5/27/06 "Il pochi il fiero i blabbermouths" We *will* sail again Part 5

[ohiominnie]

A TOP!!!

 

[CajunGirl2]

I've been BAD this morning ... should be working. I have been bitten by a new car bug!!! Our vehicles are now 8 & 10 years old. Bruce asked the other day what I would want if when we started looking - an SUV, car or van? This morning he said that we could find a deal on a 2005, then maybe it would be worth looking. So, I've been looking online at SUVs. I wish I could find an '05 2WD SR5 Sequoia in Atlanta metro but can't. I've found quite a few Tahoes and Yukons though. Not sure if any of those will fit in our garage without a SERIOUS cleaning out of junk! We'd probably have to buy a shed for a the backyard to store all of the lawn equipment ... a 3 car garage would be nice!

Ang

 

[CajunGirl2]

A TOP!!!

Shouldn't you be teaching those kiddos???

Ang

 

[justmestace]

Good sunny, HOT Tuesday morning!! We are the slow boat to China...actually Roatan, Honduras...this morning. Boy, when the ports are close to eachother, they sure do go slow!

I forgot to mention that we went to the Christmas show that they had on Sunday night...it was kind of a crew talent show, with one of the headline entertainers (a singer) and a little bit of everything mixed in. They had some of the little ones go up with the Chief Safety officer while he read "Twas the Night Before Christmas"....great voice. We had dinner next to he and his wife earlier that night, and they had asked me to take their picture. Nice couple.
The Captain is young....really young, and very handsome. Nenad Mogic is his name. Greek, maybe?

Anyway.....Cozumel yesterday. The weather was absolutely perfect. Maybe 80 at the most, and the water temp was perfect. We went to 3 reefs to snorkel, the reef below was maybe 30' down, and it was clear as glass. We saw an octopus, huge crab, some turtles, several eels and sea snakes, rays, and some of the biggest parrot fish I've ever seen....as long as my arm!
There were a lot of grouper, and at our last stop, we had 3 grouper follow us along the whole reef! I hope my pictures turn out. Most of the fish, including the octopus, were too far down for me to even try to take a picture.

Cozumel itself is devastated. It sits at sea level, and is very flat. It's no wonder that everything was destroyed. They are doing a nice job of getting at least the tourist part fixed up, but it will be at least a year before a new pier is built, and it looked like they had once had a really nice terminal. It's too hard to describe how weird it seems to see huge hunks of concrete broken into pieces. They have only 3 hotels open so far...at limited capacity. Windows of others are still gone, entire WALLS even! Just unbelievably sad. There would be absolutely nothing to see on a land tour. And I wouldn't do a horseback ride....the horses are emaciated. From what we could see, there is also very little beach...anywhere. The sand is gone.
As for the reefs themselves, they are coming back. We saw some intact fan coral...the brain coral is fine...and quite a few fish, so any kind of diving or snorkeling is still good.
Guess I had better get ready to head for Roatan. More snorkeling, of course! We don't leave till late, so I should have time for some shopping too. I had to do "power shopping" yesterday just to get my obligatory t-shirt and charm...I only had a half hour. Saved Jay some money, though.
TTYL Take care and stay healthy, everyone!

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Congratulations. Now it won't be much longer before that new digital camera and housing show up.

You were right - but for Sam and me....Stacey and I like film....

 

[tinksdad]

You got that right - Kiki- can we ask for a flat sea pic - just for me - please..........

Kevin - the camera was a success - you cannot have it!
Matt - Santa brought Sam a ditigal with underwater camera - no more 24 shots for him!!!!

Glad to hear it!! I like the sales persons comment; "If he didn't like it, you might need to trade hubbies"!!

You will like it a lot!! So much easier than the film in many different ways. If you remember reading earlier, Diana got me a little Epson photo printer. I'm VERY impressed with the color and clarity of the prints. Waterproof, won't fade and about 29cents per print. But this way, we only need to print the pics we want to, not the whole roll!!

 

[tinksdad]

Anyway.....Cozumel yesterday. The weather was absolutely perfect. Maybe 80 at the most, and the water temp was perfect. We went to 3 reefs to snorkel, the reef below was maybe 30' down, and it was clear as glass. We saw an octopus, huge crab, some turtles, several eels and sea snakes, rays, and some of the biggest parrot fish I've ever seen....as long as my arm!
There were a lot of grouper, and at our last stop, we had 3 grouper follow us along the whole reef! I hope my pictures turn out. Most of the fish, including the octopus, were too far down for me to even try to take a picture.

