u/profeNY

My last three boxes have all missed crucial ingredients. For the first two I accepted a credit for the ingredients, but I drew the line this week. I emailed them to request a refund, stating that "I should not have to continue to order meal kits from you in order to be compensated for your defective service," and threatening to do a chargeback through my credit card if they don't give me the refund.

Until three weeks ago I was a happy customer, so this bums me out.

I will update this post as the situation develops.

My late father's Hebrew name was Hersh Lev (here's a clip from my parents' ketubah). I'm curious how a name like this works. Is "Lev" a middle name??? Or do Hersh and Lev work together to form a single name (even though they're written separately), like "Mary Jane" in English?

Edit: I should have called this "Final foreshadowing of the Gollum's fate" because (i) Gollum is directly affected, not the Ring, and (ii) as pointed out in comments, many previous moments in the book anticipate Gollum's fate.

I recently reread The Return of the King and was struck by something that happens in the fight between Frodo and Gollum on the slopes of Mount Doom, shortly before the climactic scene at the Cracks of Doom. Frodo has just flung off Gollum. Then:

"'Down, down!' he gasped, clutching his hand to his breast, so that beneath the cover of his leather shirt he clasped the Ring. 'Down, you creeping thing, and out of my path! Your time is at an end. You cannot betray me or slay me now. Begone, and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom.'"

This is, of course, exactly what happens a few pages later. So I think that Frodo, who had already decided to claim the Ring instead of destroying it, is deliberately using the power of the Ring against Gollum, thus sealing his fate. He doesn't know at the time that Gollum will have the Ring in his possession when he falls.

By the way, I've always thought that Frodo made his decision the previous day, when "it seemed to Sam that his master had found some new strength."

I apologize if this is something that everyone already knows.

I am returning to New York from Europe on Thursday, June 25th, arriving at EWR at 2:30 pm. There is a World Cup match at 4:00 that day at the MetLife stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. I am trying to figure out the best way to get home given the special circumstances.

Sometimes I take public transit all the way back to Westchester: New Jersey Transit to NY Penn Station, subway to Grand Central, Metro North home. However, I understand that New Jersey Transit is changing sky-high fares on match days. Would I be charged such a fare even though I am going in the other direction and earlier?

If I book a taxi using my local taxi service in Westchester, will we run into horrendous traffic?

I don't see any Uber shuttle rides from EWR to GCT scheduled for Thursday, which struck me as ominous.

I am taking my almost-14-year-old grandson to the Dolomites in June. His celiac disease is a major factor in our planning, because once I found a hotel with a dedicated gluten-free kitchen, I knew that it would be our home base. That will take care of breakfast and dinner, although I'm a little worried about finding my grandson varied GF cuisine lunches, especially when hikes take us away from towns.

I wanted to avoid renting a car if possible, and from everything I've read, public transportation in the South Tyrol is excellent. The hotel is near Sius, so most days will start with a 10-minute walk to the bus stop there.

Here's our itinerary:

• June 16: arrive in Venice
• June 17: day in Venice
• June 18: train to Bolzano. I've booked a taxi transfer to our hotel.
• June 19-23: the core of our trip: five days in Sius & vicinity. My daily plans are as follows, although they may not be in this order. The numbers refer to the hike instructions in Barton & Barton's Walking in Italy's Val Gardena, which has been my Bible as I plan this trip.
• Day 1: Alpe de Siusi: bus > gondola > Hans & Paula Steger Nature Trail (#14)
• Day 2: Bus to Ortisei, explore town before or after Rasciesa Ridge (#1) or Seceda to Forcella Pana (#4)
• Day 3: Bus to Bolzano, gondola to Renon Plateau, hike to Earth Pyramids (#20). End the day by seeing Ötsi the Iceman in the Archaeology museum in Bolzano.
• Day 4: Go on an e-bike ride recommended by our hotel.
• Day 5: Either do more sightseeing in Bolzano or Ortisei, OR bus to Kastelruth and train to Brixen to see a different landscape
• June 24: train to Padua, spend the afternoon and night there.
• Jun 25: early bus to Marco Polo Airport (Venice) and fly home.

I somewhat regret that we won't be seeing more of the Dolomites, but frankly this itinerary looks packed enough. If I find a reasonably priced commercial day tour available during our stay, we might swap it for the Day 4 or Day 5 itinerary above. The Tourist office in Kastelruth runs one, but only on Wednesdays (not good for us).

Comments welcome!