kochleffel

16 minutes ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Of course she knew the day of the week

This has always been a difficult question for me; it's why I used to have a morning newspaper delivered.

55 minutes ago, dfish said:

Yes, you can.  I have Medicare and I refuse this on a regular basis.  My bills get paid.

My PCP's office phoned recently to tell me that I was due for a Medicare something-or-other. They've never done this before.

Now, the doctor would be embarrassed to ask me those kinds of questions, and the nurse practitioner would think it was hilarious. It's possible that an inexperienced PA might try. Which combination of them I see varies, largely depending on whether there's a medical student in the office that day--if so, the student does all the routine parts. I'm going to ignore the Medicare-whatever visit and book an ordinary follow-up, with blood tests done before it.

8 minutes ago, clo said:

When we were in Norway we went in a shop that had lots of souvenirs. Except for some Norwegian sea salt which I bought everything else was made in China. I was looking for "made in Norway."

I don't think that you would find many "made in Norway" things in a shop selling souvenirs -- they would be too expensive for the souvenir market. Many would be almost too expensive for the luxury market!

I was startled by the reference upthread to cheap pottery. I don't buy much at all when traveling, but during a Greek islands cruise I bought a piece on Rhodes, not very expensive but handmade on Rhodes, that copied the form and decoration of classical pottery. I was especially taken by its depicting the death of Achilles, because I had Achilles tendonitis at the time.

But when Venice was working up to banning cruise ships, one of the arguments was that cruise passengers didn't eat in restaurants or buy anything authentic products in shops -- just got food from McDonald's, dumped the wrapping into the canals, and bought made-in-China trinkets. That may have been true of many passengers on day calls, but the result was that cruises from Venice shifted to departing from Trieste or Ravenna -- even though passengers embarking and disembarking typically stayed in Venice before, after, or both (would have been both with me, but I changed that booking to one departing from Athens).

18 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

leave from Vancouver and go 1 way to Seward and then do a land tour.

I believe that Holland America cruises, however, all use Whittier. This is OK for land tours, not for Kenai Fjords boat tours. I have a 2025 booking on NCL that also disembarks at Whittier, which was a surprise and not a very happy one since the cruise is a catch-up for one in 2020 that would gone to Seward. Then, I had booked a Kenai Fjords tour with Major Marine, and I can't find any practical way to get to Seward from Whittier.

11 minutes ago, dfish said:

@P&PNH Happy Birthday to you both!

 

 

@kochleffel I have been to that church in Cleveland.  A friend of mine attended services there regularly and when they made The Deer Hunter members of the church were hired as extras to dance the Russian dances.  Audrey and her mom can be seen in the dance scenes from the wedding. 

 

IIRC, Ken Kovach, quoted in the WEWS report, was the choir master even then and was credited in the movie.

I could make the menu suggestion today, with a different mix of vegetables. I'd try the drink, once. I had to look up cachaca; it's sometimes called Brazilian rum but is made from fresh cane juice, not molasses, and has distinct flavors (variable depending on whether and how it's aged). Cabernet Sauvignon really isn't a top grower in the Finger Lakes, but wineries grow a lot of it anyway, because of market familiarity and demand. We might try Barnstormer Winery's 2022. "Cool climate expression of Cabernet Sauvignon. Dark peppery notes, black cherries, leather, and a hint of smoke and vanilla," $30.

I slept well last night, which is so rare that it feels abnormal.

Did you see the film The Deer Hunter? The church in it, St. Theodosius Orthodox Cathedral in Cleveland, caught fire last night, apparently in connection with work being done on the copper onion domes. Because the fire at the roof level, the body of the church was saved, but with tremendous water damage. https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/firefighters-battle-church-fire-in-tremont.

There is a thread on the NCL board about that line's having denied boarding to passengers with a guarantee because the entire ship was oversold. NCL does not routinely offer GTY cabins; there is a discounted sail-away category that is offered in regular booking and sells out quickly that is the equivalent, but it's offered while other cabins of the promised type are still available.

The prevailing opinion in that thread was that the line should have extended move-over offers to some number of passengers. IIRC, the departure was from a Florida port where there would have been retirees who lived near the port who could easily accept such an offer.

1 hour ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

What make os Elvis?

Have you considered getting a little cart, no electricity involved, that could be drawn by a team of hounds? (I actually heard once of someone in Kentucky who liked the idea of dogsledding, got a sled, and had it pulled by eight Walker hounds.)

Brisket is a once-a-year food as far as I'm concerned, for both cost and health reasons. The price of kosher brisket is always sky-high, but I remember how ordinary brisket was a loss leader in OKC before Labor Day, at $1/pound.

