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

[grapau27]

Good morning.

It is 52°F and sunny here at 08.51am.

Not much planned for today.

I hope everyone is safe and happy and have a great day.

[brillohead]

On 5/3/2024 at 10:58 AM, BND said:

You're one of the few people I know who didn't have chickenpox.  I had them at age 6 and my DH was prob about 6-7.  Heck, my sons who are 40 and 38 had them when they were 7 and 4.  7 year old brought them home from first grade.  My oldest son had shingles in his senior year of college (stress induced trying to get everything done on time) yet no Dr will give him the vaccine as he's "too young".  My other DIL has health issues so her Dr gave it to her when she was 35.  

 

I had asked my doc about getting the chicken pox vaccine back in December of 2005, b/c I hadn't had the chicken pox in childhood.  The doc said that I probably had them and just didn't remember it because I was young.  I told him that my brother got it from the neighborhood kids (who brought it home from school) when he was four years old, and they didn't adopt me until he was five and a half years old, so I never got exposed.  He ordered a titer test to see if I had antibodies or not.... and it came back negative -- I had never had chicken pox.  

This all happened around the holidays, so I didn't get around to getting the vaccine after I got the test results.  Then I volunteered in my son's kindergarten class for his birthday in January (I used to take it off work and stay home with him, and when he started school I still took it off and went to school with him the first couple years).  That was on a Tuesday, and on Friday afternoon when I picked him up, he came home with a letter saying that there was a chicken pox exposure in the class that week.  Since it's contagious for a couple days before any pox show up, that means I was exposed, and since it's airborne, my almost-OCD-level of hand hygiene wasn't going to protect me like it does for most illnesses.  

So here I am on a Friday afternoon trying to get a chicken pox vaccine before everything closes at 5pm.  (getting the vaccine within 3-5 days of exposure can help reduce the severity of the illness or prevent it altogether, and Friday was my Day Three and nobody would be open over the weekend)  My doctor's office didn't have any in stock (because he's not a pediatrician, so he has no need for it -- all of his patients have already had the illness!). The local health department's vaccination clinic is only open a couple days a week, and that day wasn't one of them. 

 

I talked to my health insurance, and they wouldn't cover the cost of the vaccine for me, but they did for children as part of a regular "well-child" appointment.  That was insane to me, because the chances of me needing to be hospitalized as an adult with chicken pox was way more likely than for a child, and hospitalization would cost them WAY more than two vaccine shots!  Anyway, I finally found a private pharmacy that kept it in stock, and I was able to get the first shot at 4:45pm for a nominal fee of $275.  Fortunately, I was able to schedule the second dose at the county health clinic for a much more reasonable $75 fee.

A couple years ago, the Sam's Club pharmacy pulled my vaccination history (they started offering vaccines around when COVID started, I think) and they saw that I hadn't had the shingles vaccine and they tried to upsell it to me.  Once again, the pharmacist was shocked to learn that someone my age had never had chicken pox!  I'm a medical anomaly in more ways than one!

Edited May 8 by brillohead

[brillohead]

On 5/5/2024 at 2:19 PM, MJSailors said:

While onboard,they booked another cruise for next May on Liberty of the Seas.

I have not read much about that ship on CC. Has anyone sailed on that ship ?

 

I haven't done Liberty, but I've been on Freedom (same class) a bunch of times, and it's my absolute favorite class of ship.  It's MUCH more walkable than Oasis class (the size of which causes my knees to get angry with all the walking), and the pool decks are bigger, with more shaded area for loungers in the Solarium.  

[brillohead]

On 5/5/2024 at 7:22 PM, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

If anyone is keeping track for father’s day I wear a size Tito’s.  😂

 

Mine varies, somewhere between a 7-10 day cruise....

[brillohead]

7 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

We use the term "liberated" LOL

 

I have been known to "reappropriate" things from time to time in my youth....

[brillohead]

For those who saw the news, my loved ones and I are all safe and sound after the tornadoes ripped through SW Michigan Tuesday night.  

I live less than a mile and a half from the FedEx facility mentioned in this article (click link for article) and pictured below.  This tornado kinda hopscotched its way from the SW corner of the city to the NE corner before demolishing the trailer park (or 'nader magnet as they're often called).  There were a few other tornadoes in outlying areas as well.

 

An aerial view of the FedEx facility so you can get an idea of how ginormous it is:

 

 

 

A few pics from the trailer park mentioned in the article (if you didn't read the article, there were about 17 homes totally demolished, and 173 with some degree of damage.  One trailer was flipped into the road, and another was picked up and dropped on another trailer.  Mother Nature does NOT like trailer parks!  

