wild_turkey

I assumed that Zabel was from a different town elsewhere in the county. He seems fairly local because it’s easy for Mare to show up at his house (his mom’s house), but he actually lives in a different town nearby and that’s why he was an outsider. Not sure about his reunion being at the Easttown bar though.

I figured out the disconnect. Cheval Blanc has 2 restaurants - La Case is the more formal dinner restaurant, La Cabane is the less formal beachside restaurant for lunch. Our concierge booked us a table at La Cabane for lunch. We've never eaten at La Case but I'm curious to get your feedback if you decide to go there.

I’m still watching and mostly enjoying this. I thought episodes 1-2 were much better than episodes 3-4, but it still has my attention. Chuy has to come back into play at some point. I’m guessing he’ll save their asses when they get in another bind around episode 7. I want Allie (Theroux) to become more of a badass as things move forward. I’m assuming he’s on the run because he gained knowledge of some type of government criminal coverup. He worked for the NSA and we’re led to believe he’s a pretty intelligent guy, so I’d like to see him display some skills that help his family evade the types of dangers they’ve recently faced.

I did not see that coming. I was a bit concerned that a twist was coming where Zabel would somehow be involved, mainly because my mind has become increasingly conditioned to try to predict the most nonsensical twist in these types of shows, but I guess that’s out the window. We have 2 episodes left and the kidnapper is now dead, so Erin’s killer must be a separate person still at large. They’ve done a good job of creating lots of unscrupulous characters that could be seen as suspects - the non-daddy baby daddy, the priest, Mare’s ex-husband, Mare’s friend’s cheating husband, the writer boyfriend. Just hope it’s not something stupid like her daughter.

I’m on the side of thinking these UAPs are a human technology in some form, but I also think you’re making a lot of assumptions about what level of technology an alien race would possess and what their intentions would be if they choose to visit Earth. Just thinking about humans, if we’re still in existence over the next 100-500 years, we will be constantly pushing the limits of our technology to explore farther and farther into space. We will likely be sending unmanned rovers akin to Perseverance to other solar systems to explore potential habitable planets without knowing what is there in advance. That’s the very nature of exploration. I don’t think we will sit on our technology until it becomes sufficiently stealthy to avoid detection from any other possible lifeforms that could possibly exist, especially since we don’t know what those lifeforms are or what their own technology would be to detect us. Therefore, it seems entirely possible to me that an alien race could be similarly pushing the limits of their own technology to explore the universe, and perhaps some of their probes could arrive at Earth and exist in a format that is partially observable to us. Maybe they are 1,000 light years away and their own planet was facing extinction and they sent millions of probes in all directions out of desperation. Now some of those probes have reached Earth, but that’s not to say that we are special or that our planet was targeted, but merely that in the vastness of the universe, someone cast a wide enough net that accidentally encountered us and we happened to see it.

It’s St. Barth.

I think La Case should have lunch availability. Not sure where you are looking but I would be surprised if they are completely booked, given that it’s super low season with the island being officially closed right now. Toiny Beach club is closed unfortunately. Well, Le Toiny hotel is closed until October, so I assume the beach club is as well. If you find out otherwise, please report back. Nikki Beach is good and fun. Sunday is their big day so I would suggest going then. They have 2 seatings at ?12:30 and 3:00, and it’s never too early to try to get a table. Tamarin and Bonito are excellent dinner choices and we never go to St. Barth without them. I would also put Orega on that list if you need another dinner.

I’ve done both the Jeep and the Mini Cooper and I would pick the Mini Cooper every time. It’s smaller and much easier to drive and park on their narrow roads. If you’re already locked into the Jeep I wouldn’t sweat it, but if you have the ability to switch, it might make things easier for you.

Broadchurch was great. The Killing sucked. Mare of Easttown I’m still unsure about. It does seem like Guy Pearce is the obvious choice for the kidnapper/killer, but I suppose that could also make him a great red herring if they are going a different route. Wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a True Detective situation where we don’t actually know the bad guy yet.

Did Wynn predict the future? In 2019 they were worried about Covid uncertainties?

You haven’t met Mrs. WT who strongly prefers big lunches AND big dinners. Thankfully St. Barth is super cheap or we’d go broke. Typical lunch rotation - Shellona, Nikki, Cheval Blanc, Pearl Beach, Isoletta, Le Select, Sand Bar (Eden Rock), Mango (Christopher), Le Toiny Typical dinner rotation - Bonito, Orega, Tamarin, Santa Fe, Carl Gustaf, Bagatelle, Isola, Le Ti, Eddy’s My favorite lunch is a baguette, fruit, prosciutto, water, and rosé while sitting in the sand at Saline or Gouverneur. Then we pass out until 9 pm and then get ready for a big dinner.

That villa looks great and you'll be right next to Cheval Blanc if you want a nice lunch or the spa. If you arrive on Memorial Day for a week, you'll overlap us by a few days.