I don't mind tofu; in fact I have some in the refrigerator, but tofu tacos don't sound all that good to me. I would be afraid to order the drink. How do I know that they don't have a live duck hidden behind the bar? For the wine, we might try Billsboro's 2021 skin-fermented Sauvignon Blanc, $34. "Aromas of baked pear, orange peel, and toasted cashew. The palate is rich yet invigorating, with powerful citrus and floral qualities. Best served like a chilled red wine, from 48-54F."

I didn't need a weather forecast this morning to know that it was working up to a thunderstorm, but so far it hasn't live up to the forecast: a lot of wind and a little rain, and now it's sunny. Trash and recycling are usually picked up around 9:00 a.m. but not yet today, probably because of the holiday yesterday, and I wish I had thought to remove the cardboard from the recycling bin.

On 5/25/2024 at 6:23 PM, Kristelle said:

Are we not allowed to link to other threads??

 

anyway thread I mentioned in post above is in Cruise Fashion and Beauty.

In general, linking to other threads is allowed. Was the link you posted to a roll call? That ought not to be allowed, because only logged-in users can view roll calls; other topics are open to the public.

9 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Congrats

8 hours ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Congratulations @kochleffel!

 

Thank you. the course wasn't especially difficult, but it was extremely long and in a field where I had little background or aptitude.

1 hour ago, XBGuy said:

A California winery/vineyard founded by Italian immigrants.  What a surprise.  NOT!

Remember when the wine of the day was a Pinot Blanc from the Mosel and you mentioned the association of the Finger Lakes with Riesling?

There is a winery here founded by a man from the Mosel region who chose the site because the climate and soil (shale) were like back home, and so he thought that it would be perfect for making Mosel-style wines.

I finished the Leuven course.

Many of us here have been treated for skin cancer. Young people, however, not only aren't getting the message when it would do them the most good, but are increasingly receiving counter-messages.

Two new surveys suggest a troubling trend: Young adults seem to be slacking on sun safety.

In an online survey of more than 1,000 people published this month by the American Academy of Dermatology, 28 percent of 18- to 26-year-olds said they didn’t believe suntans caused skin cancer. And 37 percent said they wore sunscreen only when others nagged them about it.

In another poll, published this month by Orlando Health Cancer Institute, 14 percent of adults under 35 believed the myth that wearing sunscreen every day is more harmful than direct sun exposure.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/27/well/live/sunscreen-skin-cancer-gen-z.html?unlocked_article_code=1.vE0.k4wg.9mZPnxVdiKCI&smid=url-share

Salmon, smoky chickpeas, and greens are all fine with me, but I'm not sure that I would like them together. Would pass on the drink but if I had some lactose-free ice cream I could certainly pour a liqueur on it. There is still no Tempranillo in the Finger Lakes, so I'm treating this as a wild card and suggesting the Classic Red from Hunt Country Vineyards. "A dry red wine with subtle oak barrel aging and hints of cherries and plums, our Classic Red is a great everyday wine. It’s a wonderful partner to pasta with tomato sauces, pizza, sharp cheeses, and hearty soups and stews," $12.

1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

I'm in zone 8 - is it too late for me to grow cherry tomatoes? Could I stake them in containers or do they need to go in the ground (we have very hard, clay soil)?

Cherry tomatoes do well in containers. Many of them do better with caging than staking, because they tend to grow in all directions.

One limitation is that tomatoes won't set fruit in very hot weather. If you find that flowers develop but fruiting doesn't follow, cut the plants back to keep them growing so that the new growth can set fruit later on.

A pesto chicken quinoa bowl would be OK with me. I have some not-quite-tricolor quinoa on hand, no chicken or pesto. I'll save the drink for later. For a Chardonnay, maybe the unoaked Doyle Family vineyard 2021 from Fox Run, 91 points from both James Suckling and Wine Enthusiast, $14. If you disliked the California Chardonnays of a few decades ago (oak and more oak, plus heavily charred barrels), this one is for you.

I haven't been to the Isle of Man but two women from there joined me and another American for a DIY excursion to the Matisse chapel at Vence, from Cannes, a few years ago. Fortunately, they didn't hear when the other American told a car-rental agent, in French, that they were English.

Today I hope to plant some vegetable seeds: last try until the fall for lettuce and peas, first for bush beans, maybe some Swiss chard. Also prepare a raised bed on the north side of the house for heuchera and carex, joining dicentra that is in flower.

Mona Lisa didn't wake me at 4:00 a.m. but I was still up too early.

My most recent cruises have been on Holland America and Royal Caribbean. It seemed to me that Holland America's main-course portions were smaller than before, although adequate. RCI's portions weren't smaller, but the preparations were less complicated.

3 hours ago, PATRLR said:

On NCL, we often order the vegetarian entree to split between us in addition to our main entree.  It essentially becomes a side for us.  I would be disappointed if we could no longer do that.