 

 

 

 

A friend owned a retail boutique across the street from the barber shop in this article. They recently closed the store, and just got the last of their remaining inventory and fixtures out of the rental space last week. If the store was still open, she and/or her employees would have been right across the street from this:

 

 

A few blocks NE of the barber shop, my bio-dad's good friend owns a commercial greenhouse, and he said all of his greenhouses were destroyed, and some of his semi-trailers were tipped over. 

Our school system will be closed this morning, as several areas are still without power and many neighborhoods still have trees blocking the roads.  I'm actually posting this from work -- I got called in to cover a shift from 11-7 in our rehab department for an employee who had to call off for her shift because she couldn't get out of her neighborhood due to a tree blocking her road.  So, note to anyone thinking of buying a home in the future -- pay attention to how many entrance/exit streets there are for your neighborhood!  If your subdivision only has one road in and out, you could be penned in pretty easily!

All in all, we were very lucky.  Amazingly, in spite of being so close to the FedEx building, we didn't even have any branches down in the yard (and we lose branches from our big old trees in EVERY storm).  And the community as a whole is lucky that there were no fatalities and only a few handfuls of injuries with none being severe.

Edited May 8 by brillohead

[brillohead]

Another lucky thing about the storm -- I was originally scheduled to work 7pm-7am on my regular inpatient unit, but I got put on-call because we didn't have enough patients to justify a full staff.  If I had left for work at my normal time, I would have crossed paths with the tornado just as it entered the city from the southwest.  

And even if the tornado hadn't gotten me, the deluge of rain was so severe that I wouldn't have been able to see, and if I pulled over to wait it out, I could have been hit by another vehicle that didn't stop.  You literally couldn't see the front of your own car during the worst of the downpours, and you certainly wouldn't be able to see the lane markers or another vehicle!

All in all, exceedingly lucky.  Maybe I'm on Mother Nature's good side (or maybe she's afraid of my redheaded temper! 🤣).

[brillohead]

On 5/6/2024 at 4:41 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

OMG!!!!

 

 

It will be very hard going back to Royal.  More details later.

But how does the bank account feel about that?  😉

What's the typical cost of a Royal cruise compared to the typical cost of an "all suite, tons of crew" cruise?  

[Sunshine3601]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Good morning.

It is 52°F and sunny here at 08.51am.

Not much planned for today.

I hope everyone is safe and happy and have a great day.

Same to you and Pauline.   Have a Great day😊

[bobmacliberty]

11 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

I thought yesterday's show was a waste of time!  They didn't let us know the results of the challenge.   With 2 eliminations,  they could of at least shown one.

 

My guess...Rob will be the last one out of the maze and will go home.  If they had shown that to everyone at the end of the last show, half the audience wouldn't bother tuning in for the finale. This way, they keep all of the Rob fans watching.

[bobmacliberty]

9 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

We just went through a drive-thru.   When we got to the window Sharon said sorry if I asked to many questions.   He replied,  No problem.   Ask as many as you what..  .... so I asked, How many seconds are in a year?  He was thinking real hard trying to figure it out and then I said ........ 12 ......  There's January 2nd, February 2nd...... He was laughing and asked if I liked any Sundaes.  I answered all Sundays.   He ended up giving me a free hot fudge sundae and said keep the jokes coming!

 

Who'd a thought that Dad jokes are actually worth something?

[bobmacliberty]

3 hours ago, brillohead said:

 

I haven't done Liberty, but I've been on Freedom (same class) a bunch of times, and it's my absolute favorite class of ship.  It's MUCH more walkable than Oasis class (the size of which causes my knees to get angry with all the walking), and the pool decks are bigger, with more shaded area for loungers in the Solarium.  

 

You and I were on the same Freedom cruise in 2015.  I remember discussing a Quest "wardrobe malfunction" in the review I wrote, and you commented that you were in that winning section.  I still think that's the best Quest I've ever seen.

[Momof3gurlz]

14 hours ago, Luckynana said:

 

 

The Roofers arrived here at 7:00 am this morning and began working right away.  They are still here, (6:08 pm) and plan on finishing the job this evening, due to the weather forecast of rain for the next two or more days.  They originally thought they would only be able to finish the house roof, but they were able to get a few more workers over here.  House is done, 3 Season room done, garage almost all done, and attached apartment is almost finished.😉

The new roof looks great! Amazing they were able to get so much done in one day, and thank goodness with rain in the forecast. 

[h20skibum]

3 hours ago, brillohead said:

Another lucky thing about the storm -- I was originally scheduled to work 7pm-7am on my regular inpatient unit, but I got put on-call because we didn't have enough patients to justify a full staff.  If I had left for work at my normal time, I would have crossed paths with the tornado just as it entered the city from the southwest.  

