The Daily for Saturday 01/15/2022

[Cruising-along]

30 minutes ago, JazzyV said:

My local health center just announced you have to wear a surgical mask, KN95 or N95 to enter any of the properties; they'll give you one if you come with a cloth mask.

I noticed when I went for my blood test 2 days ago (wearing my usual KN95 mask)  that for the first time they aren't stopping people and making them change masks for a surgical mask to wear.  We feel much safer with the KN95 masks than with what they were handing out, so I hope it's a permanent change here too.

Edited January 15, 2022 by Cruising-along

[Oceansaway17]

5 hours ago, marshhawk said:

 

aw that is cute.

 Actually, I had a bagel today and the color of the cat is almost the same as my Whole Wheat bagel that I had this morning.   I say every Saturday is Bagel day.   yoo hoo

[dfish]

3 hours ago, ottahand7 said:

 

Cauliflower - I will take yesterday's smoked eels.   

 

I'm laughing because of your comments yesterday about the smoked eels.   

[Sharon in AZ]

2 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Today's collage follows sunrise as a process,  rather than an instant.  It was taken January 15, 2018, on the Crystal Serenity between Caldera and Acapulco:

 

 

Roy

What a beautiful collage!  
 

When will you be posting your alternative meal suggestion and pictures?  I miss them. 🙂

[summer slope]

Quick post of the drink of the day.  Also, saw the Zuiderdam pull up to Half Moon Cay and then leave.  I guess they didn't get permission.

Maple Leaf:

Ingredients
2 ounces pear puree
1 ounce bourbon, such as Four Roses
1/4 ounce cognac, such as Remy Martin VS
1/4 ounce fresh lime juice
1/4 ounce grade A maple syrup
1/4 ounce pimento dram
Small yellow or red maple leaf, washed, for garnish

 

Directions
Add the pear puree, bourbon, cognac, lime juice, maple syrup and pimento dram to a mixing glass, add ice and shake vigorously in a cocktail shaker. Double-strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice, garnish and serve.

 

[dobiemom]

3 hours ago, Crazy For Cats said:

I cancelled two cruises earlier this week, can’t bring myself to make final payment the way things are with the variant, the refunds posted to my account yesterday.  Hopefully things settle down and we can book something for the spring/summer.

I’m sorry you had to cancel. That was fast on the refunds. 

[mamaofami]

I think I might write a book because my life is really a soap opera. Right now, our new aide, the drill sergeant’s mother is in a local hospital with insulin shock. I had to take care of him and calm him down. 

[nancynana9950]

@mamaofami Carol sorry to hear that. You just can’t seem to catch a break. Just when it seems things will settle down some kind of upset happens. I really hope you don’t have to start all over with a new aide. 

[cunnorl]

Good Afternoon from a bright and sunny day at the beach.

    Storm coming in tonite with high winds and  heavy rain forecasted.  Not much you can do about weather.

    Had a bagel with cream cheese this AM at the golf course. I wear a hat most of the time but it is usually for sun protection.

    I have not been to todays port but it is on my list. Thank you for the pictures.

     My sister loves to knit and she is quite creative. She also loves color. She did not like wearing the wig so she made herself some really pretty hats to wear. Every time she went in for a treatment, she would receive compliments. So she made hats for everyone and brought them with her yesterday. Everyone was thrilled. One of the Doctors commented that the place was never so colorful! 

    Hope everyone in the north that is in the path of this storm, stays safe and warm.

 

Stay safe and enjoy today

   Charlene

 

[StLouisCruisers]

55 minutes ago, mamaofami said:

I think I might write a book because my life is really a soap opera. Right now, our new aide, the drill sergeant’s mother is in a local hospital with insulin shock. I had to take care of him and calm him down. 

 

Oh my!  If it's not one thing, it's another!  I hope your aide's Mother is going to be okay.  That is a serious condition.  Prayers for her.

