Cutting The Cord

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine, Becky, and her husband Charlie finally cut the cable tv cord.  I followed her FB posts from their research all the way to their trip to the UPS store to ship all their Uverse bear back to the  mother ship.

Along the way, I started doing my own research.  We have 5 cable boxes.  We have a bunch of house phones we never answer.  The voice mail box is full of robocall messages.  Phone, cable, and Internet are costing us right at $300!  From Becky's research, ditch all of that, buy some streaming devices on the cheap, and your Internet and entertainment costs drop to around $80.  DANG!

Becky and Charlie had specific needs, so they ended up with the Roku streaming box, and two service provides. The Hallmark Channel was at the top of her list of things she could not do without, along with every mutation of ESPN, including the SEC network!  They tried the Amazon Fire stick for a bit, but there was too much buffering to suit their tastes.

We have several older generations of the Apple TV box, so I set my course to move to streaming services available on them.  After several hours of scratching my head, I discovered that you cannot add additional services to the older Apple TV boxes.  You have to upgrade to the 4th power of Apple!  I picked up the older boxes off of Ebay.  The 4th generation box is $149!  Damn! That's per unit!  Since the spousal unit has I-phones and I-pads, it made sense to bite the bullet and order it.  The box arrived on Friday morning.  Hot digity!  Plug and play, right?????

After a thorough review of the streaming services, I picked HULU live.  Hulu has everything, including all the ESPN's, but doesn't have the Hallmark Channel.  The Philo service has Hallmark, but none of the ESPN's and mutations.  The ESPN's can be gotten on the UTUBE tv service.  The only thing not on HULU, for us, was PBS and the Weather Channel.  The Weather Channel is only available through established cable networks.  PBS is accessible through the Apple TV box.

I got the Apple TV box, to the 4th power, all hooked up.  I turn it on.  I now need an Apple ID.  What the heck???  Off to my Chromebook I go!  Apple ID in hand, now lets get to streaming!  I went to add additional services to the Apple TV box, but now, I need an I-tunes account!  What the hell????  Are you seeing the pattern?  Apple sells you a box, you have to get the new box for added features.  To get to an I-tunes account, you have to have an Apple device! (but not the Apple TV box!) .  Yep another Apple brick wall to climb over or go around!

Fortunately, the spousal unit has an I-tunes account.  Unfortunately, you cannot access I-tunes from a Chromebook.  The spousal unit's ride home that day was the longest ever!  Once she was home, and once she figured out her password, we were off and running!  Now we just have to figure out all this new technology we have brought into our household!

With the Apple TV box costing $149, I decided to add additional devices, but cheaper.  The Roku express was advertised online for $29.  I decided to buy them online, and pick them up same day once I got my email from Walleyworld saying come and get them.  All afternoon I wait.  At 6:30, bingo!  Email from Walleywold:  order has been cancelled, none of the items in stock at my store.  Walley, you are killing me....... Needless to say, I headed over to Amazon.  Same item, same price.  To be delivered this Wednesday!  The Roku express will be added to the bedroom tv.  If we like it, we will buy another to take with us on our travels.  Margarita Machine and Roku stick road ready!

I posted some of this to my FB account during the day.  My young buck friend Kevin, yells "you old people!  I haven't used cable in over 10 years!"  Then he has the audacity to further add that he just ordered two new tv's with Roku built in, AND he only will have ONE remote control to deal with.  I have young people!

Bluff City Bloggers

Social Media is an entertainment all into itself.  I'm not much into Twitter, but I do spend a bit of time on Facebook and Instagram.  My blog posts are shared on Facebook, and that is how most of you get to this page.

Instagram was acquired by Facebook a good time back.  You may have seen where you can set your Instagram posts to go to Facebook automatically.  I utilize this feature quite a bit.  For me, Instagram is great for posting pictures.  You can communicate thru it, but I mostly use FB Messenger. 

