Thanks for the birthday wishes!

Happy birthday, shrift! Also, abi, got your card.

Happy birthday, Shrift!

Phew, just bought our tickets to Tokyo. Flying Japan Airlines which reputedly has the best Economy service. It's non-stop, but I will have to pay extra to buy our seats together.

It was cheaper to go on Weds Jan 22, arriving on Tokyo the 23rd. Now just need hotels in Tokyo and Kyoto and a bullet train.

Wow that’s so obnoxious, Teppy. I hope they just approve the prior authorization and it’s easy. Such BS.

wrod.

Also, I noticed in reading the tournament stuff that you have to be over 80 to get called Senior in their age rankings.

Hah. I just bought a plot at the local community gardens, and at 57 I get their senior discount. I mean, I’ll take it.

Sorry about the insurance nonsense, Steph.

Cincinnati does not handle snow well at all, to a comical degree. There's a bigass storm that's supposed to start tomorrow, so last night I ran to Trader Joe's to get that shopping trip out of the way. The shelves were actually more stocked than I thought they would be, but there were some notable areas that were totally bare: pasta sauce (though there was still plenty of pasta), all gluten-full bread (there was plenty of gluten-free bread left [she noted smugly]), white queso dip (I really wanted some, dang it), and eggs (though I think that was more because of the egg shortage due to avian flu). Areas that were about 85% empty included: refrigerated packaged meats (except vegetarian substitutes -- they were all in stock), shredded and sliced cheese, and, specifically, oranges.

I have to hit the regular grocery store today, and I can't wait to see the carnage there. (I hope I can get eggs, though. I also have plans to make chili, so there'd better be chili beans, dang it.)

I was toying with doing a precision strike to the grocery store, but first I'm going to see if I've got enough to avoid having to. I think I probably do. Then again, there's no way H-Mart will be out of stuff... I do not understand how they maintain so much and so varied an inventory all the time. And you'd have to have the population of a small country in there for it to feel crowded. So big! So much foods!

Son & GF left the day before yesterday and SIL & BF arrive today. I like guests so that is cool. They left NYC, so although it is a chilly 70 right now I am sure it feels wonderful to her. She went directly from the airport to a locally popular ice cream parlor. We'll see her at some point. She grew up here so mostly she will just be crashing here in between seeing friends and relatives. My other SIL's birthday is tomorrow so the plan is to go to the Miami Zoo and then some vegan restaurant after. (It was some unusual nationality food too, but I don't remember what) I'll make a last-minute decision on the zoo, but will check out the exotic food.

Sounds like fun, Laura! My DH volunteered for the grocery store, so that worked out well. I've been doing a paper crossword and falling asleep, so I think I'll just give into the nap.