Anyone else as neurotic as us?

[Happy HALer]

I do the same whether I stay in a 5 star or on a cruise ship.

 

BTW- When I shop at a store I wipe the handles and seat of the cart. Tests have shown more fecal bacteria than on a toilet seat due to infants in diapers.

 

It just makes me feel better!

 

All the grocery stores around here (PA) have sanitary wipes by the carts just for that. Nothing like a little F-Coli to help with the diet.

[prescottbob]

Ahoy!

 

Interesting posts. Just a question or two. After wiping down a grocery cart do you wipe down the items that you plan (e.g., canned goods and packaged meats) to purchase prior to loading them in the cart or do this at home after unloading? Personally one of the first things I do when I get 'home' (e.g., real home, hotel room, stateroom) is just wash my hands and don't sanitize the canned corn (when aboard a ship I have the room steward do this naturally). Also, do you carry a chlorine/bromide test kits to test the waters of, say, a public /cruise ship pool to use prior to taking a 'dip' (one mustn't forget waterborne diseases, no?).

Forgive my attitude. Your points are well taken.

 

In any event, good will to all and, further, HAVE A GREAT CRUISE!

Excuse me, I need to 'wipe' my keyboard. (Tongue in cheek).

 

Bon Voyage and Good Health! (and continue to wash those hand at each opportunity).

 

Bob:)

[ore-ee-gun]

Wow, it's a wonder I'm not dead. It never occurred to me to "sanitize" my surroundings, and I don't obsess over touching elevator buttons and door handles. Heck, I'm not even afraid to eat from a buffet table. :eek: I was blessed with a strong immune system, I wash my hands a LOT and use alcohol gel when there's no sink handy. But the one thing I try always to be careful of is to keep my hands off my face. Goes a long way towards keeping the bad bugs out of reach. So far, so good.....:D

[agabbymama]

Yeah, I think you are just a touch neurotic. I don't even clean my house that much, let alone a hotel room or cruise ship cabin. I don't lay on the bedspreads because I did see the black light special on TV too, and worse yet I had just made reservations in '06 for the Pennsylvania Hotel in NYC when the two ladies encountered all the bedbugs. I cancelled the reservation for that hotel, but now do look along the creases of the bed for evidence of bedbugs.:eek:

 

I wash my hands frequently and I do use the hand sanitizers on the ships (whether they help or not), but other than that don't do anything in the way of cleaning the cabin or surfaces.

[Happy HALer]

Ahoy!

 

Interesting posts. Just a question or two. After wiping down a grocery cart do you wipe down the items that you plan (e.g., canned goods and packaged meats) to purchase prior to loading them in the cart or do this at home after unloading? Personally one of the first things I do when I get 'home' (e.g., real home, hotel room, stateroom) is just wash my hands and don't sanitize the canned corn (when aboard a ship I have the room steward do this naturally). Also, do you carry a chlorine/bromide test kits to test the waters of, say, a public /cruise ship pool to use prior to taking a 'dip' (one mustn't forget waterborne diseases, no?).

Forgive my attitude. Your points are well taken.

 

In any event, good will to all and, further, HAVE A GREAT CRUISE!

Excuse me, I need to 'wipe' my keyboard. (Tongue in cheek).

 

Bon Voyage and Good Health! (and continue to wash those hand at each opportunity).

 

Bob:)

 

Hi Bob,

 

To answer your questions....no, I do not sanitize the the can of corn. I usually don't eat the can. I only had to try that once in college when I was really poor to know it wasn't something I liked. It's right up there with brussel sprouts.

 

No, I do not carry a test kit for the pools. I know it is the cruiseline's interest to keep the pools safe. I know they err on the safe side of pool water treatment.

 

I don't know how your tongue got stuck in your cheek, but your post is a bit opprobrious (that's for you Rev:) ) Maybe you should consult your Nose, Tongue and Cheek Doctor.

 

Love and Lasagne

[Old As Dirt Mom]

HappyInHaler Snorkelbearguy Smokin Banana, etc etc. I LUV you:) Stick around, will you? I need my opprobrious bombast deflated, ontologically speaking.......

 

Karin

[hammybee]

Love and Lasagne [ATTACH]54096[/ATTACH]

Would you mind terrbily if I stole your little pom-pom girl?

