The Daily for Sunday November 07, 2021

[summer slope]

Fantastic photos

[Cruising-along]

Good morning all!  Another wet morning here, about 41 degrees maybe a high of 46 today.  @dfishDebbie I was so sorry to hear about your furnace troubles this morning on FB!  I do hope they can fix it today. If not I would be tempted to get a hotel!

 

Only 2 clocks in our house have to be set manually, I did those this morning.  My car will have to wait until DH changes that clock, way too complicated for me 😉  😂

 

Will pass on the meal and wine, have never been to Bali (but my parents lived there for a year long ago).  Canine Lymphoma is too sad to celebrate (cats get it too).  I wonder if other animals do?

 

Because we'll be gone for half of December (visiting friends and family in NC and CA) I've been trying to get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas all at the same time.  We'll return home just a week before Christmas so it has to be done now.  I've put up the Village for the year (a smaller version, but still a full 8-foot table) and ordered our Christmas cards.  Also ordered a new (smaller) artificial tree.  Our last one was 9-feet tall, just too much for us to carry up and down the stairs for storage so DD found a new home for it.  We bought real trees for a few years, then decided this year, with traveling, why not get another artificial one we can put up right after Thanksgiving.  This one is just 6-feet and I plan to find a storage spot somewhere on the main floor this time 😉  

 

Have a great day everyone 🙂  

 

 

[dfish]

4 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Good morning all!  Another wet morning here, about 41 degrees maybe a high of 46 today.  @dfishDebbie I was so sorry to hear about your furnace troubles this morning on FB!  I do hope they can fix it today. If not I would be tempted to get a hotel!

 

The hotel idea has crossed my mind.  It is up to 60 in here now because it is warm and sunny outside.  But, it will get pretty nippy tonight.  I should look for a space heater, but I think a hotel might be cheaper.

 

I do have a company coming out this afternoon to assess.  If they can fix it today, they will.  If not, it may have to wait until tomorrow.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all it needs is cleaning.  The guy who regularly does that is mending broken ribs.

Edited November 7, 2021 by dfish

[bennybear]

Good morning and thanks all.  I will gladly celebrate Book lovers day.  Just finished Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr who won the pulitzer for All the Light You Cannot See.  
 

I do think awareness of Canine Lymphoma is very important.  We lost our grand dog at two from this nasty disease.  It can be genetic,  or it can result from contact with Roundup, a common weed killer.  
 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2021 by bennybear

[Live4cruises]

@kazu your memes are THE BEST.  The funny ones (the lion cracked me up) and always the ones that give pause.

Thanks!

[Cruising-along]

2 minutes ago, dfish said:

The hotel idea has crossed my mind. 

Great minds think alike 😉  Let us know what transpires.

[kazu]

28 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

Thanks Jacqui!    It actually takes you longer to do than you think when you get started.  

 

I totally understand from when I did live threads.  It takes time and we appreciate you taking it 🙂 

 

 

1 hour ago, JAM37 said:

Yes, we changed the floor plan and took it down to the studs including the ceilings. 

 

 

Wow!  That’s a big undertaking.  Good luck!

 

10 minutes ago, dfish said:

 

The hotel idea has crossed my mind.  It is up to 60 in here now because it is warm and sunny outside.  But, it will get pretty nippy tonight.  I should look for a space heater, but I think a hotel might be cheaper.

 

I do have a company coming out this afternoon to assess.  If they can fix it today, they will.  If not, it may have to wait until tomorrow.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all it needs is cleaning.  The guy who regularly does that is mending broken ribs.

 

I hope it turns out to be a simple fix like cleaning - if not, I second the hotel idea.  It’s too cold at night to go without heat.

[Vict0riann]

Good morning, all Dailyites, and thanks to Rich, Roy, Jacqui, the F & D ladies, and all who post.  The pictures are great!  My head is completely out of whack this morning again with the time change.  Up very early, but the coffee took a while to kick in.

 

Off to church (online) any minute now, and we are looking forward to getting tested tomorrow and then will end our isolation, hopefully.   I have to wonder if the ship ever notifies ex-passengers that they may have been exposed to Covid...  I have been checking the website that we have here to see if there have been any cases connected with our flights home.  So far, so good.

[Live4cruises]

I started “new time day” by neglecting to put my cup under the coffee maker spout.  🥴  Fortunately the designing engineers envisioned this possibility, and the base conveniently caught all the wasted coffee.  Aggravation, but not a big mess, thankfully.

