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

[Bailey & Sophie]

3 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

You can get that slip of instructions from the cashier in the casino.

 

Nice to know. Thanks.

We were going to use the OBC on excursions. Royal sponsored excursions have been scaled back considerably. We're not beach people and I don't want to waste the credit on specialty stores. We'll book a few lunches and see what happens.

A lot can change between now and November!

[sgmn]

15 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I was just watching the news and I have a question for our British friend's on this thread..... does Boris Johnson own a hair brush?

Ha ha, so embarrassing 😳 

[sgmn]

14 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Bedside manner should be taught in med school (or if it is, many doctors should pay more attention).  When our first child was delivered, the ob/gyn doing the delivery got quite upset because the right kind of forceps weren’t available. They were apparently still in an autoclave being sterilized. NOT something you want to say in front of a 10 day overdue mother who has been in labor for 12 hours, or her very nervous husband who was paying close attention to the “discussion” (read doctor yelling at the nurse).  If any yelling was actually deserved, that was definitely not the time or place. 

Have you seen the series , this is gonna hurt, think its a BBC series so not sure if it's been shown in other countries yet.

Billed as a comedy drama set in an NHS maternity ward. It is actually more drama than comedy and is based on a book written by a doctor on his personal experience. 

 

This Is Going to Hurt https://g.co/kgs/FdShu6

[sgmn]

Had a great day out yesterday at my second favourite beach,  Bournemouth. We usually park half way down the

beach in one of the Chines leading to the beach and then walk towards Poole.  There's a great doggy friendly beachside cafe and this time of year dogs are allowed on the beach.

 

Here you can see The Isle of Wight. 

Southampton is just down the coast and if you sail from Southampton you pass by IOW on the way to the ocean

 

molly totally fixated on her ball, her favourite game

Edited April 10, 2022 by sgmn

[bobmacliberty]

9 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

I haven’t seen a horizontal taken pic post wrong yet, only upright.  It’s like CC wants all pics horizontally no matter how they are taken.  What doesn’t make sense to me is why a little crop that leaves the pic pretty much upright and possible to post.  🤔 

 

My guess (really a WAG)...something changed with CC such that it's not reading the picture metadata correctly.  The picture orientation (portrait vs landscape) is stored in the metadata (among a lot of other info) so that programs that view the picture know how to present it properly.  It seems like CC is confused by portrait pictures and thinks they need to be rotated to be viewed properly.  Somehow, doing the crop and save thing, causes the metadata to change such that CC reads it correctly.  I was going to try experimenting with an EXIF viewer but I ran out of time.  Here's a link to an online EXIF viewer if anyone else wants to try.  Insert a web link of a picture here and you should see the data.

Jeffrey Friedl's Image Metadata Viewer (regex.info)

[bobmacliberty]

2 hours ago, sgmn said:

Have you seen the series , this is gonna hurt, think its a BBC series so not sure if it's been shown in other countries yet.

Billed as a comedy drama set in an NHS maternity ward. It is actually more drama than comedy and is based on a book written by a doctor on his personal experience. 

 

This Is Going to Hurt https://g.co/kgs/FdShu6

 

I haven't seen that.  I'll need to see if I can find it here.  Thanks.

[Ocean Boy]

10 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

@Ocean Boy I thought I would try shooting low light.  I shot these in pro mode and did No editing. While in pro mode I was able to adjust setting and see the adjustments on scene.  Try it out sometime.

 

 

They look better on the phone.  I think CC downgrades the pics so they don’t take up as much space.

They look great. From everything I've been reading it is best to use pro mode in low light conditions and adjust the settings to your liking rather than use dark mode. They say dark mode lightens the photos too much.

[sgmn]

38 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I haven't seen that.  I'll need to see if I can find it here.  Thanks.

Think it may be on Prime for a fee

[Ocean Boy]

53 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

My guess (really a WAG)...something changed with CC such that it's not reading the picture metadata correctly.  The picture orientation (portrait vs landscape) is stored in the metadata (among a lot of other info) so that programs that view the picture know how to present it properly.  It seems like CC is confused by portrait pictures and thinks they need to be rotated to be viewed properly.  Somehow, doing the crop and save thing, causes the metadata to change such that CC reads it correctly.  I was going to try experimenting with an EXIF viewer but I ran out of time.  Here's a link to an online EXIF viewer if anyone else wants to try.  Insert a web link of a picture here and you should see the data.

