The Fleet Report and Daily for Wednesday June 7th, 2023

[kazu]

5 hours ago, dfish said:

@kazu I am intrigues by rhubarb ice cream.  I hope I get to try some when we are in Saint John this summer.  

 

it’s made by Sussex ice cream, Debbie.  It’s a special one for the season.  I’m not sure how long it will be offered - after rhubarb season or not?  I suspect it depends on how well it sells.  If it’s available, I’ll bring you and Sue a tub (they aren’t large) to enjoy.  Our specialty country market here carries it.  I’m not sure where near the cruise port we could find it.

 

 

4 hours ago, Cruzin Terri said:

Good morning,

Hope everyone is doing well.  Still feeling a bit under the weather.  It seems I am having another flare-up of the PMR and leaving me feeling very tired and achy.

 

So sorry to hear this 😔. I hope you and @StLouisCruisers are feeling much better soon 🤞 

 

 

4 hours ago, RMLincoln said:

The money stolen from our account is the least of our troubles. It was an unauthorized  direct transfer.  The account was closed yesterday or maybe late Monday. Some unimportant small checks already bounced!  The first of my life. The credit and debit cards are canceled. But the autopay bills are of course still coming in and will also bounce. I think our medical insurance premiums were due to be paid yesterday. Car, home insurance this week. We set up this account to simplify our finances - for travel, for support from kids helping us as needed….  Not simply now!  We were not quite finished getting everything transferred for deposits and bill payments. Luckily we hadn’t canceled our old banking accounts in NM, and we still have checks for that account!  Yesterday we got money deposited into that bank to use to pay what we can by checks, although some may be late this month. Just praying there’ll be no gaps in coverages. Medicare was taking 3 months to get transferred to this new account, and June was to be their first withdrawal. But I think I can pay them online. And we do have another credit card and debit ATM cards from the NM bank.

 

What a mess, Maureen 😢. It’s getting more and more complicated for you 😔. I am so sorry this has happened to you and hope thing can be straightened out soon so you can return to financial normalcy again 🤞 

 

 

4 hours ago, Nickelpenny said:

Good morning to all!!

 

Thanks for the update. Thoughts for those on the care list. 

Quick note to say I made it to Long Island yesterday just fine. Boy are drivers in NY and NJ crazy!!  I will catch up reading later!!

Have a great day everyone!!

 

So glad you arrived safely.  I wouldn’t have the nerve to drive through NY !  Kudos to you.  Safe travels 🙂 

 

 

4 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

Yesterday our TA called, and said HAL has reversed payment for our Alaska cruise back to DH’s card and accepted our Covid FCC from the GWV for full payment. There’s still a decent chunk left for something next spring.

 

Yippee!  That’s great news 🙂. 

 

 

1 hour ago, bennybear said:

We cancelled our spring trip and BA has been very kind to put our flights on hold due to my illness.  Now our next cruise that has been postponed umpteen times is looking unlikely.  Final payment is due soon, and we have huge amounts of credits that I don’t think can be extended,   Who knew all this unbooking would be so stressful🤷‍♀️. Hoping HAL will also be kind in light of the circumstances.

 

So very sorry about all your cancellations, Brenda 😔 and yes, sadly cancelling can be a lot more complicated than booking 😔 

 

I hope HAL will be very kind to you 🤞 

 

 

5 minutes ago, Flojo18 said:

Hi Jacqui! 
how are you feeling? It’s been a bit. You were missed on the last cruise for sure!

 

Hey Flo!  Ahh - thanks ♥️ It sounded like you had a nice cruise from the LIVE reports I followed.   I’m faring much better thanks - had my 3rd surgery to remove another pin and some wires now that the incision is sufficiently healed it’s  back to physio.  

 

 

5 minutes ago, Flojo18 said:

Are the fires effecting you? We are under a cloud of smoke here in NJ. 

 

Sorry about the smoke we are sending your way 😔. So far we have been ok out here - it’s been very windy, cold and rainy which helps keep the smoke away.  Once the weather clears (if it ever does) it will be another story depending on how the wind blows.  

