CJK

Let me suggest adding certain large purchases to your list. Credit cards offer some protections you do not get with cash. Two personal experiences:
I once ordered custom made furniture, putting half down with the order with the remainder due on delivery. The delivery date was Dec 1. By Dec 15 I had heard nothing, so I called the store. A recording stated, "This number has been disconnected." A quick drive to the store showed an empty space in a strip mall. The shopkeeper next door said the company went out of business. I called Capital One from the sidewalk. By the time I got home and pulled up the account the charge had been reversed. A couple days later the store owner called and cursed me out for getting the charge reversed. I told him if he could deliver the furniture within the next couple days, I would pay cash. Of course, he didn't. He did fight the reversal but C1 stood by the reversal. A cash deposit would have been gone or I would have had to fight for pennies in the bankruptcy.
At about the same time - I had just purchased a house - I purchased dinnerware: seven-piece service for twelve. Once everything was washed it went into my brand-new kitchen cabinet. Turns out the cabinet was not attached correctly. It fell. The dishes were all broken. One call to Capital One and they put me in touch with their insurance carrier who reimbursed me for the replacement dishes. Had cash been used for the purchase the replacements would have been on me. 

Let me suggest adding certain large purchases to your list. Credit cards offer some protections you do not get with cash. Two personal experiences:
I once ordered custom made furniture, putting half down with the order with the remainder due on delivery. The delivery date was Dec 1. By Dec 15 I had heard nothing, so I called the store. A recording stated, "This number has been disconnected." A quick drive to the store showed an empty space in a strip mall. The shopkeeper next door said the company went out of business. I called Capital One from the sidewalk. By the time I got home and pulled up the account the charge had been reversed. A couple days later the store owner called and cursed me out for getting the charge reversed. I told him if he could deliver the furniture within the next couple days, I would pay cash. Of course, he didn't. He did fight the reversal but C1 stood by the reversal. A cash deposit would have been gone or I would have had to fight for pennies in the bankruptcy.
At about the same time - I had just purchased a house - I purchased dinnerware: seven-piece service for twelve. Once everything was washed it went into my brand-new kitchen cabinet. Turns out the cabinet was not attached correctly. It fell. The dishes were all broken. One call to Capital One and they put me in touch with their insurance carrier who reimbursed me for the replacement dishes. Had cash been used for the purchase the replacements would have been on me. 

Let me suggest adding certain large purchases to your list. Credit cards offer some protections you do not get with cash. Two personal experiences:
I once ordered custom made furniture, putting half down with the order with the remainder due on delivery. The delivery date was Dec 1. By Dec 15 I had heard nothing, so I called the store. A recording stated, "This number has been disconnected." A quick drive to the store showed an empty space in a strip mall. The shopkeeper next door said the company went out of business. I called Capital One from the sidewalk. By the time I got home and pulled up the account the charge had been reversed. A couple days later the store owner called and cursed me out for getting the charge reversed. I told him if he could deliver the furniture within the next couple days, I would pay cash. Of course, he didn't. He did fight the reversal but C1 stood by the reversal. A cash deposit would have been gone or I would have had to fight for pennies in the bankruptcy.
At about the same time - I had just purchased a house - I purchased dinnerware: seven-piece service for twelve. Once everything was washed it went into my brand-new kitchen cabinet. Turns out the cabinet was not attached correctly. It fell. The dishes were all broken. One call to Capital One and they put me in touch with their insurance carrier who reimbursed me for the replacement dishes. Had cash been used for the purchase the replacements would have been on me. 

My last two years of college in DC I lived on P St. There was a gay couple who lived in the next building over who would walk their dog every day. One guy seemed kinda stuffy. The other guy was just plain hot. They always ignored me.
One night just the hot guy was walking the dog. Out of nowhere, he starts talking to me. Turned out the stuffy guy had gone to visit his parents for a couple days. Soon we were heading up to his apartment. We walk in the front door and there is a huge, framed picture on the wall of the other guy and a friend of mine from elementary/junior high/high school. The hot guy tells me that is his boyfriend with his sister. "Is her name Debbie M****?" I asked. Hot guy was flabbergasted and quickly determined stuffy guy and I grew up a couple streets over from each other but with a ten-year age difference.
We wound up messing around several times after that but always in my apartment so that Debbie's smiling face was not looking down at me when I was boinking her brother's boyfriend. 

