Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[aussielozzie18]

@StanleyandGus would love to do a Panama Canal Cruise one day.  Glad yours  has been fantastic.

[StanleyandGus]

5 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

@StanleyandGus would love to do a Panama Canal Cruise one day.  Glad yours  has been fantastic.

If you do- wide leg linen trousers. I am so glad I packed those. Cartagena was hotter than the surface of the sun, and humid! 

[Jimbo]

16 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

DD is currently in Oregon.  They just visited Multnomah Falls.

 

 

Nice we have been there..........Twilight Lovers know that quite well. It was in the Back Ground during the baseball game they played in one of the movies.

 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by Jimbo

[Jimbo]

@aussielozzie18 If they are still in the area, tell them to put   Vista House @ Crown Point in their GPS.

 

Beautiful Site of the Columbia River

 

It's 20 minutes from Multnomah Falls

Edited November 20, 2023 by Jimbo

[BonTexasNY]

3 hours ago, akcruz said:

For all the Bucees lovers, seems about right

 

Perfection! I never cared for beaver nuggets, but their brisket sandwiches are a must!

 

@Arzeena Have a fabulous cruise

 

@Sea Dog Greg, I'm so glad that your 2nd knee replacement is doing much better than the first.   I hope you get your other issue taken care of soon.

 

I must mention our delightful weather.  Today a balmy, sunny, 72 and tomorrow high of 50s.  Such is our weather and I am not complaining.

[jagsfan]

On 11/19/2023 at 12:44 PM, akcruz said:

Had a bridal shower to go to last weekend back in NJ so made a trip out of it.  Did our fall cleanup and winter prep at the Pocono house, saw both kids and grandkids as we won't see them for Thanksgiving, got together with some work friends and took a day trip into NYC as we haven't been in over 5 years and the weather was looking good for the day.

 

Some pics from our day in the city, wandered around the touristy spots and took a walk to Hudson Yards, new since we had been there, and went to The Edge, the observation deck on the 100th floor with the glass floor overhang, glad we went but it was a once and done for us.

 

They were still working on the tree

 

Nice day for skating

 

Saks, looking away from the tree

 

The Edge from street, you can see the triangle shaped glass cut out.  They also have the climb where can repel on the side of the building.

 

 

How far I made it, every time I tried to step further someone else walk out, couldn't do it.  Maybe if it wasn't so crowded, probably not.

 

But Jim made it all the way

 

Back on solid ground, great views but somewhat hazy so pictures aren't great of the skyline.

 

 

Good grief! How does anyone walk out and look straight down? I can’t get near floor to ceiling glass walls!

I am “faint of heart” looking down from a height. 
I really scared myself at the Sears Tower years ago and couldn’t make myself step on the the elevator to go back down. I was determined to. walk down, but the security guard wouldn’t let me in the stairwell. 
He and Dick wrestled me onto the elevator. 
 

[helen haywood]

@Ozark_Kid Thanks for the continued advice.  We must have different settings or something because I have created a file…but when I select a photo and add it to the file it is still in the wrong format.  I’ve tried posting from the file and the picture that appears on Cruise Critic remains in the wrong format.  Maybe after this week I’ll call Apple; the nearest store is 50 minutes away.

 

In the meantime, everyone continue with your holiday plans!!

[bobmacliberty]

1 hour ago, aussielozzie18 said:

@bobmacliberty what a mammoth effort you are undertaking for your daughter.  I had to Google 130yo Victorian home.  Absolutely beautiful.  Are you planning on making it liveable (which clearly is a huge job in itself) or will there be some restoration work as well?  Does the house come with a garden?  If so, what state is that in?

 

Please take care.  Back injuries are no fun.

 

The house is livable now.  The previous owner did a lot of work including new heating and air conditioning, a new tankless water heater, several new windows, and fixing a foundation issue.  As a real estate agent might say, it has good bones.  After replacing all of the electric and doing a thorough cleaning, most of the work that we're doing now is cosmetic.  Micheline and I spent our first 5 days here in a hotel and then temporarily moved into the house itself.  We have a functioning bathroom, kitchen, and bed, so it's not too bad...kind of like upscale camping.  

 

It has a decent sized garden at .25 acres/.1 hectares. The previous owner didn't do much landscaping.  She had 2 large dogs and has most of the yard fenced in, with a couple of large trees and a few other smaller plantings that may or may not survive Micheline's spring cleaning in the garden next year. 😁

[Ozark_Kid]

58 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

@Ozark_Kid Thanks for the continued advice.  We must have different settings or something because I have created a file…but when I select a photo and add it to the file it is still in the wrong format.  I’ve tried posting from the file and the picture that appears on Cruise Critic remains in the wrong format.  Maybe after this week I’ll call Apple; the nearest store is 50 minutes away.

 

In the meantime, everyone continue with your holiday plans!!

How are you moving it.  Are you copy and pasting it?  That is what is supposed to change it.  Just moving them from one file to the other will not.

