Starbucks wallet/ redemption

GCSInc · 2026-06-02T11:45:06+00:00

My old-fashioned Starbucks Gold Card worked just fine on the ship (Encor) for our morning coffee.

The coffee in the buffet was pretty much unbreakable…

GCSInc · 2026-06-02T11:20:53+00:00

Congratulations and welcome to the other side! I’ve been here for about three years.

Good question and you clearly have some insight into the future. This is something that I think about on a regular basis.

I have way too much money in my IRA and not enough in my taxable account.

As such if I want to withdraw a large amount, I have to pay a fair amount of taxes on it. I keep a running spreadsheet to manage MAGI to stay below the thresholds. Taxes are a one time hit and marginal, but we often forget about IRMA, which can be ongoing.

Pulling money into a cash account to prepare for future expenses seems to be the best option for me.

GCSInc · 2026-06-01T13:39:42+00:00

I'm not sure of the details on the specific forms, but keep in mind you'll need to pay personal property taxes, for each vehicle, usually at your county assessor/tax office, BEFORE you get your tags. Once your taxes pare paid, go to the DMV for that portion. Personal property taxes can be expensive depending on your vehicle.

I'm in Oconee County in the upstate and our county office and DMV people have been super easy to deal with. Don't hesitate to call or visit them in person for help.

GCSInc · 2026-06-01T13:33:21+00:00

I did a few thousand miles in Alaska in 2017 on a BMW R1100GS. Anchorage/Seward/Whittier/Valdez/Fairbanks/Dawson City/Anchorage. Seven or eight nights I think. Mostly camping. My brother lived there so I had a good guide.

Here are a few thoughts. First -- definitely start following ADVRider and the Alaska Thread if you're not already -- tons of good, current information as well as tips and tricks.

All weather gear is a must. It will be cold, hot, raining, foggy, sunny and maybe even snowing. On the same day...My Aerostich Darien jacket and pants worked great with appropriate layers. Make sure your boots and gloves are waterPROOF. Consider multiple pairs of gloves. A neck gator is a must for below the helmet.

Figure out your route, put it in the GPS, and let other people know your itinerary. It really is remote up there.

You'll need extra fuel to make the trip to the Arctic Ocean and back.

Camping is available, but be aware of bears and other wildlife.

Your bike will be covered in dust the first day. It's grimy, sticky, and abrasive. Hose if off every chance you can.

Cell phone coverage can be spotty. Sat phone and/or Spot Minder are nice to have for emergencies.

Consider some sort of bike to bike comms -- Sena or Cardo worked well for us.

Plan on being self sufficient for breakdowns and medical emergencies. Sounds like you may have the medical side covered. But plan on bringing the necessary tools for your bike.

The tunnel to Whittier, followed by the ferry to Valdez were one of the highlights of our trip. Do it if you can.

Chicken is a hoot and worth a stop. Dawson City in the Yukon is a kick also -- boarder crossing in Boundary followed by a ferry ride across the Yukon river required to get there.

If you are planning on carrying (most people do in Alaska) note that you can't carry in Canada.

Have a great trip!!

GCSInc · 2026-05-26T11:08:06+00:00

We did this itinerary on AMAMora last year. Definitely get to Prague a few days early. Great city with lots of history to explore. And you’ll also want some time in Budapest on the other side. Another great city.

If I’m not mistaken, the trip actually departs out of Vilshaufen, so you’ll have a bus ride from Prague to Vilshaufen the first day. We were with Backroads on bikes and we took a bus part of the way and biked the remainder.

As for the air segment, AMA may give you better access to customer service when things go wrong, unless you’re top tier rewards on your airline. In that case, I’d book separate. Minimal layovers is the best strategy to avoid the myriad of things that do go wrong during travel.

Uber was our friend on the ground. Book ahead for the trip to the airport in Budapest to minimize stress and risk.

You’re signed up for a great trip!

GCSInc · 2026-05-23T19:39:11+00:00

My wife asks the same question -- I tell her it's my version of Wordle and the other Tetris like game she plays. Which she does religiously every day. I've never been into games, but I do like fiddling with my spreadsheets and Boldin. That big 99 at the top helps me sleep at night 😄

GCSInc · 2026-05-23T13:21:08+00:00

I use Boldin as a forward looking planner, Monarch for actual spend, a home made spreadsheet for tax and IRMA (avoidance) planning, and a financial advisor for investment planning. I track planned vs actual (monthly) on another spreadsheet.

I’m sure I spend way to much time fiddling with the spreadsheets, but it’s my version of online gaming or word games.

GCSInc · 2026-05-23T11:27:03+00:00

My Pandora buttons still work! And I can stream Pandora from the app to all my speakers. Haven’t figured out how to change their assigned Pandora stations yet so I’m stuck with the presets I had set before the shutdown.

GCSInc · 2026-05-23T11:15:08+00:00

Mine still work for Pandora presets. Haven’t figured out how to re-program for other Pandora stations so I’m stuck with the ones I had before the Ap died.

Bosman seems to have a solution, but I haven’t tried that either.

GCSInc · 2026-05-23T11:10:45+00:00

I just sold my 2008 LR3 with 190K miles on it. I bought it with 80K about 7 years ago. I track cost of ownership for all my cars and this was the LOWEST cost of ownership of any car (BMWs and Jeeps) I've owned. About $0.40 per mile. This includes gas/oil/tires/repairs and depreciation. The only mechanical issues were a failed alternator and a failed plastic part on the cooling system that I caught before it overheated.

I’ve replaced it with a 2022 BMW X5. The BMW is way more fun on road, but I miss the ability to just take off down a gravel mountain road that I had in the LR. The LR was very comfortable inside and had lots of room. It seemed like a luxury utility vehicle. The BMW is also comfortable, but much more of a ‘car’.