[bennybear]

Good day and thanks all!  A huge shout out to Lenda and the chief for the great photos!  Ooh to see polar bears in the wild!  We’ve visited the other Alesund! 

2 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

I noticed when I went for my blood test 2 days ago (wearing my usual KN95 mask)  that for the first time they aren't stopping people and making them change masks for a surgical mask to wear.  We feel much safer with the KN95 masks than with what they were handing out, so I hope it's a permanent change here too.

We just take the surgical mask and place it on top of the KN 95, silly to want you to switch to 

an inferior mask. Glad they’ve stopped! 

1 hour ago, mamaofami said:

I think I might write a book because my life is really a soap opera. Right now, our new aide, the drill sergeant’s mother is in a local hospital with insulin shock. I had to take care of him and calm him down. 

Yikes, you deserve a break! 

[grapau27]

7 hours ago, MISTER 67 said:

Chilly morning here on the west coast of Florida, 44 degrees heading to the low 70s for the high temps for the day, a little too brisk for us.

Welcome MISTER67.

Graham.

[MISTER 67]

1 minute ago, grapau27 said:

Welcome MISTER67.

Graham.

Thanks, I'm not a newbie but don't post all that much.

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Good afternoon.  I've finally had time to read all the Daily.  DH wanted to go get drive-thru breakfast this morning.  While driving around town, we saw a sign for an antique car show, and as we like looking at old cars, we followed the signs.  Turns out, it was part of the revival at the Southern Baptist church along with an art show.  There were so many unmasked people walking around that we just drove on by the church.

 

@MISTER 67  Welcome to the Daily.  It's the friendlist place on CC with very caring and supportive cruisers.

@cat shepard  Thanks for the cat memes.

@JAM37  Julia, there are times when I have trouble tagging people.  Usually, I just keep trying until it works.  Often it happens when I'm in the middle of tagging several people.  I just keep typing at and the CC name without having the blue background.  Then, it will start working again, so I just redo the untagged names.  I guess that is just another CC quirk.

@kazu  Keeping you, Jose and the pups in our thoughts.

@smitty34877  Hope Tana's need for oxygen stays low, and that she improves.

 

Everyone in the path of the big storm keep warm and stay safe.  @rafinmd  Safe travels to and from the symphony.

 

6 hours ago, Heartgrove said:

Good Morning everyone! Thank you Rich for the Daily Report, and thank you Roy for the Cares and Celebration Report.  And thank you everyone for caring and sharing! Have a great weekend!

 

Watching the Port Nassau Webcam for the return after two years of a cruise ship from Charleston, SC. It is the Carnival Sunshine that we will sail on in June. It will be my first Carnival cruise but Sue and DSIL sailed with them in 1995.

 

Stay safe and especially those in Sunday's storm path.

 

- Jack

 

Jack, we have been on two Carnival cruises.  The first in 1991 with teen DDs during spring break.  We enjoyed the cruise, but spring break is not the time to go on Carnival.  In about 1997 or 1998, we did another Carnival cruise and enjoyed it.  By then, the food had improved greatly.  I can't help you with how it will be now though.

 

5 hours ago, aliaschief said:

Around Alesund on the MS Prisendam 2017. Picture of the Polar Bears was from onboard friend with better  camera. 

 

The scenery sure looks better on a sunny day.  In my pictures the polar bears look like blurry white blobs on a blurry rocky background.  They were also a lot further up a hill.

 

4 hours ago, Navybikermom said:

I love bagels with cream cheese, both of which are getting hard to find here. There was a tiny elderly woman in a scooter on one of my Prinsendam cruises and she had a crazy collection of hats. Large plush ones that were so crazy and cute on her. Not sure why she wore them, but maybe to be seen since she was so tiny. They took up one whole suitcase. 

 

I remember the woman with all the colorful hats being on one of our Prinsendam cruises.  They sure got her noticed.

 

4 hours ago, GeorgeCharlie said:

 

An interesting picture for the cat lovers out there.

