On 4/24/24 1:43 PM, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:
> -hh wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:
>
>> Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> wrote:
>>>
>>> I have no bucket list.
>>
>> So no remaining life ambitions of any kind?
>
> I have a few things that would be cool to do, but if I don't do them, no big
> deal. Like see a Premier League or Bundesliga match in person.

So what's stopping you, now that you're retired?
Hop on an airplane to Europe and just do it.

It looks like one can get tickets for ~US$100 each for next Saturday's
match in Mainz, Germany ... and maybe look up Peter Kohlman to do a
meet-up if you care to do that too:

<https://www.stubhub.com/1-fsv-mainz-05-mainz-tickets-5-11-2024/event/152002370/?quantity=2>

And a midweek flight from Charleston to Frankfurt (5/8-11) starts at
$612/pp-RT ... not bad for short notice and early summer:

https://www.google.com/travel/flights/search?tfs=CBwQAhoeEgoyMDI0LTA1LTA4agcIARIDQ0hTcgcIARIDRlJBGh4SCjIwMjQtMDUtMTNqBwgBEgNGUkFyBwgBEgNDSFNAAUgBcAGCAQsI____________AZgBAQ

Mainz is just a half hour from Frankfurt - invariably easy/cheap to do
on a local train, even if one chooses to stay in Frankfurt and do as a
daytrip.

> I'm pretty content to watch soccer, ride the bike, write code and documents,
> drink good brews, and enjoy being a grampy.

Because a genuine German beer on tap in Germany isn't a "good" brew? /s
Bonus: take a grandkid if they're old enough to remember the experience.

-hh

-hh wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:

> On 4/24/24 1:43 PM, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:
>> -hh wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:
>>
>>> Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I have no bucket list.
>>>
>>> So no remaining life ambitions of any kind?
>>
>> I have a few things that would be cool to do, but if I don't do them, no big
>> deal. Like see a Premier League or Bundesliga match in person.
>
> So what's stopping you, now that you're retired?
> Hop on an airplane to Europe and just do it.

LOL.

I actually do not like to travel. The TSA is nuts... decades later we're still
worrying about "shoe bombers".

Had to fly to a wedding in New Hampshire recently, though. Worried about it
for weeks. Wasn't a bad trip, but I'm happy to do that only when I must
(family).

The Catholic Church was very ornate inside. Reminded me of how much effort
people put into that stuff.

>> I'm pretty content to watch soccer, ride the bike, write code and documents,
>> drink good brews, and enjoy being a grampy.
>
> Because a genuine German beer on tap in Germany isn't a "good" brew?

How did you conclude from that that I don't think a German brew is good?

> Bonus: take a grandkid if they're old enough to remember the experience.

Oh my god, the feral boys loose in Deutschland!

I remember a classmate at Saint Mary's grade school went to Europe and
his family did a nice slide show for our class.

The thing that he remembered the most was "French <n-word>s."

--
Hope that the day after you die is a nice day.

On 5/4/24 11:07 AM, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:
> -hh wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:
>
>> On 4/24/24 1:43 PM, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:
>>> -hh wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:
>>>
>>>> Chris Ahlstrom <OFeem1987@teleworm.us> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I have no bucket list.
>>>>
>>>> So no remaining life ambitions of any kind?
>>>
>>> I have a few things that would be cool to do, but if I don't do them, no big
>>> deal. Like see a Premier League or Bundesliga match in person.
>>
>> So what's stopping you, now that you're retired?
>> Hop on an airplane to Europe and just do it.
>
> LOL.
>
> I actually do not like to travel. The TSA is nuts... decades later we're still
> worrying about "shoe bombers".

With TSA PreCheck, the TSA checkpoint is a relatively minor speed bump.
Plus one still needs to arrive sufficiently early to check bags, not be
late for boarding a flight, etc, such that if it has a long line that
takes 30 minutes instead of 10, you're still shouldn't miss the flight.

