kochleffel

Respiratory syncytial virus. It's not new--I remember an epidemic of it among children in the 1990s. But it's getting attention because vaccines are now available. It's most dangerous to children and people over 60, especially the oldest. CDC is not automatically recommending it for everyone only 60; they recommend assessing the risk individually.

They are saying that it's OK to get a covid booster and a flu vaccination together, but I don't plan to. The second-sickest I have ever been was when I got a flu vaccination and a pneumonia vaccination together. But there's a suggestion not to get flu and RSV vaccinations together. The evidence is inconclusive but is sufficient reason to avoid that combination. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/08/17/vaccine-flu-season-covid-rsv/

I was in a clinical trial for the Pfizer RSV vaccine, but I'm pretty sure that I received the control injection, not the vaccine. I had planned to get a covid booster about now so that it would be effective for the Jewish holidays and then the November cruise, but what I've read lately is that it will be better just to be careful for the time being and to wait until the new covid vaccine is released. I hope that I can get it by October 12, two weeks before I leave for Spain. And then there's a flu vaccination. The flu season starts a bit later here than in major cities and I don't know when I should get that. September feels too early.

I save many things for our rummage sale, but donate clothing to thrift shops. DaVinci is a black cat and Mona Lisa is almost entirely black, too. Maybe on the soup and on the drink. I can't think of a Finger Lakes alternative to the wine. I have been to Willemstad, although not on a cruise. However, here's the view from my hotel room. Larger ships would dock at the Megaport, past the Riffort. The red building is a very good restaurant. The bridge at night. Mikve Israel, the historic synagogue. There happened to be a wedding while I was there. For weddings they light candles in all the chandeliers. The former Temple Emanuel, which was the first and maybe only Sefardi Reform temple. It split off from Mikve Israel and eventually merged back in; the building now houses government offices. I have a booking in 2024 that includes a call at Willemstad.

For the reluctant mechanics among us.

I took for granted that National Airborne Day referred to airborne divisions in the military, and not to cold medicine. I tend to tell jokes too rapidly, but at least in the right order. My mother told them from the middle outward in both directions. I used to enjoy roller coasters but I don't think that I would now. Pass on the chicken wraps and the drink. The wine is available in my state but not very near me, so I'd consider another from Dr. Frank's, 2019 Amur, which sounds like it might be similar in character even though the grape is from a completely different region. I haven't been to Akureyri. Aside from transiting KEF, my only visit to Iceland was unintentional. I've just finished doing what I could toward registering for the fall term. The school has simple online registration, but to register online you have to have an account in their enrollment-management system, and the only way to get such an account is through registering. Hmm.... When I was in graduate school the first time, I worked at registration most terms. There, you had to show up in person with various paperwork, including a card with basic information. My job was usually to check those cards before the students continued to course registration. In the summer session, there were quite a few older students who were in religious orders (nuns and monks). The word got around that they should always come to my station, because I would let them use contact information for their superior in the order and not insist on the legal or biological parents.

As already posted, the many stairs inside the Terrace Houses are in clusters of not too many, making climbing them much easier, and those inside are modern metal staircases. The exit stairs are a continuous run of (iirc) stone and a little more difficult. All of Ephesus is somewhat difficult walking because of the highly varied paving stones, some broken and some sloping in unexpected directions.

Today is also the Feast of the Assumption. I had never heard of this until I was in Vienna and needed to get to the Südbahnhof (this was long before the present Hauptbahnhof was built) for a train to a Postautobus to a mountain resort. The streetcar line (this was also before the U-Bahn was built) I needed wasn't running, and because of Maria Himmelfahrt I had to take three streetcars instead of one.

The parents of a friend were both graduates of Acadia University in Nova Scotia. I will relax as ordered. Chicken kabobs would be fine with me, but since I got feta from sheep's and goat's milk yesterday, I'll actually be making chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, and feta roasted together. A Manhattan would be nice, too, not that I have the ingredients. None of the grape varieties in the wine of the day is grown near here, so I'll suggest a Saperavi from Dr. Konstantin Frank. I haven't been to Hubbard Glacier. OTOH, I used to live in Plymouth County, Mass. People who came to see Plymouth Rock often expected it to be like the Rock of Gibraltar, and went home disappointed. I slept better last night, waking too early but getting quickly back to sleep. When I woke again it was still in time to take the trash out. Having accomplished that, I feel no obligation to do anything else today.

My present house (about 1500 sq.ft.) and furniture are still right for my lifestyle, but I have a goal of eliminating about 1/3 of all the other contents. The pandemic was a setback because I was holding stuff for charity sales that never took place. Trash (!) and clothing are the easiest things to get rid of. I'm also preparing to switch to an induction range, and at least half my pots and pans will have to go, but some of them will be replaced.

I use an OM-D. I'm pleased with the way it fits my hands.

