"A Year to Watch" - December 31, 2021

[JennyByrd]

Solved before the Gaffney puzzle comes out. I love Fridays when work is closed. Hoping for a kinder, gentler 2022

[BarbaraK]

On the shore. The cabana boy wants to know when he should start taking down the decorations. I told him to ask our cruise director.

Meg
Tell the cabana boy - indoors after New Years when he sobers up. Outdoor January 6 or when the weather permits.

I had no idea there were rules. Why did my parents not teach me??

I take it you live somewhere that doesn’t have a homeowners’ association.

[Chantellebeal]

On the shore. The cabana boy wants to know when he should start taking down the decorations. I told him to ask our cruise director.

Meg
Tell the cabana boy - indoors after New Years when he sobers up. Outdoor January 6 or when the weather permits.

I had no idea there were rules. Why did my parents not teach me??

Many of us in the upper Midwest leave our outdoor lights on most of January. Helps us get through the long, dark nights! They are mostly frozen in anyway. Happy New Year to all!

[Bob cruise director]

On the shore. The cabana boy wants to know when he should start taking down the decorations. I told him to ask our cruise director.

Meg
Tell the cabana boy - indoors after New Years when he sobers up. Outdoor January 6 or when the weather permits.

I had no idea there were rules. Why did my parents not teach me??

Meg
Playing pick up games growing up, we made up rules depending on the circumstances - can't hit to right field, supply your own catcher for baseball, three Mississippi's to rush for football, let the little kids get a hit. and then there are the rules you make up when you have kids.

So making up rules on the spot comes easily.

[Joe Ross]

Meg
Tell the cabana boy - indoors after New Years when he sobers up. Outdoor January 6 or when the weather permits.

I had no idea there were rules. Why did my parents not teach me??

I take it you live somewhere that doesn’t have a homeowners’ association.

Does the HOA make religious exceptions? The 12th Day of Christmas (January 6th) is the Epiphany (the visit of the three Magi) and the last day of Christmas.

I'm not trying to start a debate & will redact this post, if requested. I'm genuinely interested in how HOAs approach this & other holidays, religious or not. Our good DrTom is president of his HOA.

[Barney]

All indications are that I’ll be 67A for the duration.

It was nice of Matt to include that. I feel seen.

[minimuggle]

Count me ashore....a 15 mile run and a cappuccino brought me in. Happy New Years to all. Here's to many more "aha" moments in 2022. And a mug!

[Wendy Walker]

Our good DrTom is president of his HOA.

Is that opposed to our bad DrTom?

[Scott M]

I had no idea there were rules. Why did my parents not teach me??

I take it you live somewhere that doesn’t have a homeowners’ association.

Does the HOA make religious exceptions? The 12th Day of Christmas (January 6th) is the Epiphany (the visit of the three Magi) and the last day of Christmas.

I'm not trying to start a debate & will redact this post, if requested. I'm genuinely interested in how HOAs approach this & other holidays, religious or not. Our good DrTom is president of his HOA.

My maternal grandmother (of Serbian descent) was Russian Orthodox. When my mother was growing up, Christmas was January 7. As a kid, we always got an extra gift on "Russian Christmas." We still leave our lights and tree up through the 7th. Luckily our HOA is not run by "Cynthia" or the like.

[RichA2]

Ashore for the last time in 2021, settling in for a quiet New Year's Eve, and hoping some Muggle wins the coveted cup this week.

Happy 2022 to all.

[whimsy]

The 12th Day of Christmas (January 6th) is the Epiphany (the visit of the three Magi) and the last day of Christmas.

I'm not trying to start a debate

Tree and candles remain up until 1/7 -- my rules! (No HOA)
(Besides, I'm not missing out on that last partridge in a pear tree I'm entitled to!)

[boharr]

Meg
Tell the cabana boy - indoors after New Years when he sobers up. Outdoor January 6 or when the weather permits.

I had no idea there were rules. Why did my parents not teach me??

Meg
Playing pick up games growing up, we made up rules depending on the circumstances - can't hit to right field, supply your own catcher for baseball, three Mississippi's to rush for football, let the little kids get a hit. and then there are the rules you make up when you have kids.

So making up rules on the spot comes easily.

Interesting. We had those very same made-up rules when I was growing up. Haven’t heard that one Mississippi, two Mississippi…..chant for ages.

[BarbaraK]

Does the HOA make religious exceptions? The 12th Day of Christmas (January 6th) is the Epiphany (the visit of the three Magi) and the last day of Christmas.

I'm not trying to start a debate & will redact this post, if requested. I'm genuinely interested in how HOAs approach this & other holidays, religious or not. Our good DrTom is president of his HOA.

As far as I know, my current HOA just puts reminders in the newsletter and maybe sends a nasty-gram at some point. I've never heard of it escalating to the point anyone actually getting fined, and I'd think that they'd grant an exception with any halfway reasonable explanation.

But whenever I see the reminder, my mind just goes to the what-ifs. Yeah, what if Epiphany? What if Orthodox calendar? What if kid in hospital or parent deployed in the military and family wants to celebrate when everyone is home? Why not just let people decorate whenever they want?

I know there are many other HOAs out there much stricter than mine. No idea how strictly they enforce stuff like that.

[vandono]

Interesting. We had those very same made-up rules when I was growing up. Haven’t heard that one Mississippi, two Mississippi…..chant for ages.

The only time I use "one Mississippi" these days is when the sweet wife asks me to "wait a second".

[Bob cruise director]

Good Friday morning muggles

A fun challenge from Matt for the last WSJ meta of the year. So far we have 3 on the ship with Isaac and 92 on the shore getting ready to party

And we welcome our newest muggles vandono and bagman. Great to have new muggles.

[Flying_Burrito]

Watching "Love Boat" re-runs with Isaac at the bar. Easy grid, easy first step but my brain acts as well as a remote needing new batteries: I am pushing the button, a faint light goes off but then nothing happens.

1:35 pm update: onshore. Did not particularly love the mechanism (as others said, I thought there was more to it) but loved the show. Got get ready for the UGA-Michigan game. Go Dawgs.

[Henry Paul]

I'm feeling magnanimous and keeping Isaac company while so many have fled the boat.... (Oh and that minor thing about not getting anywhere to solving the Meta... )

On tap tonight "anything with an Absinthe rinse" as one of the lads remarked...

A happy -- and safe -- new year to all.

[billkatz]

Solved! On the beach, awaiting the MGWCC week 5...

[hcbirker]

Finally got my power back! On shore!

[Ergcat]

Got it. But, wow, was it easy to overthink this one. Red herrings for din-din, anyone?

For sure. I chased a lot of them, and there were a lot…

I must be “overthinking “ this one because I’m NOT seeing it yet! Thought I had a very promising mechanism that ticked all the boxes but it just yielded gibberish! Oh well, keeping Isaac company for now!
Happy New Year fellow muggles!