[Happy HALer]

Would you mind terrbily if I stole your little pom-pom girl?

 

Not at all Hammster. I had a hard time deciding which one to share with you last week. Feel free to pilfer and plunder all you want. Pirates rule the seas.

[hammybee]

Not at all Hammster. I had a hard time deciding which one to share with you last week. Feel free to pilfer and plunder all you want. Pirates rule the seas.[ATTACH]54097[/ATTACH]

 

Thank you, sir.

[kanigeta]

I don't think that's neurotic behavior, and although I've never done it & never thought to do it, I probably will remember to wipe down some things in the cabin now. I also just added wipes & latex gloves to my carryon case packing list - haven't done that before but have a really long flight from Seattle to Rome coming up and the last thing I want to do is get sick. Knowing myself as I do, I'm confident that I'll forget the tip about the magazines and read them, but hopefully now I'll remember to put on some latex gloves before I do, or at least have the wipes to use in case I remember after I've begun. Thanks for the tips folks!!

[Marmarjudy]

I guess we are lucky:

 

We don't wear masks on planes or take Airborne.

We don't wipe down the cabin when we arrive.

We don't carry clorox wipes everywhere we go.

To be honest, we really don't think about it.....

 

We do carry small Purell bottles and use before eating, etc., and while on shore in the islands.

We do wash our hands often.

 

That's it..same as we do at home.

 

20 plus cruises and never an illness.

 

Neither of us has had a sick day from work in at least 5 years...really can't remember when.

 

I agree with one of the previous posters that over sanitizing tends to over time weaken the immune system...and I worry about this generation of children with germaphobic parents. Thankfully my daughter agrees and is raising my grandchildren "normal!" Some dirt happens.....and they are never sick!

 

Judy

[hammybee]

and I worry about this generation of children with germaphobic parents. Thankfully my daughter agrees and is raising my grandchildren "normal!" Some dirt happens.....and they are never sick!

 

Judy

 

Back when, I was well on my way to becoming a germaphobic parent. Once a week, I would boil all the bottle nipples and it seemed as though there were hundreds. One day, I forgot that I had a huge pot full, on the stove. Do you know what happens when the water evaporates in a pot full of bottle nipples? They turn to airborn black ash that covers every surface in the room.

 

And that was the day that I realized this baby of mine stood a better chance with germs than what her her almost germaphobic mom might create while sanitizing.

[prescottbob]

Ahoy!

 

Wow! Didn't know I was a vituperative kinda guy. I extend my apologies.

Speaking of which, a 'ear, nose and throat' specialist is also known as a otolaryngologist. I'll make an appointment today (that tongue often get me in trouble).

 

Bon Voyage and Good Health!

Bob:)

[thomasale]

My wife and I always wipe everything in our cabin with antibacterial wipes. We wipe the inside of drawers, counters, tub, toilet, counters, just about everything we might touch or set something on. We skip the floor, but we usually don't walk on it barefoot either. This usually takes us about 10 minutes. It is easier for us to relax after we do this.

 

After reading recent posts regarding the soiled under garment in the closet and the dirty glass, I don't think we will do less cleaning on our upcoming cruise. Anyone else do something similar? Have any tips?

 

Problem...Naw...not if it makes you feel better. I am glad we aren't wired that way though!

[Happy HALer]

Ahoy!

 

Wow! Didn't know I was a vituperative kinda guy. I extend my apologies.

Speaking of which, a 'ear, nose and throat' specialist is also known as a otolaryngologist. I'll make an appointment today (that tongue often get me in trouble).

 

Bon Voyage and Good Health!

Bob:)

 

Sometimes my vituperativeness gets the best of me also. I was just having fun with you. You're alright Bob.

 

You seem to be a smart guy, how many pancakes does it take to cover a Volkswagon Beetle?:D

[Cruising-along]

Back when, I was well on my way to becoming a germaphobic parent. Once a week, I would boil all the bottle nipples and it seemed as though there were hundreds. One day, I forgot that I had a huge pot full, on the stove. Do you know what happens when the water evaporates in a pot full of bottle nipples? They turn to airborn black ash that covers every surface in the room.

 

And that was the day that I realized this baby of mine stood a better chance with germs than what her her almost germaphobic mom might create while sanitizing.

