USN59-79

I have used a big internet TA located in Texas for years.  I look at it this way:  The TA is working for me and a PCC is working for HAL.  Which one is going to be on my side when something goes wrong?

Ray

Sorry, lost the description.  Our log house was  built in 1931 on a glacial erratic.  For some reason it was decided just to build over it rather than remove it.

Ray

Kind of a cool, damp day here in the PNW.  I was involved yesterday sorting out about 40 VHS tapes I had stored above a book shelf.  Most were made in the mid 1990s.  Found an old VHS player, but found that its outputs were not compatible with the inputs on my main tv, so finally hooked it up to a smaller one in the library.  Played a couple of them, but it will take a lot of time to look at them all and decide whether to keep them.

Yesterday we were talking about sunscreen and its benefits.  It reminded me about something I had read about the difference between sunscreen in the U.S. and the rest of the world.  I looked it up this morning and found this:  Our sunscreen is much less effective than that in the EU.  The reason is that in the U.S. sunscreen is classified as a drug and must be tested on animals before it can be approved for distribution.  As a result, no new sunscreen has been approved by the FDA since 1999.  I never use sunscreen and luckily have never had a skin cancer.

Message from @Copper10-8 GIVE ME A BEER

Ray

Actually, at 84 I am hopelessly outdated also, but it doesn't bother me.  I have a small Panasonic CD player on my desk and a large number of cds that I converted from LPs a few years ago and they are all I need when I need to have some background music.

Today was a good day.  A little over a week ago I decided to get an eye exam and new glasses as it has been about three years.  Went to the Costco eye clinic and made an appointment for 11 June to have the eyes examined.  The next day I received an email from VA stating that they would cover both the exam and glasses for disabled vets.  Finally contacted them and got an appointment for sometime in September at a local eye clinic.  Went to see them this morning and got it changed to 10 June.  Then went to Costco to cancel the existing one.  Talked to the lady there and she said that the clinic I am using is a very good one.  Of course I can't leave Costco without buying something, and tried a sample of their spiral ham.  It was $15. off the marked price.  So I bought a $21. one and paid $6. for it.  Talked to the checkout person and she said some people were buying 5 or 6 of them.  Got home, thought about it, and went back and bought three more for about $12, or $4. each.  As I said, it was a good day.

Ray

We have docked at Cobh and taken the train to Cork.  However, I didn't really understand how to pronounce Cobh.  I know about ch and dh and sh and th and wh but never knew of a word with bh as part of it.  Was wondering if Cobh was actually pronounced Cork, but realized that they are two different cities, but close together.  Finally took the time to research it and found that Cobh, for non Irish people is pronounced the same as Cove.  Am I right @VMax1700?

Ray

It is interesting and enjoyable to read a blog by one who is on their first HAL cruise, but is an experienced cruiser.  About the lack of name tags:  For many years the majority of the crew other than ship's officers were from either Indonesia or the Philippines.  Because many of the Indonesians were Muslim, and religion forbids alcohol; usually the bar persons were from the Philippines and the stateroom and dining room persons were from Indonesia.  Pre-Pandemic we had our wine poured by wine stewards in the dining rooms.  I think that has changed.  On my last cruise on the Westerdam, I just had my wine bottle delivered to my table and I served myself.

Ray

I have to admit that I never knew that there was a day in May for those named Ray.  It is something that I will try to forget after today.  

Often people have thought that my name was short for Raymond.  However, my mother was named Rachel so she decided to call her son Ray.

Ray

It is a 1949 Packard.

Ray

2 hours ago, dfish said:

Oh, my!  I am beat!  But, the patio furniture is all put together and so is the fire table.  The only thing lacking is a propane tank.  That's for tomorrow.  So, here are the pictures.

 

First is the deck we stained.  It was red.  This is right off the dining room.  

 

 

Next is the patio paver which is in back of the dining room and off the deck above.  This is where the new furniture went.  

 

 

 

The box still doesn't have a bottom, but it is fine for now.  We'll deal with it when we feel like it.  Which may be never.  Anyways, we didn't have furniture for this patio.  The fire table is to replace the ring below.

 

 

I'm sure you can understand why.   Sue will plant something there.  

