Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[BonTexasNY]

Dani, I asked my DH last night if it was Independence Day. He said yes. I was in USA mode thinking he meant all day yesterday. He meant it started last night. Now I know TODAY is Israel Independence day so..chag sameach. For those not in the know, Happy Holiday!

 

 

 

 

 

[A&L_Ont]

Breaking news on the hot water tank...

 

 

Then from Lisa. 

 

[dani negreanu]

19 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Mom booked her surgery today for April 30th

 

Sorry, Andrew, I've meant to tag you re: choosing a better cataract lens, but I've got distracted.

 

Worth doing a bit of research among the options.

 

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, Sheal said:

JamesEM - Congrats on finishing your treatment.  It must be such a relief to have finished the difficult journey.

 

Graham, your lunch looks delicious.  I just love fish and chips (and vinegar, vinegar, vinegar). One of my favorite songs as a kid.  Pauline looks wonderful as usual as do you.

 

Dani, thanks for the holiday primer.  That is a valuable piece of information and probably something I would have realized after booking a trip. 

Thank you Sheal.

[dani negreanu]

4 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

Dani, I asked my DH last night if it was Independence Day. He said yes. I was in USA mode thinking he meant all day yesterday. He meant it started last night. Now I know TODAY is Israel Independence day so..chag sameach. For those not in the know, Happy Holiday!

 

Thanks, no worries.

 

That's what I've meant when I gave @xpcdoojk a crash course in Israeli holidays -- that our holidays start at sunset and end at sunset....😉

 

So, Independence Day ended actually 2 hours ago (~7pm).

 

It is what it is....

 

Edited April 15, 2021 by dani negreanu

[A&L_Ont]

 

15 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Sorry, Andrew, I've meant to tag you re: choosing a better cataract lens, but I've got distracted.

 

Worth doing a bit of research among the options.

 

 

She picked the best ones, doing both on the same visit.  Gotta love her spirit  

Edited April 15, 2021 by A&L_Ont

[A&L_Ont]

7 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

@A&L_Ont

 

Wingham (Ontario) and Vancouver, among others, honored Israel's Independence Day. Thanks 🙏

 

 

Congratulations on celebrating your country's Independence.  A National Holiday is a treasured event.

[island lady]

22 minutes ago, davekathy said:

My senior year in high school (started the summer before school resumed) I worked part time for Beech Nut in the baby food dept. and then the gum dept. I still like gum but not baby food. 

 

Worked as a teller at a Savings and Loan when I was 18.  It was just down the hill from Gerber Baby Food in tiny little Fremont Michigan.  They even had a Gerber Baby food festival in the park across the street.  Most of our customers were workers there.  The air outside, and their clothes smelled like cooking baby food.  Yeah...that smell was not a great memory either.  😮  

 

On the other end of life, I had nursing homes and several assisted living facilities as customers in the food service business.  Sold a lot of "senior" baby food.  😉 

[StanleyandGus]

1 hour ago, dani negreanu said:

 

You're waaayy behind me... only no. 11 in Maisie's series. I'm just planning to kindle my way with the newest -- no. 16.

 

I'm "delaying my gratification", as I enjoy this series very much 😁

I’m up to 13! It’s time to slow down, since there aren’t very many more!

[davekathy]

7 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Worked as a teller at a Savings and Loan when I was 18.  It was just down the hill from Gerber Baby Food in tiny little Fremont Michigan.  They even had a Gerber Baby food festival in the park across the street.  Most of our customers were workers there.  The air outside, and their clothes smelled like cooking baby food.  Yeah...that smell was not a great memory either.  😮  

 

On the other end of life, I had nursing homes and several assisted living facilities as customers in the food service business.  Sold a lot of "senior" baby food.  😉 

When I get a lot older I'll go back to drinking from the bottle again. Now I've got the song, "Bottle Of Wine" by the Fireballs stuck in my head. Must be HH. 🍷

[BonTexasNY]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

Worked as a teller at a Savings and Loan when I was 18.  It was just down the hill from Gerber Baby Food in tiny little Fremont Michigan.  They even had a Gerber Baby food festival in the park across the street.  Most of our customers were workers there.  The air outside, and their clothes smelled like cooking baby food.  Yeah...that smell was not a great memory either.  😮  

 

On the other end of life, I had nursing homes and several assisted living facilities as customers in the food service business.  Sold a lot of "senior" baby food.  😉 

A good memory smell was the scent of chocolate while walking through the Hershey, Pa Theme Park. Intoxicating.

 

[sara mom]

4 hours ago, StanleyandGus said:

I just realized that what I thought was guacamole in Graham’s picture of the fish and chips may have been mushy peas- I had never seen them before!

 

h2oskibum, your pictures are great! I just read a Jacqueline Winspear novel that takes place in Gibraltar, just before WW2.  Your photos make me think that more leg work is needed before a trip there.

I was wondering what the green stuff was too.

[Arzeena]

3 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Breaking news on the hot water tank...

 

 

Then from Lisa. 