Outdoor Cats Are Using $500 Starlink Satellite Dishes as Self-Heating Beds

The devices—developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX—have a warming feature to prevent snow built up from disrupting the signal

 

 

We use Starlink, but fortunately they would not be able to access our disk.

 

Cozy looking group of cats.  The Starlink is a good idea for the frozen north.

 

4 hours ago, Crazy For Cats said:

Good Morning Everyone, thanks for the daily report.  It’s a tropical 7F here.  DH was going to join me on a run to the store but thought better of it and stayed home.  I definitely needed a hat on this trip.  @dfishthe recipes look good to me and I’d be happy to try any of them.  Without any meat DH would complain.  
I cancelled two cruises earlier this week, can’t bring myself to make final payment the way things are with the variant, the refunds posted to my account yesterday.  Hopefully things settle down and we can book something for the spring/summer.

I hope that everyone has a good day today.

 

Sorry you felt you had to cancel your cruises, but with the way things are going, even if the variant is waning in a few places, it makes sense to be safe.

 

3 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

Great pics Lenda!  I always like the more "exotic" ports.  Seems strange to call Ny Alesund exotic, maybe I should say unusual.🥶

 

Talking to DD she says she removed all bandaging because she was allowed to shower today, and she feels human again.  I saw the pics of the stitched wrist and elbow and they look good.  Perhaps more swelling will go down today with the bandaging removed, and she can cover them with bandaids now.  She's used to spending free time in her craft room, so it will be interesting to see how long it takes her to find a way to start a project.  Seems like she can come off the Care list now, Roy.  I'll let you know if anything changes.

 

And that reminds me, I want to send prayers out to our Care list members, especially Jacqui and Jose, Tana, and any others who need them.  Cheers to those celebrating and enjoying cruising.  I hope that continues and our Celebration list gets longer and longer.  

 

Glad your DD got to remove the bandages and take a shower.  I know that made her feel better.  Hope the swelling continues to go down.

 

3 hours ago, kb4683 said:

Good Morning, Dailyites!

 

Brrr - cold (relatively speaking) this morning.  Sure glad we're in Florida, at least we won't be shoveling, de-icing, etc.

 

A big thank you to all who are associated with this wonderful place either by posting, lurking, creating, etc.  Hugs and healing thoughts to those on the care list and cheers to those on the celebratory list.

 

Been busy this week working on 2 upcoming cruises --

1.  Regal Princess 2/12/22 - 7 days Eastern Caribbean with (🤞) Princess Cays, St. Thomas and St. Kitts

2.  Nieuw Statendam 3/6/22 - 10 day Southern Caribbean Seafarer for our anniversary with (again 🤞) HM Cay, Grand Turk, Amber Cove, Bonaire, Curacao, and Aruba.  Have never been to Bonaire.

 

 

Enjoy planning for and taking your upcoming cruises.

 

3 hours ago, Dismomx5 said:

Thanks for the Daily and all the posters. Prayers for those that need them, and cheers to all those celebrating....even if it just celebrating being inside! The sun is shining, but I won't be venturing out unless necessary, because it is -15ºC before the windchill is added in. 🥶 Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Welcome back to the Daily.   It's been a while since we've seen you.

 

2 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

Good morning all!
We have no rain the next couple days, so that's a good thing!  Especially because tonight 10 of the family will be going to Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle for a night of Zoo Lights (I posted photos of it last year).  They do an amazing job, every animal imaginable made into huge lit up creations.  I remember we were lucky last year with the weather too.  It will be chilly, but we can handle that.

 

IWe're all very worried about one of DD's kitties.  They had to take him to the kitty ER last night, he was very sick.  They'll be running a lot of tests, but so far one test shows that his liver enzymes are off the charts. 😞  The boys love that cat so much, and I'm afraid it doesn't look good.  Waiting for more news today.

 

Here's DD's cat Parkour when he was feeling better.

