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So this is the third I've been to (the sandwich tastes exactly as good at all of them).
I need the recipe for that sandwhich, you might have to eat more to help me figure it out.
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We had a great time meeting you today Chris. Thanks so much for lunch.

We both had the Roethlisberger at Peppi's, it was delicious.


I just LOVE that you guys met! I can't even find he words to say how much it gladdens my heart - well, the picture says it all.

How many forums have this kind of camaraderie ?
( And a free lunch too. )


Things like this just make me happy to be here.
( And even tho I wasn't there in person, I DID get rained on today - are we mofos a team or what?)



I just LOVE that you guys met! I can't even find he words to say how much it gladdens my heart - well, the picture says it all.

How many forums have this kind of camaraderie ?
( And a free lunch too. )


Things like this just make me happy to be here.
( And even tho I wasn't there in person, I DID get rained on today - are we mofos a team or what?)

I agree, so happy to be a part of this place. The free lunch was great, its funny because I kept telling my wife that we were going to buy him lunch, but he mentioned the outstanding offer hes had for so long so I couldn't mess that up.



We had a great time meeting you today Chris. Thanks so much for lunch.
...
We both had the Roethlisberger at Peppi's, it was delicious.
Wonderful picture of you and Yoda, and also of Yoda and Mrs. 7thson! She looks a lot like my daughter!

It's the first time I've seen a picture of Yoda not wearing a suit!..

Your pics of Pittsburgh sure made me nostalgic. The one of the banner with "The Terrible Towel" in the center reminded me of Myron Cope, the radio sportscaster for the Pirates who invented the towel waving and its popular name. With his heavy South Side accent, he pronounced it "ter-wah-bu tah-ooh"-- always spoken in a theatrically threatening affectation.. He was a memorable as was Bob Prince before him.

~Doc



The Adventure Starts Here!
Wonderful picture of you and Yoda, and also of Yoda and Mrs. 7thson! She looks a lot like my daughter!

It's the first time I've seen a picture of Yoda not wearing a suit!..

Your pics of Pittsburgh sure made me nostalgic. The one of the banner with "The Terrible Towel" in the center reminded me of Myron Cope, the radio sportscaster for the Pirates who invented the towel waving and its popular name. With his heavy South Side accent, he pronounced it "ter-wah-bu tah-ooh"-- always spoken in a theatrically threatening affectation.. He was a memorable as was Bob Prince before him.

~Doc
Double Yoi!

We miss Myron in the 'Burgh.



The Adventure Starts Here!
I just LOVE that you guys met! I can't even find he words to say how much it gladdens my heart - well, the picture says it all.

How many forums have this kind of camaraderie ?
( And a free lunch too. )


Things like this just make me happy to be here.
( And even tho I wasn't there in person, I DID get rained on today - are we mofos a team or what?)
I think Yoda's met a few other MoFos in person. I even got to meet one (who was a Pitt student, I think) when he accompanied Yoda and my other kids to a combination birthday/Mother's Day lunch outing at a local Eat'n Park one year.

Side note: the Roethlisburger sandwich is amazing. I think that's the one that's got a hot sausage patty and a burger together, with various condiments and a gooey fried egg on the top. OH MY GOODNESS.




You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
In Indianapolis and near hotel is a place called Xtraordinary Pizza, oh lord am I full...



Am I seeing right? Are the pizza toppings actually under the cheese? I don't usually get toppings on pizza, but that looks good.

We have a pizzeria near here that makes a Baked Ziti Pizza and a Ravioli a la Vodka Pizza. They're not cheap, but they're sooo good!
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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Tomorrow we go to the world's largest children's museum

https://www.childrensmuseum.org/

We are all excited for this one.

That looks interesting. Hubby and I went to a science museum somewhere, (I don't remember where it was because it was many years ago), and Hubby loved it because it was a "touch" museum. They had all kinds of stuff that they encouraged you to touch, and a lot of them were things like buttons and knobs that did stuff. It was supposed to be more for kids, but Hubby loves pushing buttons on toys in stores, so he had a lot of fun there.



Am I seeing right? Are the pizza toppings actually under the cheese? I don't usually get toppings on pizza, but that looks good.

We have a pizzeria near here that makes a Baked Ziti Pizza and a Ravioli a la Vodka Pizza. They're not cheap, but they're sooo good!
Yeah it is definitely different and pizza snobs might not care for it, but if you can look past the order of things the taste is really quite wonderful. I am an "it all winds up in the same place" kind of guy with certain foods.



