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

[h20skibum]

1 hour ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Thanks, Mark.

 

Seems to be - 2.8mm.

 

At least, my cousin is getting the best private care money can buy. For the 1%, the recommendation was for a bronchoscopy, since they thought, her being from Romania too, might be TB.... She argued that since her mom (my aunt) was a pediatrician, stands to reason she would know if her daughter had TB ☹️

 

In the end, sadly, the 99% was accurate. She got the PetCT results today - thankfully no metastases, but the "spot" was shining and bright.

Thank you Dani, and once again I wish her well in her surgery.

 

Mine was measured at 6.7mm, but they are early in monitoring.  Will see what the next CT shows.  The last one was done without contrast, and I hope to convince my doctor to have one done with contrast.   The CT would be available to my cardiologist also, and would give them an interim look, since the CT for the aneurysm isn’t due again till next March. 

[Ozark_Kid]

Here are some pics of the Jewel departing today.  At first it looked like she was going to sail away from the camera. 

 

 

But then she turned around. 

 

Once sideways there was no getting around the Jewel. 

 

And back she came.

 

And then close to the webcam!

[SteelCityCruiser10]

4 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Once it leaves there it will be heading to Bayonne to pick us up. 😁

Then eventually down to San Juan to pick us up in January 😃😉

[Luckynana]

9 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

What are current interest rates for a home in your area?   

Last I heard our rates are around 7.50% and expect to be 8% by October for a standard 30 yr mortgage.

 

I bought a condo when I was 20 yrs old and The rate was 10%.  Eric's is 7 yrs older than me and his first home was 16%.

 

When we bought our first home in 1975, our rate was 18%.  

 

4 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

😁😁😁

Looks delicious!  I'd take either one, thank you!  Enjoy the second part of your B2B, Renee, Mike, Helen, and Marty.  Bon Voyage!!🚢

2 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

The surgeon says the "spot" is in a "good place" (In the superior segment of the left lower lobe) to operate on.

 

My cousin just wants IT out ASAP.

Thank goodness the "spot" is in a "good place", Dani.  I wish her a successful surgery, as well as a swift recovery.🙏

[Momof3gurlz]

4 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Thanks, Mark.

 

Seems to be - 2.8mm.

 

At least, my cousin is getting the best private care money can buy. For the 1%, the recommendation was for a bronchoscopy, since they thought, her being from Romania too, might be TB.... She argued that since her mom (my aunt) was a pediatrician, stands to reason she would know if her daughter had TB ☹️

 

In the end, sadly, the 99% was accurate. She got the PetCT results today - thankfully no metastases, but the "spot" was shining and bright.

I guess I missed an earlier post about this. I wish her a successful surgery and easy recovery. And thank goodness it had not metastasized.  

[firefly333]

9 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

What are current interest rates for a home in your area?   

Last I heard our rates are around 7.50% and expect to be 8% by October for a standard 30 yr mortgage.

 

I bought a condo when I was 20 yrs old and The rate was 10%.  Eric's is 7 yrs older than me and his first home was 16%.

 

I know most dont follow stocks but new home builders have been on a tear and hitting all time highs. CNBC was talking about how some new home prices are slipping below existing home prices and could still cause prices to really come down. People dont want to sell and give up those 3% mortgages. 

 

I track my condo in Florida on zillow very closely. Zillow says price averages down 11k in the last 30 days (when  I click on my own address). Im crossing my fingers prices stop dropping. My little house in dallas I have to sell next year, I hope to at least break even. Prices are up but I spent a lot here too fixing it to my standards.

 

I dont look forward to the whole selling and moving. Fingers crossed. Nothing I can do now but watch.

[Luckynana]

7 hours ago, George C said:

We did a very similar cruise 7 years ago on brilliance, great ports

George, we also did a very similar cruise on Brilliance, back in 2011.  It was our first Mediterranean cruise.

[Ozark_Kid]

I thought I would try to catch some more pics of Jewel before it hit the sea.  I fond a webcam in IJmuiden.  It took a long time for Jewel to make its way there.  I got busy with other stuff and just in time remember.   With a little time to go I found another near by.  

When I first opened the webcam I wasn't sure I was seeing Jewel or not.

 

As the ship came out my hopes grew.

 

 

Yes! Jewel!

 

 

It appeared that was all I would get but then the cam moved to down for another minute of viewing. 

 

When this cam stopped showing the ship I switched back to the original which is closer to sea.  I watch for awhile and the Jewel was not around.  As I thought it must not go by this cam it showed up! 

 

I am so glad I found the other webcam.  With the sun setting the webcam would not focus well.

 

Off to the sea!

[Jimbo]

8 hours ago, Jimbo said:

For those on the Gulf Coast of Florida,what are officials telling you to do with impeding hurricane on the way? Has the weather reports pinpointed yet where landfall will be?

@singinalot What are your plans, just ride it out? Stay safe.

[Sunshine3601]

11 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Our daughter is buying a house right now.  The best that she could get was 30 years at 7.125%.  That's a new buyer rate.  At least the mortgage company covers some of the closing costs.  She's hoping that rates will drop in a couple of years and she can re-mortgage.  I remember that we started at around 6% (30 years) in 1992 and switch to around 2% (15 year) after 4 or 5 years.  Our monthly cost dropped a bit and it was so nice being mortgage free after 15 years.

Excellent!   Your Daughter is getting a good deal with a 7.125% 30-yr fixed and the lender covering some of her closing costs.    Is she part of a first time homebuyer program that offers the reduced closing costs?  

 

My first condo in1987 at 10% rate then I switched an adjustable rate which paid off big time.   

Eric bought his first townhome in 1981 or 82 and had a rate of 16% for a 30-yr fixed and he also elected to do an adjustable rate which paid off for him too since rates continued downward for years after that.  

[Sunshine3601]

8 hours ago, Jimbo said:

We have a Category 2D  booked for less then 1/2 of the prices that are listed now for that same category.

Booked back in January 2023

Another great reason why you don't want to cancel that cruise and move to 2025.

[Sunshine3601]

10 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I agree. Times are not so bad for people who know how to control their spending and not live off of credit. At least now one can park some money risk free in a bank and get some return on it.

 

I can't remember the last numbers I heard but credit card debt is astronomical in the U.S. A lot of people don't like to deny themselves anything regardless of their inability to pay for those things.

Add on top of credit card debt, student loan debt.   Most first time homebuyers do not understand that mortgage lenders have to factor in to their debt ratio the fact they have student loans that someday in the near future they will have to start paying.   They won't remain in deferral or $0 based repayment plans forever.

[Sunshine3601]

@Jimbo    The storms that start with an "I" seem to be some whoppers.    Ian, Irene, Isabell, Ike and Irma.   Let's hope Ida behaves.    We leave for Tampa on Sunday, 9/10 

 

The owner of where I work has a house in Cape Coral and is having someone do extra tie-downs of his catamaran which is docked at his home.      He was lucky and only had minor issues with Hurricane Ian last September.   He was very happy compared to others that lost everything.     

 

He is in Maine now and says he puts down his hurricane shutters whenever he leaves his FL home to come to his home in PA or ME.

[Arzeena]

7 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Thanks, Mark.

 

Seems to be - 2.8mm.

 

At least, my cousin is getting the best private care money can buy. For the 1%, the recommendation was for a bronchoscopy, since they thought, her being from Romania too, might be TB.... She argued that since her mom (my aunt) was a pediatrician, stands to reason she would know if her daughter had TB ☹️

 

In the end, sadly, the 99% was accurate. She got the PetCT results today - thankfully no metastases, but the "spot" was shining and bright.

I hope that your cousin gets better fast. Prayers for her quick recovery.

 

Also, while on the TB subject, anyone who has been vaccinated as a new born (within 6 days generally) with the BCG will always have a positive reaction (equivalent to testing positive) in the Mantoux TB test later on in life. It is then followed up by an Xray if needed clearance for employment/other purposes (to rule it out). Many Western practitioners are not familiar with this, but many know of this. Many pulmonologists will give you a note that you should never be administered this TB test and why.

