The Daily for Monday Jan 4, 2021

[highland cruiser]

So nice to hear that many are getting their vaccines.  Here in Washington, it is a bit slow.  Still doing tier 1 people...hospital workers, emergency responders, etc.  Next are the assisted living facilities.  Not sure when we will be on the list.   Our daughter got her vaccine today.  

Thanks for all the daily news.  Prayers for all and thumbs up to all the shout outs!!

Dinner tonight will be a taco salad.   

Lunch for the grands are pigs in a blanket and veggies!!  DH and I are having last of salmon chowder.  Need to make chili soon...it is that kind of weather here.

Stay safe and well.  

 

[cat shepard]

53 minutes ago, Sea Viewer said:

Got my appointment for covid jab for Friday. It's at a drive in site. If you have an allergy you have to wait in a parking area for 30 minutes after injection to be monitored.

Sea Viewer, would appreciate you sharing your experiences- if you are willing.

[cat shepard]

2 hours ago, bennybear said:

Good morning and thanks all.  We just finished watching the Queens gambit on Netflix,  loved the music!  
 

Hope they can get going on this vaccine rollout.  We’re behind here,  saying may not be until fall for the general public.  Hoping we can get ours in the second round,  but sounds like just doing age 75 plus, so it could be awhile.   
 

Enjoying a winter walk with our granddaughters. 

What a spectacular picture!

[VMax1700]

24 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

I have a theory about Braille on drive-through ATM buttons. Manufacturers may possibly use the machines interchangeably with walk-up or drive-through ATMs.

 

But if I am blind and a passenger in a car, I could use the drive-through ATM, if my arm reaches.

 

Thank you for making me think about this mystery!

 

I reckon you are pretty close with your theory.  In my opinion the manufacturer doesn't know where the ATM will be fitted and as they want to keep the variation of SKU's as low as practical, it is more cost effective to have only one type of keyboard, which is fitted to all the ATM's.

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Just got back from our daily drive into town (didn't get out of the car).  The vendors are open and doing a fair business, but there were not as many shoppers or as much traffic today.  All the holiday shoppers must be back at work or school.

 

Plans are still underway for all the big events held annually.  They are making changes and taking what precautions they can, but we are still hesitant about going.  At the same time, the Senior Center and the library are closed after people gathering there tested positive.  

 

It does seem unreal that health care workers are refusing the vaccine and are still allowed to work.  I also do not approve of "bribing:" them to take the vaccine.  It should be get the jab or lose the job.

 

Lenda

[VMax1700]

3 hours ago, rafinmd said:

The Astra Zenica vaccine works differently and has been shown to reduce the recipient's ability to spread the virus.  I hope that once it is available it will be widely available to people who are already protected but still able to transmit the virus.  That should bring us to true herd immunity,

 

Roy

Is a vaccine's prime purpose to prevent the recipient from transmitting the virus or to give the recipient protection from the virus?  The current Flu vaccine gives only marginal protection against transmission, while giving the recipient good protection against the virus itself.  I would have no problem with a Covid vaccine that worked in the same way.

[Ichiban Nekko]

1 hour ago, Copper10-8 said:

This is the A-Deck corridor on Amsterdam at night with some stores being taken via electrical handcart from one of the cold storage rooms located on the starboard side. The "keeper" of the storage rooms work for the provision master and the one who works in the cold storage room can frequently be seen wearing a fur-lined cold weather parka with hood.  The corridor, over the years, has earned the nickname of "I-95" as that interstate runs from Miami, FL to the U.S.-Canadian border. On the ships, "I-95" on A-Deck runs from the bow to the stern, pretty much unobstructed. The entrance to the left leads to the office of the chief electrician as well as facilities manager. The yellow concrete barriers on the deck along the bulkheads are there to protect those bulkheads (walls) from overzealous forklift drivers. That would be longshoremen, because the ship forklift drivers know better.

 

The metal decks get washed down by sailors on a regular basis and, once the staff captain feels it's time, repainted a nice reddish brown (also done by the sailors). Right in front of where the crew member in the blue overalls is walking is the mid-ship marshaling area. Before you get there, on the port side, is the ECR (engine control room) and the office of the chief engineer. In front of that start the officers cabins, the infamous "O.B." (officers bar), the P.O. (petty officers) bar, the crew mess and galley, the office of the crew officer (crew purser) and his clerk and the HR (human resources officer) office and his/her clerk.    

 

The second pic is the SECO's cabin ready for bedtime. Officers do have a hardworking Housekeeping attendant assigned to their cabin but there is no turndown service, no towel animals, and no chocolates on pillows 😉 

 

 

 

@Copper10-8  Thanks so much for your photos with explanations. It's like a 'peek behind the curtain!' As for "no turndown service, no towel animals, and no chocolates on pillows," may I suggest a strongly-worded letter to Management? 🤣🤣

[Copper10-8]

For those who have never seen the (crossing the equator/Neptune) ceremony; this is Amsterdam's group of hapless "pollywogs" (those crew who have never crossed the equator before, incl. two of my security guys - white t-shirt & white T-top) being led in front of King Neptune and the ship's command staff (thumbs up or down - in the water or bake on the edge of the pool), read their list of wrongdoings, kiss the fish, get some cleansing, etc. After they have endured that, they have the right to call themselves honorable shellbacks

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by Copper10-8

[Vict0riann]

Thanks for the "Behind the Scenes" tours, @Copper10-8!  😁 It is such fun to see the insides of a ship - which we may not be doing in real life for a while.  

[cat shepard]

40 minutes ago, Ichiban Nekko said:

 

@Copper10-8  Thanks so much for your photos with explanations. It's like a 'peek behind the curtain!' As for "no turndown service, no towel animals, and no chocolates on pillows," may I suggest a strongly-worded letter to Management? 🤣🤣

Lol! And I was thinking “Heck, if it means I could start cruising safely tomorrow, I would give those things up, too!”

