River Cruisers: How Are Things Where YOU Are?

[Coral]

6 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi folks, if I may chime in,  I live in a part of the country that has HUMID in its middle name LOL

Here in North Florida our summers are hot AND HUMID.....it can be 90 outside with 95%

humidity......you walk outside and without even doing anything you can start to sweat😮

We get the extremes. We get those temps also. One of our meteorologists moved from here to FLL/Miami area and works for an ABC station down there. I still follow him and he has said that our summers are often more brutal than South Florida.

 

Next week - every single day of the week the lows will be in the negatives (F).

Edited February 4, 2021 by Coral

[Daisi]

12 hours ago, Coral said:

We get the extremes. We get those temps also. One of our meteorologists moved from here to FLL/Miami area and works for an ABC station down there. I still follow him and he has said that our summers are often more brutal than South Florida.

 

Next week - every single day of the week the lows will be in the negatives (F).

 

We're the same... -40 (sometimes actual, but usually wind chill, and then often even lower) to +40 humidex.  I don't mind winter as much, easy to layer up.  Summers are another story.....

[Canal archive]

Have just heard a report that the U.K. is buying almost 50% more Australian wine since the pandemic started, just keep up the good work Australia you make it we will buy it!

[Lois R]

12 hours ago, Coral said:

We get the extremes. We get those temps also. One of our meteorologists moved from here to FLL/Miami area and works for an ABC station down there. I still follow him and he has said that our summers are often more brutal than South Florida.

 

Next week - every single day of the week the lows will be in the negatives (F).

What if I told you here in North Florida has a way higher humidity factor than down in FLL/Miami?

The state is so large that we have different climates.........where do you live?

[notamermaid]

The days just blend into each other without a proper interruption. I am so remote from work and the busy lives other people lead that I even got the week wrong. It is not Carnival today but next Thursday. Sorry. I gives me more time to look for goodies in bakeries, that is a plus.

 

Our incidence rate is 81 today, the map of Germany is looking less red and orange, but we are still quite a way from hope for a lock down end.

 

Vaccination rate: 44,000 first shots yesterday (out of 101,000), that means at this rate we will need many weeks to get to a decent immunity in a population of 83 million. But we have been promised more vaccine deliveries in a few weeks which should speed things up.

 

More rain and snow on their way towards the weekend. That will keep the river levels up.

 

notamermaid

 

[Coral]

4 hours ago, Lois R said:

What if I told you here in North Florida has a way higher humidity factor than down in FLL/Miami?

The state is so large that we have different climates.........where do you live?

That is entirely possible. He was comparing Lincoln to FLL/Miami. He said that those in Miami would be surprised that Lincoln is often warmer.

 

I am in Lincoln, NE.

[capriccio]

10 hours ago, Coral said:

That is entirely possible. He was comparing Lincoln to FLL/Miami. He said that those in Miami would be surprised that Lincoln is often warmer.

My friends in Florida get a big kick out of my summer weather reports from Virginia where we can have weeks of temps above 90 degrees with matching humidity.  South Florida has the humidity but not similar heat since temperatures in the 90s are unusual.  When it hits 100 and above in Virginia (usually only for a few days each summer) they are all asking why we even leave Florida for the summer. 

Edited February 5, 2021 by capriccio

[Coral]

7 hours ago, capriccio said:

My friends in Florida get a big kick out of my summer weather reports from Virginia where we can have weeks of temps above 90 degrees with matching humidity.  South Florida has the humidity but not similar heat since temperatures in the 90s are unusual.  When it hits 100 and above in Virginia (usually only for a few days each summer) they are all asking why we even leave Florida for the summer. 

The meteologist is Luke Dorris and he is with WPLG now. I thought he was really good when he worked in Lincoln. 

 

We do the same thing, we often only hit 100 for a few days but we will stay in the 90's with humidity for a long time.

