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

[bobmacliberty]

16 hours ago, Domino D said:

Perhaps you missed the earlier post.  Some of us have begun intermittent fasting!

 

There was an admin assistant at the engineering office where I worked that always had a bowl of candy on her desk.  She called it her Engineer salt lick.  People would sometimes complain to her, as they were eating the candy, that the candy was not good for them.  Her response was always, "don't blame me for your lack of self-control"  😁

[dani negreanu]

1 hour ago, sgmn said:

My 'routine' day was to Heathrow, first time since March to give my passes and uniform back.

 

I feel for you. At least, you were planning anyhow to retire, albeit later.

 

Our eldest son was a flight attendant with El Al until December 31st, 2019.

 

95% of the FAs are laid off automatically after 5 years. He has done 2 "stints", since he liked very much this "way of life" -- he's not the "nine to five" type... Was very disappointed the 2nd time that he didn't make it with the few who were left "in reserve".

 

We also took "advantage" of him by buying reduced tickets and flying business long-distance, and, before he left, we bought lots of tickets for this year, which NOW are useless.

 

Wishing you to be back on board very soon and enjoy the service of your former peers 😁 

 

[bobmacliberty]

13 hours ago, singinalot said:

thinking about getting Nate one...well me mostly 🤣 

 

Political and religious discussions are typically a bad idea in most settings.  What I'm about to say may be similar...

 

I'm considering getting a Kamado Joe rather than a Big Green Egg.  Several online comparisons make the Joe look better than the BGE.  There...I said it.  @John&LaLa, @Milwaukee Eight - have at it.

[island lady]

17 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

Decorated the golf cart tonight

 

 

 

Nice job!!  Do you have a Christmas golf cart parade in your community as well?  Ours is December 16th this year, an annual event.  They give awards for "best in show".   Most of the residents opt to sit in golf carts to watch the decorated carts go by as they parade along the route, cocktails in hand of course 😉 .   

 

We have not been part of the parade, but may do so some year.  They really go all out with the decorations.  Reminds of the boat parade we always loved to watch in Merritt Island and Cocoa Beach.  😄 

[island lady]

16 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

They were also around 1000 sqft with fairly flat roofs. My 'ranch' is probably 4 times bigger

 

Reminds me of most of Merritt Island...built during the first of the NASA space race.   Indeed 1000-1200 square foot solid single story "bunker" style concrete block houses constructed in the 60s.  

[island lady]

15 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

I can tell you that it sure isn’t frosting. 

 

Don’t eat the lemon sorbet. 

 

Frank Zappa!!   

[island lady]

13 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I'm spatchcocking a 20 pound turkey on Sunday

 

I actually had to look that one up.  Looked good!  Much faster too.  🙂 

[molly361]

Continuing our lockdown just cancelled our second possible trip to the Keys.  Dog has an infection that is not clearing up.  (Yes I am cramming pills down her was that this thread?)  COVID cases heading in the wrong direction with the Keys being a worse spot than where we live.  Oh well maybe 2021

[island lady]

Just now, molly361 said:

Continuing our lockdown just cancelled our second possible trip to the Keys.  Dog has an infection that is not clearing up.  (Yes I am cramming pills down her was that this thread?)  COVID cases heading in the wrong direction with the Keys being a worse spot than where we live.  Oh well maybe 2021

 

Aww...don't you just hate it when our poor little furry children are sick.  Always made me feel so helpless, would rather I was sick than them.  Hope she gets better soon!  Sorry you will miss your

trip to the Keys, I know you were looking forward to it.  

[island lady]

Just back from yet another visit to yet another kitchen/bath design store for a quote.  Trying to get our custom cabinets chosen, priced out, and built for the bathroom.  Will do our own demo, installation, electric, and plumbing....but have the company install the big vanity top.  This one showed promise and even got to walk through the granite/quartz yard to pick out the slab. 

 

Wouldn't mind having someone else do the whole thing, but Bucky is a perfectionist...and I don't want to hear the complaints for months on what they did or didn't do.  ugg....   😮  If it does not go in right...he has no one else to blame but himself.  😉 

 

Current choice has cabinets not delivered until late January or February.  😞 

[sgmn]

43 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

I feel for you. At least, you were planning anyhow to retire, albeit later.