 

Take care and stay safe in your smoky outdoors IF you HAVE to go out.

 

 

[kochleffel]

AQI now up to 460, and the alert has been extended into tomorrow.

 

[dfish]

15 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

it’s made by Sussex ice cream, Debbie.  It’s a special one for the season.  I’m not sure how long it will be offered - after rhubarb season or not?  I suspect it depends on how well it sells.  If it’s available, I’ll bring you and Sue a tub (they aren’t large) to enjoy.  Our specialty country market here carries it.  I’m not sure where near the cruise port we could find it.

 

 

We will love it!  Thank  you, Jacqui!

 

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

I finally got a chance to take my walk about noon, but by then, I had to take the short loop.  There was no breeze and the sun was already intense.  I have to remember to walk a lot earlier in the future.  Otherwise, I'm slowly catching up on bills and things like that.  Then, I have to put all the things I got at Sam's yesterday away.  

 

1 hour ago, bennybear said:

@RMLincoln I hope you can get the mess straightened out soon!  So sorry! 
 

@kochleffel yikes on the air!  We hit over 500 in the early days,  these numbers are like nothing we’ve ever experienced before.  Stay safe! 

 

Some hints,  if you must drive somewhere turn the air to recirculate,  not fresh intake on your car.  
close your windows and run hepa fans inside your house.  

We cancelled our spring trip and BA has been very kind to put our flights on hold due to my illness.  Now our next cruise that has been postponed umpteen times is looking unlikely.  Final payment is due soon, and we have huge amounts of credits that I don’t think can be extended,   Who knew all this unbooking would be so stressful🤷‍♀️. Hoping HAL will also be kind in light of the circumstances.
 

Stay safe everyone! 

 

 

Brenda, I'm sorry you are having to cancel so many trips and cruises.  I hope under the circumstances HAL will be as kind to you as BA has been.  Thank you for sharing your great pictures.

 

1 hour ago, Cruising-along said:

Good morning all!

Today will be the warmest of the week, (80) then we'll have a sudden cooling trend.  June doesn't usually get this warm here, so I'm wondering how July and August will be.

 

I like any ice cream that has chocolate in it, we may still have our VCR here somewhere, and tailors seem to be a dying breed around here.  I'll pass on the red wine and drink.  Like Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser I've never found seafood tacos to be appealing.  Last night's steak fajitas were yummy.  

 

Today will be more gardening, I just need to finish up a few things in the back yard.  And more watering everywhere, things are drying out fast.

 

We were in Catania in 2019, we took the transfer to Taormina and wandered around the ruins on our own.  A great day!

 

Sandi @StLouisCruisers and Terri @Cruzin Terri I'm sorry you both aren't feeling well, and hope you feel better soon!

 

Maureen @RMLincoln Oh my on the banking issues!  I'm so sorry you're going through this.

 

@Nickelpenny Good to hear you made it safely to Long Island!

 

Here are the photos of our day out of Catania, Sicily.

 

These planter heads fascinated me.  On our walk to the Roman Theater in Taormina.

 

Lots of pretty flowers

 

We spent a lot of time at the Roman Theater, just soaking up the atmosphere.  One reason I love DIY, you have more time to do this than on a tour.

 

 

 

Our view from where we sat for awhile.

 

 

 

The town of Taormina

 

We rewarded ourselves with Gelato on the walk back.

 

 

 

Carolyn, thank you for your pictures.  We've enjoyed two visits to Taormina.  Another advantage of DIY versus a tour is you don't get stuck in a place you'd not visit on your own, or too long in a place that does not need that much time.

 

33 minutes ago, JazzyV said:

Whew! Just in from 3 hours of yardwork, although the last half my knees and back were screaming at me. I came in and it was hard to sit down. I see ibuprofen in my future. I have lots of appointments this month, so I will discuss all this with my doctors. I'm  cooling down with a dish of ice cream! (not chocolate).

 

Duh, just posted this on yesterday's thread!