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy your evening at the zoo seeing the zoo lights.  They have sometihing similar in Phoenix, but it's too far to drive over and back the same night.  I hope your DD's kitty gets well soon.  She is in good hands with the vets.

 

2 hours ago, JazzyV said:

Good afternoon. Thanks for the Daily.

I am all about bagel day! Love them, but restrict eating them to 1-2x/week due to the carbs. I never used to wear hats, even in winter (always had coats with a hood); now I occasionally do wear a knit hat. Humanitarians deserve a salute every day.

Great Maya Angelou quote.

I like the meal, but a tad carb laden. Pass on the drink. The wine sounds good but too much $$.

I haven't been to today's destination. Thanks for the pictures.

 

It's a balmy 18F now. We won't get above freezing. Everyone is waiting for the storm tomorrow. I will stay away from grocery stores. There's a joke here about milk, bread and toilet paper flying off the shelves whenever snow is mentioned, lol.

 

@kazu Prayers for Jose and you.

@smitty34877 I hope Tana is continuing to be stable or improving.

@Sharon in AZ Prayers for Craig's DS with Covid again.

@dfish Yes, very varied forecast. One place I read 14"!! I doubt it'll be that bad.

@StLouisCruisers I'm sure it was quite the treat for DD to shower today. 

@Cruising-along I hope the kitty will be ok.

 

Prayers for the Care List and Cheers for the Celebration List.

Stay safe everyone. My local health center just announced you have to wear a surgical mask, KN95 or N95 to enter any of the properties; they'll give you one if you come with a cloth mask.

 

 

Vanessa, there was a report on the news last night that N95, followed by KN95, masks are the best protection against the Omicron variant.  They warned people to not rely on cloth masks.  BTW, I loved the grocery store meme.

 

1 hour ago, Vict0riann said:

In a hurry to type, to see if I can make it onto page 2!  Prayers for those who need them and cheers to those on the celebrations list, many thanks to Rich, Roy and the others for all the information.  For the first time that I can remember in all the years we have lived here, we had a tsunami warning this morning - but about an hour ago, so I guess we made it through.  Evidently an underwater volcano in Tonga erupted.  I will be checking the local news a little later to see what is going on...

 

 

 

I saw the tsunami advisory on The Weather Channel app this morning.

 

1 hour ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Good morning everyone and Happy Saturday!  I love the quote today. I’ll celebrate hat day and I wear a hat for sun protection. Funny story on our Rotterdam cruise I was wearing my HAL logo baseball hat and my hair was up when I got in the elevator with Aunt Viviane (Katie’s @garlictown Aunt) and I just started to talk away like we were best friends but she didn’t recognize me so I took my hat off. She figured out who I was even with hat hair and the language difference. She is such a great person. 
This is Aunt Viviane, Katie and myself having fun at BB Kings on Christmas Eve:

 

Thank you everyone for thinking about Craig’s Sister. She has a pulse oxygen monitor on and her DH has to make sure she gets up and walks around when it gets low. They want to hold off on giving her oxygen because she is scheduled to get IV Antibodies on Tuesday and can’t have both. She has to wait until Tuesday for the IV because they don’t do it on the weekend and Monday is a holiday. It might be because they live in a smaller community, not sure, but she said don’t get sick on the weekend!  Craig’s DB also has covid but not as bad. They think they got it from church. 
 

Have a great day everyone!

 

Great picture of the three of you.  Hope DH's sister is better and that his DB has a mild case.

 

1 hour ago, mamaofami said:

I think I might write a book because my life is really a soap opera. Right now, our new aide, the drill sergeant’s mother is in a local hospital with insulin shock. I had to take care of him and calm him down. 

 

Carol, again, just WOW.  If you decide to write that book, you have a head start with all your posts on the Daily.  Hope the Drill Sergeant's mother is better soon.  Glad you were there to take care of him and calm him down.

