The View from Lady Lake: January 2020

Friday, January 31, 2020

A VERY good reason to drink

As if I needed more than one...

All this because of a virus half way round the world?

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I got the perfect remedy for that sucka.

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If what she has is the Corona Virus,

diagnose me a carrier, Doc...

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The latest Impeachment hearings bombshell

Is reporting that it has incontrovertible, third-party hearsay whistle-blower evidence that President Donald J. Trump has colluded with, believe it or not, the REPUBLICAN SENATE to throw the impeachment in his favor.

The President and his henchmen are pictured here in a top-secret, clandestine meeting in the Oval Office.

I know - unbelievable, right?

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It's enough to drink a lady to drink.

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Anyways, I had a change of heart about the bounty program for followers of this blog.

I changed my mind - and the rules

Today's the day - fuck the EU !

With all the impeachment nonsense going on (or not), we've forgotten that today is

Congratulations to our British cousins for having the balls to dump those blood-sucking scumbags in Brussels. Let this be the beginning of the end of that union once and for all.

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If you're traveling to Ireland or England in the near future, this is worth knowing:

Britain's departure from the European Union is finally upon us, but after all the warnings of chaos for inbound tourists and problems for UK travelers heading to the continent, what will situations will travelers actually face after January 31?

The arrival of Brexit comes three and a half years after the country held a referendum that set it in motion and follows a series of missed deadlines, each one carrying the threat of the UK leaving with "no deal" -- a scenario that raised the prospect of a shortage of medical supplies and food, as well as long border queues.

Although the UK exits the EU on January 31, it will remain part of the single market and customs union under the terms of the implementation period or transition. This lasts until December 31, 2020, when it's hoped a new trade deal, security arrangements and immigration laws will be enacted. Failure to reach an agreement could lead to "no deal" becoming a live prospect once more. For now, that remains an issue for another day.

In April 2019, the European Parliament confirmed it had agreed a deal for UK citizens to travel visa-free on a short stay (90 days in any 180 days) within the borderless Schengen Area that covers most of western Europe.

"The transition period, which kicks off from February 1, will mean that travel between the UK and Europe will stay exactly the same until December 31, 2020. "According to the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office), UK nationals can continue to travel to the EU exactly as they do now," says Tom Jenkins, chief executive of the European Tourism Association.

"You won't need a visa or six months left on your passport or evidence of a return ticket."

Frank Marr, Travel and Tourism Chairman for the PRCA and MD of AM+A, a travel marketing company based in the UK, agrees. "Based on current agreements we expect a large chunk of things to stay the same -- access to EU countries should not change for visitors looking to stay in Europe for less than a month," he says.

However, as the UK and EU cannot legally start negotiations over their future relationship until February, it's unclear how travelers will be treated come 2021. Priti Patel, the UK Home Secretary, has said that whatever happens, freedom of movement, and the ability to work in the UK without a visa for EU citizens, will end. There are currently plans for the UK to be part of the new European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) from next year (although there remains a chance ETIAS may not be up and running by then).

Similar to the ESTA visa waiver used by UK tourists traveling to the United States, this will allow UK citizens to travel into the Schengen Area without a visa, as long as they pay €7.

The waiver will last three years and can be bought online. However, the UK's participation in ETIAS is dependent on the UK Parliament ensuring EU citizens can travel on holiday without a visa to the UK using a similar, electronic system.

Jonathan Smith, from the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), says people were receptive to the idea when the travel association conducted research into what was known about ETIAS. "The majority of people we spoke with were quite happy with it, as long as it wasn't too expensive or wouldn't take them too long to do," says Smith. One exception to ETIAS will be the Republic of Ireland. Since 1923, the Common Travel Area has meant people from the UK and Ireland have been able to travel between the two countries without a visa. "Brexit doesn't change the ease of getting to Ireland or the warmth of the welcome," says Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland.

