bobmacliberty

So happy Dani to hear that you have the family all together for Passover!

5 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Today, the excitement ramped up even further.  We dressed in four layers then headed to our Whale watch tour out of Nanaimo, where we were provided with a head to toe expedition suit and goggles.  Boarded our zodiac with 7 others + naturalist + crew/photographer and Captain.  Then spent the most wonderful 4 hours on the water.  After seeing stellar sea lions, harbour seals, humpback whale, we continued on all the way up near to Squamish in the water.  In this absolutely beautiful water, surrounded by snow capped mountains and we saw ORCAS!!!  We spent about an hour just drifting as this family of four orcas (mum & 3 sons - one only 1 year old) swam nearby.  Our Zodiac was the only one there.  We had this magic to ourselves.  I was almost in tears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Took a solid 1hr high speed ride back to Nanaimo but it was so worth it and in all the gear, ours & theirs, we were toasty warm despite the cold temps on the open zodiac.
 

Looks like an absolutely amazing trip!

3 hours ago, LadyZolt said:

 

I see what you did there. 😁 Great picture!

1 hour ago, h20skibum said:

Before last summer, I knew nothing of Harry Potter.  Never read the books or saw any movies.

I don't know how this is even possible. 🤣  The activities that you plan for your grandkids are just amazing.  Again, will you adopt me?

While living in Ohio, we had a huge Halloween party and every year was a different theme.  Of course, one year was Harry Potter.  I'm still amazed at the Goblin that Micheline made from Gringott's bank.

30 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

In fact, it might be easier and cheaper for me to pack a couple suitcases, a few boxes of pictures & mementos'  and leave behind whatever doesn't fit in the back of an SUV.

We moved less than half of what we owned.  Some things wouldn't look good in Florida and needed to be replaced (according to Micheline, happy wife... 😁).  We, in order, gave some to our kids, sold some on FB Marketplace or a local consignment shop, donated some to Goodwill, left some for the new owners (who confirmed that they wanted it), and threw the rest in the 1-800-GOT-JUNK dumpster.  I know that someone got a really nice, solid mahogany dining room set in nearly perfect condition for a LOT less than we paid for it many years ago.

Fun night last night with a bonfire on the beach.

11 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Billy Joel, Live at MSG is on TV. He still sounds really good!

Great show in person.  I've recorded it but haven't watched it yet.

Inflation can definitely sneak up on you.  It seems like just yesterday that I could buy a takeout lunch meal for a little more than $5.  Now, it's more than $10.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the average US inflation rate for the past 20 years, smoothing out the shorter-term impacts of world events, politics, etc.  It's 2.43%.  That means something that cost $10 in 2004 would cost more than $16 today.  Inflation over the last few years has been higher than average, peaking at more than 9% in June 2022, so increased prices recently are real. Obviously, some items will see a higher inflation rate, and some will see a lower inflation rate. 

When we moved 4 years ago, we incorrectly thought that our moving quote included packing.  We called a couple of days before the move date asking when they'd be there to pack.  Oops.  We spent the next couple of days feverishly packing and making numerous trips to Lowes for more boxes and bubble wrap.  The movers just loaded and unloaded everything.

The quote that we received from Two Men and a Truck was a bit more because it was 2 dedicated drivers who would drive directly from our old house to our new house after loading the truck, with one stop overnight.  The same guys that loaded would then unload, and our stuff wouldn't get mixed in with stuff from other people.  We preferred this but we weren't going directly to our new house and the truck would have arrived before us.  We instead went with Allied Moving.  They put our stuff in a truck, put it in storage for a couple of days, and then later combined it with other stuff from someone else headed to the same area as us, so get more efficiency from a full truck.  This meant extra moving of boxes and furniture between storage and trucks which caused a lot of damage for us.  I can't imagine that everyone who moves would have the same amount of damage that we had, so we must have been an unusual situation.  Still, I'd make sure that we use the Two Men and a Truck model of point to point moving the next time (although I hope there isn't a next time 😁) to avoid additional handling and damage.

52 minutes ago, DeltaOne said:

 

I found some info here:

 

https://www.frommers.com/tips/cruise/icon-of-the-seas-doesnt-have-enough-lifeboatson-purpose

 

Here's the pertinent part:

 

Icon of the Seas, like an increasing number of vessels, is also equipped with what the maritime industry terms a Marine Evacuation System (MES). When a signal to abandon ship is issued by the bridge, MES systems deploy escape tubes over a ship's sides. Escaping passengers make their way down the tubes using an internal ladder system and descend into rafts that are capable of fully inflating within 90 seconds.

 

Per the article, 17 lifeboats at 450 people per boat equals 7650 person lifeboat capacity.  Also per the article, double occupancy is 5610 guests.  The ship will often be more than double occupancy but still plenty of lifeboat capacity for guests.  I agree that they'd probably use the MES system just for crew, especially if there's some training needed.

14 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

Link has been bookmarked & saved for a rainy day or sleepless night. 