[akcruz]

1 hour ago, jagsfan said:

Good grief! How does anyone walk out and look straight down? I can’t get near floor to ceiling glass walls!

I am “faint of heart” looking down from a height. 
I really scared myself at the Sears Tower years ago and couldn’t make myself step on the the elevator to go back down. I was determined to. walk down, but the security guard wouldn’t let me in the stairwell. 
He and Dick wrestled me onto the elevator. 
 

 

Agree, I was surprised at how many walked right out to the middle and looked down including a few kids crawling all around.  I have no issues with glass walls but need a solid, not see thru, floor.

 

[helen haywood]

8 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

How are you moving it.  Are you copy and pasting it?  That is what is supposed to change it.  Just moving them from one file to the other will not.

When I copied a picture then went to Files there is no option to paste it.  What I get is this menu…

 

[helen haywood]

But I did learn how to take a screenshot!  So maybe I’ll play around with that…

[Luckynana]

2 hours ago, StanleyandGus said:

 

I am on the last day of a Panama Canal cruise, which has been fantastic. We haven’t even looked at the weather at home!

We're doing the Panama Canal in March.  I'm guessing there were no problems with ship traffic getting through the Locks?  We're doing a Tour in Cartagena with Dora the Explorer.  I've read how hot it is there!

I also was reading on the Celebrity threads that there's problems in Colon.  Did you get off of the ship there?

[Luckynana]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

The house is livable now.  The previous owner did a lot of work including new heating and air conditioning, a new tankless water heater, several new windows, and fixing a foundation issue.  As a real estate agent might say, it has good bones.  After replacing all of the electric and doing a thorough cleaning, most of the work that we're doing now is cosmetic.  Micheline and I spent our first 5 days here in a hotel and then temporarily moved into the house itself.  We have a functioning bathroom, kitchen, and bed, so it's not too bad...kind of like upscale camping.  

Your daughter and SIL are so fortunate that you and Micheline are helping with the many tasks before them!  We bought our Victorian home back in 1975 when I was pregnant with our twin daughters.  Our home was well over 100 years also.  Luckily my family came and helped with the initial cleaning.  Our home had no insulation (man, it was so cold that first Winter!), and we had to have all of the Wiring in the house done, then we had baseboard done, etc.   Together, we stripped the paint off all of the beautiful woodwork in the house.   When Jim worked nights and our babies were sleeping, I'd strip the wallpaper.   We so loved our beautiful home, just as I know your daughter and SIL will love their new, beautiful home.  You and Micheline rock!!

[Ocean Boy]

3 hours ago, ValerieJo said:

 

@brillohead  Debbie, have you thought about looking into some of the new drugs that are on the market for weight loss?   I've been able to drop about 40lbs in about 6 months.  Still a long way to go, but I feel like I've gotten a jump start.

 

The meds are pretty expensive and many insurance companies won't cover them if the patient doesn't carry a diagnosis of diabetes.

[Ozark_Kid]

10 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

When I copied a picture then went to Files there is no option to paste it.  What I get is this menu…

 

I was starting to try to explain it more but then I found this video that will show you an easy way to do it.  

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=convert+heic+to+jpg+on+iphone&va=b&t=hc&iar=videos&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DPELOs_6DbBY

[StanleyandGus]

21 minutes ago, Luckynana said:

We're doing the Panama Canal in March.  I'm guessing there were no problems with ship traffic getting through the Locks?  We're doing a Tour in Cartagena with Dora the Explorer.  I've read how hot it is there!

I also was reading on the Celebrity threads that there's problems in Colon.  Did you get off of the ship there?

No, not that we noticed. The Captain did say in the Captain’s Corner this morning that 2 days after we had left the locks, Gatun Lake got rain, which he said was very much desired.

 

We did a tour with Dora as well! Our tour was a little unusual, because Dora took us to a restaurant. Normally she doesn’t, but one of the people that was on the trip wanted that- it was lovely, and I believe the prices were very reasonable. We only wanted beers!

 

Our ship didn’t stop in Colon.

[c-leg5]

1 hour ago, helen haywood said:

When I copied a picture then went to Files there is no option to paste it.  What I get is this menu…

 

Have you tried emailing to yourself? I think that converts it to jpeg

[Jimbo]

24 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

I was starting to try to explain it more but then I found this video that will show you an easy way to do it.  

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=convert+heic+to+jpg+on+iphone&va=b&t=hc&iar=videos&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DPELOs_6DbBY

The information on the Video makes me glad I have an Android 😁

[Keksie]

33 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

The meds are pretty expensive and many insurance companies won't cover them if the patient doesn't carry a diagnosis of diabetes.

Hopefully with the research showing other benefits of the drugs and more drugs being approved for weight loss like Wegovy the insurance companies will cover more.  That is what I am hoping for anyway.

[reallyitsmema]

58 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

The meds are pretty expensive and many insurance companies won't cover them if the patient doesn't carry a diagnosis of diabetes.

