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

[Ozark_Kid]

20 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

For those truly interested in cutting the cord with your cable company and NOT replacing it with monthly fees from a bunch of online services, ABC/CBS/NBC/PBS/FOX/CW/etc. are still broadcast over the air (OTA) for free.  You can install an HDTV antenna that plugs into the back of your TV and pick up these signals, depending on how far away the signal is being broadcast and how well your antenna can see the signal.  There's a good website called Antenna Web that lets you enter your location, and it will show you the broadcasting stations near you, and the type of antenna needed to receive their signal: 

Antenna Web: AntennaWeb - Antenna Signal Prediction

 

If you live close to where the signal is being broadcast, you can probably get away with a relatively small indoor antenna.  If you live further away, you may need an outdoor antenna.  In the early days of HDTV, I mounted one of those clothes drying rack looking antennas in my attic in Cincinnati (Time Warner Cable was not offering HDTV to my house at the time).  It was a highly directional antenna, meaning that it could pick up signals from far away, but couldn't find signals too well left or right of where the antenna was pointed.  The other option is an omnidirectional antenna that can find signals in any direction, but can't find them as far away.  All of the Cincinnati broadcasters at the time were in the same general area so I could point my antenna in one place and receive all of them.

 

After the initial cost of buying and installing antenna(s) and running cables to your TVs, this is truly free.  @Sea Dog may know better, but I believe that these TV stations are required by the FCC to continue to broadcast their signal for free for some period of time.   One of the disadvantages of this approach though is no DVR.  There are 3rd party boxes that you can buy from companies like Tivo (remember them?) and Channel Master that you plug an antenna into and will give you DVR functionality.  Some have only a one time purchase price, and some also have an annual fee.  If you can survive with just the TV stations that broadcast an OTA signal, this is a very workable solution.  We can't survive that way though. 

I put my zip code in and it said that I might be able to get PBS with the strongest antenna.   I searched another site a few years back and it said maybe two stations.  If I lived in or near a large city I would probably go this route.  But also there would probably be more than one choice for an internet provider and therefore cheaper prices.

[Ozark_Kid]

11 minutes ago, Lionesss said:

 

What ship?

Ovation. Alaska.  What ship are you on.  If I remember correctly you are headed to warmer weather.

[Sunshine3601]

43 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Did not book anything new, just put in a waitlist for a higher Category Balcony for the Panama Canal cruise we have booked in 2023.....What sucks though the waitlist is only good for 1 month at a time, so I would need to call back every month to then to extend the waitlist.

 

Europe sailing is still booked, tried to get them to move the price to another sailing, they are not going for it this time. They will however give us back our deposit in cash and NOT a FCC.

Tired of chasing down that OS, I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Had there been no extended cruise stoppage because of Covid we would have been there and back by now. Oh well.

Good luck with the waitlist.   Panama Canal are always nice cruises, popular too🤩

When is final payment for your Wonder sailing?  

[Sea Dog]

12 hours ago, NHProud said:

Thank you , Dani ! Surgery at 7:30

AM and home at noon .  No pain so far so doing pretty well . PT starts tomorrow. 

 

 

Thinking of you guys. Glad everything went well. The pain does come unfortunately.

 

 

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

For those truly interested in cutting the cord with your cable company and NOT replacing it with monthly fees from a bunch of online services, ABC/CBS/NBC/PBS/FOX/CW/etc. are still broadcast over the air (OTA) for free.  You can install an HDTV antenna that plugs into the back of your TV and pick up these signals, depending on how far away the signal is being broadcast and how well your antenna can see the signal.  There's a good website called Antenna Web that lets you enter your location, and it will show you the broadcasting stations near you, and the type of antenna needed to receive their signal: 

Antenna Web: AntennaWeb - Antenna Signal Prediction

 

If you live close to where the signal is being broadcast, you can probably get away with a relatively small indoor antenna.  If you live further away, you may need an outdoor antenna.  In the early days of HDTV, I mounted one of those clothes drying rack looking antennas in my attic in Cincinnati (Time Warner Cable was not offering HDTV to my house at the time).  It was a highly directional antenna, meaning that it could pick up signals from far away, but couldn't find signals too well left or right of where the antenna was pointed.  The other option is an omnidirectional antenna that can find signals in any direction, but can't find them as far away.  All of the Cincinnati broadcasters at the time were in the same general area so I could point my antenna in one place and receive all of them.

