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

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, h20skibum said:

I hate autocorrect.  I just noticed this when I went back.  
 

Actually, he was pecking, not peeing at the driver.   🤣🤣

Me too. Virgin became Virginia. Ma'am became Mama.  Omg 😲 

[Arzeena]

I know that the Equinox did not get a complete revamping, but my cabin sure looks like it did. I also saw that they are redoing the carpets on deck 11 aft section. 

[BonTexasNY]

6 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Yesterday, the grandkids were off school, so I had to watch them for the day.  Making chocolate chip cookies was one of the activities I planned.  

I guess the secret to having lots of chips in each cookie is to ignore that 2 cup measure and dump a 36 oz. bag in.   Even Ricky was shocked at the amount. 
 

 

So after the cookies were baked, they put a Reese’s mini in the center and started decorating.  
 

 

And now there are spiders on the cookies. 
 

 

I did have to break down and sample one.   Yum!

 

I bet you had more than one.   Love those kids!

1 hour ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Eric and I have had an physcially and mentally exhausted week.    

As you may recall we had a last minute problem with laundry sink in basement of his Mom's house that we were selling back up.    We did get a drain guy out there Monday night to look at and he came back Tuesday morning to do a clean out.     Said it was the drain pipe from Master bathroom and hall bath upstairs that had a clog.    Said all was clear and good to go.    

 

Closing was supposed to take place Tuesday at 2 pm and in good faith we asked our Realtor to let the buyers know that we had a last minute drain issue but all was resolved.     The buyers asked to extend closing until Thursday as they wanted to make sure themselves all was good.    We agreed.    Thursday came and went and they asked to extend closing until Friday afternoon.    We told him he had until 3 pm Friday to close.     Friday at 3:30 pm we received his request to terminate contract asking for full refund of their $10K deposit stating they had concerns about drain but were unable to get a plumber inspect.     

 

Twist to this story is the buyer had hired their own electrician to do some work in changing out main power line that connects to the house (that we did not authorize).    We stumbled upon this contractor working on Wednesday.     We immediately called our realtor and advised we did NOT authorize this electrical work.   He phoned the buyers and was told "he forgot to cancel the electrician as he had scheduled him thinking he was closing on Tuesday"    Now that he had the main power line for the whole house disconnected.    We told the electrician to finish up and reconnect/restore power to the house asap and that we are NOT responsible for paying him as we did Not authorize the work and the person that hired him did Not own the home.     He looked shocked and kept apologizing.   

 

On this same trip to the house we noticed a couple of items that we said we would leave with the home in the shed and garage for the new buyer (snow blower, lawn mower, small pressure washer, leaf blower and some misc. garden tools that were hanging up) were all gone from the property.       Looks like some sneaky action by the prospective buyer but this was Wednesday so I we thought okay let's see if he closes by end of week.   

 

Back to current time, he did Not close and we advised him we will Not issue full refund of his deposit money until he provides proof he paid for the electrician he hired to insure we are not financially liable and we want everything that is missing from the home to be returned ASAP.    

 

Eric has been so stressed out about everything so last night we turned off the outside world and had a nice relaxing evening in front of the fireplace with a bottle of kraken (almost gone).  

 

Meanwhile our Realtor contacted a couple that had made a back-up offer and we accepted their offer last night and they are scheduled to close on November 10th.    Fingers and toes crossed this one happens.      

So sorry you had to go through that with the first couple.  Not very nice people.  I hope they pay the electrician and return your items that they never should have taken in the first place.

 

I hope things work out better with the current couple under contract.

[DaniDanielle]

So sorry Debbie.

Arzeena, have fun

[Arzeena]

[Lionesss]

These last few days have been so busy but I would not have wished it any other way.
 Rick and myself had the opportunity of babysitting Miss ZZZZZOEY. 
It was truly an experience from me driving up from Oxford Ohio alone with 💤oey, and yes of course forgetting toys——to watching her excited to do anything. 
Namely: 
1.  Went to vote with us. 
2. Having lunch at Panera.
3.  Shopping at one of our exclusive stores 
“Le Walmarte”  and getting some toys.
4. Ankles being run into by a roaming child in a walker. 
5.  Going to mass.
6. A bath full of toys. 
7. Trying to catch the cat. Did not succeed. 
8. The laugh and girly giggles of a soon to be 10  month old —— that would melt your heart. 
9. Watching her sleep making sure she is still breathing. 