Alas, we were supposed to be leaving in just about a month for our epic Southeast Asia cruise adventure.  So thanks all who posted pictures of Bali.

@dfish, I’m very sorry about your heating!  Sleeping in a cold house isn’t too bad, but getting out of bed is the pits!  I do hope it’s an easy fix.  

Put me in the category of liking grits and polenta, but I don’t like mushrooms!  As a group, we are very hard to please.

Have fun everyone (except @ger_77) in adjusting our own and our pets’ internal clocks!

[Live4cruises]

@Suslor, the gremlins attacked me yesterday, so I wasn’t able to respond to your post.

I was excited to see which Neptune you are in.  We are scheduled for 10005 on NS on the last Canada/New England of 2022.  I’ve done quite a bit of searching, and have most of my questions answered, except —-  

Is the forward-facing window placed so that you can see out of it while sitting in the chairs?  I’ve wondered, if something taller is needed, if our steward could locate a couple of bar stools.  Darned needy cruisers!

Thank you and I hope you have a WONDERFUL cruise.

[dobiemom]

5 hours ago, kazu said:

To answer your crucial question of the day - the few clocks in the house that had to be done were done last night.  The car can wait until I am in it 😉 

Sane here. And I went to get my free bagel from Panera earlier this morning so the car is done, too. 😉

(CC is acting up again, quoting the entire thread and I can’t @like,” so I’m posting from my phone. So far, so good. 🤞) 

Edited November 7, 2021 by dobiemom

[JazzyV]

Good afternoon. Thanks for the Daily and to all contributors.

Interesting days. I like chocolate with almonds (not bittersweer), and books!

There's truth in that quote, unfortunately.

I'll pass on polenta cakes. I like the drink and wine (but too pricey for me).

I haven't been to today's destination. Thanks for the great pictures.

 

It was 28F this morning but warming up, and sunny. All clocks are set, including my atomic clocks. I cannot pick up a signal in my house, or even when I take one outside, so they don't work here for some reason. Must be something in my area. Doing the happy dance - the scale has finally moved after stalling for a month; 20 lbs gone! Maybe yardwork later if it's warm enough.

 

@dfish Sorry to hear about the furnace issues and hope it's fixed soon. I have hot water heat and a boiler; the thermocouple has gone out at the most inopportune times, usually a holiday.

@KirkNC Oh my on the flooding. Hope the water goes away soon.

@smitty34877 Continued prayers for Tana.

@JAM37 Wow, ambitious project! Hoping it all goes well.

@summer slope You can't buy the proctored tests locally, they have to be ordered from Emed or Optum.

@Live4cruises Glad you didn't have a mess with the coffee! I leave off the part that catches spillovers because of my tall mug.

 

Prayers for the care list and cheers to the celebration list.

Stay safe everyone.

 

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

Here are the remaining pictures of our day in Bali.  We were supposed to be there in 2002 on Volendam's APEC cruise.  The port was canceled after the nightclub bombing.  Captain Peter Harris sailed close enough to Bali for us to take a few pictures of the island.  It was a very grey, cloudy day, and the pictures are not good enough to share.

 

I'm pretty sure we were the only four people on the ship who got to see how the Balinese live.  Our driver took us to his family's home, which is really a compound.  His brother's job is carving masks which someone else paints before the "big boss" sells them to the shops.  We got to see the brother carving a mask out of balsa wood.  After much discussion, the brother agreed to sell us an unpainted mask.  He was afraid he would get in trouble with his boss, but in the end each couple walked away with a mask.  It means more to me than a finished one I could buy in a store.

 

Notice the chickens in the cages.

 

Our next stop was Klungkung, a former royal palace.

 

One the way back to the tender pier. 

 

At the tender dock.

 

Some of the girls who danced for the passengers as they shopped.  If you did not want to be hassled, you kept your eyes off the items for sale.

 

We wanted one of the large, decorative kites for sale on the island, but knew we couldn't get it home on the plane.  Ironically, we found one in Quartzsite the next winter, and it's hanging on our livingroom wall.  Good thing the ceiling is 17 feet high.