 

After the initial cost of buying and installing antenna(s) and running cables to your TVs, this is truly free.  @Sea Dog may know better, but I believe that these TV stations are required by the FCC to continue to broadcast their signal for free for some period of time.   One of the disadvantages of this approach though is no DVR.  There are 3rd party boxes that you can buy from companies like Tivo (remember them?) and Channel Master that you plug an antenna into and will give you DVR functionality.  Some have only a one time purchase price, and some also have an annual fee.  If you can survive with just the TV stations that broadcast an OTA signal, this is a very workable solution.  We can't survive that way though. 

 

You nailed it. Great information. I am amazed how many people do not realize they can get their local channels for free.

 

 

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Congrats on reaching this milestone Greg!  While you still have more work to do, it's important to celebrate the milestones along the way.

 

Thanks Bob. I'm looking forward to getting stronger with my new knee and doing more.

 

[Momof3gurlz]

58 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I had my first jury duty several years ago and the bailiff in the jury room said something that makes a lot of sense.  He said that most people dread jury duty going into it, but are happy that they did it coming out.  

 

I was one of the initial 12 selected for the jury box the first time that I was called, and went through the voir dire process.  I heard an overview of the trial and then the lawyers (and the judge) asked a few questions of the jurors (e.g. are you related to any law enforcement officials, what is your occupation, etc.).  I told them that I was an Engineer, which I was told often gets you out of jury duty.  Lawyers don't typically want logical thinking people.  They want people who will think more emotionally.  The judge asked if there's any reason why any of the jurors don't think they can serve.  I raised my hand and said that I had a lot of important things happening at work (which was true) and didn't know how well I could focus on the trial.  The judge and lawyers disappeared for a few minutes and then returned.  The judge announced that juror numbers x, y, z are excused.  I was one of the excused jurors.  I don't know if it was because of what I said, or because I was an engineer, or both.  Several times since then I've had to do the daily calls to see if I've been chosen, but have never been picked.  I kind of wish that I'd gone through the whole trial for that first jury duty summons to get the experience.

My only experience with jury duty was about 8 years ago. The case was a teenager accusing a family friend of sexual assault.  My number was chosen and during the questioning (I guess that’s the voir dire?), they asked each of us to say a bit about ourselves, such as employment history, marital status, children, etc.  I thought for sure I’d be excused when I stayed I had 3 daughters but I was not.  Sat through the trial which lasted a day and a half, only to have my number chosen as the alternate so I never did have any input in the outcome of the case and never knew what happened.  It was a fascinating experience though. 

[clochette]

7 hours ago, sgmn said:

Love Bar Harbor and Halifax. We've been on two cruises there, once from Boston and once from New York. Some of Gary's old school friends live near Halifax and it was great meeting up with them again. Very easy to hire a car in Halifax port 

We have been to Bar Harbor quite a few times, staying for a week, and are looking forward to a lazy day there just walking around town and eating lobster, went to Halifax once 25 years ago when we took the ferry from Bar Harbor to there, again planning on a lazy day there of walking around and going to the Maritime museum.

[TravelGirlinDallas]

1 hour ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Ovation. Alaska.  What ship are you on.  If I remember correctly you are headed to warmer weather.

I hope you will do a review! We are sailing on Ovation in July, and I am anxious to see pics and hear all about it.

[Jimbo]

57 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Good luck with the waitlist.   Panama Canal are always nice cruises, popular too🤩

When is final payment for your Wonder sailing?  

Final is 6/19, so probably do something by June 7th.

 

Just paid a boat load of $$ for Kitchen remodel contract.  New Microwave/Range, Pendant lights, New  Hanging light in Living Room are all ready here. New Fridge and New Dishwasher will be here this Wednesday.

 

New Gas Range is ordered and paid for already, no delivery date for that yet.

 

All Brick has been ordered and paid for 8 to 12 weeks for that to come in.

 

Start date is supposed to be August 1st, done by October 1st.

 

 

But we told them they can come demo anytime before then if they  get loose or something between other jobs because we have another full kitchen down stairs for the in law suite that is down there.

 

Biggest hold up might be the cabinets........Would be super nice though when and if they come in early, everything is all ready demoed. So they could come put in cabinets right away.

 

Normal remodels they really wouldn't start tearing your old kitchen out until  new cabinets were to be soon to be delivered and not leave you with out a kitchen for a long period of time.

Edited May 6, 2022 by Jimbo

[Jimbo]

59 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Good luck with the waitlist.   Panama Canal are always nice cruises, popular too🤩

When is final payment for your Wonder sailing?  

So  true about Panama Canal cruises,  It's really  been my favorite cruise of all time. It's just the nice feeling around the ship, crew and other passengers are just more laid back and relaxed. Everyone gets along so well just makes for a more enjoyable cruise.

