I bring you the best attractions in every state, shake our heads with the Bitcoin green fantasy, summarize the different bank points, how I mostly walked the Toledo Half Marathon, ride the Trans-Siberian train, how a scammer stole a hotel, the North Korean hackers, how Vietnam handled Covid amazingly well, a shocking video from 1944 involving Nazis you won’t believe your eyes after you click that link, how they launder money and in one of the videos in the story I did feel sorry about the guy with the Trump hat, Delta Skymiles insanity, more on the progress of vaccines and lots more you guys, have a great week!
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TRAVEL
I am going to save this bookmark…maybe one day: Dream Trip: How To Book The Trans-Siberian / Trans-Mongolian Railroad.
One from the queue…
PERSONAL FINANCE
I am hanging tough too. 🙂
Have you noticed I am no crypto bro? The destructive green fantasy of the bitcoin fanatics.
I can not believe this scammer is not locked up for life, be careful out there! The Man Who Stole a Hotel.
COVID-19
I was wondering what happened to Andy the Lazy Traveler: No, the Plague Isn’t Over No Matter How Tired We Are! Good advice here.
You know, it could have been different here: Vietnam defied the experts and sealed its border to keep Covid-19 out. It worked. Just 35 have died and the economy grew…
We are getting there…one shot at a time: More than half of U.S. adults have gotten a COVID vaccine.
ODDZ & ENDZ
I long for the day to see North Korea liberated: The Incredible Rise of North Korea’s Hacking Army. The country’s cyber forces have raked in billions of dollars for the regime by pulling off schemes ranging from A.T.M. heists to cryptocurrency thefts. Can they be stopped?
I had never seen this before and I had no idea that it happened even! 60,000 Steps to Degradation. It is German prisoners of war paraded in Moscow in 1944, wow.
Nice job of investigative journalism here: Dirty Dollars. Accused money launderers left a path of bankrupt factories, unpaid taxes, shuttered buildings and hundreds of steelworkers out of jobs.
MILES & POINTS
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This section is about my hobby addiction of collecting frequent flyer miles and hotel points since the early 1990’s! Feel free to skip this section and parts of the next one if this is not for you.
Newbies: This hobby can get very addictive, you have been warned. We are only VERY lightly touching things you can do here. Delta Skymiles should probably not be anywhere near the top of your list of programs to target. Why? See the pic below. And if you read blogs that praise Delta credit cards you can call them what they really are: Hideous bank sales representatives selling product down your throats—>this is the G Rating version of what you can call them. 😉
In this post we get a good summary of all the transferable bank currencies, with an emphasis on the improved Capital One Bank currency: A new transferable currency hierarchy.
So, the European Union said it will allow fully vaccinated US citizens to visit this summer. Delta: Hold my beer. If you are looking to burn Delta Skymiles this summer to Europe…you have been warned! #ridiculous
BLOG BUZZ
We are now entering BLOG BUZZ, a section for advanced hobbyists and veterans of this fast imploding hobby and also a section where I go on and on about some stuff that happens in my life because it helps me feel better about myself.
Well, this is positive: American Express Increases Credit Card Limit To 5.
Some of these are super hilarious! 35 People Are Sharing Their Most Awkward Dates And It’s Both Funny And Painful To Read.
So, I had signed up to run the 2020 Toledo Glass City Half Marathon which was obviously canceled and my registration rolled over to 2021. I missed these races as I have been dealing with an injury for almost four months now. I have been doing physical therapy which I stopped as I saw no progress. One cortisone injection, nope. It is a bulging disk issue in my lower back and today I am seeing a specialist to try something new. So, what did I do yesterday? I went to Toledo and, wait for it, a miles/points angle of course. Toledo, OH is almost an hour away from Ann Arbor. So I managed to find a Holiday Inn for only 15,000 IHG Rewards points only five minutes away. As the race started at 6.30 am, I booked it. My intent was to start walking it and just see how long before it became too painful. So I did…and kept walking trying to avoid being last. I even started jogging parts of it. I ended up finishing way at the back but still passing about 30 runners (and another 27 did not finish). The pain was manageable and I was thinking “well, my PR days are over it appears but if I can still take it all in and finish I am all in!”. It is a WHOLE different story when you are so far back, which was a first for me! Few volunteers, roads are partly opened, you go stretches where you see nobody and wonder if you are off the race course. But the camaraderie between your fellow hurting slow runners, the overly gracious remaining volunteers, the amazing few fans left over cheering you up and…I love this so much. And I am very afraid what this specialist will tell me today…Just a few pics:
And I leave you with this…
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TBB
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Nice job getting out there and finishing the race, especially with everything you have going on in your body.
It had to feel good doing a live event again! I ran the virtual Eugene Marathon today and really do miss the whole hoopla of a live event!
Congrats on the race! That’s terrific to hear.
I looked at the “best” spots to visit. Huh. I think there are several of the “worst” a few days ago that I’d rather visit than Dollywood. Maybe all of them?
Good for you Buzz! Hang in there, thanks for the post.
Great stuff on the running side! Loved that map, especially those states where e main attraction is “nothing”, lol. The worst attractions was pretty good too. Had some baffling choices like Grand Canyon though!