I remember that place. When I was sixteen, 1980, I had to drive to PGH for something. Before I left, I went to the Club Baths that was across from Chatham Center. The guy at the door told me I was too young for entry, but he would let me in anyway. I went to the locker area and about twenty guys walked in to watch me get undressed. One grabbed my dick and it got hard. I told him I was not interested but he pointed out my dick was. I then walked around. When going down the steps, some guy walking up put his hands on my waist and invited me to his room. Scared, I said no, but then realized I was there to get laid, and he was hot, so I went and found him in his room. I had sucked cock before, but it was the first time I fucked. 

My experience was being picked up one night in a bar in NYC by a guy who drove me back to his home in NJ. As we got closer, I realized that we were going to the same town I grew up in. I didn't say anything to him, but as we were undressing in his bedroom, I suddenly stopped and said, "Why do you have a wedding photo of Clara and Frank on your dresser?" Amazed, he said, "How do you know my sister?!" It turned out that not only had I gone to high school with Clara and Frank, but the guy's grandmother had been the old lady in the house on the next street behind the one I grew up in, whose backyard adjoined ours. Small world.

My last two years of college in DC I lived on P St. There was a gay couple who lived in the next building over who would walk their dog every day. One guy seemed kinda stuffy. The other guy was just plain hot. They always ignored me.
One night just the hot guy was walking the dog. Out of nowhere, he starts talking to me. Turned out the stuffy guy had gone to visit his parents for a couple days. Soon we were heading up to his apartment. We walk in the front door and there is a huge, framed picture on the wall of the other guy and a friend of mine from elementary/junior high/high school. The hot guy tells me that is his boyfriend with his sister. "Is her name Debbie M****?" I asked. Hot guy was flabbergasted and quickly determined stuffy guy and I grew up a couple streets over from each other but with a ten-year age difference.
We wound up messing around several times after that but always in my apartment so that Debbie's smiling face was not looking down at me when I was boinking her brother's boyfriend. 

I remember that place. When I was sixteen, 1980, I had to drive to PGH for something. Before I left, I went to the Club Baths that was across from Chatham Center. The guy at the door told me I was too young for entry, but he would let me in anyway. I went to the locker area and about twenty guys walked in to watch me get undressed. One grabbed my dick and it got hard. I told him I was not interested but he pointed out my dick was. I then walked around. When going down the steps, some guy walking up put his hands on my waist and invited me to his room. Scared, I said no, but then realized I was there to get laid, and he was hot, so I went and found him in his room. I had sucked cock before, but it was the first time I fucked. 

I remember that place. When I was sixteen, 1980, I had to drive to PGH for something. Before I left, I went to the Club Baths that was across from Chatham Center. The guy at the door told me I was too young for entry, but he would let me in anyway. I went to the locker area and about twenty guys walked in to watch me get undressed. One grabbed my dick and it got hard. I told him I was not interested but he pointed out my dick was. I then walked around. When going down the steps, some guy walking up put his hands on my waist and invited me to his room. Scared, I said no, but then realized I was there to get laid, and he was hot, so I went and found him in his room. I had sucked cock before, but it was the first time I fucked. 

I remember that place. When I was sixteen, 1980, I had to drive to PGH for something. Before I left, I went to the Club Baths that was across from Chatham Center. The guy at the door told me I was too young for entry, but he would let me in anyway. I went to the locker area and about twenty guys walked in to watch me get undressed. One grabbed my dick and it got hard. I told him I was not interested but he pointed out my dick was. I then walked around. When going down the steps, some guy walking up put his hands on my waist and invited me to his room. Scared, I said no, but then realized I was there to get laid, and he was hot, so I went and found him in his room. I had sucked cock before, but it was the first time I fucked. 

I remember that place. When I was sixteen, 1980, I had to drive to PGH for something. Before I left, I went to the Club Baths that was across from Chatham Center. The guy at the door told me I was too young for entry, but he would let me in anyway. I went to the locker area and about twenty guys walked in to watch me get undressed. One grabbed my dick and it got hard. I told him I was not interested but he pointed out my dick was. I then walked around. When going down the steps, some guy walking up put his hands on my waist and invited me to his room. Scared, I said no, but then realized I was there to get laid, and he was hot, so I went and found him in his room. I had sucked cock before, but it was the first time I fucked. 

