8/17/08 Captain Jack's Repossession Repo Cruise to PC thru TPC Part 16

[captaincrash]

I've been so non-productive today - was waiting for my dear sweet spouse to finish her unscheduled afternnon nap while I fed the kids. And now she's up we're fixin' to step outside fer abit. Not sure what or where we'll go - or how far or for how long. kno what i mean? We're both mildly wounded and moving about kind of slow.

I'm kind of sore and tender in some ways - even though we've done next to nothing today. I dislike this wounded sensation when the weather looks so nice outside. But it IS blowing up a good breeze which might mean more allergic stuff in the air is up and about.

I could use a good massage right about now - I gave one to my spouse and the older girl earlier today - but I had no offers from either. Mom fell asleep right after hers' and the daughter sort of shifted to help Daddy massage Mama. And that was that.

OK... I've burned through all kinds of left overs in the fridge - and cooked up some fresh rice. I have a couple of steaks that need cooking. I sort of forgot I bought them on sale a couple of days ago and I don't wnna let them drift sour anytime soon through neglect. Problem is I fed the kids (and myself) so heavily, I think it will be a while before they're ready fer super again.

Ooo ... I just noticed one of my funds : Gabelli Asset returned 25% last year (duh - I don't look at these things too often sometimes) and that makes the 3 year average return 14%. Woo Hooo.... now if only I had MORE moola with them i'd really be happy....

Speaking of which - happy that is - I'm really happy with this inexpensive Creative Zen V MP3 player. It's the one I originally posted about a few weeks ago. I'm listening to Boston, Manhatten Transfer, Al Jarreau, and Wings on shuffle mode now - yup - it's a good one at only $35.

Oh well... I hope everyone had a pleasant day and weekend. I'm off now to lurk and wander the web....

 

[disneyjunkie]

Tyreak just got a call from one of his friends.

She's having a sweet sixteen party in a few weeks and called to invite him. Cool. He heard about the party and has been waiting/hoping he'd be invited.

Well, knowing her mom, I was expecting a simple little party.

Nope, he's part of the court. He needs 3 outfits for this party.
One formal, one casual and one all white outfit for when the court escorts the birthday girl in.

Of course he can't wear anything that's in his closet.

The girl is truly a sweet heart and I love her to death, but man.

Of course being the wimp that I am, I don’t have to heart to tell him he can only attend as a guest and not be part of the court.

 

[disneyjunkie]

oops

 

[renknt]

Generally, we get something to eat and then nap. I think only one year did we make sure we stayed awake long enough to go check the bags in early. Will have to play that by ear this time. I think it's silly that they won't let us check our bags when we arrive at the airport. They can search them, xray them, turn them inside out for all I care, just so I don't have to drag them all over the airport with me!
I wonder if there is a place to store them (downstairs, rather than drag them to the Hyatt) for 1st Class passengers? I doubt it.

Now don't quote me on this but I belive that TSA and the Airlines will not take a bag for checkin any sooner than 4 hrs prior to flight time. you might wish to call you air carrier to verify this.

 

[Verandah Man]

Well, I'm sure Diane is quite happy right about now............34-17 & 9-1...................

 

[Esteri]

And then DS13 finds out about an 8th grade trip to Washington D.C. over President's Day -- $900! (for three days). He's pretty bummed he won't be going, but that's just too much.

Yeah - we started fund raising in 1st grade for the 8th grade trip - that way the parent swon't have to fork over so much later.

Typically, OLEDs have greater luminance then LCD screens, a wider off axis viewablitiy and they are supposedly the NEXT thing to drive Plasma and LCD technology into the garbage pail ... provided they refine the technology for longer life span and scale up to fabricate larger screens. Thee OLED panels are super thin and very low in power consumption.

Cool. Yet, one more reason to put off buying a new TV... That 17 yo, 32" Sony is hanging in there quite nicely.

I'm going to add to my rep as a lush & tell you that my neighbor plied us with Margaritas so we would spend lots of money! It worked!

Here, have a 'rita. Or three...

My son is selling Scout popcorn. How much would you care to order?

What is a "safe" time to book return flights from MCO on the 1st? I need to get back at a reasonable time to get everyone ready for the first day of school on the 2nd.