And even if the tornado hadn't gotten me, the deluge of rain was so severe that I wouldn't have been able to see, and if I pulled over to wait it out, I could have been hit by another vehicle that didn't stop.  You literally couldn't see the front of your own car during the worst of the downpours, and you certainly wouldn't be able to see the lane markers or another vehicle!

All in all, exceedingly lucky.  Maybe I'm on Mother Nature's good side (or maybe she's afraid of my redheaded temper! 🤣).

Glad everything is ok with you.  No damage at your place?

 

Tornadoes can be strange creatures.  We have had a few touch down in our area, but they are rare.  First I remember was in 1985, and the only damage we had was hail damage to two of or cars.  So, like responsible young adults, we took the insurance money and flew to Hawaii for a couple weeks.

 

Some other tornadoes, I worked on a damage assessment team to review structural damage to assess if repairable or destroyed.  

[h20skibum]

At the vet with Ricky this morning.  Another blood test.  
 

He gave me the “You are not going to trick me into the carrier” look. 

 

Yes I am. 

 

[Sea Dog]

4 hours ago, brillohead said:

we didn't even have any branches down in the yard (and we lose branches from our big old trees in EVERY storm).  And the community as a whole is lucky that there were no fatalities and only a few handfuls of injuries with none being severe.

Glad you didn’t have any damage. Must have been scary that it was that close.

[ReneeFLL]

16 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Not correct, anyone else care to guess?

It’s for olives or pickles.

[grapau27]

4 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Same to you and Pauline.   Have a Great day😊

Thank you Debbie.

[brillohead]

4 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

You and I were on the same Freedom cruise in 2015.  I remember discussing a Quest "wardrobe malfunction" in the review I wrote, and you commented that you were in that winning section.  I still think that's the best Quest I've ever seen.

 

Ah, yes, the "Jerry incident"!  I'm still friends with them to this day!!!  Have cruised with them a couple of times since, once on purpose, and once by coincidence.  

[brillohead]

3 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Glad everything is ok with you.  No damage at your place?

 

 

Not a single thing damaged here, in spite of being so close to the massive destruction just down the road.  We barely even had any wind -- just tons and tons of rain.

I couldn't see it last night while driving to work because it was 10:30 and pitch dark, but on my drive home this morning I was able to see the area where I would have been driving if I'd gone to work at the normal time.  There is a group of mature trees, both deciduous and evergreen, just snapped off roughly 10 feet (3 meters) off the ground for about 100 yards/meters or more.

 

I've seen plenty of storm-damaged trees in my life, but they usually either tip over uprooted, or split at a weak area in the trunk, or snap off at the base.  I don't ever recall seeing trees that look like a giant came along and just broke off the tops like a child picking dandelions. It looked particularly odd with the evergreens, because you saw the fullness of the bottom branches, but the top of the "triangle" is just missing, with just a jagged torn trunk. 

Equally odd was the fact that none of the debris was anywhere to be seen... it's like the giant child gathered up the treetops in a giant bouquet to take home to their giant mommy.  I'm used to storms that tip a tree over or break off a branch and the wood is sitting right there next to the original tree's location.  These missing treetops could have gotten spit out of the 'nader twenty miles away.  

[lenquixote66]

20 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I made the same prediction to Micheline.  Great minds...

Thank you .

[lenquixote66]

18 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Prayers 🙏 it is not malignant Lenny.

Thanks,Graham 

[dani negreanu]

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Glad you didn’t have any damage. Must have been scary that it was that close.

 

+1 Debbi @brillohead

[brillohead]

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Glad you didn’t have any damage. Must have been scary that it was that close.

 

This is without a doubt the closest I've ever been to a touched-down tornado (seen funnel clouds from a distance, and many of us have probably seen waterspouts on a cruise), but what is even scarier to me is the fact that we didn't hear a single thing while this thing was causing mayhem less than 1.5 miles away.  

Usually in 'nader weather, the sky gets a funky greenish light to it, and everyone says a tornado sounds like a freight train coming at you... we had light skies (overcast, but no longer REALLY dark like they were just before the twister) and rain, but only a slight breeze -- not even enough to call it "wind".  When I saw that it had touched down that close to us and we didn't have a clue it was happening, THAT is what was scary to me.  How could we not know????

Especially since THIS is the standard Midwesterner response to tornado weather:

[lenquixote66]

16 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

I thought yesterday's show was a waste of time!  They didn't let us know the results of the challenge.   With 2 eliminations,  they could have at least shown one.

One of the people in this show graduated from the same college as me.Our Alumni Association members have been discussing the show via e-mail.Everyone has been guessing who the Banker is .Several people thought that there was not actually a Banker but that Joe was making all the decisions .I was the only one who predicted Howie Mandel.