 

@Quartzsite Cruiser BFF had a lot of laserdiscs. He replaced the movies with DVD's, so I sold the laser discs on ebay. I had a Sony video camera (?Handycam) that I used to record a jazz trio I followed. I just got the tapes transferred to dvd and they were beginning to disintegrate, with just static in places on the recordings. Wow on those new owners not staying; although on the news they said a lot of people bought houses urgently during Covid when houses were hard to come by and then decided it wasn't right for them.

@durangoscots Most of my flowering bushes look half dead this year. The bottom half of my azalea bushes, my hydrangeas with no buds on the old wood, my mountain fire bush, my rose bushes. I don't know what happened over the winter to cause this.

@bennybear Great photos! I hope you don't lose your credits due to the postponements.

@Cruising-along Excellent photos.

@rafinmd Great sunset photo.

 

Vanessa, I know what you mean about your back.  I normally don't have a problem with mine, but leaning over to trim the bushes is something my back does not like, and it lets me know.  To top it off, the bushes I trimmed last Friday are already showing new leaves -- the nerve of those bushes.  😁  The couple who bought the house across the street only bought it this winter.  I think they were being pressured by their kids to move closer, but I don't know why the wife doesn't want to live here.  As a whole, we're not a bad group of people.

 

4 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

Good morning, all. We still have a VCR/ DVD player somewhere, but I don’t know if it still works. I’m not sure about the feta in the tacos. Haven’t been to today’s port, but I’m enjoying the pictures.

Yesterday our TA called, and said HAL has reversed payment for our Alaska cruise back to DH’s card and accepted our Covid FCC from the GWV for full payment. There’s still a decent chunk left for something next spring.

I bought a bag of lemons yesterday. We really enjoyed the Brazo de Mercedes on the ship, so today I want to see what it’s like with a lemon filling instead of vanilla custard.

Prayers for all on the care list.

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Cheers to our BHB’s, wherever they may be!

 

 

That's great news about HAL reversing the charge and applying the credits to made the final payment on your cruise.

 

Lenda

 

[Crazy For Cats]

5 hours ago, smitty34877 said:

I totally agree about NY and NJ drivers.It is much worse here than previously. Watch out for Massachusetts  though.

Definitely some crazy drivers here!😂

[jodi58]

@kochleffel   And our smog warning was just lifted, for now anyway.

[smitty34877]

25 minutes ago, Crazy For Cats said:

Definitely some crazy drivers here!😂

my family in SE Mass always talk about the Rhode Island drivers....

[rafinmd]

14 minutes ago, jodi58 said:

@kochleffel   And our smog warning was just lifted, for now anyway.

It looks like the worst of the air is veering to the West of you.  I have family about 50km South of the Mercier Bridge and hope they're doing ok.

 

Roy

[Crazy For Cats]

7 minutes ago, smitty34877 said:

my family in SE Mass always talk about the Rhode Island drivers....

They’re not wrong!

[jodi58]

I was in downtown Montreal yesterday and it  wasn’t so great, but where we live , west of Montreal it was fine, I guess the city pollution made it worse.  Also Ottawa was worse than us.   This could all change, of course.

[durangoscots]

Back from delivering flyers all over town (it is a small town) and just beat the rain to the door. It is 68 with light rain... I'll take it but the dogs are not happy. The lawn was mowed while I was gone.... will have to check on their weed cutting abilities. Have arranged for the dogs to board while I am on the GA .... we picked out their kennel run and talked about daily routine. Lots of $$$ but they do like it out at the spa.

 

Getting off the computer now.... I hear thunder.

 

Susan

[StLouisCruisers]

9 hours ago, smitty34877 said:

Good morning. Our local weather person said the NYC air quality was very poor and to wear a mask if outside. I just saw the garbage truck go by with the workers wearing masks. I didn’t linger outside with the dogs earlier. It has to be awful at the actual fire location if it is this noticeable here. Both DD and DSIL have to go into Manhattan for their jobs today which is unusual. I am waiting for the aide who is a little late this morning but she has to take two busses to get here so we will hope for the best. It has been a busy morning so far.

We have been to Sicily but not the port. The VCR left us a long time ago. The recipe sounds good but today we are having vegetarian enchiladas for dinner. Chocolate ice cream is always popular here.

