h20skibum

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I prefer smooth finishes that are easy to clean and paint

Smooth finishes seem to show imperfections.   Our house, built in 1970 has plaster walls with a swirl finish.  
 

What I didn’t know, until we did a full kitchen remodel in the 90’s, was that the kitchen designer could tell who did the plaster work by looking at the swirl pattern.  We dropped the ceilings over the new cabinets and put in can lights.  We said we wanted the dropped part to have the same swirl pattern as the rest of the house.  They said “Oh, so and so is still working, so we can have him in to match it.”

When we had a guy redo our small bath a couple years ago. We had him do the same finish. 
 

Our next project is just a repainting of our master bath.  Took the wallpaper border off last week, and the new one arrived yesterday.  New curtains are here, so now we are looking at paint colors to go with all of it. 
 

This is the swirl pattern that will get a new color. 
 

33 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Mark - Have you guys been to Hocking Hills in OH?  It's a couple of hours south of Nelson-Kennedy Ledges State Park so I'm guessing a good 3 hours from you.  They have great hiking with lots of caves and waterfalls.  Hard to believe it's actually in OH given how flat and boring most of the OH landscape is.  Definitely worth staying a night or 2 there, especially in the fall.

That looks like a nice park we may be interested in.  Thanks for the info.

It would definitely be an overnighter for us.  Waze says it is just under 4 hours, but maybe the time estimates are being impacted by eclipse traffic at the moment. 

We just had our total eclipse here.  Clouds cleared and it was a good view.   Got dark as night and dropped probably 10 degrees.

Traffic was pretty crazy when I was out earlier.  I went to Walmart about a half hour before, and there was hardly anyone in the store.  I guess good things can happen during an eclipse.

22 minutes ago, Luckynana said:

You and Susan amaze me!

That is her in the mauve sweater in the squeeze thru the rocks photo and the cave video.  She is camera shy, and usually turns away from the camera when I take photos.  
 

Just glad we are healthy and fit enough to do these things.  

44 minutes ago, Etta1213 said:

Why the gas difference? Is PA taxing it?

PA has the second highest gas taxes, just behind California.  They also say that our higher prices is due to our stations being supplied by the New York market vs. Ohio getting theirs from the Chicago market.

Our local stations try to keep their prices a little lower than stations in our county that are not as close to the border.  For us, it makes sense to make a short drive and save.

14 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

How far are you from the Ohio border?

We are about 2 miles from the border, which is nice, because we can get gas $0.70-$1.00 a gallon cheaper than here in PA.

The place we hiked was about a 50 minute drive for us.

12 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

The photo shows the lack of privacy on deck 8 promenade conservatory suites.

That looks similar to the layout of the Cabana Cabins on deck 9 of the new Sun Princess.

This is a portion of Iona deck 8 plan

11 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Thanks, Graham.

 

I really have trouble understanding the promenade cum lack of privacy "thing" of those mini-suites. Those balconies do not "border" with the sea? Is the promenade between the sea and those balconies????

It looks like the promenade in front of those cabins

On Sun Princess, it is similar, but it is a cabana deck where anyone in a cabana on that deck could be in front of your cabin.  That was one reason we didn’t book there. 

1 minute ago, dani negreanu said:

National Express buses and trains -- all require additional transfers by taxi.

I would add that “it depends”.   We took National Express from Heathrow, then walked from the station to the Holiday Inn.  But then, you know we are walkers. 
 

This map is from my report.

2 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

What an trail!  I am impressed that you & your wife happily did an extreme trail with no research.  If I saw an extreme rating, I would be “heck,no!”.  The kiddos made me aware of Alltrails last year, so now, every time DH suggests a bushwalk that is new to me, Alltrails reviews are my go to. Basically I want to know how many stairs are involved….

We have had the Alltrails app for a few years.  When we are traveling, we will use it to find walking trails near where we are staying.

The extreme trail was only 0.2 miles long, so I guess we figured if it got too bad, we would just turn and go back.  I think the only extreme portion was getting to the end, and realizing we had to climb the rock face to get out.  

2 hours ago, sgmn said:

There's a story in my online Times about Brits going to USA just to see the eclipse.

You're so lucky it's in your neighbourhood.  Enjoy !!

