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

[A&L_Ont]

1 hour ago, dani negreanu said:

Is the fountain music still on?

 

48 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

Yes

It sure is. Weekdays it starts at three to midnight. Saturday, Sunday and holidays it’s noon to midnight. We arrived last night after the final fountain show. Looking forward to seeing it this afternoon and tonight. 

[George C]

9 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

We first went to Vegas in 1972, the group who ran the casinos knew how to treat their customers right. Food was inexpensive, shows were also.  We saw so many big names, it was great!  

My first time there was about the same time, went by myself great shows cheap meals , haven’t been back in twenty years, do enough gambling and see enough shows on cruises, plus largest casino in the world is a hour drive from our house normally go a couple of times only when there is a good show then stay the night and have a nice dinner. 

[DaniDanielle]

I was just talking about Vegas last night with my friend who is going in May.  There is a big difference since the major corporations took over but it is still a place to see if you have never been.  We have not been in awhile but would probably go at least one more time!

[ValerieJo]

@DaniDanielle  Vegas is kind of special for us.  We got married there.  It will be our 25th anniversary in October.  We try to go back every few years and have seen lots of changes in that time.  

[lenquixote66]

21 minutes ago, DaniDanielle said:

We first went to Vegas in 1972, the group who ran the casinos knew how to treat their customers right. Food was inexpensive, shows were also.  We saw so many big names, it was great!  

We went to several shows .All none named entertainers who we never heard from again.

We have been to casinos all over North America and the Caribbean but our favorites have been in Atlantic City and in NY.Favorite meaning ,we won.

[DaniDanielle]

Winning always helps😁

[lenquixote66]

9 minutes ago, ValerieJo said:

@DaniDanielle  Vegas is kind of special for us.  We got married there.  It will be our 25th anniversary in October.  We try to go back every few years and have seen lots of changes in that time.  

I got married in 1967 .At that time there was no though of going somewhere for a wedding other than the area where we lived.

One of our daughters got married in 2011 and it was in St.Kitts.

[Ozark_Kid]

55 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

I think the new Mac Mini which has the M2 Pro chip would be an excellent tool for editing video with that chip set.  I haven’t used the new Mac Mini.

The Mac Mini was an option I looked at but after much research that was ruled out.  I wanted at least 32 gb of ram and 1tb ssd storage.  Compare the Mac Mini to Mac Studio and the Studio would be only $600 more.  One big difference was the GPU core.  Mini 16-core GPU, Studio 32-core GPU.  This makes a difference in processing.   

I would of saved $1,000 buying the Mini and $400 on Studio but then I would of had to by a screen.  The cheaper Studio Display would be $1,600.  And if I would of gotten either I would have to go to my computer desk in the basement to use it.  I was real close to going with the Mac Studio.  I am so glad I chose the MacBook Pro.  I spent several hours learning more about it while on the road yesterday.   Also like sitting on the coach while using it.  Love the portability.   

[Ocean Boy]

4 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

Went for Tuesday and Wednesday practice rounds in 2010, such a beautiful place.  I was the guest of a large company, I have no idea how they got the tickets, I assume scalped, it was all a package.  We had dinner and lots of drinks with a member of Augusta National one night at the Bonefish Grill on the main drag.  He told us stories about the place.  When we had cocktails last Saturday night in my 2010 Master’s beer cups.  I think the beers then were $2.  I think they are $5 this year.  I remember the egg salad and pimento cheese sandwiches were less than a $1 in 2010.  Very cool to walk the course.  

For me the best part about the Masters is it's theme music. 

[grapau27]

We took our Sarah out for dinner tonight.

Cheese and tomato garlic bread.

Rib eye steak for Sarah and me.

Pauline got pasta.

 

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, lenquixote66 said:

The person who left was one who I was rooting for but not from the beginning.

I am still rooting for Danny,Brandon and Heidi.

