Silversea Water Cooler: Part 3, Welcome!

[mysty]

J...that would make a wonderful addition to Myster's repertoire! Can we re-visit this idea when we come back in April? I'm going to try to make him more comfortable with the Cooler while we are away. That way, he can dispense with the "middle woman" and have a conversation with you. :) Once again, thanks for all your help!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Of course!

 

By the way .... this gives a better idea of how thin I try and make pizza ....

 

 

 

 

 

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[mysty]

WOW J! That is thin! I really enjoy a thin depth in pizza. More opportunity for the flavours of the toppings to shine! Thanks for the pictorial!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Happy Sunday Coolers,

 

Sunday English Brunch with Spaghetti rather than beans (sorry) and a bottle of Breddon Champers ....

 

 

 

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[mysty]

Greetings Coolers! Another day of sunshine! :)

 

J....wonderful brunch plate! That omelette looks perfect! Yummy!

 

Have a great day/evening all!

[spinnaker2]

Hello all.

This weekend day is almost over. I can always tell when our Prez is at his Palm Beach digs because our little airport is over run with private jets all weekend.

It's disquieting in more ways than the noise factor.

 

Apropos of nothing, I have been reading a good book, lost city of the monkey god. Having traveled to Honduras twice in the last five years, with personal armed guards, I have long been intrigued with its history. It is a very scary place today. I can understand why mothers would send their children alone on dangerous journeys across borders to get out of the country and perhaps be saved. Living in Honduras is far more dangerous. It is a "banana republic" now mostly due to US interference, drug cartels and the love of bananas and cocaine. But, it has a rich history of not only the Mayans but other yet to be determined great civilizations.

 

Nice food photos all. I am enjoying the Pizza installments and narrative of development of dough.

 

Here's to Monday!

[mysty]

Spins...that sounds like a difficult book to read. I have loved books by Douglas Preston and Lee Child but have never read this one.

[spinnaker2]

Mysty

I didn't mean to lead you astray.

The book is mainly about an expedition to find the city.

The preface I gave is about Honduras and was for background.

[UKCruiseJeff]

 

 

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[jpalbny]

Good morning all.

 

Those flowers are still looking good, Jeff.

 

We are hoping to rest up this week. We had friends over this weekend and we stayed up too late and ate too much food, and had lots of wine too. Fun but not very restful. This is the group that is cruising in October with us on Silver Explorer.

 

I'm off to the courthouse today as I got the dreaded summons for jury duty. We have been short staffed at work this past 6+ months so it would be pretty much impossible for me to serve without canceling a bunch of patients in the clinics this week. That would be unfair to the poor patients, some of whom have waited months for the appointments. And wait time is a sensitive subject with us these days.

 

So I'll head over at 9:00 and see if they will postpone or dismiss me. I hope that they are understanding.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Thanks JP, yes the carnations looked glorious this morning and that's about half the daffodils I bought and they just looked so nice.

 

Rightly or wrongly without going into the rights or wrongs, although there are dire warnings in the UK for people not doing jury service it appears that they take no action if you don't turn up.

 

Jeff

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers! The sun is just peeking over the horizon now. Maybe another day of sunshine!

 

Spins....I looked up the book this morning and it sounds very interesting! Did you discover it on goodreads?

 

J...the flowers look beautiful! Did you add something to the water to preserve them?

 

JP....good luck with the jury duty thing!

 

Have a great day all!

[Camillus112]

Good morning Coolers!

 

Start of a new week which will hopefully place us closer to Spring, which officially begins on the 21st, the date of my daughter's birthday. No cooking by anybody that day; reservations at a nice restaurant.

 

Last night my DH tried a contraption called the Veggetti, which slices zucchini as spaghetti and you only cook for a minute within the sauce itself. The dish turned out delicious, and very healthy eating. Not that we are giving up on pasta...

 

JP, I understand we can ask for a one-time waiver and select another date within a six-month period. I was due last November, at the time of out Transatlantic, and changed it to this coming June. I'm sure all will be fine.

 

Enjoy the new week, all!

[ShotsnCruises]

It is the start of a new week, and I am somehow super busy and working three 12 hour days this week. I do get Friday off, so I guess that makes it worth it!

My schedule is not full, so I am hoping for some downtime to get out of the office and familiarize myself with the restaurants and shopping around town. New places to explore!

I am finally over my sickness, but the hubby caught it, so he is down for the count. Poor guy.... Good thing my cat likes to sleep with him!

[MissSophia]

Exciting morning here in the Welshlands with my Muse tickets arrival...somehow makes it all the more real!

 

Glad you're over the sickness Shots....with the official arrival today of Spring here I'm hoping to see all these nasty bugs disappear.

