The Daily for Friday 01/07/2022

[JazzyV]

Beijing - 2

Tiananmen Square, Qianmen Gate

 

Mao Zedong mausoleum

 

 

Tiananmen Square, The Gate of Heavenly Peace

 

The Forbidden City, Meridian Gate

 

 

Throne of the Emperors

 

Forbidden City Gardens

 

Bicycle produce seller

 

Marble boat at the Summer Palace

 

At the Beijing Peking Opera

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by JazzyV

[Himself]

Thanks for the Fleet Report.  I was in Bejing 9 months after the riots of 1989.  It was very tough in those days.  I have no plans to go back there.

[Himself]

5 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Thank you for the TGIF Daily, Rich.  I loved the Globetrotters but haven't seen them in many years.  Never  had a bobblehead.  Old Rocks can be interesting.  I love the quote but will pass on the Lutefisk.  Beijing is nice but it's a long drive from the port.  It's a cold, snowy day here.  Not sure how much I'll get out.  What a confusing mess on Nieuw Amsterdam; not sure when she'll be back in service as the just cancelled cruise preceeded 2 now deferred charters.  I hope some new deployment options will come up between now and January 29.

 

Today’s care list:

Strength for Jacqui, healing for Jose and wisdom for his doctors
Saint John Hospital Covid Situation
Marshhawk with new illness and doctor issue
Debbie with dentist issue
Welfare of furloughed crews
Walker in hospice
1ANGELCAT with finger in splint
Tana in hospital
MissG’s dad with pneumonia

An unplanned "vacation" for marshhawk
From the rotation:
summer slope BCC surgery in February
positive biopsy for Mtn2Sea appointment January 19
rafinmd recovering from radiation side effects
MissG’s father hanging in for one more cruise.

 

Celebrations and Shoutouts:

Welcome aboard Oceansaway17
6 BHB with passengers
Front Line Health Care Workers
2 days for GTVCRUISER (Koningsdam 1/9 to 1/16)
2 days for sassy~one (Rotterdam 1/9 to 1/29)
Carnival Group  hospital ships Noordam, Crown Princess, and Queen Victoria
summer slope (1/29), Seasick Sailor (1/16), Lindaler, garlictown, Av8rix(Rotterdam to 1/9) and Ichiban Nekko (Nieuw Amsterdam to 1/8) at sea
Sharon at 4-star
Koningsdan Staff Captain Sabine - officially onboard & introduced. - Our first female Staff Captain and HAL’s likely first female Captain(I know this is a repeat but she’s worth it)

Roy

 

 

Thanks for the lists  Roy.  Hope you are well.

[puppycanducruise]

Heard that Sidney Poitier passed away.

RIP

He was great.

[bennybear]

Good morning and thanks all!  The wines have sounded really interesting Ann.   Enjoying the photos of the port, as I doubt we will ever visit.  
Hoping for a change in luck, sending more prayers for Jacqui, Jose and Marley.   Gotta love the Alberta meme,  hoping we can go outside later today or tomorrow, sigh!
love rocks,  big ones, precious, semi precious, dinosaur…..    passed on the love to our DGD who wanted a rock tumbler for her birthday.  
Some from  Queen Victoria's collection

Edited January 7, 2022 by bennybear

[nancynana9950]

Good afternoon all. This is our DS and grandchildren on the glacial erratic a short walk from our camp at Upper Saranac lake  Somewhere I have photos of our 2 kids on the rock when they were little. No bobble heads here.  DH took DS to see the globetrotters.  I like the quote but had to look up who Baruch was.  A firm pass on the meal and the drink.  I love ginger but strangely not ginger beer.  I think I would like the wine.  I am very sure I will never get to China so I am enjoying the pictures.  @kazuI really hope these troubling days are behind you soon. 🙏

[USN59-79]

We had a change in weather last night.  Warming and heavy rain so all of our snow and ice is gone.  I ordered a new computer monitor that was supposed to be delivered Tuesday.  Put on the truck, but not delivered each day since.  Now promised today.

As a kid, I was what was called a rockhound.  We lived in Central Washington and I collected a lot of agates and petrified wood.  My parents bought me a lapidary outfit, so I could cut and polish stones.  I still have a wood dynamite box in the garage filled with rocks I collected back in the 1950s.