Actually, I had the opposite situation. As a top you would think size would not be that important, but I was set up on a date with a college senior. He was gorgeous, smart and had the most amazing Kajagoogoo hair. It was very in at the time.  Unfortunately, he turned out to have the smallest one I had ever seen before or since. It was micro. When it got hard it might have been two inches. It did not reach much past my teeth.
I tried to take the high road and look past it. We dated a few months until he did something that was a very alight transgression which became the reason I ended the relationship, If I were honest, we broke up because he had a small dick.
After I told him we were done, he thanked me for overlooking certain things. Although he was vague, I assumed he was thanking me for overlooking the fact his dick was so small.
BTW, we were set up by s mutual lesbian friend. She invited us both to a womyn's bar to introduce us: The Otherside Lounge. Years later it was bombed by Eric Rudolph the Olympic Bomber. We left there, got something to eat at the late-night Chinese restaurant on Cheshire Bridge and Lavista and then went to the bar that many believe was the inspiration for the Love Shack mentioned in the B-52's Rock Lobster. That bar was torn down and replaced with a sewage treatment facility. The bar was so decrepit that the sewage treatment facility was an improvement. 

Actually, I had the opposite situation. As a top you would think size would not be that important, but I was set up on a date with a college senior. He was gorgeous, smart and had the most amazing Kajagoogoo hair. It was very in at the time.  Unfortunately, he turned out to have the smallest one I had ever seen before or since. It was micro. When it got hard it might have been two inches. It did not reach much past my teeth.
I tried to take the high road and look past it. We dated a few months until he did something that was a very alight transgression which became the reason I ended the relationship, If I were honest, we broke up because he had a small dick.
After I told him we were done, he thanked me for overlooking certain things. Although he was vague, I assumed he was thanking me for overlooking the fact his dick was so small.
BTW, we were set up by s mutual lesbian friend. She invited us both to a womyn's bar to introduce us: The Otherside Lounge. Years later it was bombed by Eric Rudolph the Olympic Bomber. We left there, got something to eat at the late-night Chinese restaurant on Cheshire Bridge and Lavista and then went to the bar that many believe was the inspiration for the Love Shack mentioned in the B-52's Rock Lobster. That bar was torn down and replaced with a sewage treatment facility. The bar was so decrepit that the sewage treatment facility was an improvement. 

Actually, I had the opposite situation. As a top you would think size would not be that important, but I was set up on a date with a college senior. He was gorgeous, smart and had the most amazing Kajagoogoo hair. It was very in at the time.  Unfortunately, he turned out to have the smallest one I had ever seen before or since. It was micro. When it got hard it might have been two inches. It did not reach much past my teeth.
I tried to take the high road and look past it. We dated a few months until he did something that was a very alight transgression which became the reason I ended the relationship, If I were honest, we broke up because he had a small dick.
After I told him we were done, he thanked me for overlooking certain things. Although he was vague, I assumed he was thanking me for overlooking the fact his dick was so small.
BTW, we were set up by s mutual lesbian friend. She invited us both to a womyn's bar to introduce us: The Otherside Lounge. Years later it was bombed by Eric Rudolph the Olympic Bomber. We left there, got something to eat at the late-night Chinese restaurant on Cheshire Bridge and Lavista and then went to the bar that many believe was the inspiration for the Love Shack mentioned in the B-52's Rock Lobster. That bar was torn down and replaced with a sewage treatment facility. The bar was so decrepit that the sewage treatment facility was an improvement. 

This clip is my happy place.
Coming out to friends and family was not hard. Admitting my love of Eurovision? That was hard. The disappointment, rejection and questions were tough. This song is from the 2016 contest in Stockholm. It was performed by the hosts with help from many others. Despite being a very well written Eurovision-style song, it is a joke, albeit one based in truth. The over-the-top events depicted are things that actually happened in past entry songs. Most of the unbelievable antics are performed by the actual winners or performers who placed high. 
I included links which explains many of the jaw dropping tropes but to get you started, the man performing this is Hans Zelmerlow, a previous winner. (BTW, there is an over sixteen-year age difference between them. Hard to believe. She looks great.) The violin player had the biggest Eurovision win of all time. Lordi was the biggest winner before the violinist, in the same costumes the band wears here. Loreen, whose winning performance included the snow, runs across the stage towards the end wearing the same costume from when she won. The hamster wheel, the baking Russian grandmothers, the churner and the ice skater are all culled from actual previous performances. 
Eurovision Explained: Love, Love, Peace, Peace  
Love Love Peace Peace | Eurovision Song Contest Wiki | Fandom 

So now I am stuck on youtube. This recording by Jeannie C Riley is awesome, but,,.
Her performing the song in someone's living room 40+ years later is priceless. 
 

