PRINCESS CRUISERS: HOW ARE THINGS WHERE YOU ARE?!

[Host CJSKIDS]

Weather in Miami is hot, hot and hot!  One day this week was record breaking temperatures with it reaching 97 degrees at MIA. Summer has arrived and way too early.  Hard to really move when you are outside in this heat. 

 

We had some famous DJ, David Guetta play last week doing a fund raiser down the street at Icon/W Hotel.  He managed to raise millions and it was very interesting to be able to hear everything while also watching it live stream. Interesting to note the slight lag time between what I actually heard and what live streamed.Of course some people proved to be absolute idiots and break the social distancing rules to have balcony parties. One guy got called out on it because the idiot put it all on social media.  Between that and the beach pictures from Jacksonville, I would be lying if I didn't say that I worry about people's behavior when things do start to open.

 

Lots of cruise ships still docked and hanging off shore.  

 

Without all the cruise ships and water traffic, the water is really beautiful in Biscayne Bay.  Some days we can see Caribbean blue type colors. You can actually see down towards the bottom even from up high.  The ocean looks amazing from the distance as well. 

 

I finally went down to our mailroom to get our mail tonight after 10 pm.  Living in a high rise brings it's own issues and you have to get into the elevator and with the curfew I figured it was the perfect time to hopefully not be with other people.  Miami is such a late city with things around here being open until 5 am, that it's hard to not find someone always coming and going usually. It's something to be able to go down 40 odd flights without stopping once.  My ears actually popped! 

 

Please stay safe everyone. 

[Lindaru]

Here at 5,000 feet elevation in the West Central Mountains of McCall, Idaho, is a strange time this time of year.  We still have patches of snow on our acreage and what is not covered is marshy.  Right now I can walk down the driveway and look over the back of our property.  Generally the fifties for temperatures by day and when the sun shines, it is lovely.

I now dread having to go to the grocery store.  There is no delivery service and while they have the order on line and pick up service at our two grocery stores, they only have about 20% of what we actually use available through their app, so in order to get what we need, we have to go there.

This last time we went on April 17th both stores were packed.  Yes, they have senior/vulnerable hours but who wants to get up a few hours after you went to bed to go to the store?  We usually watch "Frasier" reruns until well after 2:00 a.m.  The day light savings time changes mess with my internal clock enough without having to turn things upside down for one day of shopping.

Thankfully some of the things we can get through on line.  I had to laugh, though.  Toilet paper is sometimes available and sometimes not, but recently Rid-X has disappeared from everywhere.

Is there a correlation between toilet paper and Rid-X?

Stay safe, all!

🧻🚽

 

[medsed]

Maybe this can help with some of the missing shopping staples...

 

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/pantry-staples-online

 

i see a few others here from south Jersey...we are down near the Delaware Memorial Bridge...I can see it from my windows...

we continue to be home and inside, hoping for good health for everyone...and a return to normalcy when it is safe to do so for our health.

A friend passed from COVID last week and a very good friend lost his uncle around the same time to the virus as well.  Both were in their 70s and had lung issues prior to infection.  It’s chilling.......

 

Edited April 23, 2020 by medsed

[Reader0108598]

11 hours ago, medsed said:

Maybe this can help with some of the missing shopping staples...

 

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/pantry-staples-online

 

i see a few others here from south Jersey...we are down near the Delaware Memorial Bridge...I can see it from my windows...

we continue to be home and inside, hoping for good health for everyone...and a return to normalcy when it is safe to do so for our health.

A friend passed from COVID last week and a very good friend lost his uncle around the same time to the virus as well.  Both were in their 70s and had lung issues prior to infection.  It’s chilling.......

 

So Sorry 😞

[turquoisesea]

4 hours ago, Reader0108598 said:

So Sorry 😞

Another South Jersey cruiser here. I’m so sorry to hear about your loss.  Just finished listening to our governor.  It still sounds like it’s not getting better.  Stay safe! 

[medsed]

9 hours ago, turquoisesea said:

Another South Jersey cruiser here. I’m so sorry to hear about your loss.  Just finished listening to our governor.  It still sounds like it’s not getting better.  Stay safe! 

I do like the way our governor is handling things so far.  He seems very open about what is happening....

our state is not fairing well unfortunately

 

 

TY all for the expressions of sympathy...before this is over I have a feeling we will all know or know of someone who didn’t win this fight...sadly.