 

The whole premise of Postmodern Jukebox sound very familiar and now I realize I have seen some of their performances when one of my most favorite American Idols to never win Idol "guest performed (??)" on some of their songs.   It seems they have a rotating cast of lead singers.

 

Haley Reinhart performing Radio Heads "Creep"

 

 

 

Haley is definitely my favorite singer in the PMJ videos.  As one commenter put it, "Haley has a way of curling her voice around lyrics like smoke".  Love that gravely tone that she can toss in.  Her version of Seven Nation Army is incredible.  

12 minutes ago, Keksie said:

Not that long ago but classics: Princess Bride, and Blazing Saddles.  

Princess Bride has some all-time great quotes:

"Hello.  My name is Inigo Montoyo. You killed my father.  Prepare to die."

"Inconceivable!"

"You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means."

2 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

Does this seem like an excessive price to anyone?

 

 

 

48 Bulk Pecan Turtles In Burgundy And Gold Gift Box 14 Oz. (Bulk)

Bulk These gift box includes 24 mouth-watering Pecan Turtles, seven-eighths pound. Available in elegant burgundy and gold gift box and foil-stamped with your logo on the cover. Get these now have an awesome impact when you use these as your promotional giveaway!

 

$1,648

 

If the box is made of 1 oz of solid gold, it's a bargain!

I'm a Hitchcock fan.  Rear Window and North by Northwest are 2 of my favorites.  For comedies, I always enjoy Some Like It Hot.

Every now and then I go down a YouTube rabbit hole.  My latest journey involves a musical group called Postmodern Jukebox.  They re-arrange popular songs in completely different and older styles.  The first one that I saw was Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar on Me done in a 1960s early soul style.  That led me to Shania Twain's Man! I Feel Like a Woman! in a 1950s Marilyn Monroe style and Kiss's I Was Made For Lovin' You in a spaghetti western style (with an incredible singer).  They have hundreds (literally) of songs that they've redone in jazz, soul, swing, doo-wop, R&B...you name it.  They've done songs from Fleetwood Mac, Michael Jackson, Lizzo, Spice Girls, Blondie, ELO, The Police, Pearl Jam, Taylor Swift, Huey Lewis, U2, Rihanna...the list goes on and on.  

If you're looking to kill some time watching some very talented musicians, their main YouTube page is here.  Don't say that I didn't warn you. 😁

1 hour ago, akcruz said:

 

 

We have it all recorded and started watching the 1st episode but was not in the mood for subtitles that night so didn't finish it.  Keep saying we will try again but reluctant due to them.  Do all episodes have as many subtitles? 

Yes.  The majority of dialog is in Japanese with subtitles throughout the series.  I'm used to reading closed captioning, so it doesn't bother me.  

7 minutes ago, George C said:

I also enjoy Shogun but I would have preferred that there was less Japanese with English subtitles. 

I have closed captioning turned on anyway. 😜  Although it's a little bit of a pain to read the subtitles, I think it's more authentic having 2 Japanese people speaking to each other in Japanese.  It also makes sense when a Japanese person is speaking and Blackstone doesn't understand, and makes it easier to know when Blackstone and Mariko are speaking in English.

20 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

The 2024 show Shogun was very highly recommended to me.It is on Hulu but I do not have that.

We are watching Shogun.  It's excellent.  It's also on FX, if you have access to that channel and can watch the episodes that were aired previously.  The only thing I don't like is that you need to wait a week for another episode.  I've become spoiled binge watching.

9 hours ago, HBE4 said:

I was at the NY Auto Show last week and every manufacture had their electric cars displayed  proudly front and center under bright lights  while the older cars were relegated to the dark, back corners.  While talking with the many automotive representatives there, they told me the biggest obstacle in selling EV is most people have "range anxiety",  that they will get stranded when their car run out of juice. The irony there is that study after study shows that something like 80% of people will typically (key word) refuel their gas-powered car after driving 300-350 miles which is within range of most EV. Again, talking typical range, not maximum range. So their "range anxiety" is really unfounded. 

 

The bigger obstacle is charging time.  Rapid chargers have reduced empty-to-full charging time from several hours to as little as 30 minutes, which is still substantially longer then the 5 minutes it takes for gas cars. One big benefit to EV's is that you can charge your car at home, which you can't do with a gas-powered car. So there's that. People just will need to get in the habit of plugging in their cars at night, just like they do with the cell phones. 

 

And for most driving needs - going to work, school, shopping, etc - that will be just fine. It's the long road trips where you need to fill up 4 or 5 times what it still the big obstacle that the industry needs to work out.

 

All the other "obstacles" being suggested - not enough electricity in the power grid, how to recycle, cars catching fire, etc - are valid concerns that can be fixed just like all the "obstacles" that faced gas-powered cars when they first came out. Not enough gas stations, no paved roads, no traffic lights, no auto mechanics to fix cars , no schools to train auto mechanics, no drive thru McDonalds, no XM radio, etc, etc etc.  It just takes time.   In 1900, there were 8,000 cars in the US. Yet despite all the obstacles I listed, by 1920, there were 8 million and 25 million by 1930. From 8,000 to 25 million in 30 years. Give EV 30 years to mature. and solve the obstacles.

