The Virtual Explorers' Lounge

[Twitchly]

3 hours ago, CharTrav said:

I use SmugMug. Have many 35mm slides to digitize, some (from my Dad) going back to the late 1940s. 

 

SciFi paperbacks tend to be in a pretty standard size. That bookcase wall contains only SciFi, and not all of our SciFi either. The hardcover SciFi are in our bedroom bookcase (the one I shared earlier); the oversize SciFi paperbacks along with normal size SciFi paperbacks by Authors with first initial A are in another bookcase. 

 

I'm quite familiar with the idea of dense packing books, using a combination of horizontal and vertical orientation to maximize how many books can fit into what might be limited bookshelf space. Got good at it in when I was still working full time (retired now) as my company kept reconfiguring our offices steadily decreasing our book shelf capacity. 🙄

Shortly after we got married, my husband got a residency out of state so he went on ahead to find us an apartment while I continue to work for a month or two. 
 

When I arrived, I found he had arranged all of my books by height instead of by author. I couldn’t find anything for months.

 

He would love your arrangement.

[CharTrav]

2 hours ago, Twitchly said:

Shortly after we got married, my husband got a residency out of state so he went on ahead to find us an apartment while I continue to work for a month or two. 
 

When I arrived, I found he had arranged all of my books by height instead of by author. I couldn’t find anything for months.

 

He would love your arrangement.

We have ours organized by genre and alphabetically by author even tho the genres may be spread across multiple bookcases (sometimes forced by book size). Many  years ago I developed a little library database using an app on my now very old but still takes charge Palm Tungsten with which I managed to maintain a pretty good catalog of all our books (both paper & ebook format).  I recently moved over to a mobile app called CLZ Books that makes it easy to catalog books using its barcode, ISBN if there is no barcode containing the ISBN, or a simple search of the CLZ catalog by author/title/publisher. Took me a few months but I managed to recatalog all our books including eBooks and in the process did a general tidying up of things. Something to do during the initial days of the lockdown or was it the year before when I started phased retirement?  Can't remember now!  🙃

Edited May 24, 2021 by CharTrav

[OnTheJourney]

7 hours ago, Ragnar Danneskjold said:

In a relatively short time (by cosmic standards) the earth will be swallowed up by the sun as it goes through the red giant phase, on its way to becoming a white dwarf.

Indeed. "We are star stuff....."  Long live Carl Sagan (and, of course, Joni Mitchell for popularizing the whole idea in song). My fault that my daughter basically abandoned the pursuit of some sort of musical career (which I always thought she was leaning towards) in favor of pursuing a PhD in astrophysics. Back when she was in Middle School I got her into the original Star Trek and the movie "Contact". Bought her the entire VHS series of the Star Trek episodes (but never watched them once!! They're currently one of my ebay listings). 

Edited May 24, 2021 by OnTheJourney

[OnTheJourney]

8 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

three areas of your life that you wanted to be remembered for.

Certainly how family remembers us is probably tops of the list for most of us. Next, for me, I suppose, is the music that I've been able to create and share with people during the years - not just live but perhaps even more importantly my solo albums that will hopefully still be floating around many decades later in cyberspace for those inclined to stream or download a piece or two. Cool that my music is WAY more well-traveled than I am personally. Thing is, if the technology changes such that everything currently out there on the net will become totally obsolete in terms of being able to access and listen to it, then there goes the ballgame. 

Edited May 24, 2021 by OnTheJourney

[OnTheJourney]

5 hours ago, Twitchly said:

 I couldn’t find anything for months.

lol.....these are some great stories cropping up in this thread!

[OnTheJourney]

3 hours ago, CharTrav said:

We have ours organized by genre and alphabetically by author even tho the genres may be spread across multiple bookcases

Oh my....I couldn't be anywhere near motivated to ever attempt such a thing. More fun just hunting through the bookcases to try to find what I want since half the time I come across something that piques my interest more than what I was looking for originally!  I once tried to organize my LPs by genre, etc. - gave up since I got bored of trying to remember where the one I pulled out to listen to went back in, so then came up with the idea of simply pulling out (partially) the one next to the one I wanted to take out and listen to, but then couldn't remember if the one I listened to went on the left or the right side of the one that it's supposed to be next to, so then.......I figured...let's just bag this. Like the books, fun pulling out and looking at the album covers anyway. 

