Quartzsite Cruiser

Good morning from a cloudy central Texas. It will be hot again today. The UN Peacekeepers do good work, and unfortunately are needed too often. Since we don't have a garden, we don't compost, but younger DD does. DH will be watching the Indianapolis 500, and maybe, part of the replay of F1 from Monaco. He has wanted to go to the Indy 500 at least once, but we never made it there. We were in Monaco the week before the F1 race, and saw all the preparations. The quote is interesting. We'll pass on the drink and the wine. I'll check out the recipe later. We have been to Raiatea seveal times, but mostly in the pre-digital age. I will look for the pictures Sandi @StLouisCruisers and I posted later. @StLouisCruisers Sandi, glad your having a great cruise. I hope the Captain's Circle hostess is not sick, especially with Covid. @Mr. Boston Sorry you're having a bad reaction to the booster, but it is ma samll price for improved immunity. @dfish Debbie, I'm gald your back is better. @mamaofami Carol, enjoy the pool and the time with friends. Have a great evening at the Peter, Paul and Mary tribute show. It's time to make the sauce, potato salad and baked beans to go with our smoked pork shoulder tonight. I'll most likely need to make more rub for the meat. Lenda

Terri, the Daily isn't like many of the other threads. We have Dailyites who cruise other cruise lines, those who cruse HAL exclusively and those like DH and myself cruise HAL and other lines. All are welcome on the Daily, and all contribute to the thread. You are definitely part of the Daily family. Lenda

Good afternoon. It's still windy, but the wind is not enough to make it comfortable to sit on the patio in the 94F heat, especially since our humidity is up. I did get some outside time this morning. DH and I changed the spark plugs in one of the cars. That has always been one of his jobs, but in the last two years, he has been teaching me to do some of the things he does. He helped me take the cover off the valves and spark plugs because it is a tight fit under a large hose. He also had to help loosen some of the spark plugs so I could take them out. In an abundance of caution, once they were out, he started screwing the spark plugs back in since I have been known to cross thread a few things. 🤣 Then, I finished getting them in place and the covers back on the spark plugs. It also took both of us to get the cover back in place. Since it had been 8 years when the spark plugs were last changed, and the car is 27 years old, we probably won't have to change them again. And I didn't have to get under the car. 👍 Evidently, things were done correctly, because we took the car into town to run a few errands. Naturally, we had to go to three stores to get everything we needed. @Overhead Fred Fred, I'm very thankful you made it back to shore and the cabin before the storm hit, and that you didn't have any damage. I'm sorry about all the damage in the surrounding area. @St Pete Cruiser Thank you for your wonderful pictures of Barcelona. @Live4cruises I'm glad you are enjoying your retirement and are traveling. Welcome home and back to the Daily for a little while. @AncientWanderer So happy your DH has tested negative today. @bennybear Thank you for your pictures of Kanasawa. It looks lovely. @HAL4NOW What a lovely story and I liked the way the husband handled the chiding. @dfish I'm going to save the recipe (once I decided on which one, and try it in the air fryer. I have learned to do chicken fried steak and chicken parmesan in the air fryer. I have not been as successful with fried chicken. It tasted all right, but was not as crispy as I wanted it. I'm glad the Doesn't smell Like Walter cream worked. Poor Walter, no one wants to be around him anymore. 🤣 We're giving the missing packages a few more days; then, we'll call Amazon again and UPs. @Copper10-8 Thank you for the hamburger memes today. Glad to see you on the Daily again. @cruzn single I understand what you were going through with the banking h**l. Our bank was bought out last year. The new bank sent us an 18 page 😱 instruction manual about the change over, and how and when to notify those who were auto-depositing and auto-debiting our accounts. Fortunately, they had notified the correct government alphabet agency, and all the involved parties made the switch for us. But it was a very stressful time, until two phone calls to our local branch reassured me it would work out. Why couldn't they have said that in the first place. The time before when I bank was bought out, we didn't even know anything until it was all over. All the new owners were because one of the vice-presidents embezzled millions of dollars over several years to fund her gambling habit in Las Vegas. She is now a "guest" of the Federal government. BTW, enjoy your new volunteer position. @HAL Sailer As @ger_77 Gerry said, most of us were new here at one time. We have all been made to feel welcome, and you are part of the Daily family. @Cruzin Terri Terri, I wouldn't worry. I think we are past yesterday. @lcand1923 I'm sorry you felt you needed to cancel two cruises, but I also totally understand. We had talked about a couple of cruises this summer, but don't feel comfortable flying or being so far from home. The advantage of our cruises this winter was we drove to San Diego, and could drive home if we were unlucky enough to get Covid.. Lenda

