DeltaOne

Agreed. Too many people choose a laptop and laptops are expensive. And they used to be slower than a desktop model...though that has changed since the introduction of Apple silicon. At a former job my boss would let new employees decide if they wanted a laptop or iMac. I always thought this was crazy. We were the IT professionals, we should be deciding what is the best tool for their job. Especially since the decision had a big impact on budgets. I'd always try to talk new employees in to an iMac and iPad. Bigger screen, better performance with the iMac. And better portability with the iPad (lighter, better battery life). Best of both worlds. Some took my advice, some didn't. Those that didn't wanted to use the company's computer as their personal computer at home...so that's what they chose.

My granddaughter stayed with us Saturday night, so we had to assume Elf duties. Here he was found eating donut holes.

Here's a thread on it: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2892794-encore-gangway-collapse-in-panama/

Our Bosch dishwasher failed about a year in to the pandemic. Would have bought another but the wait time was too long. Ended up with a Jenn Aire dishwasher and it's quiet too. Has a light on the front so you know what it is doing. Blue for wash cycle, red for drying and white when done. The Jenn Aire we have now (see above) is the same. Not as easy to load. I've gotten used to it, but I know what you mean about trying to load it. The old Bosch, and this new Jenn Aire, take 3 to 3.5 hours to finish. Seems like a long time. Overall it's not an issue, as long as it's finished by the next morning I'm happy. The Jenn Aire does have a 1 hour cycle, but they say it uses more water and electricity than the other cycles.

We had a Bosch dishwasher for about ten years. Quietest dishwasher I've ever heard. The cheapest Bosch dishwashers, noise wise, are comparable to the average dishwasher. But once you go up a bit they get very quiet.

Here in Maryland the cost to have our septic tank pumped is about $400. Fees vary a lot, your county may charge more. My goal is to have our tank pumped every three to five years. It really depends on how many people live in your household. More people means more frequent pumping. I've recently been adding a supplement called NuTank. Mostly because I have a slow drain and have to use a strong drain cleaner. The chemical in the drain cleaner doesn't do the septic tank any favors. I use the drain cleaner every two months. Then a week later I add the supplement. The supplement is a small item that you flush down the toilet.

We've lived here with a septic tank for 40 years. Had to dig down to the two lids twice to have it pumped. Never did that again...had the risers and plastic lids installed. From the grass, down to the two lids, is about 2.5 feet. My tank doesn't affect the grass, but it's always the first place the snow melts (due to the heat from the waste water and aerobic action).

Just a hunch...delete the Safari cache on your iPhone. Settings, Safari, Advanced, Website Data. Swipe left to delete the data for Cruise Critic. If the password is hard to type...be careful to not make a typo mistake. After deleting the cache I'd take Safari out of memory and re-launch it. Probably not necessary but won't hurt.

My morning show on ESPN says the Phillies often knew what type of pitch the Houston guy was throwing. His arm motion and the way he angled the glove were "tells." I think they said the Houston pitcher gave up 5 homers last night, they said he had no home runs in his last 500 pitches.

Our previous refrigerator was a Samsung. The water from a defrost cycle would drain down behind the interior back panel. But it would freeze up and then we'd find water under the produce bin. Our favorite appliance guy installed an update kit that was supposed to fix the problem but it didn't. The Samsung was otherwise working, but after ten years we decided to replace it. The appliance guy recommended Whirlpool. We're on year 3 with the Whirlpool and it works fine. We bought one that has the regular ice maker but also has an ice maker in the bottom freezer section. We use a lot of ice...and we love having two ice makers.

Just a guess: the ship's Starlink dish is transitioning from one satellite to another as the satellites move across the sky. Dish owners, using the Starlink app, can see how often this occurs.

We heard that too. So we watched about 15 minutes of the new show, no Hannah. It's not a good show. The google tells me she's on the Australian version of the show. I thought it might be on Paramount+, but a quick search didn't find it.

Same thing happened to my brother's Ford Explorer. The drains through the pillars must be a common thing. Our Toyota Sienna has a sunroof but it clearly seals to the roof and doesn't need any drains.

I skip the Benny Brun reviews. Too many pictures...and too many similar pictures of the same thing from a different angle. Too much.

My version of this is: "I don't have anything to do but I have all day to do it."

It was a great tour. We enjoyed it here too. La Vuelta (the tour in Spain) will be on Peacock and begins August 19th. I don't know if we'll watch as much...thinking of just watching the last hour or so each day.

I was curious and checked google. Google says only around 5% of homes in England have A/C, while Japan and the U.S. are around 90%. Here in Maryland we typically have around 50+ days a year above 90 degrees.

Graham, does your home have air conditioning? What percentage of homes/businesses would you say have air conditioning? News reports here in the U.S. about the heat wave in Europe say air conditioning is not as prevalent as it is here.

We also watched BD Down Under on Peacock. I think it's certainly as good as the others and Cap't Jason is my favorite captain now. You're right...the scenery is gorgeous. The Tour de France starts this Friday (on USA network). We've been watching for a few years. The cycling competition is interesting...but the scenery and history in France is to die for. And they show/discuss a lot of the scenery stuff...historic churches and homes. We fast-forward a lot...the coverage is 4 to 6 hours each day...so a lot of fast-forwarding. Race lasts about a month.

Check all the floor drains in the bathroom. Sometimes the traps in the floor drains dry out and you'll smell sewer gas. Especially if the room hasn't been used for a while. There will be a drain in the shower, of course. But look for other floor drains by the bathroom door, etc. Pour a half gallon (or gallon) of water down each and every drain. Wait an hour...and hope the smell goes away. Is there a floor drain on your balcony? Check it too. Longtime Cruise Critic member chengkp75, a retired ship chief engineer, mentions this subject from time to time.