I am not certain about the shoe sizes being + 30. I am 8 1/2 American, but 41 European.

Aren't Italian eyeglasses expensive? Bianca always buys them in Israel, not Italy, and I know that Israel is much more expensive than the US.

Bra sizes run in the following order: Feh!, Okay, Yeah!,Wow!, Err... and Moo!

----------------

Disclaimer: I have no idea of how that last paragraph appeared in my post. It was obviously the result of some computer glitch and certainly was not typed out by me. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that Cholula somehow inserted it in order to get me in trouble.

To get you into the right ballpark, a US mens 7 is a European 40. Then add or take away one for each US size you are different.

Italian shoes also tend to be lasted narrow.

Gold, Rose, and Hebrew
 

Earlier in this thread, I promised to bring a Christmas doorprize of frankincense, gold, and myrhh. When I made that promise I already had the frankincense and myrhh, but not the gold.

As my trip to the Venice Meet begins exactly 5 weeks from today (okay, so I am taking the long route there, through FLL), I decided I had best hurry and get the gold. This was especially true after Cholula inserted those horrible things into my Post # 436. I know that nobody will believe me that he did it so the women are going to be arriving there already P.O.ed at me and I didn't want them to find out I had no gold to offer and become an angry mob.

I therefore I hied myself to the city of Nahariya today to pick up the prize.

I went into a small jewelry store and explained that I needed a gold piece for someone I didn't know.

The owner gave me a strange look but took out a gold, Greek, coin.

No good, I told him. I had promised something from Israel and Greek coins are, by definition, not Israeli.

He then showed me a gold Star of David. I told him that I didn't know the religion of the person who was getting it, so Stars of David and crosses were out. Still, I insisted, it had to be Israeli.

He then suggested a gold hamsa. Those of you who came to the PBI-FLL Meet know what a hamsa is, because a number of you got silver hamsas. For the rest of you it is an upside-down hand which is a good luck symbol in the Middle East.

The deal was done but I asked him if he could put it in a box which had some Hebrew written on it. At this point, he could control his curiousity no longer and demanded all the details. I told him about our Meet and said that Hebrew lettering on the box would make the hamsa more interesting.

He liked the story and dug out a fascinating little box. It looks like a red rose and has a little Hebrew on it. He opened it and put the hamsa inside. He then wrapped the box in gold paper and put the whole thing in a plastic bag that has Thank you. See you again. written on it in Hebrew.

I am now prepared for the Venice Meet -- unless, of course, Cholula inserts more nasty things in other posts I make on this thread.

Once and for all, the spelling is myrrh!
 

If you're gonna bring it, you gotta learn how to SPELL it! :mad:

It's myrrh. I corrected you once before, and cited the dictionary via a URL link, but you persist. (At least one other poster also corrected you, but corrected you incorrectly.)

Even worse than people who can't spell are people who refuse to look up things in the dictionary!

Once again, here is the link:

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=myrrh

Can we now drop Kathy from the drawing for the gold? ;) :D I'd be happy to have less competition for that - it sounds like a lovely gift with a lot of thought.

SanDiego1K Have you now moved from the possible to the definite list? (no doubt swayed by promises of treasures from our Dov)

Gee, Kathy, its myrrhly a small spelling error. For years, I kept spelling "elephant" wrong. That was a jumbo error. Of course, I never brought one to a F/T Meet.

SanDiego1K, I guess we can always fix the drawing! :D

Well - no - I won't be definite until I have a ticket. There are some complications re the schedules of people descending for Thanksgiving. I'm waiting to see how that sorts itself out. I'm hoping, though!

SD1K, the really big day of the Meet is the 20th. If you show up on the 19th, you can go to the bar in St Mark's for the initial gathering. On the 20th you can be at the dinner and get your doorprize and Cholula t-shirt. On the 21st and 22nd you can enjoy Venice. On the 23rd you can join us for the tour of Verona and on the 24th you can fly out and get home on the same day (you will be flying with the sun).

Thanksgiving is the 25th.

(Okay, if you are cooking the dinner, you may have to pass on the Verona tour.)

SD1K....the schedule Dovster suggested above is the EXACT itinerary Mrs. Cholula and I will be following. We have long standing plans for Thanksgiving so need to get back to LAX on the 24th.
Hope you can join us!!

ELEPHANT? Wow, I've always wanted one and have space and an agreeable climate. Thanks, Dovster, what a wonderful contribution to our door prizes.

Do they eat alfalfa? Is a pipe corral sufficent containment? Is it trained for riding? Does winning the prize include shipping?

Well, I now feel compelled to tell the REAL truth about the drawing we held at the Great PBI/FLL Meet in May.
As a FlyerTalker of impeccable honesty and unquestionable virtue, I was, of course, selected to draw the names for the door prizes. Every FT'er present had submitted their name which was put into Dovster's somewhat funky hat.
Midway through the drawing, just as we were reaching the valuable prizes, Dovster slinks up to me with a couple of new :eek: names for the hat. One was Misty "Jones" and the other was Bambi "Smith". ( Last names changed to protect the innocent).
I said to Dovster, "What's with these"?? He said "Cholula, don't ask any questions, just palm them and make sure they win X and Y prizes".
I had noticed earlier that a couple of our wait staff, coincidentally named Misty and Bambi, were quite attractive but being the virtuous person I am, ignored that obvious fact.
And equally obvious to me, Dovster had NOT ignored that fact. :(
To make a long story short, I refused to rig the drawing and Dovster, AFAIK, left for the Ramada alone once again.
But knowing Dovster, he has another version of this story.....;).

Thank God for Thanksgiving in Vce. Gets me out of all kinds of family arguments and obligations. Morever, I detest leftovers and cooking yams and marshmallows. In addition, I prefer white truffles to turkey; although a turkey dinner is available at Harry's on Thanksgiving day.

While we would LOVE to stay in VCE for Thanksgiving and enjoy the day with the O2K's, we have a long standing Thanksgiving tradition that is hard to beat.
A business associate of mine from a previous life decided to chuck it all and get her Chef's degree/training at some of the finest universities and restaurants in Europe. She has spent the years since teaching/working around the US.
Her idea of a Thanksgiving meal is to plan and cook the most fabulous dinner imaginable. Takes her over a week of work to prepare the Thanksgiving feast. As an example, she doesn't just BUY butter as the rest of us commoners would. No, she has to churn it! :eek:
And she doesn't buy the herbs and spices she uses....she grows them organically in her garden. Her mashed potatoes have more heavy cream, garlic and horseradish than they do potatoes.
Blah, Blah, Blah.
All we have to do is show up with a case of wine....which the group easily polishes off during the evening....and enjoy a 10,000 calorie dinner after which we don't need to eat for at least six weeks.
And all this after the white truffle orgy in VCE.
Life is good....

--and no yams and marshmallows-- :td: