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

[dani negreanu]

31 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

It has been sunny and raining most of today.

 

Brrrr, Graham, the sea looks so dark, beautiful and ... threatening.

[lenquixote66]

58 minutes ago, BonTexasNY said:

I had a crying meltdown when I watched The Beatles on Ed Sullivan Show.  I was one of those tearful girls watching A Hard Day's Night in a movie theater. My Eastern European born parents thought I had lost my mind.  To their credit, they allowed me the freedom to express my obsession until I grew out of it.

In 1964 when the Beatles appeared in Shea Stadium ,my parents and several of their friends ,talking among themselves said more than once that by 1965 nobody will remember who the Beatles are.A few years later the directly downstairs neighbor of my parents had a visit from their son who was singing in the apartment when my father banged on the radiator and said your son will never make it as a singer,that was Neil Sedaka.

[BonTexasNY]

We'll be driving down to Galveston on 2/5 for our Adventure cruise.

I got 2 different online forecasts.

I'll take the first one.

Sun 2/5

Mostly sunny

50°F

34°F

 

Sun 05 Feb

46°

30°

Light snow late. Overcast. Cool.

•  

 

 

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by BonTexasNY

[Husky1987]

Stevie Nixx just wants to get out and play…

[MJSailors]

As a retired teacher, Godmother of four, aunt of five,great aunt of four, and Nana to two teenagers who are family rather than friends, I feel a need to respond to the posts about the generation who are now teenagers.

When I hear that this group is indulged, lack coping skills and are self- centered, I have to ask, who made these kids that way ? 

Parents, grandparents and peer pressure have influenced these kids either in a positive or negative way.

We have friends that have three adult daughters all in their thirties. None are married or in any kind of serious relationship. They are attractive, intelligent women employed in various professional fields. Their mother bemoans the fact that they are single. The father has said, numerous times, that he and his wife created princesses who have very high standards and a reluctance to compromise which makes prospective relationships difficult.

I grew up in the 50s and 60s. It was a good time to come of age.

However,somewhere in the late 70s and the 80s I noticed a change in my generation’s  culture. Weddings became increasingly extravagant, more expensive luxury level cars were being bought,  vacations became more lavish and everyone in my circle of friends bought homes shortly after getting married.Some were gifted homes by their parents. This is the generation who are now grandparents of these indulged teenagers .

My “grandson” was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when he was seven. He is now sixteen and handles the disease and all that is involved with it quite well.

He and his sister are on school athletic teams,. He is a fencer and she plays volleyball. His parents insist on dinner together every night. Both kids have Summer jobs. He works at a local agricultural farm,she works att a nearby llama farm. Last Fall,the farm owner selected her to go to the Big E Fair in Massachusetts to show the llamas in a few events. She placed well in the events and came home with some medals. 

Are they perfect kids-no. They have their moments. They are teenagers. But,they are kind and caring individuals. 

I will be 70 very soon. I have hopes for this young generation. I am also concerned for them because the world as we know it is not a very good place right now. While every generation had issues to deal with on a global sense- wars, financial recessions and depressions, assassinations of political leaders, they did survive somehow.

I understand some of the issues the teens and young adults are facing now. It is not easy.

And yet , the ones that I love as my own children. continue living interesting,productive lives. They celebrate good times,care for their families and try the best way they know how.

So,that is my response. I hope I did not write too much.

Wishing you all a good Wednesday.

MJ🙋🏻

Edited January 25, 2023 by MJSailors
Added some sentences and corrected an unecessary word.

[BonTexasNY]

Growing up, we never had the internet to influence our lives.  The only technology at home was a tv, radio and Underwood manual typewriter.

 

Teen girls can be very dramatic.  I know I raised one and I was one myself.

 

 

 

[DaniDanielle]

Then there is this guy!

[sgmn]

On 1/24/2023 at 12:41 AM, A&L_Ont said:

@Sea Dog and @Ocean Boy I thought I’d tag you both in this post. Greg, because it is in your backyard and OB for your love of aviation. 
 

