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

[bobmacliberty]

9 hours ago, HBE4 said:

I was at the NY Auto Show last week and every manufacture had their electric cars displayed  proudly front and center under bright lights  while the older cars were relegated to the dark, back corners.  While talking with the many automotive representatives there, they told me the biggest obstacle in selling EV is most people have "range anxiety",  that they will get stranded when their car run out of juice. The irony there is that study after study shows that something like 80% of people will typically (key word) refuel their gas-powered car after driving 300-350 miles which is within range of most EV. Again, talking typical range, not maximum range. So their "range anxiety" is really unfounded. 

 

The bigger obstacle is charging time.  Rapid chargers have reduced empty-to-full charging time from several hours to as little as 30 minutes, which is still substantially longer then the 5 minutes it takes for gas cars. One big benefit to EV's is that you can charge your car at home, which you can't do with a gas-powered car. So there's that. People just will need to get in the habit of plugging in their cars at night, just like they do with the cell phones. 

 

And for most driving needs - going to work, school, shopping, etc - that will be just fine. It's the long road trips where you need to fill up 4 or 5 times what it still the big obstacle that the industry needs to work out.

 

All the other "obstacles" being suggested - not enough electricity in the power grid, how to recycle, cars catching fire, etc - are valid concerns that can be fixed just like all the "obstacles" that faced gas-powered cars when they first came out. Not enough gas stations, no paved roads, no traffic lights, no auto mechanics to fix cars , no schools to train auto mechanics, no drive thru McDonalds, no XM radio, etc, etc etc.  It just takes time.   In 1900, there were 8,000 cars in the US. Yet despite all the obstacles I listed, by 1920, there were 8 million and 25 million by 1930. From 8,000 to 25 million in 30 years. Give EV 30 years to mature. and solve the obstacles.

 

BTW, while I sound like a EV proponent, I'm in no rush to buy an EV and I think it's silly to mandate them by 2035 or even 2055.  The technology still needs more time to mature. If the government is going to mandate/encourage, it should be for vehicles that drive a predictable range every day. Commuter buses, school bus's, garbage trucks, mail carriers, delivery trucks etc while the geniuses that invent stuff figure out to to charge a light-weight battery in under 5 minutes giving a car a 500 mile driving range under all extreme weather conditions and never needs to be recycled.

 

I agree with everything that you've written.  I'm an ideal candidate for an EV.  We have 2 cars and don't drive either one very far, so range anxiety isn't an issue (except for the couple of times a year when we take a longer road trip).  In fact, I have to occassionally trickle charge both of our car batteries since they don't get charged enough from driving.  I could plug in an EV overnight and almost never have to worry.  I'm also a tech geek who likes the tech in many EVs.  For a while, I was monitoring the new EVs that were coming out thinking that this year or next I'd replace my current vehicle with an EV.  I was waiting until the Mercedes and BMWs of the world came out with luxury vehicles designed as EVs from the ground up rather than being retrofitted into a gas car with some compromises (like a hump in the floor for a drive train that no longer exists).  I'm not a Tesla fan...too minimalist for me and not enough of a luxury vehicle with fit and finish issues. 

 

I'm backing off looking at EVs for now.  If I were to replace my car today, I'd probably go with gas or hybrid.  I'll squeeze a few more years from my current car and see how things have changed both in EV designs and in the charging ecosystem.  We're seeing more chargers pop up in places where a gas pump can't be located (parking garages, restaurants, stores, etc.) which I think is an advantage for the EV market.  It's getting easier to "plug in" wherever you go, although we're far from that being broad enough to impact range anxiety in a big way.  There are also changes being made in where and how EV batteries are being made.  The US may have the largest lithium deposit yet found in the world and environmentally cleaner battery production processes are evolving...just like manufacturing processes for many other products that were historically bad for the environment.  Battery development will also certainly lead to better power density, meaning more range.

 

One of the things that I'm keeping an eye on is Toyota's hydrogen engine.  Toyota, the largest car maker in the world, has not fully embraced EVs.  They continue generating huge sales with their hybrids while developing what they think will be a better option than current EV designs.  Even if Toyota is successful with their hydrogen ICE, they will face the same challenge of how to distribute hydrogen to consumers who want to refill their vehicle.

 

I wouldn't buy an EV just because I thought I was helping the environment.  I'd buy it because I like the vehicle.  I can't justify the big increase in price of an EV over its roughly equivalent gas ICE that exists today.  As others have noted, this price increase is part of what's caused the EV market share in the US to level off (depending on what you read).  If I were to guess, I'd guess that the EV market will be much more robust in 10 years.

