The Daily for Monday 05/16/2022

[grapau27]

1 minute ago, 57redbird said:

@grapau27  Don't know if I missed it but did you get any report on your knee x-rays?

Thank you.

I phoned the doctors surgery this morning and the receptionist said they had the x-rays but I would have to speak with the doctor.

I have an appointment for May 25th to see my doctor to discuss the results.

Graham.

[AncientWanderer]

1 hour ago, StLouisCruisers said:

For all the cruisers here who have had to go through this, Walgreen's offers both Rapid NAAT test or Rapid Antigen test with results within 2 hours.

 

This is what Princess Cruises has on their website:

 

Guests must take a SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) viral test that's either an antigen test or a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT).

 

Antigen tests include:

Rapid antigen

Viral antigen

Antigen chromatographic digital immunoassay

Antigen chemiluminescence immunoassay

Antigen lateral flow fluorescence

 

Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) include:

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Reverse transcription real-time PCR (RT-PCR)

Quantitative PCR (qPCR)

Reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP)

Transcription-mediated amplification (TMA)

Molecular test or molecular diagnostic

Isothermal amplification

Droplet digital PCR or digital droplet PCR (ddPCR)

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)

 

 

So which test would you choose?  I can make my appointments tomorrow.

 

Sandi, I don't know what is available in your area, but for our recent cruise, we had trouble scheduling at CVS or Walgreens, so instead made an appointment with a private outfit, Pharmatech Laboratories.  Interestingly, we found that Medicare pays for the PCR test, but not the rapid antigen test.  They billed it automatically, so that was nice.  And being a private lab, they assured us we'd receive results of the PCR within 24 hours.  We had the results in about 8 hours.

 

Btw...you must be soooo excited for your cruise.  We looked at that itinerary and really wanted to do it, but DDIL has baby due May 25, so, of course, that long cruise was not possible.

 

I'll check back in later on.  I'm getting laundry done, etc., after our Alaska cruise.

Wishing a good day to all.  😊

 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

One last group of pictures.  These are from last of the three times we were in Dubrovnik in 2019 on the Veendam.  This time, we took a city bus out to a resort area and enjoyed sitting on their patio with a coke.

 

The hotel as we sailed past on our way to the next port.

 

The top of the mountain in 2019. after the war damage was repaired and a new cable car installed.

 

The Croatians will flock to any beach even small ones.  This was outside the city walls.

 

Lenda

Amazing collection of photos.

I videoed our visit but you have lots I didn't see.

Thank you for posting them.

Graham.

 

[grapau27]

50 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

Good morning all!

Another drizzly, cloudy morning here (and last night, so no eclipse viewing here).  I really appreciate all the eclipse photos that have been posted!  This afternoon promises to be better, so I hope to get outside.  Other than a trip to Total Wine yesterday (priorities!)  I haven't been out much since getting my 2nd booster a couple days ago.  Slept better last night, but that arm is still very sore. No other side effects, so no complaints!

 

Today is our oldest grandson's 9th birthday. 🙂  We will be seeing him tomorrow, and his party will be on the 22nd when he and his brother have their yearly joint birthday party (little brother's birthday is June 2).

 

I'll pass on the drink and wine today, but Debbie's @dfishrecipes look very good.  We've been to Dubrovnik several times, but most of my photos are too similar to those already posted so will just share a few of my favorites.  We've taken winery tours, toured to Bosnia, and just wandered around the town.  Like @Sharon in AZthe heights problem has kept me off walking the wall.  Just seeing Sandi's photo looking down made me dizzy.  

 

@msmayorConnie so happy to hear that your DD is doing so much better, and that you're getting a little time off.

@aliaschiefBruce Happy Anniversary to you and Sue!

@mamaofamiCarol, lovely view you have from your patio!

 

For our cat lovers in the group, one of the scenes in Dubrovnik that held me captive last time we were there.  (there are many more cats lounging around nearby, but this group struck me funny, guarding the private area.

 

 

I'm always drawn to the side streets

 

 

 

Happy 9th birthday to your oldest grandson today.

[cat shepard]

2 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Good Morning All,

We have cloud cover for a while ( I think it’s marine layer) and we’re expecting a hot day today. We had clear skies for last night’s eclipse. The meal looks interesting. 

 

 I’m wondering what an egg wrap is. Is it a thin omelette?

 

Have a great day everyone!

I get a package of them at Aldi. They are the size of a small tortilla, and though comparable to an omelet, it is super thin, yet stands up to filling, heating in a pan, etc without falling part. 

[StLouisCruisers]

48 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Sandi, I don't know what is available in your area, but for our recent cruise, we had trouble scheduling at CVS or Walgreens, so instead made an appointment with a private outfit, Pharmatech Laboratories.  Interestingly, we found that Medicare pays for the PCR test, but not the rapid antigen test.  They billed it automatically, so that was nice.  And being a private lab, they assured us we'd receive results of the PCR within 24 hours.  We had the results in about 8 hours.