My Instagram following has picked up a bit, but I have no clue how these folks find me, since I only post a few pictures here and there.  One of the interesting things about Instagram, is the number of people posting to their "story".

 Several gals from Memphis that are bloggers also utilize Instagram for reaching out to their followers.''  These girls have huge Instagram followings.  They post pictures, with commentary, links to their blog posts, and also daily updates to their "stories".  Some of these girl's followings are so big, that retailers send them free merchandise for the girls to use and hopefully make a blog post about the items, or include the items in their story line.  One girl has weekly give aways from vendors in the Memphis area.

The Instagram stories are hilarious!  Some are like mini soap operas, "a day in the life" of each blogger.  One girl doesn't wear makeup in her posts, while others have it caked on, because they go nowhere without it.

One blogger in particular, I call "the Queen of Hearts", from Alice in Wonderland.  She lives like a Queen, in her castle, with marble floors, a pool and basketball court out back, a closet full of shoes, and a bathroom bigger than most bedrooms.  She has her court of followers that she invites over for "Bachelorette" viewings.  They even have his and her t-shirts that they wear.  Some days its just posts about her two dogs and how they have the run of the house.  There are lots of posts including her Momma and Daddy, and the trips they take together in the family plane.  Thankfully, her husband comes from money.

These Bluff City Bloggers have significant influence in the Memphis area.  Some of their posts include following them to open houses for new restaurants and boutique hotels that are beginning to open in downtown Memphis.  For the retailers, this becomes relatively cheap advertising, as all of the bloggers that attend, share their experiences in their blog posts and their Instagram updates.

I can't wait to read and view today's posts!

The Poster!

A new season of my Spousal Unit's favorite baseball team is upon us once again.  We Rebels came up one game short of making it to Super Regionals last year, unlike my Dawgs that made it all the way to Omaha.

We were at a  basketball game a few weeks back, and the baseball team was there, signing autographs to a team poster.  After what seems forever in line, we finally got two posters with all the signatures of the players and the head coach.

Then a week before opening weekend a new poster was released that would be available on the opening season first game on Friday night.  Game time was set at 4:30.  Only problem, the spousal unit would not get to Oxford in time to get her "free poster".

She was just in love with this poster!  What to do, what to do......

I, being the supportive husband that I am, volunteered to go on Thursday, do some projects at the condo, and be there in time for the free poster!  Thursday was Valentine's day.  But, hey, I man has to do, what he has gotta do to keep his bride happy!

Otis and I made the trip.  I dropped him off, and decided to go by the Pavilion, to get the Rebel Reward points.  I stockpile the prizes and give them to my daughter-in-law who is a UMMC nursing graduate.  And since it was Valentine's Day, no single dude is stupid enough to go out to a restaurant in this town without a date on this day!  Steak & Shake it was.  Not ideal, since its all precooked and assembled while you wait.  

Next day, I make it to the stadium, called Swayze, a good bit before it started.  I walk through the main gate, and no POSTERS!  What?  Wait a minute!  That spousal unit of mine will be devastated!  Turns out they will be ready for Saturday's game.  Whew!  At least she will be here to get hers at the field.

Saturday, we arrive at the game a little late, because somebody decides to sleep in, game time 12:00.  I learned long ago to never wake her lioness if I want to keep all of my body parts intact!   We walk up to the table, and some dude got the last two posters on the table, with no others in sight, and a line of people behind us.  One of the diamond girls rushes off to retrieve more, if they had any.  That wait seemed like forever!  Finally, posters in hand!  Made it to our seats just in time for the first pitch.

We also had tickets for the men's basketball game, at 2:30.  We left the baseball game after the fourth inning, with her team way behind.  Naturally, there was only one shuttle line, for the parking lots only, none for the basketball game.  You would think after all these years, they would figure this out!  The line only had two shuttles working it, as the others were working the basketball game.  We ended up in the parking lot nearest the Pavilion and walked the rest of the way.  At the side entrance that we took, they would not allow the spousal unit to bring her baseball posters into the Pavilion, they were too BIG!  Oh shit!

