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

[Sunshine3601]

16 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

Before Mayor Dinkins decided to shove water meters down our throats we only paid $200.00 a year for water usage.  Now we get billed quarterly and it is ridiculous!  When we got married electric was so cheap then skyrocketed and never came down.  The only thing I can keep lower is the gas bill, if I use less I can actually see a difference in the bill.  Although now with gas prices up I guess it won’t matter.

Our water/sewer bills 2 years ago were around $150 per quarter (maybe $110 during winter months) now they over $200 per quarter.   I don't want to even think about what they were years ago.    

We have gas heat and cooking and find that to be reasonable but who knows where that will go nowadays.   

We have PECO for electric and were notified that effective June 1st the price was going up 8.2%

[John&LaLa]

51 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

They tried to do that sewage thing here too. People were up in arms about it because of pools, lawn irrigation systems, etc. and it got shot down. Water is metered, sewer is flat fee.

 

All metered down here. Sewage is double the water portion. Water/sewer is by far my most expensive bill. Even higher than electric in the summer

 

In Alabama we had a seperate water meter for pool and irrigation. No sewage on that bill. 

[Sunshine3601]

3 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

C'est la vie.

 

That's French by the way.  😉

 

Personally, I like laundry on same level as bedrooms

I can understand that.   A lot of new homes are built with laundry near bedrooms.    

[Ocean Boy]

3 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

C'est la vie.

 

That's French by the way.  😉

 

Personally, I like laundry on same level as bedrooms

Your preference is perfect for someone living in a one story home with no basement.😇

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

Nope .The rent that my parents paid in the 40’s and 50’s was solely for the apartments as was the rent that I paid in the 60’s and 70’s when I lived in 2 family homes.It was only when I bought a house in 1983 that I began to receive water bills

 

 

Sorry, but that's delusional. Your landlord paid it, you paid landlord for a unit that included utilities. Same with my condo. Water is a shared expense. Its not free

 

Landlord possibly paid it through taxes, but it got paid one way or the other

Edited June 15, 2022 by John&LaLa

[John&LaLa]

49 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Someone was paying for the water. This is not a difficult concept. Your rent paid for the apartment and whatever else the landlord included in the rent....like water.

 

Best to give up

[Ocean Boy]

1 minute ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Best to give up

Agree.

[Sunshine3601]

10 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

That makes it even more special!

Yes, exactly that.  It’ll become a summer staple!

And my Mom gave me the mermaid statue that is in the boat as a house warming gift.

[Sunshine3601]

15 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

The same as Greg’s link. Bring equal parts sugar and water to a boil, stir until the sugar dissolves, remove from heat and cool completely.  I do one cup to one cup and store it in a mason jar. Today I added small handful of fresh mint at the end of the boil and let it steep while the mixture cooled. Remove the mint before storing. 

Too cute,  us Deb's both store our simple syrup in mason jars😍

[John&LaLa]

6 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Your preference is perfect for someone living in a one story home with no basement.😇

 

I have lived in at least 15 homes as an adult, maybe closer to 20. I quickly learned a disdain for basement laundries. 😉

[Ocean Boy]

Just now, John&LaLa said:

 

I have lived in at least 15 homes as an adult, maybe closer to 20. I quickly learned a disdain for basement laundries. 😉

I will admit that I have times when I wished I lived in a house where stairs did not exist or at least had a first floor master bedroom. I still don't want the laundry taking up living space... maybe in the garage.🤔

[Luckynana]

42 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Thank you.    We love it here.    It is not one of those huge mansions that you see all over the island but it is our happy place.   

While I was on my morning bike ride I noticed someone has hung various flip flops on their fence as decoration.    Looks really cute.   I will have to take a photo tomorrow.   I may steal their idea😇

Your home is perfect, Debbie!  I can see why that is your happy place!  It is just beautiful, and speaks of what LBI is all about.  🥰

[lenquixote66]

11 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Sorry, but that's delusional. Your landlord paid it, you paid landlord for a unit that included utilities. Same with my condo. Water is a shared expense. Its not free

 

Landlord possibly paid it through taxes, but it got paid one way or the other

I am not referring to 2022.I stipulated to our resident Physician that I know more about medical terminology and coding than I do about real estate .

I know that when my wife and I were looking for our first apartment in 1967 and subsequent apartments there were ads in The NY Times stating Utilities included in rental fees but in the 40’s and 50’s that was not the case.

[lenquixote66]

9 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I will admit that I have times when I wished I lived in a house where stairs did not exist or at least had a first floor master bedroom. I still don't want the laundry taking up living space... maybe in the garage.🤔

I have a stair lift.I wish I could walk stairs.