[LoriPhil]

In Colorado our governor is lifting the first level of restrictions May 1, though some Mayors and counties are implementing different rules.  We’re “not in any way going back to the way things were”... instead, the analogy is that we’re moving from the Bunny ski slopes to Green, but will go back to Bunny slopes if/where necessary.  For most of us, no change from how we’ve been living for the past month.  On the home-front here we’re still trying to trap the trash-panda (aka raccoon), and will not proceed with attic abatement until the stinky fuzzy bestie is truly gone.  Ah, Spring!

[Lindaru]

1 hour ago, LoriPhil said:

In Colorado our governor is lifting the first level of restrictions May 1, though some Mayors and counties are implementing different rules.  We’re “not in any way going back to the way things were”... instead, the analogy is that we’re moving from the Bunny ski slopes to Green, but will go back to Bunny slopes if/where necessary.  For most of us, no change from how we’ve been living for the past month.  On the home-front here we’re still trying to trap the trash-panda (aka raccoon), and will not proceed with attic abatement until the stinky fuzzy bestie is truly gone.  Ah, Spring!

 

Even after we reach our final phase (end of June), we will still have to wear masks, practice social distancing and only gather with smaller groups of people (those of us at "high risk" for who we can gather with) until a vaccine is developed (Idaho phases).

As for your trash panda, it has it half right.  It is wearing a mask.  Now if you could remind it to social distance from you, all would be better.

Stay safe!
 

[LoriPhil]

👍😷.

Edited April 26, 2020 by LoriPhil

[Thrak]

I am unhappy. I miss my life....

Edited April 28, 2020 by Thrak

[voljeep]

I drove today for the first time in a month … to the bank drive-thru and back home … and I just walked down to check the mail ...

 

now, I'm a work at home guy, so used to that, but I also was used to getting out about 5 days a week, going to the c-store, post office, bank, but more importantly into our local ( Publix ) … we now use Instacart for grocery delivery … sad

 

but a waffle house opened yesterday in Georgia, I think … 

[Norcalcouple]

46 minutes ago, voljeep said:

 … we now use Instacart for grocery delivery … sad

 

We've been using Instacart here in California also, and to paraphrase Tom Hanks in Forest Gump, "ordering groceries on line is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're going to get"

 

[Lindaru]

McCall has no taxi service, no grocery delivery, and while they have curb side service, only about 25% of what we actually need is listed on their app as available for that, so every nine to 12 days, we have to go in to the stores.

I liken grocery shopping to playing human dodge ball.  Some people just do not get the social distancing part, so I am always trying to scoot well out of their way.  They are also not obeying the one way aisles and less than half are wearing masks.

Rite Aid did not even have hand sanitizers out for use by customers.  Albertsons and Ridley did, thank goodness.

The senior hours are generally 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.  I have been retired from the work force since 1998.  Not accustomed to having to get up that early any more, so we just go during the day.

I heard at one McCall City Council meeting on line that they estimate 60% of our population is over 60.  Why did they not figure out that having Uber/Lyft/Instacart, so forth, might be a good thing to start up here over a month ago?  Not everyone has anyone that can shop for them.  We do not.

Sorry to rant.  Some days it is just better to get it off your chest and thank you for reading!
 

Edited April 28, 2020 by Lindaru

[DaisyRose]

I'm with Thrak, I miss my life.  Feeling so sad that I can't see my kids and grandkids, and that I can't pick out my own groceries (we are using Instacart, too, though very hard to get a delivery),

[jangor]

I, also, miss my life.  We are retired, but very active.  I walk at 7 a.m. to avoid running into others, practice Tai chi at home and go to Publix at 7 a.m. on Tuesday for groceries.  We are trying to do take-out once per week to help out our favorite restaurants.  I now probably have the cleanest house in America.  Miss my family and my friends.  Face-time and phone calls just aren't the same.

[Host CJSKIDS]

Florida governor has announced the state to reopen on Monday but not Miami Dade, broward or Palm beach counties. Parks and golf courses have opened in Miami Dade county but not in the City of Miami. 

No word from our city mayor as to whether or not our curfew has been lifted, however our stay at home order is still in effect. 

[MamaFej]

Montana has done a great job of flattening their curve and they are starting to carefully and intelligently open some things up. My son and his colleagues tremendously miss their students, but encouraged the school board to maintain distance learning for the balance of the year, as it would have been exceptionally difficult to meet the requirements to open the high school and impossible to meet them for the elementary school. Thankfully, logic prevailed and they are staying closed. My son will remain here for the time being, teaching remotely in a dress shirt and bow tie up top and Pink Floyd pajama pants or shorts on the bottom.

