front runner against no stand outs, and good post position for getting out, good track, and never had a horse pass in front of him in any races so possibly much better than perceived.
i think he will breeze the next but from this race unless he grows he will have trouble with the belmont distance.

Have you ever done Colombia? Cartagena (yes, the city that figured so prominently in "Romancing the Stone") recently hit my radar and the photos are kind of blowing me away. It really looks like a heck of a tropical destination... like Miami, but far cheaper.

used to be the drug capital of the world.

Cashed three times out of ? bets yesterday. In the itself, had the 9 across the board, so his show netted me -$2.

From a financial standpoint, my best outcome was when I found a dime in front of my seat.

A few times my horse was in position when they went by me, but got overtaken at the end. Close.

But, the weather was awesome, a couple mint juleps, exciting watching them race past. Still a good day. Didn't take a lot, but here's the picture I liked best.



Delayed departing until tomorrow, figuring the airport would be a madhouse today. Got out there about 9:30 to get a rental car, it was dead. Oops.

Drove around Kentucky & indiana a little bit today. Quite scenic.

Saw the outside of the Gold Bullion Deposity at Fort Knox:



Didn't notice any small aircraft flying about.

From there, just drove around a random loop in Kentucky & Southern Indiana. Real nice scenery, rolling, wooded hills. Had lunch in the small town of Irvington, KY, great fried chicken.

Now at a Days Inn near the airport, get up tomorrow and head on back. Late morning flight, hope I can sleep in a little at least.

FRG,

No on any part of Colombia. The closest I guess was Margarita Island, just off the Venezuelan coast. Maybe San Juan, Costa Rica is closer.

My travel agent placed a few wagers with me. In the messages back-and-forth, I asked her to start thinking about ideas for a retirement trip. Cartagena wouldn't be on my list, but maybe I should add it.

I was thinking about India to go see what the tigers are doing, but not for quite some time, it appears.