 

Wow! I had the same thing happen when I was an overtired new mom. I was boiling the nipples and forgot about them, but I fell asleep while the baby napped. I woke up to black smoke :eek: :eek: I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has done that! :o

As far as sanitizing our cabin, I never thought to do that before reading this thread. Don't think we'll change our habits, as we too have never taken sick days, so we must be doing something right. We ARE careful to use our hand sanitizers often on cruises, especially before/after eating and/or touching banisters etc. As for Airborne, we tried that once on a transatlantic flight and it made us so sick we've never used it again!! :rolleyes:

[Happy HALer]

I guess we are lucky:

 

We don't wear masks on planes or take Airborne.

We don't wipe down the cabin when we arrive.

We don't carry clorox wipes everywhere we go.

To be honest, we really don't think about it.....

 

We do carry small Purell bottles and use before eating, etc., and while on shore in the islands.

We do wash our hands often.

 

That's it..same as we do at home.

 

20 plus cruises and never an illness.

 

Neither of us has had a sick day from work in at least 5 years...really can't remember when.

 

I agree with one of the previous posters that over sanitizing tends to over time weaken the immune system...and I worry about this generation of children with germaphobic parents. Thankfully my daughter agrees and is raising my grandchildren "normal!" Some dirt happens.....and they are never sick!

 

Judy

 

Not sure what your post is meant to achieve. I guess it is easier for you to be hurtful than to be constructive. Fortunately, I have never strived to be "normal" so your comment has no affect. Normal is for normal people. I am glad that's not what I aspire to be. There's already too many normal people.

 

Now, please excuse me. I think my neighbor is burning her nipples.:eek:

[prescottbob]

Ahoy!

 

Wow! Depends on whether the pancakes are the standard 5", 3" silver dollars or 10" 'diner' flapjacks. I recall my old '70 Bug was approx. 14'L, 6'W, 5' H ,so including the undercarriage were talking appox 185 sqft coverage (sorry, my geometry a tad weak these days, we're talking 30 years ago). Taking in the 'overlap factor for full coverage you'd need > 5# dry ingredients and need adjust your liquids accordingly to provide the least amount of resistance and so-called 'memory if you plan to 'stretch them' to any degree did someone say crepes?). And I might add, they wouldn't be considered sanitary if internal temperature drops below 140 degrees F for any length of time.

 

Now I'll give you a more cruise appropriate problem: Calculate the displacement of, say, the ms Prinsendam. Gold stars will be awarded.

(Tongue in Teeth)

 

Bon Voyage and Good Health!

Bob:)

[RuthC]

And that was the day that I realized this baby of mine stood a better chance with germs than what her her almost germaphobic mom might create while sanitizing.

You've reminded me of a story my mother used to tell: Seems one day she was busy in the kitchen boiling the bottles and nipples so her beloved first-born (my brother) wouldn't be sickened by all those pesky germs.

Meanwhile, back in the bathroom, he was busy playing by splashing the water from the toilet.

That was the day she decided she could stop being so careful.

I'm not troubled by germs because I'm fought them off all my life! :D

[wizard-of-roz]

I am not alone....I am not alone......I thought I was the only one who did this....everyone, I ever told scoffed at me!!!

My DH always made fun of me when I would wipe down the door handles/phones/drawers/spickets/rails/refrigerator door handle/headboard/safe and remote of every hotel or cruise that we were on. If there was a ledge around the room I wiped that too! I didn't care...I wasn't going to touch something that someone who didn't wash their hands after they used the toilet touched! :eek:

5 Star or not.....If I'm spending time in your room....you're going to get wiped down....

Never use the glasses in the room and wash the ice bucket.

Flip-Flops? I've never used them; in or out of the shower!!!!!! Even as a kid, I didn't like anything between my toes! :o

I don't go so far as wearing plastic gloves in the buffet but I totally understand why people do!

[Happy HALer]

Ahoy!

 

Wow! Depends on whether the pancakes are the standard 5", 3" silver dollars or 10" 'diner' flapjacks. I recall my old '70 Bug was approx. 14'L, 6'W, 5' H ,so including the undercarriage were talking appox 185 sqft coverage (sorry, my geometry a tad weak these days, we're talking 30 years ago). Taking in the 'overlap factor for full coverage you'd need > 5# dry ingredients and need adjust your liquids accordingly to provide the least amount of resistance and so-called 'memory if you plan to 'stretch them' to any degree did someone say crepes?). And I might add, they wouldn't be considered sanitary if internal temperature drops below 140 degrees F for any length of time.

