rafinmd

Rabbit, Rabbit, White Rabbit. Happy New Year Roy

I'm really not a football fan but the Ravens have been a tremendous asset to Baltimore. I will continue with my purple T-shirt and Poe's Purple donut on Fridays and not watching the game to the end of the line. Roy

I am nearly the ultimate geek when I create fleet maps. I use 2 almost hidden windows utilities to do it. The first is "Snip Tool" to capture the map from cruisemapper. I save the image to a file and then edit it with "Paint". There's a little "A" in the group of icons at the top. I click on that and then move the mouse next to a ship, click once to open a box and type in the ship name. There's a newer version of paint, Paint 3a that should also work. I have no idea how I would do it on an IPAD or a phone. Roy

And Happy New Year to You. @ottahand7. I haven't dared to watch the Ravens game. I think my watching may be a jinx. Roy

My sunrise December 31, 1999 from my Millenium Copper Canyon rail trip, Roy

My sunrise December 31, 1999 from my Millenium Copper Canyon rail trip, Roy

Testing for humanity. OK for me now. Roy

I just got it. Very annoying. Roy

Thank you Rich, Jacqui, Vanessa, Debbie/Tina, Ann, and Dixie. Happy New Year @erewhon, I'll pass on the Champagne and will probably be asleep at midnight. We need World Peace now more than ever. Wow, that battle came even before the Declaration of Independence. I love the quote. but have not been to Fanning Island. Not a fan of casseroles. My alternative is Chilled Mango Gazpacho, Basil Crusted Veal Rack, and Fresh Strrawberries a la mode, my final 2014 dinner as served on MS Ryndam. May I add a couple of maps? Roy

Maybe on shape but not smaller: NS 948 foot long,114 foot wide QM2 1132 foot long, 131 foot wide. Could she have looked smaller due to distance from the webcam? Roy

And thank you for including the PTZ copyright bug in the lower right corner. Roy

I think we were on different wave lengths. Symphony OTS left Everglades while Allure left St. Maarten. I think the other small ship may be Star Flyer. I also see QM2 was there today. Nice view of Nieuw Statendam. Roy

That was actually Symphony OTS, a half hour late. O did think her horn sounded better than the earlier Oasis class. Roy

Awesome toots. I can't remember echos like that either. Thanks Dave, Leanne, and fellow addicts. Roy

A really quick parade today. Roy

Looks like Apex is moving. Roy

I don't know if @Rankleu will ever return to this thread but Cunard officials must be really scrambling. I just looked at the itinerary and QM2 leaves Dubai April 7 and is due in Southampton just 21 days later, April 28. The only viable alternative to the Suez is around Cape Horn and at 20kt it takes 22 days 6 hours which makes it impossible for a traditional cruise ship. At 25 kt which I think QM2 can maintain it is 17 days 19 hours nonstop. I don't think she has that range nonstop but I would think it is possible with 1 refuel/resupply/land leg stop. Given the onboard QM2 experience I would actually enjoy that but that's certainly a big change from the current itinerary. If I were totally unwilling to risk that there should be sufficient time to cancel now without a huge loss. Roy

Today's photo was taken from the parking garage ramp one year ago today on the way to my morning walk: Roy

Today's photo was taken from the parking garage ramp one year ago today on the way to my morning walk: Roy

Thank you Rich, Jacqui, Vanessa, Tina, Dixie, and Ann. I don't plan to make any resolutions or enormous changes. I love bacon but eat it very sparingly as it is not good for me. Anne Frank's quote is a monument to her incredible strength. I have not been to Port Blair. Being from the home of the Hubble telescope his announcement is my favorite of the days in history, but I also appreciate color television. I'll pass on the meal. My alternative is Chilled Mixed Berry Soup and Broiled NY Striploin as served on MS Ryndam December 30, 2014. Roy

And here she is: Roy

This will probably end up as some weird combination of confession and rant. This week I have not been really open about my medical issues but I've been doing regular blood pressure checks for some time and have noticed recently that my heartbeat has sometimes been really low even though it never bothered me and my O2 saturation was always high. I put off doing or saying anything until after I had gotten the ball rolling on my radiation but I contacted my cardiologist on Wednesday in Mychart. She was off but I was called in for an evaluation by a colleague Thursday and the verdict was no action is needed at this time. A confession but also a relief. Now the rant. I am fortunate to have great medical coverage as a retired federal employee through Blue Cross, but I really wonder about our medical system in the US. Right now there's a local HMO advertising with a tag line, "The Bills, the Not a Bills" and it hits home rightnow. I am already looking at a stack of "not a bills" from Florida and I think just getting started" It seems like every doctor who had anything to do with me, no matter how brief has a bill for something. For the most part there charges may be something like $300 for the base price, negotiated down to maybe $75 contracted with Blue Cross, and me paying perhaps $15, but I wonder how someone without good insurance can even try to cope. Same thing with drugs. I am now on 2 expensive drugs, one for some time and a new one. They are both listed as about $600 per month. The new one was $31 at my local pharmacy and now $40 for 3 months from their mail order pharmacy and the other is $65 per quarter. Again, how do people without good insurance cope? I can live with the "not a bills" as I much prefer it to having to worry about a treatment being covered at all. Seems there must be a better way. Roy

I have not. The last person to have contact with her was Leanne from the sailaway threads. Roy

And not really that late. Confirmed for 5 and toots at 5:27. Thanks Leanne, Dave, and fellow addicts. Roy

I think a departure toot from Reflection. Roy