 

No one feels rushed to do anything, I like the sizes of the ships that go through the canals. Feels more like  a special cruise then those larger ships that are more like going to an amusement park where you get the feeling you have to do everything or you aren't getting your monies worth.

 

The weather is great on the Panama sailings too , you kind of get 2  seasons when traveling that many miles from west to east, or vise versa. Nothing like a Caribbean sailing  where it's just plain HOT and Humid!

 

 

Edited May 6, 2022 by Jimbo

[Ozark_Kid]

21 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

I hope you will do a review! We are sailing on Ovation in July, and I am anxious to see pics and hear all about it.

I am considering it.  The only hesitation is I don’t see much downtime with the itinerary.  The plus side is while off of the boat, internet should be good through cellular.  
There is a Ovation review going on right now that you would probably enjoy.  
This will be our first time on Ovation.  Have you cruised Ovation before?

[lenquixote66]

10 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

Did you not have WOR (Ch 9) or PBS (Ch13)? 

 

Never heard of Dumont. Must be a local Long Island channel. 

 

I lived in Brooklyn till 2003.Dumont was channel 5 and WNET was channel 13.WOR was probably the one that I could not remember.

[Ozark_Kid]

@Jimbo Have you started your garden yet?

[NHProud]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

 

 

Thinking of you guys. Glad everything went well. The pain does come unfortunately.

 

 

 

You nailed it. Great information. I am amazed how many people do not realize they can get their local channels for free.

 

 

 

Thanks Bob. I'm looking forward to getting stronger with my new knee and doing more.

 

Thank you Greg for your advice . Glad that it is mostly behind you and hope it is all happy cruising for you on the Bella sailing .

 

They did a nerve block so that’s why he was able to go home so soon. We watched the needle go in on the sonogram. 

Edited May 6, 2022 by NHProud

[lenquixote66]

11 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

+1

I only rooted for the Yankees when my childhood friend Frank Tepedino was on the team.

I was a Dodgers fan from 1953 to 1962 .I became a Mets fan in 1964 but I still also root for the Dodgers except when they play the Mets.

[George C]

40 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

My only experience with jury duty was about 8 years ago. The case was a teenager accusing a family friend of sexual assault.  My number was chosen and during the questioning (I guess that’s the voir dire?), they asked each of us to say a bit about ourselves, such as employment history, marital status, children, etc.  I thought for sure I’d be excused when I stayed I had 3 daughters but I was not.  Sat through the trial which lasted a day and a half, only to have my number chosen as the alternate so I never did have any input in the outcome of the case and never knew what happened.  It was a fascinating experience though. 

My jury duty in New York City was very interesting, one guy was selling another guy a pound of grass. They meet each other at a drug rehab 😁. When the buyer asked to weigh the drugs the seller pulled out a gun, they wrestled for the gun and the seller was shot several times , luckily for him nothing hit any vital organs. This transaction was in the sellers car who also had a German shepherd in the back seat. This took place in a KFC parking lot. We voted not guilty, another interesting thing was the pound of grass was never found. Trail lasted almost two weeks.

[bobmacliberty]

47 minutes ago, Momof3gurlz said:

My only experience with jury duty was about 8 years ago. The case was a teenager accusing a family friend of sexual assault.  My number was chosen and during the questioning (I guess that’s the voir dire?), they asked each of us to say a bit about ourselves, such as employment history, marital status, children, etc.  I thought for sure I’d be excused when I stayed I had 3 daughters but I was not.  Sat through the trial which lasted a day and a half, only to have my number chosen as the alternate so I never did have any input in the outcome of the case and never knew what happened.  It was a fascinating experience though. 

 

The case when I was excused was a company employee driving a company owned truck while working, who hit another vehicle, injuring the other driver.  There was no question that the company employee was at fault for the accident.  The other driver however allegedly had some previous medical issues and was claiming that these issues were due to the accident (or possibly became worsened by the accident...can't remember).  He wanted the company that owned the truck to pay all of his medical expenses.  Would have been interesting to hear both sides say why the company should or should not have been responsible for medical payments.

[bobmacliberty]

Who knows anything about turtles?  We found this guy in our backyard.  Micheline thinks it might be a Gopher Tortoise, which has some form of threatened/protected status in Florida.  Anyone know what kind of turtle this is?

 

Edited May 6, 2022 by bobmacliberty

[TravelGirlinDallas]

19 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

There is a Ovation review going on right now that you would probably enjoy.  
This will be our first time on Ovation.  Have you cruised Ovation before?

Yes, I'm following the current review, too. I have not cruised Ovation before. The last time I cruised to Alaska, it was on NCL Star. Ovation will be the newest ship I've ever been on, and I'm super-excited.