Cozumel itself is devastated. It sits at sea level, and is very flat. It's no wonder that everything was destroyed. They are doing a nice job of getting at least the tourist part fixed up, but it will be at least a year before a new pier is built, and it looked like they had once had a really nice terminal. It's too hard to describe how weird it seems to see huge hunks of concrete broken into pieces. They have only 3 hotels open so far...at limited capacity. Windows of others are still gone, entire WALLS even! Just unbelievably sad. There would be absolutely nothing to see on a land tour. And I wouldn't do a horseback ride....the horses are emaciated. From what we could see, there is also very little beach...anywhere. The sand is gone.
As for the reefs themselves, they are coming back. We saw some intact fan coral...the brain coral is fine...and quite a few fish, so any kind of diving or snorkeling is still good.
Take care and stay healthy, everyone!

Thanks for the update! I kind of thought that would be the case from what I could glean from the different reports from the area.

A octopus sighting in the day?? Wow, very cool!!

(sigh!), guess I'll have to go diving then..........

 

[WVMD]

Virgil - how do I test over the counter seasick medicine. So far recommendations, 'scuse spelling - include Dramamine - Bomine - Tripakalee (no that was the Star trek grain) Trip something. I am tinking of taking the pills at night and in the morning and see if I get an adverse reaction on shore....since most medicines make me sick, I thought I would test before I got onto the dive boat.

Irene,

Try either Bonine or Dramamine 2 - they are both the same medicine = meclizine. I would start taking 1/2 tab in the late afternoon - see if it makes you sleepy. Then I take 1 tabe and see how you do with it. If you do OK with both - take 1/2 tab about 2 hours before you go, and the other 1/2 right before you go out. You can always take an extra one as necessary. May give you dry mouth - usually works fairly well. Dramamine works well - but the medicine - dimenhydrate - really makes you sleepy.

Virgil

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Irene,

Try either Bonine or Dramamine 2 - they are both the same medicine = meclizine. I would start taking 1/2 tab in the late afternoon - see if it makes you sleepy. Then I take 1 tabe and see how you do with it. If you do OK with both - take 1/2 tab about 2 hours before you go, and the other 1/2 right before you go out. You can always take an extra one as necessary. May give you dry mouth - usually works fairly well. Dramamine works well - but the medicine - dimenhydrate - really makes you sleepy.

Virgil

thanks - I do not want sleepy -- that would not be good - hey Sam - lookie at the fishhhhhhhiee zzzzzzzzz.

Maybe I will go to the Fair and see what happens on the rides.....the ones that go up and down, and up and down, and up and down...kinda like that drawing.

Dry mouth - not keen on that either but better than the alternative - .

Thanks for the advice... my last use was the patch before it was taken off the market...dilated my eyes so I could not see a thing...not good when you dive - Hey Sam, lookie at the cute - little - fishie - big shark - eeek!!!!!!!

 

[TiggerInNY]

Hi Everyone -

I'm still here.
Happy Holidays...Hope everyone had a great one. Our NY Christmas was very wet. It rained most of the day, but didn't hamper our fun. Food was good, family...well we all have our family stories.

KikiKaren - soooo glad the cruise is "out of the bag". PM me with an e-mail for Christopher so AJ can e-mail him now.

Stacey - Glad you're having a great time on your cruise.

I haven't been posting, but I HAVE been paroozing the boards.

Hey - I ordered a laptop computer. A Dell Inspiron 6000. I should be getting it before 1/12/06. Can't wait. I'm sooo excited. That was pretty much my Christmas present, along with my new house addition. I am loving my new kitchen. Got to use the double oven for Christmas. Had Manicotti in one and the Prime Rib in the other. Worked out fantastic!!!! Life is good. It's the little things in life. lol

Pretty soon we will begin to talk about T-shirts. So, get ready with some sizes, etc.

TTFN,
Maria

 

[ladypoo]

Between trying to get custody of Dominique and buying a house we were considering cancelling this cruise and go on a smaller one as we had promised her that we were going back on the Mickey Boat. After checking the prices, we decided that this was a good deal. The price for a 4 day in the same category was the same as our 7 day.

We have been busy between the two things and have been lurking on the thread, but not posting. Hope to get back into it as time gets closer. Cant wait to meet everyone.

 

[tinksdad]

Between trying to get custody of Dominique and buying a house we were considering cancelling this cruise and go on a smaller one as we had promised her that we were going back on the Mickey Boat. After checking the prices, we decided that this was a good deal. The price for a 4 day in the same category was the same as our 7 day.

