09/18/11 - DVCers Take Over the Dream (S.S. Member Cruise 2011) - Thread #4

[Luckymomoftwo]

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!!!! Ok, I know it's Monday, so have as good of a morning as you can for a Monday. (Have I mentioned before that I hate Mondays?)

 

[Hoosier John]

Hi Wally (and all),

Not trying to be rude, just missed your post yesterday. Being 5 hours ahead is as bad as the west coasters who are 3 hours behind, and now I'm 8 hours off of them. Plus last month we found our "unlimited" 3G stick is limited to 500 mb, then you must either browse or post before 11 am or after midnight. And finally I caught Laran's cold last weekend carrying her around Bath. We did a 2 hour walking tour and since she was sick, I carried her the whole way...couphing and sneezing in my face the whole way. It really got me down over the weekend with flu-like symptoms, even though I had a flu shot.

Should get better soon, and hopefully Lara will dodge it.

 

[Truffle]

Hi Wally (and all),

Not trying to be rude, just missed your post yesterday. Being 5 hours ahead is as bad as the west coasters who are 3 hours behind, and now I'm 8 hours off of them. Plus last month we found our "unlimited" 3G stick is limited to 500 mb, then you must either browse or post before 11 am or after midnight. And finally I caught Laran's cold last weekend carrying her around Bath. We did a 2 hour walking tour and since she was sick, I carried her the whole way...couphing and sneezing in my face the whole way. It really got me down over the weekend with flu-like symptoms, even though I had a flu shot.

Should get better soon, and hopefully Lara will dodge it.

I think I caught it from Laran too! We are going to arrive in London on the 17th of March. We are leaving there on the 22 and going to Ireland. Any possibility that y'all will be in London during that weekend?

 

[Truffle]

As soon as the boys are over 18 all bets are off. I love it here, but I may decide I want to try out a new hometown for a while. We've been here eight years. It's the longest I've ever lived in one place before.

Funny... you are the oldest you have ever been too!

 

[DizDragonfly]

It really got me down over the weekend with flu-like symptoms, even though I had a flu shot.

Hope you are feeling better soon!

Funny... you are the oldest you have ever been too!

 

[mlholster]

Hi Lynn,

Tell the kids not to give up. We looked at around 50 repo's for our house in Indy. Most were in terrible condition due to spring time shopping. The previous people moved out and the water lines froze when the heat went off during the winter. We placed bids on about 4 properties. At one point we were $20 below the high bid, but in the end we found a better house.

All we needed to add to the house were a fridge, washer, and dryer. I epoxy painted the garage floor, Lara repainted a couple of rooms and I changed the filter on the reverse osmosis (RO) system. The carpet could have been replaced, but I talked Lara out of it due to Laran spilling stuff, so we had it cleaned instead. Later we added tile to the garage entry and master bath, and a fence for the back yard.

I'm sure they already know the advantages of buying a repo. Our house was assessed at $220,000 when new, about 4 years before we bought it at $143,000. Of course part of that was due to the housing market, but maybe half was due to being a repo. If they are willing to do some repairs, even better deals can be found. Most repo's are going to be in brand new neighborhoods using modern planning practices such as green spaces. The houses are also going to have modern appliances and effeciencies.

The only advise I can give is to keep looking and bidding. The more they like one, the stronger their bid should be. Some of the ones we bid on were going to require a lot of work, but if we got it at our offer, it would have been worth it. Consider the neighborhood carefully. Also, it seemed to me that the better (condition) houses were held by private banks. The ones with HUD backed financing tended to be in far worse condition. Not sure if that will hold true everywhere, though.

Thanks for the kind words John I'll let them know. There is so much going on with wedding plans I think we've all been kept busy
Hope your having a good time.

 

[mlholster]

Hi Wally (and all),

Not trying to be rude, just missed your post yesterday. Being 5 hours ahead is as bad as the west coasters who are 3 hours behind, and now I'm 8 hours off of them. Plus last month we found our "unlimited" 3G stick is limited to 500 mb, then you must either browse or post before 11 am or after midnight. And finally I caught Laran's cold last weekend carrying her around Bath. We did a 2 hour walking tour and since she was sick, I carried her the whole way...couphing and sneezing in my face the whole way. It really got me down over the weekend with flu-like symptoms, even though I had a flu shot.

Should get better soon, and hopefully Lara will dodge it.

John chicken soup and vitamin C. Hope your feeling better soon. Is Laran better? So hard when they're little. After Christmas I got sick by my GS Lincoln. At that point he was 2 months old and had a cough, no doublt he caught it from one of his older brothers. Anyway he was just starting to smile and he was sneezing and coughing uin my face. I didn't think anything of it he is so small but sure enough I caught it. Oh well. You all take care there over the pond.

Karen did you get to make all your ADR's? Hope so

 

[Carmouse10]

For the SSMC Veterans out there...

Approximately how far in advance does DCL/DVC start sending out further information on the Cruise? I remember reading someplace that they send updates and further information but have no clue when it said that would happen.

Obviously, I am going all OCD about this trip and have devolved to the state of a small child. Last night I threw a temper tantrum. Then I sent myself to my room. Unfortunately, I am grounded for two weeks because I caught myself sneaking onto the computer while in my room...

 

[Luckymomoftwo]

I don't remember getting anything until just a few weeks before last years SSMC.


All I have to say about your behavior is that you better shape up! You certainly don't want to have to ground yourself for the SSMC!

 

[DizDragonfly]

Karen did you get to make all your ADR's? Hope so

Not for another 12+ hours.