Jeffrey Friedl's Image Metadata Viewer (regex.info)

Could you maybe shoot an email to Laura S so she may get an idea of how to find a solution to the issue?

[mets07]

29 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Could you maybe shoot an email to Laura S so she may get an idea of how to find a solution to the issue?

I see it has been very recently reported in the Help section of Forum Assistance..... 

Vertical (portrait) photos loading sideways

[Lionesss]

The trials and tribulations of losing your husbands last family relatives.

Background information.

 

His mother, and then a few years later the Uncle that raised him many years ago when he lost his father when my DH was 7 months old when his dads plane went down in Libya during the Vietnam era.

 

Over the last 3 years my DH and I have met the challenges of dealing with the loss of our loved ones as well as dealing with many hoops and battles to settle their estates.

It is a process that has taken almost 36 months.

 

This journey has brought us so close together, and at times so frustrating.

 

We lost his mom exactly 3 years ago, aging was not good to her, she died a struggling death from bladder cancer, lung cancer and severe arthritis.

 

She and the Uncle lived in a duplex one story ranch almost 4,000 square feet and a full basement.

5 car garage on 5 acres built in the 70's by the Amish.

 

16 months ago, he lost his Uncle.

Now it is only us from his side of the family.

 

So going back in time, his mother had no will.

So uncle and DH quickly and amicably settled the estate by just splitting everything in half.

They were so close meeting each others needs living side by side all their lives it was never an issue who would get what.

We wanted at the time to go in his mothers side to start sorting and pitching all that was old and damaged.  But Uncle said no, he was not ready.

We said ok.

 

But you must realize she was  a hoarder, and lived through the depression and threw nothing away.

There were pathways in the basement with stuff stacked to the ceiling.

All the bedrooms were filled that you could not even open the doors.

To put it mildly, When I began I threw out over 200 cool whip containers, banquet trays, bread wrappers, over 300 laundry detergent, dishwasher, hair products all  plastic containers.

 

Oh it gets better.

There was all the clothes my DH wore growing up.

Every bill receipt in boxes.

Over 90 pairs of dress shoes.

Over 50 purses.

Her nursing uniforms, when she was a student nurse in the 1940's.

I do not have to continue, everything was saved.

 

So now Uncle Jack passes away.

NO WILL

Surprise.

Hoarding to the gills on his side.

 

So being retired, I settled down and starting attacking one room at a time.

As well as planning then the DD's wedding.

 

In his mothers bedroom, I found all her jewelry real and fake, that she had coordinated to many outfits.

Then I open her under wear drawer and found petti coats and panty hose, everything was clean and wrapped in tissue paper.

As I start to pull everything and place in trash bags to discard, I found stashed  money, the first drawer had over $1500 dollars in it.

So, now I have to go through everything fine tooth and comb.

 

I called my husband and asked him to stop at the bank to get a BIG safety deposit box so we can put  the good stuff in it.

 

That day, I finished the upright hutch, and pulled all the drawers and it was completely emptied.

Behind the hutch was two large old maxwell house coffee cans filled with Kennedy half dollars, yup, the silver ones.

So the husband after the bank came and took all this stuff to the bank and filled the box.

He requested and received another safety box at the bank at that time.

 

Next day I attached her dresser, top drawers were filled with jewelry, makeup and clutter.

Then the next drawer was filled with those old yellow small envelopes that you used to get when you go to the bank and get cash.

There were over 300 of them, (I counted) and each one at at least 2 $20-$50 dollar bills in them.

So that day I went to the bank and took them all and opened a new separate account.

 

Ok enough about money.

and hoarding for now.

 

 

 

To be continued with the legal issues.

 

 

 

 

[Lionesss]

Part 2  The legal issues.

 

Not only were they hoarders, they were not organized.

Oh the MIL had a strong box but over the years it was not kept current.

And

The uncle just put legal papers anywhere he could and he knew where they were, but he did not share the information.

 

So now that my DH is the last survivor with the uncle not having a will, the legal journey began.

 

It took weeks upon weeks, but I finally found all the titles and legal papers for all the cars (yup they kept them in the garages) RV, yup, you had to have a title for that two.

And the frustrating e to find the papers to the property they owned in Florida.

 

Our attorney was a saint, putting up with all the visits and providing more and more papers as they were requested.

 

Then, every thing went to probate.

 

Then one day we received a summons that we missed a county hearing.  WHAT???  Even the attorney did not know about it.