After a few minutes of discussion, they agreed to hold them for her until the end of the game.  She guessed that would have to do.....  We stopped and got drinks and a large corndog, then found a spot to sit and eat.  The longer she ate that corndog, the more she stewed.  Then, she noticed that at the front entrance of the Pavilion, they were giving away basketball POSTERS, the same size as her baseball posters!  Honey, they done lit a fire under that woman!  I looked up, she was gone!

The basketball game was in progress, and no spousal unit!  I'm thinking restroom, souvenir shop, more food???  She finally walked up, with you guessed it, all four of her posters!  She had visited every level of security supervisor in the building, even grabbed a highway patrolman and a security guard friend as backup!  She was not letting those posters get away or leave her sight!  I had even FB messaged our friend that is in charge of the Pavilion to be on the lookout for one hot short blonde woman!

The posters made it to the condo, and one of them made it to a frame and is on the wall!

And all of this for a free poster! 

NOLA, it's been a while

A few years back, I swore not to come back whole the Mayor started taking down some of the history that makes this space so special to me.  Well, he was voted out of office, but the statues are still down.  But, this City has been calling out my name, and it was just time!

The invitation has always been open, so mancub and his bride decided to join us.  We try to stay at the Wyndham Avenue Plaza, which is on St. Charles, on the edge of the garden district.  We love the location, and we leave the car behind and hit the street car lines to go and discover the day.

We have to get our Acme Oyster house fix, and our favorite is the one in Metairie.  Mostly locals eating there, and the staff is so much more friendly than the ones in the Quarter.  We then made a stop at the Square for the open air Cafe De Monde beignets.  The powdered sugar flies much more better outside.  A little trick, enter from the back side to avoid the wait line for a table.  You get to the tables on that side a whole lot quicker. And, the lines are a whole lot shorter!

For the streetcars, the all day pass for $3 is the way to go.  The spousal unit discovered that you can use the RTA mobile app and not have to keep up with a paper ticket.  The only downside is the additional drain on your phone battery.  An external backup battery will fix that.

This was the mancub & his spousal units first visit to NOLA.  We decided to give them slices of the city.  Our first stop of the day was for brunch at Red Gravy.  A meatball as a side item is a must!  This place is just off Canal, on Camp St.

Time for the day visit to Jackson Square.  A pleasant surprise was that the Canal Street street car now continues on along the Mossissippi River to the French Market.  The line down past the Riverwalk has been discontinued.   We got off at the French Market and made our way back to the Square.   I always wonder how they make a living selling that stuff.

The Square was full of activity compared to the night before.  Artisans were everywhere,  and the Beignet line was full of tourists, waiting on the front side.

We took a carriage ride tour for some history.  It included a tour of the cemetery in the Quarter. The tour guide made the ride even more interesting with his view of his city.

For a late lunch, we made it back to Central Grocery to share a whole mufaletta.  I swear I'm looking at the same dust on the shelves from our last visit.  We walked over to the river to enjoy sandwich, and watch the river flow by.  We were entertained by a street musician playing the blues.  He was from Costa Rico.  He was in heaven, playing his music in this city.

The mancub picked up a box of pralines at Aunt Sally's.   You can sample all of their goods before making your purchase.  We decided to ride the St. Charles line to the end and back, with a quick stop at the Avenue Plaza to drop off purchases.  That stop ended up being a 2 hour nap!

The streetcar line ride through the garden district later at night tends to have more locals on it.  We have never met someone who was not friendly, and they always offer your suggestions on places to see, and they help the tourists in getting back on track when they have lost their way.

We stopped at Superior Seafood for dinner.  The large frozen Rose hit the spot!  Everyone was feeling the spirit by the time we were seated, and the food was wonderful!

