I think we should do a KOEB meetup...

[crispini]

in NYC in February to celebrate KO's birthday.

Reasons:
- It's an auspicious occasion. (to wit, KO's birthday)
- Enough advance notice -- we can each make plans and budget for it.
- Airfare will be cheap(er).
- Ditto hotels.
- There is a whole ton of fun stuff to do in NYC that's indoors; viz: Broadway. Shopping. Museums.
- And anyway there are always taxis.
- Plus, winter -- no annoying tourists. :evilgrin:

Finally: We've been rattling on about this for the better part of a year now and we haven't DONE it. So maybe we should! Unless there is another good big protest coming up that we want to attend!?

Discuss! :D

[Patsy Stone]

1. All for it!

Bring it on! :)

[crispini]

5. Yay!

[bunny planet]

2. I am so there.

:D

[crispini]

6. You're *already* there!

:rofl:

[bunny planet]

9. Nice pink fuzzy handcuff sig pic Crispi.

I am sending out good wishes for your mom's operation and for her to get well soon. I read it on last night's thread when I got home last night. It was amazing to hear that the health care was so much less in France, even for a non-citizen.

[crispini]

10. Thanks, the Rev found it for me.

I feel all pink and sparkly and festive when I post now!

I know, isn't the cost amazing? I am really surprised that she managed to twist the arm of the insurance company into paying for it. She's not a bully in any sense of the word but she certainly is persistent. :)

[gkhouston]

11. Good for your mom. And some of those powers of persuasion

must be hereditary... I mean not all of your paramours are unconscious when you cuff 'em up, right? }(

[RevCheesehead]

3. Sounds like fun.

A lot will depend on my mom's health and my bank account; otherwise, count me in!

[crispini]

7. Yay! Well start putting your pennies aside!

Everyone I know is getting hand knitted scarves for Christmas, heh. (of course, I'm not exactly sure I'm saving money that way, yarn ain't cheap.)

[Gogi]

4. Love to revisit Manhattan (minus a leg infection) but...

can't do it unless there are enough people going to get a hotel discount. Think I'll take the train next time, bring my own wheelchair.

You just reminded me, Spirit Airlines has a 9 cent fare deal.

[crispini]

8. How many does it take to get a hotel discount?

This fare deal?
http://www.spiritair.com/welcome.aspx?pg=salesinformation&number=78

Wow, that's really good. Bummer that I'm out of vacation this year now.

[Catchawave]

12. I am definitely IN......

:grouphug: We can do this! Ok, maybe 1, 2 or 5 of us, it would be an amazing goal for Team KOEB.:party: :bounce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :evilgrin: :party: :toast: :toast: :bounce: :smoke: :dem:

[RevCheesehead]

13. So why not stay in beautiful Secaucus?

We could ride the subway in, or just hang out at the subway stop to wait for Keith to mosey on by. That's where the pink fuzzy handcuffs come in handy.

[Catchawave]

14. I'll do that do !

Is Secaucus near NewarK ? If so, hell yeah! And the hotel rates will probably be half the price of Manhattan too !! In the dead of winter probably even less :hi:

[bunny planet]

30. There are no hotels in Secaucus, only outlet malls and Keith's studio.

However Newark may have hotels and that's just a path train ride away from the city. Great museum and a couple of galleries in Newark too, and the Ironbound, the Portuguese and Brazilian neighborhood, has great restaurants and SANGRIA ladies.

[Botany]

15. EDVs in NYC = fun for me

Step # 1
Rational Discussions with men



Step # 2
Needed by the NYPD




Step # 3

Study of restraining orders by KO

[crispini]

37. Botany, mon chere....

Tu est un petit chou-chou! :evilgrin:

[Botany]

53. oui

[SharonRB]

16. Works for me as long as it's more toward the end of the month

[WolverineDG]

17. february sounds fine for me too

if we can settle on a date & how many rooms we'd need, i can ask my cousin if he can get us a deal (he knows people). ;)

oh, & my birthday is in february, like we need an excuse to party....
:evilgrin:

dg

[Gogi]

18. Just remember some of us( well, actually me) need accessable lodgings.

If there are enough of us we might be able to get an apartment for a few days.

[WolverineDG]

21. major chains now have those rooms

you just have to request them. not a problem. right now my cousin works for marriott, but he might be changing jobs soon (to another major chain). either way, no worries.

dg

[Gogi]

23. Cool! Now to figure out how to raise the money!

This Christmas just give me cash, nah, too crass.:think: I'll come up with something!

