The Fleet Report and Daily for Monday March 20th, 2023

[Crazy For Cats]

1 minute ago, kochleffel said:

Later this morning I went to my own doctor. There was a medical student on a clinical rotation, which is always interesting because doctors tell the medical students things that they don't bother to tell their patients. My doctor is better than most in that respect, but there was still an interesting discussion of treatment options, including some that we had tried and abandoned.

 

Here are the Senior Cat in Charge (Fergus) and Sasha in, I think, 2007.

 

Beautiful cats.  So sorry for the loss of Sasha.  

[cunnorl]

@Cruising-along There is a shuttle that goes to the War Memorial. It is a very steep walk up. DS and I did it along with many others. But the shuttle was available. The roof of the Memorial (hard to see in the pictures) is made of bird sculptures. One bird for every seaman that lost their lives defending the city. It is a remarkable story and there are citizen volunteers that show you around and explain all the sculptures. Free admission.

 

[lazey1]

4 hours ago, rafinmd said:

My recovery is exceedingly slow but I hope I am at least a little stronger and able to resume sunrises most days.  Today's is from 2014 where on March 20 Crystal Serenity docked in Mauritius.

 

 

Roy

Beautiful sunrise. Thank youRoy, your sunrise/sunset photos have been greatly missed.

Jane

[lazey1]

4 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

Paul, what sad news today about Junior Cat.  Sasha was very lucky you rescued her and that she had such a wonderful life living with you these past many years.  My condolences on the loss of Sasha.🌈

This expresses my thoughts better that I ever could. Paul I know that you ove your cats as much as I love my cats.

Jane

[AncientWanderer]

Good morning/afternoon, Everyone.

Slow start today as I, too, slept poorly.  We celebrated DGS's baptism yesterday, and all the rich food and drink midday probably got the best of me.  At seven months, he was too big to fit in our christening gown. (He was 9 lbs at birth.) So he wore a size 4 white lace Jessica McClintock dress that had been DD's.  He was a good boy!

 

@kochleffelPaul, I join others in offering condolences on your loss of sweet Junior Cat Sasha.  Beautiful kitty.  

 

I know @mamaofamiand @dfish are getting ready for their surgeries. They will be in our thoughts this week.

 

Thank you, Daily Team.  Wishing all a good Monday and week ahead.

 

 

 

 

[Vict0riann]

Good morning, all!  I think Spring has arrived here - trees are blooming, along with the daffs and rhodies.  I think Mother Nature heard me yesterday when I said I wanted to get out and do some early pruning today, because it is now quite rainy!  And that's a good thing - the reservoir has reached 99.5%.  I would prefer to hold off on the Day of Happiness and celebrate it tomorrow if possible - Pat has his surgery follow-up appointment and we hope to have good news.   Our flights home have changed, so I'm wondering if that is why I couldn't get my airline app to accept our info, passports etc.  Now I will try again. I did eventually manage to organize sailaway waves for March 29 and April 3 on the PTZ webcam.  

 

I'm sorry you had a bad night, @smitty34877, hope things improve for Tana and you.  And, @kochleffel, I'm sorry you lost your Junior Cat.  Cats were a major discussion at breakfast on Sunday, three of us love them, one does NOT - but guess who the cats always go to...

 

MY DSIL and her family, who live in Perth, WA, seem to go to Geraldton frequently, in fact I think they may have a cottage there.  Thanks for the pictures.  

 

 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Crazy For Cats said:

Beautiful cats.  So sorry for the loss of Sasha.  

+1

[USN59-79]

Kind of a damp and cool day here in Western Washington.  Saturday was our warmest day since October, yesterday was nice, but cool and wet has come back.  Saturday our DS came over for a visit with his dog, a beautiful and well tempered golden doodle.  We took the dog to the local dog park where they can run around without a leash.  Very interesting watching the different dogs playing and interacting with each other.  Kind of like a school playground, where there is always one bully but everyone else enjoys playing together.  