Back on the street car, we headed back to the Quarter.  A birthday girl and her party got on.  We sang HBD to her, and I offered to do a stripper pole if she would go first! I love joining in with others celebrating a birthday in NOLA.  Unfortunately, the birthday girl and her party exited the car for another adventure before we reached Bourbon Street.  The guy behind us was from Iowa, and he just loved hearing the spousal unit talk southern.  It didn't take much prodding to turn it up a notch!

Bourbon Street is currently under construction.   They are replacing the sewer lines.  They are digging up the street a block at a time.  This nor anything else will deter the partying crowd.  We're accustomed to the attraction of the "big ash beer". The latest trend is to buy your colored drink in a plastic fish bowl and have it hanging from your neck!

We finished off our walk down sin row with a stop at Pat O's for a hurricane experience for the two Morgans.  The trip back to the condo included yet another life experience.   A drug influenced streetcar rider was escorted off after being confronted by the driver.  The dude had an open bleed, sorry, no can ride!

Trip home included a stop at Manny Randazzos for a king cake, or four!  Mardi Gras season is just around to corner.  We will be back!

Another Tailgating Season in the Books

Well, the tailgating season in The Town Up North is officially over for fall 2018!  It seems like it just got started yesterday!  We went from Shorts and T-shirts overnight.    All the gear is being cleaned up and stored for next year.  Over the next several months I'll be on the lookout for some more cool tailgating items for our crew.

Not too many mishaps for our crew this year.  One ice chest disappeared, and our cooler got cleaned out during the Egg Bowl.  We always looked forward for some unsuspecting soul to round the corner and hit the magical bump in the curve that ends up dumping out the contents of your cooler, exposing the beer that has to be poured out.  There were lots of memorable "beer busts", most of which involved a woman!  The coeds continue to surprise with the range of outfits that expose more and more skin!

This year we got more of our tailgate team members involved in the setup and take down of tailgate site.  The early kickoff time of 11:00 made this a challenge for those driving up the morning of the game, and having traffic through the Grove closed three hours before the game.

With Alabama on campus, led by their throwing Samoan, and TSUN and their Hawaiian QB, the decorating theme for that weekend was easy.  Our Chef Kyle and his wife Casie showed up with three tubs of Hawaiian decorations, let the good times begin.  Kyle even cooked up skewers of pineapple and Spam, which was actually quite tasty.  Pictures from that weekend qualified us for Tailgate of the day a few weekends later.  Here's the Jumbotron pic!

The school administration tried to do some "out of the box" thinking.  They created a premium tailgate package, 10x20 tent, parking pass, table & chairs, tv, and fully catered for the low price of $17,500!  And, they had quite a few takers!  They also had $1 hot dogs, while they lasted, at the beginning of the 4th quarter!  The new courtesy shuttles were right on for fans without a parking pass.

New items for us this year included a logoed wall panel backdrop placed behind the tables.  The bar height table was added late last year, and it added addition table space for displaying table scape.

I found a Stanley 3 quart steel crock that keeps food farm for 12+ hours.  They worked great this weekend with the brunswick stew I made.  I dropped it off at 9:00 a.m. and the contents were still warm at 10:00 p.m.!

The next nine months will be spent coming up with new food ideas,  finding that next neat tailgating item, and I have bragging rights for the next 12 months, #HAILSTATE!

Its All About the Tailgate

Used to be, back in the day, you would pop open the trunk, pull out a card table and have yourself a picnic before heading to a college football game.  Younger people now look at you, with card table, what's a card table????  And that picnic ain't a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken anymore!

First you start off with one tent canopy, then two, then four!  And that card table, its been replaced with new light weight folding tables designed specifically for tailgating.  You have to keep a roll of duct table and a bag of zip ties handy to pull it all together or to make a repair or two.  In the "old days" you paid college kids to reserve your space and to set up the tents and tables.  Now you have companies that set everything up for you, for a price!  These crews spend Friday afternoon and nights setting up your tents, tables, chairs, generator, satellite, and wide screen TV.  You can for a fee, have an ice chest delivered full of your favorite beverages.  Even the food can be delivered, so that you can walk up with only your pom pom and ticket in hand!