 

 

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

9 hours ago, Etta1213 said:

This is what happens when policies aren't based on true wisdom. I've learned so much from my brother, an engineer. 

Absolutely correct. Policies are often made by people who need to do something in order justify the existence of their jobs and paychecks.

[ReneeFLL]

We were home by 7:40. So nice to see our kitties.

 

@Jimbo  Sorry for the confusion. We were on VV Scarlet Lady at the beginning of March and my review is late. We just got off the Odyssey this morning.

[Ocean Boy]

5 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Excellent response.

I feel like we are being pushed into buying Electric cars especially if combustion engines are no longer going to be made in the future.

Self charge Hybrid's are a better proposition than all electric but it would be much better to refine cleaner petrol and cleaner engine emissions.

I drive 320 miles to Southampton for our cruises and have the same drive home so most electric cars would not get us there non stop.

When driving at night or in rain with windscreen wipers on or having the heating or air conditioning on in our cars are all going to drain the batteries meaning less driving range without charging.

All excellent points. And I started to think about all the energy drains from comfort features as I drive. There is the sound system driving 11 speakers, heated/cooled seats, heated steering wheel, heat/air conditioning, cell phone charger, etc.

[ReneeFLL]

This is what Chloe thinks of us being gone.

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

16 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

We were home by 7:40. So nice to see our kitties.

 

@Jimbo  Sorry for the confusion. We were on VV Scarlet Lady at the beginning of March and my review is late. We just got off the Odyssey this morning.

How was your Odessey cruise? I kinda like that ship.😉

[grapau27]

Good afternoon.

It is breezy 59°F and dark skies here.

We would like to be on a ship but were sitting in our car looking out at the North sea instead.

[grapau27]

[StanleyandGus]

19 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

This is my life right now. 😭

[Sea Dog]

14 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Wednesday was the anniversary of my official diagnosis. Time sure does fly!  Physically things have changed a lot.  I am not going list those changes.  I think the one thing that has changed for the better is my love of life and those around me!  I give thanks for each new day!  So much love shown to me and my family.  An example of how we have been blessed, remember me telling about our new neighbor, on her own, came over and shoveled the snow off our driveway?  Well, yesterday she surprised us with a great homemade strawberry pie!  We are still having people bringing us meals each week to help ease the burden off Sharon and to bring a smile to our face.  And what I love the most is so often I still hear someone add their name to the long list from around the world of those that are thinking and praying for us.  So special!

John you are a true inspiration to all of us! We are blessed to have you in our lives. Your love of life is a great teaching to us all. I am in awe of you.

[ReneeFLL]

On 4/10/2024 at 3:24 AM, grapau27 said:

Thank you Maryann.

The consultant said the 2 cancer removal scars had healed well and my face looked good.

That’s great to hear.

[lenquixote66]

13 hours ago, HBE4 said:

Speaking of TV shows, I just finished watching "Midnight Mass", a horror show on Netflix. Great acting and interesting story line although every episode was about 15 minutes too long, Very preachy. Literally. The ending is pretty heavy too so now I'm alternating between "The Gentleman" and "Kleo" for some lighter, more fun topics.

The 2024 show Shogun was very highly recommended to me.It is on Hulu but I do not have that.

[ReneeFLL]

On 4/10/2024 at 1:59 PM, Coralc said:

I just found out this morning that I have a squamous cell carcinoma on my thigh. Bummer. The doctor will be doing an excision later in the month. 

Wishing you all the best.

 

On 4/10/2024 at 6:25 PM, dani negreanu said:

 

Thank you, Dorothy, same here.

 

Too many unknowns right now, we're fearing an attack from Iran, and no cease fire as yet.....

I hope Iran doesn’t attack and things settle down for the best.

 

On 4/11/2024 at 1:09 AM, taznremmy said:

I’m sitting on a plane to FLL and board the Celebrity Equinox to Lisbon.  Hope we cruise together before too long.  Take care, this too will pass. Hugs.

Enjoy your cruise, sounds like fun.

[bobmacliberty]

20 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

The 2024 show Shogun was very highly recommended to me.It is on Hulu but I do not have that.

 

We are watching Shogun.  It's excellent.  It's also on FX, if you have access to that channel and can watch the episodes that were aired previously.  The only thing I don't like is that you need to wait a week for another episode.  I've become spoiled binge watching.

