Artists should really be held accountable for cancelling shows. There seems to be no accountability for anything at all these days.

She STILL hasn't returned our things. She did text and say she's been busy, and she'll bring them by next week but if I was a betting woman, I'd bet it's because she can't locate some of the missing items. My sister refuses to leave her a bad review because this lady is a friend of a friend. Ugh!

I go back and forth between wanting to move to another place or just staying and dealing and adding on things. Pros and cons of both.

Mare I can't believe that pet sitter still hasn't brought the things back to you.  I hope you left her a bad review!  And I hope you manage to sort out your house too or move somewhere more accessible.  I can't imagine what in inconvenience that must be.

Julie, no the singer didn't give a reason for the tour cancellation, he just said he only found out it was cancelled when we did.  His management said something about the local promoter, but to cancel the whole European and Dubai tour seems a bit harsh.

It seems a lot of singers/groups cancel these days.  I was supposed to see Shawn Mendes last year with my daughter but he cancelled too.

We still haven't gotten Chloe's things back. She hasn't dropped anything off yet. This woman!

Thanks for letting me know about the reddit post. At first, I was just going to give her a like until I saw her asking if I was a Trump fan! Yikes!!! Now I'm thinking maybe I need to put an Author's Note at the top of that story to explain the reason I picked him was because I was confident the man would cause an apocalypse!

My house isn't accessible either. There's no way to get into or out of this place without having to climb at least 5 steps. I can't even use my wheelchair in the house easily because the hallway is too narrow. I can't access the basement or the upstairs bedroom so I can only really hang on the first floor. I have to depend on my sister to do my laundry since the washer and dryer are in the basement, but that's fine because I'm the only one whoever washes the dishes in this place. Eventually we're going to have to decide to either invest in a ramp or move. 

How has your first few weeks of school gone? Do you have an easy class this year?

I'm glad you got most of Chloe's things back, but wow, Amy sounds terrible!

That makes more sense why the ship wasn't as accessible as it should be.  I get that it takes time and money to bring older facilities up to code when it comes to current ADA guidelines.  I'm sure the newer ships are much better in that respect.  Not sure how old the hotel was, but that's pathetic that they can just put bars in the shower and call it "accessible."  I've come across the same kind of issues in my research, too - showers that are supposedly roll-in still have a lip/step, beds are too high or too low, toilets don't have enough space to allow a transfer from a wheelchair... but, hey, as long as there are bars on the wall! 🙄  And there usually aren't as many photos as you'd want to see when trying to assess whether or not a place would be accessible, or the photos they include are not representative of the actual room you're reserving.  It has to be so defeating to only discover places are inaccessible when you get there.  That seems like an ADA violation to only have stairs and no ramp or elevator, but I know older buildings that haven't been renovated since ADA was passed can get away with more.  And it's even harder to find private homes that don't have any steps to get inside.

I'm sorry about NYC!  Planning a trip can be stressful enough without having to figure out all those logistics you listed.  I would be overwhelmed by it all too.  I'm glad you at least got tickets for the Macauley thing in Buffalo!  That sounds fun!

I hope you can churn up some inspiration for writing!  It's always hard for me to get back into my writing groove after a vacation.  Speaking of fanfic, I don't know if Tracy DMed you too, but Whatever the Night May Bring was mentioned in a BSB fanfic thread on Reddit!  https://www.reddit.com/r/BackstreetBoys/comments/1fdms7b/lost_fanfiction_from_early_2000s/

Steph, I'm so sorry your concert got cancelled!  Did the artist give a reason?  That is so strange to cancel it six days before the show!  Very frustrating that everything else you booked was nonrefundable too.  I'm glad your daughter will still be able to use the train and hotel, but that's still very disappointing.

Like Mare said, it does seem like this happens more often lately.  I could understand it when live events started happening right after Covid, but that wouldn't explain canceling a whole tour.  Between BSB canceling their Vegas Christmas shows and all Nick's canceled shows and convention appearances in the past few years, they've gotten kind of flakey lately.  It makes me more reluctant to travel long distances to see them.

Thanks, Steph! good news. I did get tickets for Macauley's show on November 30th. I'm in terrible seats. It's a small win, but I'll take it.

That's really sad you can't go to Broadway and see Kieran, fingers crossed he does make a guest appearance with his brother though.  It's so annoying when you can't do the things you want to do for whatever reason, like health, money, distance etc.  It's a real shame

Ugh, that sucks! Sorry Steph! Everything should always be refundable. Things happen. This seems to be happening more and more lately. People cancelling shows and tours at the last minute. I have seen this happen time and time again when it comes to BSB doing all these cons. They always seem to cancel at the last minute. Unless it's some kind of medical emergency or death or something, these artists when they cancel at the last minute, should have some kind of consequence. Not like oh sorry, I decided there was something else more important or fun I'd rather do, sorry about that. They all must realize all the planning and money people pay to get to these things. It's so rude!

I'm not sure if I'll ever really get to cruise again, but if I do, I definitely want to do a bigger ship.

I'm hoping I get to see this Home Alone thing. I'm not even a huge fan of the movie to be honest. I maybe have watched it three or four times tops in my life. It just seems like something that I shouldn't pass up. I think Macauley is a lovely person and he and his brother have similar personalities and mannerisms and maybe he'll talk about Kieran. Who knows, maybe he'll make a guest appearance, he is in the movie! lol wishful thinking. I'm still totally heartbroken about Broadway, but at least this would help a little.