Someone in one of my car groups posted this, in KC, Missouri off Ward Parkway.  It’s a Concord nose cone from an actual jet.  Owner says he wants to be buried in it. 
 

 

History of plane. 
 

 

Newspaper story. 
 

https://flatlandkc.org/curiouskc/question-everything/questions-answered/whats-behind-the-plane-behind-the-house-off-ward-parkway/

 

Hubby use to flight plan and brief the Concorde flight deck crews.  It was one of the highlights of his career with BA.  He flight planned the very last BA Concorde commercial flight 

Edited January 25, 2023 by sgmn

[grapau27]

For my friend Ocean Boy.

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by grapau27

[A&L_Ont]

9 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

So I was watching the news this morning and they do a segment on Ticketmaster and how they botched the selling of tickets for concerts of my dear friend... TS. In the segment are a couple of teenage girls totally sobbing because they were unable to get tickets. And this gets me thinking.... What is so screwed up with kids these days that they go into such a melt down over something like concert tickets?

 

I don't want to come across as cold (I've probably solidified that impression of myself long ago around here) but this upcoming generation, and this is a generalization, has truly been cottled and have absolutely no coping skills when it comes to adversity. If the inability to get tickets to a concert is the worse thing that they ever have to face in life then they are truly blessed people.

 

Then I started thinking about stories that @dani negreanuhas told us about living in Israel and I started feeling really disgusted about the behavior of these kids on TV. Just pathetic.

 

OK, I'm done with my rant. That is what I get for turning on the TV today. 

My BIL manages a movie theatre and has for a long time. He had a projector go down on the night one of the Twilight movies was opening. People got replacement passes and food credits, but he said the mothers were more indignant than the daughters to him and his staff. The lack of patience and respect now and recent past has changed a lot. 
 

Things have changed a lot in my life and I’m a product of the early 70s. On that note I sound like an old man. 

 

2 hours ago, sgmn said:

Hubby use to flight plan and brief the Concorde flight deck crews.  It was one of the highlights of his career with BA.  He flight planned the very last BA Concorde commercial flight 

That’s so cool. 

[aussielozzie18]

3 hours ago, sgmn said:

Hubby use to flight plan and brief the Concorde flight deck crews.  It was one of the highlights of his career with BA.  He flight planned the very last BA Concorde commercial flight 

That would have been a very special and sad occasion. 

[brillohead]

I agree that the current generation has never faced adversity, so they never learned any coping skills.

I started with my son young -- by the time he was 3yo, he had to order his own food at a restaurant, looking the server in the eye and using a Big Boy Voice and manners (please/thank you).  He played hockey, and they kept score, and they did the "handshake line" after games, win or lose.  If you won, great!  If you lost, it wasn't the end of the world.

He did corn detasseling one summer as a teen... and he learned real quick-like that he didn't want to do THAT kind of work for a living!  Instead of flipping burgers, he created his own business in high school -- I fronted him the money for a few boxes of candy at Sam's Club, and he sold the candy at school for $1 each (no vending machines at school because of Michelle Obama's "healthy food in school" initiative... even the teachers were buying candy from him!).  He paid me back out of his profit and put the rest of the money into buying more candy, and he even bought a clunker of a car and paid his own insurance/registration out of the money he earned.

Too many parents want to be their kid's "friend" or think it's their job to make their kid happy.... but that's the exact opposite of the way it should be!  I told my kid repeatedly as he was growing up that it's not my job to be his friend or make him happy -- it's my job to teach him to become a responsible member of society, and after he's an adult, then we can be friends.  He just turned 23yo, completed his contract with Uncle Sam's Army, has no debt, money invested, and a credit score over 800.  

Oh, and we're friends now... he and his girlfriend WANT to spend time with me and hang out.  (When I'm not on a cruise, that is! LOL)  

 

[brillohead]

And before anyone thinks that I think my son is a perfect angel.... he's not.