 

Our driver for the day stopped on the way back to the tender, and asked us to pay him then.  He, along with other drivers, lived with the owner of the car.  If we paid him at the dock and tipped him (which we did ), the owner would see the transaction and want all the money.  By paying before the final stop at the dock, he got to keep the tip.  We also had to get back a little earlier than necessary, as the driver had to be at the owner's house in time for the evening meal.  If he arrived after the meal, he would not be fed that night.

 

Lenda

 

Great photos and interesting commentary.

Graham.

[grapau27]

2 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

Well, I apologize for leaving you hanging, but DH was really READY to go and run our errands so I had to drop everything to go along.  He needed help picking out the frozen turkey breast we'll prepare for Thanksgiving.  Didn't trust his own judgement!😄

 

November 23, 2013 on Diamond Princess.  I see from Roy's photo they switch out the signs at the cruise terminal for each cruise line, as they should.  They are probably very happy to see these ships come into port.

 

Welcomers

 

 

We were lucky this trip to have a couple from Australia on board whom we'd met in 2010 on a Princess ship.  He had hired a driver for this port who would drive them around to see the sights, and they asked if we'd like to go along.  Yes!  First we drove to the Pura Gunung Kawi temple.  Here, the cliffs flanking the Packerisan river feature shrines carved into stone honoring kings and queens from the 11th century. 

 

 

 

 

It was beautiful!

 

 

 

It was so peaceful there.

 

Then we went to Tirta Empul temple.  The sacred spring there provides holy water for priests and bathing for ordinary Balinese, who believe that a dip here can bring good fortune and health.  An offering must first be made at the temple before you can climb into the long main pool to bathe and meditate.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

This photo was taken from the car on the way to the volcano.  As Lenda mentioned the Balinese prepare and decorate a penjor made from a long bamboo pole hung vertically in front of their home.  They can be up to 10 meters high and they droop and hang over the roads making a beautiful sight.

 

We didn't get real close to the volcano, Mount Batur, because it's active.  Instead we viewed it from the village of Penelokan.  Here is a misty view of the Mount Batur and Lake Batur.

 

 

That's all for today.  I hope this gives you a glimpse of Benoa and the surrounding area.  

Fabulous photos Sandi.

Graham.

[GeorgeCharlie]

 

We visited Bali while on a circumnavigation of Australia in 2013. 

Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, and we had heavy showers passing thru both days we were there. Added to the frustration was a massive delay getting through customs on our arrival. First, there was a long wait for the officials to come out to the ship, and then to get the ship cleared. Then, after several the tenders are loaded up, we watched them spent over an hour just circling the ship before it was announced that they had to bring everyone back onboard and get the ship cleared for a second time.😠

 

We were initially expected to start sending tenders ashore by 8am, but it was early afternoon before anyone got ashore. The delay resulted in most of the shore excursions being cancelled and with the bad weather, a lot of people did not even bother going ashore the first day.  

 

We had arranged for a private tour on both days and after such a delay, we were wondering if it was even worthwhile going ashore to see if he was still waiting for us. Private tour guides were not allowed into the dock area, so we were to meet up with him outside the main entrance. And, lo and behold, within the mass of people that descended upon us offering greatly discounted tours, was a guy holding up a sign with our name on it. Needless to say, even though he had been waiting in the rain for several hours, he was greatly relieved to see us.😌

 

The Rotterdam was also visiting while were we there and happily for them - they were able to tie up to the dock.

 

 

Vendors were not allowed on the dock, but they were allowed to set up and sell through the fence.

 

 

As mentioned, it was wet while we were there.

 

One of the temples we were to visit.

 

But our guide advised us not to try and walk out to it, as frequent high waves had a habit of passing over the walkway!!

 

He also noted that there were strict laws forbidding more then one person riding on a motor bike, but it was seldom enforced.

 

Like most third-world countries, a lot of the construction work is done by hand.

 

 

And with little, or no, safety regulations.

 

Have to feel sorry for him when you see how bad his feet, legs, hands, and arms (along with other parts of him you can not see) are scarred-up. 

 

With the low clouds we did not try and get up to see some of the outlying sights, but here are some general pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This post is getting to be a rather long post, so I'll split it up.

 

[dfish]

The verdict is in.   The inducer motor is shot and needs to be replaced.   They will order it first thing tomorrow morning and hopefully get one in tomorrow.  In the meantime, a friend is loaning me two space heaters.  I may use them both in the downstairs of the house.  I like a cold room to sleep in and will probably sleep like a log.  I did last night!  Only $450.   