Our house is within the path of totality also, so we just have to go outside and look up.

We have rain forecast this morning, but it should clear out in time for the eclipse.  They are projecting 35% to 55% cloud cover at that time.  Yesterday would have been perfect with no clouds in the sky. 

6 hours ago, voyager70 said:

Beautiful pics but that second one practically gave me a panic attack just looking at it. No way would I have been able to even attempt that and I’m a pretty skinny guy!

I do admit that you had to be a contortionist to squeeze through some places.  
 

One small cave we went in, we found this guy trying to squeeze through this opening. 

He did make it through, but not without help.  We opted to go back out the way we came in. 

It was a beautiful day for hiking today, so we traveled to Nelson-Kennedy Ledges State Park in Ohio. They had four short trails.  One listed as easy, two listed as moderate, and one listed as extreme.  

There were quite a few large sandstone rock formations that made for an interesting hike.  We hadn’t watched any videos or researched the trails prior to jumping in. 

On the extreme trail, we made it through the fat man’s peril.

The trail kept getting narrower, and we got to the portion appropriately named “the squeeze”.

When you got through the squeeze, you ended up in the devil’s ice box.  The way out is straight up the rock wall where you can see a little daylight about 15-20 feet up. I had to climb up to a ledge, help Susan up, and repeat until we made the top. 

There were a couple waterfalls along the trails.  This one was at the end of an easy trail. 

Our last trail at this park took us on a moderate path.  Through the “dwarf’s pass”

And on to find the waterfall at the end of this trail. 

If you look at the top right of the photo, you can see someone sitting at the top of the rock, so it gives an idea of scale.  

One neat thing was the the gold miner’s cave that was behind those falls. 

1 hour ago, dani negreanu said:

Beautiful itinerary, Graham  @grapau27, including the famous Belgian chocolates.

I second that @grapau27 Graham.   That wonderful food is making me hungry. 

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

Kids 752 (Way too many) as school is in session 😳

Spring break for schools in the US do not always correspond to Easter break.  My grandson in CA starts their spring break tomorrow.  
 

They are headed to Universal Studios in CA again.

31 minutes ago, FromSea2ShiningSea said:

An open air Onsen- a hot spring - with a view of the beach 

Great photos.  
 

I can see me enjoying this!

31 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

They must have given him the high octane blood, because we was zooming around the house.  

That really should have said he, and not we.  No zooming on our part.😂😂

Now, for the important question.  Has anyone done the “Swimming with Pigs…” excursion at Nassau?  I just booked it this morning for the seven of us.   I already have an idea how this will go.   
 

My granddaughter will probably try to latch on to one and ride it like a dolphin.

Her brother will be a little more cautious and will wait to see if one eats his sister before getting close to one.

My CA grandson will probably try to keep away from them at all costs

As for the four adults, who knows how that will go?

At least it didn’t say I was too old to book this one.

So, has anyone done it, and how was it?

3 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

I know that this is a Royal forum but I have to share this.  DD finally did her check-in for our upcoming cruise.  She loves cruising but hasn’t cruised Princess before.  This morning when she FaceTimed me, she told she had done her check-in and excitedly announced that she was getting a medallion.  I said yes, the medallion is needed to open the cabin door.  Her face dropped and she said “oh, does everyone get one?” 
🤣

Oh, we will be getting medallions for our January cruise.  Our last sailing on Princess was 2017, and they were just introducing them on one ship but not the one we were on.
 

I am looking forward to seeing if they can really do everything they advertise they can do.   I would hope so, especially since we will be on their newest ship.  Sitting by the pool and ordering a drink or food with it, and them delivering it to your lounger sounds fantastic. 
 

Speaking of medallions, evidently they will be giving out Pioneer Medallions at my 50 year college reunion this summer.

2 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

I’ve not heard of this either.  Glad Ricky is ok. How do cats become anaemic?  Does your daughter have pet insurance?

Unfortunately, they do not have pet insurance.   Now the question becomes if they can get some going forward.  Or, do they charge higher rates for pre existing conditions.

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

What is the cause of the anemia?