 

Our eldest son was a flight attendant with El Al until December 31st, 2019.

 

95% of the FAs are laid off automatically after 5 years. He has done 2 "stints", since he liked very much this "way of life" -- he's not the "nine to five" type... Was very disappointed the 2nd time that he didn't make it with the few who were left "in reserve".

 

We also took "advantage" of him by buying reduced tickets and flying business long-distance, and, before he left, we bought lots of tickets for this year, which NOW are useless.

 

Wishing you to be back on board very soon and enjoy the service of your former peers 😁 

 

Thank you for your lovely words 😊.  The airline industry has been hit really badly during this pandemic and lots of staff have lost their jobs worldwide. 

It's been a blast, everyday is different, definately not a 9-5 job!!! I'm going to miss the vibe to be sure, but onwards and upwards.  More time for cruising and at least I get a redundancy payout this way 😂

Sue

[bobmacliberty]

I've not been here much over the last week.  We've been busy closing on our new house on Amelia Island...as far northeast as you can go and still be in the state of Florida.  We are now officially Floridians with FL driver's licenses, car registrations, voter registrations, bills to pay, etc.  We still have our house in Ohio and plan to sell it next spring/early summer.  We have between now and then to determine what to move and what to sell/donate/throw away.

 

Our original plan was to build a new home, but there are not a lot of places to build new on Amelia Island.  Many homes on the island are 20+ years old and in need of renovation.  Plan B was to buy an older house and do a complete reno.  We'd be able to make it just the way we'd want it.  Looks easy enough on the HGTV shows.  We ended up finding a 3 year old house that was 90%+ what we would have done if building new. A little tweaking and it will be almost perfect.  I say almost because it has a 2 car garage with no room to expand to 3 cars. ☹️ 

 

We've started the fun part of designing the rooms.  Tying into a previous discussion on this thread, my wife is the designer.  She picks the styles/colors and will occasionally ask me what I think, mostly as a courtesy because it doesn't really matter what I think.  I just need to worry about whether furniture is comfortable enough (which is a challenge given that I'm 6 feet tall and she is 5' 2") and how choices will impact the budget.  I own all of the technology choices (keeping in mind the WAF) but she owns just about everything else.

 

I'm already seeing some of the differences between living in Ohio vs. Florida, beyond just the weather.  We had to set up a contract with a bug service for regular treatment.  As a Florida friend put it, Florida is just a swamp that humans have turned into livable space. The swamp is constantly trying to take everything back.  And since there is no basement, we'll really be missing that 3rd car garage for storage!

 

 

 

[dani negreanu]

3 minutes ago, sgmn said:

The airline industry has been hit really badly during this pandemic and lots of staff have lost their jobs worldwide. 

 

It is so sad, since he has so many friends who were lucky to get the "tenure" status with El Al and were pursers, senior FA, etc. Now -- they're at home since March, and he's working....

 

I used to order 2nd hand books through Amazon c/o the crew hotels in NY, LA (since Amazon don't sell 2nd hand books to Israel), Uniqlo coats for family and friends (same policy), cosmetics, etc., and towards the end of his job he told me: "Don't worry, momsy, my friends will continue to bring you items from abroad, they give me their schedule...".

 

Oh, well.😢

[island lady]

10 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

I've not been here much over the last week.  We've been busy closing on our new house on Amelia Island...as far northeast as you can go and still be in the state of Florida.  We are now officially Floridians with FL driver's licenses, car registrations, voter registrations, bills to pay, etc.  We still have our house in Ohio and plan to sell it next spring/early summer.  We have between now and then to determine what to move and what to sell/donate/throw away.

 

Our original plan was to build a new home, but there are not a lot of places to build new on Amelia Island.  Many homes on the island are 20+ years old and in need of renovation.  Plan B was to buy an older house and do a complete reno.  We'd be able to make it just the way we'd want it.  Looks easy enough on the HGTV shows.  We ended up finding a 3 year old house that was 90%+ what we would have done if building new. A little tweaking and it will be almost perfect.  I say almost because it has a 2 car garage with no room to expand to 3 cars. ☹️ 

 

We've started the fun part of designing the rooms.  Tying into a previous discussion on this thread, my wife is the designer.  She picks the styles/colors and will occasionally ask me what I think, mostly as a courtesy because it doesn't really matter what I think.  I just need to worry about whether furniture is comfortable enough (which is a challenge given that I'm 6 feet tall and she is 5' 2") and how choices will impact the budget.  I own all of the technology choices (keeping in mind the WAF) but she owns just about everything else.

