Sea Dog

Just now, George C said:

Have a great time , place looks great , the older I have gotten the less BS I am willing to put up with and I am almost a decade older . 

Yeah I have been a curmudgeon in my old age. I only come out and am social when I am on a cruise.

1 minute ago, helen haywood said:

@Sea Dog If you need a respite from friends who can’t avoid sensitive topics…tell them you need to get in touch with your stock broker (or whatever) and leave the room and come back here (your other home…😉)

I’ve already told Linda if it gets bad I will leave early and come home.

Well starting this Thursday I am going on a little adventure. Thursday morning I leave for Hilton Head Island SC to visit my life long best friend from high school and the best man at my wedding.  He is a great musician, singer and entertainer who plays at the Salty Dog cafe for over 25 years. Dave @Ozark_Kid has seen him and knows who I am talking about my best friend Dave Kemmerly.

What makes this trip interesting and a I'm little nervous is that I will be there 5 days with 7 other friends who I went to high school with. Two of which Mary and Steve lived on my street growing up and I have known for over 50 years. Two couples, one of which were in my class and got married right after high school and another couple a year behind us. 

We are staying a a great VRBO in Sea Pines a short distance from the Salty Dog. It's a six bedroom house so plenty of room.  Here are some of the pictures of it as it looks wonderful. And it should because it is also for sale for over $3 million.

I mentioned that I was a little nervous. Most of these people while friends I have not seen in over 5 years. A few of us have spent time together but none for 5 days. I like these people but they are extremely different from me in my view on most  things. I stated the only way I would go is that we not discuss politics or religion as I have had a couple of run ins with one of the guys over the years. Maybe as I gotten older, I don't put up with BS and I just rather cruise with my wife than do anything else.

Linda is going to stay home with the dogs and said go have fun with your high school friends. I hope it will be that way. I may not be around later in the week as much but I will try and post some pictures of our adventures. Wish me luck and as they say "Can't we all just get along?"

4 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Do any of you have a true home theater setup, and if so, what remote do you use?

 

I have an Onkyo 7.1 receiver (center channel, front L&R, side L&R, rear L&R, plus subwoofer). My Sony tv is connected to it, as is a dvd player, Apple TV box, and Roku box.  I have been controlling everything with a Logitech Harmony 650 programmable remote.  

 

The thing I liked about the Harmony is it made everything a one button operation.  Press watch a movie, and it would turn on the tv, change the source to the dvd, turn on the dvd player, turn on the surround receiver, and it would be ready to go.  Same with everything else, it would automatically switch inputs and power devices on and off. 

 

It always worked great when I had a cable box, but since switching to Roku and using the cable provider app, the remote occasionally gets confused.  I started looking for a new programmable remote, but it appears Harmony stopped making them.  Maybe with so many going with sound bars and smart tvs, there wasn’t a big enough market for programmable remotes.  

 

Just curious what others use.  

For ours I still have the Harmony and it still works great. It’s been so long with tech advances I’m not sure what’s best now. Sorry I couldn’t help.

4 hours ago, Husky1987 said:

A few house pics from today.  Paint is done (minus the inevitable touch-ups).  Doors, trim, and cabinets scheduled over the next couple weeks, then flooring and carpets.  We probably aren’t going to hit our June 1st goal, but it’s getting closer and closer.

 

Kitchen with accent wall

 

Master with accent wall

 

Master bath with accent wall

 

Living room from entryway (accent wall follows kitchen around to the right)

 

Not sure I mentioned, in the last pic you can see a column and the base on the floor to the right.  There was a column on each side of the living room that supported an arch that separated the living room from the entryway.  We always hated that because the columns took away from space that we would have used to put furniture, things on walls, etc.  So we had the reconstruction folks take it out.  Post-fire pic of the arch:

 

 

 

 

Love the color Larry. It looks similar to out living room color which is a Sherwin Williams color. It looks lighter in this picture but we love it.

Here are Jonathan's two.

Beans

Drave

And Kylar who was Jonathan's first cat you lives with us.

2 minutes ago, George C said:

They showed a old video of Kelce from i believe 2016 , he was supposed to choose to kill, marry or kiss - Taylor, Ariana Grande or Katie Perry , he picked Taylor to kiss and Katie to marry.

I heard that too. I bet he regrets saying that.😉

3 hours ago, Lionesss said:

But I have  a cruise.  I cannot be sick. 
 

We’re leaving Thursday.  Today’s Tuesday. I WILL get better.  

Wow that was a close call. So happy you got to cruise.

I can't believe the parents would allow their kid to say that. What a shame. Some people are just so pathetic.