[Sunshine3601]

To my surprise Eric (who I thought was in other room watching TV) just whipped up some crab bacon dip with the leftover blue claw crab we had from Sunday dinner with the kids.     He is Wonderful, except I was informed he just opened up our last bottle of Riesling that we picked up on way down here   Uh-oh!    This is what happens when we don't have supervision by the kids who left early this morning to go back home to go to work😇

[Sunshine3601]

8 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I am not referring to 2022.I stipulated to our resident Physician that I know more about medical terminology and coding than I do about real estate .

I know that when my wife and I were looking for our first apartment in 1967 and subsequent apartments there were ads in The NY Times stating Utilities included in rental fees but in the 40’s and 50’s that was not the case.

All good!      Having worked in mortgage biz for 25+ years I wish I didn't know real estate terminology.    I am really getting tired of this biz and ready to move to something more simple, less stress before I retire.   Plus this crazy market we are in right now.

[Vibe]

3 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

Soooo...my A/C fix did not "stick".  It worked for a few hours this morning but now back to the same problem.  Not sure if it's the thermostat or an issue with the heat pump compressor.  A/C repair guy will be here tomorrow.  Until then, all ceiling fans are on full blast.  High ceilings also help keeping the heat up above us.  Currently 82F outside and 79F inside.  Warm but not intolerable.

Sometimes the pipe for the drain gets clogged causing the drain float to rise turning off the switch until it starts draining again and the float goes back down. Using a shop vac to suck out the end of the pipe outside by the compressor will usually clear it.

[George C]

Just saw this on the news dog was in gorilla complex in zoo , running for his life.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/dog-ends-up-in-gorilla-enclosure-at-zoo/

Edited June 15, 2022 by George C

[Ocean Boy]

19 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

To my surprise Eric (who I thought was in other room watching TV) just whipped up some crab bacon dip with the leftover blue claw crab we had from Sunday dinner with the kids.     He is Wonderful, except I was informed he just opened up our last bottle of Riesling that we picked up on way down here   Uh-oh!    This is what happens when we don't have supervision by the kids who left early this morning to go back home to go to work😇

I'm getting in my car. I'll be there soon.

[akcruz]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

They tried to do that sewage thing here too. People were up in arms about it because of pools, lawn irrigation systems, etc. and it got shot down. Water is metered, sewer is flat fee.

 

1 hour ago, Ozark_Kid said:

This is how it works in our town. Sewer is tied to how much water is used.  If you set up a sprinkler system for the yard you can get a separate meter where sewer is not tied to water use.

 

We have separate meters for our irrigation/outside faucets and the main water for the house.  Sewer is based on the main water meter.  Coming from a home in the country where we had a well and septic that cost was a bit of a surprise but getting used to it, pros and cons of each.

 

We also are in a 1 story, no basement and limited attic.  Water heater in garage, laundry room between garage and house.  We purged a lot when we moved south but not enough, still going thru closets, attic, garage, etc and getting rid of things we haven't used since here.  Slow process and yes it does help with new purchases makes me really think if we need it.

[Vibe]

59 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

All metered down here. Sewage is double the water portion. Water/sewer is by far my most expensive bill. Even higher than electric in the summer

 

In Alabama we had a seperate water meter for pool and irrigation. No sewage on that bill. 

In Orange County FL, the interior water and sewer charges are metered. Lawn irrigation is reclaimed water from a separate meter, no sewer charges for that.  Total monthly bill around $60

Edited June 15, 2022 by Vibe

[Vibe]

53 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I can understand that.   A lot of new homes are built with laundry near bedrooms.    

Most of the nicer homes built in Central Florida in the last 2 decades have an interior laundry room that is a pass through from the attached garage to the rest of the house.

[Sunshine3601]

19 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I'm getting in my car. I'll be there soon.

Come on down, just please stop and pick up more wine on your way😁

 

PS - we have Kraken, cranberry and mango juice, grey goose vodka, cruzan peach rum, cruzan aged rum (St Croix), watermelon vodka, dacquiri mix (strawberry and mango) simple syrup, fresh picked mint leaves, but out of wine.   SOS!!!

Edited June 15, 2022 by Sunshine3601

[akcruz]

Forgot to add we had a leak in our irrigation system, tried to get a credit and was denied, found out what you are really getting is a credit for the sewer charge since the leaked water didn't make it there.  Was bummed but makes sense, kinda.  At least how it works here.

[xpcdoojk]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

How do you make simple syrup?

Really easy, cook a cup of sugar and a cup of boiling water.  Lots of recipes on the web.