 

Interesting tale about Honduras Spins.....think the book may be a bit hard going for me...like Mysty l am a fan of Lee Child but also love biography..spent last night downloading some kindle books for my trip just in case l find myself a quiet moment away from the bar 😉

 

Good luck with the Jury JP....I'm luckily exempt!

 

Jeffers, I think you should start a delivery business...pizza and flowers door to door....😝

 

So, today is International Happiness Day.......wishing you all a good one.

 

S😊

[Camillus112]

INTERNATIONAL HAPPINESS DAY SOUNDS VERY UPLIFTING. LET OUR SPIRITS SOAR!! and, Shots, hope your hubby feels better soon.

[ShotsnCruises]

International Happiness day... I will remember to smile more. Did you know that simply the act of smiling can elevate your mood?

 

The hubby must be feeling somewhat better because he just sent me a text asking if he can come to the office and take me to lunch. :D That makes me HAPPY!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Good afternoon Coolers!

 

Thanks M, no just water ....

 

It seems to me somewhat of an indictment on the society us lot have collectively made that life is too often so poor for so many people, even in the First world that we have the contrive happiness days. I feel the same about Mothers and Fathers days and all that are the same!

 

Still I opened some more Breddon this morning and she turned the hoover off and sat and drank it with me. She was musing about what a lucky bunny she feels she has been and made me extremely happy as one tries hard to make your soul mates life happier than it might have been if the fickly finger of fate had given her someone else.

 

We had a short walk this morning and took some bottles to the bottle bank. Others pretended that their incriminating bottle deposits were several weeks worth and it was fun to see the stories people tell when throwing in their liquor stash. Returned and made her some pan fried bream fillets today with some stove charlottes and .... yes Spins ...PEAS!

 

 

 

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[spinnaker2]

Peas. Glorious peas!

 

 

😋

[mysty]

The 2017 World Happiness Report was released today. Canada ranked 7th. :) The rankings from 1st to 10th are: Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, Netherlands, CANADA, New Zealand and Australia and Sweden tied at 9th place. Here is the link if you want further information on the criteria used for the rankings.

 

http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2017/

[Catlover54]

Good morning all.

 

Those flowers are still looking good, Jeff.

 

We are hoping to rest up this week. We had friends over this weekend and we stayed up too late and ate too much food, and had lots of wine too. . . . (snip)

 

 

Sorry to bud in, JP, but I have been trying to find the name of the upscale Barcelona restaurant you were at over a Xmas holiday either this year or last that you enjoyed so much and posted about here.

My thread search functions are not coming up with anything,

[Camillus112]

Congratulations, Mysty, on Canada's high ranking on happiness. I would not doubt it for a moment; I haven't yet met any Canadian that doesn't glow!

 

Catlover54, I am also interested in JP's answer to your question. Last time in Barcelona I ate at Viana (as per Trip Advisor) and the suckling pig was very, very good. Next time in May I would like to find another top notch restaurant. I truly trust JP.

[UKCruiseJeff]

These reports always capture headlines but they always seem rather coy about explaining their methodology behind their data collection and conclusions. If you are a cynical old b&8££8r like me and know how you can make research say anything, I'd be extremely sceptical about any research that thinks it can make any relative judgements about happiness and how it is interpreted against varying expectations of vastly different people across the whole world.

 

 

 

 

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[jpalbny]

 

Sorry to bud in, JP, but I have been trying to find the name of the upscale Barcelona restaurant you were at over a Xmas holiday either this year or last that you enjoyed so much and posted about here.

My thread search functions are not coming up with anything,

 

Restaurante Gelonch. Unfortunately, when I googled it just now to give you the website, I see that it's permanently closed! :( Sorry to hear that. It was great.

 

We had another great dinner at Pla a few nights later. They are still open I think.

http://www.restaurantpla.cat

 

I'll try to find the thread where I posted more specifics from that trip. I suspect it is in part 2 of the water cooler, December 2015 or early January 2016. Search that thread for Gelonch and you'll probably find it quickly. Just not sure I can do that from my phone right now or I'd do it for you.

 

Edited to add. Post 2201 in water cooler part 2 thread. I can search with the phone app.

 

 

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Edited March 20, 2017 by jpalbny

[mysty]

Thanks Cam! :)

 

J...you're sounding a little curmudgeonly. :) Happiness is a difficult thing to measure at the best of times. I agree that carrying any kind of happiness measurement across cultures, countries and languages could lead to distortions in the data (or what passes for data). And I know first hand about making numbers tell a story (from my job in statistics years ago). I posted the link as a fun thing. But as to the scientific reliability of a happiness measurement.....all bets are off. :) However, if you are interested, the link does allow access to methodology and statistical measures.

Edited March 20, 2017 by mysty