.......idle jottings

[ho-hum]

@Ragnar: You mean, hopefully it is one of the very few cruises, where ho-hum is not onboard? :D

 

Well that's charming !

By the way your last photo was "pants" (try looking that up in the dictionary !! Haha) even worse than the funnel, at least that was in focus...........sadly !

Haha

Keep 'em coming gcmv.....HH is becoming strangely fascinated by your macabre offerings.

You actually show these photos to people !!

People you like I mean !

Haha

 

And you need to be aware that Ho-Hum can be sensitive when you talk about "rears", ar or otherwise.:eek::D

 

Errr ??

Well at least it proves Jim ain't no comedy writer (maybe though it "cracks them up" at the Charlton Heston Memorial Gun Club of Valley of the Sun, Arizona).

Keep to posting about engines and stuff Jimmy, me lad.

And stay out of the sun, it's "addling" your "marbles".

Haha

 

Jimbo, I think ho-hum is way above our humble caste, Parkers quoted £234, vs £62 from both Smiths and Aquacars :eek: I don't mind a reasonable poshness premium, but that is a bit steep. Are they planning to use a new Rolls and serve Dom and cavier enroute??? Or maybe they were quoting a helicopter transfer :rolleyes:

 

(ho-hum, is there a secret code or something I'm supposed to cite in my transfer request to Parkers to get the F.o.h-h rate?)

 

Ladies and gentlemen, HH tries to help a chum and this is the repayment !

OK he acquiesced in the end.

Just a shame HH cant pick you up and take you himself. That would have been free !

Oh and we would have had "great larks, great larks !"

 

--------------------------------------------

 

With HH's chums being so curmudgeonly .........one of this islands finest Shakespearian actors sums up how Hum is feeling right now.

 

[YOUTUBE]kvs4bOMv5Xw [/YOUTUBE]

Edited August 11, 2015 by ho-hum

[ho-hum]

Thank you Ho Hum. You're right. Last time I arranged a transfer in Venice I did in fact book it through my TA. Company was called Travelcube and only TAs can access and book transfers on their website.

Not a football fan although my son is football mad and could talk 24/7 about it. That's obviousky were I pick up on the various teams/results etc. He's a Man Ure supporter unfortunately!!

 

As a writer HH is often compared to wrote in the title of one of his "Difficult" plays: "All's well, that ends well"

 

To have raised your son well and then for him to become a Man.U supporter must truly have been a shock. Maybe there is such a thing as karma. Just sayin'.

Edited August 11, 2015 by ho-hum

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Haha - ol' Ragnar carries a Liverpool Footbal Club gym bag around when traveling in Europe, rather than a day-pack that screams "tourist". At least I'll be taken as being a British yokel rather than a clueless American.

 

PS - thanks ho-hum, will sleep better having a super-reliable transfer booked. If we were to miss the Portsmouth ferry it means a long taxi ride to Poole for a 3am ferry to St. Malo via the island of Jersey :eek: And I would miss having my birthday dinner aboard a ferry :o Surprisingly, the menu and wine list look halfway decent. And our cabin looks ok too...... for a ferry.

[ho-hum]

Why the big visual assault on the senses with the large bold typeface Mr Hum? It is very thoughtful gesture for anyone with failing eyesight who has mislaid their magnifying glass though some of us are still a little way from approaching the slide towards senility.

A peculiar link you make between poor eyesight and senility MACT.

Do you have any proof sir ?

If you can, then HH guesses 95% of the readers of this drivel will be making arrangements for a Home immediately !

No (the change of font) was to make it clearer.

Is it a tad too crude for your refined sensibilities ?

Be honest dear chap.

No insult taken.

Hum at least has broad shoulders. Heard a whole lot worse over the years.

Personally Hum finds the default font style a little “wishy-washy”.

Hum likes a strident, manly, testosterone font to compensate for his perceived “foppish-ness” as Abenaki would love to attest (he being an even bigger “fop” than HH !).

At times like these HH thinks of dear gcmv saying to himself "Mein Gott ! Another damn odd word from HH. He is killing me with his "foppery" !).

Haha

Is this font more to your taste ?

You clearly advised you were not in need of magnifying glasses.

 

Sorry GCMV ..."fop" means der Geck or der Stutzer. And you are very un-foppish, dear chum.

[ho-hum]

Why the big visual assault on the senses with the large bold typeface Mr Hum? It is very thoughtful gesture for anyone with failing eyesight who has mislaid their magnifying glass though some of us are still a little way from approaching the slide towards senility.

A peculiar link you make between poor eyesight and senility MACT.