Yesterday I finally got serious about packing for our cruise.  Still have some little decisions like how to pack the Irish Cream I use for my morning coffee, what shoes to take, should I pack or wear a coat, etc.  We live about 60 miles from SeaTac airport and it isn't practical to park a car there long term, so I usually go there the day before and pick up a rental to drive the the airport the next morning.  It involves taking a ferry to Seattle, walking about 6-8 blocks to the light rail, take it to airport, then a rental car shuttle to the rental car place.  Wastes most of a day and I don't look forward to walking through the worst part of Seattle or riding the light rail with the drug smokers.  Anyway, the DS volunteered to come over tomorrow evening, spend the night and drive us to the airport the next morning.  That will make it much easier.  I had booked a Thrifty rental car through Priceline and tried to cancel it this morning.  Called both of them and neither would allow me to cancel it.  Oh well, lesson learned.

Ray

 

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Good afternoon from a still cool and blustery central Texas.  I walked to the mailbox and wanted to to the full long walk, but the wind was just too much.  I did get at least the short loop in before deciding I did not want to walk facing into the wind any more.  The weather has also changed the menu for tonight.  The plan was salmon, vegetables and salad.  After being outside, I decided we'll be finishing last nights stew with cornbread muffins.

 

This morning, we got confirmation that the new washer is estimated to be delivered Thursday.  It was interesting that when I looked at a dryer, it could be delivered Wednesday if we ordered online.  We've decided to see how much longer the dryer will last since it's still working and not making any loud noises.

 

1 hour ago, cunnorl said:

Good Afternoon from a sunny but cool day at the beach

     Very late today. DH had an eye appointment regarding scheduling his cataract surgery. So he is all set but not until May. 
     We were in Geraldton on our last trip. Nice little town. We walked everywhere. The street leading up to the War Memorial was very steep so DD and DH went to a nearby museum while we walked up. You could see the Memorial from all over. I wanted a close up. Just beautiful and very moving. 

 

Charlene, thanks for your pictures of Geraldton.  It looks like a nice place to visit and walk around.  The War Memorial is an interesting design.  That street is steep.  I wouldn't mind walking down it, but I would seriously consider riding the shuttle up.  😀

 

1 hour ago, kochleffel said:

Later this morning I went to my own doctor. There was a medical student on a clinical rotation, which is always interesting because doctors tell the medical students things that they don't bother to tell their patients. My doctor is better than most in that respect, but there was still an interesting discussion of treatment options, including some that we had tried and abandoned.

 

Here are the Senior Cat in Charge (Fergus) and Sasha in, I think, 2007.

 

 

Paul, thanks for the picture of the two beautiful and contented cats.

 

23 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

Kind of a damp and cool day here in Western Washington.  Saturday was our warmest day since October, yesterday was nice, but cool and wet has come back.  Saturday our DS came over for a visit with his dog, a beautiful and well tempered golden doodle.  We took the dog to the local dog park where they can run around without a leash.  Very interesting watching the different dogs playing and interacting with each other.  Kind of like a school playground, where there is always one bully but everyone else enjoys playing together.  

Yesterday I finally got serious about packing for our cruise.  Still have some little decisions like how to pack the Irish Cream I use for my morning coffee, what shoes to take, should I pack or wear a coat, etc.  We live about 60 miles from SeaTac airport and it isn't practical to park a car there long term, so I usually go there the day before and pick up a rental to drive the the airport the next morning.  It involves taking a ferry to Seattle, walking about 6-8 blocks to the light rail, take it to airport, then a rental car shuttle to the rental car place.  Wastes most of a day and I don't look forward to walking through the worst part of Seattle or riding the light rail with the drug smokers.  Anyway, the DS volunteered to come over tomorrow evening, spend the night and drive us to the airport the next morning.  That will make it much easier.  I had booked a Thrifty rental car through Priceline and tried to cancel it this morning.  Called both of them and neither would allow me to cancel it.  Oh well, lesson learned.

Ray

 

 

Ray, how nice of your DS to volunteer to drive you to the airport.  For years, we rented cars in Waco to drive to DFW.  It was always cheaper to rent them going to DFW than going to Waco.  They needed the cars back in DFW.  The last time we flew into DFW in 2019, we discovered it was cheaper to use Uber for the 100 mile drive than to rent a car, and we didn't have to make a trip to Waco to return the car the next day.  The Uber driver was very happy to make the run because he could go on to Waco and pick up a fare back to DFW.  There was a Baylor football game that night, so he knew he would make money both ways.

 

Lenda

[kochleffel]

8 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

For years, we rented cars in Waco to drive to DFW.  It was always cheaper to rent them going to DFW than going to Waco.  They needed the cars back in DFW. 