 

 

 

Looks like a very comfortable place to relax with a glass of wine and some snacks.  I have never had something like that because I am not sure what I would do when it rains or when winter comes.  What is your plan?

Ray

A cool, somewhat damp day here in the Pacific Northwest.  As was previously mentioned, the third Saturday in May is Armed Forces Day in the U.S.  

For us living in this area, May 18 was the day in 1980 that Mt St. Helens erupted and is well remembered by those living here at that time.  

Ray

6 hours ago, Mary229 said:

If you wait until the very last minute to pay for a cruise you alleviate all of these issues.  I do not pay a bill until it is due.  I assume 60 days out I have visibility and I am willing to lose a little money.  I live differently than most people so I would not expect others to do as I do. Hey, I went 30 years with no health insurance and sleep well every night.  

We have cruised about 1300 days over the last 20 years and finally, on our last cruise on Seabourn we bought cruise insurance.  Luckily, we didn't have to use it.

Ray

One thing I really love about this website is when people like John @Copper10-8 go the extra mile to do research like this.  The story of Ann and her family's adventure would make a great movie or TV series.

Ray

If we can mention "Haze Grey and Underway", I spent some time on three ships before HAL.  In 1959 I boarded the USS Pine Island (AV-12), a seaplane tender in San Diego.  As a Seaman Recruit, I was assigned to the deck force.  One day they asked at quarters "Who can type?"  My hand went up and I left the ship in 1960 as a clerk.  Next ship was a Destroyer Tender, USS Frontier (AD-25) out of Long Beach, from 1966-1968.  By then I decided to stay in the Navy and got a lot of electronics training.  Left her as a first class electronics technician.  Got some more training and taught at a Navy electronics school and joined my last ship, USS Hector (AR-7) in Vietnam as a Warrant Officer serving as her Electronics Repair Officer.  She was also out of Long Beach.  Like most in the Seattle area, took my first cruise to Alaska in 1998 on the old Noordam.

Ray

Thought I might mention what kangaroo care actually means.  It is a method of holding infants, particularly low birth weight or premature ones, close to their mother's chest for periods of time.  It has been shown to be helpful to their well being and health.

Ray

Nice, cool day here in the Pacific NW.  Went to the Costco Optical Center to get an appointment for an eye exam.  I enjoy hummus with chips as a snack.  I have different feelings about the convicts that were sent to Botany Bay.  Suspect it was their lucky day.  Think of the alternatives in England at that time.  You could be hanged for what would be a misdemeanor today and imagine trying to survive in their prisons for a few years.

Ray 

33 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I am sure your favorite bartender would give you a couple of rum shots on you drinks package to take back and keep in your cabin. On one of our cruises last year we ordered a bottle of Gin for our cabin and only ended up drinking less than half the bottle, so shots would have saved us a lot. We couldn't take the unused bottle home as we were flying internationally.

Not sure there is a problem with flying home internationally with a liter or less of liquor.  In March we left our Seabourn ship with an almost full liter of Jack Daniels in Keelung.  Packed it in my large suitcase, flew to Korea and then on to Seattle.  At SEA the customs person asked if I had any alcohol and I told him most of a liter of Jack Daniels.  He said "No problem" and waived us on.

Ray

5 hours ago, Heartgrove said:

Thank to all who organize the Daily and Fleet report. Today we have been in Montego Bay, Jamaica with an overnite sailing to Georgetown tonight. 
 

The cruise has been without any incident and one of our best. Yesterday at sea we had the Senior staff make an appearance to have a toast. Huge kudos to MSC Seashore for also holding a Veteran’s Celebration yesterday that recognized the five Armed Forces. I was the only Coastie. I always said that the Coast Guard were very selective! Also was a few veterans from other country’s veterans.

 

An indication of the size of the ship is that I am averaging 10,000 steps per day, and as I write this I am at 14,400 steps for today!

 

@USN59-79  Ray, I wonder if you would have come across my ship and it’s sisters that were handed over to the Vietnamese Navy? We decommissioned in May 1972 in Apra Harbor, Guam along with two others. Knowing the condition of these WWII ships it is possible. 
 

Stay safe, and prayers for all in need.

 

- Jack

Jack - In June and July 1972 the Vietnamese Navy received three Coast Guard Cutters; the Absecon, Chincoteague, and McCulloch.  The Absecon was captured by North Vietnam; the Chincoteague and McCulloch escaped to the Philippines and may still be there.