 

Btw...you must be soooo excited for your cruise.  We looked at that itinerary and really wanted to do it, but DDIL has baby due May 25, so, of course, that long cruise was not possible.

 

I'll check back in later on.  I'm getting laundry done, etc., after our Alaska cruise.

Wishing a good day to all.  😊

 

 

Maxine, thanks for you advice, as well as Graham @grapau27.  Somehow we will get this all done!

 

And honestly I wish I were more excited about the cruise, but I haven't allowed myself to get too excited yet because of all the uncertainty of testing and results.  I told myself this morning that I will begin getting excited once we are in Fort Lauderdale next Wednesday.  

 

Now I would say having a new baby next week would really give you something to look forward to.  Sorry you couldn't go on this cruise, too, but I understand totally.  We got back from an Alaska cruise in July 2002 (first cruise we'd ever gone on), and one of my granddaughters was born less than a week later.  When I got home from the cruise I washed clothes, packed a bag and drove to Ohio to be there and babysit the two older grandkids.  Luckily that little girl didn't decide to come a week early!

[grapau27]

@aliaschief.

Happy pearl anniversary.

[aliaschief]

First of all thanks for all the anniversary well wishes. After a lovely dinner and fine wine we returned to our villa to enjoy a wee dram and a gorgeous sunset from our lanai!

 

We used our local Urgent Care for our pre cruise test. Walked in no appointment required and walked out 30 minutes later with certified results and either our insurance paid for it as we didn’t.

 

This is the first day we have started with gray skies so will hang out on the lanai for now.

 

Some pics of how our special day came to a close last night.

 

 

 

[irishjim]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Thank you.

I phoned the doctors surgery this morning and the receptionist said they had the x-rays but I would have to speak with the doctor.

I have an appointment for May 25th to see my doctor to discuss the results.

Graham.

I hope  you  get  really  good  news.

                                                              Jim.

[irishjim]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

Happy 9th birthday to your oldest grandson today.

+1

[irishjim]

40 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

@aliaschief.

Happy pearl anniversary.

+1

[AncientWanderer]

1 hour ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

Maxine, thanks for you advice, as well as Graham @grapau27.  Somehow we will get this all done!

 

And honestly I wish I were more excited about the cruise, but I haven't allowed myself to get too excited yet because of all the uncertainty of testing and results.  I told myself this morning that I will begin getting excited once we are in Fort Lauderdale next Wednesday.  

 

Now I would say having a new baby next week would really give you something to look forward to.  Sorry you couldn't go on this cruise, too, but I understand totally.  We got back from an Alaska cruise in July 2002 (first cruise we'd ever gone on), and one of my granddaughters was born less than a week later.  When I got home from the cruise I washed clothes, packed a bag and drove to Ohio to be there and babysit the two older grandkids.  Luckily that little girl didn't decide to come a week early!

 

These days we also have to factor in time for post-cruise quarantine and testing.  Our son was pretty nervous that we were cutting it too close -- that baby might come early.  They have a three-year-old at home, so will definitely need help.

 

Talking about the pre-cruise stuff, I'm not sure if Princess is encouraging the use of Verifly.  The app is getting some bad press on another thread here, but we used it and were very happy that we did.  There was a really long line for those without the Verifly pass.  We marched right up, had our code scanned and were on our way.  No wait there at all.  

I installed the app on my phone and entered the information for both DH and I as a traveling party.  No problems at all with it.  

[AncientWanderer]

3 hours ago, Sharon in AZ said:

Good morning everyone and Happy Monday!

 

We will be in Dubrovnik June 10th so I’ll be reading all the posts and pictures with great interest. We were actually doing some excursion shopping yesterday for Dubrovnik and Kotor and Corfu. We ended up not picking anything yet for Dubrovnik but I did see the walking of the walls and decided against it since I’m so afraid of heights. I saw one of Sandi’s @StLouisCruisers pictures on the wall and know I would have problems. I’m sure there are many other things we can do. 
 

Have a great day everyone!

 

 

 

 

Sharon, I know you guys like to try restaurants when you travel.  Before we went to Debrovnik, my dad told me that I absolutely had to try seafood from the sea there.  He was right!  I wish I had the name of the place, but we had a great lunch right outside the gates of the Old City --with a beautiful view of the water.  We were afraid it would be overpriced and touristy, but not so.  We had amazing seafood risotto -- so fresh and delicious.

Another culinary thing there is the local ladies sell candied lemon peel.  I bought a couple of bags, thinking I'd bake with it when we got home.  It never made it home -- too yummy!

[Cruise Suzy]

3 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

Thanks for that information.  I checked this morning and Walgreen's was 7 days out.  Now when you say you were sitting behind DH, you mean he was driving and you were in the back seat on the driver's side so that the person can watch you take your test?  I'm assuming you were in the drive through line outside.

