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

[lenquixote66]

12 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

My granddaughter Corrie had a day out with dad.  They went to lunch at a place called All Aboard.  It has train sets mounted and the trains move around the restaurant.

 

Then they went to a place that sells old albums and she got her first.

Do you remember the first album you bought ?

[BonTexasNY]

I think ice skating fell flat without the crowds in the stadium, AND the whole doping issue might have put a pall on the performances. I usually watch skiing, ice skating but like others stated, it just fell flat for me.

 

I need to say that I think Valieva is a talented young girl, who whether she should have been allowed to skate or not, (I think not) was treated horribly by her coach and others after her disastrous performance.  No support at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lenquixote66]

32 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

That stinks they fell for it.   Asking for a home depot # is odd.

Did your part of PA get a snow squall warning a few minutes ago ?

We had loud piercing alarms on our cell phones stating that certain parts of NY and PA were getting the warning.

[jagsfan]

21 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Not only odd they asked but odd they believed it.  They said it was supposed to be an easier way to transfer the money.  I went to Home Depot to try to help them.  They said they could see where it was cashed but they could not hep.  Went with them to the police station but there was not much they could do either.

I saw on my news app that an elderly (probably not as elderly as I am) lady got a call from her grandson that he was in jail because of an automobile accident. 
She agreed to buy gift cards and gave her address to pick them up. 
When they arrived, she gave them cards and and  they turned to leave, the police came out of nowhere and jumped on them while she watched. Evidently she had someone in the house videoing the whole thing. 
She said  her grandson isn’t old enough to drive!

What a feel good moment to see the bad guys get caught!

[lenquixote66]

43 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

Is anyone watching the Winter Olympics?

 

I'm a Winter Olympic junkie that would eagerly watch most events every day. As a former skier, I love the Alpine (downhill) skiing as well as some of the Freestyle & Halfpipe events as some of the jumps, & tricks those kids do are unreal.  I even like some of the more unusual events such as curling, bobsled or Nordic  Biathlon - cross-country skiing and shooting, does it get any better?

 

But for some reason, this year, after the first week, I was done. I like many of the newer X-game type events but they keep adding more and more variations of existing events. How many team relays do you need? Next will be the 10-man bobsled. lol

From 1983 to 1988 we went every December with 9 other couples to upstate NY to engage in winter sports.

[Luckynana]

10 hours ago, sgmn said:

Well after testing negative every day this week, I finally got a positive LFT test this morning.

I've felt like I have a bad cold since Thursday, sore throat, cough, tired but it's covid 

Feel better, Sue!

6 hours ago, h20skibum said:

I was just looking through my Alexa history, and there are some interesting video clips of things she has heard.

One other thing to consider is your phone and phone settings.  I was just reading an article about how your phone microphone is always listening, if you have Siri enabled.  

 

 

Thank you, Mark!

5 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I did learn a little about Amazon Alexa security, but I don't think it's the cause of my YouTube video appearing.  Alexa records all interactions that you have with her.  While she is constantly "passively listening", she will only record things that are said after you use the "wake word", which by default is "Alexa" (that can be changed by the way on a device-by-device basis to a few other words...helpful if you have a daughter named Alexis or similar 😉).  You can see/listen to/delete all recordings that have been made by going to the Settings section of the Alexa app and selecting Alexa Privacy.  You can also automatically delete recordings after a certain amount of time, or not save them at all.  Amazon gives you warnings that this may affect how well Alexa works.  I chose to auto delete all recordings after 3 months.  More info from Amazon about managing Alexa recordings by clicking here.  For a Cnet web page with more ways to protect your privacy when using Alexa, click here.  I use and trust Cnet as an independent reference for many things technology related.

 

According to a study done, I learned that voice assistants (including Google and Siri...not just Alexa) mistakenly think they are being asked something about 19 times a day.  For Alexa, some words with a vowel followed by the letter K will make Alexa think she heard the wake word.  I sample listened to a few of these mistaken recordings and they are mostly empty recordings or words that are not understandable.  While it's possible that Amazon may be "mining" these recordings to make money somehow, they claim that they are not.  I tend to believe them because it would cause the company serious damage if it turns out that they are spying on their customers.  Maybe I'm just naive though and Jeff Bezos really is trying to take over the world.

