StanleyandGus

20 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Both DW and I went to SFU.  I had a buddy who went to UBC.  

 

The beauty of Vancouver is you can be in the mountains or the ocean, no matter where you start from, less than 25 minutes. Also with me as a skier, the area can't be beat.  There is three local ski hills in the North Shore mountains, another just to east in the Cascades, and its close proximity to Whistler Blackcomb, the greatest ski resort in all of North America, made it the most incredible area in the world to grow up in.  No matter where I live, I'll always be a Vancouver kid.

Chris went to SFU for his Bachelor’s! Forensic anthropology was his interest then- now he does training for the RCMP.

We loved Vancouver. We were extremely lucky to live in the Married Quarters at Jericho Beach. We couldn’t have afforded anything around there then, and especially now!

@Jimbo You and your wife saved Graycie from being a feral kitty, and if my memory of cat trees and cat toys is accurate at your place, she was a spoiled princess, as all cats deserve to be!

8 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

How long ago did you leave BC.  I think prairies would be hard for me to live in.  I need to see mountains every now and again.

 

 

I left after university (UBC). I was posted right across the country to Gagetown New Brunswick. I know what you mean- even though every area of the country is beautiful (except for some areas of Ontario), mountains are where I feel most at home. If there’s an ocean, even better!

My husband loves the prairies- he was born in Edmonton. We do have plans to move to BC eventually, around Osoyoos.

5 minutes ago, Coralc said:

Huh! That's interesting. But not as exciting as my imagination. I'm sure it is very pretty, but awfully cold. Thanks! ☺️

I was wrong- it’s really the night sky, which has stars all around because it’s flat, and the Aurora borealis!  You were right.

27 minutes ago, Coralc said:

What does "Land of Living Skies" mean?  Is that because it snows a lot? 😀Or maybe because of the Aurora Borealis? Which would be really cool. 

 

@Tree_skier Just out of curiosity, is your wife Canadian, too? It is interesting that you ended up in the Central Valley, if you are both from BC.  We stayed down on Davie Street last time we were in Vancouver, before an Alaska cruise. At our close friends' recommendation. 😀 My mom asked why all those young men were waiting outside a club? I said, rainbow flags on the street poles, it's a nightclub, mom. We had a great time. 

I could be wrong (I’m from BC as well), but I think Land of the Living Skies” refers to the incredible amount of sky without any any geographical features interrupting the view. We’re the north end of the Great Plains. 
 

Frankly, there’s not much else to look at!   It’s beautiful, just different from mountains.

3 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

Hey @StanleyandGus,  I saw this this morning and thought of you.  Were you sneaking around down here in CA

 

I’ve never been to California, although I’d like to go there- someone is enjoying better weather!

2 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

We’ve had a recent Lucy photo, where’s Miss Jade and all the others?  And how about Charlie & Lizzy?  

Here’s an old picture of Stanley and Gus! Gus is considerably heftier now. He has big bones 😁.

I took my temporary dog for a walk in -20 (Google tells me it’s -4 Fahrenheit). It was a pleasant walk, but one has to be dressed for it!
 

James returns next month to have Christmas with us, and pick up the dog. The cats will be relieved. Thor really likes Gus, and washes his ears. Gus, being a cat, is horrified.

59 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Thanks @Momof3gurlz to give me the idea to take a COVID test for my cold symptoms. Looks like the KC Whiskey Expo Saturday was a super spreader event. I just tested positive. First time in 3 years that I got COVID.

Take care of yourself!  Lots of sleep.

12 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Micheline has long ago given up loading up the fridge for me when she leaves.  She knows that she'll just end up throwing most of it away.  😁

I freeze individual meal portions. That way Chris just has to microwave it. 

I’m sure he could cook, but after 37 years, there’s no indication of that! 

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

Mmm what a beautiful sight.  🙂 Snow makes me smile.  I've never been to Regina...  My mom was born just outside of Saskatoon and I've been there once years ago.  One day my goal is to do a cross Canada road trip.  I want to start in Tofino, BC and end at Sydney, NS.  

I like snow, unless it’s blowing sideways, which it was for some of today!
 

If you visit, summer is better, unless you have a nice down parka! And studded tires.

This is the weather here today. I think it’s here to stay. Driving is unpleasant because of the blowing snow, but on the other hand, it’s easy to clean up the dog’s, um, leavings!