A couple on the Holland America cruise last year did that, and asked that it be served along with the other mains.

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Someone at our table ordered every single appetizer while my DW ordered no appetizer. She waited and waited and waited for her salad as the other person was served each appetizer one after another and not until the one in front of him was finished

I've never ordered all the appetizers, but I sometimes order two, such as a fish starter and a salad. I always ask for them to be served together.

I'm always trying to get closer to plastic-free, but not succeeding. When I was in graduate school in Boston, I had a part-time teaching job in the outer suburbs. The building was next to a Dunkin Donuts and the other teachers all stopped there to buy coffee on the way in. I brought coffee from home in a Thermos® that had belonged to my father.

Another brown-bag story: my great-uncle started life as a dry-goods peddler with a pack on his back, but came to own a large, fashionable clothing store that occupied a three-story building downtown, plus suburban branches. Before labor laws forced him to put in a staff lunchroom, saleswomen ate their lunches in the fitting rooms. When he discovered this, he cried out, "You are inwiting mice into mine store!"

I would be fine with the menu suggestion if I had any of the ingredients beyond tomatoes and olives. I'd also appreciate a Manhattan. BTW, rye whiskey was the preferred liquor in the Northeast before Prohibition, but many of rye distilleries, most of which were in Pennsylvania, never reopened, and Bourbon and Canadian whiskey became the replacements. It's more available today but mostly distilled in Kentucky.

For the wine, Ravines 2022. "Delicate layers of lemongrass, papaya, clementine and floral notes establish this wine that is balanced by the trademark acidity and minerality on the palate. A juicy and refreshing lift include a lingering citrus finish and invite another sip. A wonderful expression of Finger Lakes Sauvignon Blanc that's 100% estate fruit from our 'home farm' White Springs Vineyard," $22.95.

Mona Lisa was inspired to explore my bedside table at 4:00 a.m., tickling my face with her tail as she did so. I had breakfast at 5:00 and went back to bed.

Dinner tonight is turning out to be fish en papillote, mixed greens, baked sweet potato, and Hazlitt riesling. The fish is cod, which I prefer sautéed, but the oven is on for the sweet potatoes. No German chocolate cake, with or without sauerkraut.

5 hours ago, Laszlo said:

They then work on doing smaller portions, especially at the buffet and also cutting back on things which people don't eat

The report I saw, possibly not the same one, specifically cited the buffet as a source of waste. That didn't surprise me at all. I haven't, personally, seen comparable waste in the MDR.

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

I will fully admit that when I grew up, tilapia was a trash fish that you caught and released.  
 

Today, it is highly desired and sought after. It is one of the premiere fish on many menus. 

It wouldn't call it a premiere fish, but it's popular, especially with people who don't especially like fish, and it's relatively inexpensive.

12 hours ago, david_sobe said:

MSC now charges for any second entre in the MDR.   You can still order another appetizer or dessert but a second entre is $5.00.  I can see all cruise lines doing this soon.

Didn't some other cruise line try this a few years ago, to very negative reaction? But I don't think that it's a crazy idea.

Several years ago, on the Epic, I was at a solos dinner of about a dozen passengers that went askew because of the different multiple orders plus servers who either didn't ask at all whether anyone needed to get to a show at a particular time, or asked only one person (who didn't need to). Several people ordered two appetizers, and one person ordered, and ate all of, two mains.

NCL practice was not to serve a second app or main until the first one had been eaten and cleared, and also not to serve the next course to anyone at the table until all passengers' previous courses at that table had been cleared. I confirmed this with a dining manager.

If you would like to make your cake more German, here's a German Chocolate Sauerkraut cake. Pass on the drink. For the wine, it's a toss-up between Cabernet Franc and Lemberger; this time Lakewood's 2021 Cabernet Franc wins the toss. 

This morning at Wegmans -- I don't like to go there on Fridays, especially on a holiday weekend, but I was getting desperate -- I found that the checkouts will no longer accept payment until a shopper card is swiped or its number keyed in. Cashier: "It's a pain in the toenail."

2 hours ago, LambKnuckles said:

I'll wait until I return from my outing to don my tiara!!!  I'm just not sure what others would think...

Sasha (cat) reserved hers for special occasions such as royal weddings or the Queen's birthday.

As you can see from the table, it's limited to one device (at a time) unless you pay for more devices. They won't care how many people are in a stateroom, because the system automatically limits it to the number of devices that you paid for. It is OK to switch devices -- I used both a tablet and a phone during my last HAL cruise -- you simply disconnect one when connecting another.

I had to participate in Zoom meetings and upgraded from HIA to the streaming plan to be sure of having sufficient bandwidth.