We also have glacier erratics in this area.  We own a log house built by my relatives in 1931.  There was a rock about the size of a volkswagen beetle that they built the house over, using it as part of the foundation rather than trying to move it.  You can see the main part of it it the basement.

Ray

[travelnap]

When I grew up the community was a mix of German and Norwegian heritage.  The standard joke back then was the biggest difference between Germans and Norwegians was that the Germans used lye to clean their drains, while the Norwegians used it to season their food.  Lutefisk and lefse feeds used to be very common in our area each winter.  Since I am of German heritage, I enjoyed the lefse and always skipped the lutefisk.  Trying it once was enough for me.

[ottahand7]

Lots of snow today so I am on late.  I am enjoying all of the photos on this snowy day between trips out to shovel the deck to feed the birds.  Prayers for healing for everyone who needs it and for your pets needing healing.    No Lutefisk for me.  The Portuguese wine sounds interesting.   I bought wine in Portugal to drink with dinner on the Konigsdam in 2018.   Good values and well made wines.     Some big, old rocks from that Iberian Adventure. One from inside the really big Rock of Gibraltar.    Back out to shovel -- I hope it stops soon.    

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

A late good morning from sunny Quartzsite, where our temperatures are supposed to be more normal for a while.  At least, it was morinn\ng when I typed the first sentence, but then UPS came.  It's been a busy morning on what I thought would be a slow day.  We had to run into town to pick up our mail at the PO.

 

Fossils and old rocks have always interested me and I even took a couple of geology courses in college.  We had a rock tumbler when the DDs were little and still have some of the polished rocks.  We never got interested in bobblehead dolls.  

 

Sometime in the late 50s, my father took me to see the Harlem Globetrotters play one of the local college basketball teams.  The locals never stood a chance, but it was great watching the Globetrotters pull all their tricks.  I know Meadowlark Lemon and Fred "Curly" Neal were on the team, but I'm not sure if it was the year Wilt Chamberlain was on the team before he joined the NBA.  Seeing how they handled the ball up close was amazing.

 

I like the Barnard Baruch quote, and need to remember it when I wonder what someone is thinking about me.  

 

We'll most definitely pass on the lutefish, and will pass on the drink.  The wine sounds good.

 

We have been to Bejing three times.  The first was on Volendam 2002 APEC cruise with an overnight in port.  In 2005, our Pacific Princess Island of the Pacific Theater cruise ended there with an overnight stay in Beijing.  Our last visit was in 2018 on the Coral Princess circle the northern Pacfic cruise.  I know I posted pictures when this was the port of the day on March 28, but I'll see if I have any different pictures to add to the mix.

 

As usual, I am enjoying all the pictures of the snow, especially from thousands of miles away in warm, sunny Arizona.  BTW, we've lived in NJ and PA, so we have an idea about snow and ice storms.  Growing up, my father worked for the electric utility company, and the worry was not snowstorms, which we got occasionally in west Texas, but ice storms.  If the wind was high, the ice coated power lines would start "galloping" which would cause them to break. 

 

@kazu  Jacqui,  oh no on Marley's lab results.  I hope the medicine works and then the doctor finds an easy fixable condition and not the "c" word.  I am sending very, very positive thoughts that you will be able to see Jose soon, and that the doctors have an answer soon.  You deserve a break now, and more than one glass of wine.

@marshhawk  Sorry this blasted variant has caused you to lose work hours.  Hope things are better in a few weeks.

@richwmn  Rich, great pictures of your office cats.  We also had an office cat, who liked to walk on the computer keyboard.  Boy did we do some intense proofreading.

@mamaofami  Carol, your picture did not come in on my computer either.  

@Overhead Fred  Beautiful pictures of the butterflies.

 

Now, I'll go check my pictures for something different.

 

Lenda

[kazu]

Well the winter dog wanted out.  If he’s sick, he doesn’t know it 😉 

I waited to the winds died down and let him out.  He was loaded with snow when he came in and needed his towel

[CrabbyPatti]

Good Morning Dailyites!

 

         Thank you all for the birthday well wishes yesterday, your kindness is appreciated.  We did go out for lunch as the "freezing rain" didn't materialize.  The temps did go up overnight from 27 degrees to 48 now!  The wind is blowing at about 35 mph!  So, with melted water on packed snow it is still slippery.