Am seeing a wide open AA award picture to Europe this summer, should book soon before they kill it.
I will respond later to the comments, thank you.
Question: Son needs two night in Honolulu. Of course no Radisson Rewards properties again, will I ever burn these points? IHG and Hilton properties, not worth the points per night sooooo Hyatt. I see two doable ones at Waikiki Beach: Hyatt Centric 15k pts per night vs Hyatt Place 12k per night…For a young 23 year old with Globalist Guest of Honor booking. Which would you choose? And I do have a Hyatt Visa night expiring in July…could I apply to one night as Guest of Honor booking? May get a bit complicated for the Hyatt Concierge folks on Twitter 🙂
Hope you are feeling spiffy today after yesterday’s half and your whatever it is today! Stay healthy and happy is the most important! Interesting map but I think more states have “Nothing” than noted!
OFF ON MY FIRST POST-COVID TRIP! Hitting the road for a road trip later this morning. I haven’t been more than 40~ miles since Jan 15 of last year so this will be fun! Fully vaccinated and I have masks with me too!
Europe will be allowing tourists, but the bigger question is will there be anything to tourist AT? Or places to eat and drink as things keep changing in various places. Much as I wish to return to Italy for another extended stay, I think likely it will be late this year or next year before I do so.
Best of luck at the Dr office!
Greece and most of southern Europe will be like last summer. Face mask/covers etc in hotels. Museums/churches will be open (limited capacity). Maybe the beaches will only be half full! Apparently the European championship in June will be played in front of a live audience (half full).
Most of Europe received AZ’s vaccine. The second dose is ~3 months later. Most will have received a dose by end of July but won’t be fully vaccinated until the fall.
Holy Toledo, you did it! Mucho admiration, amigo!
In re: HNL. There’s really no Globalist benefits at the Hyatt Place other than late check-out and maybe a view of Diamond Head. There may not be much on offer at the Centric either — Hawai’i properties all seem to be into cost-savings. The Centric is, um, more centric-ally located.
Great cheap eats (and really nice people) at Me Korean BBQ in Waikiki. Kelley O’Neils on Lewers is the BEST dive bar in ALL of Hawai’i.
I read the hotel scammer article yesterday. Effing US gov’t owes those people their retirement!
#TBBon
The North Korea & Ukraine stories were fascinating, thanks for the links.
@ Charlie: You are a beast, I am not worthy! Yeah, live events are so great indeed. And thanks…actually feeling pretty good today, not as sore as I thought I would be. The treatment by the Doc I saw was really good and…lots of side planks and bird dog exercises for me to do every day 🙂
@ DML: Thanks. That was also in the queue for a long time and I had to reach deep 🙂
@ David: Thanks a lot, appreciate it.
@ Peteco: I think they will all imitate Delta quickly. But with no kids…I think it is going to be okay. Add the India and the mutant mayhem there and…I am not booking anything. I may head up North again.
@ Carl: See prior comment about Covid and Europe, etc. Good luck on your road trip, baby steps.
@ ABC: You are probably right…
@ GringoLoco: Looks like Hyatt Centric had no “standard” rooms for awards. I missed it because I swear I saw almost a dozen different type rooms and I thought…plenty of availability so no sweat. Then learned on Twitter that that specific property blocks rooms for awards that are less than 5 night stays, WTF! So, son will stay at the Hyatt Place as Guest of Honor. One night at 12k and the other burned my earliest (July) Visa night. All is good. He’s been living there since November, I think he has been to that BBQ place. And many more lol. Yeah…they should have done more I agree. Looked like a nice sweet property too, it was incredibly sad reading it. I am actually walking fine today, thanks.
@ Mark: I agree with you 🙂 The North Koreans are bad news…a criminal state basically. If this Kim dude croaks from too many Doritos…just don’t see another one coming up…and they won’t go for the sister I think…I am scared of her more than the Dorito guy 🙂
The census data is interesting (sad!)
“ the US population in 2020 increased by just 517,894 (or about 0.16%), the smallest increase since 1918, when war and a pandemic resulted in a small population decline.”
I wonder when it will hit politicians that’ decrease immigration and paying $70-$100k in daycare costs/child has consequences. Birth rate is down 500k/year over the last 12 years.
https://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2021/03/lawler-update-on-dismal-demographics-of.html?m=1
And we are in the middle of a housing shortage…
Funny you bring this up as I just bookmarked to read:
“U.S. Home Sales Are Surging. When Does the Music Stop?”
It is totally nuts. Friend of a client bought cottage near Traverse City, Michigan for $450k in 2017. Spent about $100k on it. Just listed it for $875k. Competing offers starting the first day. Sold to a tech bro (working from home, obviously) moving away from San Francisco. ALL CASH!
Yeah…supply is the primary driver.
Best of Web post tomorrow.
Thanks for the reader who got a United card.
Today was 80+ degrees here in Ann Arbor, I had morning coffee and lunch and dinner on the back deck and it was great. Plus 5 miles walking…still recovering from the half marathon on sunday.
I have this amazing photo of me finishing the race in pain and this amazingly looking lady behind trying to…catch me. I may post it here for the Lol’s…soon.