Quartzsite Cruiser

@Sharon in AZ Sharon, I hope you have a wonderful birthday followed by many more great birthdays. Lenda

Thanks for the update on Paul, Roy. I hope his recovery continues without any problems. Growing up in west Texas, we could get WLS and WWL from New Orleans at night. Annie, when DH was station at Picatinny Arsenal in Dover, NJ, in 1969 and 1970, we would listen to WABC and Cousin Brucie. Years later, we'd listen to his radio show on SiriusXM, until he left in 2020 to return to WABC. Lenda

Wow, Annie, that is a lot of cats. I thought we had a lot when we had 5. Vanessa, there are a couple of roads that cross the biggest wash in Quartzsite. They close the gates when the wash is flooding to stop people from entering the wash. However, the deepest part of one wash is not blocked when there is a lot of rain. Most people in Q know to stay out of the washes when the water is running. Sharon, I hope DH's back is better soon. Susan, I can understand your frustration with the new board. We ran into that with our home owners group a few years ago. They did not want to hear what had happened in the past, and why we had some of the rules we did. Now, I just keep my mouth shut, which is not always easy for me. 😁 Lenda

Our daughter and DSIL have EE degrees, and work in the computer industry. He works for Field Buss in the non-profit side. DD works for ARM and designs chips for others to license and manufacture. She worked for Motorola, Free Scale and Intel, before joining ARM, and she also has a few patents in her name. They were both lucky to find jobs in Austin when they graduated from UT. BTW, your The University came in as burnt orange on my monitor. The best I can do is use pumpkin and make it bold. I think very few people who didn't go to UT, don't realize the official name is The University of Texas, and it's written in the state constitution. Lenda

Terri, that is good news that you are doing a bit better. Belated congratulations to your niece being named on of the top 100 women engineers, and on getting a better job, too. Susan, I'm sorry the thrift store is in such and upheaval. I hope someone can get things running smoothly again and soon. Thank you, Graham. Sharon, I'm sorry your backyard flooded, but that happens in the desert. When we get a big rain in Quartzsite we will have standing water in several places until the soil moistens and can absorb the water. That doesn't happen too often though. Lenda

When DH was studying engineering at The University of Texas, there were only a couple o women in the Engineering School. Times have changed, and our older DD has an engineering degree from UT, too. Lenda

After a day and a half in Safaga, we began our Suez Canal transit on April 27, 2003, on the old Regal Princess. We entered the canal at Suez City, and as Sandi @StLouisCruisers mentioned, we saw a lot of sand. We've also transited the Panama Canal and the Kiel Canal, and the Suez Canal was the least interesting. I'm still glad we were able to go through the Suez Canal. Regal Princess was the first cruise ship with passengers to transit the canal after the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. Two other cruise ships had gone through, but the passengers were taken off the ships in Safaga, and flown to Port Said. We also had a military escort from Mumbai to Safaga. A friend and I sat out on the Promenade deck and watched the desert pass by. Suez City as we headed for the canal entrance The Al Badr Mosque. I tried to find the names of some of the places along the canal, but what little Google maps showed was written in Arabic without an English translation. Entering the canal, and what looks like a dry dock One of the bridges that span the canal Sand A town on the east bank of the canal Another town Constant dredging is needed to keep the canal open to ship traffic. In places where there is no bridge, ferries take people across the canal. Another area with trees Somewhere in the canal. It began to look the same for most of the transit. Mahalla Preparing to exit the canal The other end of the canal Lenda

Good morning from another sunny day in central Texas. It is 75F and feels like 75F with 93% humidity and a dew point of 73F. Our predicted high is 93F, and since we have not had any rain for more than a week, I broke down and turned the sprinkler on last night. There is no rain in the long range forecast. I guess our rainy season is over. The only thing on the agenda today is laundry, which I should have done Friday. I will salute women in engineering, including our own @AV8rix Susan. Let it go is a good concept that is sometimes very difficult. I had never heard of Detroit-style pizza, but I think we'll stick to thin crust pizza. An interesting quote, and laughter is good for all of us. The tomato soup sounds good, but for a much cooler day. The drink also sounds refreshing, but we'll pass on the wine. We transited the Suez Canal in 2003. Congratulations to Iceland for having the world's oldest parliament. The 1894 establishment of the International Olympic Committee was good for athletics. @StLouisCruisers I hope you are feeling back to normal soon. Thanks for your pictures of the Suez Canal. @1ANGELCAT I hope the Philadelphia police officer will recover completely. @0106 Tina, thanks for the explanation and pictures of Detroit-style pizza. @Lady Hudson Katherine, I hope you find a good cruise with an assessable cabin. I'm sorry about your friend having a massive stroke, and hope she can recover completely. @ottahand7 Nancy, I hope the weeds do come up easily. @kazu Jacqui, I'm sorry the foot pain is back, and I hope the foot nurse and the vascular surgeon will be able to get the foot back in good, pain free shape. Lenda