Just finished this and I’m pretty sad for it to end. Great read that gave me a lot of insight. I’ve read most of Larson’s other books and this is right up there with them. The only one I haven’t read is “In the Garden of Beasts” which has been on my shelf for a while, so I guess I’ll move onto it next.

Watched the first 2 episodes tonight and love it so far.

I used them in the past and it was a good experience.

Both good choices.

No one cares about those people.

There have been multiple meta analyses published in the medical literature that show a benefit to face masks, social distancing, or both. I’m not sure what more you could want. Unless your keyword is “massive effects” and you are unimpressed by interventions with modest effects. The pandemic has killed 574,000 people in the U.S., so even if masks and distancing combined for a mere 10% reduction in mortality (which I think most would agree is low), that’s around 57,400 lives saved. I agree that vaccines were always going to be the home run, but that doesn’t detract from the role that masks and distancing have played over the first year of COVID.

I booked Croatia for mid-July. They appear to be open for vaccinated Americans, which my wife and I both are. Never been but heard great things.

I’m assuming the goal is to eventually scale this up to produce LOX propellant, which would be huge.

I wonder when this will start. No dates on their website. I’ve seen Guetta at XS before and it was a great time, wouldn’t mind doing it again soon.

I get 3-4 spam calls a day. Since I don’t use my personal phone for work, I quit answering unknown numbers unless I’m expecting an important call. The bigger problem is that most other people have also quit answering unknown numbers and my work (medical practice) sometimes has a hard time reaching people with important or time sensitive information. People don’t show up for surgeries because they didn’t recognize the 3 phone calls that were attempting to inform them of the day and time, nor did they listen to the 3 voicemails. Agree that politicians should run on a platform of fighting this, along with junk mail. There is no reason on earth that I should receive 5-6 unsolicited credit card offers in my mailbox from American credit card companies, wasting paper and increasing my chances of identity theft. Cut that shit out.

I'm curious to see how this change affects summer travel for Americans. There has definitely been conflicting advice from the CDC and the State Dept. It seems like recently the CDC was saying vaccinated people can resume travel, now they are back to saying stay home. My guess is that most people who have already booked summer travel will ignore this advice. [quote]'Do not travel' list: The US State Department is raising the alert level for most countries due to COVID-19 Dawn Gilbertson USA TODAY Travelers researching international trips during the coronavirus pandemic have been confronted with conflicting government advice. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has one system of rating the risks by country, the U.S. State Department another, producing different travel alert levels for the same country in many cases. Mexico, a popular vacation spot with American vacationers this year, is considered a Level 4 by the CDC – meaning avoid all travel – but a Level 3 by the State Department – meaning "reconsider travel.'' The Bahamas was just raised to a Level 4 by the CDC and is a level 3 on the State Department scale. The State Department is about to clear up some of that confusion, and the news is not good for travelers pondering a trip abroad. The State Department on Monday said it was raising the alert level for a significant number of countries this week as it factors the CDC's COVID-19 data more heavily into its rating system. "As travelers face ongoing risks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of State will begin updating its travel advisories this week to better reflect the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s science-based Travel Health Notices that outline current issues affecting travelers’ health,'' the department said in a statement. "Our advisories also take into account logistical factors, including in-country testing availability and current travel restrictions for U.S. citizens.'' The agency said about 80% of countries will now carry the "Do not travel'' label, a Level 4. Today, just 34 of 209 countries, or about 16% are rated a Level 4. Nearly 150 countries, or about 70%, fall into Level 3. The State Department said the pandemic continues to pose "unprecedented risks'' to travelers: "In light of those risks, the Department of State strongly recommends U.S. citizens reconsider all travel abroad.'' The increased alert level comes as the number of vaccinated Americans is increasing and COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted in many states and in some countries. Iceland, Croatia, Greece and Israel are among the countries welcoming or about to welcome vaccinated Americans. In early April, the CDC said fully vaccinated Americans can resume domestic and international travel at low risk to themselves. But it noted that international travel poses additional risks given the spread of new COVID-19 variants. Despite the new guidance for vaccinated travelers, the CDC says, people should stay home. "CDC is not recommending travel at this time due to the number of rising cases,'' director Rochelle Walensky said at a White House briefing in early April. Millions of Americans are ignoring the advice, with travel rising steadily this spring, according to Transportation Security Administration screening numbers and optimism about bookings from airline executives.[/quote]

Patek and Lakeside ftw

I typically do DFW-SXM-SBH, but that’s because DFW-SJU is an evening flight that requires an overnight in Puerto Rico. I’d rather sleep in St. Barth. But if you have good flight options into SJU, agree that connecting there and flying Tradewind is a great way to do it. Although I think the approach to St. Barth is best experienced from the co-pilot seat on Commuter. You don’t get to do that on Tradewind or Winair as far as I know.