[notamermaid]

In Germany, another poll has shown that many, many believe the pandemic will not be over by the end of 2021, we will live with this for years in some way or other, etc. Realistic or pessimistic, who knows. I think I will not be going to England this year (bad day thoughts) or at least not before August (good day thoughts).

 

There is a hint at going out of strict lock down (figures promising - yada, yada...) on 15 February, but I am scared to do so. I am probably not the only one. Health officials warning of the mental toll on children. Alright, send them back to school. Problem is: the new variants - or at least one - can affect children more than the standard European ones of last year. https://www.dw.com/en/covid-variants-proven-to-be-more-infectious-german-expert/a-56469029

 

As far as I see it, we are still up the proverbial creek with now a tiny paddle, the paddle has wormholes and we will need to replace it with another second-hand one. i.e. we are not getting very far as regards "life back to normal".

 

I am still aiming to be in Würzburg beginning of September to meet up in person or virtually, yes, Alte Mainbrücke and Silvaner, here I come! Now that though always cheers me up.

 

notamermaid

 

[rcaruso]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

In Germany, another poll has shown that many, many believe the pandemic will not be over by the end of 2021, we will live with this for years in some way or other, etc. Realistic or pessimistic, who knows. I think I will not be going to England this year (bad day thoughts) or at least not before August (good day thoughts).

 

There is a hint at going out of strict lock down (figures promising - yada, yada...) on 15 February, but I am scared to do so. I am probably not the only one. Health officials warning of the mental toll on children. Alright, send them back to school. Problem is: the new variants - or at least one - can affect children more than the standard European ones of last year. https://www.dw.com/en/covid-variants-proven-to-be-more-infectious-german-expert/a-56469029

 

As far as I see it, we are still up the proverbial creek with now a tiny paddle, the paddle has wormholes and we will need to replace it with another second-hand one. i.e. we are not getting very far as regards "life back to normal".

 

I am still aiming to be in Würzburg beginning of September to meet up in person or virtually, yes, Alte Mainbrücke and Silvaner, here I come! Now that though always cheers me up.

 

notamermaid

 

I still have one bottle of Silvaner, I will open it when we can meet up (probably virtually).

[dolllover]

The vaccine rollout here in Orange County, CA is going pretty well with vaccinating people 65 and up. My parents got their shots and DH is getting his second on the 17th. According to our website I should be getting mine sometime this month and I'm 59.

Weather is warm and sunny. DH and I love hitting up Laguna Beach when the weather is this nice. We feel lucky.

I have a river cruise planned in France for Oct. Going to wait a couple of months before I decide if I should move it. According to my French relatives they aren't vaccinating too many people yet. Some are skeptical and choose to wait. Looking forward to traveling again and staying hopeful there's a light at the end of this long tunnel.

 

[ural guy]

4 hours ago, notamermaid said:

 

I am still aiming to be in Würzburg beginning of September to meet up in person or virtually, yes, Alte Mainbrücke and Silvaner, here I come! Now that though always cheers me up.

 

notamermaid

That's beautiful, where there is life, there is hope.  And I would love to be able to join you, and hope that I can.

 

And to quote Flogging Molly, 'without hope, you might as well be blind.'

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAVXbMWAzhc&ab_channel=MaartenvanVlijmen

 

 

[notamermaid]

News from Europe not too good I find, there may be some good news floating around and the incidence rate in Germany is going down (71 yesterday) and probably in other countries, but the bad news sticks out. On Wednesday German military personnel arrived in Portugal after "a cry for help" from Portugal. Spain helping out as well. They are struggling with the cases in the country partly due to the mutations. In Rhineland-Palatinate a laboratory in Koblenz has set up gene sequencing on a large scale. All three mutations were found and made up six percent of all cases in the samples tested (on that day). Does not sound much but the experts where expecting one to two percent only. When you think that few people that live in my region have travelled anywhere since Christmas one does get a bit nervous. Where do the mutations come from one wonders? I certainly do not like the idea of being in a lock down for months and then being asked to volunteer as an election assistant meeting many more people than I have done since Christmas shopping... Will see how that goes.