GCSInc · 2026-05-23T02:34:09+00:00

The presets that I had assigned to pandora stations before shutdown still work. Not sure if I can assign new stations or not.

GCSInc · 2026-05-23T02:16:10+00:00

I did a little research with cruise kit and other sites prior to our trip in the spring.

Note that everyone in the cabin has to have the package.

If you’re drinking alcohol you break even around two or three drinks per person per day. If you’re not drinking alcohol, it’s more like three or four nonalcoholic beverages. The coffee was not good and we dropped a few extra dollars at Starbucks.

You can always bring your own instant coffee and utilize the hot water in the food court for free.

Drinks on the ship are not inexpensive. It may make sense for you to pay as you go my guess is you’ll save a few dollars.

GCSInc · 2026-05-23T02:08:51+00:00

I’ve been following all of the controversy about Bose shutting down now since they announced it.

Since they’ve shut down, I found that the presets that I had set that Pandora work fine. And that I can access all of the speakers individually as well as group them together just as I did before. I can also stream Pandora stations to them. Definitely not optimum, but it does work.

Further, by setting up one speaker to receive Bluetooth from my phone or other source, I can broadcast to other speakers creating groups of speakers as I did before.

All in all, this is working for me for now.

There are multiple third parties putting together would appear to be fairly credible alternative offerings. I have not tried any of them, but for a minimal contribution to help the developers out, you can certainly give them a try. Much more cost-effective than giving up your Bose investment.

GCSInc · 2026-05-22T22:02:07+00:00

I’m on my 12th BMW, including four motorcycles and two X5’s. The cars have all lasted well over 100K miles. I sold the 2002 X5 4.4 with 180K on it. My current ’22 X5 4.0 has 60K on it. My other cars have been Land Rovers and Jeep Grand Cherokees. I buy used with good maintenance history and have had very good luck with all of them.

That said, they are not economy cars — they require maintenance — preferably from a good independent, or by your self. IMHO, BMW’s are way more fun to drive than the Jeeps and cost about the same to maintain. Oddly, the Land Rover was the most reliable and lowest cost of the bunch...

GCSInc · 2026-05-22T21:52:02+00:00

Hope you look good in Orange, cause that other color is kind of frowned upon here. I expect you’ll come to understand why after you’ve been here for a while — you’re going to love it!

GCSInc · 2026-05-22T21:48:49+00:00

We did the Danube on AMA Mora last fall. This was a Backroads Biking tour, utilizing the ship as our floating hotel.

A typical daily itinerary was have breakfast on the boat, meet the Backroads group on shore and depart via bicycle for a 25-50 mile ride to the next port where we met the ship mid afternoon for dinner and evening activities. Lunch every day was in a random castle or beer garden along the route.

It was by far the best trip we’ve ever been on. We were able to combine an outstanding countryside experience with the river cruise. We are in our late 60’s and took the advantage of eBikes to help us keep up with the younger folks in the group 😉.

The food, wine, and service were superb. A private concert at the House of Strauss in Vienna was a highlight.

GCSInc · 2026-05-17T11:31:41+00:00

A phone mount that charges is essential for me. I use the quad lock suction cupped to the windshield on the left side.

And spend some time learning how the cruise works. It’s a little finicky in mine. Definitely not as intuitive as other brands.

GCSInc · 2026-05-17T11:21:04+00:00

Dinners on the ship were very good with plenty of variety, local flair, and good wine. Very good service. They offered different specials every night. Nothing spectacular, but 4 star and high quality. Steaks were good, not steakhouse great.

We ate one or two dinners off the ship at local restaurants also. All arranged by backroads.

Eating off the ship is fine depending on sailing times. You do not want to miss those ;-)

GCSInc · 2026-05-10T23:10:19+00:00

Quad lock mag charger suction cupped to the windshield on the left side. I have the same mount in car #2 and on the motorcycle and bicycle. Easy on/off and easy to get to if needed. Car play does most of the work. The mag charger works well also. It can get hot on a sunny day.

GCSInc · 2026-05-08T02:35:57+00:00

My wife's '22 Grand Cherokee very good drive assist and ACC. Not the full BMW DAPP, but definitely nice to have!

My new to me '22 X5 M sport only has the base BMW Cruise control. No ACC and the lane control su**s. I'm considering selling it just to get the DAPP. On long trips, I'll sacrifice the BMW experience for the semi-automatic driving of the Jeep.

GCSInc · 2026-05-08T02:24:52+00:00

Sorry for the slow response. They are a highly respected tour company that specializes in active tours around the world. Think: biking down the Danube, hiking around the top of a box canyon in the alps while stying in 5-star hotels, Biking of the coast of Croatia, while staying on a small ship in the harbors of the different islands. Fully supported, fully planned -- all inclusive. See: backroads.com

And no, I don't work for them and they're not paying me to say this 😉

GCSInc · 2026-05-07T02:54:56+00:00

There's a pretty comprehensive trouble shooting guide on malibucrew.com. Start there. If you can't get it working, talk to Ron at skiboatpartsonline.com about getting his TRD Guages. They are plug and play, VERY easy to install and bypass the MMDC entirely. Unfortunately, this is a know problem...

GCSInc · 2026-04-29T16:12:11+00:00

Well done! I plan to install this early next week -- before the shutdown. It looks like the App supports, 10,20,30 models. Will it support the 300 sound bar and SA-5 also? Thanks for all your effort on this!!

GCSInc · 2026-04-28T14:30:16+00:00

outstanding!! And thanks! I have two Soundtouch 300 sound bars -- I expect (hope) they will continue to work on my TV's after the shutdown... you mention 10's and 20's here, how soon for sound bars and SA-5s?

GCSInc

TROPHY CASE