Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[molly361]

10 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Thanks. 🙂  

 

You guys do okay with your shots?  

Yes so far. It will be a week Monday  

[grapau27]

32°F cold,dry and sunny this morning.

We are going to go to our local garden centre this morning to buy some plants.

Currently watching Judge Judy on TV.

We watched Below Deck Mediterranean last night on TV.

[dani negreanu]

7 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

Finally relaxing. 

 

Ohh, such a nice pool.

 

For me it'll be the ultimate luxury to have my own pool, and not having to drive to, at certain hours and share it with many other people....

😎

[sgmn]

9 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

One other thing as an example. I was the listing agent (sellers) on a large home. It had been vacant for some time. The owners were deceased and the three daughters had the power to sell the property. I gave them my opinion on the price it would sell for. The wanted to ask a $100k more than I suggested. We listed at their price. It sat for 6 months with very few showings. They agreed to drop the price another $50k. It sat for another 6 months. After six months, they agreed to drop the price $10k every 30 days. The weekend it dropped to the price I suggested, they had 4 offers. Three were decent offers and one was a low ball. I presented the 4 offers and discussed the pluses & minus of each offer (cash, Financing, and VA).  They accepted one offer. The person that submitted the low ball offer was PO’d. They felt like we should have countered their offer. Long story short, the agent and their buyer filed a complaint with our board. The complaint was thrown out. They should have offered what they were willing to pay. 
 

M8

i remember when I was single and buying my second house, I took my dad with me on several viewings for his opinion.  One really stood out and I loved it.  We sat in the car after discussing it and he said if you love it, don't mess around just offer the asking price and be done, I did and got the house.  Met hubby soon after and we happily lived in that little house for 10 years.  Both kids were born from that house    

[dani negreanu]

29 minutes ago, sgmn said:

i remember when I was single and buying my second house, I took my dad with me on several viewings for his opinion.  One really stood out and I loved it.  We sat in the car after discussing it and he said if you love it, don't mess around just offer the asking price and be done, I did and got the house.  Met hubby soon after and we happily lived in that little house for 10 years.  Both kids were born from that house    

 

That's exactly what happened to us.

 

We were in our 1st apartment, 4th floor, no elevator. My elderly parents were having trouble climbing the stairs, and offered to give us a long standing loan in order to move to a building with elevator.

 

By this time, we had 2 aces in our favor -- we were due to relocation to Brussels (nice salary...) and my father got approved for compensation for his years of forced labor during the Holocaust. I have to give a huge credit to the German authorities -- it took them 5 years to check all the documents, but the moment they approved, they paid their dues from the date the compensation request was made. The lump sum they received went directly towards the "new" apartment....

 

We were looking and looking (that was 1980, no phones, no internet), and by sheer luck, a realtor took us to an apartment just outside his office. The moment we entered, we said to the seller "this is it". We didn't even think to bargain, we paid the full price, and the seller of course thought we were such "su...k ...ers".

 

But we knew that we'll move and then relocate, rent it for a nice price, and return the loan to my parents during our stay abroad...

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by dani negreanu
added "request"

[firefly333]

8 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Homes rarely appraise for zillow zestimates.  

Some do some dont. Those in good condition I'd agree. Fixer uppers can. Mine was a it needs everything case. I've flipped houses and done stocks, rather than office jobs. So I know real estate pretty well. Its supported me. I had a friend who also owned properties and we used to kid each other about being slum lords. I've painted until I cant look at another paint brush, and hung it up now and hire it out and try not to own multiple house, but I just love them. 

[Missusdubbya]

 

9 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Somebody recently got annoyed with me on another thread because she said I have been repeating things. I know that when I am talking to people by phone I tend to do that although I do not realize it at the time.

 

Lenny don’t worry about people like that, some things are worth repeating!

 

8 hours ago, dbancroft said:

Our new addition to the family.

Adorable!

[Missusdubbya]

Today we went for a bush walk in Lamington National Park 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by Missusdubbya

[A&L_Ont]

9 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Somebody recently got annoyed with me on another thread because she said I have been repeating things. I know that when I am talking to people by phone I tend to do that although I do not realize it at the time.

I would not worry at all. There are many numerous posters, on other CC threads, posting the same things repeatedly ad nauseam.  Day in day out for months.
 

Whoever complained about you can go fly a kite. 

[dani negreanu]

34 minutes ago, Missusdubbya said:

Today we went for a bush walk in Lamington National Park 

 

Amazing photos, those mushrooms, so much greenery -- a feast for the eyes.

 

Thanks for posting.💐

[Sheal]

17 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

I guess Publix didn't get the memo

That bag looks like it was carried down to Florida from Canada in someone's backpack.

 

Graham,  I had a lousy day yesterday.  Guess I should have logged in, that video made me smile.

[grapau27]

27 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

I would not worry at all. There are many numerous posters, on other CC threads, posting the same things repeatedly ad nauseam.  Day in day out for months.
 

Whoever complained about you can go fly a kite. 

+1 absolutely agree.

[grapau27]

53 minutes ago, Missusdubbya said:

Today we went for a bush walk in Lamington National Park 

 

 

 

 

Lovely pictures.

Paulines cousin loves Kangaroo Island in Australia.

[grapau27]

10 minutes ago, Sheal said:

That bag looks like it was carried down to Florida from Canada in someone's backpack.

 

Graham,  I had a lousy day yesterday.  Guess I should have logged in, that video made me smile.

Thanks I'm pleased it cheered you up.