However, the very real chance of the UK and EU not reaching an agreement by the end of 2020 means that frictionless travel across the English Channel could be over for good in 11 months' time. "It could well be that we're back communicating on the issues we were talking about at previous deadlines," adds Smith. "Such as the need for passports to have extra validity, what would happen with changes to driving rules and the validity of European Health Insurance Cards."

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Ain't like this anymore, that's for sure.

This is what it was like flying first class on Lufthansa in 1960

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This is a 1978 Marvel comic book Hostess Twinkies’ ad. Very subtle, huh?

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Speaking of Ireland, I've been on this road. It's not far from my brother's house.

Dawn at the Dark Hedges of Ballymoney, N. Ireland.

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THIS FROM THE 'I'M IN SO CLOSE THE DOOR' DEPARTMENT:

Atlantic City casino execs: Clean up the city and forget about gambling at Showboat

Top executives of most of Atlantic City’s casinos say the city needs to become cleaner and safer, with a better public perception in order for business conditions to truly improve. They've been saying this since the 70's and it just ain't happenin'. Ever. AC is a shithole town controlled by cop-hating Democrats. Period.

And they also oppose the return of gambling to the former Showboat casino, which currently operates as a non-gambling hotel but whose owner is moving forward plan to restore gambling there. Yeah - that's the old scam. You can't have a piece of the pie - I just cut out the last peice - bullshit.

Executives from eight of the city's nine casinos spoke Thursday at a panel sponsored by the Greater Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce on challenges and opportunities facing the seaside gambling resort.

As it happens. Showboat was the nicest simple casino hotel in AC. It was my favorite for 20 years until Borgata opened.

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If you didn't see this when it first ran - it's friggin' brilliant - catch up now on some streaming thing:

Boardwalk Empire - the series

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Wasn't me - I'll tell ya that...

One lucky ticket sold in Florida matched all six numbers in the Powerball Wednesday night, according to lottery officials.

That ticket ended up being worth $396.9 million, up from the estimated $394 million before the drawing, according to the Powerball website. The winner will have an option to take a cash payment of $274.6 million instead of the annuity.

The winning numbers drawn Jan. 29 were: 9 - 12 - 15 - 31 - 60 and Powerball 2. The Powerplay was 2x. The winning ticket was reportedly sold at a 7-Eleven in Bonita Springs in southwestern Florida. In addition to the big Florida winner, three tickets matched all five white balls to win $1 million, including another one in Florida. The other two tickets were sold in Ohio and Virginia. The last Powerball winner was from California on Nov. 2.

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It's just my wife and I, but every once in a while I do a Prime Rib roast at home - usually around 4 1/2 - 5 lbs.

You can NOT imagine how insanely good the leftovers are.

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Speaking of food, this is the Pepperoni Pie I made last night. We had a friend over for drinks and dinner and ate like pigs - and there's STILL almost a half a pie leftover.

Damn that was good - if I say so myself - and I do often.

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While I'm on the subject, let me remind you again. If you can buy (or make) a decent pizza dough (I get mine from Publix and it's VERY good), you gotta start making yer own pizza at home.

It beats the livin' fuck outta ANYTHING you'll get from a delivery guy. I promise.

I know I've said this before, but it's true and so it's worth repeating:

To do a good pie at home, it really, really helps to have a well-seasoned stone. And never clean it with soapy water - ever. If ya have to, scrape of the crusty stuff but otherwise leave it alone. Let it season itself.
This isn't the same one I have (I actually bought mine in Italy and brought it back in my luggage - true story) but it's almost exactly the same one. Get one for yourself - I promise, you won't regret it!

Click on the pic or the description for more info:

PentaBeauty Pizza Stone, 16''x 16'' Round for Ovens or Grills

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And the neighbor's grandkid cleans up after we're done eatin'...

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I've had a change of heart on this offer.

We've attracted a good number of followers in our first year, and I am truly grateful and excited as hell for that to each and every one of you - I mean it.

I had said that I'd give the money to the first 'identified' followers, but FUCK THAT.

I'm gonna give the money away as soon as we hit 100 followers, whether they're anonymous or not.