Our crew is budget minded.  We pay for the setup of two canopy tents, and three tailgate tables.  On game days with a 3:00 or later kickoff, we will double the covered space with two more canopies.  The early arrivals put out the table cloths, decorate the table, and hang the banners and other items that have been collected over the years.  With the arrival of yet another mascot at the town up north, there is even more collectibles being added to the mix!

I got smarter a few seasons back.  I put luggage tags on all my tents, and chairs.  The tables have names and telephone numbers on them.  We all have the fold up wagons for the mule train back and forth to the parking lot.

The "Grove" is gathering place with electrical connections scattered throughout.  Generators are where there is no outlet.  No grills or appliances of any kind are allowed in the inner circle.  The grilling occurs on the outer asphalt pavement, or across the street.  We are across the street, and are blessed with our resident chef Kyle!

This was Kyle's week to be responsible for set up and clean up.  With Bama coming to town, and both quarterbacks from the Pacific Isles, his choice of a Hawaiian theme was a no brainer.  For the last two weeks the UPS truck was a regular at his door with boxes from Amazon!  He and his wife Casie were all in!  Go big or go home! 

Kyle & Casie

You have to have a palm tree!

Blow it up!

Kyle adding more decor!

Kyle spared no expense!

Sharknado!

You have to feed the Mascots!

that elephant never had a chance!

Table is set, including grilled pineapple with Spam!

Even security got into the act!  Here is our buddy Possum!

And of course it wouldn't be a tailgate in the Grove without a couple of pictures of the ritual sacrifice of a few cases of beer:

Lots of fun was had by all!

During the middle of the day, Kyle looked at me, and asked, "should we do all this every game????  As we were taking it all down, he then asked, "would the set up fee double if we added the two extra tents?"  By the end of the night he and I were totally exhausted, only to be saved by our spousal units.

Next week has an 11:00 kickoff.  No extra tents, or excessive decorating for us!  Is gonna be mimosas and breakfast snacks with one easy trip to the parking lot after the game!

Happy Tailgating errybody!

Tailgating 201

This time of year, the planning begins for the next tailgating season.  These days, each group has a tailgating setup guy that takes care of setting up your tents and tables.  Some groups take it to the next level with generators, TVs, and satellite dishes.  The annual costs can range from $1,000 up!  Ole Miss has taken it to another level, with a tailgating package at $17,500!

Each group has a coordinator that pays the setup guy, takes care of the shopping list and hands out the signup list for members to host a specific game.

Generally, all are welcome to the tailgating scene, just bring a chair, a cooler full of drinks,  and some kind of snack or dish to share.  Fans of the weekend's opponent are always welcomed with a plate of food and a cold drink.

An interesting topic came up at our weekly pool talk gathering.  We began talking about the habits of tailgating that bug the heck out of you.  We had a lot of common issues among us.  One topic in particular came up that had some to be quite vocal.

Occasionally, you come across individuals that come by, every game, stay til game time, eat the food, and raid the coolers for a free beer.  They are friends of a "member", but choose to not participate in the cost.

How do you pick the member to drop the news to them to find another pasture to graze???
1. Paper, rock, scissors?  2. Draw straws? 3.low card draw?

Once the messenger is picked,  how do you deliver the message? 1.face to face? 2. Phone call? 3. Text message? 4.  Email?  5. Just move the tent location? 6. Send them a bill for their share?

It cracked me up to hear the finite details that were being described about the culprits!  I wondered, do they also play bunco together?  Do they do birthday parties together?  Are the related by blood or marriage???

There is never a dull moment at pool talk, at the Markie Mark!