 

My youngest son is to drive through the senior parking lot at school at a prescribed time tomorrow to have his cap and gown placed into the trunk of his car. At a prescribed time next week, he is allowed to bring 4 family members to the school to walk across the stage, be handed his diploma case from the world's best principal (who, sadly, is retiring) and have his picture taken with Mr. W. Both the graduates and the principal will have to extend arms fully. Videos of each student will be edited together and streamed on YouTube the night the actual graduation was supposed to take place. The next day, the kids will drive through the lot and have their books and anything else belonging to the school picked up out of their trunks and their diplomas placed inside.

 

It is far from ideal, and not at all what people were hoping for, but I appreciate that the district is doing what they can to give these kids some sort of graduation. 

 

There is understandably lots of backlash over this plan, but I'm trying to focus on the positives: I'll actually be able to hear my kid's name this time, it won't be inaudible due to selfish parents blasting airhorns for their own kids. I'll be able to see this time, no one will stand up in front of me and block my view. The people who live near the school won't be blasting social media griping about the 5 minutes of fireworks they were warned about for weeks and that happen every year. I won't have to arrive three hours early to get a parking spot and sit in the blazing sun for 2.5 hours before the ceremony starts this time. My youngest son will have bragging rights for the most messed-up graduation ever: a record previously held by his oldest brother's college graduation where the speech was essentially a hospital financial report presented by a local executive. It was long, boring, tedious, and incredibly off-topic. My oldest son will actually get to see his own brother graduate. Sadly, he will miss his own student's' graduation. My son will graduate with his head held high, will use this as a character-building experience, and will go forth knowing that he can and will triumph over adversity.

 

I truly feel for the hundreds of millions of people who are losing out on once-in-a-lifetime events now. Seniors, especially high school seniors, hold a very special place in my heart.

[dosperegrinos]

Hello, We out here on the Western fringes of the known flat World, The West Coast of U.S.A. Known as Seattle and other places, are being true to form.  The Gov.  says hang in there . I say "have you seen my hair"?  Maybe tomorrow we will be allowed to have a professional "trim" - soon.  Cannot complain about the Here & Now, it is the looking forward that is a bit of a problem.  This is Cruise Planning Time, or so it should be, it is there that things now verge off the path for all things that are planned when one decides to TRAVEL The Travel Season out on the West Coast as most of you know, deals with trips to Alaska .  All have been cancelled. It is not that alone, it is what then and where are the ships and how will THEY ??! fix this before Fall or the Holidays or Yoicks.  Never the less I was tested for COVID-19 -do NOT have it, never had it, the battery in my car does not need to be replaced, just given a whole LOL and battery juice.  Who's driving?  If like me you learn you reeeeeeeeally need to get that car moving Or the car battery will cause (as I found out) a lot of calls to Roadside Help.  It all ends well, so I'm without COVID, my battery is great and my Cruise Plans are still in the making.  Nothing wrong with that! Cause I'm still here and looking forward to another Cruise-  one day soon..

[sprinkles]

If Dosperegringos lives on the Western Fringes, I must be in Western Frontier Hell LOL.  N/E corner of California, Modoc County (borders Oregon and Nevada).  The Sheriff "Tex" opened up the "entire town" .  This tiny little area is making the news as he is going against the Governor.  We have not had any cases, but tourists do come through this town on their way to other places lol.  Basically told anyone over 65 or with underlying medical conditions to continue to stay at home.  Individual businesses can reopen as long as they observe social distancing and restaurants reduce capacity by half (we only have a handful of restaurants).  No mask orders at all, up to individual businesses and as of yet, the small human society is the only place requiring them.  So for me and DH we'll just stay out on our 5 acres and work on our garden.

 

As far as cruising, I try to not even look at any of the offers.  We would have been cruising when all of this erupted, but I have a hernia that needs to be repaired (that was cancelled of course).  I am desperately hoping that Reno, Nevada will start surgeries again (where I was scheduled, but I have also had my surgeon send in a referral for a Doctor in Redding, California, I will go wherever I can at this point).

 

But cruising, wow.   I know for one thing, I will never be willing to go in an inside or have a window cabin again.  DH and I are both in our 50's, but do have medical issues, so who knows.  Thinking it's going to be a few years.  Last week got a  casino offer, free inside (ha, no way), free gratuities, free casino money, free wifi, free booze package.  It was depressing.  Cruising has been my main thing for over 20 years.  Thinking of getting a motor-home, but then who isn't right?  Plus, thinking this summer is going to be the summer of "camping".  Have already seen a ton of RV's coming through town for the past week.  So for the  moment, it's just wait and see what happens.

