Youtube hearted comments of MacAdvisor (@MacAdvisor).
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Normally, Mike, your videos leave me with a smile. Today, I was crying at the end. I miss my father so much. He's been gone five years now and I have just barely leaned to bear the loss. The happy time with your dad brought back with full force how big a hole his death left in my life. He was a train buff, with an amazing model RR in his garage (it even went across the garage door, which could still rise up and let the cars in by a special disconnect system he created), and his real life train adventures. When he visited Promontory Summit where the Golden Spike was driven in, his buddies from the train club told the managers there he was the President of California's Golden State Railroad Club. That was true, but it only had five members and they were all with him. Still, because of his "prominence," the park people let him drive the train for a bit. He favorite train was the Skunk Train in Fort Bragg, one you should consider (the steam train there reminds me of the Hogwarts Express (https://www.skunktrain.com/days-of-steam/ )). I've ridden with him four or five times and he's ridden at least 100. My favorite times were just sitting in the door of the garage in these two big, green LazyBoy recliners he had there, watch the world go by, and just talk. This is in Sacramento, so this was almost always AFTER the sun goes down. You think Texas was hot, pshaw, that's sweater weather to us Sacramentans. He'd done so many things in his life and he was a great, loving, wonderful father. Please, do enjoy all the time you can with your mom and your dad while you can. Each second is precious. Thank you for one more train ride with my dad would have felt like.
Based on the name of the local paper, The Normalite, (see: http://www.normalite.com), I believe there are called Normalites. The collective noun for a group of Normalites is Normals.
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I have made so, so many mistakes in my life, some, I well and truly regret, others were some of the best memories of my life. I close friend of mine owned a coffee, tea, and bakery store. One day she was making her lemon bars when, unbeknownst to her, two pages in her recipe binder got stuck and she went from the lemon bar recipe to another, different recipe about halfway through. She wound up with something entirely new with lemons, almonds, and a lemon crunch topping. They made her store famous. The lemon crunch bars become the signature dish. Mistakes can advance human endeavors.
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In the busy world we all live in, I rarely get the time to say thank you to the people that have made this last horror of a year bearable, if not down right fun. You are one and near the top of the list. I loved your travel videos and all the train rides before the shutdown, but your exploration of Vancouver has been one of the brightest lights of the year. Each week, you take me away to BC and to a small, little known gem. Someplace not really famous, but fun and charming. I've seen the mosaic of your childhood artwork, friendly lamas, treehouse vacations, train hotel rooms, you family and so, so much more. All of them accompanied by your cheerful, upbeat style. Even in the worst moment, such as the suicide death of your friend, you found The Light and showed it to us. I don't know where I am going now that things may be getting back to normal, but I know I will always want to have your videos along with me.
Um, how did you get to drive a SkyTrain car if they are driverless?
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My late father loved trains, model trains, real trains, train-shaped liquor bottles, whatever. He just loved trains. Sacramento, where we live, has a great train museum and he went regularly. One summer, he was traveling with his wife (my step-mom, who I adore) and his buddy from high school, Darryl. They went to Promontory Point, Utah, to Golden Spike National Historical Park. It preserves 2,735 acres of land surrounding a 15-mile stretch of the original Transcontinental Railroad (hint, hint, travel blogger). Dad was president of his local model railroaders club, the Capital City Railroad Club, which sound impressive, but was really just eight guys who got together once a month to eat snacks and play with their trains. Darryl called the press office and told them the President of the world-famous Capital City Railroad Club was coming and arranged all sort of extras. I don't know if the press office thought he was with our railroad museum or something, but they not only let Dad and crew into the cab of one of the steam locomotives they use to re-create the joining of the Transcontinental Railroad, but actually let him drive the train for a while. They gave him an engineers hat and the whole nine yards. They had a ball and Dad had the time of his life.
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First, I hate to sound the alarm, but I think you may need to see a doctor. There appears to be some odd growth on your upper lip. It might be a fungal infection or molting of the skin, but you should really have it checked out soon, Michael. 😜
Second, >>sigh<<, I would rather hope a member of the Commonwealth of Nations would know high tea from low tea. High tea, despite the name, is not fancy. It is a late midday meal that is more like supper. It is called "high" tea because it is generally self-service from a buffet or highboy and would typically have meat pies and full sandwiches. Low tea is the fancy tea, served by the host from a low table, like a coffee table, to the guests, often using the family silver and fine china. Low tea would have small sweets and savories, but would be a light meal. It is generally an intimate, more formal gathering. Various hotels, catering to American ignorance, have promoted "high tea" as a formal event, when that is not really the case.
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The first item you ate was an apple fritter, not a donut. A donut, by definition, is a small fried cake of sweetened dough in the shape of a torus. There also isn't such thing as vegetarian gravy. Again, but definition, gravy is a sauce made from cooked meat juices together with stock and other ingredients. Billions and billions of years ago, when I was in seventh grade, my class did an exchange with some Vancouver students. As part of the experience, I attended a Canadian Boy Scouts meeting. I was shocked when we started by singing, "God Save the Queen." Whoa, I was in a different country. At the end of the meeting, out came a plate of those Nanaimo bars. I loved them and have never since been able to find anyone who knew what I was talking about and I didn't know what they were called. I thought they were called Nana bars. Finally, at long last, thanks to you, Mike, I know what they are called and can order some. After a half a century, I will again taste my beloved Nanaimo bars. Thank you.
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I, too, don't know where you are going next, but life is about the journey, not the destination. So, wherever you go next, I want to be there with you. Thank you, again, for a wonderful video, beautiful scenery, and just a tiny smidgen of life philosophy.
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You know, when I find a good person to watch my house while I am away, I ask them year after year. My last one took care of my house and dogs every year for 23 years. She passed away a few months ago and I so miss her, but I will miss her even more this Labor Day when I go away and have to try out a new house sitter. If I lived someplace cool, like in the middle of a great park, I'd ask you, Mike, but I have a rather ordinary townhouse in an ordinary part of Sacrament, which is a rather ordinary town (and, right now, not at all cool, it will be over 100°F today). On the other hand, those nice folks living in the park may well invite you back next year. They can take vacations without any fears about their beloved home with your around (or both of you). Love Tru Earth, thanks for the discount code. It is SO HARD to remember!
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As Bilbo Baggins says, "“We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures." As his book makes clear, adventures are rarely actually fun or in the least bit comfortable, BUT a train ride IS an adventure, with all the beauty, excitement, mishaps, and trials along the way, yet it is safe, comfortable, pleasant, and a joy. You are so right, Mike, it is what is between A and B that is fun. That is true for one's whole life. It isn't getting there to the end, we will all get to the end soon enough (perhaps too soon for some), but the measure of one's life isn't the end, but what happened along the way, what was between A and B. Thank you so much for these videos. I know you are looking for merch ideas, so how about a DownieLive face mask with your smile on it. That way, we could see you great smile even when you aren't eating.
BTW, I used to take the train from SF to Sacramento to visit my parents. It is about three hour trip and the train was once 26-hours late pulling in. I left Friday after work and didn't get to my parent's house until late Saturday night.
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