[JeriGail]

On 5/21/2021 at 10:08 AM, Peregrina651 said:

 

That would be nice. Maybe a note(s) to tellus@vikingcruises.com would get the ball rolling if they don't already have it.

I emailed Tellus about the question about wine lists in the Viking App and received this reply:

"While our Viking Voyager app does not feature wine lists at this time, we have made note of your interest for future consideration, and upon embarkation, welcome you to reach out to a crew member, who would be happy to assist you in locating a wine list."

So, maybe in the future.

[CharTrav]

19 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

More fun just hunting through the bookcases to try to find what I want since half the time I come across something that piques my interest more than what I was looking for originally!  

You're reminding me of the first year of our marriage (41 yrs yesterday) when we lived in a 2 floor townhouse condo. There were times when hubby had been dispatched (or sent himself) upstairs to get something for a project we were doing and left me downstairs .. waiting.  Invariably when I went upstairs to go find out what was taking so long .. more times than not I'd find him standing by the bookcase in our 2nd bedroom reading a book that had caught his eye.  He may or may not have had the tool he was sent to get in his hand.  I look back on those memories with fondness altho I admit to more than a little exasperation at the time (and humor).

Edited May 25, 2021 by CharTrav

[Twitchly]

Looks like Royal Caribbean just got permission to sail from the US. 
 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/05/25/royal-caribbean-cruise-gets-cdc-approval-us-test-cruise/7438465002/

 

They’re not requiring vaccinations for the “test” cruises, though they will be testing.

[OnTheJourney]

16 hours ago, CharTrav said:

I'd find him standing by the bookcase in our 2nd bedroom reading a book that had caught his eye. 

LOL   I wind up doing this during routine dusting. When doing the bedroom I often get temporarily sidetracked for a few minutes pulling out paperbacks - always trying to figure out which book I want to read (or re-read in some cases).  But, I refrain from spending more than a few mintes doing it or else wouldn't get any further dusting done.

We just celebrated our 40th by taking a trip to the Allegheny National Forest area. Went there back in October but that trip got cut short when DW fell and broke her arm. Lovely, quiet and wooded area. Also, if you're into night sky viewing, Cherry Springs State Park nearby offers some of the darkest skies in the eastern US. 

Edited May 26, 2021 by OnTheJourney

[Jim Avery]

Lots more room in this Explorers with so many off packing for Bermuda and Iceland.  How about a Cuba Libre Vlad.🍹

[Clay Clayton]

12 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

Lots more room in this Explorers with so many off packing for Bermuda and Iceland.  How about a Cuba Libre Vlad.🍹

Packing? Been packed since last Saturday. Still have 35 days to go😢

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

Packing? Been packed since last Saturday. Still have 35 days to go😢

 

 

OMG Clay, packed and still a month to go. Please don't mention this to DW, as I usually start the morning we leave, or if leaving early, the previous night.🍺

[CharTrav]

27 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

OMG Clay, packed and still a month to go. Please don't mention this to DW, as I usually start the morning we leave, or if leaving early, the previous night.🍺

I'm the DW. And I don't start packing for real until the day before. I start gathering things to be packed about a week or two before - tossing things on the bed in our daughter's old bedroom. But the actual packing?? Day before. Ditto for DH. We pack separately btw. 😊

[deec]

we also use a kid's bedroom to gather and put...me one side of the bed he uses the other.  Try not to be in the same room simultaneously.  We do cross pack a few things each in case on suitcase decides to go on a different trip.  We have a pretty good list of "things" we take but clothes list gets developed depending on where we are going.  Generally I like to pack a couple days early because you NEVER know what might happen!  This practice was a very poor idea because we were ALL packed and then our TA was canceled :(!