Good morning from, you guessed it, sunny, windy, and hot central Texas. Amnesty Internal does great work and deserves a day. I like jazz occasionally. Hamburgers were on the menu tomorrow, with smoked pork butt on Monday. Tonight, I'd planned to have the leftover chicken cacciatore. Instead, I think we'll have the hamburgers tonight, the pork tomorrow and the leftovers Monday. The Kurt Vonnegut quote is interesting, but it is easier to be myself. In other words, what you see here is me, but without seeing the Irish temper I inherited from my parents. I try to keep in in check, but once in a while watch out. The recipes look interesting today. @dfish Debbie, I wonder if it could be "fried" in the air fryer and then finished on the stove top with the sauce. We'll pass on the drink and the wine. We have not been to Kanasawa, Japan. The Daily has made me realize how much more of Japan we need to see. @richwmn Rich, I don't thank you often enough for creating the Daily from the Fleet Report, and for providing all of us with a safe haven the past 2+ years. Also, thank you to @rafinmd Roy, for the lists, @dfish Debbie for all the wonderful recipes, @cat shepard Ann, for the wine reviews, and @summer slope Dixie, for the drink recipes. A big thank you to all the Dailyites who contribute to this wonderful place whether you post daily or only occasionally. @Mr. Boston Glad you are getting your booster and I hope you don't have too bad a reaction. I hope your DH is feeling better soon from his booster. @Cruzin Terri Terri, I don't want to jinx you, but glad you could report two days of feeling good. Sending good thoughts for many more such days. @dfish Debbie, I hope your back feels better soon. @puppycanducruise I loved your meme. It reminded me of our two dachshunds who had the please drop something look down to perfection. I brought back sweet memories. @mamaofami Carol, I'm glad you have your email problems solved, and I also hope the on-line company was legit. @ger_77 Gerry, be safe on the roads in the rain. @grapau27 Graham, I agree with you about the phone scammers putting their brains to better use. @travelnap Like you, I'm not big on social media. I do have a FB account to be able to keep up with classmates and what is happening in Quartzsite when we are gone. I very rarely post anything on it, and don't go there often. There are too many people calling others horrible names and telling them their ideas, beliefs and opinions are wrong. It's not the friendly place we have here. @Sharon in AZ Sharon, have a safe flight tomorrow and a wonderful trip. 🛳️ BON VOYAGE 🥂 Now, I need to check the tracking on three packages that UPS has managed to misplace in the last two weeks. The fourth package did turn up finally, but after we had received the replacement. They all seemed to drop off UPS tracking. It's very frustrating. Lenda

I for one would hate to see the Daily come to an end. As I've said before, when I first joined the Daily it became a lifeline during a very trying and uncertain time. Since then, I've found a "family" here and a refuge from what was and is going on in the world at large. Like all families, we've had our ups and downs, but have managed to overcome them. If we try, we can overcome this latest upheaval. @kazu Jacqui, it has been a pleasure to see your posts and to get to know you. I know you are going through a extremely difficult time, and we're here to support you any way we can. Please, take sometime for yourself and also consider what you mean to all of us on the Daily. I sincerely hope you will reconsider and continue to be a part of this unquine and supportive thread on CC. If you still feel you need to leave, please know we will miss you and wish you well in the future. Lenda

Roy, I wonder if some brave soul, not me, should try writing his name to see if it's still on the naughty list. 🤣 Lenda