 

18 minutes ago, cunnorl said:

Good Afternoon from a bright and sunny day at the beach.

    Storm coming in tonite with high winds and  heavy rain forecasted.  Not much you can do about weather.

    Had a bagel with cream cheese this AM at the golf course. I wear a hat most of the time but it is usually for sun protection.

    I have not been to todays port but it is on my list. Thank you for the pictures.

     My sister loves to knit and she is quite creative. She also loves color. She did not like wearing the wig so she made herself some really pretty hats to wear. Every time she went in for a treatment, she would receive compliments. So she made hats for everyone and brought them with her yesterday. Everyone was thrilled. One of the Doctors commented that the place was never so colorful! 

    Hope everyone in the north that is in the path of this storm, stays safe and warm.

 

Stay safe and enjoy today

   Charlene

 

 

I like the idea of the pretty and colorful hats instead of an uncomfortable wig.  It was nice of her to make caps for everyone at the treatment center.

 

DH just read on the Zuiderdam quarantine thread that there are so many positive cases the entire fourth deck is now a quarantine floor.  That is probably why they did not stay at Half Moon Cay as they were denied entry. 

 

Don't forget to wash your hands, social distance and wear your masks.  😷

 

Lenda

[MISTER 67]

Just now, MISTER 67 said:

Thanks, I'm not a newbie but don't post all that much. Have a long way to go to match your 26,000 posts. I have that many in a White Sox message board group.

 

[ottahand7]

2 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

I noticed when I went for my blood test 2 days ago (wearing my usual KN95 mask)  that for the first time they aren't stopping people and making them change masks for a surgical mask to wear.  We feel much safer with the KN95 masks than with what they were handing out, so I hope it's a permanent change here too.

I wish my hospital would realize what is a better mask.  I went in for a procedure last week with a K94 on.   I just put theirs on and then put mine on top.   

[JazzyV]

@mamaofami Sorry to hear of more complications in your household. Hopefully the aide's mother will be ok.

@cunnorl That was such a nice thing for your sister to do.

@Quartzsite Cruiser I've been wearing KN95 masks from the CDC approved list for a while now. I have some N95 masks that I got from Home Depot way before the variant; I was saving those for something like a plane trip (not that I seem to be going anywhere soon).

[grapau27]

25 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

 

Thank you.

I always post on my Android phone which makes it easy to post anywhere.

Everyone on this thread are amazing, friendly, helpful,supportive and caring people.

Graham.

Edited January 15, 2022 by grapau27

[St Pete Cruiser]

It is a picture perfect day here in St Petersburg, 75 and sunny. For January 15th, I'll take it! Of course we pay for it with a long hot and humid summer. It is not difficult to understand why northerners have been coming here for many years. We are on a peninsula which keeps us warmer than most of central Florida. 

Our Florida Orchestra concerts were canceled this week due to omicron. Hopefully the infection rates are peaking and will follow down as quickly as they rose.

Having tested positive just before Christmas, and vaccinated and boosted, I feel protected at least until the next variant 

Wishing all of us a good evening and a better tomorrow. 

 

[Suslor]

53 minutes ago, bennybear said:

Good day and thanks all!  A huge shout out to Lenda and the chief for the great photos!  Ooh to see polar bears in the wild!  We’ve visited the other Alesund! 

We just take the surgical mask and place it on top of the KN 95, silly to want you to switch to 

an inferior mask. Glad they’ve stopped! 

Yikes, you deserve a break! 

Thanks @bennybear  what a stunning photo. 

[rafinmd]

2 hours ago, Sharon in AZ said:

What a beautiful collage!  
 

When will you be posting your alternative meal suggestion and pictures?  I miss them. 🙂

I think I'll need to get my stamina back first.  What I may do is post some from Enchantment of the Seas (2/17-2/25) if I end up going.

 

Roy

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

25 minutes ago, JazzyV said:

@mamaofami Sorry to hear of more complications in your household. Hopefully the aide's mother will be ok.