[65 Gator]

46 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Is a vaccine's prime purpose to prevent the recipient from transmitting the virus or to give the recipient protection from the virus?  

You are correct.  It is protection against acquiring an infection but preliminary evidence shows it doesn't prevent transmission...

[Copper10-8]

Last one for today - the most popular game onboard for crew! You can find dartboards in the O.B. and Crew Mess. The serious players bring their own darts 😉 

 

Long time HAL Presidents Club member Dolly Smith, still going strong in her nineties with her onboard personal protection detail 😉 She tells a story when, as a thirteen-year old, she and a girlfriend hitch-hiked it from Santa Monica, CA (Los Angeles) to San Francisco, CA. Upon arrival there, they made their way onto a Matson liner bound for Honolulu and stowed away. They were discovered however, did make it to Hawaii from where they were returned to their parents back home. Hope she's doing well! 

 

Crossing the mighty Pacific north-eastbound and approaching the Hawaiian islands

 

The name of Amsterdam's O.B. (Officers Bar) 'T Lekkende Azipodje" is Dutch and means "the little leaking azipod" 

 

 

[rafinmd]

2 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

The corridor, over the years, has earned the nickname of "I-95" as that interstate runs from Miami, FL to the U.S.-Canadian border. On the ships, "I-95" on A-Deck runs from the bow to the stern, pretty much unobstructed

On Cunard this corridor is known as M-1.  Does the Netherlands have an equivalent to M-1 and I-95?

 

Roy

[KirkNC]

2 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Probably an optical Aleutian. I'm six foot and I fit in there quite nicely, no overhang....

Does that mean it only occurs in Alaska....

[USN59-79]

41 minutes ago, 65 Gator said:

You are correct.  It is protection against acquiring an infection but preliminary evidence shows it doesn't prevent transmission...

I am first to admit that I don't know much about medicine.  But I am not sure how I could transmit an infection if I never acquired the infection.

Copper - Thanks for the picture of Dolly.  We have enjoyed cruising with her a few times on the Amsterdam.

[65 Gator]

2 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

I am first to admit that I don't know much about medicine.  But I am not sure how I could transmit an infection if I never acquired the infection.

You could have received the vaccine and not get infected but may have acquired the virus.  You don't get sick (infected) because of the vaccine but may transmit viral particles to others...

[Copper10-8]

19 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

On Cunard this corridor is known as M-1.  Does the Netherlands have an equivalent to M-1 and I-95?

 

Roy

 

The "cloggies" do have a couple of "snelwegen" ("fast roads") that go from north to south, Roy......,but they change numbers/designators 😝

 

 

[AV8rix]

1 hour ago, Vict0riann said:

Thanks for the "Behind the Scenes" tours, @Copper10-8!  😁 It is such fun to see the insides of a ship - which we may not be doing in real life for a while.  

Hey, @Vict0riann and @richwmn.  I'm on the R'dam VII inaugural with y'all!  Just booked it with my wonderful PCC a couple of hours ago!

[Copper10-8]

1 minute ago, Av8rix said:

Hey, @Vict0riann and @richwmn.  I'm on the R'dam VII inaugural with y'all!  Just booked it with my wonderful PCC a couple of hours ago!

 

 

Now that would be a good one to join 🙂 

[AV8rix]

5 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

Now that would be a good one to join 🙂 

Well, you and Maria are both retired now.  So come along with us.

[Sea Viewer]

2 hours ago, cat shepard said:

Sea Viewer, would appreciate you sharing your experiences- if you are willing.

I will certainly let you know  how things go. Hopefully  by Friday  things will be running  smoothly. Reports   are that today  was better than yesterday . I was fortunate  to be able  to log on to the  website  Sunday  morning   early   before   it crashed  again and  make appointments  for both my husband  and  myself,

Mary  

[zigdilcru]

oh please I need someone to make that caramel drink for me  I’ll have to pass on the chicken had it last night.  I am chowing down on stroganoff.  I may need to learn braille, the steroids I am on are wreaking havoc on my cataracts. The travelogue and pictures of Antarctica make me so envious of your adventure,I love penguins and would love to go there but it looks way too cold for me  It is 52 degrees here today, we did have some sun for about an hour or so but now cloudy and I feel it in my bones. thanks to all for this bright spot, please take care and stay safe.      Linda

[richwmn]

25 minutes ago, Av8rix said:

Hey, @Vict0riann and @richwmn.  I'm on the R'dam VII inaugural with y'all!  Just booked it with my wonderful PCC a couple of hours ago!

glad to have you aboard, thanks for posting on the Roll Call as well

[cat shepard]

2 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Is a vaccine's prime purpose to prevent the recipient from transmitting the virus or to give the recipient protection from the virus?  The current Flu vaccine gives only marginal protection against transmission, while giving the recipient good protection against the virus itself.  I would have no problem with a Covid vaccine that worked in the same way.

I also would have no problem with a vaccine that worked this way. Personally. 

 

BUT - if I were responsible for a port-of-call, I would want the citizens of that port to be vaccinated, before I opened up the port. The vaccine Pfizer & Moderna vaccines really only protect the recipient. 
 

My current concern is that I might be vaccinated in the next month or so, but if the citizens of British Columbia do not get vaccinated until the Fall, my cruise might still be canceled. 
 

This year is full of hope, but it is so complicated. 

[Marmot@Sea]

Good Afternoon or should I say Evening.

 

It has rained for most of the day here.  Oh well.

 

I keep thinking back to today's wine and the tomato leaf comment.  Perhaps if I held on to the floor I would have a better understanding.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Val