 

[DizDragonfly]

Obviously, I am going all OCD about this trip and have devolved to the state of a small child. Last night I threw a temper tantrum. Then I sent myself to my room. Unfortunately, I am grounded for two weeks because I caught myself sneaking onto the computer while in my room...

 

[DizDragonfly]

I don't remember getting anything until just a few before last years SSMC.

A few what? Months, weeks, days?

 

[mlholster]

Not for another 12+ hours.

Oh my bad, good luck when you do call.

 

[DizDragonfly]

Oh my bad, good luck when you do call.

Thanks! I'm going to try the online reservations first. Online opens an hour earlier than the phone. If I'm lucky, I can get all my ADRs online and go to bed.

 

[calypso726]

That wouldn't matter, Terrie. I have met you, and you are FAR from being a man!

You say the nicest things!

Do not worry, we are here to help. I am afraid there will be man eating fish on the Dream, I know I will be a man eating fish when ever it is served. I bet there will be woman eating fish as well!

As long as the man or woman is the one doing the eating of said fish, I am ok with that

I had seen this thread but in a rare act of compassion for Terri, I did not pass it on to her...

Compassion??? Did I just see my name and the word comapassion in the same sentence Uh, oh Andy, dear, you need to find a phone and dial nine, one, one ... something is wrong, very, very wrong ...

To Terrie,

Enough said...

YAY! You rock!

Good Morning All!!! Debbie and I are full fledged travel agents now!! We are starting a new chapter in our lives that hopefully will lead us to a life lived in Florida. I can see it now, the bright sun, clean Florida air (no more breathing in steal mill pollution), no more plowing snow in blizzards!!!, and wearing shorts and tee shirts almost year round. Wally and Terrie sure do live the life I dream about! Can't wait!! Now that we are travel agents it feels that we are a few steps closer to that becoming a reality.

WOOHOO!!!!! Congratulations guys! Margarita Fridays ... Here we come!

WAAAAAAALLLLLEEEEEEEE!!!! We need a pool! I can't serve poolside margaritas to Debbie and Junior without a pool! Deb, Julio, would you like those frozen or on the rocks?

Oh. I also fixed the furnace so we now have heat! Deb has it set at 74 cause she's so cold.

Huh, can't picture that. It was 80 something this afternoon when I got home so I had to turn the AC down to 74. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if I have ever even seen a furnace *ducking and running*

Maybe you can assist us with renting out some our points in the future.

And here we have Wally experiencing an alternate reality. Extra points ... as if

Oh well, I think I'm gonna curl up and read some more Sookie Stackhouse. I'm sad that this season's rendition is probably going to be sooooo different than the book (they all have been). I'm Team Eric all the way!!

ERIC!!!!! *sighs and swoons*

I used to get all upset about True Blood being so different than the Sookie Stackhouse books too. Complained all throughout season one Then I decided to to shift my perspective and not expect the stories I know and love. Now I look forward to seeing characters I know and love in entirley different if perhaps familiar world I know I gotta admit, I'm kinda glad Lafayette is still around. I was so upset when he died in the book.

And finally I caught Laran's cold last weekend carrying her around Bath. We did a 2 hour walking tour and since she was sick, I carried her the whole way...couphing and sneezing in my face the whole way. It really got me down over the weekend with flu-like symptoms, even though I had a flu shot.
Should get better soon, and hopefully Lara will dodge it.

Hope you feel better!

 

[DizDragonfly]

ERIC!!!!! *sighs and swoons*

I used to get all upset about True Blood being so different than the Sookie Stackhouse books too. Complained all throughout season one Then I decided to to shift my perspective and not expect the stories I know and love. Now I look forward to seeing characters I know and love in entirley different if perhaps familiar world I know I gotta admit, I'm kinda glad Lafayette is still around. I was so upset when he died in the book.

Yeah, I've had to separate them in my mind too. I think this season is going to be hard though. The teaser trailer shows Eric walking down a dark country road. I'm rereading Dead to the World right now. I LOVE Eric in this one and I know they are going to change it in ways that are going to make me crazy. I feel the same way about Lafayette. He's got to be the best change they've made.

 

[Luckymomoftwo]

A few what? Months, weeks, days?

I just corrected that. I was posting from work on my iPhone. I type much better from an actual KEYBOARD than a screen that looks like a keyboard.

Thanks! I'm going to try the online reservations first. Online opens an hour earlier than the phone. If I'm lucky, I can get all my ADRs online and go to bed.

Good Luck!!!

 

[DizDragonfly]

I just corrected that. I was posting from work on my iPhone.

Ugh! A few weeks, really? How evil are they? They make us figure out where we are going to be and eat six months in advance and they can't even tell us details about the SSMC until a few weeks beforehand? Ack!!

 

[Luckymomoftwo]

I know...they really don't give you a lot of time to plan. The only thing I remember that really got in the way of planning anything was the big group picture they take at CC. They don't tell you until you're on the ship what time that picture is taken. So if you have excursions planned on the island at the same time they are taking the picture, you won't be in the picture. To some people it's not a really big deal because you can't really see who's who anyways. But last year that group photo was taken at 10:30 on the second CC day.

 

[Luckymomoftwo]

Terrie - Frozen margarita's on Margarita Fridays sounds like a must do when we ever do move down there!

And I can't wait to be in a climate where I don't have to worry about running my FURNACE (which by the way is this huge piece of machinery that, when connected properly and turned on, emits heat into a cold dwelling)