We have been busy between the two things and have been lurking on the thread, but not posting. Hope to get back into it as time gets closer. Cant wait to meet everyone.

No fooling? Wow, who would have thought. So it's like getting a cruise on sale??!!

 

[BWVPam]

Hey everybody. Haven't been able to get back here in a couple of days because we have all been biten by the Stomach Flu.

It actually started while we were at WDW. Just another thing that was wacky after my mom had to have stitches the morning we were leaving. My mom was the first to get it on the Monday we were at WDW. She didn't have it too bad, so we all thought it was something she ate. Well by the end of the week on Friday, both my Dad and my son came down with it. My son was so bad, we got off the airplane in Atlanta and took him to the clinic there in the airport to have him looked at by a doctor. They gave him a shot of phenergan and we were able to make our flight back that night to El Paso. My brother got sick on the leg between Atlanta and El Paso (over a 3 hour flight). My other brother and I got it on Christmas Eve and then I got hit again yesterday. Ashley has now come down with it this afternoon. The only person not sick yet is Charley. He is hoping he doesn't get it, because he had to go back to work today.

Our luggage didn't make it back to El Paso until the next day late in the afternoon. I felt back for my parents and brothers, because they had no clean cloths.

We had a good time at WDW, just wished we hadn't had so many problems. The grand villa at OKW was spectacular and I would love to stay in one again. We had so much space.

 

[BWVPam]

Stacey -- glad to see your report on Cozumel. Did you hear anything about Chankanaab. We have the royal swim booked and I have been debating on whether I should just go ahead and cancel it. I have heard that the dolphin discovery area was completely devastated.

 

[ohiominnie]

THen they go in to the opthalmalogist (sp?) to start their glaucoma testing. VERY VERY prevelant in the family and they suggested starting to monitor them now

Well, well, well. Guess who has bad eye pressures? Like father, like daughter...well, actually it's more like:
like great great grandmother, like great grandfather, like great grandmother, like grandfather, like great uncle, like great uncle, like great aunt, like great aunt, like first cousins, like aunt, like uncle, like father....like daughter

KT's pressures are "too high"....27 and 33. (mike's were 29 when he had to have laser surgery) We aren't too sure yet what that means....are they typically higher in kids? how long do they watch them? The doc dilated her eyes and she does have some changes in her optic nerve now. Visual field testing and another appointment will be in about a month....then maybe we'll get a plan of action. Today didnt' seem like the time to grill the doctor about possibilites when we aren't sure yet what we're dealing with....too many *if's* at this point.

Originally the plan was to take the kids in for evaluation when they were mid-teens...glad we took them in now. After all, the sooner you treat glaucoma, the better.

Luckily KT got a last minute sleepover invite from her friend so I'm sure she's not thinking about it as constantly as I am.

 

[ohiominnie]

btw. the popping eye smiley would NOT be KT's favorite right now. she actually asked if her eyes would explode from the pressure!!

 

[ohiominnie]

cool. a TOP shared with KT and glaucoma patients!

 

[tinksdad]

Originally the plan was to take the kids in for evaluation when they were mid-teens...glad we took them in now. After all, the sooner you treat glaucoma, the better.

Luckily KT got a last minute sleepover invite from her friend so I'm sure she's not thinking about it as constantly as I am.

Jeez, what a mess! At least you had the foresight to take them both in now and not wait. Are you planning to do something before the cruise??

 

[ohiominnie]

Jeez, what a mess! At least you had the foresight to take them both in now and not wait. Are you planning to do something before the cruise??

Nope. Nothing to do at this point but wait until the visual field tests and the next doctor's appointment (jan. 23rd) I think it's sort of like high blood pressure....don't make a diagnosis until you've tested it a few times. Trying not to look up too much stuff on the internet b/c seems like you always find the worst of the worst (that's b/c the ppl who had good outcomes are getting on with their life!) If you look up the surgery that Mike had done, most of the stories are of it having gone badly....and based on that Mike should be blind now. So I'm waiting for the counsel of this pediatric opthalmologist (maybe I should learn how to spell this since we'll be going in so much!) Actually, it's a doctor that Mike sends LOTS of patients to for referrals. He sends us a tin of chocolate every year at Christmas thanking Mike for the business. Wonder if next year we'll get two tins! HA!

 

[WDWLVR]

Good morning cruisers!

Happy Wednesday!

​

OM - sorry to hear about KT's eye problems. Good thing you did take them in for testing. I never realized it could start so early. In fact when Mike was having his surgery I thought he was way too young. The things you learn from reading the DIS!