 

Now I'll give you a more cruise appropriate problem: Calculate the displacement of, say, the ms Prinsendam. Gold stars will be awarded.

(Tongue in Teeth)

 

Bon Voyage and Good Health!

Bob:)

 

I sthe ship loaded with passengers and supplies? Or is it empty?

[prescottbob]

Ahoy!

 

Well I just got home (long day) and am sampling my first libation (it's 1800 here). Keep it simple. Use 'light' displacement. I'll attached an easy defintion and formula. Stats on the Prisendam can be retrived from the HAL website and we'll assume for this problem that the block coefficent is 0.20 and the draft at 20'.

Here we go!

Displacement is the actual total weight of the vessel. It is often expressed in long tons or in metric tons, and is calculated simply by multiplying the volume of the hull below the waterline (ie. the volume of water it is displacing) by the density of the water. (Note that the density will depend on whether the vessel is in fresh or salt water, or is in the tropics, where water is warmer and hence less dense.) For example, in sea water, first determine the volume of the submerged portion of the hull as follows: Multiply its length by its breadth and the draft, all in feet. Then multiply the product thereby obtained by the block coefficient of the hull to get the hull volume in cubic feet. Then multiply this figure by 64 (the weight of one cubic foot of seawater) to get the weight of the ship in pounds; or divide by 35 to calculate the weight in long tons. Using the SI or metric system : displacement (in tonnes) is volume (in m3) multiplied by the specific gravity of sea water (1.025 nominally). (Courtesy of Wilkpedia)

 

It's been fun but time to move on, no? Good luck.

Hope to meet you sometime on a HAL cruise. I enjoy good debate and other fun stuff.

 

Bon Voyage and Good Health! (and wash those hands frequently)

Bob:)

[carris]

Most people know that bedspreads and blankets are NOT changed on a daily basis. We were taught that unless there was a REAL GOOD reason to request a clean one, not to bother. And then we had to get the head maid to second our opinion! So....what may have been disgusting to me may not have been to another person, and the bedspread and/or blanket would stay. Another: when we opened a room, we were to go grab all ashtrays and glasses and immediately run hot water in the bathroom sink, pour in the special dishsoap we were given, and let the two soak TOGETHER while the beds were made, room dusted and vacuumed, etc. Did you notice that we were not to clean the sink first? Yep, soak that stuff together in a sink where people just brushed their teeth.....DISGUSTING. If we were caught cleaning the bathroom first and then soaking the two it was big trouble (a waste of time basically cuz you would have to go back and clean the sink again.) Obviously I refuse to use anything but plastic cups in a motel bathroom.

 

Are the glasses in the Hal bathrooms plastic or glass? Should I be bringing a plastic cup?

[shipcutie]

I found this online-it kind of makes you think of what is out there now.

 

Those Born 1930 to 1970!

 

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

 

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

 

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

 

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

 

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

 

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

 

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

 

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

 

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING or WORKING !

 

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

 

No one was able to reach us all day.

And we were O.K.

 

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

 

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.......WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

 

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

 

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

 

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,

made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

 

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

 

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

 

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.

They actually sided with the law!

 

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

 

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them . . . CONGRATULATIONS!

 

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

 

 

 

I never thought much of germs until my mom entered health care and brought home the Norovirus (which I managed to avoid, thank goodness) and until I met someone who had flesh eating disease from a cut in his leg and had to have his limb amputated.

 

I thought a lot more about it when I entered University and would encounter people who did not wash their hands after using the washroom. You always know it happens, but you are quite reluctant to get in the elevator with them after they have touched the buttons:eek:

 

Last year I got a scratch on my scalp and developed a staph infection that took 5 sets of antibiotics to get rid of. My entire face swelled up and my eyes swelled shut for several days.

 

I think a lot more about germs these days. While I don't sanitize everything I touch, I make sure and frequently wash my hands and I use wipes/sanitizers if I have touched things that have been used or touched by others. I don't think that we can protect ourselves from everything, but some precautions can't hurt.

[wizard-of-roz]

The glasses are glass.........