[lenquixote66]

21 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

Who knows anything about turtles?  We found this guy in our backyard.  Micheline thinks it might be a Gopher Tortoise, which has some form of threatened/protected status in Florida.  Anyone know what kind of turtle this is?

 

You might try sending the picture to a Zoological society in Fla or perhaps the Zoology Dept of a local college.Just a thought.

[Jimbo]

38 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

@Jimbo Have you started your garden yet?

It's tilled and ready for planting, was going to go out this afternoon and pick up some plants but it's kind of a miserable day here and heavier rain and storms are moving in, so think I will put it off to tomorrow or Sunday.  

Lowest temp in the next 14 days is 39 degrees on Sunday night, after that to the 20th of May is 45 degrees or higher. So I should be safe to put plants in the ground this coming Monday.

 

Forecast today : Strong storms today. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Have a plan and be prepared.

[Keksie]

41 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

Who knows anything about turtles?  We found this guy in our backyard.  Micheline thinks it might be a Gopher Tortoise, which has some form of threatened/protected status in Florida.  Anyone know what kind of turtle this is?

 

That is not a gopher tortoise.  It is a yellow bellied slider.  Gopher Tortoises are protected and considered a keystone species and very protected in Florida.  See below for a picture.

 

 

 

[HBE4]

 

My jury service was odd, as I served for 2 full weeks with a different case each week  - one criminal and one civil. I thought that was weird as I was under the impression you are done once your first trial is over. 

 

Anyways, the criminal case was breaking and entering. A guy was found in a closed fast food place with his hand down a floor safe. He was en ex-employee that was fired a few months earlier. His excuse was that he was in the neighborhood, noticed the back door was open & went inside to look for some of his "friends". Took us about 10 minutes to convict him. Sentenced to 5 years I think.  The group of jurors I was with really bonded that week. Two hour lunches every day (court system has a lot of down time)  & happy hour after the trial was over.

 

The civil case was brought on by a kid #1 riding a bicycle thru the hallways of an apartment complex, ran into kid #2 and broke his leg.  The parents of kid #2 sued the parent of kid #1 for some ridiculous amount of money.  Different group of jurors this time but we were all of the mind set that kids do stupid things & sometimes they get hurt. It's called growing up, weve all done it & since none of the injuries were life threatening or permanent, decided in favor of the defendant (parents of kid #1) Unfornatley, before we could tell the bailiff we reached a decision, we were informed that they settled the case out of court. No idea what the settlement was although someone mention that the parent of kid#1 would help pay some of the medical bills., which seemed fair and probably all what the parents of kid#2 wanted all along.

 

[cruisingpeople]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

So  true about Panama Canal cruises,  It's really  been my favorite cruise of all time. It's just the nice feeling around the ship, crew and other passengers are just more laid back and relaxed. Everyone gets along so well just makes for a more enjoyable cruise.

Completely agree. One of the other great things is looking at this engineering marvel and thinking what it was like designing and building this over 100 years ago with the machinery that they had back then. We have done the Full Transit once and the Partial Transit twice and when our friends that have never been are ready to go, we will have no problem taking that cruise again. We also took a ship sponsored "Small Boat Excursion through the Canal" where you were able to get a completely different perspective of the size of everything. I have not read it, but they say if you read "The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough, it is a very informative book.

[HBE4]

3 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

There's a good website called Antenna Web that lets you enter your location, and it will show you the broadcasting stations near you, and the type of antenna needed to receive their signal: 

Antenna Web: AntennaWeb - Antenna Signal Prediction

 

Thanks. Unfortunately,  I guess I live just far enough away from NYC as the search came back with zero channels from zero OTA stations available.  I tried an address a few miles closer to NYC & it came back with 9 channels. I tried an address even closer and 45 channels were available.

 

So yeah, I'm just outside the reach. 😠

 

[Sunshine3601]

3 hours ago, Ozark_Kid said:

I put my zip code in and it said that I might be able to get PBS with the strongest antenna.   I searched another site a few years back and it said maybe two stations.  If I lived in or near a large city I would probably go this route.  But also there would probably be more than one choice for an internet provider and therefore cheaper prices.

Eric had in recent past got his Mother one of these HDTV antennas and tried mounting in several locations of the house.     On a good day she got ABC, NBC and Fox but on a rainy day she was lucky if she got one station.    She is muddling thru learning how to use the smart TV she bought earlier this year after the fire at her house.    He set her up with Netflix, peacock and a couple other free ones but she gets herself so confused on how to "change the channel".