What will I take from this:

“ All the joy and love a baby girl could bring” 

I was surprised I did not call her Christina after her mother our daughter……but…… a few times got called Lizzy after the cat. 
💕
 

 

[Sunshine3601]

3 minutes ago, Lionesss said:

These last few days have been so busy but I would not have wished it any other way.
 Rick and myself had the opportunity of babysitting Miss ZZZZZOEY. 
It was truly an experience from me driving up from Oxford Ohio alone with 💤oey, and yes of course forgetting toys——to watching her excited to do anything. 
Namely: 
1.  Went to vote with us. 
2. Having lunch at Panera.
3.  Shopping at one of our exclusive stores 
“Le Walmarte”  and getting some toys.
4. Ankles being run into by a roaming child in a walker. 
5.  Going to mass.
6. A bath full of toys. 
7. Trying to catch the cat. Did not succeed. 
8. The laugh and girly giggles of a soon to be 10  month old —— that would melt your heart. 
9. Watching her sleep making sure she is still breathing. 

What will I take from this:

“ All the joy and love a baby girl could bring” 

I was surprised I did not call her Christina after her mother our daughter……but…… a few times got called Lizzy after the cat. 
💕
 

 

She is sooo precious.   Enjoy these special moments to the fullest🥰

[DaniDanielle]

They grow up too fast.  Our youngest grandchild is nine already and none of my kids will give me any more😢

[lenquixote66]

My wife’s sister has 10 grandkids and a friend has 21 

[aussielozzie18]

1 hour ago, Lionesss said:

These last few days have been so busy but I would not have wished it any other way.
 Rick and myself had the opportunity of babysitting Miss ZZZZZOEY. 
It was truly an experience from me driving up from Oxford Ohio alone with 💤oey, and yes of course forgetting toys——to watching her excited to do anything. 
Namely: 
1.  Went to vote with us. 
2. Having lunch at Panera.
3.  Shopping at one of our exclusive stores 
“Le Walmarte”  and getting some toys.
4. Ankles being run into by a roaming child in a walker. 
5.  Going to mass.
6. A bath full of toys. 
7. Trying to catch the cat. Did not succeed. 
8. The laugh and girly giggles of a soon to be 10  month old —— that would melt your heart. 
9. Watching her sleep making sure she is still breathing. 

What will I take from this:

“ All the joy and love a baby girl could bring” 

I was surprised I did not call her Christina after her mother our daughter……but…… a few times got called Lizzy after the cat. 
💕
 

 

Zoey is adorable and growing fast.  How precious for you both to have this one on one time.

[BonTexasNY]

2 hours ago, Lionesss said:

These last few days have been so busy but I would not have wished it any other way.
 Rick and myself had the opportunity of babysitting Miss ZZZZZOEY. 
It was truly an experience from me driving up from Oxford Ohio alone with 💤oey, and yes of course forgetting toys——to watching her excited to do anything. 
Namely: 
1.  Went to vote with us. 
2. Having lunch at Panera.
3.  Shopping at one of our exclusive stores 
“Le Walmarte”  and getting some toys.
4. Ankles being run into by a roaming child in a walker. 
5.  Going to mass.
6. A bath full of toys. 
7. Trying to catch the cat. Did not succeed. 
8. The laugh and girly giggles of a soon to be 10  month old —— that would melt your heart. 
9. Watching her sleep making sure she is still breathing. 

What will I take from this:

“ All the joy and love a baby girl could bring” 

I was surprised I did not call her Christina after her mother our daughter……but…… a few times got called Lizzy after the cat. 
💕
 

 

Precious moments!

[brillohead]

5 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Friday at 3:30 pm we received his request to terminate contract asking for full refund of their $10K deposit stating they had concerns about drain but were unable to get a plumber inspect.

