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

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Thanks. I was always the Computer Nerd in the family. My BS was in Computer Engineering Technology which later became Computer Science. I tried to keep my parents with computers  and technology. My parents were so far ahead of other people their age. Mom has a desktop computer and printer. She still manages her bills (writes checks) and mails them. She also has an iPad and iPhone. She has lost most her local friends. Has family in KY and locally, her kids (me and brothers), grandkids, a great grandkids. I really don’t know what she would do without her Facebook. Lol. Sometimes it’s an issue late at night as she takes some before bed medications that make her loopy. We created a close site just for her and family with access. That has worked out well. 

That's Great that you Mom is able to use a iPad and iPhone / Facebook, etc.   

When I was a kid my brother was the computer geek and for Christmas he got the Apple 1 or Apple I when it first came out.   He did share it with me - sometimes!   Now he is a very successful computer engineer.    My Father the race car driver then mailman started using computers in the 80's for home bills, etc.    He has done pretty well with technology but my Mom the retired English Teacher, she has no idea how to get to her email, doesn't even try, she let's my Dad open it up for her to read.    It's funny to watch her move around without a clue what she is doing.    For years, she didn't know how to operate by yourself the VCR or DVD player.    She figured it out when they came obsolete 🙂

Edited September 27, 2020 by Sunshine3601

[Luckynana]

On 9/25/2020 at 8:55 PM, singinalot said:

 

Im afraid chrome book might just be the only one I’m not familiar with ☹️

 

That's okay.  It's the thought that counts!!  Thank you.🙂

[island lady]

Sun was back out...giving us a beautiful sunset on our last day in Santa Rosa Beach.  

 

 

[Milwaukee Eight]

Yesterday. Boss was working all weekend. So it was my duty to have dinner ready when she got home each night.  Issue is I never know what time to expect her. Friday was steaks and they don’t take long. Saturday I fetched takeout. Yesterday I SousVide a Pork Lion and it really turned out nice. I cooked at 140* for a little over 4 hours. That’s the nice thing about SousVide, it doesn’t hurt to cook longer when the meat temperature never changes. I made a salad with both the steaks and pork. I sear the meat after cook outside with a MAP gas torch. 
 

[island lady]

Lunch today at Baytown Wharf Marina in Sandestin Florida.   Fresh Apalachicola Oysters after this yummy appetizer.  🙂 

 

 

Edited September 30, 2020 by island lady

[island lady]

17 minutes ago, singinalot said:

love Baytown! we always eat at AJs

 

We are currently at Bay Club of Sandestin Beach resort for this week, across the cove from the Village of Baytowne.  Spent last week on the beach in Santa Rosa Beach 8 miles away, and will be arriving this Saturday at Bucky's favorite Island...St. George Island for a weeks stay.  The picture I posted was at the Village Door Restaurant in the Village of Baytowne at the Marina.  

 

Missed the big wine festival last April at Baytowne.  We had been going for the last 10 or more years, was cancelled this year.  😞 

[Jingerwoppy]

Had a tarantula at the front door this morning. He came up to say high.

[island lady]

15 hours ago, Jingerwoppy said:

Had a tarantula at the front door this morning. He came up to say high.

 

Ewwww!!!   🕷️

[soremekun]

On 9/29/2020 at 8:33 PM, singinalot said:

busy couple of days at the hospital for me. We’re hiring a new director for one of our departments and I’m the interview arranging guru. Planning interviews during Covid proved to be a challenge 🤣 but we successfully made it through the day today. My light at the end of the tunnel is that I’m going to drive my mom up to Vail this weekend to see the fall colors. I’ve got the gopro and drone charging 🤞🤞🤞

Very random question (please be "patient" with me)

Are the analog wall clocks in your hospital battery powered?