[RevCheesehead]

24. Let's sell Pink Fuzzy Handcuffs in the subway.

What? Too obvious? :shrug:

[WolverineDG]

26. hi rev!

i'm behaving while away...sorta. :evilgrin:

see ya monday!

dg

[RevCheesehead]

27. I thought I read otherwise.

Didn't you have a brief fling with the cabin boy? :woohoo:

[WolverineDG]

29. ha ha, not the cabin boy

it was the hot maitre d' of the dining room...and it wasn't a fling, it was a conga line...or two.... :evilgrin:

dg

[gkhouston]

32. Two, I'll bet.

One... vertical.

One... horizontal. :evilgrin:

[WolverineDG]

35. wrong on one

O8)

dg

[Gogi]

28. Hey, we could do that!

We could wear KOEB t-shirts. We'd only explain the acronym to those who ask.

[WolverineDG]

25. go ahead & ask if that's what you want

that's a lesson i've learned the hard way....my family is so used to my christmas list consisting of (1) a roofer (2) an electrician & (3) sheet rock & 2X4s that now i mostly get lowe's gift certificates. :evilgrin:

dg

[SharonRB]

19. If we double or triple up in rooms we can all save some bucks

[WolverineDG]

22. true that

especially if we can get "friends & family" rates. :evilgrin:

we just need to be specific as to dates & locations (ie, scope out which hotels we want first before we ask for rooms).

dg

[gkhouston]

20. well actually, his bday is in January and *we'd* be the

annoying tourists ;-) but it does sound like fun. I'll have to see what hubby's travel commitments look like as we get closer to the time.

[crispini]

36. wait, his b'day is in January? What a bad, bad KOEB member I am!

:spank: Not even remembering such a basic thing! :D

[WolverineDG]

38. that's almost cause for

drumming you out! ;) j/k

i'm hoping we can pull this off. i think any time is a good time for a koeb meet-up. :)

dg

[gkhouston]

39. the 27th, isn't it?

or am I hallucinating? I have a bizarro memory; minimal control over what I retain so sometimes I pop out the oddest little factoids.

[SharonRB]

40. I seem to recall that it was the 27th or 28th, but I could be wrong

[Patsy Stone]

41. January 27, 1959

An Aquarian.

Traditional
Aquarian Traits

Friendly and humanitarian
Honest and loyal
Original and inventive
Independent and intellectual

On the dark side....

Intractable and contrary
Perverse and unpredictable
Unemotional and detached

[gkhouston]

45. LOL

there are many adjectives I might select to describe Keith.

"Unemotional" is not one of them.

[bunny planet]

31. Keep Hoboken in mind for hotels too. Great town, lots of restaurants

with lots of opportunities for cocktails, and a path train ride away from Manhattan.

I had friends stay in a hotel just outside of Hoboken, Riveredge I think, it was great and not expensive. I'll research and get back to y'all about it.

[SharonRB]

33. Sounds great, Bunny

We could fly into Newark.

Doesn't bettyellen live in Hoboken? Or is it Hackensack? I know it was one of the "H" cities.

[bunny planet]

34. Yes, she does, Hoboken, birthplace of Old Blue Eyes.

[bettyellen]

43. yes, hoboken! LOL. there's a few hotels around here....

but i think the closest is in the next town, Wehhawken which is at the mounth of the Lincoln Tunnel (midtown manhattan)
i am about 12 blocks south of that. i have to ask my freinds where's good, and i'll report back. i heave heard great things about the washington square hotel downtown, too. i'l do some digging.
this would be so cool!

[Patsy Stone]

42. So ready to make a reservation

So ready to use my frequent flyer miles. So ready to hit NYC! Who's with me?

[SharonRB]

44. I am, I am

Ya know, I think I may have just enough miles.

[WolverineDG]

46. saving up my shekels for nyc

since i'm not going skiing w/loser anymore. :evilgrin:

dg

[Catchawave]

47. Me !

I think I counted at least 10 of us ! Par-Tee!!!!

[WolverineDG]

48. can we settle on a date?

there should be an airfare sale coming up after thanksgiving for those of us who don't have miles to use.

you can check out the washington square hotel online at tripadvisor.com. it's received some good reviews.

at this point, anytime in january or february is a good time for me.

dg

[Catchawave]

50. I'm flexible after the holidaze, so whatever works

for the KOEBies is fine with me. :bounce:

[Patsy Stone]

52. February is better for me

or at least the end of January. I have stuff to do at work I can't get out of, and it's scheduled for the beginning of January.

[SharonRB]

54. Middle to end of February is best for me

I have to go to Atlanta the first week of February for work, so that first weekend is not good at all. Second would be okay, but later than that would be better. Maybe the later in February we go, the better the chance it won't be as cold?