Looks like the best I can do is $229 per person. Got lots of choices still though. We, also - have to be backfor school the next day. Sadly, no time to deprogram the children before school starts. Sigh.



Well, we've had a decent weekend. Everyone is healthy. Didn't do well at the show yesterday. I had Jakob show Taiko in both the breed and Junior Showmanship. Not certain where Jakob's head was, but it certainly wasn't in the ring.

Today was a different day though, he handled Taiko to Winner's Dog and Best of Opposite Sex over a finished champion. It was only 1 point - but that's one less we have to find elsewhere. He did a nice job. Sadly, 5th out of 5 in the Juniors ring. Well, he got the win that counted anyway.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Generally, we get something to eat and then nap. I think only one year did we make sure we stayed awake long enough to go check the bags in early. Will have to play that by ear this time. I think it's silly that they won't let us check our bags when we arrive at the airport. They can search them, xray them, turn them inside out for all I care, just so I don't have to drag them all over the airport with me!
I wonder if there is a place to store them (downstairs, rather than drag them to the Hyatt) for 1st Class passengers? I doubt it.

There was a thread last week about DCL starting an early check in option soon. It would work like DME at WDW (except the transportation isn't necessary)with early check in and bag handling.

I only skimmed the thread so I don't remember all the details. I’ll try to find it and post a link.

 

[Esteri]

How did the pirate know he found land?

He was shore of it!


snicker.

 

[Esteri]

Tyreak just got a call from one of his friends.

She's having a sweet sixteen party in a few weeks and called to invite him. Cool. He heard about the party and has been waiting/hoping he'd be invited.

Well, knowing her mom, I was expecting a simple little party.

Nope, he's part of the court. He needs 3 outfits for this party.
One formal, one casual and one all white outfit for when the court escorts the birthday girl in.

Of course he can't wear anything that's in his closet.

The girl is truly a sweet heart and I love her to death, but man.

Of course being the wimp that I am, I don’t have to heart to tell him he can only attend as a guest and not be part of the court.

Oh my. And what are the guests supposed to do during all the time spent changing clothes??

 

[msaseifert]

Generally, we get something to eat and then nap. I think only one year did we make sure we stayed awake long enough to go check the bags in early. Will have to play that by ear this time. I think it's silly that they won't let us check our bags when we arrive at the airport. They can search them, xray them, turn them inside out for all I care, just so I don't have to drag them all over the airport with me!
I wonder if there is a place to store them (downstairs, rather than drag them to the Hyatt) for 1st Class passengers? I doubt it.

Back in January we were able to check our bags at the port and then head to the airport even though our delta flights were not departing until 4:30pm. I am hoping to do the same on Sept 1. We had two flight choices with Delta to Richmond on Sept 1, 10am and 6:15pm - obviously we had to do the 6:15pm. DH mentioned about getting a day room or renting a car and hitting Downtown disney but I am afraid by then we will be all disneyed out

Not only do my kids go back to school on Sept 2 but so do I - With some careful summer planning I should be able to get the classroom ready for business and get my two kids ready for whatever awaits them on Sept 2. It looks as if as soon as we get home we will need to get right to sleep and will not have any time to unpack I just hope the dear lord will look out for us not to be delayed at the airport and get in even later - I can just hear me calling my principal after I have already missed teacher work week telling her I need a sub for the first day of school

 

[tom31b]

I do think we will at least hear about January to April 2009, but Kevin hints he has more rumours on the future, fingers crossed for Northern Europe in 2009.

Maybe they are moving out of Port Canveral and off to Tampa or Miami?