 

IMO, they are not entitled to a refund of their deposit -- the deposit is their good faith / earnest money, and they did not fulfill their end of the contract by completing the purchase, so they don't get their deposit back.  You took the house off the market for them, and you could have sold it to someone else in the meantime, so they forfeit their deposit when they backed out of the deal.  

It's like a deposit on a cruise... if the cruise line cancels the cruise, you get your money back.  If you change your mind and cancel the cruise, the cruise line gets to keep the deposit.  

 

They could have asked for a one-week extension so they could get the drain inspected.... completely canceling a house purchase for a minor REPAIRED drain issue is a bunch of bologna, IMO.  It's not like they discovered termites or black mold or a cracked foundation or a leaking roof, something that has expensive and long-term ramifications.  It was a drain clog that was cleared -- one and done.  

 

 

[brillohead]

10 hours ago, h20skibum said:

The Turkey kept peeing at the Amazon vehicle, and wouldn’t let the driver out.  I guess someone’s package is going to be late.  

 

6 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Actually, he was pecking, not peeing at the driver.   🤣🤣

 

To be fair, EITHER action would be a good reason for the driver to not exit the vehicle!  😉

[brillohead]

10 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

The mighty North Atlantic is at peace today. I can only wish the same for Israel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These pictures are Fake News... no feet are visible!!!

 

And a great big "amen" to the second half of your post.... it's just unfathomable what the people of Israel are having to go through right now.  

[brillohead]

13 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Food is covered & dogs on patrol

from marauding seagulls.  We heard the dog handler say they hadn’t stopped all afternoon.

 

 

Absolute cutest security personnel ever!!!  

Maybe Royal could hire some for Coco Cay!  

[brillohead]

13 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I also never wore a winter coat last winter. I also never had to start the snow blower either.

 

Well, living in prime Lake Effect Snow* territory, I can't say the same for the second sentence! I have to admit that having a remote car starter is a contributing factor to why I rarely wear a coat.  If I had to get into a cold car and wait for it to warm up, I'd be more inclined to wear a coat on those below 0F days.  (I do keep a winter coat, gloves, and boots in my trunk during the wintertime, just in case I get stranded somewhere.)

 

*Lake effect snow, for those who don't know, is when the air traveling across one of the Great Lakes (Lake Michigan, in my case) picks up moisture and warmth along the way, and then when that air mass is confronted by significantly colder temps after making landfall, it drops all that excess moisture in the form of copious volumes of snow.  It's not unusual for the Kalamazoo area (where I live) to get six more inches of snow than Battle Creek, just half an hour to the east of us.  And rural Van Buren County half an hour to our west can get an extra six inches on top of that.  

[sgmn]

10 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Eric and I have had an physcially and mentally exhausted week.    

As you may recall we had a last minute problem with laundry sink in basement of his Mom's house that we were selling back up.    We did get a drain guy out there Monday night to look at and he came back Tuesday morning to do a clean out.     Said it was the drain pipe from Master bathroom and hall bath upstairs that had a clog.    Said all was clear and good to go.    

 

Closing was supposed to take place Tuesday at 2 pm and in good faith we asked our Realtor to let the buyers know that we had a last minute drain issue but all was resolved.     The buyers asked to extend closing until Thursday as they wanted to make sure themselves all was good.    We agreed.    Thursday came and went and they asked to extend closing until Friday afternoon.    We told him he had until 3 pm Friday to close.     Friday at 3:30 pm we received his request to terminate contract asking for full refund of their $10K deposit stating they had concerns about drain but were unable to get a plumber inspect.     

 

Twist to this story is the buyer had hired their own electrician to do some work in changing out main power line that connects to the house (that we did not authorize).    We stumbled upon this contractor working on Wednesday.     We immediately called our realtor and advised we did NOT authorize this electrical work.   He phoned the buyers and was told "he forgot to cancel the electrician as he had scheduled him thinking he was closing on Tuesday"    Now that he had the main power line for the whole house disconnected.    We told the electrician to finish up and reconnect/restore power to the house asap and that we are NOT responsible for paying him as we did Not authorize the work and the person that hired him did Not own the home.     He looked shocked and kept apologizing.   