From what I read, there are several things that can cause anemia in cats.  They were of the opinion that it was something he had picked up at the shelter that got worse over time.  They thought probably from worms, that he had been treated for, and maybe that was contributing to him being such a docile cat.

2 hours ago, Luckynana said:

@h20skibum   Wow Mark.  I'm so glad that Ricky is okay.  Now that he's had his transfusion and they know he is anemic, how will they be handling his anemia?  Pills?  Diet?  Interesting to hear that cat's do not have a universal blood type.  I myself, am a Universal Donor with my type 0 neg. I'm also RH neg.

I don’t know yet if they have any instructions, diet or otherwise.  They did tell them what to look for though.

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

 

Such good news. Though expensive at least it will enhance his life for the better.

 

Ricky was the perfect therapy for all of them, after the passing of Lucy. (The only cat my grandkids knew before Ricky)

54 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Mark, @h20skibum

 

My veterinary "knowledge" stems from the show "The Incredible Dr. Pol". There, usually when an animal was anemic, first thing he looked for were parasites -- coccidia, mites, etc.

 

Assuming it's not the case, hopefully it's a "one-off" for Ricky 😘

That seems to have been the case, so hopefully they have things addressed going forward.
 

52 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

Poor Ricky 🤞

We were over at their house this morning, when Ricky made his triumphant return.  My granddaughter was worried his fur would not grow back on his front legs that had been shaved.  They must have given him the high octane blood, because we was zooming around the house.  

2 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Never thought I'd see anyone even close to Gretzky's records.  His assists and points records are probably safe.  Impressive accomplishments for both Sid and Ovechkin.  Between Lemieux, Jagr, and Crosby, Pittsburgh always seems to have great scorers.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ovechkin play in his 40’s.  Jagr did, and he is still playing at 52, although no longer in the NHL. 
 

It has been a treat to see some of these greats play.  

I learned some things about cats, this week, that I didn’t know.  

You may remember a few of my photos of Ricky, who lives with my daughter and her family.  Ricky, is arguably the strangest cat I have ever encountered.  Never once has he ever nipped or scratched anyone. 

This week, Ricky became very lethargic.  Not interested in food, wouldn’t play, and was not himself.  When they took him to the vet, they diagnosed him as anemic, and sent him to a facility in Ohio to have his blood typed.  Once typed, they had to find another facility that had his blood type to do a transfusion.  

I never knew there were such things as cat blood donors, or transfusions for cats. There is no such thing as a universal donor blood type for cats.  

They said that Ricky would not have survived another day if they had not acted so quickly.  He should be coming home today, from Akron, where he finally ended up for his transfusion.  

I know everyone will be overjoyed to see him return home.  They just wish he wasn’t bringing that $$$$ bill with him.  
 

10 minutes ago, exm said:

The problem with the clearance of the Francis Scott Key bridge, is that the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is (also) limited to 185ft so I'm not sure if they will be raising the collapsed bridge.

If they are approaching it responsibly, they will be looking at the needs in the future.  Since bridges are being built for 100+ years life span, they need to look to the future. 
 

Increasing clearances on CBB may need to be addressed at some point.  Ships will continue to increase in size.  Just look at the changes in the past 100 years that resulted in new locks in the Panama Canal to accommodate larger ships.  
 

For all of our hockey fans on this thread, I wasn’t aware that Sid was close to one of Gretzky’s records.  Monday’s game assured that he will have averaged a point a game for 19 straight years. 
 

Quite an accomplishment, and I can’t believe he has been playing for 19 years.   Now, if by some miracle, the Pens could make that playoff cut, all would be right in Pen’s land.

1 hour ago, beach_fever_4ever said:

We were on the Enchanted In January, cabin A703. Put tape on the light sensor and the light still came on. Put several layers of tape over the sensor, it still came on, but not as often. Talked to the cabin steward about the problem so he folded up a laundry bag and taped it over the entire light fixture. The light would still randomly come on in the middle of the night while we were in bed. Don't know why ????

I think I saw that some ships have a second sensor under the bath vanity.  Maybe that is why. 

It is mornings like this that I get depressed, looking at the forecast.  
 

At least we had 4 hours yesterday that it didn’t rain.  
 

By the way, rabbit, rabbit, white rabbit did not bring me Powerball luck last night.