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1518461

Port lands cruise line, will build $60M HQ
Week of September 27, 2007
By Wayne Tompkins
http://www.miamitodaynews.com/news/070927/story1.shtml
The Port of Miami expects next month to announce a deal that will bring a new cruise line headquarters to the port as well as a new $60 million terminal to accommodate it.
Port Director Bill Johnson said the deal, if completed, would be in the range of 15 years and $60 million.
"We're getting very close to announcing jointly the actual cruise line and the parameters of the deal," Mr. Johnson said. "It represents a good deal for the port and the cruise line. We're excited."
The port, operated by Miami-Dade County, hopes to present the deal to the county commission's transit committee in November and to the full commission a month later, Mr. Johnson said.
The port already is home to most major cruise lines and is the world's busiest cruise facility, expecting nearly 3.75 million passengers this year. That's below its 2003 record of 3.96 million, but up substantially from 3.1 million passengers in 1999.
"We're projecting 3.95 million passengers in 2008," Mr. Johnson said.
The pending announcement comes as the port is opening two new cruise terminals for Carnival Cruise Lines.
"These are state-of-the art terminals that we built for $40 million each," Mr. Johnson said. "It continues the long legacy here where modern-day cruising was actually invented more than 40 years ago at the Port of Miami."
The port is home to 22 different vessels and seven different brands in the cruise industry. While the identity of the new cruise line has not been publicly disclosed, Disney Cruise Lines, now based at Port Canaveral, recently made it known it might be looking to move or expand elsewhere. European lines looking to expand East Coast operations might also be interested in giving the Port of Miami a look.
Mr. Johnson said he also is aggressively pursuing the growing "port of call" business of vessels that make mid-week stops.

 

[tom31b]

I do think we will at least hear about January to April 2009, but Kevin hints he has more rumours on the future, fingers crossed for Northern Europe in 2009.

Maybe they are moving out of Port Canveral and off to Tampa or Miami?

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1518461

Talk of the Bay: Disney ships could cruise into Tampa Bay
By Times Staff
Published September 23, 2007

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/09/23/news_pf/Business/Talk_of_the_Bay__Disn.shtml

Disney Cruise Line may move some of its ships out of Port Canaveral on Florida's east coast, and executives have looked over Tampa as a possible home. Disney expects to double its fleet to four ships by 2012. The cruise line likes Port Canaveral as it's the closest to Walt Disney World, which is important because many customers combine three-and four-night cruises with stays at the theme parks. But the cruise line needs to consider other home ports and itineraries for the larger fleet, a spokeswoman said. Disney officials came to Tampa to confirm the port could handle their vessels, said port director Richard Wainio. Tom Wolber, the cruise line's operations chief, told the Orlando Sentinel that Miami and Fort Lauderdale, the nation's No. 1 and No. 3 cruise ports, are "obviously other alternatives."

 

[tom31b]

I do think we will at least hear about January to April 2009, but Kevin hints he has more rumours on the future, fingers crossed for Northern Europe in 2009.

Maybe they are moving out of Port Canveral and off to Tampa or Miami?

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1518461

orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-disneycruise0207oct02,0,924587.story?coll=orl_news_specials_util

OrlandoSentinel.com
More ports enter water for Disney's business
Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa and Seattle vie with Port Canaveral.
Jason Garcia

Sentinel Staff Writer

October 2, 2007

Disney Cruise Line, which is nearing the end of its initial 10-year contract with Port Canaveral, is pressing the port to cut costs amid suggestions that it might move its cruise ships.

E-mails between Disney and port executives reviewed by the Orlando Sentinel show that, on at least two occasions, Disney Cruise Line President Tom McAlpin hinted that his company could send ships to Miami or Fort Lauderdale.

The negotiations come as speculation builds about the future of Disney Cruise Line, which is increasingly experimenting with destinations beyond the Caribbean and which plans to double the size of its fleet to four ships by 2012. Ports from Tampa to Seattle say they have talked to Disney in recent months about the possibility of hosting ships.

"I think it's clear they want to diversify their itineraries," said Port of Tampa Chief Executive Officer Richard Wainio.

Disney's presence in Canaveral has already dipped. This summer, the company for the first time had to make a "shortage payment" to the port because its ships did not make enough stops at Canaveral.

Disney's contract requires that its ships, the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder, make at least 150 calls combined each year in order to maintain exclusive use of the nearly $30 million cruise terminal Canaveral built for the company. But port figures show that Disney made just 139 in its most recent contract year, which ended in July, because it had the Magic cruise ship in Europe for the summer.

As a result Disney had to pay roughly $107,000 to cover the port's losses in dockage and wharfage fees and to maintain its exclusive terminal use.

That payment surfaced as an issue in one of the e-mails between McAlpin and Robert Giangrisostomi, Canaveral's senior deputy executive director for business development.

On Aug. 29, Giangrisostomi forwarded McAlpin a newspaper story that included a ranking of the top 10 U.S. ports by passenger boardings. Canaveral ranked second, behind Miami but ahead of Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades.