 

We are planning to join DS and family on the Cape next month and I was able to get a dog sitter for the week. I am a tad anxious about leaving our Tana for a week but I am sure the rest of the family will step up. I am hoping that DH feels up to traveling  when the time comes. 
Hoping for a good day for everyone!

 

 

Terry, you and your DH deserve some time on the Cape next month.  Let the other family members handle things for a while so you two can get some relaxation time with DS and family.  

 

 

 

8 hours ago, RMLincoln said:

Greetings friends. Red Alert for air quality here in Maryland today. Smoke from the north.
 

I could really use some chocolate ice cream!  Lots of chocolate ice cream. All I need is a way to buy it…. 
 

Thank you Graham, Lenda, Brenda…. we have a mess to deal with. The money stolen from our account is the least of our troubles. It was an unauthorized  direct transfer.  The account was closed yesterday or maybe late Monday. Some unimportant small checks already bounced!  The first of my life. The credit and debit cards are canceled. But the autopay bills are of course still coming in and will also bounce. I think our medical insurance premiums were due to be paid yesterday. Car, home insurance this week. We set up this account to simplify our finances - for travel, for support from kids helping us as needed….  Not simply now!  We were not quite finished getting everything transferred for deposits and bill payments. Luckily we hadn’t canceled our old banking accounts in NM, and we still have checks for that account!  Yesterday we got money deposited into that bank to use to pay what we can by checks, although some may be late this month. Just praying there’ll be no gaps in coverages. Medicare was taking 3 months to get transferred to this new account, and June was to be their first withdrawal. But I think I can pay them online. And we do have another credit card and debit ATM cards from the NM bank. So we can buy gas (petrol Graham) and ice cream!  
 

After crisis management we’ll have to regroup and decide if we want to take a different approach. But it will all happen. And I’m so glad we are here to deal with it because I can’t imagine a son or granddaughter trying to do this for us!  

I missed the Daily yesterday, and might miss more but I’m grateful for the good we have in our favor, and for all your support. We will need a cruise!  After eye surgery followups are done!  One day at a time though and we’ll get through. 
 

Blessings to you all, and all in need near and far. Cheers to those celebrating. Life is Good!  Even in a crisis Life is Good!  
 

Maureen

 

Maureen, again so sorry about all this hassle caused by a stupid hacker.  You seem to be handling the stress well though so props to you.

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Seasick Sailor said:

Good morning Dailyites. Thanks Rich for our Daily. 

 

Finishing my laundry,  walked and fed our house guest. Boy is she a bed hog, and there's no moving her over. 

 

A fun day yesterday.. after pedicures we met friends for a late lunch. I love my friends. 

 

Today is our heating and air conditioning 6 month check up, a trip to the market and a quick swiffer around the house. 

 

Wishing everyone a blessed day. Prayers lifted. Grateful for this thread and all who contribute. 

 

Joy, I'm glad your toe seems to be doing better.  Having a pedicure after hurting it must prove it is doing well.  Thanks also for that darling photo of your little nephew.  We do love our baby pictures here!

 

Thanks for everyone's concern about my upset tummy but I'm feeling fine now.  It's just miserable while it's happening.  

 

Thanks to all for the nice photos of Catania (and Taormina).  An amazing and interesting place to visit and I'm grateful I had the opportunity to do that.

[marshhawk]

Good late afternoon Dailyites!  I was having a hard time trying to lie down last night to sleep, so I did the old sleep sitting up on the sofa, with Tazi, then at 5 I woke up, wandered to the restroom figured it was too early to be up, went back to the sofa with Furnando and woke up again at 9:45.  This time I wandered down the hall to tell Chuck that I am sorry I didn't wake him up, but I just got up.  He was amazed, but by the time I made breakfast, it was lunch time...so I walked the dog, and then went to work.  Worked 4 hours.  And that's about all I can do for the day.  So another day that I needed to go to the store, but didn't.  

 

It's 6 pm, the temp outside is 87, we don't have the air on, and DH wants an oven cooked meal. Really?  Oh well....I could live off the meatloaf I made yesterday.  Nothing better than a meatloaf sandwich.....except chocolate ice cream.