Do you have any proof sir ?

If you can, then HH guesses 95% of the readers of this drivel will be making arrangements for a Home immediately !

No (the change of font) was to make it clearer.

Is it a tad too crude for your refined sensibilities ?

Be honest dear chap.

No insult taken.

Hum at least has broad shoulders. Heard a whole lot worse over the years.

Personally Hum finds the default font style a little “wishy-washy”.

Hum likes a strident, manly, testosterone font to compensate for his perceived “foppish-ness” as Abenaki would love to attest (he being an even bigger “fop” than HH !).

At times like these HH thinks of dear gcmv saying to himself "Mein Gott ! Another damn odd word from HH. He is killing me with his "foppery" !).

Haha

Is this font more to your taste ?

You clearly advised you were not in need of magnifying glasses.

 

Sorry GCMV ..."fop" means der Geck or der Stutzer. And you are very un-foppish, dear chum.

Edited August 11, 2015 by ho-hum

[Jim Avery]

Haha - ol' Ragnar carries a Liverpool Footbal Club gym bag around when traveling in Europe, rather than a day-pack that screams "tourist". At least I'll be taken as being a British yokel rather than a clueless American.

 

PS - thanks ho-hum, will sleep better having a super-reliable transfer booked. If we were to miss the Portsmouth ferry it means a long taxi ride to Poole for a 3am ferry to St. Malo via the island of Jersey :eek: And I would miss having my birthday dinner aboard a ferry :o Surprisingly, the menu and wine list look halfway decent. And our cabin looks ok too...... for a ferry.

 

I bet you make a passable "British yokel" with your love of IPA. Here's hoping Y'all have a blast. Yes, tank pun intended.:eek: We are sneaking into California for a couple of weeks. With you preparing and leaving for the Oulde Worlde, it might go un noticed by the California Crazies. We know how they love Arizonies.:D

[ho-hum]

Thanks h-h, we haved booked Parkers (and they WILL have Grey Poupon on board for us).

 

Being the clever Ragnar that I am, I almost booked Smiths in addition to Aquacars for back up, for a lesser total cost than Parkers. Would have paid both drivers if they showed up. However, also being honest to a fault, if this plan had resulted in missing the boat, literally, I would have had to report that on these pages. And one can only imagine the endless shame and ridicule I'd suffer :eek:

 

Haha

HH has never "met" a man like you !

You crazy guy ........ booking two taxi firms !

Haha

Who thinks like this ?

A ruddy genius that's who !

Oh and your honesty !

Respect.

Raggy, HH is happy......you are a "flying by the seat of your pants" kinda guy but seriously you have booked a really professional outfit.

HH will have a word with them and explain your high status (FOHH that is !),

 

Raggy, HH will not be denied a wonderful penned pisting that is now academic but was written before your "left field, game changer".

[MACT]

Is this font more to your taste ?

You clearly advised you were not in need of magnifying glasses.

 

Sorry GCMV ..."fop" means der Geck or der Stutzer. And you are very un-foppish, dear chum.

 

This has really b******d up the eyesight with a head that is now a little fuzzy.

 

Nurse!

[MACT]

Is this font more to your taste ?

You clearly advised you were not in need of magnifying glasses.

 

Sorry GCMV ..."fop" means der Geck or der Stutzer. And you are very un-foppish, dear chum.

 

Nope, even worse. I think I will just defer to the judgment on typeface used by his excellency and stand ten feet from the screen whilst reading (and no magnifying glass or telescope will require to be used either!)

 

Now after this unwanted and unappreciated interlude on my part, can we get back to the drivel?

[ho-hum]

And that is different from how he treats you normally??

 

Terms of endearment Jim, terms of endearment.

Actions speak louder than words they say Jim......just look at all the information HH provided for his trip.

Yes, thank you.

 

You have done your share of "handing it out too" if memory serves Hum well.

Hum always respects you Jim (deep down).

 

What's your plans in California Jim (if you don't mind Hum asking) ?

[Jim Avery]

What's your plans in California Jim (if you don't mind Hum asking) ?

 

As it is a bit warm here in The Valley, we are taking a road trip. The great thing about out West is usually you can drive a couple of hours in just about any direction and be in a totally different environment. An easy drive west to Santa Monica, CA with an overnight next to the Santa Monica Pier. Next day a drive up Highway 1 to Carmel-By-The-Sea where we have a cottage in the village booked for a week. After that is a meandering trip through the Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. Then, to prove how really stupid I can be, an August drive through Death Valley ending (hopefully) in the Laughlin, NV/N.W. AZ area. Then back home in time for Labor Day Weekend. Should find some good eats/drinks along the way. I am desperately wanting a SeaDream Caribbean but the Fall is cluttered with must do things so maybe in January/Feb.:D Hope you are having a fun Summer.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Haha

HH has never "met" a man like you !