Well, I will tell you what turned me off from the person who left. He stated that he went to medical school and is a surgeon when, in fact, he went to podiatry school. Nothing wrong with podiatrists but I don't appreciate the misrepresentation.

 

Sorry if I just blew the anonymity for those who haven't watched yet. We've all been trying to keep it quiet for you.

[xpcdoojk]

18 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

The Mac Mini was an option I looked at but after much research that was ruled out.  I wanted at least 32 gb of ram and 1tb ssd storage.  Compare the Mac Mini to Mac Studio and the Studio would be only $600 more.  One big difference was the GPU core.  Mini 16-core GPU, Studio 32-core GPU.  This makes a difference in processing.   

I would have saved $1,000 buying the Mini and $400 on Studio but then I would have had to by a screen.  The cheaper Studio Display would be $1,600.  And if I would have gotten either I would have to go to my computer desk in the basement to use it.  I was real close to going with the Mac Studio.  I am so glad I chose the MacBook Pro.  I spent several hours learning more about it while on the road yesterday.   Also like sitting on the coach while using it.  Love the portability.   

I think the Mini with m2 pro is a lot closer to the base studio, but of course, the Studio is way more expandable, and at some point it will be coming out with either the M2 or maybe M3 chip set.  You can do the 1 TB SSD in the M2 Pro Mac Mini.  If you are doing professional editing, cores become paramount, way beyond my usage.  I find that when I am editing surfing movies😂 of a max of 2-3 minutes (how long I can upload to Smugmug for storage) that when I do rough editing of raw 15 minutes of videos producing 4 to 5 3 minute videos for an hour, at the end of the hour, I have to wait about less than 10 minutes on my 2018 MacBook (which is way less capable than than either the best Mini or Studio or your MacBook).  In other words it would be nice if it was instant, but it is hardly a big deal. JMHO and YMMV.  (By rough editing no added voice or music, just trimming and cutting and splicing video using IMovie).

 

jc<———is not doing professional work because nobody is paying him!  On another topic, when we go on the road in the Airstream, would you want to watch us on YouTube?

[Ret MP]

On 4/5/2023 at 10:03 AM, bobmacliberty said:

 

The Masters is definitely in my future.  Getting tickets is the hard part.  You need to enter a lottery and get lucky, or buy scalped tickets.  My parents used to live in Aiken, SC, just across the border from Augusta.  They'd enter the lottery every year.  I think they got practice round tickets a couple of times and tournament day tickets only once.  It used to be that if you get caught using someone else's tickets, they'll kick you out and ban the person who you bought tickets from.  Not sure if that's still true.

My dad was a lifetime member of the CPGA (Canadian PGA and had reciprocity with USGA/PGA) and as a pro he could get into the Masters, at no charge.  But, even those were very hard to get.  He really wanted to go to the Masters once in his life before he died.  I worked on it but unfortunately, he passed before I could get it done.  However, I did take him to the PGA Hall of Fame in Ste. Augustine (before it moved, if it did, I don't know for sure) a year or two before he passed.  He was so happy that day.  Golf and Golf Courses were a religion to him.  He was very old school and was a club pro when they were well-paid and treated almost like a deity. Didn't believe in shorts and/or Ts on Golf Club grounds.  

[xpcdoojk]

5 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Well, I will tell you what turned me off from the person who left. He stated that he went to medical school and is a surgeon when, in fact, he went to podiatry school. Nothing wrong with podiatrists but I don't appreciate the misrepresentation.

 

Sorry if I just blew the anonymity for those who haven't watched yet. We've all been trying to keep it quiet for you.

You are bad!  I can’t watch it live without watching commercials, so I watch it on Thursday night.  You need to do some self flagellation as a penance.😂  Although, I don’t care enough to know which one that is other than a male.  Now I have to pretend when they go to tribal that I don’t know who is out. 

[Ozark_Kid]

8 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Well, I will tell you what turned me off from the person who left. He stated that he went to medical school and is a surgeon when, in fact, he went to podiatry school. Nothing wrong with podiatrists but I don't appreciate the misrepresentation.