 

Very worrying is the news from Slovakia where the UK variant has become the dominant strain: 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-slovakia-idUSKBN2A52IJ

 

notamermaid

 

[djh1959]

Here in Australia, we have now had three cases of this so-called UK strain.  All three have come out of hotel quarantine, one in Brisbane, one in Perth and one here in Melbourne.

 

Our governments have cracked down hard on these, especially the Perth one where the entire city went into a five day lockdown.  Here in Melbourne, we just reduced gathering numbers and increased places where masks are mandatory.

 

The very surprising thing is that even though this new strain is supposed to be so much more infectious, not one single person has caught covid, even though these three cases have been wandering around shopping, dining etc.  Admittedly we are only a week in, so things might change, but it is looking unlikely at this stage.

 

It looks like we might have dodged a bullet, or that the strain is nowhere near as infectious as the original one.  Maybe our summer warmth is the difference, who knows.

[notamermaid]

Wish we could be a bit more decisive here in Germany. I would prefer to stay in lock down, but voices of defiance are getting louder. Perhaps primary school children should be back in school to some extent. Otherwise I think we are used to the current state. Why not wait out February and the cold temperatures that are about to hit us? Warmer temperatures are indeed better for tackling the virus.

 

Germany is in the grip of a warm and cold temperatures battle. A polar vortex means that a weather front is cutting right through the country:

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-braces-for-extreme-winter-weather/a-56483641

 

I am below the Arctic air line so little snow for me this weekend, will see how it goes. This weather pattern is quite extreme for us, weather in North and South of Germany can differ a lot on many occasions, but this Winter scenario is definitely not an occurrence that we see every other year or so. 

 

Conditions extreme also in the South of England I hear.

 

Certainly weather to grab a hot chocolate and curl up on the sofa. My neighbour's tomcat was in the yard at lunchtime, his fur was cold with the feel of icy drizzle. Before I could tell him he was silly for being outside, he had decided himself it was a silly idea, ran to the door, widened the gap (the neighbour had left) with his paw and disappeared inside.

 

notamermaid

 

[Daisi]

I was chatting with family in Holland this morning, and they were so happy to have snow.  Your pictures look like how we normally do here.  We are getting a nice light snow right now, but I think you can count the flakes.  

 

Stay safe there....

[Canal archive]

The snow is mostly around the south east Essex Sussex and Kent, looking at Accuweather radar we could get a sprinkling over the higher levels. As usual when we get this weather facilities have to close and those this time are a couple of mass vaccination centres. CA

[notamermaid]

@Daisi Thank you. The black ice could be a problem. Luckily I need not go out in car or on public transport in the next couple of days. A weatherman was saying that our weather right now is more North-American. I can still count the snowflakes, but further North they are getting up to 40cm, Münster, that is in Lower Saxony, already had 20cm by lunchtime.

 

35 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

As usual when we get this weather facilities have to close and those this time are a couple of mass vaccination centres.

We also have that problem in rural areas. Very unfortunate. Kent in deep snow, that reminds me of the time I got stuck on the A2 (which I mentioned in the water cooler thread) quite a few years ago. It was also in February.

 

I read that the Seine has burst its banks also. As a one-off for those that are interested as an indicator of the situation, here is the French website, kind of "flooding watch", the page for the Moselle and Meuse area: https://www.vigicrues.gouv.fr/niv2-bassin.php?CdEntVigiCru=2

 

Verdun is on the Meuse, as I write in yellow, so the Meuse is a little higher than is pleasant. Look for Metz which is on the Moselle, that area is already back to green, so perhaps still a little high but definitely manageable. Looks promising for Trier and further downstream.

 

This is the Seine basin: https://www.vigicrues.gouv.fr/niv2-bassin.php?CdEntVigiCru=7

As I write, more water to come to Paris, quite a bit of yellow and one orange tributary.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

Breaking news here: 14 residents of an old people's home in Lower Saxony have tested positive for the UK variant of the Coronavirus, but have already had both doses of the vaccine a week before that. It was more or less noticed by accident when doing fast testing. The place is now in quarantine. Cannot find an English report yet. Will watch what happens there and what the explanation may be.