 

BTW, while I sound like a EV proponent, I'm in no rush to buy an EV and I think it's silly to mandate them by 2035 or even 2055.  The technology still needs more time to mature. If the government is going to mandate/encourage, it should be for vehicles that drive a predictable range every day. Commuter buses, school bus's, garbage trucks, mail carriers, delivery trucks etc while the geniuses that invent stuff figure out to to charge a light-weight battery in under 5 minutes giving a car a 500 mile driving range under all extreme weather conditions and never needs to be recycled.

I agree with everything that you've written.  I'm an ideal candidate for an EV.  We have 2 cars and don't drive either one very far, so range anxiety isn't an issue (except for the couple of times a year when we take a longer road trip).  In fact, I have to occassionally trickle charge both of our car batteries since they don't get charged enough from driving.  I could plug in an EV overnight and almost never have to worry.  I'm also a tech geek who likes the tech in many EVs.  For a while, I was monitoring the new EVs that were coming out thinking that this year or next I'd replace my current vehicle with an EV.  I was waiting until the Mercedes and BMWs of the world came out with luxury vehicles designed as EVs from the ground up rather than being retrofitted into a gas car with some compromises (like a hump in the floor for a drive train that no longer exists).  I'm not a Tesla fan...too minimalist for me and not enough of a luxury vehicle with fit and finish issues. 

I'm backing off looking at EVs for now.  If I were to replace my car today, I'd probably go with gas or hybrid.  I'll squeeze a few more years from my current car and see how things have changed both in EV designs and in the charging ecosystem.  We're seeing more chargers pop up in places where a gas pump can't be located (parking garages, restaurants, stores, etc.) which I think is an advantage for the EV market.  It's getting easier to "plug in" wherever you go, although we're far from that being broad enough to impact range anxiety in a big way.  There are also changes being made in where and how EV batteries are being made.  The US may have the largest lithium deposit yet found in the world and environmentally cleaner battery production processes are evolving...just like manufacturing processes for many other products that were historically bad for the environment.  Battery development will also certainly lead to better power density, meaning more range.

One of the things that I'm keeping an eye on is Toyota's hydrogen engine.  Toyota, the largest car maker in the world, has not fully embraced EVs.  They continue generating huge sales with their hybrids while developing what they think will be a better option than current EV designs.  Even if Toyota is successful with their hydrogen ICE, they will face the same challenge of how to distribute hydrogen to consumers who want to refill their vehicle.

I wouldn't buy an EV just because I thought I was helping the environment.  I'd buy it because I like the vehicle.  I can't justify the big increase in price of an EV over its roughly equivalent gas ICE that exists today.  As others have noted, this price increase is part of what's caused the EV market share in the US to level off (depending on what you read).  If I were to guess, I'd guess that the EV market will be much more robust in 10 years.

My daughter texted me about OJ before I saw the news.  I replied that she should expect a lot of white bronco chase videos in the next couple of days.  Since that was before she was born, she texted back that this is what she remembers most about a white bronco chase:

I forget how funny the Shrek movies were.  I love the Puss In Boots line. 

Knight: Catnip. 

Puss In Boots: That's ah, not mine.

4 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

I'm asking again if anyone saw @brillohead Debbi post recently?  She's been MIA for the longest time.

Looks like her last activity was on March 16 and her last post was in February.  Hopefully everything is OK and she's just busy.

44 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I have always been against a college athlete who attends solely to play a sport.There are many non athletes who cannot get into a college because of this.I am also against the college athletes who graduate but academically should not have been there at all.I enjoy rooting for players who are students primarily.

I don't mind athletes in college, even if they are only a student in name.  If you want to play professional football or basketball, you have to go through college.  This is the path to a future for some of these kids, even if that future is not academically related.  The schools make a LOT of money from those 2 sports, especially the big-name schools.  That money funds scholarships for other athletes in smaller sports who ARE good students, don't have a pro sports option after graduation, and might not otherwise be able to afford college.  Combined with Title IX, this gives opportunities to a lot of girls who might not have been able to attend college.  At Kentucky, profits from sports were used to build a brand new academic building which benefits all students. 

I understand the thought that "student athletes" who are paid to attend a school just to play a sport are overly privileged, but I think it's quite a bit more complicated than that. 

Edit: I'll also add that sports are a fun part of the college experience for those who don't play sports.  It's a nice relief from the pressures of school and helps generate school pride.  Without sports, there wouldn't be student managers, marching bands, cheerleaders and dance teams, etc.  I'll get off my soap box now.  🙂

RIP Bella. 😢

Someone at NASA was having fun with their NASA Moon and NASA Sun Twitter accounts. 🤣

19 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I think they were popular in the 50s thru the 80s.  

 

I think you're right.  I don't think popcorn ceilings were a fashion choice so much as it's much easier and faster to put up drywall that way.  Just spray the ceiling to get the popcorn texture.  No time/skill needed to apply and sand drywall mud multiple times to get a smooth finish.