[ReneeFLL]

On 4/11/2024 at 12:17 PM, lenquixote66 said:

A great football player but a disgusting human being.

I think everyone will agree with me on this.

Not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that he died on my birthday. Not that I care to remember him. I like Caitlyn Jenners comment “Good Riddance”.

[George C]

36 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

We are watching Shogun.  It's excellent.  It's also on FX, if you have access to that channel and can watch the episodes that were aired previously.  The only thing I don't like is that you need to wait a week for another episode.  I've become spoiled binge watching.

I also enjoy Shogun but I would have preferred that there was less Japanese with English subtitles. 

[bobmacliberty]

7 minutes ago, George C said:

I also enjoy Shogun but I would have preferred that there was less Japanese with English subtitles. 

 

I have closed captioning turned on anyway. 😜  Although it's a little bit of a pain to read the subtitles, I think it's more authentic having 2 Japanese people speaking to each other in Japanese.  It also makes sense when a Japanese person is speaking and Blackstone doesn't understand, and makes it easier to know when Blackstone and Mariko are speaking in English.

[akcruz]

50 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

We are watching Shogun.  It's excellent.  It's also on FX, if you have access to that channel and can watch the episodes that were aired previously.  The only thing I don't like is that you need to wait a week for another episode.  I've become spoiled binge watching.

 

12 minutes ago, George C said:

I also enjoy Shogun but I would have preferred that there was less Japanese with English subtitles. 

 

We have it all recorded and started watching the 1st episode but was not in the mood for subtitles that night so didn't finish it.  Keep saying we will try again but reluctant due to them.  Do all episodes have as many subtitles? 

[Ocean Boy]

Something has made the North Atlantic pretty angry today.

 

 

 

 

 

And when I wasn't paying attention my feet ended up in the water....

 

[George C]

17 minutes ago, akcruz said:

 

 

We have it all recorded and started watching the 1st episode but was not in the mood for subtitles that night so didn't finish it.  Keep saying we will try again but reluctant due to them.  Do all episodes have as many subtitles? 

I was hoping it wouldn’t continue but it does .

[HBE4]

12 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

n the Yiddish language there is a word "mensch".  Google it.   It describes you.

 

I learn something new every day. I've heard the word used in conversation before & was always a bit confused as to context. I thought it was an insult like saying someone is just "meh!" Unexceptional, dull or average at best.  Now I know better when someone is using mensch was a way of praise.

 

Other Yiddish words like Chutzpah and Kvetch actually sound like their meanings. 😉  And since I'm looking at a Yiddish online dictionary, never knew Nosh, Klutz and Schmuck were Yiddish words and always thought Putz was Italian.  🙂

 

[DaniDanielle]

17 hours ago, Luckynana said:

@Ozark_Kid  John, you are always so optimistic and thankful and never mention any obstacles.  God Bless!!!🙏  Love you, kid!😘

I agree😊

[HBE4]

5 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

If I were to guess, I'd guess that the EV market will be much more robust in 10 years.

 

Agreed. And perhaps both technologies can peacefully co-exist. EV's in densely populated areas where range isn't an issue & the car spends more time sitting in traffic jams than it does moving (and where auto-restart engines really shine!) and gasoline engines in sparsely populated areas or when towing power is really needed. Families might have a few of each depending on their needs. 

 

I can hear the arguments now. "Honey, can I use the EV, I don't like driving that loud, smelly, car that's leaking oil!" or "Dad, can I borrow your car because I forgot to plug in my EV last night".

 

 

Edited April 13 by HBE4

[firefly333]

15 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I normally do not watch much Network TV.Carrie Preston is a very good actress but I have not watched her show.

I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in November 2014.It is in Stage 4.

I can no longer walk and am not able to do outside activities.I try and do every Zoom activity.Aside from the Zoom I post on CC as much as I can .

I'm so sorry you are dealing with this. I can see why tv is so important to you. I havent yet learned to stream but it's on my list. Lol when I move next month I'm giving up my land line. No one but me uses a landline. The ads for her show make it look fun to me. Idk. 

[firefly333]

We had a gun incident at a school here. Might only be local news because whomever the kid shot didnt die, hospitalized. School has clear backpacks and metal detectors.  I'd like to know how he got the gun into the school. Listened to supevervisor of the school say we all need to work together. Emergency responded perfectly. Theh showed how fire trucks parked to line up from the school outward to give cops shelter approaching the school. Id never seen it from above how they park for shootings. Lucky no one died. Id still like to know how the gun got past metal detectors. .