So, not making the courts happy, we kinda had our estate settling become a slow moving process by the courts. 

 

It took 14 months, but everything was finally settled to my DH, the only surviving relative.

 

But, the property in Florida, still had his moms name on the deed (They owned everything jointly).

 

So we contacted an attorney in Florida

It only took 3 moths to:

Take his moms name off the deed, and make uncle sole owner.

Then

Put DH on the deed as joint owner

Then

Take uncle off the deed and make DH sole owner

Then put me on the deed as spouse

Then get this

Already put the DD on the deed as inheritance.

 

Kudos to Florida for their organization and quick skills to settle issues.

 

 

 

So now, 

7 dumpster of hoarded newspapers, trash, junk emptied by us

6 trucks by hired contractor to remove stuff we could not carry.

25 car loads of clothes to either good will, or the yellow clothes box.

5 car loads of kitchen pots pans glass ware dinner ware to church fundraiser sale.

We kept the waterford.

 

So the next and final section will be selling the estate.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2022 by Lionesss

[h20skibum]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

My guess (really a WAG)...something changed with CC such that it's not reading the picture metadata correctly.  The picture orientation (portrait vs landscape) is stored in the metadata (among a lot of other info) so that programs that view the picture know how to present it properly.  It seems like CC is confused by portrait pictures and thinks they need to be rotated to be viewed properly.  Somehow, doing the crop and save thing, causes the metadata to change such that CC reads it correctly.  I was going to try experimenting with an EXIF viewer but I ran out of time.  Here's a link to an online EXIF viewer if anyone else wants to try.  Insert a web link of a picture here and you should see the data.

Jeffrey Friedl's Image Metadata Viewer (regex.info)

I have an EXIF app on my phone that lets you delete location data for a photo.  
 

I sample uploaded a horizontal and a vertical photo.  The one shot in landscape mode uploaded correctly, but the portrait mode picture uploaded sideways. 
 

When I looked at the data, the portrait shot listed the orientation as 6.  I then used my method of rotating the photo 90 degrees and saving, then rotating 3 more times to bring it back to the original orientation. Doing this, it changed the orientation to 1 in the EXIF. 
 

Original EXIF 

 

 

Rotated 4 positions EXIF 

 

Photo after rotating 4 positions. 

 

Now I am confused as to why the orientation flag changes when you rotate 4 times, to essentially have the same portrait view without cropping. 

 

[Lionesss]

Finale

 

We held one garage sale and made $1300.

Old GI Joe was the big sell, as well as old lunch boxes and purses, tools, generator..........

 

Now we get ready to place the house  on the market.

The realtor we used asked us what we think we should get for it.

 

My husband goes, well it is an Amish build, on five acres. I have no clue, what do you suggest.

 

 

Then reality hit.

She tells us, it is now a handy mans special.

There has been no upkeep except for the new roof in over 45 years.

It needs work.

 

She suggested a ridiculously low amount but looking back it was realistic for the way the house aged.

My DH was shell shocked, because it had so many valuable memories.

 

So the DH said to double your offer and if it does not sell, we will drop the price significantly.

 

So now we patiently wait.

The house went on the market  on a Monday, and a big sign was placed in front.

By the end of the business day over 40 showings were scheduled.

 

By Wednesday, a potential buyer expressed sincere "I WANT THAT HOUSE" that they offered a cash deal 3 times the initial sale price.

We accepted!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our agent could not believe it.

 

So guess what.

Almost at closing, and they go to transfer the titles, and what to our surprise.

Another uncle who passed away 24 years ago, was left on the title to the house when they removed the uncle who recently died, and his mom had previously been correctly taken off.

 

Talk about an ooooooopppppppsssssss.

 

So the courts must have been slow, and we had the amendment rushed through the courts in 5 days and all is well.

 

 

We learned some valuable lessons after this.

We already had wills, but we updated them

We have all our legal deeds in a safe and backup on computer.

We have nothing of worth in the house, even though we have a security system that if the cat farts and all the sensors are on, it alarms when were out.

It also helps that the police live next door, and keep an eye out.

We store any jewelry or coins at the bank boxes.  

The only cash we carry is minimal, for quick store runs, we are plastic people.

 

So, now a new era begins we are the oldies and life goes on.

 

Oh, yup, looking at house plans for Florida...............

Double lot

Gotta build big enough 

and

I am sure we will have to have a 4 car garage

 

Thanks for taking the time to read.