 

Hope you are having a hot shower by now!

[Sunshine3601]

11 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Lunch has arrived.

looks like a beautiful sunny day for outdoor dining.     Looks delicious too.   I want some mushy peas!

[Sunshine3601]

5 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I love mushy peas

I, too, love mushy peas.   I tried to make 2 times but didn't taste anything like the ones I had in London. 

[A&L_Ont]

2 hours ago, Arzeena said:

Hope you are having a hot shower by now!

All 75 gallons are now fully hot. I will but the insulation blanket back on the tank on Sunday just to make sure there are no issues over a few days.

 

It took 2 guys one hour from arrival to departure. The one guy said to Lisa “I have never changed so many 5 year old water heaters until just now”.  He blamed it on cheap off shore manufacturing.  

Edited April 16, 2021 by A&L_Ont

[DaniDanielle]

13 hours ago, grapau27 said:

+1.

+2

[xpcdoojk]

42 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

All 75 gallons are now fully hot. I will but the insulation blanket back on the tank on Sunday just to make sure there are no issues over a few days.

 

It took 2 guys one hour from arrival to departure. The one guy said to Lisa “I have never changed so many 5 year old water heaters until just now”.  He blamed it on cheap off shore manufacturing.  

What brand was installed, Andrew?

[A&L_Ont]

22 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

What brand was installed, Andrew?

We got another John Wood, under warranty.  Third times a charm or it is tankless next time.
 

I forgot to mention that a while ago we added a timer to our hot water tanks a few years ago. At both MIL houses it runs once an hour in the middle of the night when hydro is cheapest and produces enough hot water for all day for them. They each live separately so an hour is enough. 
 

We have ours run 2 times a day, early morning and late afternoon into the early evening. Works great for morning showers or afternoon ones and the dishwasher at night.  It has worked great for reducing power bills, with the insulation wrap.

 

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

We have ours run 2 times a day, early morning and late afternoon into the early evening. Works great for morning showers or afternoon ones and the dishwasher at night.  It has worked great for reducing power bills, with the insulation wrap.

So glad we made the switch to natural gas almost 20 years ago.

 

We bought Vikki’s parents house that was built in the  early 70’s.  It was all electric including radiant heat.  We  took it down to the 2x4’s and redid it including adding ductwork and a gas furnace.  Our gas and hydro combined for our family including 2 young kids (non stop laundry) and central air vs one window a/c unit was less than what my in-laws were paying in hydro and that was with only 2 of them who spent weekends and summers at their cottage. 
 

We also switched last year to flat rate pricing as opposed to the time of use that works well for us with being home more during the day. 

Edited April 16, 2021 by Ourusualbeach

[Coralc]

Natural gas or propane? Our water heater here is NG, but the one at the other house is electric. I just saved Andrew's post about setting times for it to run. The other house is propane only, and we are trying to figure these things out.  

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, Coralc said:

Natural gas or propane? Our water heater here is NG, but the one at the other house is electric. I just saved Andrew's post about setting times for it to run. The other house is propane only, and we are trying to figure these things out.  

Ours is natural gas.

 

It could make sense to put a timer on the electric one if you have time of use hydro rates. 

[DeltaOne]

9 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

We got another John Wood, under warranty.  Third times a charm or it is tankless next time.
 

I forgot to mention that a while ago we added a timer to our hot water tanks a few years ago. At both MIL houses it runs once an hour in the middle of the night when hydro is cheapest and produces enough hot water for all day for them. They each live separately so an hour is enough. 
 

We have ours run 2 times a day, early morning and late afternoon into the early evening. Works great for morning showers or afternoon ones and the dishwasher at night.  It has worked great for reducing power bills, with the insulation wrap.

Years ago I put in a timer that looked like the one in your picture.  No time of use for lower rates here (back then and still not today).  But I had the timer shut the water heater off from 11 pm until 5 am.  Worked nicely, we did not notice a difference at all.  

 

I took the timer off during a little renovation about ten years ago.  Our electric rates here are about as low as one will find in the U.S.  Ten cents per kWh.

Edited April 16, 2021 by Paul from Maryland

[John&LaLa]

12 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I, too, love mushy peas.   I tried to make 2 times but didn't taste anything like the ones I had in London. 

 

There's a pub at the beach that serves them

[John&LaLa]

10 hours ago, singinalot said:

What a day! It is currently snowing heavily and expected to continue through the night.

 

We’re scheduled to close on the FL house next Friday and I got a call from our finance guy this morning saying that the title agent has been hard to communicate with and not providing everything he needs. I won’t bore you with everything but it is now 9:30 FL time and we finally just got a text that the documents were sent over. Fingers crossed they can get everything processed tomorrow so we’re cleared to close and the documents can be sent to us. It was a very frustrating day. I am so ready to be done. But then even when the sale is closed we still have to deal with the property mgmt set up. LoL. 

 

My youngest son is buying his first house. I tried to prep him for underwriting,  but he's overwhelmed. 😉