"Tom, Thanks for making us number 2," Giangrisostomi wrote to McAlpin.

"I hope the $100k that we were forced to pay put you in the number 2 spot. If we were in Ft. Lauderdale, I wonder if that would propel them to number 1?" McAlpin responded. He included a smiling face icon in his note, presumably to indicate he was joking.

It wasn't the first time McAlpin implied that Disney was considering South Florida. On Feb. 7, Giangrisostomi sent him another newspaper story detailing problems facing Miami's port. "Some interesting stories," Giangrisostomi wrote.

"Yes but they have the geographical benefit," McAlpin replied, alluding to the fact that Miami is much closer to "Castaway Cay," Disney's private island in the Bahamas. He again included a smiling face in his e-mail, but then he added, "PS. Have you found a way to reduce our costs yet?"

Disney would not elaborate on McAlpin's comments.

"Right now, we're in negotiations, and we don't discuss negotiations with the media traditionally," spokeswoman Rena Langley said.

Stan Payne, Port Canaveral's CEO, called the exchanges "good-natured ribbing." But he also acknowledged that Canaveral is in the midst of in-depth negotiations with Disney on a new deal.

Payne said talks have focused primarily on renovations and improvements Disney wants made at its terminal.

"There are some changes that are going to have to be made at the terminal to maintain the level of experience that Disney expects," Payne said.

Disney, though, is also studying other options.

In February, Disney Cruise Line representatives toured the Port of Tampa, in part to learn whether it could handle its ships in the event of an emergency such as a hurricane, Wainio, the port CEO, said. But Wainio said follow-up conversations broadened to the possibility of basing a ship in Tampa, which like Canaveral is a short drive from Walt Disney World but which offers access to different ports of call.

"We certainly hope that one day in the future they make the decision to move one of those ships over here," Wainio said.

A spokesman for the Port of Seattle, a popular homeport for cruises to Alaska, said it, too, had talked to Disney.

Cruise-industry analysts say Disney is likely trying to leverage the best deal possible out of Port Canaveral by suggesting it might move its ships. But they also say Disney might decide to maintain a lesser presence there in the future.

The company has already announced it will send the Magic back to Los Angeles from May through August of 2008. And analysts say Europe and the U.S. West Coast -- where sailings could be split between Alaska and the Mexican Riviera -- are likely candidates for permanent Disney service once its new ships arrive in 2011 and 2012.

Langley said Disney is still weighing those decisions.

"We're exploring all of our options for the future, which is what any prudent company would do," Langley said.

 

[dahuffy]

Tyreak just got a call from one of his friends.

She's having a sweet sixteen party in a few weeks and called to invite him. Cool. He heard about the party and has been waiting/hoping he'd be invited.

Well, knowing her mom, I was expecting a simple little party.

Nope, he's part of the court. He needs 3 outfits for this party.
One formal, one casual and one all white outfit for when the court escorts the birthday girl in.

Of course he can't wear anything that's in his closet.

The girl is truly a sweet heart and I love her to death, but man.

Of course being the wimp that I am, I don’t have to heart to tell him he can only attend as a guest and not be part of the court.

Brings to mind "My Super Sweet 16" on MTV!

 

[Verandah Man]

Brings to mind "My Super Sweet 16" on MTV!

I saw the end of one of those shows, the parents spent over $300,000 for their daughter's Sweet 16 Birthday Party...............

We gave Angelina the choice for her 16th, a Sweet 16th Birthday Party or a 7 day cruise on the Magic. I guess you can tell by the photos below what she selected, with no pressure from mom or dad either..............

 

[captaincrash]

Cool. Yet, one more reason to put off buying a new TV... That 17 yo, 32" Sony is hanging in there quite nicely.

[edited]

Well, we've had a decent weekend. Everyone is healthy. Didn't do well at the show yesterday. I had Jakob show Taiko in both the breed and Junior Showmanship. Not certain where Jakob's head was, but it certainly wasn't in the ring.

Today was a different day though, he handled Taiko to Winner's Dog and Best of Opposite Sex over a finished champion. It was only 1 point - but that's one less we have to find elsewhere. He did a nice job. Sadly, 5th out of 5 in the Juniors ring. Well, he got the win that counted anyway.

