9/27/14, Returning to the Southern Caribbean

[mom x4 grandma x4]

The dining room

 

[sdlong329]

I'd be more than happy to live in the single bay garage, or the walk-in closet. If I stay in the single bay garage, I call first dibs on the parking space next to me. I promise ... you will NOT be disappointed (at the car ... no promises about me)!

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Morning everyone,

Happy Sunday morning !!! It's a nice 75 this morning which feels so good after all the hot days here.

On the morning news they showed a short film of Castaway Cay on a segment about Disney cruises. Made me want to go on a Disney cruise today

Sorry Steven the small garage will have 3 quads parked there, but you could lay across them to sleep I guess?? They all have names so you can have your pick which one to sleep on. The red one is Go Go Sexy Granny, The light blue is The Old Fart, the dark blue is the young Show off. Can you guess who belongs to which one??

I hope everyone has a Magical day!!

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Happy Monday morning everyone,

I hope your week is off to a good start.

Nothing special happening around here today. Just balancing out the check book.


Back later to see if anyone has dropped by today,

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Well I hope everyone survived the weekend ok.

Anyone have plans for the Labor day weekend?


No plans here that I can think of but that may change towards the end of the week. 3 day weekends are one of the draw backs to living close to all the theme parks. Way too many people and crazy drivers to really do much.

Now the next weekend should be a great time to go to any theme park. Crowds are down and soon the unbearable heat will be better too.


Catch everyone later,

Kathy

 

[sdlong329]

Happy Monday morning everyone,

I hope your week is off to a good start.

Nothing special happening around here today. Just balancing out the check book.

Ohhhhh, Kathy! You're doing it all wrong! Live life on the edge! Step up to Concierge, or the Roy AND Walt Suites! Don't bother balancing the checkbook. If there is a REAL problem ... the bank will send someone to your house to let you know. Sometimes, they send someone in a very nice uniform, with badge, billy club, and fancy side arm!

 

[sdlong329]

Anyone have plans for the Labor day weekend?

DW invited her sister (plus sister's fiancee), as well as our son and his girlfriend over for the day. DW says it was for Labor Day, but I think she wants them for LABOR (manpower). We had new windows installed on the front of the house ... needed help to move furniture out of three rooms ... now need help to get it moved back. This ... after having picked up new family room furniture ... needed to move the existing stuff to the garage (Craigslist, here we come). We're in the process of getting the front of the garage ripped off (replaced), and a new front porch ... I'm not sure where we are putting the stuff. There isn't a room in the house which does not have something in it from another room. It's like a rotating furniture store / thrift store.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Ohhhhh, Kathy! You're doing it all wrong! Live life on the edge! Step up to Concierge, or the Roy AND Walt Suites! Don't bother balancing the checkbook. If there is a REAL problem ... the bank will send someone to your house to let you know. Sometimes, they send someone in a very nice uniform, with badge, billy club, and fancy side arm!

O know all about those "NICE" people who will come right to your house to say Hello. They have never came to my house ( I am good at hiding) but I see them all the time going to neighbors houses. They must be very nice because I see neighbors giving them their cars all the time.

I have always thought it would be fun to have the Walt suite but when I think of all the cruises I could book for the price it would cost for a week in Walt's suite I change my mind .

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

DW invited her sister (plus sister's fiancee), as well as our son and his girlfriend over for the day. DW says it was for Labor Day, but I think she wants them for LABOR (manpower). We had new windows installed on the front of the house ... needed help to move furniture out of three rooms ... now need help to get it moved back. This ... after having picked up new family room furniture ... needed to move the existing stuff to the garage (Craigslist, here we come). We're in the process of getting the front of the garage ripped off (replaced), and a new front porch ... I'm not sure where we are putting the stuff. There isn't a room in the house which does not have something in it from another room. It's like a rotating furniture store / thrift store.

Sounds to me like you have a very smart DW!!
Tell the guest, No work, No eat!!!


Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

WOW!! Tomorrow will be September 1st, we are almost 1 year away from this cruise

So How is everyone's holiday weekend going?

Mine is relatively quiet. Been doing some shopping today for clothes. Penny's had $60 Van Hussein (sp?) dress shirts for $12.97 after all the discounts.
Got some men's Dockers for half price too.

Now to relax a bit. This afternoon we are going to watch The Oregon Ducks football game. That's our home town team.

Tomorrow we may check out the new Penguin encounter at Sea World.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Kathy

 

[sdlong329]

Update on DW (Donna):

As some of you may know, Donna aggravated a heal spur in a low speed 2007 auto accident. The spur was never an issue, until the accident. There is SMALL litigation STILL ongoing from the 2007 accident (mostly, to cover medical bills, and damages to our car).

FAST FORWARD 6-7 years: Donna fell walking down the basement stairs, as a result of the heal spur. She sustained abrasions and contusions on her elbow, as well as her shin. Within minutes after falling, her leg swelled up to about 2x the normal size. She was taken to the local ER by ambulance, as she was in extreme pain (screaming LOUDER than child birth). X-rays were negative, but we were told the excessive swelling did not shown the bone (swelling was too large). Within a day or so, a hematoma started to develop on her shin ... which eventually grew to about 2" x 4". After about one week, the family Doctor removed the skin, which (essentially) turned the hematoma into a 2nd degree burn (no skin) ... which fosters bacteria growth. Family Doctor prescribed a Fracture Boot to help he walk ... but the sides of the boot caused too much pressure on the sides of her leg. At this point, I was driving DW to, and from work every day.