 

On this same trip to the house we noticed a couple of items that we said we would leave with the home in the shed and garage for the new buyer (snow blower, lawn mower, small pressure washer, leaf blower and some misc. garden tools that were hanging up) were all gone from the property.       Looks like some sneaky action by the prospective buyer but this was Wednesday so I we thought okay let's see if he closes by end of week.   

 

Back to current time, he did Not close and we advised him we will Not issue full refund of his deposit money until he provides proof he paid for the electrician he hired to insure we are not financially liable and we want everything that is missing from the home to be returned ASAP.    

 

Eric has been so stressed out about everything so last night we turned off the outside world and had a nice relaxing evening in front of the fireplace with a bottle of kraken (almost gone).  

 

Meanwhile our Realtor contacted a couple that had made a back-up offer and we accepted their offer last night and they are scheduled to close on November 10th.    Fingers and toes crossed this one happens.      

Ah Debbie, what a nightmare. Buying and selling a house can be very stressful.  I like the Scottish system, once you put in an offer you are committed. So all checks gave to be done first .

Glad you had a backup couple 

[aussielozzie18]

Another sunny Sunday in Sydney.  This morning we took Max to Bayview dog park.

 

 

Then we walked from Bayview to Church Point & back by the water’s edge, in the sun, stopping at a cafe for lunch on the way back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[grapau27]

Good afternoon.

 I hope everyone is safe and well.

We got home this morning after 8 days and 7 nights in 

Orlando Florida.

We had a fantastic time.

[Jimbo]

14 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Good afternoon.

 I hope everyone is safe and well.

We got home this morning after 8 days and 7 nights in 

Orlando Florida.

We had a fantastic time.

Is that Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa where you stayed?

[grapau27]

11 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Is that Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa where you stayed?

Yes.

We had a massive 2 bedroom suite with balcony,living area, kitchen,2 bathrooms,hot tub,washer and full kitchen and cooking facilities.

We ate out all of the time so didn't make use of most things.

 

Edited October 15, 2023 by grapau27

[Jimbo]

8 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Yes.

We had a massive 2 bedroom suite with balcony,living area, kitchen,2 bathrooms,hot tub,washer and full kitchen and cooking facilities.

We ate out all of the time so didn't make use of most things.

 

Fire Works View?

[grapau27]

47 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Fire Works View?

We had asked for a fireworks room with our TA but hotel said they were full.

We did see some fireworks from our room though.

 

[Sunshine3601]

13 hours ago, brillohead said:

 

IMO, they are not entitled to a refund of their deposit -- the deposit is their good faith / earnest money, and they did not fulfill their end of the contract by completing the purchase, so they don't get their deposit back.  You took the house off the market for them, and you could have sold it to someone else in the meantime, so they forfeit their deposit when they backed out of the deal.  

It's like a deposit on a cruise... if the cruise line cancels the cruise, you get your money back.  If you change your mind and cancel the cruise, the cruise line gets to keep the deposit.  

 

They could have asked for a one-week extension so they could get the drain inspected.... completely canceling a house purchase for a minor REPAIRED drain issue is a bunch of bologna, IMO.  It's not like they discovered termites or black mold or a cracked foundation or a leaking roof, something that has expensive and long-term ramifications.  It was a drain clog that was cleared -- one and done.  

 

 

Yes, I completely understand what you said about refunding their deposit money.    Especially since this contract was a cash sale, no inspection contingencies and home sold "as is" stated on the contract.

 

Eric and I had worked in real estate/mortgage biz for over 30 yrs and majority of time seller does refund deposit monies so we agreed to refund but only if they meet the terms we demanded Friday night. 

 

 They had no right to remove (basically steal) any of our personal belongings from the home nor did we authorize for their electrician to do repairs.  This is what is infuriating to us.

 

No word from them yet. 

 

We are happy that we had a back up offer and hope all goes well with this couple.  

[Arzeena]

4 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Good afternoon.

 I hope everyone is safe and well.

We got home this morning after 8 days and 7 nights in 

Orlando Florida.

We had a fantastic time.

I know that place!!!! Had I known, we could have met up for coffeein the LBV outlets next to the hotel buildings you were staying in. We go there often. In fact I was probably there while you were.