 

Be safe

 

 

 

 

[Sunshine3601]

11 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

@Sunshine3601  I made no adjustments to the shelves in the first pic.  I basically separated them equally.  In the second pic the top shelf was adjusted half way down today.  Before the adjustments, some of the plants in the second pic were growing up to the light.  Thus the adjustments.  I ordered another light to help out. I think if I dropped gardening I could afford one more cruise! One week cruising or several months gardening…….. 🤔 

 

 

Your plants look really good too!     I have never done the math on the cost of everything that goes into gardening.    I love it too much to know the actual $$ amount.     Just think of all the money we save not having to buy at produce store🥰

Still quite chilly here this morning but plan on getting outside to at least do some clean up.    

[jmh2006]

31 minutes ago, Lionesss said:

Part 2  The legal issues.

 

Not only were they hoarders, they were not organized.

Oh the MIL had a strong box but over the years it was not kept current.

And

The uncle just put legal papers anywhere he could and he knew where they were, but he did not share the information.

 

So now that my DH is the last survivor with the uncle not having a will, the legal journey began.

 

It took weeks upon weeks, but I finally found all the titles and legal papers for all the cars (yup they kept them in the garages) RV, yup, you had to have a title for that two.

And the frustrating e to find the papers to the property they owned in Florida.

 

Our attorney was a saint, putting up with all the visits and providing more and more papers as they were requested.

 

Then, every thing went to probate.

 

Then one day we received a summons that we missed a county hearing.  WHAT???  Even the attorney did not know about it.

So, not making the courts happy, we kinda had our estate settling become a slow moving process by the courts. 

 

It took 14 months, but everything was finally settled to my DH, the only surviving relative.

 

But, the property in Florida, still had his moms name on the deed (They owned everything jointly).

 

So we contacted an attorney in Florida

It only took 3 moths to:

Take his moms name off the deed, and make uncle sole owner.

Then

Put DH on the deed as joint owner

Then

Take uncle off the deed and make DH sole owner

Then put me on the deed as spouse

Then get this

Already put the DD on the deed as inheritance.

 

Kudos to Florida for their organization and quick skills to settle issues.

 

 

 

So now, 

7 dumpster of hoarded newspapers, trash, junk emptied by us

6 trucks by hired contractor to remove stuff we could not carry.

25 car loads of clothes to either good will, or the yellow clothes box.

5 car loads of kitchen pots pans glass ware dinner ware to church fundraiser sale.

We kept the waterford.

 

So the next and final section will be selling the estate.

 

 

 

 

My DH and I went through a similar scenario when we moved his father into assisted living and emptied out his house (mother passed in 2012) of 50 years.  Your situation was a bit worse though.  Luckily my parents moved several times till their retirement home in NC and really got rid of "things" along the way!  I have only one son, and I promise I will not do this to him.  It is so hard and sad to say the least.  Kudos to you and your DH!

[aussielozzie18]

That was a mammoth effort for you @Lionesss.  Interesting read.  Glad the house sale had a great outcome despite the last minute twist.

I am thankful my dad has got his affairs in order and he did a huge clean out himself during last year’s extended lockdowns.

[BonTexasNY]

11 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Afternoon pool foam party was on today’s schedule. 
 

 

 

 

 

So much better than snow!!!

Continue to enjoy.

[jagsfan]

19 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Left store in parking lot, here's another photo 

Cotton candy machine in WJ at lunchtime.  

Uploading but the sideways

A cotton candy machine in Windjammer?

Is that new? I wonder how many ships have them. 
It’s just as well if I don’t know about them. I’d be walking around with a sticky face. But hopefully not every day!

[jagsfan]

11 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Afternoon pool foam party was on today’s schedule. 
 

 

 

 

 

Genius! That would be so much fun!!!

[jagsfan]

8 hours ago, Bailey & Sophie said:

 

Nice to know. Thanks.

We were going to use the OBC on excursions. Royal sponsored excursions have been scaled back considerably. We're not beach people and I don't want to waste the credit on specialty stores. We'll book a few lunches and see what happens.

A lot can change between now and November!

I used some of ours ordering from the premium section of the MDR menu. 

[jagsfan]

1 hour ago, Lionesss said:

Part 2  The legal issues.

 

Not only were they hoarders, they were not organized.

Oh the MIL had a strong box but over the years it was not kept current.

And

The uncle just put legal papers anywhere he could and he knew where they were, but he did not share the information.

