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

[helen haywood]

29 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

I've been getting text messages asking me to click on a like to: 1) take a poll or 2) confirm a doctors appointment that I did not make or 3) thanking me for paying my cell phone bill & click on the link to receive a free gift.

 

I usually block those numbers & delete the text.

Yes!  I get the thank you for paying your AT&T bill…click here for a reward/prize.  I don’t pay the phone bills…. Also got a message left saying it was the Social Security office and I needed to call them ASAP or legal action would be taken.  I’m not receiving SS yet.  We have a landline mainly because our alarm system is tied into it.

[HBE4]

9 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

I still have a paper phone book where I record all necessary #s in ink in case my cell goes bonkers.  We pay $12 per month for our landline, recently up from $10.  It's a small price to pay for piece of mind.  When the tv is on, I like that when the landline rings, the incoming name and number are displayed on the tv screen. 

 

There is a piece of yellowed, frayed paper in the kitchen "junk" drawer with a bunch of "key" phone numbers on it. Possibly from 1995 or 2000.  Not sure how accurate it is as I'm pretty sure half the people on that list have since moved.

 

I did have some misgivings about giving up the landline but for the past several years, we always used our cell to makes a calls and the only calls received on the landline were typical robo-calls.  I had the Triple-Play package (TV/Phone/Internet) thru my local cable company and when I downgraded to the Double-Play package (TV/Internet), it saved my $110 a month, although as part of the "downgrade" I lost a few channels I never watched and "theoretically" had slower Internet speed (200 mps vs 300 mps) although I never noticed the slower speed.

 

The cable companies pricing is so convoluted with so many packages and Ala-carte prices, it's impossible to figure out how much of the $110 savings was due to getting rid of the landline.

 

 

 

[HBE4]

15 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

Also got a message left saying it was the Social Security office and I needed to call them ASAP or legal action would be taken.  I’m not receiving SS yet.

 

Yes! I can't tell you how many times I've had a voice mail left that warned me that my SS# has been suspended due to suspicious activity and to call back ASAP to "reactivate" my SS#.

 

I never called back and never had an issues but is that a thing? Can a social security number be suspended? I don't think so...

[DaniDanielle]

My favorite is the Amazon call saying my order of, usually over $1000, will be filled unless I call to cancel.

[lenquixote66]

35 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Last year a neighbor friend got a call that there grandson was arrested and if they didn’t send a Home Depot card # he was going to be spending time in jail.  Sad thing is they fell for it.  

One of my daughters was in my house a short while ago and I told her about this discussion.She asked if I posted about a time that I nearly fell for something.The phone was ringing and I answered without looking at the caller ID.It was a woman who said she was my cousin Nancy.I have a cousin by that last name but the last time I saw her she was 2 years old.

My family had no contact with her family at all.I knew that one of my cousins was trying to find “lost” relatives so I assumed that she found Nancy and gave her my phone number.

I asked her where she lives and she replied that the reason she is calling is that her brother died and she does not have the money to give him a proper burial.She wanted me to wire ten thousand dollars.That is when I knew it was a scam.You do not call someone you last saw 70 years ago and have no relationship with to ask for money.

[lenquixote66]

33 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

My memory is hazy but I think our landline worked during 9/11 when our cell service was knocked out for a period of time.  Since the landline is cordless, I have been known to misplace it on occasion.😊

 

To this day, I feel I missed out on life by not having a pink princess phone in my teens.

I still have a paper phone book where I record all necessary #s in ink in case my cell goes bonkers.  We pay $12 per month for our landline, recently up from $10.  It's a small price to pay for piece of mind.  When the tv is on, I like that when the landline rings, the incoming name and number are displayed on the tv screen. 

 

We have a landline and still have a phone attached to our kitchen wall as well as a paper phone book.Some of the people listed in the phone book go back 50 years.

[lenquixote66]

33 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

Yes!  I get the thank you for paying your AT&T bill…click here for a reward/prize.  I don’t pay the phone bills…. Also got a message left saying it was the Social Security office and I needed to call them ASAP or legal action would be taken.  I’m not receiving SS yet.  We have a landline mainly because our alarm system is tied into it.

I have a friend who is a retired NYC police officer.At times when he gets a spam call he will tell the caller that their call is being traced and they hang up .