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise Mare, apart from the negatives.  From your photos it looked lovely.  It is a shame the ship wasn't more accessible, but maybe next time try one of the bigger newer ships.  I'm pretty sure you would find the newer ships to be more accessible, I know ours was.

It's also a pain that you have to call to make sure places don't have steps.  Over here, all houses built from 2000 onwards had to be wheelchair accessible and have a downstairs toilet too.  But there are plenty of older houses and shops that would probably be a complete nightmare

I hope you get to see a Culkin

I'm quite disappointed today.  I was supposed to be going to London with my daughter to see a k-pop singer but his whole European tour got cancelled last week (6 days before the show).  We had paid not only for concert tickets, but train fare and a hotel which are non-refundable.  We will get the concert tickets refunded though.  I decided to cancel my time off work and save it for another time rather than have 2 wasted days off work as I've already been to London a couple of times recently.  So instead my daughter and her friend are going rather than waste the train and hotel.  That's a lesson to me for next time though.  Don't book a hotel and train unless I can cancel last minute.

I had to come back and add this on. After saying this morning that I wished he would come up to Buffalo, this afternoon I see Macauley make that post about his little Home Alone talk and where is the first stop? Buffalo! I am taking that as a huge sign. It’s the wrong Culkin, but close enough. Just pray for me that I’m able to get tickets. There is a presale going on but whenever I tried to get handicap accessible it says the tix are already taken. When I called the box office to make sure it was wheelchair accessible the lady said to call back for tickets Wednesday. Yes, I did make a phone call. The things I will do for a Culkin lol

We heard back from Amy (pet sitter from hell) she said she found a bag that had most of Chloe's things in it and she totally forgot to put it aside. Her teddy bear wasn't there though. She said I never even saw her playing with it followed by a laughing emoji! It's like the girl has no clue how horrible she is. Meanwhile we told the vet about her so this way she knows never to recommend this lady to anyone. When we asked her to drop the stuff off to us, she had the nerve to say we lived too far away (literally 20 minutes!) so could we come and get it. Needless to say, after our reply back she'll be coming here to drop her stuff off! 

This ship was one of the oldest ones in their fleet and will be refurbished in 2026. According to a lot of people in our trip's FB group, the other ships are a lot more handicapped friendly. This one is behind the times. They shouldn't just assume people had help. If my sister did end up getting off the boat, I'm convinced I would've ended up spending the remainder of my trip just stuck in the stateroom. I couldn't even open the balcony door without help.

It is sad how inaccessible things still are this day and age. That room we booked was a handicap accessible room. I even bring a small step stool with me wherever I go since my left leg is basically dead and even that didn't help. The bed was that high up! The only reason the bathroom was 'accessible' was because they had bars in the shower but there was nothing at all by the toilet to grab onto to stand or sit which was another nightmare for me. Even my totally handicap accessible stateroom's bed was too high. If I didn't have my step with me, I wouldn't have been able to get on the bed. The bathroom in my stateroom was awesome though.

Like you found just doing research on this stuff, it's absolutely exhausting trying to find places that are accessible. Even something as small as getting your hair done. I never talked about this story but a few months ago, I booked an appointment to get my hair cut because it was getting really long and when I got there, I had to leave because there were stairs leading up to both of the entrances. It's not always on my mind to find out if places are handicap accessible. I don't always mentally see myself as handicap and it was a complete bummer when that happened, to know that something as trivial as going to get a haircut or going out to eat, now involves research or even worse, a phone call. So many restaurants aren't handicapped accessible either. I even have to ask people who invite me to their houses if they have stairs. There have been so many BBQ's and parties I haven't been able to go to here because of stairs and if I hadn't asked, the embarrassment it would've caused everyone because I would have to leave.

I am heartbroken about NYC. My sister might be willing to go, but even if she did, there are so many obstacles standing in the way. This trip reminded me I can't do long distance drives anymore. My legs begin to cramp after about two hours so we'd have to stop so I can get out of the car, but then my legs also give out if I get in and out of the car too much. It's like a no-win situation in the car department. She's really anti flying and honestly to ask her to spend all that money on a plane ticket to see a play she has no desire to see wouldn't feel right. my first thought, before I really thought it through and the reality of my situation hit, was that I could fly into NYC and stay right in the heart of the Broadway district. I'd have to finds a hotel that had a shuttle directly from the airport and it would have to be within a very short walking distance to the theater. I wouldn't be able to do a wheelchair solo, so I'd have to use the walker. For this to be successful, I'd need to find a hotel within a block of the theater that used a handicap accessible van and then also have a handicap accessible room with a bed not the size of the Empire State Building. I can hardly walk using my walker anymore. Maybe I can take about 20 steps before I need to sit down. But even if we ignore that fact, just the price of the hotel alone would kill me. Looking them up right in the heart of Manhattan, the cheapest was about $200 night and that's probably really nowhere near where I'd actually have to be and most likely no shuttle service. The ones I had to really think about staying at range from $400 and up a night. It's just not feasible and I cry whenever I think about it. It is what it is. Maybe he'll change his mind and they'll move it up to Buffalo? lol

Okay enough poor me-ing. I need to get myself back into writing mode. I haven't even thought about writing in almost two weeks. And every time I do try, I think about me missing out on Kieran and Bob Odenkirk together.  I'm fine...it's fine.