You crazy guy ........ booking two taxi firms !

Haha

Who thinks like this ?

A ruddy genius that's who !

Oh and your honesty !

Respect.

Raggy, HH is happy......you are a "flying by the seat of your pants" kinda guy but seriously you have booked a really professional outfit.

HH will have a word with them and explain your high status (FOHH that is !),

 

Raggy, HH will not be denied a wonderful penned pisting that is now academic but was written before your "left field, game changer".

 

 

Thanks Sir ho-hum!

 

If you are in SoCal and need transport, we use VIP Limos (http://www.viplimos.us). Very reliable. Priced similarly to Parkers (and why I was surprised, and concerned, at the low quotes from Aquacars and Smiths).

 

Go ahead and publish that post, should be a hoot!

Edited August 12, 2015 by Ragnar Danneskjold

[Jim Avery]

http://www.seadream.com/lifestyle/faq-search#post-policies-1420

 

Not trying to start anything but I came across this in the FAQ section of "Contact Us" on the SeaDream website. I had not seen it before. It is a bit more comprehensive than the same subject in the "Terms and Conditions" section. Of late, there have been little to no mention of kiddie problems on board. Hope it maintains this "Adult" trend.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Thanks for posting that. We were starting to get cold feet about the 10 dayer we have booked, due to the possibility of kids being on-board. This is why we have not booked SD again, since if there are any kids aboard there is no escaping them. And you really don't want to spend much time in the SD broomclos....., errr, uhhhh, ....cabins. We got really lucky before, and we knew it. We were hoping that by being 10 days, over Xmas, and out of hard-to-get-to Bardados that the probability of klids was small. But as you say, its a $12,000 plus airfare crapshoot. We are thinking of canceling and doing Galapagos again. Good thing about Galapagos nature cruises is the kiddies are forced to get up early and hike all day. They eat and then crap out early :D

 

I see an issue with how the SD policy is worded:

 

"Adults with children younger than 13 years of age should perhaps consider SeaDream Yacht Club carefully as an option."

 

This could be interpreted as "take your kids, it is awesome", the opposite of reality. They need to re-work the wording on that.

 

Jimbo, is your Cali trip the same one you mentioned a few months ago? Passing through San Clemente this time?

[ho-hum]

Captain Johannes Tysse (Azamara and formerly Sea Dream) and Captain Bjarne Smorawski (Captain SDI) having lunch together yesterday.

Is'nt it nice these guys are still chums ......... the Sea Dream effect works for everyone !

 

[/url]

Edited August 13, 2015 by ho-hum

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Now imagine that scene with three kids running around screaming....

[Poppy1966]

Ho Hum. Re Man U. The other half did the PR for a certain mobile phone company that sponsored MUFC a few years ago. He arranged to take sports journalists to an away match (think it was Lyon) with the team. Private coach straight to the Tarmac to board the plane with the players etc to avoid the airport security etc. Once onboard (players seated at the front, journos, chefs, photographers etc) at the back. Said the players behaved like teenage boys travelling away from home for the first time in their lives. Food fights, throwing laptops across the plane, temper tantrums, complete mayhem. Stayed in the same hotel and went to the pre match training session etc.

Anyway, they lost that night and travelling home the team became angels. Quietest flight he's ever been on. No one uttered a word. Sir Alex purple nose, who was sitting in 1A,had a face like thunder, didn't speak a word (well he most likely did in the changing room after the match). Once they landed in Manchester another coach and or their own cars were waiting on the tarmac to whisk them away to avoid their unhappy fans waiting at arrivals in the terminal.

[Jim Avery]

Captain Johannes Tysse (Azamara and formerly Sea Dream) and Captain Bjarne Smorawski (Captain SDI) having lunch together yesterday.

Is'nt it nice these guys are still chums ......... the Sea Dream effect works for everyone !

 

[/url]

 

Two fine Captains in one place.:D

[ho-hum]

Nope, even worse. I think I will just defer to the judgment on typeface used by his excellency and stand ten feet from the screen whilst reading (and no magnifying glass or telescope will require to be used either!)

 

Now after this unwanted and unappreciated interlude on my part, can we get back to the drivel?

 

HH and HH management would like to apologise for the disturbance to your post viewing and we will return to drivel pists just as soon as possible.

Our engineers are working round the clock (between breaks to the pub) to restore usual service.