14 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Is there a song that stands out to you? The only song I've heard on it is "Ioml". I can't get past it as I find it a bit haunting. I've never before heard a song of her's that I've wanted to learn to play and sing.😲

That's a good question. I really like most all of them but if I had to pick a couple it would "Florida" with it's big chorus. Also "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me" is great too. I had not really listened to her before she and KC player Travis Kelce started dating and I was curious about her. My son went to her Eras concert here and said it was incredible. Linda and I watched her Eras Concert movie and I was very impressed. Her songwriting skills are impressive as well as her performance. It helps also as I think she is incredibly beautiful.

@brillohead Welcome back! I know it's tough when you get behind on reading posts. It happens to me. I know I have missed things from people here. For that I am sorry. Glad you are doing ok.

3 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Good afternoon.

After church today we had lunch at Wynyard Hall gardens cafe.

That red velvet cake looks incredible. Looks like a splendid lunch.

2 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

I’ve been avidly reading all the comments about knee and hip replacements. Andy’s had problems with his right knee and hip for a few years, to the point that he walks with a noticeable gimp and has great difficulty putting on a sock and tying a shoe on the right foot. His primary told him it’s likely arthritis and referred him to ortho, which of course he’s ignored.  He finally went Thursday (nagging works!) and was told he has severe arthritis in his hip and mild arthritis in the knee. His knee pain is most likely a result of the hip issues. So hip replacement scheduled for Nov 5th. He was given a shot of cortisone with the disclaimer he might only see 10-30% improvement, he says the 10% is about right.  I think he put it off out of fear of the surgery, but so many people have told him hip replacement isn’t bad these days, much easier than the knee. 
Anyone here had this done? 

Tell Andy I am thinking of him. As Deb @brillohead says hips are easier to rehab than knees. I had several hip replacement patients in rehab with me. I talked to them about their experience and they all said it was not bad at all. If Andy has mild arthritis of the knee he should be able to get by for a while with Hyaluronic Acid Injections such as Synvisc or Duralane. They could give him relief for at least 6 months to a year. Will his hip replacement in November interfere with going on Bella 2.0?

40 minutes ago, CrzLvr2 said:

@Sea Dog I think you might be pleasantly surprised by their fares, Greg! I know we were.

I think it was "Schooner" who mentioned booking with Oceania back in the fall. We looked into it in December and found that Oceania was still having the promotion with 2 for1 fares. Considering all the included perks, it really is a great deal. The NYC departure is perfect for us since we live in New England. We can choose to drive, fly, take the train, or use a limo service. You should call/text your TA. 😉

Agreed. I went to their website and looked at some of their cruises. Very reasonable. We will strongly look at cruising with them in the future.

1 minute ago, ReneeFLL said:

 

I would think that the sooner aka younger the better, before any more health issues pop up. Not saying any more will, but that’s my thought about the sooner the better.

True. I was young enough that helped plus my new knees should last me the rest of my life.

31 minutes ago, NHProud said:

You and I are alike in some ways . If something interests us we’re all in . Back in the day when my husband was working and pre-pandemic when shuttles were plentiful to some of the 8 casinos near my home , I thought , I would figure out how to beat the odds . I bought books , subscribed to Strictly Slots magazine and watched this guy Curtis on TV.  Sadly, it didn’t work .  I no longer put cash in the one arm bandit . 

Yes we are. When I was younger I loved going to Vegas. I was interested in Craps so I went and bought every book I could about playing, and strategies, I ended up doing ok but I was never lucky. As I got older saving money was more important to me than spending money. I have played a few times on a cruise ship but have never won. I guess I’m just unlucky.

2 hours ago, Lionesss said:

Yes. 
I agree

I never insinuated I got it totally for free. 
 

To attain a free GS. Cruise you need 25,000 credits. 
Yup 

I have 25,000

How long did it take? 
6 evenings. 
How much of my money from home????

 

Let’s just say. It was not totally free and cheap. 
Had I not won 3 jackpots, then I would be boo hooing. 
But

Fortunately we are better than breaking even. 
 

Be safe. 

 

Thanks for this information. I find this very interesting..

I know there were some posts last week about Below Deck Sailing Season 5 and why it’s not airing before Below Deck Med’s new season. Here is an article that addresses the Gary situation which is at the heart of the matter.

https://www.monstersandcritics.com/tv/reality-tv/what-happened-to-below-deck-sailing-yacht-season-5-heres-what-we-know/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3PzGeBaYvpub46YwCePkRD1-uB72HsDe59muQCA7_4JLVqL_H7yFTKnKk_aem_AbKpDSHZe6pYRzoB3q8IujhFdQWpeho-Sle6FtoR-JzNfcPUFODol5lPrJr9Ewg65UiheAjlAabIm0rpfr_fZstl

10 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I take 1500mg daily.

Thanks OB I will pass this info along to Linda.

50 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Thank you for your advice Greg.

Doctor's are happy to offer replacement operations if I want them but I am reluctant to go down that route.