> Had to fly to a wedding in New Hampshire recently, though. Worried about it
> for weeks. Wasn't a bad trip, but I'm happy to do that only when I must
> (family).

SC to NH is enough hours saved that its worth flying instead of driving.

> The Catholic Church was very ornate inside. Reminded me of how much effort
> people put into that stuff.

Looks like the only Catholic cathedral in NH is St Joseph in Manchester;
on a European scale, its IMO pretty modest & pedestrian (almost plain).

If building architecture is an interest for you, I don't believe that we
have much in the Baroque architectural style in the US, and probably
none in the even more insanely ornate late Baroque "Rococo" style. FYI,
if you're not familair with Rococo, here's an example:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rococo#/media/File:Kaisersaal_Würzburg.jpg

>>> I'm pretty content to watch soccer, ride the bike, write code and documents,
>>> drink good brews, and enjoy being a grampy.
>>
>> Because a genuine German beer on tap in Germany isn't a "good" brew?
>
> How did you conclude from that that I don't think a German brew is good?

Merely an assumption on my part, because of your disinclination to
travel, which makes getting "the real thing" harder. Just like how
there's a leap from bottle to tap, there's also another one for tap made
for export markets vs domestic. Guinness Stout is a classical example
of this, but there's others, not only DEU, but also Czech "tank beer".

Similarly, there's stuff in Belgium that's rarely/never exported, such
as Westvleteren 12; the most reliable way to get it is to visit the
Abbey directly after making a "beer reservation", which requires not
only flying to Belgium, but also having a car, since they're located out
in the sticks, for the last time I checked, it was a ~1.5 mile walk from
the nearest mass transit stop. Within the US, a few chains (eg.
Wegman's) has Westmalle Dubbel in a 750ml, which is an ~80% solution to
give you an idea. Another is Rochefort 6, 8, or 10 which are small
~10oz bottles ... IMO probably more the 8, but try all three in a
"horizontal tasting" at the same time .. with friends, due to high ABF.

>> Bonus: take a grandkid if they're old enough to remember the experience.
>
> Oh my god, the feral boys loose in Deutschland!

For the kids, some castles in Germany (Rhine, Mosel), or for more "theme
park" Paris Disney, Denmark's Tivoli Gardens ...

> I remember a classmate at Saint Mary's grade school went to Europe and
> his family did a nice slide show for our class.
>
> The thing that he remembered the most was "French <n-word>s."

"Slide show" suggests that this was quite awhile ago. In any event,
everyone is different in what things pique their personal interests.
Had one colleague who was into trains, so we planned our off time over a
few days picking different sights which gave us the excuse to ride on
multiple different lines on the Paris Metro (a great system BTW). IIRC,
I think that got to something like 12 of the 14 lines an saw some
interesting differences in train technology that I wasn't aware of, as
well as some interesting places around parts of the city that I hadn't
tried going to before.

-hh

On Mon, 6 May 2024 11:08:10 -0400, -hh wrote:

>> Had to fly to a wedding in New Hampshire recently, though. Worried
>> about it for weeks. Wasn't a bad trip, but I'm happy to do that only
>> when I must (family).
>
> SC to NH is enough hours saved that its worth flying instead of driving.

Logan can eat up some of those saved hours.

On 5/6/24 2:17 PM, rbowman wrote:
> On Mon, 6 May 2024 11:08:10 -0400, -hh wrote:
>
>>> Had to fly to a wedding in New Hampshire recently, though. Worried
>>> about it for weeks. Wasn't a bad trip, but I'm happy to do that only
>>> when I must (family).
>>
>> SC to NH is enough hours saved that its worth flying instead of driving.
>
> Logan can eat up some of those saved hours.

Nothing's impossible, esp. with how some routs are screwy these days.

But by car, Charleston SC -> Manchester NH is 1000 miles / 15hrs, so to
get a 'longer' air route, it would need to be via Dublin, Ireland /s

-hh