 

I believe it was @Heartgrove who went to Tillynook creameries last year, and I have been buying Tillynook since then.  Their cheeses are the best for burgers, and Krogers always has them on sale, with a sign saying discontinued items.  Well. Publix had the ice cream on sale this week, so I bought the chocolate with fudge and chocolate chips.  I have not been able to talk DH into the fact that ice cream might be a breakfast item.

 

This new schedule really cuts into my cooking  hours (if I did job 2, which right now I am not) so since I have an urge to make Reubens, I have to wait until Sunday to do so. Mornings are free but if I can sleep in, I will.

 

@RMLincoln I am so sorry to read about the hacking wows of your finances.  There will always be thieves and criminals, just wish we had harder punishments.  I mean, if your hand was cut off when you stole, instead of 30 days in jail with 3 (not so great meals a day) then maybe you wouldn't steal?  Just saying, I'm not fond of crooks.  My ex stole from me, I had to clean up a closed joint account after he and his new honey forged and wrote bad checks, and then disappeared, but my name was on the checks, and I was pretty easy to find.

 

Our cruise this fall stops in Messina, too bad, the pictures of Cantania look lovely, I am suspecting that Messina is pretty too.

 

 

[1ANGELCAT]

It’s been a miserable hazy and smoky day and the air quality is so bad that the baseball games have been postponed till tomorrow night. I had a haircut this morning and basically stayed indoors the rest of the day. 
   I did have some chocolate ice cream at lunchtime. 
We did get a call from the vet that Fluff’s cremains were ready so we went to pick them up. We dropped off 2 cases of snack bags of pretzels for the wonderful doctors and staff. They are truly angels to all that need them.

Blessings and prayers to all on our lists.

[StLouisCruisers]

48 minutes ago, marshhawk said:

Good late afternoon Dailyites!  I was having a hard time trying to lie down last night to sleep, so I did the old sleep sitting up on the sofa, with Tazi, then at 5 I woke up, wandered to the restroom figured it was too early to be up, went back to the sofa with Furnando and woke up again at 9:45.  This time I wandered down the hall to tell Chuck that I am sorry I didn't wake him up, but I just got up.  He was amazed, but by the time I made breakfast, it was lunch time...so I walked the dog, and then went to work.  Worked 4 hours.  And that's about all I can do for the day.  So another day that I needed to go to the store, but didn't.  

 

It's 6 pm, the temp outside is 87, we don't have the air on, and DH wants an oven cooked meal. Really?  Oh well....I could live off the meatloaf I made yesterday.  Nothing better than a meatloaf sandwich.....except chocolate ice cream.

 

I believe it was @Heartgrove who went to Tillynook creameries last year, and I have been buying Tillynook since then.  Their cheeses are the best for burgers, and Krogers always has them on sale, with a sign saying discontinued items.  Well. Publix had the ice cream on sale this week, so I bought the chocolate with fudge and chocolate chips.  I have not been able to talk DH into the fact that ice cream might be a breakfast item.

 

This new schedule really cuts into my cooking  hours (if I did job 2, which right now I am not) so since I have an urge to make Reubens, I have to wait until Sunday to do so. Mornings are free but if I can sleep in, I will.

 

@RMLincoln I am so sorry to read about the hacking wows of your finances.  There will always be thieves and criminals, just wish we had harder punishments.  I mean, if your hand was cut off when you stole, instead of 30 days in jail with 3 (not so great meals a day) then maybe you wouldn't steal?  Just saying, I'm not fond of crooks.  My ex stole from me, I had to clean up a closed joint account after he and his new honey forged and wrote bad checks, and then disappeared, but my name was on the checks, and I was pretty easy to find.

 

Our cruise this fall stops in Messina, too bad, the pictures of Cantania look lovely, I am suspecting that Messina is pretty too.

 

 

 

Annie, if you go to Messina you will enjoy it.  From there you can also get tours of Taormina and Mt. Etna.  

 

Here are photos from our Messina trips as posted on April 4, 2021 and June 5, 2022.