Ray

32 minutes ago, 57redbird said:

I got one of those calls a couple of months ago....didn't sound like my grandson so I asked him what his dog's name was.....no answer so I hung up.

Might have been the same guy.  He was calling from Skykomish, here in Washington State.

Ray

Received a scam phone call this morning and thought I would mention it in case it happens to one of us here on the Daily.  The caller says "Hello Grandfather" and identifies themself as your granddaughter or grandson.  They say that something terrible has happened and they need a certain amount of money immediately to rescue their car, get out of jail, etc.  If you hadn't heard of the scam you might fall for it.

This guy says "Hello Grandfather, this is your grandson".  I asked him a couple of times what his name was and he would only reply "This is your oldest grandson".  Probably hoping I would say "Is this Billy" and of course he would say yes.  Unfortunately for the scammer, I don't have any grandsons, so I hung up on him.

Ray

A beautiful, sunny day here.  Just got back from a dental appointment.  I spent nine months at Danang in 1972 as the Vietnam war was winding down.  I was the Electronics Repair Officer on the USS Hector (AR-7), a repair ship that was docked there repairing U.S. Navy ships.  Thought you all might like a war story from that time.

My next door neighbor was a chief electronics technician on a Navy destroyer in the area, the USS Higbee.  I noticed in the morning message traffic that his ship had been bombed by North Vietnamese Migs and would be coming alongside for emergency repair.  I noticed that one of the twin 5" gun mounts was completely opened up by bomb damage, like a blooming tulip.  I met him when he came aboard our ship and mentioned that the message didn't say anything about casualties and I couldn't imaging how anyone could survive in that gun mount.  He said that it was actually a kind of miracle.  That gun had been firing at the Migs and had a hang fire.  Standard procedure is to evacuate the gun mount when that happens.  The bomb hit when when everyone was out.  It started a fire, but also cut a salt water main that put out the fire.  So no serious injuries.  Incidentally, if you google USS Higbee you can see pictures of the battle damage.

One thing we worried about at Danang was swimmers attaching an explosive to our ship at night.

So we would get under way at night and steam up and down the coast of Vietnam at five knots and come back in the morning.  I had qualified as Officer of the Deck for underway steaming, so I stood a lot of night watches driving the ship at that time.  I learned how to handle the ship by training on a tug boat.  Both our ship and tug boats have twin screws, so you learn what happens with something like "port engine ahead one third, starboard engine back two thirds, right standard rudder" when you are docking the ship without thrusters or other assistance.

Sorry for the sea stories, but Danang brings back a lot of memories.

Ray

Just now, USN59-79 said:

 

I actually thought that BFF was Best Female Friend, but then thought why no Best Male Friend?

Ray

4 hours ago, bennybear said:

@kazu glad you got the antibiotics pronto!  Hope they work quickly! 
@JazzyV so sorry to hear about your BFF.  You both deserve a different kind of break!,

@USN59-79 yikes on red tape!  In my case DS is Dear son, it is confusing.  I used to think LOL was lots of luck, lol!  
 

@Niagarawine West jet settled today but not until they cancelled our flight yesterday!  Arghh!   
 

Vancouver is truly spectacular in the sunshine. Love the bluebells 

It is a good day here in the Pacific NW and getting better each day this week.  I drove to the Navy base this morning and found that Catch 22 is still alive and well.  We checked out the base swimming pool on Saturday and were told that it costs $2.50 to swim there, but if you are a 100% disabled veteran, the charge is waived.  The DoD has a special ID card that I would need to show.  Went to the ID card office this morning to obtain one.  Was told that even though I can be a retired Navy person and a 100% disabled Navy person, I cannot have both ID cards at the same time.  I asked the clerk to show me that in writing.  He spent 45 minutes going through a bunch of instructions and couldn't find it.  Made a phone call and was told that one would cancel the other one.  Went back to the pool and the desk person said I would have to pay without the ID card.  That is how the Government works.

I have a question about the acronyms we use here on CC.  Is there a listing of them somewhere and are they specific to CC or are they in general use?  For example, what exactly is BFF?  Is DS Dear Sister or Dear Son or do you have to guess?

Ray