[kazu]

1 minute ago, dfish said:

The verdict is in.   The inducer motor is shot and needs to be replaced.   They will order it first thing tomorrow morning and hopefully get one in tomorrow.  In the meantime, a friend is loaning me two space heaters.  I may use them both in the downstairs of the house.  I like a cold room to sleep in and will probably sleep like a log.  I did last night!  Only $450.   

 

YIKES 😱. I’m glad you found some space heaters.  Dress warm as the house will get cold space heaters or not.  Trust me, I know 😉 

[StLouisCruisers]

2 minutes ago, dfish said:

The verdict is in.   The inducer motor is shot and needs to be replaced.   They will order it first thing tomorrow morning and hopefully get one in tomorrow.  In the meantime, a friend is loaning me two space heaters.  I may use them both in the downstairs of the house.  I like a cold room to sleep in and will probably sleep like a log.  I did last night!  Only $450.   

 

Well, glad you have the answer.  Too bad it has to wait for a part but the space heaters will help a lot.  I too like a cool room to sleep in.  It's healthier for you I've read.

[GeorgeCharlie]

Part two of our visit to Bali.

 

Due to the bad weather, there was not many people visiting some of the tourist shops.

 

 

Preparing rice fields for planting.

 

Planting by hand.

 

Planted fields.

 

We also visited one of Bali’s coffee farms and had a taste some of their infamous kopi luwak coffee.

 

 

Which to me tasted like a rather bitter coffee. Fortunately, Lynne does not drink coffee and she happily passed on trying a taste, as it is a coffee made out of partially digested coffee cherries, which have been eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet.

 

(Internet picture)

 

The cherries are fermented as they pass through a civet's intestines, and after being defecated with other fecal matter, they are collected.

 

(Internet picture)

 

Although kopi luwak is a form of processing rather than a variety of coffee, it has been called one of the most expensive coffees in the world, with retail prices reaching US$100 per kilogram for farmed beans and US$1,300 per kilogram for wild-collected beans.

 

Couple of signs that we were in a third-world country.

 

Squat toilets, with manual flush.

 

Local religious conditions.

 

 

Our guide insisted we try some durian fruit, as he was planning on buying one to take home.

 

 

We passed on his offer, as we were already knew the fruit smells so pungently bad that many public places, such as hotels and bus stations, prohibit people from carrying it. With this in mind, he understandably decided to tie it to the front bumper, so that we didn't go back to the ship smelling like we had fallen the sewer!!

 

 

Fortunately, our driver/guide had a very entertaining personality – so overall, even with missing most of the first day, along with the nasty weather - we had an interesting visit to this part of Indonesia.

[Seasick Sailor]

(Rotter) DAM! Our Delta flight was changed from 1:30 to 11:40 leaving FLL. With my sweet husband in wheelchair,  do we still have time? We will have luggage forwarded.

[lazey1]

I am another one that will pass on the polenta but Roy's alternative meal looks delishous.

Thank you to everyone who posted the photos of Bali. Such a different world from anyplace that I have ever been or seen.

Jane

[StLouisCruisers]

46 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

(Rotter) DAM! Our Delta flight was changed from 1:30 to 11:40 leaving FLL. With my sweet husband in wheelchair,  do we still have time? We will have luggage forwarded.

 

Check all the Delta flights that afternoon on their website and see if there is a different flight that will work for you.  Then call Delta and tell them that time (11:40) does not work for you due to mobility issues, etc.  Tell them you'd like to switch to the later time flight and see what happens.  Usually they will work with you with a time difference that large.

[rafinmd]

Today was the celebration of All Saints Sunday in my church.  I lit a candle for Roger and put it in the veterans area.  The protocol was a bit unclear about whether it was for all veterans or those who died from their service but I took the liberty of believing that his years of stooping and crawling through hatches in submarines contributed to his back problems and led to the surgery and the clot that took his life.

 

 

Roy

Edited November 7, 2021 by rafinmd

[TiogaCruiser]

2 hours ago, GeorgeCharlie said:

And with little, or no, safety regulations.

 

Have to feel sorry for him when you see how bad his feet, legs, hands, and arms (along with other parts of him you can not see) are scarred-up. 

Looks like he may have vitiligo.

[rafinmd]

@GeorgeCharlie you have a great eye for the things that escape most tourists.

 

Roy