 

Amazon also manually reviews "an extremely small fraction" of voice recordings from a "diverse range of customers" to help improve Alexa's voice recognition capability.  If you go to Settings > Alexa Privacy > Manage Your Alexa Data > Help Improve Alexa, you can turn off the potential use of your recordings.  Again, Alexa will scare you a bit with warnings about things not working well if you turn this of, but I chose to turn it off anyway.  We'll see if that actually does affect how well Alexa voice recognition works.

 

I mentioned above that the study was for all voice assistants.  Google and Apple Siri have very similar features to Amazon Alexa, including recording of voice commands.  Click here for a Cnet article on managing voice recordings for all 3 services.  

Thanks Bob, for sharing this info

5 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

PT is going good. I am meeting or exceeding my benchmarks. I am now at 104 degrees of range of motion though that 104 was pretty painful at the end.  

It sure sounds like your are making great progress, Greg.  Pretty awesome!!

[aussielozzie18]

@HBE4 Used to love watching ice skating but haven’t watch a single event this year.  We have enjoyed all the snowboarding events and the ski jumping.  Being Australian, curling completely mystifies us.

 

[h20skibum]

I have received a number of those texts or emails that say your account has been locked, click here to unlock and reset your password.  Usually it is for places I don’t even have an account. 
 

Two days ago, Susan had her FB messenger hacked, and it sent a message to everyone she ever interacted with on FB, including those she had talked to on Marketplace.  The message was something along the line of “You have to see the funny old picture of you I found, haha!”  She had to scramble to reset her passwords, but in the meantime it was shocking how many people opened and clicked on it.   She started getting messages that people couldn’t see what she sent.  
Who knows what was actually in it that it downloaded?
 

I didn’t fall for it, but now I am rethinking keeping her on my friends list. 🤣🤣

[BonTexasNY]

49 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

My granddaughter Corrie had a day out with dad.  They went to lunch at a place called All Aboard.  It has train sets mounted and the trains move around the restaurant.

 

Then they went to a place that sells old albums and she got her first.

Your gorgeous granddaughter Corrie looks just like my gorgeous granddaughter Channing.  She also loves mac and cheese, lemonade, always uses thumbs up,

[BonTexasNY]

@lenquixote66Lenny, to answer your question, my first 33 1/3 album was Paul Anka's Greatest Hits.

[Luckynana]

3 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

 Since all the contacts are in my cell phone,  if my cell is dead, I'm out of luck. 

When we've lost power, we've  taken our cell phone out to the car and plugged it in, turning the engine on to charge up the phone.  If we know a bad storm is coming, we all charge up our phones in the house in anticipation of losing power.

[reallyitsmema]

It's funny, while reading all this talk about texts and emails about hacked accounts, I got a text from Bank of America asking if I had used my credit card for the following three transactions.  My DH was at Home Depot and was buying stuff for us and stuff for my Mom.  He had done the purchases in two different transactions because she tries to overpay us when we don't have a separate receipt.  They declined the second transaction and only authorized it once I confirmed it was real.  

[jagsfan]

17 minutes ago, Luckynana said:

When we've lost power, we've  taken our cell phone out to the car and plugged it in, turning the engine on to charge up the phone.  If we know a bad storm is coming, we all charge up our phones in the house in anticipation of losing power.

I have 3 power banks to charge my iPhone and Kindle if the power goes out. 
I’ll have to sleep sitting up without my COAP, though. 

[jagsfan]

15 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

It's funny, while reading all this talk about texts and emails about hacked accounts, I got a text from Bank of America asking if I had used my credit card for the following three transactions.  My DH was at Home Depot and was buying stuff for us and stuff for my Mom.  He had done the purchases in two different transactions because she tries to overpay us when we don't have a separate receipt.  They declined the second transaction and only authorized it once I confirmed it was real.  