 

 

Messina is a port that seemed to be on a quite a few of our cruises.  We were there on Royal Princess in 2013, Emerald Princess in 2016 and 2019, and Westerdam in 2017.  The Straight of Messina is a narrow straight between eastern Sicily and the western coast of southern Italy.  At the city of Messina the straight is only 3 miles across. 

 

As we approached Messina in 2017 on Westerdam we passed the Stromboli volcano.  It looked quite beautiful and peaceful that day. 

 

One of my favorite things to see at Messina is the Noon time performance at the beautiful automated astronomical clock tower at the Messina Cathedral.  Tourists gather there in advance to get the best position for the many photos they take.  The clock features decorative dials indicating the signs of the zodiac and the annual calendar with golden mechanical figures which move.  The noisiest time is when the lion figure roars and the rooster figure crows.  Always a big hit!  But if your ship arrives at 1 pm you are out of luck, and that has happened to us once.  We arrived right at noon and you could barely hear the lion and rooster from the upper decks of the ship.  The Cathedral is a couple blocks away from the pier so an easy walk.  People waiting to see the noon performance. 

 

Here is the Cathedral

 

And just to the left is the famous bell tower

 

Here is the lion at the top and the rooster below it.

 

The figures all move including the lion and rooster, the angels, etc.

 

Other lovely views and buildings around the city to look at.

 

 

The Court of Messina with a horse and wagon statue on top.

 

The beautiful Parrochia Santa Caterina church which translates to Church of St. Catherine.

 

The Church of the Annunciation of the Catalans which was rebuilt from a Mosque.

 

I hope you can all visit Messina in the future.  I have another cruise where we visited Mt. Etna and Taormina on a tour from Messina. 

[marshhawk]

Before we left for Alaska, I had read that Mt. Etna, Kilawaia  (sp) and the volcano near Mexico City were becoming very active. @StLouisCruisers, I do not want to end up like a Pompeiien.  DH and I were thinking of taking a cooking class at a villa in the mountains (hills), but just wandering the city looks interesting.  I would love to see that clock.  I think we dock at 8 a.m..

[RMLincoln]

Love shrimp tacos, but not with feta cheese!  
 

Messina was beautiful, as was our day in Taormina!  Thanks for the many lovely photos, great memories. 

Air Quality tonight is better but I expect smoke to “layer down” to ground level overnight. We turned in the bedroom air cleaner. 
 

@Nickelpenny Glad you made it safely. Usually the “worst” drivers are from the adjoining state 😉.  (Or province I suppose.)

@smitty34877 happy you are looking ahead at a bit of respite and recovery. Hope the timing is perfect. 
@aliaschief Thanks for Gibraltar.  Enjoy Seville!  
 

Thanks to all for the support!!  💖We made some progress today. Still no case manager but we did squeeze some information out of the fraud specialist. The account apparently isn’t closed, just restricted to nothing going out, so social security and pensions will be received. Relieved we won’t have to chase the income. They will transfer those funds on our special request to the new account which won’t be available until next week. Today we got a few of the most urgent bills paid or transferred.  Did some on line including Medicare, some by phone and 3 in person. Medicare will have to get paid manually the next two months but that’s ok, can do!  They need 6-8 weeks. Interesting that at least two insurance parties were not concerned, they haven’t seen the bank denials yet (from payments June  5th and 6th) and said call back next week. One insurance group hasn’t answered a phone call, hasn’t returned a call, and when we went there (very close by) the office was locked, nobody there!  Very odd and makes me think it just might be a good time to let it die and go elsewhere. We began with them when we moved here 2 yrs ago during Covid.  I shudder to think what might happen if we had to make a claim!  
 

So thankful that we still had our old accounts!  Been using that checkbook and the old credit cards!  Most people would probably have a spare credit card but probably not a checking account. Tomorrow’s another day to excel!  
 

And maybe have ice cream tomorrow. I put our ice cream freezer bowl in the freezer this morning. I may make some tomorrow!  It’ll be a reward!  
 

I’m sorry to hear from others of your similar experiences with fraud. It’s a lot to deal with. We’re working together and it’ll all happen. It must have been horribly hurtful Annie @marshhawk but that’s when I say there are reasons they’re an Ex. 
 