[bobmacliberty]

This is how to handle a telemarketer phone call:

 

[lenquixote66]

20 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

There is a piece of yellowed, frayed paper in the kitchen "junk" drawer with a bunch of "key" phone numbers on it. Possibly from 1995 or 2000.  Not sure how accurate it is as I'm pretty sure half the people on that list have since moved.

 

I did have some misgivings about giving up the landline but for the past several years, we always used our cell to makes a calls and the only calls received on the landline were typical robo-calls.  I had the Triple-Play package (TV/Phone/Internet) thru my local cable company and when I downgraded to the Double-Play package (TV/Internet), it saved my $110 a month, although as part of the "downgrade" I lost a few channels I never watched and "theoretically" had slower Internet speed (200 mps vs 300 mps) although I never noticed the slower speed.

 

The cable companies pricing is so convoluted with so many packages and Ala-carte prices, it's impossible to figure out how much of the $110 savings was due to getting rid of the landline.

 

 

 

We have all three with the cable company.I have tried to convince them that there should not be a charge to watch TV but that never works.

I have 3 friends who never owned a computer and do not own cell phones.

[Ozark_Kid]

41 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

My memory is hazy but I think our landline worked during 9/11 when our cell service was knocked out for a period of time.

When the bombing occurred in Tennessee awhile back, it knocked out our att cellular service all the way over in Alabama. That is when I learned more about wi-fi calling..  works great.

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

How have we existed so many years without Siri and Alexa ?😀

I continue to exist without them.

[jagsfan]

2 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

What I remember vividly in the immediate aftermath of 911 was how quiet the sky was with no planes flying.

I love the possible spam feature.  Yes, they know how to maneuver their # to show a local one.

I don't answer either but it's annoying to have to hear the ring, then look at the phone to see who's calling. 

We still have a landline that we'll probably give up soon.  I don't recall the last time we used it.  I think it's there in case something happens to our cell phones.

I can hear much better on my landline. I can also prop it on my shoulder. 
One of these days Dick will probably say those two benefits are not worth the cost. 
My rebuttal will be his college classmate having our old phone number from the last time he called 40 years ago.  
We had moved twice but kept our number. He wouldn’t have been able to reach us without our landline 

That alone makes me glad we have it. The extra cost is minimal because we bundled everything, tv, internet, cell phones and landline. 

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, DaniDanielle said:

I wa t to thank you all for your support and hope I didn’t ramble on too much.  Charlie says thanks also.

You didn't "ramble" at all. Keep us informed as much as you would like to. I get concerned that my asking questions may seem like prying.

[lenquixote66]

3 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

I can hear much better on my landline. I can also prop it on my shoulder. 
One of these days Dick will probably say those two benefits are not worth the cost. 
My rebuttal will be his college classmate having our old phone number from the last time he called 40 years ago.  
We had moved twice but kept our number. He wouldn’t have been able to reach us without our landline 

That alone makes me glad we have it. The extra cost is minimal because we bundled everything, tv, internet, cell phones and landline. 

I have a friend who I met in HS .He and his wife still live in the only apartment they ever lived in.They have a TV ,but do not have a computer or call phones.They have only had one phone number.I lost touch with him many years ago but because I have a paper phone book with numbers of people going back 55 years ago I was able to reconnect by calling him.

[HBE4]

Is anyone watching the Winter Olympics?

 

I'm a Winter Olympic junkie that would eagerly watch most events every day. As a former skier, I love the Alpine (downhill) skiing as well as some of the Freestyle & Halfpipe events as some of the jumps, & tricks those kids do are unreal.  I even like some of the more unusual events such as curling, bobsled or Nordic  Biathlon - cross-country skiing and shooting, does it get any better?

 

But for some reason, this year, after the first week, I was done. I like many of the newer X-game type events but they keep adding more and more variations of existing events. How many team relays do you need? Next will be the 10-man bobsled. lol

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Last year a neighbor friend got a call that there grandson was arrested and if they didn’t send a Home Depot card # he was going to be spending time in jail.  Sad thing is they fell for it.  

That stinks they fell for it.   Asking for a home depot # is odd.

[Ozark_Kid]

4 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

Is anyone watching the Winter Olympics?

 

I'm a Winter Olympic junkie that would eagerly watch most events every day. As a former skier, I love the Alpine (downhill) skiing as well as some of the Freestyle & Halfpipe events as some of the jumps, & tricks those kids do are unreal.  I even like some of the more unusual events such as curling, bobsled or Nordic  Biathlon - cross-country skiing and shooting, does it get any better?