@rafinmd Roy, wishing you a wonderful birthday, and many more to follow. Lenda

Annie, glad you found something DH wants to do in Barcelona. That could be an interesting visit. One year, we started to drive friom Cherbourg to Le Mans, but realised halfway there, it was too far for a day trip, especially since we had a later start than planned. Lenda

Good afternoon from a warm and sunny central Texas. It is 93F, and I'm enjoying the cool indoors after getting the yard mowed and the flowerbeds weeded. I also trimmed the iris and got all the dead stuff, including some of last fall's oak leaves out of one flower beds. It wasn't too hot outside, and before I finished there was a nice breeze. @ottahand7 Nancy, third time is the charm. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOHN! Terry, I'm very happy your DB is there helping and doing a lot of the cooking. It's good the two of you could entertain Tana last night. I hope she is feeling better and has her appetite back. Elizabeth, that is just weird about parts missing from your HVAC unit. I wonder if it came without parts missing, or if some service person removed bad parts and then somehow "forgot" to replace them. I hope they get it sorted out, and your unit is fixed soon without much hassle. Annie, it looks like the kitties are settling into the indoor space. I'm sorry DH is not looking forward to going to Barcelona. Susan, I hope all the wildlife stays in their area, and leaves the condos alone. @Himself Welcome home, Father. Lenda

We had a very nice day when the Prinsendam visited Torshavn on August 21, 2017. Since it was our first visit, we decided to not rent a car, but walked into town. Once there, we took a local bus out into the countryside; then, once back in town, we switched to another bus going in the opposite direction. After the bus rides, we walked around the nice town, and back to the ship. These first pictures were taken as the ship was approaching the dock. On our walk into town, we took the high road which gave us a good view of part of the town. There are a lot of turf roof buildings in the old town, Tinganes. Looking down at the harbor from the high road. Part of the countryside from the bus On the second bus, we got off in a different part of Torshavn and walked around before catching another bus back to town. This is the local bus. The neighborhood we walked in to an interesting church Vesturkirkjan, aka The West Church. This Lutheran church was built in 1975, and the interesting tower is 42 meters or almost 138 feet tall. A lovely stream running through the area The main part of Torshavn The government house which IIRC also housed the library where many of us stopped to use the internet. Torshavn is on Streynoy Island, and is the capital of the Faroe Islands, which are an autonomous territory of Denmark. We walked by the small boat harbor on our way back to the Prinsendam. Finally, our home away from home Lenda

Good morning from a beautiful, clear central Texas. It is 74F at 7am with a predicted high of 95F. Since the dew point is 74F the humidity is 99%, but there is no condensation on the windows. Today is mowing day, and I also need to do some work on the flowerbeds. I hope to get out earlier than usual to beat the worst of the heat. However, then there is a problem of wet grass because of the dew. At least, we will have a 5 to 8 mph wind which will help. After the yard work, I'll probably be inside the rest of the day. Three interesting days. Radiant peace sounds nice no matter which day it's celebrated. Positive Media Day is good, and our local news channels and even the evening national news try to have one "good news" story. I think no matter whether or not we honor Stupid Guy Thing Day, there will always be some one doing a stupid guy thing. I like the Euripides quote. We'll pass on the meal, but I too wonder if eggplant is becoming the new butternut squash on The Daily. Love Potion #9 might not be bad except for the pomegranate juice. I'll pass on the wine. We were in Torshavn on August 21, 2017, on Prinsendam. My pictures will follow this post. A great day in England when Charles I established the Royal Greenwich Observatory in 1675. We enjoyed our visit to the observatory in 2009 during a week stopover in London on the way home from Cape Town. 1963 saw the beginning of a great music career when Stevie Wonder released his first single. @StLouisCruisers Sandi, that is good news your tummy is feeling better. Now, you will be able to enjoy your Pinnacle Grill dinner. @richwmn Rich have you considered Starlink for your internet service? It's pricey, but very good, and it can be turned off when you are cruising. Our internet service in Quartzsite was so slow, we switched to Starlink out there, and never regretted it. We can also use it in the motorhome. @kazu Jacqui, that is good news the infection has cleared up. I hope the nurse can get the last of the growth removed on your next visit. I also hope all your car a/c needs is more coolant, which is usually our problem when the a/c won't cool the car. It does not take to long to recharge the a/c. Your clematis are pretty, and I love the colors. @cat shepard Ann, the croc tan meme is great, and gave me a good laugh. My feet have white lines from my Birkenstocks. Lenda

Thank you, but I'll pass on the pineapple on the stateroom door. Lenda

Thanks, I needed that. Lenda

Thanks for the pictures from Bodo, John. Carolyn, I'm sure you are correct. I'd love to sail with you and your DH, and also with Gerry and Maurice. This is what happens when you're trying to do two things at once. I definitely don't want to start mate swapping on The Daily. 😁 I wish there was a "foot in mouth" meme. Lenda

Jacqui, thanks for the meme. Sadly, we don't have a dog right now. When Nikki died, we didn't think it would be fair to a dog since we were traveling so much, and I wasn't ready for another dog. I wish we had gotten one in 2020, but like many, we thought we'd be traveling a lot once the worst of the pandemic was ended. Then life got in the way, and right now, I don't think I have the time or energy to train another dog. The picture is my screen saver on the computer. I hope we can cruise with Carolyn and Maurice someday. Lenda