Hoping all who are not feeling well can rest tonight!  

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Good evening.  We're just relaxing and watching Dr. Pol tonight.

 

1 hour ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

It’s been a miserable hazy and smoky day and the air quality is so bad that the baseball games have been postponed till tomorrow night. I had a haircut this morning and basically stayed indoors the rest of the day. 
   I did have some chocolate ice cream at lunchtime. 
We did get a call from the vet that Fluff’s cremains were ready so we went to pick them up. We dropped off 2 cases of snack bags of pretzels for the wonderful doctors and staff. They are truly angels to all that need them.

Blessings and prayers to all on our lists.

 

It was very nice of you to take treats to the vets and their staff.

 

1 hour ago, marshhawk said:

Before we left for Alaska, I had read that Mt. Etna, Kilawaia  (sp) and the volcano near Mexico City were becoming very active. @StLouisCruisers, I do not want to end up like a Pompeiien.  DH and I were thinking of taking a cooking class at a villa in the mountains (hills), but just wandering the city looks interesting.  I would love to see that clock.  I think we dock at 8 a.m..

 

Annie, we have been to Messina at least three times, but only stayed in Messina the last time in 2019 on Veendam.  We walked from the pier to the cathedral, and we were able to climb up in the bell tower.  We were warned to be back on ground level before noon when the bells would ring.  They are extremely loud if you are close to them.  We didn't stay to watch the clock figures move when the bells chimed.  Since the Ho-Ho was boarding, we got on it to see more of the city.  After the Ho-Ho, we slowly made our way back to the ship.  I'll repost my pictures from that day tomorrow when I'm back on the computer.

 

12 minutes ago, RMLincoln said:

Love shrimp tacos, but not with feta cheese!  
 

Messina was beautiful, as was our day in Taormina!  Thanks for the many lovely photos, great memories. 

Air Quality tonight is better but I expect smoke to “layer down” to ground level overnight. We turned in the bedroom air cleaner. 
 

@Nickelpenny Glad you made it safely. Usually the “worst” drivers are from the adjoining state 😉.  (Or province I suppose.)

@smitty34877 happy you are looking ahead at a bit of respite and recovery. Hope the timing is perfect. 
@aliaschief Thanks for Gibraltar.  Enjoy Seville!  
 

Thanks to all for the support!!  💖We made some progress today. Still no case manager but we did squeeze some information out of the fraud specialist. The account apparently isn’t closed, just restricted to nothing going out, so social security and pensions will be received. Relieved we won’t have to chase the income. They will transfer those funds on our special request to the new account which won’t be available until next week. Today we got a few of the most urgent bills paid or transferred.  Did some on line including Medicare, some by phone and 3 in person. Medicare will have to get paid manually the next two months but that’s ok, can do!  They need 6-8 weeks. Interesting that at least two insurance parties were not concerned, they haven’t seen the bank denials yet (from payments June  5th and 6th) and said call back next week. One insurance group hasn’t answered a phone call, hasn’t returned a call, and when we went there (very close by) the office was locked, nobody there!  Very odd and makes me think it just might be a good time to let it die and go elsewhere. We began with them when we moved here 2 yrs ago during Covid.  I shudder to think what might happen if we had to make a claim!  
 

So thankful that we still had our old accounts!  Been using that checkbook and the old credit cards!  Most people would probably have a spare credit card but probably not a checking account. Tomorrow’s another day to excel!  
 

And maybe have ice cream tomorrow. I put our ice cream freezer bowl in the freezer this morning. I may make some tomorrow!  It’ll be a reward!  
 

I’m sorry to hear from others of your similar experiences with fraud. It’s a lot to deal with. We’re working together and it’ll all happen. It must have been horribly hurtful Annie @marshhawk but that’s when I say there are reasons they’re an Ex. 
 

Hoping all who are not feeling well can rest tonight!  

 

Maureen, I'm glad you are making progress, and that the account is still able to take deposits.

 

@cruzn single  Mary Kay, wishing you the best for your surgery tomorrow and for a quick recovery.

 

Lenda

[marshhawk]