         Much of our Washington state transportation is shut down  the passes over the mountains are closed due to snow, and now part of  I 5 is closed due to water.  Hope no one had travel plans.

        I saw the Harlem Globetrotter once as a kid, remember it was a fun evening, but not much else as it was so long ago!

         Take care

Denise

[cruzn single]

Good afternoon from Sunny and Bright Colorado!  We certainly don't have the lovely white stuff coming down here.  Think the mountains and Front Range got some yesterday!

 

My son-in-law had his torn bicep surgery yesterday and it lasted much longer than anticipated.  He is in a "hard sling" now for the next 3-4 months!  This is a man used to working out and bicycling, swimming and riding his motorcycles.  Think this will be a hard time for him.

 

Now down to crunch time to get all organized for being gone for a month.  Still need to go to bank, get mani/pedi, arrange about mail.  This is becoming interesting as I am trying to stay away from as many people as possible!  Have a C-19 test scheduled for Monday before I head to Phoenix.  My crucial test will have to be scheduled in Hawaii before I fly back to San Diego for the PC cruise.  At this point I have my QR code for entry to Hawaii.  Double mask in Colorado and AZ, mask in Hawaii and in airports (or double) and then ---.

 

@kazu, hope that the hospital quarantine lifts soon for you.  I know that you want to be with your DH and it will help him so much!  "Sick" dog looks like he is enjoying the snow.  Sending prayers for all in your household!

 

My prayers for all on the Care List.  @rafinmd, are you starting to feel stronger after your treatments.  I know that battling snow isn't the best, so don't overdo.

 

Have a great Friday afternoon/evening, everyone!

[Norseh2o]

Celebrated DS's birthday last evening with fondue and a chocolate tart for dessert.  DGD noted that the tart was an exotic dessert...    Sampled lutefisk when living in Madison, WI in the '80s - fortunately the Norwegian family members say no thank you to lutefisk but continue to enjoy making holiday lefse each fall.  Today is a cool, partly sunny day in beautiful San Diego.  Staying home to put Christmas decor away, finish a needlepoint started on the O Marina cruise last fall, and read some good books.  And look at cruise books and online cruise offerings, of course! Prayers and health to all. 

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

@kazu  Loved the picture of Marley in the snow.  I think it's a good sign that he wants to go "play" in the snow.

 

To everyone dealing with bad weater be it cold temps, rain, sleet, wind or snow, please be careful out there.  BTW, don't for get your masks.  Besides keeping you safe from you know what, they can help keep your face warm too.  😷

 

I've gone through my pictures and have several to share, but it will need to be in two posts. Since there have been pictures of the highlights of the major sights visited by the tours, I tried to find some of the "lowlights" of places.  My other pictures are basically the same as what others have posted.

 

Our first time in China was October 12-13, 2002.  The first day, we took a tour to the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall.  Upon our arrival in Xingang, we noticed that like much of Asia that time you could see the air you were breathting.

 

 

We had a necessary stop on the way to the Ming Tombs.  This ws the front of the building where we stopped, and some shopping, naturally.  

 

 

Along the way, we passed various types of housing.  The buildings in the second picture I think are some of the big apartment buildings built in the early 2000s, but that were never occupied.

 

 

My pictures of the Ming Tombs are very similar to those already posted, so I'll move on to the Great Wall.  We had lunch in the restaurant at the Friendship Store that had a huge lazy susan in the center of the table where the various dishes were placed.   We also learned at lunch to leave food on our plates or they would keep bring more food, plus, if we liked something to eat it and not ask questions about what it was.  There was a colisonne workshop in the store where you could see various items being made and of course, buy some of them, which I did.

 

Outside the Friendship store were stalls where enterprising vendors had just about everything you could want for sale, and much cheaper than the Friendship store.   There were also stalls against the hill with the wall on top.

 

 

We were at Badaling and this was the gate to access the wall.

 

This was as high as I climbed, and as I waited for DH to come back from the tower, I noticed the camel below the wall.

 

 

 

I also got a picture of the modern highway we took to reach the Great Wall with the wall above.

 

I'll be back with pictures of our second day in China in 2002 and some pictures from 2005 and 2018.

 

Lenda

 

[dfish]

Well, I can see that lutefisk brings out strong emotions!   Who knew?  

[sassy~one]

Thank you again for the daily report. Hello Everyone!  Busy am, and a negative test! Off to the airport in the am.  Stay safe.