I'm sorry to hear Taiko didn't score better then 5th. But at least he WAS among the top 5 eh? <chuckles>

And on the TV... yeah... they SAY the OLED is superior technology compared to Plasma and LCD because of the brilliance, extreme off axis viewability, extremely low pwer usage, and a rumored MILLION TO ONE contrast ratio (Think in terms of beautiful color - and in particular super deep black gradients) and extreme thin cross section. HOWEVER, it has supposedly an extremely short life span on ONE of the phosper colors (not sure which it was - but it's only about 5,000 hours to half life - only slightly better then an average lite bulb compared to 60,000 for Plasma), it is vulnerable to water damage (duh) so must be very well sealed, and it's made supposedly in sizes under 12'x12"... with the tiny 1.5-2.5" square/rectangle sizes being most common. I assume once the conquor the longevity issues issues then they'll build larger fabrication sizes - with factories that will almost certainly cost BILLIONS. Because i read something in an AV enthusiast mag hat spoke of the billion dollar plasma and LCD factories that produce everything for everyone.

Aside from that - the Organic LCD screens will effectively kick butt on all LCDs and Plasmas visually - and with lower power requirements they should be cheaper to design/operate. THe one thing I've heard of though with these big flat panels is that they tend to be very vulnerable to damage. A little flex or a mis thrown toy can crack the super thin glass surface. Whereas the CRT tubes of the old fashioned TVs is pretty much invulnerable by comparison.

With that in mind - I don't know if you recall my postings about the last TV I bought. I choose to get an old style semi-HD TUBE model on deep discount at best buy. I think (vaguely) that I paid $147 net for it - and its' a 30" rectangular 16:9 ratio screen with 500 lines resolution - so it's slightly inferior to the lowest HD resolution at 720p and approximatly one quarter the max resolution of 1080p. It's also about twice as sharp as standard definition HDTV. It has no HD ATSC tuner as a major disadvantage - but then again we don't get over the air broadcast (right Rodger?)... so I'll always be using a cable box OR ..... (shuuu)..... I just plug in a trunk line off the cable and the internal tuner can display about 60 channels at no cost to me!

Because this CRT was replacing an old 27" which we got as a wedding gift - and because it was located right where it would see potentially abuse from flying toys and sometimes semi-wild kids - I wanted a durable and cheap screen. This one - at the time - was considerably cheaper then the flat rue HD models. But now - the prices have fallen considerably on HD screens.

Below is a web shot of my set:

So Esteri - you know that come (vaguely) 2009 they will discontinue analog broadcasts. At that point your over the air reception will not work on the old TV. You'll be forced to buy an HD tuner - which I assume will cost very little as so many will be selling that they will have huge economies of scale. Either that or the tuner manufacturers will be making money hand over fist for a few years. <sigh>

 

[captaincrash]

I saw the end of one of those shows, the parents spent over $300,000 for their daughter's Sweet 16 Birthday Party...............

We gave Angelina the choice for her 16th, a Sweet 16th Birthday Party or a 7 day cruise on the Magic. I guess you can tell by the photos below what she selected, with no pressure from mom or dad either..............

That's a wonderful way to celebrate a sweet 16th! When I turned 16 I don't think I even got a cake - or gift of any merit. Unlike my spouses' family - mine was kind of one track minded in some ways and didn't really mark birthdays much. If we did it was sort of coincidental as opposed to planned as a special event. My spouses' family - on the other hand - makes a point of marking one anothers' birthdays every year and that's kind of nice.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I saw the end of one of those shows, the parents spent over $300,000 for their daughter's Sweet 16 Birthday Party...............

We gave Angelina the choice for her 16th, a Sweet 16th Birthday Party or a 7 day cruise on the Magic. I guess you can tell by the photos below what she selected, with no pressure from mom or dad either..............

smart girl

 

[captaincrash]

Now don't quote me on this but I belive that TSA and the Airlines will not take a bag for checkin any sooner than 4 hrs prior to flight time. you might wish to call you air carrier to verify this.

HEY EVERYONE -

LET ME QUOTE MIKE ON THIS ONE.....

<chuckles>​

 

[captaincrash]

oops

OK... what happened here?

Fes up?​