[ho-hum]

As it is a bit warm here in The Valley, we are taking a road trip. The great thing about out West is usually you can drive a couple of hours in just about any direction and be in a totally different environment. An easy drive west to Santa Monica, CA with an overnight next to the Santa Monica Pier. Next day a drive up Highway 1 to Carmel-By-The-Sea where we have a cottage in the village booked for a week. After that is a meandering trip through the Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. Then, to prove how really stupid I can be, an August drive through Death Valley ending (hopefully) in the Laughlin, NV/N.W. AZ area. Then back home in time for Labor Day Weekend. Should find some good eats/drinks along the way. I am desperately wanting a SeaDream Caribbean but the Fall is cluttered with must do things so maybe in January/Feb.:D Hope you are having a fun Summer.

 

What a positively "spiffing" trip you have there Jim.

Would'nt mind "tagging along" old friend.

We are on SDII until 9 January, 2016.

We are booked in February too but we MAY be doing something else !!!

Not on SDII, HH hears you cry.........maybe not.

 

Our summer ended at 10.30am this morning with rain falling in "sheets" !

And we are told it could last off and on for a month !

 

Actually Hum likes rain but presently we are undertaking extensive re-landscaping which could hold things up.

British workmen are not resistant to water falling from the skies !

Hum replies to them "It's moist, get back to work you scallywags"

 

Today we have two American chums staying with us.

Yes we met them on SD: a crossing in fact.

We have only sailed with them the once but they have become dear chums and we have met up with them since on visits to the UK as well as Miami and Barcelona (after SD trips).

We stay in contact quite often.

We had planned to sail with them on something or other.

Was it Crystal ?

Southampton - Holland - Iceland - New York but it was a tad too long for a new big ship (would have been new to us).

Our chums work in the cruise industry providing all sorts of ancillary staff to the big ships so we know we would have been well looked after.

They provide the lecturers and a whole lot of other ancillary personnel to most of the big cruise lines. They are extremely passionate about their work.

They are also both intelligent, cosmopolitan, travellers with an amazing sense of humour and very stylish.....they also love champagne.

 

HH was thinking that Butch & Sundance would make a wonderful pairing as lecturers on the ships.

Do you want Hum to put in a word ?

[ho-hum]

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND

 

[Jim Avery]

What a positively "spiffing" trip you have there Jim.

Would'nt mind "tagging along" old friend.

 

You are most welcome to come along. It would be great fun.

 

HH was thinking that Butch & Sundance would make a wonderful pairing as lecturers on the ships.

Do you want Hum to put in a word ?

 

Sounds good to me. For a free voyage, I am sure Sundance and I would be glad to regale the troops. I can see it now: "Beers I have loved", "Target shooting for fun and profit", "How to pull cactus thorns out of your bum gracefully". Unlimited subject matter.

[ho-hum]

Not trying to start anything but .............

 

Oh but you have dear chap, you have !

And the posts are not even about actual problems on Sea Dream !

 

Yep, but they did come back and get me.:eek: Oh the kids. The strange thing to me is that the Little B**t**ds (LBs for short) seem to survive quite well in spite of the disconnected "parents". You would think the wakes of cruise ships would be dotted with careless, unsupervised children but not so. They seem to do just fine running amok.:D

 

Oh and more fuel for the fire !

Ain't that just perfect.

 

Sounds good to me. For a free voyage, I am sure Sundance and I would be glad to regale the troops. I can see it now: "Beers I have loved", "Target shooting for fun and profit", "How to pull cactus thorns out of your bum gracefully". Unlimited subject matter.

 

Can Hum get back to you on those particular lecture topics ?

Have you got any others you could suggest ?

Just in case the "pulling cactus thorns out of your butt" lecture is sidelined.

 

Tell us Jim, where are you "hitchin' your wagon" tonight on your wonderful travels ?

[ho-hum]

Is it safe to come out ?

Have they stopped going on about "Kids" yet ?

Get a "right lather up" don't they ?

Oh well Hum's off to Florence for the week.

Should have all blown over by the time Ho Hum returns.

Intend to be a lot more idle, so this will be a "jotting free zone" for quite some time.

Finally, you sigh with relief.

No more drivel.....aaaaaahhhhh.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

Have a great trip! Anything other than eating and drinking planned?

 

If you are down near the Ponte Vecchio, drop into the Frilli Gallery statuary shop on Via del Fossi, just up from the river. Don't often see so many large statues for sale. Especially out here in the hinterlands of the California coast. Well except maybe these:

 

Edited August 17, 2015 by Ragnar Danneskjold