 

I do hope they change the rules and there could be better US based cruises in the future.  As I'm not sure how I will be feeling about flying anytime soon as well.  Imagine cruise ships being more like hotels.  Get on in San Francisco, cruise to Mexico.  Stay in Mexico for a little while, then take a cruise back home, lol.  Or constant one ways between east and west coast through the canal.  Oh well,  I have been following this thread, just not up to posting lately.  Be Safe everyone!

 

Tammy

 

[Norcalcouple]

Things seem to be looking up when it comes to grocery deliveries.  Yesterday, we got an Instacart delivery from Ralphs (Kroger) in 2 hours!  Not only that, we were able to buy bathroom tissue!  I guess that, with the packing houses shutting down, the hoarders have moved on to beef and pork.  Sign of the times- when our shopper arrived I saw an Uber sticker on his car.  Since he has no customers to pick up, he can stay busy delivering groceries to them.

Stay safe

 

Bob

[LoriPhil]

Have successfully trapped Raccoon(s) and 3 squirrels and all have been relocated to a nicer neighborhood, but we'll wait another week or so before proceeding with attic insulation mitigation.  We're feeling a bit guilty though - apparently raccoons are the mascot for fighting Covid-19 because they have masks and wash their hands frequently.  Sigh, just can't win. 

[Plant]

About three minutes after the Governor said salons could open on May 6, my stylist called and gave me a 10:15 appointment for a haircut.  I'm going to go since we have to start somewhere and my head looks like a dandelion exploded on it😲.  It's a very small shop so I'm really not too worried.

I hope everyone is doing well.

[arizonaperson]

Don’t have a  Cruise booked for quite a while. But as far as what’s happening in Arizona or Phoenix ,Arizona. Like most states restaurants that are open are take out or delivery only, grocery stores are open,  Target that sells food is open and Walmart is open ,home-improvement stores are open, dollar tree is open , Banks are open, appliance stores open, Big Lots is open, At Home store is open, office supply stores open.

Closed are hair salons,nail salons, Gym’s,department stores, and small retail. On May 4 on a voluntary basis retail stores can open for curbside or delivery. And May 8th retail stores can open for in store shopping with limits on how many people in the store.  Restaurants might open on May 12 for in restaurant dining but at the moment that date is subject to change. 

We had a stay at home order from the governor that was to expire April 30 and it was extended till May 15 ,so not sure how that works with retail opening basically on the eighth.

 I have been to the grocery store about once a week and still really no toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, Lysol or Clorox wipes or that type of cleaning solutions available. So if the shelves are being stocked people are just cleaning it out. Even though the empty shelves say one item only. So far I don’t need any of that but when it comes time to buy toilet Paper again it would be nice to know that there’s gonna be some on the shelf but…

Hope to cruise again in 2021 as we booked that cruise quite some time ago.

Edited May 2, 2020 by arizonaperson

[dosperegrinos]

Loved the idea of Raccoons being a "Poster  child" for COVID-19.  Really clever.

 

  And if Arkansas did not require a plane ride, I'd be on the phone to any salon right now. I usually wear my hair shortish. but now!  After a restless night I walked into the bathroom two mornings ago looked in the mirror and thought crossed my mind I need to find a cave.

[Thrak]

19 hours ago, Plant said:

About three minutes after the Governor said salons could open on May 6, my stylist called and gave me a 10:15 appointment for a haircut.  I'm going to go since we have to start somewhere and my head looks like a dandelion exploded on it😲.  It's a very small shop so I'm really not too worried.

I hope everyone is doing well.

 

My personal stylist (wife) mowed my head with the clippers yesterday. I'm wondering what to do on May 6 as it's our anniversary and nothing is open. We had thought we "might" be able to go to a fairly local campground for some alone time. (Still have my daughter, her husband, and our 19 month old granddaughter with us.) Campgrounds were closed until April 30th so we thought there might be a chance but the order to be closed was just extended to May 15 so that killed that idea.

 

My daughter's husband put in applications for work the other day. He submitted 5 applications. The next day (Thursday) he had an interview and they wanted to hire him but things weren't to be finalized until Monday. The next day (Friday - yesterday) he was called to interview with someone else. He told them he had tentatively accepted a position already. They asked about pay and offered him half again as much. He definitely starts there on Monday. He tilled my front yard yesterday. We'll wait until next weekend and I'll rent a small Bobcat and he'll grade it for us. Back in the day my wife and I would have just done all of this stuff - no Bobcat but we could do manual labor - but these days we can't take care of these things so it's nice to have the help.

 

Getting older isn't always fun. Being able to travel - both land trips and cruises - helps to make things better but those are denied to us now. BAH! I wonder if things will ever get back to a place where we can feel relatively normal.

Edited May 2, 2020 by Thrak