So if you ever had this vaccine and take this test, do not be alarmed if your reaction site measures more than it should (i.e. you get a positive result). This is always double checked by a chest Xray, just to be sure.

[George C]

28 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

@Jimbo    The storms that start with an "I" seem to be some whoppers.    Ian, Irene, Isabell, Ike and Irma.   Let's hope Ida behaves.    We leave for Tampa on Sunday, 9/10 

 

The owner of where I work has a house in Cape Coral and is having someone do extra tie-downs of his catamaran which is docked at his home.      He was lucky and only had minor issues with Hurricane Ian last September.   He was very happy compared to others that lost everything.     

 

He is in Maine now and says he puts down his hurricane shutters whenever he leaves his FL home to come to his home in PA or ME.

My brothers house had several hundred thousands in damage from last one , luckily he had good insurance but all repairs are not yet done , looks like this one will mostly be north of his house in Ft Myer.

[maggieq]

5 hours ago, SteelCityCruiser10 said:

Then eventually down to San Juan to pick us up in January 😃😉

But picking us up in Bayonne in November on the way to San Juan. 😊 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by maggieq

[Ocean Boy]

35 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

I hope that your cousin gets better fast. Prayers for her quick recovery.

 

Also, while on the TB subject, anyone who has been vaccinated as a new born (within 6 days generally) with the BCG will always have a positive reaction (equivalent to testing positive) in the Mantoux TB test later on in life. It is then followed up by an Xray if needed clearance for employment/other purposes (to rule it out). Many Western practitioners are not familiar with this, but many know of this. Many pulmonologists will give you a note that you should never be administered this TB test and why.

So if you ever had this vaccine and take this test, do not be alarmed if your reaction site measures more than it should (i.e. you get a positive result). This is always double checked by a chest Xray, just to be sure.

The Interferon Gold test can also ve used which dies nit gave the interaction with the BCG vaccine.

[Tree_skier]

15 hours ago, sgmn said:

It's a huge balcony. We have an aft one on Serenade next month. Our first aft cabin 

Once you've had an aft cabin you'll be looking for them on all your cruises.  They are great!

[Ocean Boy]

30 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

The Interferon Gold test can also ve used which dies nit gave the interaction with the BCG vaccine.

Geeze, I think this is my record for the most typos in one post.🙄

[Ocean Boy]

Just now, Tree_skier said:

Once you've had an aft cabin you'll be looking for them on all your cruises.  They are great!

But you can't see where you are going. You can only see where you've been.🤔

[Tree_skier]

2 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Excellent!   Your Daughter is getting a good deal with a 7.125% 30-yr fixed and the lender covering some of her closing costs.    Is she part of a first time homebuyer program that offers the reduced closing costs?  

I just secured some financing @ 5.875. I'm probably not going to use it since I can't find anything I want to buy.  I thought I might have found something so went ahead and got pre-qualified but I changed my mind. I just can't find the right property that DW and I can both agree on.  

[Tree_skier]

15 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Geeze, I think this is my record for the most typos in one post.🙄

I thought you were slipping into Italian 🙂 

[Tree_skier]

16 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

But you can't see where you are going. You can only see where you've been.🤔

But wake views are awesome!  

 

 

[A&L_Ont]

6 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I just secured some financing @ 5.875. I'm probably not going to use it since I can't find anything I want to buy.  I thought I might have found something so went ahead and got pre-qualified but I changed my mind. I just can't find the right property that DW and I can both agree on.  

 

World cruise?😉

[Sunshine3601]

18 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I just secured some financing @ 5.875. I'm probably not going to use it since I can't find anything I want to buy.  I thought I might have found something so went ahead and got pre-qualified but I changed my mind. I just can't find the right property that DW and I can both agree on.  

Is that a 30 yr or 15 yr mortgage?