[bobmacliberty]

1 hour ago, dani negreanu said:

We were looking and looking (that was 1980, no phones, no internet), and by sheer luck, a realtor took us to an apartment just outside his office. The moment we entered, we said to the seller "this is it". We didn't even think to bargain, we paid the full price, and the seller of course thought we were such "su...k ...ers".

 

Same thing with the house that we recently bought.  First to view the house at 9:30am the day that it went on the market and offered full list price that day.  We did however talk with our realtor about what to do in case of a bidding war.  It is a very real thing around here and we discussed adding an escalation clause to the offer.  It was essentially how much we were willing to increase our offer each time we needed to, and the max price that we would be willing to offer.  It would trigger automatically if needed.  I didn't like the idea as it tips our hand as to our max offer.  We'd lose leverage.  

 

Ultimately, the escalation clause wasn't needed.  The sellers had 3 full price offers on day 1.  One was an out of town person who had not seen the house in person (these offers will sometimes cancel after the 10 day inspection period so their not reliable), and another had a financing contingency.  Since we did not have a financing contingency, the sellers accepted our offer.  The apparently did not want to get into a bidding war and just wanted to sell.  They were happy that they got what they asked, which was probably more than they though they would get.

 

Our agent is not a fan of Zillow.  Their "zestimates" are usually wrong as it is a formula that doesn't take several things into consideration.  She constantly has to convince both buyers and sellers that the real market price is different.

[John&LaLa]

14 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Thanks.  🙂  

 

I am only eligible because of comorbidities, I don't make it age wise yet either.  I am going to register with the v-safe website tonight and report it.  They are collecting pictures too I guess.  Doctor says antihistamine for now but call if it worsens.  

 

They are doing shots at our rec center this week, but they won't do them for comorbidities.  65 and up only. They send you to the county health department for validation 

[Sheal]

Speaking of rashes, my daughter had covid and developed a rash a about 6 weeks later.  After dealing with the itching for a month she decided to call the dermatologist.  The doctor said she has seen a few patients that had developed a rash after being ill.  She just went back for her regular checkup, no mention of the rash, just the biopsy on the stomach.  

[bobmacliberty]

The worst (scariest) traffic that I've ever seen was in India.  I'm not sure that there are even informal rules (other than fancy, expensive cars get the right of way because those people may be powerful), let alone actual traffic laws.  Everyone drives with one hand on the steering wheel and one on the horn, and goes wherever they want.  We had a driver, so I never experienced driving first hand, but I was constantly wondering if we were going to get into an accident.

 

We were being driven on what would be a four lane road in the US, with 2 lanes in each direction.  There were no lane markers and it was being used as a 6 +/- lane road.  Our driver was fed up with slower drivers in front of him so he moved all the way to the left side of the road (driving is on the right side of the road like in the US) and sped up to pass not only the cars in front of us, but now also the cars coming at us from the opposite direction. 😱

 

We also went through an intersection with 4 "lanes" in each direction.  No traffic light.  You just nudge your way forward, honking your horn the entire time, until you're through the intersection.  It worked amazingly well.  I wondered if, on average, it took less time than waiting for a red light to turn green. In India, if you snooze, you lose. 

[John&LaLa]

13 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Typically, bidding wars are not supposed to happen. Seller gets multiple offers, selects their choice of offer and/or counters one.  They can reject all as well. There is not a process to bid. 
 

M8

 

When we bought a home in No VA we putva price on contract, and a not to exceed number as well. It was weird. This was 2003.

 

My son just bought a home in ATL, most of the 'offers' were for above asking price.

 

Got fed up and bought new construction 

[vacationlover_mn]

3 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

The worst (scariest) traffic that I've ever seen was in India.  

Agree!  Its so bad there that my work only wanted us to go through certain companies for a driver, and they REALLY didn’t want us going on tut tuts!

[John&LaLa]

11 hours ago, Coralc said:

 

You know what? I find the drivers in Los Angeles to be politer and better drivers than those in San Francisco.  Berkeley is not bad to drive in, although it is like another planet in general. In LA, the drivers move over when you are merging and they honor turn signals. I drove all day, every day during my work career, so I have some experience in observing the habits of other drivers. 

 

Bill Cosby did a funny routine about driving in San Francisco. He was a great stand up comedian 

[ATG]

Worst traffic I have seen was in Rome.  Lane markers were ignored, a 4 lane road would have 3 cars going each way playing chicken.  I think red lights were seen as a challenge.

 

My favorite traffic sign was in Abu Dhabi.  The pedestrian walk signs showed the time remaining and when it got to 5 seconds the little man on the sign started running.

[sgmn]

22 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

The worst (scariest) traffic that I've ever seen was in India.  I'm not sure that there are even informal rules (other than fancy, expensive cars get the right of way because those people may be powerful), let alone actual traffic laws.  Everyone drives with one hand on the steering wheel and one on the horn, and goes wherever they want.  We had a driver, so I never experienced driving first hand, but I was constantly wondering if we were going to get into an accident.

. 

We found it to be pretty scary in Egypt (our last holiday before covid). The driving was very similar to what you experienced in India 

[bobmacliberty]

Finally got the wall above our fireplace fixed/painted and the TV mounted. We still can’t figure out what to do with the large shelf/cubby areas on either side of the fireplace. My wife is playing with various pieces of art, vases, etc. We considered removing them completely to gain about 2 additional feet of width in the room. 

[island lady]

12 hours ago, davekathy said:

Pats' Crystal Ball and my Magic 8 Ball never gets involved with politics. 

 

Indeed...religion and politics...off limits to friends and foes.  😉   And relatives especially!!!  😵