This morning I'm glad the weather forecast was off a bit, since we still have mostly sunny skies with a few tall, fluffy white clouds. It is about 85F now, so it is not too bad out yet. I've been watching cement trucks drive by the house all morning. They are pouring a slab for a new house about three lots down from us, and I've lost count of how many loads of cement they've used. It has to be at least 10 to 12 loads, and it could be even more. We took a ride to see what was happening, and they have quite a set-up. The house will take up most of the lot, and with structures on both sides of the lot, the cement trucks had to park partially in the street. There was another bigger truck parked in the small space in front of the slab that had a tall crane with a hose to get the concrete to the correct places. There was a hopper on the back where the concrete was dumped. They also had 10 to 15 workers to smooth the concrete once it was poured. I learned that today being the longest day of the year, is National Dachshund Day to honor the longest dogs. I still miss our two dachshunds, Brandy and Nikki, who are now playing on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. Gerry, add me to the list of those who giggled at the word picture you painted about the tick removal. Maureen, thanks for the update on the NM fires. We saw some of the footage of the fire damage and the flooding from the rain. Elizabeth, I'm sorry you had to put your arm in such a painful position for the scan. We've been getting windows for 8 to noon, noon to 6 and even 8 to 5 for service people this year. Karen, I'm glad everyone enjoyed the day yesterday. One of my BFFs and I thought of the other's mother as a second mother. You are very lucky to still have your mother, and one who is still alert and going strong. Pennie, I love the Litha Blessing. It is good for anyone and any religion. Debbie, I also wonder about meeting Maurice now. Paul, thanks for the great autocorrect meme. Lenda

Good morning from a mostly sunny central Texas. It is 76F and feels like 76F with 96% humidity and a dew point of 75F. Our predicted high is 91F with clouds building beginning in about an hour, but no rain in the forecast. There's not much on the agenda unless we take DH's phone to Waco to have the screen saver replaced. At least, the girl in the shop told DH it sounded like the screen saver. Three good days, but I do not do yoga. Litha day is interesting, and the best way for me to make music is to turn on the radio. Five years of piano lessons did not work. An interesting quote by Mahatma Gandhi, and one I'll need to think about a bit more. We'll pass on the meal and the drink. I would like to try the wine. I had not heard about Bodo, Norway, before. I checked it out on Google Maps, and it is very far north in Norway. A good day in 1788 when the U. S. Constitution was ratified by NH. Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution, thus the states nickname "The First State". @MISTER 67 We watched part of the game last night, and it was interesting. I wish most baseball stadiums were smaller and more intimate like Richwood Field. @ottahand7 Nancy safe travels and a fun time celebrating John's birthday. Please wish him (again) a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY from us. I hope it doesn't rain too much or too hard. @Lady Hudson Welcome home, Katherine. @LambKnuckles Lambie, I hope your wonderful memories of your time with Howard make today a good day. Thanks for the interesting story of Howard's persistence. @aliaschief Good luck on the eye exam, Bruce. @kazu Jacqui, I hope the foot nurse has some answers and a plan to help the foot heal and become pain free. Your peonies are beautiful. @smitty34877 Terry, I'm sorry Tana had a long night and still has the fever. I hope she feels better soon. @marshhawk Annie, I'm glad your DH has a date for his next leg surgery. Good news that the kittens had a good night in the house, and the senior cats are not causing them problems. How is the eye this morning? @bdrcole Thank you for the pictures of Bodo. I would enjoy walking around that lovely town. Lenda

Brenda, that is a big one, Enjoy. Lenda

OUCH! Annie, what a mess. Seriously, if the eye is painful, red or anything but normal, please have it checked. Lenda

Terri, just take it easy and rest until you feel better. Lenda

She could have been on Wind Song in 1996, but I don't even remember if the CD was a man or a woman. I think I know how she and Tim Roberts feel since every time we say a HAL ship is our favorite, they sell it. Lenda

We only did one Wind Star cruise on Wind Song for seven days in French Polynesia, and I don't remember the CD's name. Jan Stearman does not sound familiar. We also had more days with Captain Gunderson as he was the captain on our 2008 and 2011 Prinsendam cruises. Tim Roberts was captain in 2016 from when we boarded until on July 20 until he left the ship in Ijmuiden on September 6, IIRC. The word was he was going on vacation, but we later learned he was transferring to Seabourn. I remember he stood on the pier with the port agent and watched the Prinsendam sail until she was out to sea. Lenda

I spent part of the morning looking at my pictures from our four visits to Oslo. I don't think any of them are true duplicates. The first three are Oslo from either the ship or looking across the bay from the three museums. A few from our tour of the Flam, the open deck. Some of the pictures are darker because of the lighting. A lounge The engine The wheel The rudder and propeller The Fram Museum building Some of the houses near the museums The Stortinget which houses the Norwegian Parliament Grand Hotel Oslo The National Theater Nobel Peace Center Two interior pictures of the Opera House. We also walked on the roof. Lenda