That looks interesting. Hubby and I went to a science museum somewhere, (I don't remember where it was because it was many years ago), and Hubby loved it because it was a "touch" museum. They had all kinds of stuff that they encouraged you to touch, and a lot of them were things like buttons and knobs that did stuff. It was supposed to be more for kids, but Hubby loves pushing buttons on toys in stores, so he had a lot of fun there.
There is supposed to be a lot of interactive stuff. I think we might even get a chance to be Greeks for a day and wear togas, or something like that lol.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Yeah it is definitely different and pizza snobs might not care for it, but if you can look past the order of things the taste is really quite wonderful. I am an "it all winds up in the same place" kind of guy with certain foods.

I guess I'm not a pizza snob because I thought the toppings under the cheese was a great idea. It's kind of like a new version of a calzone, only better.

The pizzeria here is very good about making special orders, so I might even ask him to make it that way the next time I go there.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
There is supposed to be a lot of interactive stuff. I think we might even get a chance to be Greeks for a day and wear togas, or something like that lol.

That sounds like fun. Don't forget to post pictures.



I got up a little early this morning to pull out my laptop and go online to catch up on finances and to see how our vacation budget looked. We have been very careful on our daily spending and even had quite a few days where we spent way under allowance. We take our total allotted budget then we divide the number of days left on the trip and make a daily allowance. It has worked out really well so far. Unfortunately as I look over all the charges I am seeing a pattern.

Every time we check out of a motel I go and get a physical receipt. Most places don't offer it unless asked and then they email unless you ask for a hard copy which I do. The emailed invoices seem to be less detailed. So what I am seeing is that over 70%(that is a ball park number, but pretty close I am sure) of the hotels we stay at charge incorrectly and never in my favor. Double charge on pet fees, over charge on pet fees, wrong room rate, 2 times I was charge for room twice, and on and on. Some charges like taxes I know are incorrect. One place tried to charge me $100 pet fee for a room that was $59.00. Do not get me wrong I do not mind paying pet fees, but I will usually book the
places with the lower rates and I always ask. What makes all of this worse is they will argue with you saying the CSR that helped me quoted me wrong. Well I am sorry but I booked a room there because of that quote so make good on it please. I always book through a booking site and then I verify and call the local property so everyone is one same page. They never are at first but every time I tell them I want to book somewhere else they "fix" the problem. They rarely do what they say unfortunately.

So the pattern I am seeing other than the ongoing purposeful overcharges is that the refunds are very very slow. I have yet to actually get one back since we started having issues. They also always argue with you telling you that you are wrong. I always get names so that never works on me. For some reason none of the hotels we stayed at in Florida had these issues. So maybe they aren't just slow, maybe they are not going to issue them. I sure hope not, it adds up to quite a bit, easily over $500. They are different motels and although some are owned by the same company (ie. Days Inn, LA Quinta, Comfort Inn all fall under Wyndam) there are plenty others as well as a couple mom and pop places. I am pretty sure I will eventually get my refunds even if I have to call my C.C. company, but that money gets tied up. We are not running short by any means as I put in a buffer for our expenses, but I did not put it there for BS like this.

The thing is I am always careful on what I am being charged for and this is beforehand, when I check in I make sure of charges and what they are for, the problem is when I go to check out everything has changed and then I cannot get a refund until 7 to 10 business days later. Unacceptable I tell you!!!

Even with all this it has really been a great vacation so far and if this is the worst of it I will count my blessing if not my money .

Be careful when renting rooms out there, this issue appears to be of epidemic proportions.


Oh I wanted to mention that that the rooms also sometimes put a deposit hold on my card for a security deposit. I am not talking about this and those are always refunded in a timely many, at least so far. I also wanted to say that the regular staff at most places have been great, and friendly and I thank them for the hard work as I know this industry can be very stressful to be in. It is the admin or the front office that is always the issue.



Geez, I had no idea that the problem of hotels and chains overcharging and fraud was so ubiquitous and common! My assumption has usually been that since there is so much fierce competition in the hotel/motel biz, that they're careful to be squeaky clean in order to be desirable.

I don't travel often, and when I do it's usually to a single place, then back. I usually book directly with the hotel, because using a booking site puts too many layers between me and the merchant.

But you can be sure I'll be even more careful from now on. Thanks for the heads-up; and I hope y'all get your dough back!

~Doc



The Adventure Starts Here!
If you booked through a travel site (something like Booking.com or whatever?), can't you hassle them to go to bat for you? I've been using Booking.com lately and I've never had a difference in charges from what I was promised in the early emails from them once I booked. (I don't add on pet fees or anything, but everything's been down-to-the-penny identical.)

If a booking/travel site is taking a cut (and they are, somehow), then make them work for it.