 

I'm already seeing some of the differences between living in Ohio vs. Florida, beyond just the weather.  We had to set up a contract with a bug service for regular treatment.  As a Florida friend put it, Florida is just a swamp that humans have turned into livable space. The swamp is constantly trying to take everything back.  And since there is no basement, we'll really be missing that 3rd car garage for storage!

 

 

 

 

Welcome to Florida!  🙂 

[dani negreanu]

8 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

We've been busy closing on our new house on Amelia Island...

 

Since I've started this thread, I had to google --

1. Thin blue line 

@Milwaukee Eight

2. Amelia Island. @bobmacliberty

3. C-rats. @dave&kathy

4. Scalloped potatoes @A&L_Ont

5. Plantation Bay @Milwaukee Eight

6. Spatchcock turkey @John&LaLa

 

It is fun expanding my "borders" 😁, Thanks

[island lady]

9 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Since I've started this thread, I had to google --

1. Thin blue line 

@Milwaukee Eight

2. Amelia Island. @bobmacliberty

3. C-rats. @dave&kathy

4. Scalloped potatoes @A&L_Ont

5. Plantation Bay @Milwaukee Eight

6. Spatchcock turkey @John&LaLa

 

It is fun expanding my "borders" 😁, Thanks

 

Not yellow snow/lemon sorbet?  😉 

Edited November 18, 2020 by island lady

[A&L_Ont]

Just cancelled Sandal  for January of next year. 

 

Now on the phone with my TA, in the process of cancelling January 2022 which was chartered. Taking the cash back refund on that NRD. 

[Sunshine3601]

42 minutes ago, sgmn said:

Thank you for your lovely words 😊.  The airline industry has been hit really badly during this pandemic and lots of staff have lost their jobs worldwide. 

It's been a blast, everyday is different, definately not a 9-5 job!!! I'm going to miss the vibe to be sure, but onwards and upwards.  More time for cruising and at least I get a redundancy payout this way 😂

Sue

Best wishes with your new plans.   I am sure you feel saddened right now but also sure you will enjoy early retirement.     Stay safe and enjoy the holidays!

[dani negreanu]

16 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

January 2022 which was chartered.

 

No Lift & Shift? Or other dates?

[A&L_Ont]

15 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

No Lift & Shift? Or other dates?

 

The 2 other dates they offered didn't offer Star Class, to which we were booked in, so there was no price protection available for us.  With all the NRD FCCs we have we decided to take the cash back on this one. 

 

It was hard to cancel, as the cabin price when we booked is almost the same as an OS on the other dates offered to us.  That being said there are way worse things, so this isn't the end of the world. 

 

2020, the year of defeat.  

[A&L_Ont]

More sad emoji time...

 

Just got off the phone with RC to cancel our Allure March family cruise.  There were going to be 5 of us in the RLS, which includes two mother-in-laws. Probably a good thing that we took the NRD FCC for that cruise.😉

 

I mean, imagine the possibility of being quarantined with 2 MILs.😂

[dani negreanu]

15 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

I mean, imagine the possibility of being quarantined with 2 MILs.

 

How can ONE be quarantined with 2 MILs?? 

 

Asking for a friend 😆

[Bailey & Sophie]

4 hours ago, vettprincess said:

HI: That would be perfect. 12:30 work for you? Please bring Bailey & Sophie photos.

Finally we get to meet. And discuss RCL cruise plans!

 

12:30 works. See you then.

[Domino D]

2 hours ago, island lady said:

 

I actually had to look that one up.  Looked good!  Much faster too.  🙂 

Not only did I have to google it, I was a little nervous about what my show up.

[Domino D]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

Just cancelled Sandal  for January of next year. 

 

Now on the phone with my TA, in the process of cancelling January 2022 which was chartered. Taking the cash back refund on that NRD. 

That's awful, sorry.  Maybe M8 is right and you should put a flow rider in the barn.