A quick good afternoon before the next dryer load finishes. Other than laundry, not much is going on around here today. @Vict0riann Ann, thank you for sharing your pictures. @smitty34877 Terry, 🎂 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUR SON! 🎈 @JazzyV Vanessa, I was sorry to see your county was elevated to "high transmission" level. I'm glad you are wearing your mask and staying safe. Take care. @ger_77 Gerry, over the last 18 months or so, I've noticed we've lost quite a few posters who were active early in the history of the Daily and in the months that followed.. They are missed, but we also have gained many new Dailyites who also contribute to this safe haven on CC. @Judypops Welcome to the Daily, which is a very friendly and helpful thread on CC. For me and I think many of the others, politics is the big no-no. We hope to see more of you in the coming days and weeks. Lenda

Here are Sandi's @StLouisCruisers post and pictures of their stop in Pago Pago. The Italics are mine to distinguish her post from my part. DH and I took a 2014 South Pacific cruise on Golden Princess which visited both the capital of Samoa (Apia) and Pago Pago, American Samoa. One thing I will never forget is the man on the ship who was arrested in Pago Pago for stealing a laptop on the ship. I always wondered what happened to him. That's a long way from home to be in legal trouble! We did not take a tour out into the countryside so I was glad to see what that looked like thanks to @daisybertie. We walked around the town and then had a couple of U.S. National Park Service team members come aboard the ship to give a presentation on the local animals, birds and plant life. I am sure no other Park Service members wear the garment called a lavalava. Just don't call it a skirt! Also one thing we were told is Pago Pago is pronounced Pango Pango, and I would like to know if anyone here has ever been told that before? Please verify if you know that for sure. I wouldn't want to offend our American Samoan people. View of the little harbor as our ship backed into it's place at the pier in Pago Pago. The townspeople were all set up on the dock with their tents and local items for sale. A lot of shopping went on. Flower arrangements did very well that day. At the edge of the dock area was the main street where folks could meet their tours or head off in either direction for an exploration. A bus filling up for their tour. An artist made this dead tree trunk into a work of art. Instructions on where to go in case of a tsunami warning. Marketplace Things may be laid back here but I don't advise any animal take a rest in the middle of the street. Made it easy to mail a postcard back to the mainland from this U.S. Territory. I enjoy anyplace that has lush vegetation like this. Back on the ship we head the presentation described above from the National Park Service and got to speak to team members. Sorry for the quality of the next photo. The sail away was beautiful that afternoon. I especially enjoyed the mist over the reefs here.

Good morning from sunny central Texas. I try not to fry when working the yard, and I have the sun screen sitting next to my sun glasses so I'll remember to use it. Never was into wigs. I like today's quote. The meal reminds me of the Turkish meatballs we had in Trabzon. They are more like a patty, but very good. I doubt I'll ever make them or today's meal. We'll pass on the drink, but the wine sounds good with a very attractive price. We have not been to Pago Pago, but I did find @StLouisCruisers Sandi's pictures from April 5, 2021, and I'll post them soon. We saw Sandi and DH as the Island Princess sailed. I hope they are enjoying a wonderful cruise. @lindaler Linda, I'm glad the major part of the move is finished and that you found time to kayak. Hope the sale of your cabin and the drive back to Mobile goes smoothly. @ottahand7 Glad you got all the systems at the cabin working. Hope the new batteries arrive soon. @smitty34877 Terry, I hope that with help, Tana and her wheelchair are able to get up to the patio. Being outside should lift her morale. @aliaschief Bruce, thank you for your pictures of Pago Pago. It is on the bucket list. @Crazy For Cats Thank you for your lovely pictures, especially the bearded iris. It is such an unusual color combination. @Horizon chaser 1957 Safe travels to your nephew's, and enjoy his DD's ballet performance. @durangoscots Susan, I hope the winds this weekend don't make that fire more dangerous. We've driven the highway between Ouray and Durango, and I definitely would not want to ride a bicycle on it, much less do a bicycle race. 🤣 🚲 Lenda

