AUFANATL

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They could have just blown the doors off at the start and saved the Winter Wolves to wreak havoc on the Greens at that point.

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That was the original plan but Ormund was using all of the town's children as a human shield so they had to pivot to a strategy (a multi-layered spread out attack) that reduced child casualties and the inevitable PR nightmare that would follow.

I would normally recommend New Zealand over most places, but that's a rough flight and bad jetlag with three kids and only 8 or 9 days on the ground. TBH, Spain is probably a safer bet.

One tip I will give you, I have twice flown from LAX to Australia/New Zealand on the night of New Years Eve and both times the plane was over half empty so I had an entire middle row to myself to lay down and sleep. I think a lot of people just want to be somewhere to celebrate New Years so they avoid this particular flight.

A good alternative to the South Island of New Zealand, if you're interested in a nature/outdoorsy trip, could be Argentina - Patagonia. Also Summer down there in January, no jetlag and prices are much cheaper.

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I really think there is a large majority praying that it’s a white man

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This was an all black residential neighborhood and officers responded to the scene at 9 pm. It doesn't get dark until after 8 pm. This has to be a suicide. It would be a rather brazen lynching.

Probably not the first person to use this but I've gotten a lot of strange looks when I reply, "does the Pope shite in the woods?"

I know the popular opinion right now is to hate on the Braves for not making any strong pitching moves at the trade deadline. That's a fair criticism, but I also think it's unfair to not point out that the scrapyard behind Sale has stepped up and done a pretty damn good job in leading us to the second best record in baseball.

These guys deserve credit, even if you're nervous about October.

The next time you feel unlucky or that life has screwed you over, consider the case of Tsutomu Yamaguchi. A work mix-up left him stranded in Hiroshima on August 6. Guess what happened next. Suffering from severe wounds, he then went to his home town - Nagasaki - to recuperate. Guess what happened next.

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Thanks. I think for our travels Verdun is out of the way any suggestions otherwise?

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The Battle of the Somme sights in northern France are not too far from Ypres/Western Belgium. There's a museum in Albert. Arras has the Carrier Wellington underground tunnel complex and preserved trenches at Vimy Ridge memorial. Also some battlefield memorials, like Thiepval, strewn around the area. Lille is a transportation hub and could serve as a base for exploring the area but it's not particularly charming. Amiens is an old cathedral city with more to offer from a tourist perspective.

When Bridget Bardot died recently they said Bob Dylan and Bernard Goetz (the subway shooter) were the only two people still alive who were mentioned in the song, which is kind of ironic when you think of what music and social/political values have turned into.

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Can I do 10 QB sneaks behind an All Pro Center?

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After the first few sneaks they're going to line up in a goalline D with two noseguards cramming the box.

You're best chance is to have a "Bama ref" spot the ball based on... *checks chain marker*...."forward progress".

You might want to make sure your unemployment claim and other transition paperwork (health insurance, severance, etc) are set in stone before you go scorched earth on HR over damaged bobbleheads.

These are crazy women you're dealing with.

When you're in Bruges, you can go to Ypres for the WWI battlefields, museum and Menin Gate Ceremony. I assume the Somme sights are too far though and had to be cut, which is a shame.

For Verdun, I might base out of Reims/champagne country. Not really sure what Metz has to offer from a tourist perspective, but Reims has other stuff. You could probably make it to the Somme sights from there as well. It would be a lot of time in the car but there's really not much you can do with the geographical footprint of those wars. So 3 nights in Reims with one day dedicated to driving to Verdun and one day dedicated to driving to Albert/Arras.

Caveat - I've never been to these places but was thinking about a similar trip.