No Creamsickles for me, and no wiffle balls, but I'm in favor of financial awareness. As a teacher I sometimes used an O-ball, which because it's light and flexible and can't be thrown very hard, is safe to use in a classroom. The house explosion in Pennsylvania was reported in the NYT this morning. Also: an explanation of how non-native grasses contributed to the fires on Maui. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/13/us/hawaii-wildfire-factors.html Summary: they have colonized abandoned sugar plantations and grow very fast when it rains, but then dry out and burn. Some were introduced for livestock grazing and there would be less danger if grazing animals were present where they're growing now. I woke up too early and my head feels rather scrambled. This afternoon I need to go to the farmers' market and then Wegmans, where I especially need to find sheep's-milk feta, for a recipe that says that cow's-milk feta won't work. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1023371-sheet-pan-feta-with-chickpeas-and-tomatoes In my scrambled head I'm trying to figure out what I really need for the Spanish Farewell, because my packing list is turning out exceptionally heavy (for me, at least). In the photography forum I asked whether I'd need a telephoto lens and the sentiment was to take it "just in case," but nothing that I've planned to do seems to call for one. Also in that forum, a post asks what to take for a Caribbean cruise. The question is about camera gear, of course, but my first thought was "Lomotil."

There are nonstop flights to Venice from some U.S. gateway airports. There are no nonstop flights from here to Bologna; you'd have to connect somewhere in Europe. However, routings with a connection in Europe, whether to VCE or BLQ, usually cost a lot less.

A few years ago, when a tour that I had booked didn't meet its minimum, a tour company in Italy offered to add me to one booked by about seven women traveling together that still had a place open. We had a great time.

Thanks for the replies If everything I've booked works out -- there are some semi-private tours that haven't reached the minimum -- I have all the ports covered. If any don't reach the minimum, I'll see if any of these couples still have places open.

Thanks. It wouldn't kill me also to take the 40-150 (equiv 80-300; camera is M4/3) lens, too. I always take the 9-18 (18-36) lens, not just for landscapes but also for inside museums that allow photography.

My college roommate was left-handed. When he was about 8, his father was appointed as a visiting professor at a famous university in Germany. My roommate got kicked out of school for writing with his left-hand; the school said that left-handed children were uneducable. His father went to the school, introduced himself as the Herr Doktor Professor at the Universität ---------------, and pointed out that he was left-handed. I've read that middle children often develop exceptional social intelligence, because it's useful for holding their own in the family. Connecting the third special day with the meal suggestion: I have an air fryer but it will be going bye-bye in the fall rummage sale. The cocktail would be OK. For the wine, Element 2015 Pinot Noir from Geneva, NY. I haven't been to Mazatlan.

Power back on at 8:40 p.m. and the rice eventually got cooked.

8:00 prediction revoked and no new estimate. I'm guessing a lightning strike at the substation since it affects my entire town and the adjacent part of the city.

I was only virtual for synagogue this morning, because I wasn't ready in time. This turned out to be a good thing, as my reactions would have gotten me into trouble. The 'lectric went out right after I started the rice cooker. They say it will be back at 8:00.

At the Temple of Artemis, just a photo stop. One of our group had a degree in classics and probably wanted more. As for the Terrace Houses, a standard tour with limited time doesn't automatically include them, and there wouldn't have been time without skipping the House of Mary (which someone in the group said they wanted to see, but I had told everyone before they signed up that we'd be skipping it).

I find unexpected situations less stressful when I travel alone. Often a travel partner is less adaptable or more anxious than I am.

I read this forum avidly when I began cruising, but after good experiences on several different cruise lines, I haven't had any concerns about cruising solo. Until I started working on excursions for a TATL this fall. Many posts in the roll call about setting up private excursions say, "We need one more couple" or "We have room for one more couple." I'm taking them at their word: they want a couple, not a single person or even two single people who aren't traveling together. Even worse is the couple that has very demanding standards for any other couple: must be lively and interesting to them. How would anyone know whom they would consider interesting? Good luck on that. This reminds me of the bad old days when, in fixed-seating dining, married people objected openly if the last seats at their table were assigned to solo travelers. I'm not sure whether one of them considered the solo a rival for the spouse's attention, or if it was just insulting to be seated with someone traveling alone. Maybe I'm being neurotic about this. But maybe not.

I can't compare directly: my only cruise booked on Celebrity never took place, because of some pandemic or other. My impression was that Celebrity offered some amenities that might be welcome on a trans-ocean cruise (my booking was TPAC) but not so much with a port-intensive itinerary. I wasn't totally comfortable with the idea of class stratification on Celebrity, but since the cruise was cancelled, I don't know whether my concern was realistic.

For a trip that starts in Madrid and then continues on a cruise from Barcelona to the U.S., with port calls in Spain and Portugal, I'm considering taking only the all-purpose zoom lens (equiv. 28-84 mm) and a wide zoom. With what I've planned, I don't anticipate needing any longer lenses. Is this realistic? Other circumstances will compel me to pack rather heavy even without more lenses.