Good afternoon. It looks the Daily has been busy while I was sitting outside finishing my book. Our DDs attended Sally K. Ride Elementary School in The Woodlands, TX. She was at the dedication of the school, but that was before we moved there. Finally, the replacement lawn mower came this afternoon. Fortunately, it was easy to put together. Basically all we needed to do was attach the top part of the handle to the bottom part; then, we took it for a short test drive. I think it will work well, but the grass doesn't need mowing yet. Now, we're wondering if the MIA mower will turn up, or if not, how we'll ever return it as Amazon wants. I think I see a few more phone calls in our future. @dfish Debbie, I know what you mean about smelling like Walter. We ordered the Amazon version of another popular ointment, and I thought Walter was in the room with me. 😉 @cunnorl Safe travels and enjoy the wedding. @ger_77 Gerry, that is nice your birth family has welcomed you. @AncientWanderer Maxine, I'm glad you are still testing negative. I hope your DH tests negative soon too. @JazzyV Vanessa, I'm sorry your eye flared up again. Good news about the drugs being covered. Glad your UK friend came through the surgery, and wish her a speedy recovery. @lazey1 Glad you tested negative and enjoy your cruise. @durangoscots Yes, you need a cruise. Hope the fire is contained and is out soon. @mamaofami Carol, you should be very proud of your grandson. Hope your email is restored soon. Lenda

Graham, I'm glad you found something that works. What we like about Aspercreme is the lidocaine, which deadens the pain, and you don't have to rub it in for long or hard. Lenda

@grapau27 Graham, DH uses Aspercreme on his knees at bedtime, and it works all night. If you don't have Aspercreme in the UK, it is a cream or lotion that has lidocaine as an ingredient. It can also be applied every few hours. Lenda

Good morning from sunny central Texas. Sally K. Ride was a true pioneer for women. My mother was a redhead, more auburn, but at times she did have a temper. I an not a big fan of Dracula. When I read the qoute, my thought was, I must have tried more new things than I realized. We'll pass on the meal and wine, but might try the wine even with hints of latex and band-aid. We have not been to today's port. @rafinmd Roy, I hope the cabin change goes smoothly. @grapau27 Graham, the steroid shots can work wonders. @kazu Jacqui, glad you aren't having a bad reaction to the booster. I also think a slight reaction is a small price to pay. @smitty34877 Terry, I hope Tana is in for many better days and nights. @cat shepard Ann, congratulations to your grand nephew. @Heartgrove Jack, sending good thoughts for continued improvement for your brother. Glad he did not have a heart attack. Lenda

This afternoon turned into a nice day. The sun is out and the temperature is comfortable even though it is still windy. DH and I spent part of the afternoon fixing the generator on the motorhome. Truth be told, DH did the work, and I was the gofer. 😄 He first thought it was the switch on the dashboard, but it wasn't, which was probably good since the switches are difficult to change. We then had to slide the generator out the front of the motorhome, which is done by pushing a switch. But before we could push the switch, we had to loosen the plexiglass "bra" on the front of the motorhome, after we moved the shelves and table in front of it. Long story short, it was one of three 15amp fuses, and once it was changed, the generator started right up. It was moving things and loosening then reattaching the bra that took the time. @kazu Jacqui, I'm happy that getting the booster went so well. Just YIKES 😱 on the mess with the bank. Hope the rest of your day was better. @sailingdutchy Tony, I wish I had an answer to your question. It should be none, but I'm afraid too many people will not let that happen. @Cat in my lap That is good news that your DH's surgery went well, and he is home and doing well. Hope the pain subsides quickly. @grapau27 Graham, sending good wishes for a good report tomorrow. Hope the doctor has an answer for your sore knees. Also, hope your PSA test results are good. Lenda

Thank you @bennybear for you nice comment. I think I found Sandi's missing picture. Ah, found it. It hadn't been uploaded to Shutterfly where I store photos I use in my photo books. This little dog was waiting outside this bakery for his owner. Right on the door is a sticker saying no dogs allowed. I hope his owner brought him out a treat for being so patient. Cute!

A few days ago, @StLouisCruisers Sandi, said if I came across her pictures of the port of the day, I could repost them. So this is what she posted on March5, 2021, about Oslo. She had many of the same pictures I had, so I only posted a few different ones. Every day we can now look forward to our port of the day and the memories it brings back to us. Today's port of Oslo is a good one. We saw it twice on the Emerald Princess in 2011 on back to back cruises. Then twice on Prinsendam in 2016 and 2017. So much to see there! On our early visit we walked from the ship to Vigeland Sculpture park. Everyone should see that. On one of our visits we walked to the Opera House and walked on the sloping roof. On another visit we walked to 5 Sophies Gate to find Harry Hole's apartment in the Jo Nesbo books. Apparently a lot of people do this because on one corner a local saw us and pointed the correct direction to head, without even asking us for sure what we were looking for. DH is a big fan of the Jo Nesbo books. You dock next to the Akershus Fortress so it has to be one of the best places to dock in all our cruises. Here it is: It's right across the street from your ship. Amazing! The Oslo Opera House. On the roof. Vigeland Sculpture park 5 Sophies Gate, Harry Hole's apartment in the books by Jo Nesbo They even put his name on the doorbell ringer. I had another photo I wanted to share with you but I can't find it. It's in one of the cruise photo books I make, so it has to be here somewhere. If I find it I will share later.