2 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Here's a bit of an airplane rant:  The one thing DW and I are noticing that we absolutely hate is that with the advent of free wifi whereby everyone can connect with their devices to watch movies, etc. what’s happening is that hardly anyone opens their window sliders anymore. It’s not only depressing, and surely more than mildly claustrophobic for some people, but also like being in a dark cave for a few hours. No issue, of course, with overnight flights, but all 4 flights we had (during daylight) were exactly the same way. I think we were among the few that had the window open (I like to see the scenery anyway). I suspect it’s due to people wanting to better see their screens or else sleep. It’s also nice to look out of windows on the other side. What I like best about flying is seeing what we’re flying over unless cloud cover. Oh well…nothing stays the same. Was also surprised to see that we had seat-back movie screens on both longer flights and yet less than 4 hours each, so that part was most enjoyable. I was sitting at a window and can still easily see the screen but it starts to feel like we shouldn't even have it open cause others may feel bothered by the extra light coming in. I guess for some folks they equate it to riding on the subway where you can't see anything? It's just a bit...strange…but then our society has gotten that way in general. 

 

Anybody else notice what I feel is a rather depressing trend? 

I love looking out, so I always have a window seat. I like total control over the little window slider! 😁

4 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Meet Ricky Ricardo

Ricky is beautiful!

1 minute ago, HBE4 said:

 

I've been skimming thru some of the Icon threads as well and as expected, reactions are mixed.   Which is fine as everyone has their pwn exceptions of what a cruise should be.

 

I guess the only thing I would add - here on this thread where it's safe - is that Royal has gotten really good a "passenger flow" by spreading events (and people) all around the ship at different times to alleviate chock points.  I've sailed all classes of ships from Radiance on up to Oasis and while all will feel crowded at max capacity, in my very subjective experience, the Radiance class felt most crowded while the Oasis felt least crowded.   I understand if people don't want to sail on a ship with water slides, bumper cars, etc and have to schedule shows in advance but I wouldn't let the number of passengers on a ship deter me.

 

JMHO.

I would like to sail on the Icon if there was a family group- I don’t care about slides and carousels, but it sounds great for that kind of trip. 

I wanted to thank @brilloheadfor the advice about looking after a tonsillectomy patient. The surgery was last Tuesday, and it’s been, well, horrible. Thankfully, she’s getting better now. 
 

I’ve just been scanning the posts this week, but I wanted to say I like snow. At least until March; then it gets a bit much.
 

I feel I can release this photo of my grandson. It’s his first selfie! He’ll probably get more proficient later. My daughter doesn’t want any identifiable photos online, but you can’t tell much.

It’s Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. I have a turkey in the oven, and everything is ready to go in the oven once the turkey is out. 
 
I am very thankful to be comfortably situated. 
 

Happy Thanksgiving! 
 

11 minutes ago, Bailey & Sophie said:

 

Anyone think this might be an Osprey?

That’s what I was thinking.

2 hours ago, brillohead said:

Half the pain meds, twice as often during the daytime

Thank you! I am a retired pharmacist, but having someone who has actually experienced post op pain due to a tonsillectomy is valuable. And I will keep the hydration requirement in mind. 
 

Did you drink just water, or was there anything else that appealed? I guess Jello would be good.

29 minutes ago, singinalot said:

 

I feel like I have to, right? 🙂

At least let us know how it went- you write very well!

Although,  at live review would be better!

On 9/22/2022 at 7:06 AM, F3rpect said:

No.

Covid is still killing many more Americans than the Flu. The CDC says we're averaging 356 American Covid deaths per day right now.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home

That's about 130,000 per year.

Flu ranges from 12,000 to 52,000 American deaths per year.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html

So Covid is still causing 2.5x to 11x as many deaths as the Flu.

Things are better than they were last year, but we are not back to "normal" yet.

I hope the links work, otherwise you can google the data.

 

I've been enjoying cruising this year, but with precautions.

I didn’t mean to respond with a laughing face. I wanted to see who was the (can’t say it) that though that deaths were funny. Apologies.

5 minutes ago, singinalot said:

we're booking a cruise! Finally!  If only Royal's website would work this morning...

I have a 4 day weekend in October so we've decided to bite the bullet and do a short cruise out of Miami.  Our first since January 2020. Can't wait.

Let us know how it was! We have a 4 day cruise in March- first since Nov 2019.

It’s about 46 degrees here, but the high today is going to be 57, which is fine. I don’t think we have had frost yet.

I will be going out to see my daughter, because she is having her tonsils removed. I understand that as an adult, the recovery is quite painful, but her ENT look a look and agreed that she needed it done. At least mommy will be there to look after the grandson and baby her (at least, as must as she will accept!). Her husband is a contractor, so he wants to work as much as possible before the weather changes.

20 minutes ago, Crystabel said:

We’re visiting Vancouver overnight before a cruise. There will be a couple occasions where we will be tipping in cash. Since the exchange rate is favorable for US citizens, would those we are tipping prefer we use US dollars? 

No.

They will accept it, without saying anything, but no one goes into a bank these days, and it’s not usable without exchanging it. 

Have a wonderful trip! It sounds very exciting!