He vapes (and I used to work a cardiopulmonary unit in the hospital!!!), and he won't go to college even though he has four years of free tuition from his GI bill.  

Just wanted to throw that out there... I only share the good stuff, but that doesn't mean there isn't bad stuff too!

[helen haywood]

 

This is Diana after a hard day of hiding under the bed while we were on Day Two of a home repair project.  When we toured our now home there was no way to tell that all the art on the walls was attached by molly bolts!!  😳  Way overkill for the lightweight pieces!!  We hung as much art of ours as we could over as many of the ugly things…but were left with 80 (that’s not a typo) screws that needed to be extracted, holes filled in, sanded and repainted.  

It took a day and a half.  I was incredibly lucky to find a wonderful company, Pelican Painters and More (their slogan is “We swoop in to do the job!) via the NextDoor app.  Nice young men, very professional.  The job was finished so well you can’t see any hint of where all those awful holes were.  And they feathered the touch up paint so perfectly they didn’t have to repaint whole walls.  I’m a very happy camper…as are the girls who are back to having the undivided attention of their housekeeping staff.

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, brillohead said:

He did corn detasseling one summer as a teen... and he learned real quick-like that he didn't want to do THAT kind of work for a living! 

I did that for a summer as a young teen. The roughest job I ever did. A bus would pick us at 5am and we were told to bring a sack lunch. We would detassel corn all morning in the hot sun. The edgy leaves rubbing our arms raw. After lunch we would do it some more. It was the worst job I ever did in my life but taught me a lot about myself and working through hard situations. I wish more kids would do work like that. It humbles you quickly.

[Luckynana]

40 minutes ago, brillohead said:

And before anyone thinks that I think my son is a perfect angel.... he's not.

He vapes (and I used to work a cardiopulmonary unit in the hospital!!!), and he won't go to college even though he has four years of free tuition from his GI bill.  

Just wanted to throw that out there... I only share the good stuff, but that doesn't mean there isn't bad stuff too!

Sounds like you've done an excellent job, Deb! One of my daughters is raising her two sons as a single mom, and she amazes me..she's raising two fine and enterprising young gentlemen (13 & 15yo's).  

[Ocean Boy]

Watching a PBS show about life in the ocean. Jade is fascinated. 

 

 

[akcruz]

1 hour ago, brillohead said:

Too many parents want to be their kid's "friend" or think it's their job to make their kid happy.... but that's the exact opposite of the way it should be!  I told my kid repeatedly as he was growing up that it's not my job to be his friend or make him happy -- it's my job to teach him to become a responsible member of society, and after he's an adult, then we can be friends.  He just turned 23yo, completed his contract with Uncle Sam's Army, has no debt, money invested, and a credit score over 800.  

 

I say one of the main jobs of being a parent is to ensure your kids can be self sufficient, responsible adults.  I got the I hate you many times when they were young, my daughter has since apologized for her childhood and we are friends.  My son is a different story but getting there, he is surprising more and more every year, maybe one of these days.

[George C]

18 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I did that for a summer as a young teen. The roughest job I ever did. A bus would pick us at 5am and we were told to bring a sack lunch. We would detassel corn all morning in the hot sun. The edgy leaves rubbing our arms raw. After lunch we would do it some more. It was the worst job I ever did in my life but taught me a lot about myself and working through hard situations. I wish more kids would do work like that. It humbles you quickly.

My roughest was just going thru basic training totally hated that , luckily I was in good shape when I got drafted many many years ago , was 175 pounds then more than 50 years ago , Sea Dog you must have just missed draft by a little. I lucked out again working on computers for my two years in the service. 

[Ourusualbeach]

I'll share a story that my wife brought home from school one September.  She taught kindergarten for years and one September shortly after school started she did an assessment of how many letters of the alphabet the kids new.  Over 50% of the class know 3 letters  X B O...add the first letter to the end of that and you will quickly see how engaged their parents were with them.