 

But for some reason, this year, after the first week, I was done. I like many of the newer X-game type events but they keep adding more and more variations of existing events. How many team relays do you need? Next will be the 10-man bobsled. lol

Sharon has been watching.  When she has been watching I watched some.  I used to really get into the Olympics but not this time.  Not really sure why.  

[Ocean Boy]

4 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

Is anyone watching the Winter Olympics?

 

I'm a Winter Olympic junkie that would eagerly watch most events every day. As a former skier, I love the Alpine (downhill) skiing as well as some of the Freestyle & Halfpipe events as some of the jumps, & tricks those kids do are unreal.  I even like some of the more unusual events such as curling, bobsled or Nordic  Biathlon - cross-country skiing and shooting, does it get any better?

 

But for some reason, this year, after the first week, I was done. I like many of the newer X-game type events but they keep adding more and more variations of existing events. How many team relays do you need? Next will be the 10-man bobsled. lol

Wow, interesting to read your post. I have always been big into the winter Olympics and I, too, used to love to ski. I have found myself watching almost nothing of these winter games. I don't know why,  it has just worked out that way even though I've been home plenty of evenings and had the opportunity to watch.

[Ozark_Kid]

3 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

That stinks they fell for it.   Asking for a home depot # is odd.

Not only odd they asked but odd they believed it.  They said it was supposed to be an easier way to transfer the money.  I went to Home Depot to try to help them.  They said they could see where it was cashed but they could not hep.  Went with them to the police station but there was not much they could do either.

[Ozark_Kid]

5 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Wow, interesting to read your post. I have always been big into the winter Olympics and I, too, used to love to ski. I have found myself watching almost nothing of these winter games. I don't know why,  it has just worked out that way even though I've been home plenty of evenings and had the opportunity to watch.

I did watch some of the skating thinking it might give me a bit of a cruise entertainment felling.  

[BonTexasNY]

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

There's an iPhone setting to Silence Unknown Callers.  Your phone won't even ring unless it's from someone in your contacts, someone that you've called recently, or someone in "Siri Suggestions" which could include people in an email message.  Incoming calls go straight to voicemail and are displayed on the recent callers list.  I used it for a while but found that I was missing too many calls from people who I didn't have as a contact.

I prefer knowing myself of calls.  I get quite a few phone calls that aren't in my contact list that I need to respond to quickly.

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

This is how to handle a telemarketer phone call:

 

Best laugh of the day! 🤣

[Ozark_Kid]

My granddaughter Corrie had a day out with dad.  They went to lunch at a place called All Aboard.  It has train sets mounted and the trains move around the restaurant.

 

Then they went to a place that sells old albums and she got her first.

[HBE4]

12 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Sharon has been watching.  When she has been watching I watched some.  I used to really get into the Olympics but not this time.  Not really sure why.  

 

12 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Wow, interesting to read your post. I have always been big into the winter Olympics and I, too, used to love to ski. I have found myself watching almost nothing of these winter games. I don't know why,  it has just worked out that way even though I've been home plenty of evenings and had the opportunity to watch.

 

It's ironic since there are so many ways to watch the Olympics almost 24/7 on 3 different channels, plus streaming on Peacock. 

 

Maybe since there are so many other viewing options now or we just had the summer Olympics? Or people's priority have shifted?

[Bailey & Sophie]

4 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

 

Unless the number is in my contacts, I don’t answer.  I haven’t ever setup voice mail either.  Last month, until I blocked the number, I had the same number call me each day for over 2 weeks!  I finally looked up the number.  It was Sirius xm.  

 

Unfortunately I sometimes need to answer calls that aren't in my contact list. My mom is in memory care at the Minneapolis VA,  and I'm her POA, Rep Payee for Social Security and her Federal Fiduciary. I get calls from various VA hubs around the country, all the different nurses, aids, specialists, etc who care for her at the VA.

I don't answer if my phone suggests spam. If no voice mail is left I block it. It's running about 50/50 for spam/authentic calls but I feel that I need to answer.

[lenquixote66]

26 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Sharon has been watching.  When she has been watching I watched some.  I used to really get into the Olympics but not this time.  Not really sure why.  

I have not watched one minute of the Olympics.I have no interest this time.

Not sure why not either.