[SantaFe1]

3 minutes ago, deec said:

we also use a kid's bedroom to gather and put...me one side of the bed he uses the other.  Try not to be in the same room simultaneously.  We do cross pack a few things each in case on suitcase decides to go on a different trip.  We have a pretty good list of "things" we take but clothes list gets developed depending on where we are going.  Generally I like to pack a couple days early because you NEVER know what might happen!  This practice was a very poor idea because we were ALL packed and then our TA was canceled :(!

We had the flip side of your experience.  For our 2019 WC, after sending off the first bags with Luggage forward, I starting packing the others.  Was basically finished about five days before.  Long story short, we had back to back blizzards forecast with one day in between.  Viking changed our flights, we had to leave on 18 hours notice to hit the window of clear weather, and we were ready to go!

[CharTrav]

14 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

We had the flip side of your experience.  For our 2019 WC, after sending off the first bags with Luggage forward, I starting packing the others.  Was basically finished about five days before.  Long story short, we had back to back blizzards forecast with one day in between.  Viking changed our flights, we had to leave on 18 hours notice to hit the window of clear weather, and we were ready to go!

I can't imagine how much stuff I'd pack if we were to do a World Cruise.   Doubtful we ever would. DH wouldn't consider it. I might. 

[Gojagators]

What's the best single malt in the house?  After a very trying but finally successful day booking our excursions for Iceland, I really need a shot.  Heck, just give me the whole bottle.  Packing can wait for now.

[Clay Clayton]

3 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

OMG Clay, packed and still a month to go. Please don't mention this to DW, as I usually start the morning we leave, or if leaving early, the previous night.🍺

It started when I used to travel for work and was going to be gone the week before we were to leave on a cruise. I realized that it was so freeing to not have that last minute fretting so it became habit. Then when we were packing for our post-retirement nomadic 5 month trip, we did a test pack a month or so before hand and I realized why bother unpacking.  I hadn’t intended to pack quite this soon but we were rearranging the closet and since I don’t need long sleeve shirts again until November (well except for a week in Iceland) I decided why not!  

[Peregrina651]

Interesting how we all have our packing routine. In our case, we line things up on the dining room table. He his stuff and me mine. We cross pack everything.  I fill the suitcases and backpacks -- and I get final say on what ultimately comes with us. 

[Twitchly]

6 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Packing? Been packed since last Saturday. Still have 35 days to go😢

I’m impressed you can fit everything into that.
 

DH manages to use a carryon, too, but then he’s stuck doing loads of laundry on vacation. 

[Twitchly]

2 hours ago, Gojagators said:

What's the best single malt in the house?  After a very trying but finally successful day booking our excursions for Iceland, I really need a shot.  Heck, just give me the whole bottle.  Packing can wait for now.

Have a glass of my Highland Park 18 year. Or two.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

We shipped a bag ahead to our hotel in Bermuda on Wednesday.  Tonight I discovered what may be a fatal flaw in our plans due to the on-island covid testing regime Bermuda requires.  If Viking can’t give us a very quick and authoritative answer to the issue, we will have to cancel our trip.  And somehow get the bag shipped back from the hotel in Bermuda that is holding it for us :-0

[CharTrav]

1 minute ago, Ragnar Danneskjold said:

We shipped a bag ahead to our hotel in Bermuda on Wednesday.  Tonight I discovered what may be a fatal flaw in our plans due to the on-island covid testing regime Bermuda requires.  If Viking can’t give us a very quick and authoritative answer to the issue, we will have to cancel our trip.  And somehow get the bag shipped back from the hotel in Bermuda that is holding it for us :-0

I looked at Bermuda's procedures and found them too much. Scant allowance for fully vaxxed pax. Fooey!

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

10 minutes ago, CharTrav said:

I looked at Bermuda's procedures and found them too much. Scant allowance for fully vaxxed pax. Fooey!

Had I known then what I know now I would not have booked the trip.  Though we haven’t done the trip yet, I would say that unless things change drastically for the better, folks should pass on these Bermuda cruises.  Waaaaay too many hassles, pitfalls, and restrictions.

 

 Viking even told one pax that they expect a lot of pax not to make it onto the ship due to test result delays.  Told the pax that they should cancel if they can’t afford to lose all the money they have invested in the cruise due to test delays.

Edited June 5, 2021 by Ragnar Danneskjold