It is hardly a happy song, but it is such a great recording it always makes me happy.
 
And this:
And this:
 

So now I am stuck on youtube. This recording by Jeannie C Riley is awesome, but,,.
Her performing the song in someone's living room 40+ years later is priceless. 
 

I love this post.  Brings a big smile to my face 

This is actually the most played downloaded song in my personal Apple Music library. 
 

So now I am stuck on youtube. This recording by Jeannie C Riley is awesome, but,,.
Her performing the song in someone's living room 40+ years later is priceless. 
 

It is hardly a happy song, but it is such a great recording it always makes me happy.
 
And this:
And this:
 

So now I am stuck on youtube. This recording by Jeannie C Riley is awesome, but,,.
Her performing the song in someone's living room 40+ years later is priceless. 
 

It is hardly a happy song, but it is such a great recording it always makes me happy.
 
And this:
And this:
 

For years I had top tier status with Delta (Platinum and then Diamond once it was created) and mid-tier status with United. Both were attained based on segments, not miles, which meant 150+ flights on DL and around 30 on United. I would wind up on other airlines several times a year. 
AA domestic is definitely a step below DL and AA. Domestic First is glorified coach. The difference between Domestic First and International First or Biz is akin to the difference between Dixie cups and Waterford crystal.
I could tolerate Spirit by continually reminding myself it was a short flight. Really, the worst part of flying Spirit was the behavior of the other passengers. Southwest was my least favorite airline. FA antics, festival seating and a seemingly higher number of kids on the flights made flying LUV migraine inducing. 
I have a soft spot for Frontier. When Leo Mullin was running DL into the ground DL became a horrible airline. I moved my business to AirTran, which was a really good operator. Reserved seating, upgrades and professional FAs!
Unfortunately, AirTran did not fly everywhere. One of those places was Reno, so I wound up flying DL from ATL. There were only four people on the flight to Reno. While there, my boss had a heart attack and went to the hospital.  I was not going to leave her in NV alone, so I told her I would change my flight to the next day, by which time her husband would be in NV from NC. I called DL, explained the situation and they wanted about $3k to change the return flight, which would have included repricing the segment I had already flown to Reno.
So I went to the airport thinking a flesh and blood agent would be more helpful than a phone agent. The check-in agent asked me to stand at the side of the check-in area while she got a manager. The station manager came over, heard the situation and still insisted on over $3k. (Is it any wonder DL wound up in bankruptcy with that kind of customer service?)
Frontier's check-in desk was next to DL. A man there had been listening to this and motioned me over. He was the Frontier station manager. He said they would fly me back to Atlanta the day after next. They would submit my ticket to DL and whatever they were reimbursed would be the charge. No additional charge for me. The DL manager said, "You cannot do that." The Frontier manager pointed to the floor and said, "See where the green carpet starts? I can do whatever I want when I am on the green carpet."
I had no issue paying a change fee, and that year alone had paid hundreds of dollars to change tickets. DL's policy in this case was not only punitive, but it was their attempt to make a huge profit off of my boss' heart attack. It wasn't until Mullin was fired and his anti-customer policies were rescinded that I went back to regularly flying DL. 
BTW, for international flights, the ME3 (Emirates, Etihad, Qatar), Singapore and Turkish are so much better than any American carrier. Flying over the Pacific, Korean Biz (Prestige) upstairs on an A380 is my fave. The seats are so far from one another, the upstairs is quiet, the bar and coffee lounge are nice places to escape from your seat and the bathrooms are ginormous. Yes, there are middle seats in the middle block, window seats do not open to the aisle, although they do have useful extra storage bins and the seats are lay-almost-flat, but the top deck is often pretty empty so every seat not being an aisle seat rarely matters, I have no problem sleeping at a four-degree angle and the quietness, away from economy which is on the lower level, is awesome.