 

For a TATL cruise from Spain this fall, I'm flying from Rochester, almost 100 miles away, in order to use miles on American, which doesn't fly from my local airport, but returning from Fort Lauderdale, I'll need to fly on Delta, both because I have credits there, and because I get a free checked bag, and Delta does fly to my local airport. I'm going to think about a one-way rental instead of parking at ROC for three weeks, although the remote parking at ROC isn't very expensive.

[superoma]

Well I hope dh did not jinx the weather. He “summerized” the snow blower and stored it away again. We have beautiful sunshine today and the temps will go up all week. 
 

3 of the 9 family taxes are done and all are getting refunds so they are happy. I always leave ours and my father’s to last because we always have to pay. I use turbo tax and it hasn’t failed me yet.
 

We are starting our birthday celebration cycle for this year with my wise Wednesday women group. The birthday menu always includes salmon, usually Brussels sprouts, and Caesar salad. We have now added scalloped potatoes to that rotation (from Costco). We can’t wait until we can be outside for our Wednesdays. We did not have to stop this year fir Covid. We did stop the last couple of years over winter when we had to be inside.
 

prayers for those needing them, cheers to those celebrating. Hope everyone had a good day, even if some of us didn’t have a good night. I too am hoping for better sleep tonight!

[seagarsmoker]

Good afternoon and I hope everyone is having a great day. 

We are south of Cuba,  heading to Grand Cayman at a snails pace. 😀 

The water is so calm and it's been a beautiful day.

We went to "Name that Tune" at noon today at the Seaview pool. We met a fellow Cruise Critic NickelPenny and we ended up talking for almost 4 hours. She told us about the cruise she was on with @kazu.  Penny is wonderful and glad she sat at our table. 😀 

No plans except dinner rest of the day. Our concierge called and we will be arriving an hour early at Grand Cayman tomorrow.  

Looking forward to it as Suzi and I were married there almost 17 years ago and it always bring back great memories. 😀

 

Hopefully will have time to check in before we leave tomorrow. 

[Sharon in AZ]

6 hours ago, rafinmd said:

My recovery is exceedingly slow but I hope I am at least a little stronger and able to resume sunrises most days.  Today's is from 2014 where on March 20 Crystal Serenity docked in Mauritius.

 

 

Roy

 

Roy, what a pleasure to see you posting your Sunrise picture of the day again!!

[Sharon in AZ]

6 hours ago, kochleffel said:

The Junior Cat has gone to her eternal reward. Her name was Sasha and she was 19 or 20 years old. She came to me from the Massachusetts SPCA, which had taken her from the home of a hoarder where she was terrorized by larger cats, and at first was frightened of everything. Over time she became a very happy cat, and I hope that her reward is a good one.

 

 

Oh, I am so sorry for your loss.  I always enjoyed hearing what she was up to when you posted.  If she was 19 or 20 she lived a good life and probably a better one after you adopted her.

[cruzn single]

Happy Spring, or so the calendar is telling us!  The season won't be making it to Western Colorado (and @durangoscots) for the better part of this week!  At least we are still getting more moisture and are way ahead of the yearly average!

 

Finally,, I am caught up on the things I have had to do for Red Cross for the last 2-3 weeks. I have felt like I had a job again, so it will be nice to be able to concentrate on getting ready for the Rotterdam in just about a week!  Just 2 meetings on Thursday about an hour away.  

 

@kochleffelI am so sorry for your loss.  I think that losing a pet is truly so hard to get through!

 

@dfish and @mamaofami, wishing you both the best on upcoming surgeries.  

 

My prayers for all on the Cares list and happy thoughts for those celebrating!

 

Have a great rest of the day, everyone

Mary Kay

[RMLincoln]

@kochleffel Thank you for sharing Junior Cat with us here!  You lost her like I lost mine long ago, on the way to the vet. I still dream about her, 40 years ago!  Sasha will be with you always!  Love is like that. 
 

@JazzyV We are feeling pretty much over any setbacks. On track for surgery the 28th although we’re still waiting on a call back from the admin folks about a payment…. The PCP was able to fax over the required forms for the physical. We’re just lying low trying not to jeopardize anything!
 