[soremekun]

19 hours ago, singinalot said:

 

is that one of those "is your fridgerator running?" type of trick questions? 🙂

Not this time. 😊

It's just the IT geek in me asking.  A hospital is such a large facility and a battery powered clock requires occasional time adjustments and battery swap outs.

I'm pushing POE analog and digital clocks at the school I work for.  No batteries needed and the time is set automatically.

 

Note: I don't have financial interest in any POE clock manufacturer.

[island lady]

4 hours ago, soremekun said:

Not this time. 😊

It's just the IT geek in me asking.  A hospital is such a large facility and a battery powered clock requires occasional time adjustments and battery swap outs.

I'm pushing POE analog and digital clocks at the school I work for.  No batteries needed and the time is set automatically.

 

Note: I don't have financial interest in any POE clock manufacturer.

 

I love my atomic clocks at home.  🙂  Pain in the butt with the dumb time change twice a year.  😞  The clocks adjust automatically.  And don't get me started on how much I detest that program of time change....grrr...  😠

[fredflint]

I would think that an atomic clock would make sense but maybe go one better if you are doing POE then invest in a smaller monitor that could display the time and other information.

 

Would also help anyone that was hearing impaired with announcements.

[fredflint]

I have been working my IT job the whole time at one point they had us on 2 shifts i was doing from 2PM to 10PM did not like it at all, then every other week which did not allow you to get anything done.

 

I am now working every day with 1/2 the people in my office due to spacing requirements.  They are changing the rules on the 7th so we can go back to everyone in the room.  Still need to wear masks outside of the office, we are supposed to wear them at our desks but mine is about 8' from anyone else and I am always drinking coffee.

 

Biggest concern is the same as being on a long airline flight just sitting at my desk all day is getting blood clots in my legs.

Also being in Colorado we are getting occasional bad smoke form fires.

[bobmacliberty]

Just got home from traveling for 8 days.  Started with a guys golf trip on Kiawah Island.  We got a great deal with 11 guys spread across 3 houses that each have 4 bedrooms with their own bathroom.  The houses were stunning with Viking appliances, small pools built into the deck, and great marsh views.  Zillow estimates that the houses are worth about $2.3M.   Mostly wasted on us for a golf trip. 

 

We've been casually looking for a retirement home on Amelia Island in Florida but had not planned to look seriously until Feb/Mar.  Our real estate agent found a house that looked great both on paper and with a FaceTime virtual walkthrough.  My wife therefore flew to Charleston where I met her after the golf trip ended and drove down to Amelia Island.  The house turned out to be a bit of a disappointment in person but a new house was just going on the market and we were the first to see it the next morning.  It was perfect for us.  We made an offer that afternoon before the second showing happened.  The seller also received an offer from the second showing and had another offer expected the next day sight unseen (that's how much of a seller's market it is right now).  For several reasons, they accepted our offer.  We will officially become Florida homeowners when we close next month!  Much faster than we anticipated, and we will keep our house in Ohio until next spring, but we're already excited about being about to get away from colder weather in the winter.  We need to officially change our residence to Florida before the end of the year to get the homestead benefit on property taxes...one of several things that we'll need to learn about Florida living.

[A&L_Ont]

That’s great news. On a side note, I know where I am staying when I come down for the Amelia Island Concourse. 🙂

[Bailey & Sophie]

 

Gorgeous pictures. 

Our trees are starting to turn, mostly yellow. It's very overcast so they aren't shimmering in the sunlight.

On the major grrrr list...our neighbor has a HUGE pine tree that sheds. A lot. We probably have 3" of needles in our yard and it's not done yet. I'm not raking twice so they'll have to sit for a bit.

[dani negreanu]

8 hours ago, singinalot said:

Absolutely picked the most perfect day. The fall colors were incredible.

 

Looks amazing, so envious you get to travel, have a change of scenery and breath fresh air.

 

We're into the 3rd week of total lockdown, and even though we live a mere 10 min drive from a gorgeous Med beach, it's outside the range of 0.6 miles where we're allowed to be....