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Our second day in Beijing in 2002 saw us visiting the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven.  

 

Our first stop was the Forbidden City, entering through the gate across from Tiananmen Square.  I have a lot of pictures from the main part of the Forbidden City, but they are very similar to those already posted.  We exited from the back of the Forbidden City and walked through some of the smaller buildings and areas.  These pictures are from that part of the tour.

 

 

 

After lunch we had time to walk around Tiananmen Square before heading to the Temple of Heaven.  This man was sitting outside the temple with his bird.

 

The inside of the temple

 

Some big carved rocks (probably old) in a garden outside the temple

 

On June 24, 2005, at the end of our Pacific Princess cruise, our tablemates joined us in taking a taxi from our hotel to Tiananmen Square.  Even more than three years before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on 8-8-2008, they had a countdown clock on one side of the square.

 

A side street near Tiananmen Square

 

One of the Olympic veues under construction that we passed on the way to the airport on June 25, 2005.  The air at that time was not much improved from 2002.

 

On October 18, 2018, while on the Coral Princess, we took the high speed train into Beijing from the Tianjin train station. The train reached 220+mph but was so smooth you didn't notice how fast you were traveling unless we looked at an app DH has on his phone.   This was a builidng the train passed as we were entering Beijing and the train was slowing.

 

I posted pictures of the train and our adventures that day on the Daily on March 28, 2021.  We noticed the air while still smoggy, was much improved from our previous visits.

 

Safe travels @sassy~one.

 

Lenda

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Quartzsite Cruiser

[lazey1]

6 hours ago, richwmn said:

looking cute this morning

 

Calico

Rich you Calico looks very much like my Calico.  Both the cats are beautiful.

Jane

[Oceansaway17]

7 hours ago, kazu said:

 

 

Stay safe & please don’t forget your 😷 

 

I like snow and I just shoveled 2 1/2 inches.  Now I get to peek out the window and watch some blow back on the sidewalks because it is windy.  I suppose if I stood on the sidewalk, I could actually choke on some.  ha ha.

[Cruisercl]

17 minutes ago, dfish said:

Well, I can see that lutefisk brings out strong emotions!   Who knew?  

Oh yes! I live in MN and the churches who make it, make the news every year.

 

They usually make it in advance to have for Christmas.

Always available to anyone who wishes to have some.

Most say no. LOL.

I have friends who are Swedish, they do not like it either, but their elder relatives love it.  Old school Swedes.  

We are having very cold and snowy weather here too.

Stay warm and safe all. ❄️

 

[Oceansaway17]

7 hours ago, Crazy For Cats said:

Good Morning Everyone,  thanks for the daily report.   I'll pass on today's meal suggestion.   The snow is falling rapidly.  By 6 am we had 7" of the white stuff.  It's very fluffy.  I cleared a bit but will wait until it stops to clear the rest.  If I'm up to it I'll clear the walkways for our next door senior.

From our upstairs deck.

 

 

 

lucky your snow is fluffy.  I had 2 inches of icy stuff.  I put the broom away and had to use shovel.

I prefer fluffy snow a LOT so lucky you.    But remove before it hardens.

[Crazy For Cats]

22 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

 

 

lucky your snow is fluffy.  I had 2 inches of icy stuff.  I put the broom away and had to use shovel.

I prefer fluffy snow a LOT so lucky you.    But remove before it hardens.

The news reported that we got 12.9” of the stuff.  I was able to clear our driveway and walks as well as the ladies next door.  Tomorrow I’ll pull out the snow rake and clear off the garage roof.

[Oceansaway17]

2 minutes ago, Crazy For Cats said:

The news reported that we got 12.9” of the stuff.  I was able to clear our driveway and walks as well as the ladies next door.  Tomorrow I’ll pull out the snow rake and clear off the garage roof.

Oh a snow rake.  do take a photo.  Yes, keeping roofs especially flat ones clear is important.

 

also I hope the ladies next door bake you some cookies. YUM

[Oceansaway17]

4 hours ago, Himself said:

Thanks for the Fleet Report.  I was in Bejing 9 months after the riots of 1989.  It was very tough in those days.  I have no plans to go back there.

I agree and I am unsure if I will watch the Olympics given a lot of issues ya know.

Then again, all those athletes worked hard at training and we should watch I suppose.