 

It is also causing issues with availability for those with diabetes.  My DH is diabetic and we had a tough time getting one of his prescriptions because of the demand.  It took three weeks to get the new prescription dosage because of no availability in our area at all.  Luckily, he could use the lower dosage in the meantime.

[#55worktoplay]

7 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

It's been a while since I've posted here.  We're still working on my daughter's "new" 130-year-old Victorian house.  We WAY underestimated how much work is required. We knew that we couldn't do everything that needs to be done on this trip (that's going to take a few years) but we hoped to completely re-do the living room, kitchen, and main bedroom, since my daughter would be spending 90%+ of her time in these 3 rooms.  The house was absolutely trashed. The woman who lived here previously must have been allergic to cleaning.  The electricians who rewired the whole house (eliminating old knob and tube wiring) contributed to the mess with the holes they needed to make to pull new wire and the plaster work they did to fix everything.  The fridge alone took almost a full day's work before we'd even think of putting something in it.  Every room requires multiple rounds of floor, wall, and window cleaning since one round wasn't enough. 

 

Our initial plan was to completely sand, meticulously wood fill, and paint the baseboard and crown molding so that it would look like new.  Ha! Through the years, previous owners have done what my daughter calls a landlord paint job where another layer of paint was slapped in top of the previous layer.  Between some sloppy caulking, wood filling, and painting from the past, there's not much we can do with existing molding. I sanded where possible, filled some obvious cracks/holes, and then added to the existing layers of paint.  It at least looks OK...clean and bright.  My daughter will need to replace all molding in the future when she has the time/money.  Holes/cracks in the plaster walls have been filled and the primer coat of paint is done in the living room. Final coat should get done today (maybe tomorrow) and then all that will be left in the living room is a final floor cleaning with a rental floor machine and a coat of Scotts Liquid Gold Floor Restore.  We'll do that to the hardwood floors that are in the entire first floor, except the kitchen.  

 

The kitchen is fully clean and plaster walls patched where needed.  It just requires a coat of paint and a final deep clean of the floor, including trying to bring the grout back to the original color.  I'll try a technique that I saw on YouTube for the grout.  Mix up twice the recommended amount of Oxy Clean and water, paint it onto the grout, and then scub with a brush attached to a drill.  Fingers crossed. 

 

The bedroom is a little behind the living the living room and kitchen.  There was a mural painted on the headboard wall that my daughter want to replace with wall paper.  We've sanded and cleaned that wall to make it smooth, and the rest of the room has been cleaned.  I removed 3 generations of curtain rod and blind holders from the windows, which required taking off about a dozen layers of paint and some of the wood underneath.  That's been patched and sanded so the windows and walls are ready for paint.  We'll then do the wall paper on the feature wall.  The upstairs bathroom was recently remodeled and just needed a good cleaning...especially the disgusting tub.  How could anyone live like that?  

 

I knew this wasn't going to be fun, and I did something to my back a couple of days ago.  I couldn't bend over yesterday without stabbing pain.  It's a little better today...more of a dull ache than a stabbing pain. I'll hopefully be back to full duties tomorrow.  The tentative move in date is either this coming Saturday or Sunday, assuming we're ready.  I need to be able to lift furniture by then.  

 

We've barely touched the outside other than pressure washing the sidewalks and continually battling leaves from 2 large oak trees.  It seems like it's taking 3 weeks to drop all of the leaves.  We'll tackle more of the landscaping work next spring.  

 

I miss my golf and warm weather (and bed, and TV, and...)

 

@helen haywood - Any of this sound familiar?

 

@George C and @#55worktoplay - I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your cat and dog.  That's always a difficult decision.

Thanks!

 

The house sounds like it will be beautiful when done. I’m exhausted just reading what you are all doing though. Your daughter appreciates it all greatly I’m sure of that. 
 

I hope your back stays in shape for you to finish helping and to get you back on the course.  
 

 

[#55worktoplay]

9 hours ago, Arzeena said:

Our boarding time is not till 1.30 pm. So chilling out:

 

 

Love the view. I’m like you I never want to rush to the ship with the crowds. 
 

Have a great cruise. 

[ValerieJo]

2 hours ago, Luckynana said:

We're doing the Panama Canal in March.  I'm guessing there were no problems with ship traffic getting through the Locks?  We're doing a Tour in Cartagena with Dora the Explorer.  I've read how hot it is there!

I also was reading on the Celebrity threads that there's problems in Colon.  Did you get off of the ship there?

We really enjoyed Dora the Explorer.   There is one area near the fort where the vendors are on the aggressive side just so you’re aware. 

[ValerieJo]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

The meds are pretty expensive and many insurance companies won't cover them if the patient doesn't carry a diagnosis of diabetes.

Yes, it is expensive.  I’m lucky as my insurance covers it.   However, I understand that there are coupons available through the manufacturers.