Yes I would hold off as long as you can before getting knee replacement surgery but it may be the best thing to do if you are in constant pain like I was. You might look into stem cell transplants as well as I discussed earlier.

46 minutes ago, George C said:

We watch cbs morning show every Saturday, one of the things we like is they show restaurants around the world and lots in New York City, todays show featured Oceana cruises , all the food looked outstanding, lots of caviar , they also said there French restaurants have a French chef , Italian has a Italian chef etc , might need to take a serious look at them. 

We watch every Saturday too. Love the musical guests. We did watch the piece on Oceana and their chef. Both Linda and I said wow that food looks amazing. We might need to consider them in the future. I’m sure it’s not cheap.

7 minutes ago, MJSailors said:

When I consulted a neurologist for spinal stenosis, he recommended Tumeric for the inflammation.

The only thing is, I need to remember to take it regularly!

MJ🙋🏻‍♀️

Do you remember how much they recommended you take?

5 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

He said steroid injections are better.

Our NHS treatment is free so I'm thinking maybe the real reason is cost.

My hip arthritis recommendation was replacement which is free on our NHS but 1 year waiting list.

I have had arthritis for 30+ years but high strength Ibuprofen an anti inflammatory medication always worked before my heart attack in December 2019 but now I am not allowed Ibuprofen and joint stiffness is getting worse.

 

Hmmm interesting he would say that. My brother and several other doctors have told me the opposite. I would say if it works for you and you are getting relief that’s all that matters. Another thing to look into which insurance does not cover here is stem cell treatments in the knee. The research has been very promising. My brother does it where he injects bone marrow into the joint and has patients who were amazed what a difference it made.

1 minute ago, grapau27 said:

My musculoskeletal doctor does not recommend hyaluronic acid injections even though I have asked him on several occasions and read good reports online as well as your recommendation.

The first 2 steroid injections were great and lasted several months but the last one has been painful within 2 weeks.

Next time I see him if he won't give the hyaluronic acid injection on our NHS I will seek a private specialist.

 

Thats weird I wonder why he won’t recommend it? The only issue we have over here is that some insurance companies will not cover it. It has gotten better over the years for insurance to pay for it. Linda just got her knees injected with it and is quite happy how her knees are feeling now.

6 minutes ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

The Widow Jane is the 13 yr “Lucky Thirteen”  😀

I will have to try that one. I have only had the 10 year which I like a lot. 
 

Cheers!

5 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Thank you Renee.

I do physio exercises and had 3 steroid injections in my knee.

I am trying to put off any hip operation as having had a heart attack I worry about potential blood clots with these operations.

My doctor brother has told me that steroid injections in the knee can actually make your arthritis worse. Have you considered a hyaluronic acid injection such as Synvisc or Duralane? They are like a lubricant for the knee and worked well for me.

1 hour ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

App still not working for me either.  Won’t load.  Just a white a screen.  
 

On a different note.  The most recent acquisitions:

 

 

 

Winner! Winner!! EH Taylor is my favorite and I love the Widow Jane. Is that the 10 year? Great stuff. 
 

Now CC on my phone is working just fine this morning. I don’t know what was going on last night.

6 hours ago, Luckynana said:

Wow--that's awesome, Greg!  I'm so glad to hear that you no longer have knee pain while walking!

How is Linda doing with her PT?

She just finished her last day with her rehab. Doing really well. Thank yo for asking. It's funny in that after her hand surgery she was doing well but lately she had been doing weights with her hands and arms for her shoulder and that has irritated her hand. I think it's short term.

4 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Anyone having an hour side with CC?  It’s not working on my iPad but it is on my phone. 

I did with my iphone. Tried restarting and still the same. I tried Safari and could get into main boards but not individual threads.

3 hours ago, NHProud said:

@Sea Dog  I hope , you are not in the path of the tornadoes. 
 

Take care . 

We dodged a bullet. It went to the south of us. Thanks Judy for checking in on us.

1 hour ago, ReneeFLL said:

Glad to hear you are doing much better. I didn’t realize it had gotten that bad before you had surgery.

Yes my knees were toast. 40 years of television camera work took it's toll.

33 minutes ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

Yes - app isn’t working on my phone but going to the website has worked 

Same here not sure what's going on. I cleared my browser history and cache and still had probelms.

33 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Greg, good to read that you are walking that long with no pain.  Keep it up, it only gets better, or so I am told.

 

I have found that taking off some excess pounds has worked wonders for the way I feel.  Now if I can just keep those extras off while my grandson is here for the summer.

Thanks Mark! I have been working hard at losing weight but it’s coming off slowly. I’m still down 50 pounds but would like to lose another 30-40.

Just now, Ocean Boy said:

And that interest is.....

She dates an acquaintance of mine. You might have heard of him.