Good afternoon from a now sunny but still cool central Texas. Our weather this week has been more like early spring in April, but we'll be in the 90s for the Memorial Day Weekend. I spent part of the morning trying to straighten out a mess with two packages from Amazon. They want us to return the lawn mower that was never delivered since they are sending a replacement. UPS came by last night to pick the return up, but of course there was nothing to return. We'll see what happens next. Another package was picked up Monday, but Amazon thinks we have not shipped it. The tracking number says it is no in Nashville on the way to Lexington, KY. We'll see what happens when the package arrives at Amazson. Thank you to @kazu Jacqui, @HAL4NOW and @JazzyV Vanessa for your kind words about part of my earlier post. @JazzyV Vanessa, I hope your friend is doing well after her surgery.. I also hope those in Rheumatology have an answer for your hip pain. @durangoscots Susan, I hope they get the new fire under control soon. Stay safe. @Crazy For Cats I liked the cat meme today. This is what I posted on March 5, 2021, from our visits to Oslo. We have been lucky enough to visit Oslo four times, with three of those times being on the Prinsendam in 2011 (North Cape and Murmansk cruise), 2016 and 2017. The first time there was on the Marco Polo on a North Cape cruise. Of course, we visited all the major highlights, but the last time, we took the tram out to a part of town that is off the beaten path. It was interesting to see areas without the tourists (except us) and how the locals lived. I tried to find some pictures that showed some places other than the main tourist places, but included some well known sites. The first two are the Radhuset where the Nobel Peace prize is awarded, and the part of hall where the ceremony is held. This one is a view of the Vigeland park from the top. The next two are from the Viking Ship Museum and the Fram Museum. The Fram was the ship that Roald Amundsen sailed to Antarctica on his exploration to the South Pole. In the same area as these museums are the Kon Tiki Museum and the Norsk Maritimt Museum, which was very interesting. These next to are for those who like to stroll through food markets and flower markets. They were set up in a open area in front of the Oslo Cathedral. We were lucky enough to be able to "crash" a tour of the auditorium in the Opera House, but the pictures are not as good as I'd like because of the lighting. Of course we also walked on the roof. I'll leave you with an overview of Oslo, from across the bay at the museum area. The highlight of the picture is the blue hulled beauty that brought us to this fabulous city. Lenda

Good morning from a cloudy, windy central Texas. We had some wild thunder and lightning last night (which I slept through), and best of al we got about 9/10 inch of much needed rain. I don't know how parents of missing children handle it, especially the not knowing. I brown bagged it during my working years. @grapau27 Graham, thank you for the explanation of towel day. Our older DD would have known what it was as she read A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy many times. I'm not sure I agree with the Jane Austen quote in most cases. We'll pass on the meal, drink and wine. We have been to Oslo several times, and I'll look for my pictures when I get back from my errand. @cat shepard Ann, enjoy your grand nephew's 8th grade graduation. @kazu Congratulations on getting your booster. I hope the bank problem is resolved by the time you are home. @mamaofami Carol, your grandson is to be congratulated on making the finals in the coding competition and for his patent. I know you and Sam are proud grandparents. @ottahand7 Glad you made it to the cabin safely and I hope all the problems are easily solved. @kochleffel Thank you for your pictures of your trip and the cats. When I posted the memes yesterday with the comment that I thought we could all use a laugh, I had not heard about the horrible shooting in Uvalde. If I had, I would not have posted the memes. I apologize to anyone who was offended and thought I was making light of the tragedy. Reading the Daily yesterday, it seemed to me that many of us were a little down, and my only thought was to cheer us up. Lenda