 

Do you think I could schedule both of ours (15 minutes apart) if I have two tabs open to the Walgreen's site?  Rather than on two computers, I mean.

Our Walgreens only does drive-thru tests. Yes, we were in the same car. He was driving because I fit in the back seat better than he does. I don't know if the person inside would have been able to proctor me had I been in the passenger side seat.

 

You could try doing mock reservations with two tabs on the same computer.  I think it could work - just easier for us to do it on our own computers.

[Sharon in AZ]

1 hour ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Sharon, I know you guys like to try restaurants when you travel.  Before we went to Debrovnik, my dad told me that I absolutely had to try seafood from the sea there.  He was right!  I wish I had the name of the place, but we had a great lunch right outside the gates of the Old City --with a beautiful view of the water.  We were afraid it would be overpriced and touristy, but not so.  We had amazing seafood risotto -- so fresh and delicious.

Another culinary thing there is the local ladies sell candied lemon peel.  I bought a couple of bags, thinking I'd bake with it when we got home.  It never made it home -- too yummy!

Thank you Maxine!  Yes, we are most definitely looking for a place to eat. Funny, but we arrange what we do around meals. And thanks for the tip about the candied lemon peels!  Yum. 

[msmayor]

@Quartzsite Cruiser what a gorgeous shot of the moon! 

 

All the talk of strong storms this afternoon, and right now the sun is out and the risk of rain has dropped significantly.  There is still a thunderstorm watch out, they say the timing has now shifted to later.  We'll see...

 

Took time on my day off to fully switch over my closet from winter to spring.  That's always a big chore, but this season I took time to really think about what to keep and what to donate.  Finished that, and now just relaxing with my crochet club project.  Really enjoying learning new stitches!

[summer slope]

I’ve been following the discussion about tests and thanks to Ann, seasick sailor, we ordered eMed and did them at home. So stress free and on our time. 

[Red Haired Lady]

6 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

For all the cruisers here who have had to go through this, Walgreen's offers both Rapid NAAT test or Rapid Antigen test with results within 2 hours.

 

This is what Princess Cruises has on their website:

 

Guests must take a SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) viral test that's either an antigen test or a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT).

 

Antigen tests include:

Rapid antigen

Viral antigen

Antigen chromatographic digital immunoassay

Antigen chemiluminescence immunoassay

Antigen lateral flow fluorescence

 

Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) include:

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Reverse transcription real-time PCR (RT-PCR)

Quantitative PCR (qPCR)

Reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP)

Transcription-mediated amplification (TMA)

Molecular test or molecular diagnostic

Isothermal amplification

Droplet digital PCR or digital droplet PCR (ddPCR)

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)

 

 

So which test would you choose?  I can make my appointments tomorrow.

I have done the Walgreens NAAT for 3 cruises and will again next month. It works great and best of all it is free. I see we will be on the same cruise, but I join it on Jun 13. Be nice to meet you.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info.

[StLouisCruisers]

32 minutes ago, Red Haired Lady said:

I have done the Walgreens NAAT for 3 cruises and will again next month. It works great and best of all it is free. I see we will be on the same cruise, but I join it on Jun 13. Be nice to meet you.

 

Thanks for that info, and yes it will be nice to meet you also.  🙂

[mamaofami]

I give up. I found the magnfying thingy but dont know what to search for.

 

 

 

 

[Crazy For Cats]

Good Evening Everyone, tonight on the local news they announced a new round of free at home Covid tests.  This time you get eight tests in total.  Ordered ours right away.

[JazzyV]

29 minutes ago, mamaofami said:

I give up. I found the magnfying thingy but dont know what to search for.

 

If you click on the magnifying glass, it brings up the search page on content search. The tab next to that is member search, with joined "any" and group "members" checked. If you scroll down there's a box to click on - search members. It will take a while to get to the next page as there are over 1.6 million members that have to load. When the members do come up,  you can sort on the upper right by post count or reputation. The members initially come up by name. 

Edited May 16, 2022 by JazzyV

[TiogaCruiser]

8 minutes ago, JazzyV said:

If you click on the magnifying glass, it brings up the search page on content search. The tab next to that is member search, with joined "any" and group "members" checked. If you scroll down there's a box to click on - search members. It will take a while to get to the next page as there are over 1.6 million members that have to load. When the members do come up,  you can sort on the upper right by post count or reputation. The members initially come up by name. 

So what does “reputation” in CC mean?

 

And anyone know what the “rare” is on some people’s avatar?

[StLouisCruisers]

1 minute ago, TiogaCruiser said:

So what does “reputation” in CC mean?

 

And anyone know what the “rare” is on some people’s avatar?

 

I have no idea what reputation means on CC.

 

However, the Rare comment placed on people's avatar is new, and apparently it means they've done a live from thread at some point in time.