 

notamermaid

 

[Daisi]

Wow... that has been our "downfall" with Covid, when it gets into the senior homes.  Unfortunately, they have a harder time fighting it, although some really surprise us.  I hope your group are ok.

 

[Coral]

We have probably had another 12" of snow since Thursday. It is going to be a very cold week with regular temps of -18 F coming up. 

 

I so can't wait until March. We can get large snows and cold temps in March but we can also get sun and flowers starting to bloom.

[notamermaid]

16 hours ago, Daisi said:

Wow... that has been our "downfall" with Covid, when it gets into the senior homes.  Unfortunately, they have a harder time fighting it, although some really surprise us.  I hope your group are ok.

 

Good thing is that so far they are showing no or only mild symptoms. Found a short mention of it this morning. It is a newsworthy occurrence of course as the authorities have no idea how they got infected and that it is possible to have an outbreak even if everyone is fully vaccinated. Incorporating other news:

https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-digest-german-nursing-home-sees-outbreak-after-vaccines/a-56491823

 

A problem of a different kind needed to be addressed in professional football and due to FIFA regulations they had to find a solution: Liverpool cannot play Leipzig as the German authorities did not grant an exemption to the ban on travellers coming from the UK. Good! That would not have gone down well with the general public I should think. The solution is that the teams will now play in Hungary.

 

Our temperatures have gone down to proper Winter as we used to know it: minus seven Celsius at night, that is in the Rhine valley, the hills and other areas of Germany are colder.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Notamermaid we have had similar occurrences, outbreaks of so called U.K. and SA mutations of the virus with no obvious cause. The boffins are evidently on the case and tracing the contacts in the minutest detail. Evidently we have 147 cases of the SA variant. It amazes me that they (whoever they may be) can be so precise. Hopefully your elders can throw this off with ease.

The football thing is a joke it’s all money, money, money, no thought given to the general public the way they are carrying on is not any kind of example to our youngsters. That’s my rant for the day. CA

[sharkster77]

Watching the fans in Tampa Florida before and after the Super Bowl makes me certain there will be another COVID surge in Florida in a week or two.  Saw partying in the streets, shoulder to shoulder, few masks in sight.  Ugh.

 

The human race cannot save itself from itself.

[notamermaid]

They say football is good for the moral of the people, I am not too sure that FIFA is good for the moral 😉.

 

I also understand that there is something in Superbowl good psychologically (that I am afraid to say I do not understand). Unfortunately moral does not necessarily coincide with common sense in some people.

 

What I do see is young people struggling psychologically when they cannot return to their college places in foreign lands while professional football players are put on planes to foreign lands to play and can thereby do their job and legally circumnavigate restrictions.

 

One does wonder if they will miss a positive case in all the tests they do for teams and helpers... Probably not, but I'd rather not think about what that regular testing could help with, i.e. be beneficial in other sections, like if it was done to help children return to school.

 

I hope football players and other professionals are not put on a vaccination priority list because they are essential workers for the moral of the common people. Weirder things have happened. I have heard of cruise lines uttering that they have essential workers on the ships (something to do with Australian regulations they were addressing in the article). As far as I am concerned the only essential workers on a cruise ship are the ones who keep the ship from sinking in the harbour and locking the doors. Sailing is luxury. The guy who empties my dustbins is an essential worker as I cannot lift the bins to hook them up to the lorry's lever system myself.

 

Good for my moral is: the tiny sum of money as a kind of Coronavirus bonus that was on my last paycheck, the snowflakes in front of my window this lunchtime, stroking the cat yesterday and the five minutes I talked to my colleague for the first time in eight weeks.

 

Wandering around a Superbowl theme park? No way, you would have to boost my courage with a large-ish cheque first.

 

notamermaid