@cunnorl That was such a nice thing for your sister to do.

@Quartzsite Cruiser I've been wearing KN95 masks from the CDC approved list for a while now. I have some N95 masks that I got from Home Depot way before the variant; I was saving those for something like a plane trip (not that I seem to be going anywhere soon).

 

We have also been wearing KN95 masks since the middle of last summer.  Originally, I made cloth masks when we were still in Quartzsite in 2020.  Once we were back in Texas, I made some new and improved (filtering material between the layers) cloth masks.  Before we went anywhere, DH ordered surgical masks.  We wore them until last summer when we were able to order KN95 masks which we now wear whenever we go into a store.  On our recent cruise, we would switch between the HAL cloth masks and the KN95 masks depending on the situation, but that was basically pre-Omicron.  Now, we only go in places when necessary, but never just to look.

 

Lenda

[Live4cruises]

It’s a cold and snowy day in northeast Oklahoma.  The light snow we had for several hours has just about stopped, and there’s only a dusting on the ground.  Our first snow this year, and I’m happy to see it.  From safe and warm inside!  I laughed to see that Gerry’s reported temperature is just about the same as it is here.  I never thought about being the same as Saskatoon!

@mamaofami, it’s always something with those aides, isn’t it?!  I do hope this gentleman’s mother improves and he can continue to help you.

@cunnorl, taking hats for everyone in the infusion clinic was a wonderful thing for your sister to do.  And I’m sure it made her feel so good to be able to brighten the day for so many.  I was touched.

@kazucontinuing good thoughts for YOU, Jose, and the puppers.  

Thank you everyone for the news of the day, weather, maps, pictures, lists, food & beverage, and just chatter.

Be safe!

[lindaler]

Thanks Rich for the Daily. And Ron for the care list.  Hi to everyone. I think I am finally catching up on all that needs to be done at home since I was gone so long.  I finally got my letter written and sent to my PCC. I didn't get a survey for the last two legs of my journey and my PCC said to just write it in a letter and he would make sure it got to the right people. Traveling solo it was so great to have a crew that made you feel like family was on board with you and would take care of you.  My weather here is cold but not as cold as most of you. It got down to 19 last night but is up to a sunny 45 right now. For those of you in the path of the next major snow event, please be careful. Prayers will go out for your safety. 

[kazu]

Hi everyone,

 

Sorry I have not been around.  Been digging myself out, running back and forth to the vet and on the phone to them and the hospital.  And doing a bit of crying and feeling sad.

 

I know everyone is interested in an update but I am not the bearer of good news.

 

It is with a heavy heart that I tell you Jose is still in hospital and will need long term care 24/7.  The doctor has already warned me that there is no way I can care for him unless I want to kill myself.  

I have a ton of forms I need to do so he will be assessed by Social Services but the doctor has already told me what the verdict will be to prepare me.

 

Miko (my parti  poodle) is in chronic renal failure.  He was at the vet for two days and they thought he was well enough to try coming home to see how he does.  He won’t eat.  I can get him to eat a bit hand feeding him but that’s it 😢. After a few bites - he’s not interested. he will take his meds so far but honestly he seems as bad as before I took him in.  I’ll see how he does tomorrow I guess.  He’s only 3.  If he can’t have quality of life or treats and doesn’t even want to eat…..I have a tough decision to make.

 

I have to take another urine analysis in for Marley on Monday (snow storm permitting) to check for his proteins.  If they are still out of whack, another blood analysis and then ultra sound to see if he has cancer.

 

I could have a nice cruise for what I am spending on the dogs right now.  Not to mention Jose’s phone and tv at the hospital (a rip off).

All the men in this house are sick (my husband and 2 dogs) so it’s tough. Right now and I’m sorry, I have no funny memes today.

I’m running out of strength.  My friend told me never give up hope.  I fear it has left me and there will be no miracle.

Sorry for the dismal post but that’s the update for us.