ilikeanswers

1 hour ago, lyndarra said:

That's odd. When I browsed down to your post it was showing 10.000+ then it changed to the exact number. Weird.

Maybe CC is testing a new display😜

4 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

So I did a nice "Shepherds Pie" (this is what my English Grandmother called it) ground beef, mixed veg and mashed potatoes on top. I always wondered about how the "shepherd" came to have beef, perhaps he borrowed it from a someone's herd😁. 

The recipe I was always told was lamb mince🤔. I had a little google and apparently it was traditionally a leftover dish made from whatever roast was uneaten so I guess the "Shepherd" is figurative😝. 

3 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

I’ve heard that ,I don’t know if I actually believe it . 
Two years bleeding money is going to affect any company.

I think they are painting a nice picture to keep the punters coming in.

They had $US8.2 billion in what they call runway money and they halved their burn rate by dumping a lot of staff and shutting down many operations. I wouldn't call it a nice picture but a survivable picture. 

4 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

Will the cruise lines survive and what condition will the ships be in ,is the question.

The three biggest corporations have enough money to last till next year. IIRC Carnival Corp apparently has enough to last till June next year🤔

I would love to see the Ross Ice Shelf but the cruises to there are pretty expensive🙄. I personally don't need a luxury ship, I would be happy with something simple😊. 

5 hours ago, Docker123 said:

I thought Professor Pete demonstrated the wisdom of taking pandemic advice from a chef.

Remember those days when chefs cooked food for a living 😜? 

3 hours ago, qbay46 said:

Heddal stave church, Norway

Yep biggest of the Norwegian stave Churches and probably the most famous😜. 

5 minutes ago, clo said:

I wish we had a "wow" emoji!

😲

That could work? 

Name the church:

3 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

I like Pu-er Chinese tea, which I used to buy in a small box. 

I have tried the traditional fermented Pu-er tea cakes, very interesting flavour👍though a little pricey😁. Use to be a bubble tea shop that did Pu-er. Personally I don't think it suits bubble tea. Recently tried Korean Dalgona coffee which is basically a foam. It was actually kind of nice bitter sweet drink. 

4 hours ago, getting older slowly said:

and as far as mobile phones, can be good.... but do we really need to contactable 24/7 ?

That is what voicemail is for 😜. 

I'll try Pisco Sour? 

7 minutes ago, ldubs said:

I agree.  My comment is more about an attitude.  Like the cup being half full or half empty.  Especially when talking about little unimportant things that happen on a cruise ship.   

Attitude is very important😜

1 hour ago, mr walker said:

I realise that the narrative on Ms Adern is that she is akin to Florence Nightingale or Mary McKillop & should be have already been made a saint, but in terms of the COVID-19 response just what has she done that is so very different to leaders in other countries that have also done well in terms of COVID response?

I think it is because she has done as well as those other countries that we tend to praise her. Being Australia it isn't a surprise that we focus on NZ's success a neighbour of ours rather than distant countries like Rwanda and Uruguay. At the end of the day the countries that kept Covid out and life normal are very few. Most are tiny little island nations like Fiji or autocratic dictatorships like Vietnam so NZ's success is really an anomaly that does deserve the praise they receive. 

3 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Thanks for the interesting map.  I've never seen a map overlay of NZ over Europe.

It is probably from this website. It is quite funny to see how country sizes are distorted on maps:

The True Size of...

Found this video on another thread, very interesting look at the cruise industry and the logistics of shutting down:

1 hour ago, MamaFej said:

Count me among those jealous of NZ for having a leader who was forthright from the very beginning about how serious this virus and its effects are, and who led (leads) with a steady hand, honesty, and compassion. Hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths, and millions of cases have happened in my country because we didnt have someone like Arden leading us. I believe that many in other countries also suffered/are suffering  because many nations do tend to follow the USA, as mentioned above, even when our leaders are wrong. 

I also admire Tsai Ing-wen president of Taiwan🏆🇹🇼. They were the first country to take Covid-19 seriously when the rest of the world was still calling it a silly little flu🙄. 

6 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

They had nothing at all about my local area.I am in a relatively small town of 30,000 people but there are several places that tourists as well as local residents visit in the summer.

They usually try to list things that are on the more unusual side not really big tourist items though some of their listings have become big tourist sights over the years. 

9 hours ago, ldubs said:

We all know it is more oval shaped.   

I say bring back Christopher Columbus's pear shaped Earth with a nipple on top😂. 

I've only been to the Caribbean islands once briefly visiting two islands but as a land vacation. Rented a car drove around for a few days (I did also a road trip down the Caribbean coast of Mexico and Belize, not sure if that is considered visiting the Caribbean😳?). I found it to be pretty fascinating. It would be nice if they had some expedition style cruises that focused on culture, food, history and ecology. The one time I had a look there really wasn't much beyond the mass market lines and the itineraries were a bit blah. If I do go back for a more thorough Caribbean trip I would most likely do land trips as it is a pretty hard to get to place from Australia and I would want to get as much value experience wise from the trip as possible. I just don't think I could do that with one day trips to each island🤔

I've been told my is blood quite thin, not dangerously so but thinner than the average person so I'm not too particulary worried about the miniscule risk of the AstraZenica vaccine, I'm more worried about the risks of Covid as I have genetic predispositions to conditions that Covid is being linked to. I reckon if people want to take the AZ vaccine they should be allowed, instead of an outright ban. At this rate I won't be vaccinated till the end of next year.

35 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

In totally unrelated news, anyone hear that Prince Philip died?

Pretty much every TV channel dropped their programs to talk about Prince Philip over here, I guess since were part of the Commonwealth it is to be expected. To be fair most people have been waiting for him to die, I think it was pretty clear he was near the end when he left hospital.

26 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

I'm having a bit of a problem with this whole blood clot thing. Apparently those over 55 are okay to take it but under 55 not, or are we just expendable? Studies have shown that the occurrence is rare so with such a small number why have they not identified the "common denominator" and how have they come to the conclusion that it's okay for 55 plus? Instead of scaring the crap out of people maybe give some explanation as to why it was suspended for the younger age groups. We are all big boys and girls and actual science would be helpful.

AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine causes very rare blood clots, EU regulator says

45 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Cruise lines to the rescue.

 

 

It gives them an excuse to test the ships are still working😜. 

49 minutes ago, Big Kev said:

Govt buildings in  Tokyo

🏆

Close enough, full name Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building or nickname Tochō. When we got there these really well dressed people would come up to us with laminated cards in all sorts of languages when they knew our language they held up a card so we could read the observation deck was closed. 

All yours😉.