 

So now that my DH is the last survivor with the uncle not having a will, the legal journey began.

 

It took weeks upon weeks, but I finally found all the titles and legal papers for all the cars (yup they kept them in the garages) RV, yup, you had to have a title for that two.

And the frustrating e to find the papers to the property they owned in Florida.

 

Our attorney was a saint, putting up with all the visits and providing more and more papers as they were requested.

 

Then, every thing went to probate.

 

Then one day we received a summons that we missed a county hearing.  WHAT???  Even the attorney did not know about it.

So, not making the courts happy, we kinda had our estate settling become a slow moving process by the courts. 

 

It took 14 months, but everything was finally settled to my DH, the only surviving relative.

 

But, the property in Florida, still had his moms name on the deed (They owned everything jointly).

 

So we contacted an attorney in Florida

It only took 3 moths to:

Take his moms name off the deed, and make uncle sole owner.

Then

Put DH on the deed as joint owner

Then

Take uncle off the deed and make DH sole owner

Then put me on the deed as spouse

Then get this

Already put the DD on the deed as inheritance.

 

Kudos to Florida for their organization and quick skills to settle issues.

 

 

 

So now, 

7 dumpster of hoarded newspapers, trash, junk emptied by us

6 trucks by hired contractor to remove stuff we could not carry.

25 car loads of clothes to either good will, or the yellow clothes box.

5 car loads of kitchen pots pans glass ware dinner ware to church fundraiser sale.

We kept the waterford.

 

So the next and final section will be selling the estate.

 

 

 

 

Whew!

[h20skibum]

@Lionessswe went through the same thing, but thankfully my parents had planned ahead.  It wasn’t near the ordeal that you had.

 

We did, however, have to go through every drawer (pulling them out and checking under and behind them), and going through the pages of every book to find those hiding places. It is amazing how much you find in different places.

 

We are trying to be more organized for our kids.  Although we told them, if we play it right, all the money will be spent on cruises before we die.  😁

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, Lionesss said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Wednesday, a potential buyer expressed sincere "I WANT THAT HOUSE" that they offered a cash deal 3 times the initial sale price.

We accepted!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our agent could not believe it.

 

 

Sounds like you had a really bad agent that is not up with the times on the house market's of today.

 

Feel sorry for you to be dealing with an agent like that.

 

Hope you never recommend that agent to any of your friends.

 

Some agents just want a quick sale so they can get their commission fast.

 

This is what you should do if I was you, just tell the agent you are only going to give the agent the commission to her/him for that sale price that the agent wanted to sell if for . I want not give any extra to  a agent that miss prices your house by so much.

This would be a good way for the agent learn how to price houses!

Edited April 10, 2022 by Jimbo

[Lionesss]

Addendum

 

How could I forget

 

The week before the house went on the market, the 2 car out building garage roof collapsed during the 2 foot of snow storm.

 

Thank God they were with the same insurance carrier for over 45 years, so we contacted them and an appraiser came out.

 

There was stored tractors old train parts, and some clutter and the two cars that were in there were sold..

 

So on the Thursday before the house was to go on the market we get a dear John letter from the Insurance carrier that there would be no reimbursement for the collapsed "shed".

So my husband borrows my broom and calls the insurance carrier and said insurance was paid on a garage for 45 years and now your not covering it and you call it a shed!!!!!!!!

 

Oh it gets better they dropped coverage on the house effective in 2 business days. Because of a downspout being off the house.

 

They go

Get this..............................

In the 45 years they owned the property and were insured by us they never took the time to have re-appraisals.

My DH goes  WHAT!!!!!

 

The agent goes did you not know as a home owner you have to have a reappraisal at defined intervals.

My husband now more frustrated ended the call and started a drink.

 

I get on the phone and call a different location for our insurance carrier and told them I had a question. 

I go do you have to have interval appraisals for your home owners insurance.

He goes no.

There is routine depreciation, and as long as you do not do another addition or major change your policy is good.

 

So now on an un-insured house no one can enter the property, because if they get hurt we have no liability.

Delay in showing.

We were able to obtain short term coverage, cheap on an unoccupied empty house.

 

So after jumping through many hoops and many frustrating calls we are    *hit out of luck.

No financial reimbursement on the garage, or tractor.

 

It is not over.

I will not mention the insurance carrier, but, all I can say is check your policy, and try not to be screwed like we were.

 

 

OK

 

Thats all folks.