[DaniDanielle]

14 minutes ago, George C said:

My roughest was just going thru basic training totally hated that , luckily I was in good shape when I got drafted many many years ago , was 175 pounds then more than 50 years ago , Sea Dog you must have just missed draft by a little. I lucked out again working on computers for my two years in the service. 

You and Charlie had the same draft experience, he worked with computers also his two years.  He was lucky enough to go to Korea instead of Vietnam.  

[helen haywood]

35 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Watching a PBS show about life in the ocean. Jade is fascinated. 

 

 

 

Tenzing liked watching nature programs too.

[DaniDanielle]

I would love to know what goes through their minds when they see the TV!

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, akcruz said:

 

I say one of the main jobs of being a parent is to ensure your kids can be self sufficient, responsible adults.  I got the I hate you many times when they were young, my daughter has since apologized for her childhood and we are friends.  My son is a different story but getting there, he is surprising more and more every year, maybe one of these days.

My youngest daughter was a wild child.She had body piercings ,every color hair that you can think of .Her high school Guidance Counsellor told my wife and I that she should find a trade because academics are not in her future.

My daughter straightened out .She has three Masters Degrees,one in Criminal Justice and two in Education. She has been a HS teacher for 20 plus years .She has the respect of her students as well as the other teachers in her school.

[xpcdoojk]

7 hours ago, MJSailors said:

As a retired teacher, Godmother of four, aunt of five,great aunt of four, and Nana to two teenagers who are family rather than friends, I feel a need to respond to the posts about the generation who are now teenagers.

When I hear that this group is indulged, lack coping skills and are self- centered, I have to ask, who made these kids that way ? 

Parents, grandparents and peer pressure have influenced these kids either in a positive or negative way.

We have friends that have three adult daughters all in their thirties. None are married or in any kind of serious relationship. They are attractive, intelligent women employed in various professional fields. Their mother bemoans the fact that they are single. The father has said, numerous times, that he and his wife created princesses who have very high standards and a reluctance to compromise which makes prospective relationships difficult.

I grew up in the 50s and 60s. It was a good time to come of age.

However,somewhere in the late 70s and the 80s I noticed a change in my generation’s  culture. Weddings became increasingly extravagant, more expensive luxury level cars were being bought,  vacations became more lavish and everyone in my circle of friends bought homes shortly after getting married.Some were gifted homes by their parents. This is the generation who are now grandparents of these indulged teenagers .

My “grandson” was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when he was seven. He is now sixteen and handles the disease and all that is involved with it quite well.

He and his sister are on school athletic teams,. He is a fencer and she plays volleyball. His parents insist on dinner together every night. Both kids have Summer jobs. He works at a local agricultural farm,she works att a nearby llama farm. Last Fall,the farm owner selected her to go to the Big E Fair in Massachusetts to show the llamas in a few events. She placed well in the events and came home with some medals. 

Are they perfect kids-no. They have their moments. They are teenagers. But,they are kind and caring individuals. 

I will be 70 very soon. I have hopes for this young generation. I am also concerned for them because the world as we know it is not a very good place right now. While every generation had issues to deal with on a global sense- wars, financial recessions and depressions, assassinations of political leaders, they did survive somehow.

I understand some of the issues the teens and young adults are facing now. It is not easy.

And yet , the ones that I love as my own children. continue living interesting,productive lives. They celebrate good times,care for their families and try the best way they know how.

So,that is my response. I hope I did not write too much.

Wishing you all a good Wednesday.

MJ🙋🏻

I am pretty certain, that there are still kids raised well with a lot of discipline and will be a blessing to the world.  I am, also, certain, there are a pile not raised that way.

 

Yes, it is not the kids fault…. It is certainly the parents and the educational system, that has a lot of blame to take.  

 

God bless the children who can overcome their parents.

 

jc