@Quartzsite Cruiser MDAnderson is an amazing place for cancer treatment. We are so grateful we could relocate to Houston for that. DH will have followup blood tests soon 🤞and we’ll talk with the oncologist by phone. They continue to track him and I’m thankful for that. They were the most kind, positive and upbeat group beyond my imagination. I’m glad your loved ones were able to get treated there too. I hope they doing well. 
Maureen 

[Cruising-along]

3 hours ago, cunnorl said:

@Cruising-along There is a shuttle that goes to the War Memorial. It is a very steep walk up. DS and I did it along with many others. But the shuttle was available. The roof of the Memorial (hard to see in the pictures) is made of bird sculptures. One bird for every seaman that lost their lives defending the city. It is a remarkable story and there are citizen volunteers that show you around and explain all the sculptures. Free admission.

 

Thank you, very helpful!  IF it isn't a hot day we may hoof it up the hill.  But most likely it will be hot, so good to know about the shuttle. 🙂  

[travelingbums]

Thank you everyone for sharing.

 

 

Have a great day.

[kochleffel]

On social media, our rabbi commented that Sasha was a "fine cat who never missed a Talmud class." The classes are on Zoom, and this is almost true: if I was there, she was there.

 

There is a class tonight, and one very elderly participant always asks how, or where, Sasha is. The person is hard of listening (not especially hard of hearing) and I will probably have to answer four or five times.

[cruising Katie]

3 hours ago, kochleffel said:

Later this morning I went to my own doctor. There was a medical student on a clinical rotation, which is always interesting because doctors tell the medical students things that they don't bother to tell their patients. My doctor is better than most in that respect, but there was still an interesting discussion of treatment options, including some that we had tried and abandoned.

 

Here are the Senior Cat in Charge (Fergus) and Sasha in, I think, 2007.

 

sorry to hear about your junior cat Sasha.  She looks like a lovely cat, I recently lost my cat Jerry but know he will be looking for her at the end of the rainbow bridge.    Kate 

[Petunia1950]

8 hours ago, kochleffel said:

The Junior Cat has gone to her eternal reward. Her name was Sasha and she was 19 or 20 years old.

Oh, no.  I'm so sad to hear this.  How is the Senior Cat doing?

[cruising Katie]

I was last year on the Grand Voyage Pacific and around Australia.  Geraldton was one of  our ports.  It was a lovely, hot sunny day.  I took the shuttle into town, and then onto a hop on hop off bus.  Our bus driver was a stand in, as the town was not prepared to have so many visitors.   He was not a very good driver, and side swiped a parked car.  There was considerable damage, and he just yelled at us to get off, and drove off.  Leaving us on the sidewalk.  Another bus came along and we continued our tour of lovely Geraldton.  It was a steep trek to the war memorial and glad I was on the bus.  The whole town was lovely and well worth a visit. 

 

Kate   

[StLouisCruisers]

I'm hearing so much about the chaos in Miami with the spring break kids and it must be worrisome for parents and grandparents that have college age students.  Last week I saw an Instagram post by our only college aged grandchild from her spring break location.  Lake Oconee, Georgia!  She attends college in Tampa so she and her group of friends left Florida to get away from it all.  Last week the weather turned cold in our state so I suppose there wasn't any swimming, but photos showed them using a hot tub, fire pit, hammocks, hikes in the woods, and a lovely view of the lake from the porch.  Someone even brought their dog along and it seemed to be enjoying the vacation with everyone giving it plenty of attention.  And best of all, no crowds!😎

 

 

I just checked to see if I'd hit the 10,000th post because I knew I was close, but just found out this is the one!  Yay!  I should have an extra glass of wine tonight!😁

Edited March 20, 2023 by StLouisCruisers
10,000th post!

[kochleffel]

10 minutes ago, Petunia1950 said:

How is the Senior Cat doing?

 

The Senior Cat in Charge died in 2013. Sasha declined promotion because the responsibility would have interfered with her beauty regimen.

[Petunia1950]

3 minutes ago, kochleffel said:

 

The Senior Cat in Charge died in 2013. Sasha declined promotion because the responsibility would have interfered with her beauty regimen.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry -- she was a beauty. 

 

You talked so lovingly of the Senior Cat that I was sure she was still in charge.  My sympathies again.  Now that you're an empty nester, you will have to find another.