If we wind up staying in Joisey, Newark would probably be the best airport to fly into, wouldn't it, Bunny and bettyellen?

[Catchawave]

58. Feb is good for me too

I'll go along with any Jersey/NYC destination :)

[bunny planet]

60. Yes Newark would be best.

[SharonRB]

61. It's just so much more expensive to fly there than to fly to LGA

$140 difference when I checked the other day.

[bunny planet]

62. LGA is fine too. I didn't realize it was more expensive flying into Newark

I always fly out of Philly, it's usually much cheaper that way and just a two hour drive from here. That's usually when I'm flying down to Fla-la-la, and the cheaper airline USA 3000 flys directly to St. Petersburg, not sure if there are cheaper flights into Philly from other parts of the country that USA 3000 doesn't have flights to and from.

[SharonRB]

63. I was really surprised when I saw how big the difference was

I actually thought Newark might be cheaper, but I guess not. Well, I'll wait to see what new specials come out between now and January sometime once we pick a date.

[bettyellen]

49. for a good deal DO NOT BOOK TOO EARLY! here are some GREAT links...

tthe real bargains come up just a month before the departure date.
so don't get anxious or you'll get ripped off. we have lots of rooms in january/ february, and three different airports to chose from (don't forget newark).
travelzoo is a good thing to sign on for anyway, not so great for NY maybe, b4ut 3great vacation bargains every week. hotwire runs 60- 70% off rack rates.

http://smartertravel.com/

http://top20.travelzoo.com/Join.asp?source=googletop&top20=1&ipsrc=media&reftype=pp&LID=14869168

http://airfarewatchdog.com/

http://www.hotwire.com/hotel/index.jsp?lid=hotel/details.jsp:topNav:loc:7:hotel-index&pgoodTypeCode=H&inputId=hotel-index

[WolverineDG]

51. my offer still stands

to bug my cousin for f&f rates. we just need to narrow it down to specific hotels & dates (paperwork & stuff). i also don't know how many rooms he can score at a time, which might rule this avenue out.

dg

[Gogi]

64. Don't let us discourage you, ask away!

I've been looking at hotels and a hotel like this one would be ideal. It even has small meeting rooms available for up to 20 people.

www.affinia.com

The hotel is the Affinia Manhattan, it's in midtown near Bloomingdale's, the theater district and the garment district. It's all suites with kitchenettes and some suites are handicapped accessible.

[SharonRB]

65. I went and checked this out

It's extremely expensive...from just under $600 a night and up. Unless DG's cousin could get us a really, really great deal, I think it's way out of affordable range, at least for me. Sounds like a great location, but NJ sounds better and better pricewise. It's hard to find anything in Manhattan for less than $300 a night.

[WolverineDG]

66. The F&F rates are only with

the hotel chain he works for. :) The rates tend to be really good & beat Priceline. But, I need to know how many rooms we're talking about (2 or 3 per room, how many rooms can we guesstimate at this point), and a good idea of the dates. President's Day weekend would be great since it's a three day weekend, but it might be more difficult to get room(s). The next weekend might be cheaper (I know it is for flights out of here). I'll go ahead & ask if we can get more than one room & if so, what's the limit. :evilgrin: Once over that hurdle, we need to hammer out the dates. ;)

dg

[SharonRB]

67. It's not a three-day weekend around here

We don't get that day off, nor do the schools close. If the weekend after is cheaper, then we should go for it.

[Gogi]

69. My time is my own!

eom

[Gogi]

68. I checked rates and it was'nt that expensive.

Maybe I'm seeing things but the rate I saw on hotels.com was $259.00 a night for a large suite. Will look again.

[SharonRB]

55. Darn -- I just checked my mileage and I'm 700 miles short

I don't know if I'll be flying NW to Atlanta, but even if I am, I don't know if my mileage will be credited in time to book and use my mileage for NY.

Just for kicks, I assumed the third weekend of February and checked current fares. It was $140 more to fly into Newark than it was to fly into LaGuardia. Newark was $366 and LaGuardia was $221. I don't know what it's like from other cities, but once we pick a date, let's keep our eyes open for specials from our respective cities. I assume there will be specials running after the first of the year.

This will be great! I'm so looking forward to meeting those I haven't met yet and seeing those I have met again with some quality time together.

[WolverineDG]

56. can you buy miles?

i know on co you could at one point by miles increments of 500 for about $25.

dg

[SharonRB]

57. Hmmmm...I don't know

When we get ready to make resevations, I'll check.

[WolverineDG]

59. Sounds good

the last week of feb might be cheaper. the 3rd weekend is the president's day weekend.

i almost fainted when i saw the price of fares to newark from here. :wow: i will probably be using miles myself.

dg