 

Sorry if I just blew the anonymity for those who haven't watched yet. We've all been trying to keep it quiet for you.

So far I haven't been disappointed in any of the ones that have gone home.

[Ocean Boy]

4 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

You are bad!  I can’t watch it live without watching commercials, so I watch it on Thursday night.  You need to do some self flagellation as a penance.😂  Although, I don’t care enough to know which one that is other than a male.  Now I have to pretend when they go to tribal that I don’t know who is out. 

Don't worry about the penance. You know how we Italian Catholics are during lent.

[Ocean Boy]

4 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

So far I haven't been disappointed in any of the ones that have gone home.

Same here!

[xpcdoojk]

17 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

So far I haven't been disappointed in any of the ones that have gone home.

So, did you get the MacBook Pro with the M2 Max chip?  I was just looking at the Apple Store, and that would be the one I would buy if my wife wouldn’t kill me after buying the Airstream and the new truck on order.  

[Jimbo]

2 hours ago, akcruz said:

 

Or get on 78 further north which runs right into 81.

 

We keep saying we are going to go all the way on 81 coming from the Poconos but haven’t done it yet.  Usually make a atop in DC to see the grandkids instead.  One of these days.

Yes, My Wife's Aunt and Uncle who used to live in CT, when they were Snowbirds they always went that way when going to Florida to their winter home.............

Now they live year round in Florida 🙂

[snowdogsmm]

On 4/5/2023 at 11:20 AM, bobmacliberty said:

 

That's a big trade off.  On the one hand, you're accomplishing something that most golfers go their entire lives without doing...a hole in one. On the other hand, you'd be buying drinks for the clubhouse...a potentially very expensive proposition!  Who am I kidding...a hole in one is worth it.  I say that from experience as I was lucky enough (luck is definitely involved) to get one on hole #14 at Old Silo Golf Club in Kentucky, which is now closed.  

 

Bandon looks absolutely spectacular, especially the new Sheep Ranch course with 9 greens on the ocean cliff.  The biggest problem with Bandon is getting there.  Unless you can fly your private jet into one of the smaller, relatively nearby airports, us east coasters have to fly into Portland and then drive 4 hours, or possibly Eugene and drive 2 hours.  

It is totally worth it once you get there.  We are lucky to have Bandon Dunes in our "backyard" and by the time my son was 12 he had played every course there through junior golf!

[HBE4]

First trip to Las Vegas was around 2002 or 2003 I think. They were still in the kid-friendly phase back then. I've been back 6 or 7 times since then and it seems the city seems to "reinvent" itself every 10 years or so.

 

Edited April 6, 2023 by HBE4

[Jimbo]

21 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

First trip to Las Vegas was around 2002 or 2003 I think. They were still in the kid-friendly phase back then. I've been back 6 or 7 times since then and it seems the city seems to "reinvent" itself every 10 years or so.

 

Not sure this counts or not, we have only ever been to Las Vegas one time. That was a 2 hour layover between flights. We did play the slots right in the terminal while waiting for our flight. Does that count as going to Las Vegas?  🤣 Seems to have gotten that "Gotta go to Vegas " out of our system. That and AC used to be only about an hour from where we lived in NJ.

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

Well, I will tell you what turned me off from the person who left. He stated that he went to medical school and is a surgeon when, in fact, he went to podiatry school. Nothing wrong with podiatrists but I don't appreciate the misrepresentation.

 

Sorry if I just blew the anonymity for those who haven't watched yet. We've all been trying to keep it quiet for you.

He did not play a smart game,that is for sure .Have you never heard the term Podiatric Surgeon ? I do not think he was trying to misrepresent himself but you as an MD obviously see this differently.

[lenquixote66]

Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates the beautiful holiday.

[George C]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Don't worry about the penance. You know how we Italian Catholics are during lent.

I used to be Italian catholic now I am more or less just Italian.