My B of A has done that to me with prescriptions at Walgreens. If I remember right away why my card is declined, I grab my phone and sure enough, there’s a text from B of A asking if it’s legitimate. 
I guess that’s why people in the drive through lane seem to take a long time. 

[Luckynana]

3 hours ago, DaniDanielle said:

I wa t to thank you all for your support and hope I didn’t ramble on too much.  Charlie says thanks also.

Marietta, we are all here for you and Charlie.  Positive and caring thoughts for you both.🙏🥰

3 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

My memory is hazy but I think our landline worked during 9/11 when our cell service was knocked out for a period of time.  Since the landline is cordless, I have been known to misplace it on occasion.😊

 

We lost our cell phone and land line on 9/11.  Our daughter who lived in Mass. at the time was quite pregnant, and was beside herself when she couldn't contact us.  

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

This is how to handle a telemarketer phone call:

 

This is great, Bob!  I have a cousin who loves questioning, etc. the people on the other end of  these annoying spam calls

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

I continue to exist without them.

We did, also, until Jim had his knee surgery.  Our grandson set up Alexa to turn the lights on and off for Jim in the room he slept in downstairs after surgery.  Now, I love asking for my favorite music to be played...

[Ozark_Kid]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

Do you remember the first album you bought ?

No, not really.  I never had a great sound system so I did not buy many.  My drummer friend more less took over his basement and had speakers all over, large drum set and a few Congo drums and a big album collection.  There were several hang out houses around the county and most had great sound systems.  It’s a challenge to remember much from the 70s.

I do remember my sister having several Beach Boys and Jan & Dean albums.  I think a monkees too.

I remember a couple early ones I had. Led Zeppelin IV And House of the Holy by Led Zeppelin.  I started more of an 8-track collection when I got a Gregg Power play with 20oz Jensens for the car.  I also think that was the start of my tinnitus. 👂 

[Ozark_Kid]

48 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

Your gorgeous granddaughter Corrie looks just like my gorgeous granddaughter Channing.  She also loves mac and cheese, lemonade, always uses thumbs up,

I see that.  They look like sisters.

[Luckynana]

1 hour ago, Ozark_Kid said:

My granddaughter Corrie had a day out with dad.  They went to lunch at a place called All Aboard.  It has train sets mounted and the trains move around the restaurant.

 

Then they went to a place that sells old albums and she got her first.

Wow, Corrie had quite the day out with her Dad!  Great memories they've made together, and Corrie has a new/old album to remember this special day!!!!❤️

[Luckynana]

Just now, Ozark_Kid said:

I see that.  They look like sisters.

Oh, Bonnie, she's beautiful!!❤️

[Luckynana]

I just noticed that we will soon be on page 2000  within the next few hours or less!!  Way to go, dear friends!🥰

[BonTexasNY]

2 minutes ago, Luckynana said:

Oh, Bonnie, she's beautiful!!❤️

Aww thanks, Maryann.

[BonTexasNY]

Just now, Luckynana said:

I just noticed that we will soon be on page 2000  within the next few hours or less!!  Way to go, dear friends!🥰

Wow, 2000 pages! This is so funny.  Earlier I said to myself I have to clean out my fridge. I have a tube of tomato paste way in the back of one shelf.  I have no idea when I used it last!  🤔

[helen haywood]

This was my view this morning in my bathrobe…and later when dressed…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Backwards…sorry.

Edited February 19, 2022 by helen haywood

[George C]

We are on board Celebrity summit, for our rock and romance cruise, yesterday left Dallas when temperature was in 20’s landed in 80 degrees in Miami. Lots of hassles boarding, even though we did Covid test on Thursday when we arrived at port we were told everyone needs another rapid test , this caused a hour delay in boarding, then we were supposed to be escorted on the ship , again miscommunication between celebrity staff and charter employees, this caused another delay , but now we are in our suite and happy, concierge manager remember us from edge in July . Internet is super slow will post pictures when I can, going to see Foreigner in a hour then dinner in suite restaurant. 

[Keksie]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I continue to exist without them.

I do too.