[dani negreanu]

10 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

For several reasons, they accepted our offer.  We will officially become Florida homeowners when we close next month! 

 

Congrats, sounds great.

 

I had to google Amelia Island, looks like a nice place with lots of golf courses 😁

[fredflint]

13 hours ago, Bailey & Sophie said:

 

Gorgeous pictures. 

Our trees are starting to turn, mostly yellow. It's very overcast so they aren't shimmering in the sunlight.

On the major grrrr list...our neighbor has a HUGE pine tree that sheds. A lot. We probably have 3" of needles in our yard and it's not done yet. I'm not raking twice so they'll have to sit for a bit.

I picked up one of these last year it is great on leaves would probably work for pine needles  but both Amazon and  Home depot carry it so not much risk.  I did pick up the trash can adapter and it is a bit messy but does let you pick up more!

 

Found this Amazon review

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Blower and Vacuum!

Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2018

Color: RedVerified Purchase

I am a 63 year old woman with several trees that drop thousands of pine needles in my driveway and I live in Seattle where it's wet most of the time. Three strikes against me for a leaf blower! So I was hesitant about buying this. However, I purchased the Toro UltraPlus Leaf Blower Vacuum because it was electric, affordable and fairly light to carry. To my delight, this leaf blower works great! It blows over the pine needles on my concrete driveway into nice piles. Of course, it won't blow wet needles or needles caked in mud but it does a very good job with the dry needles, pinecones and leaves. The vacuum works great too! It sucks up the piles of needles into this nice bag that hooks up to the blower and has a belt to hang over my shoulder. It's really easy to empty the bag because it has a zipper on the bottom. The blower and vacuum have attachments that are pretty easy to figure out and put on/take off. There's two handles to hold the blower so it's easy to maneuver. All in all, I'm very happy with this new "toy" and my only regret is that I didn't buy it sooner.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Toro-51621-UltraPlus-Variable-Speed-Impeller/dp/B00TNCJU3E/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Toro+51621&qid=1601826998&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-1

 

https://myleafblower.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/toro-51621-best-garden-vac-for-wet-leaves-2018-review.jpg

Edited October 4, 2020 by fredflint
more

[A&L_Ont]

My FIL had a blower mulched like that. He was very happy with it. 

[A&L_Ont]

One week update at once. Office job has made me want to stab my eyes out with a spoon. Enough said. 
 

Around the farms gives me solace and a needed break. Phase one of the bush work is done. 
 

 

Cedars trimmed back. Phase two will start when harvest is done. 
 

 

Took Friday afternoon to clean out the barn at moms and reorganize it. Always feels good to see what you have accomplished and the office never gives you that. 
 

 

 

 

Soybean harvest has begun but the weather has turned. About 20 acres done with another 200 acres to go. Hopefully this week. 

 

Speaking of “harvest”... it’s about to begin at our neighbour’s as well. He rents a small portion of land to people who have a licensed out door grow operation.
 

People coming and going at all hours and a special funk in the air.  I had to explain that to mom.  They are on 2  parcels of land, both across the road and upwind  from moms.  If you look you can see their 24 hour security trailer tucked away beside the corn field.
 

Always something interesting in the country. 
 

 

Ended the week with some BBQ bacon cheeseburgers. Made me realize how much I miss Playmakers on the ship.  

 

 

 

The colours are coming nicely here as well. Hope you all had a great week. 

 

Edited October 4, 2020 by A&L_Ont

[Keksie]

Our neighbors have started harvesting the peanuts.

[dani negreanu]

2 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

The colours are coming nicely here as well.

 

Ohhhh, the red one is amazing.

[DaniDanielle]

👍

[island lady]

Week #3 visiting the Florida Panhandle.  St. George Island this week, condo on the beach, happy hour.  Sure, it's not the balcony on the ship, nor the SL/CL/DL....but it comes with a great bartender and nice view!