The swelling was still excessive ... an MRI was ordered. Insurance company denied the MRI request, citing she should first obtain an X-ray (DUH, they could not read). Because of this delay, DW was forced to go back to the ER, due to intense swelling and pain. ER could not order an MRI, but ordered an UltraSound ... which proved to be negative. MRI was re-ordered ... which was negative for a fracture.

After the family doctor looked at the MRI, she saw points of internal pooling of liquids (blood or puss), and this past Wednesday, ordered her to an Orthoaedist immediately. Due to personal contacts, I was able to contact an Orthopaedic Surgeon acquaintance of mine, who was able to get her in to his office within 24 hours. Upon seeing her leg and the MRI, he said she needed EMERGENCY SURGERY ... the NEXT DAY. He would not wait until after Labor Day ... not would he wait until the weekend.

We were fortunate enough to have recently had bloodwork tests performed ... left an overnight message for family doctor to make copies, and submit referral to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 1PM this past Friday ... went through intake ... and went under the knife a few hours later.

The Orthopaedic Surgeon put his scalpel on the heavily inflamed area ... and it literally POPPED ... like an over-sized ZIT on a young teen (surgeon was thankful for wearing a full face shield). The Ortho Surgeon was able to have a Vascular Surgeon observed the surgery, to check on possible internal damage. Luckily, there were no obvious signs of internal damage. Her leg was wrapped up, and ordered to return for follow-up visit to Orthopaedist on Tuesday, and Vascular Surgeon on Friday (remember, most everything was now closed, until Tuesday AM). Interesting enough, the surgery lasted a whopping TWELVE minutes!

Mind you, the surgery was completed after hours, Friday night. Two prescriptions were ordered (controlled substances) .. which would need to be filled on Saturday. We went to Costco on Saturday morning ... they refused to fill the prescriptions, unless Donna was there in person (not going to happen). To add insult to injury, PA law requires pharmacists to verify controlled substance prescriptions, and the local Costco received answering machines of the two Doctors who wrote the prescriptions. For some reason, they did not press "0" to reach a Doctor (who would have been able to confirm the scripts). To make a long story short, I made 4 trips to Costco, after having called the Pharmacist Manager an A%%hole, and complained to the Store Manager. A discussion ensured between the Pharmacists MGR and Store MGR ... and the Pharmacist agree to fill two of the prescriptions, after being able to confirm one script with one Doctor (but still refused to call the 2nd Doctor).

The Vascular Surgeon was leaving the state on Saturday, and would not be returning until Friday AM. He ordered DW to schedule an appointment for Friday ... regardless of whether there was an opening. Because of there the damage is located on the skin, there is very little fatty tissue ... very little blood vessels, and almost no possibility for blood flow to regenerate a scab and or new skin. This means, skin grafts are iminent!

Had DW broken her leg, it would have healed in 6-10 weeks, with moderate pain. Since this was actually a DEEP MUSCLE/TISSUE injury, recovery time is 8-12 weeks ... not sure hoe much time for the skin graft to take hold.

DW and I feel like a one-armed paper hanger ... so much to do ... but almost impossible to get stuff done, because of issues with not being ambulatory.

We were fortunate to have recently acquired a reclining, cushioned chair, which has the ability to elevate the feet, and recline almost flat. That helps DW *enormously* since she has to keep her leg elevated above her heart.

We are spending out time looking at cruises ... hoping to keep our minds off of issues at hand.

We've been handed a bushel of lemons ... and are trying to make a boatload of lemonade. Can't wait for our next cruise!

Steven

 

[sdlong329]

Speaking of next cruise, DW and I were hoping to book the West Coast REPO (May 2014), followed by the first Alaska Cruise of the season, which would now include Sitka ... turning the 7-night cruise into a 9-night cruise. We like to hit the specialty cruises whenever possible ... and doing a B2B is always very nice. Unfortunately, the price for the Sitka cruise proved to be outrageous, so we booked the 5 night REPO cruise as a dummy (San Diego to San Francisco to Vancouver). We figured we could spend a few days in San Diego ... and hit D/Land either befor or after the cruise ... with possible few days in Vancouver, or bounce back to Seattle.

The cruise was booked as a Secret NAV Verandah, at about $730 pp ... which has now increased to over $1,300 pp. Since we have sailed on Celebrity, Holland America and Princess, we are getting promotions for 7-night cruises for typical Caribbean cruises for about $700-$729 pp. We are not sure whether we should stay with DCL for a unique (albeit, shorter) cruise ... or switch to a "decent" cruise line for a longer cruise, albeit, common ports of call. Of course, if we switched to another cruise line, we would change out DCL REPO to a dummy, and push the date back further, in anticipation of DCL's return to Hawaii.

Any thoughts on what YOU night do? Stay on the DCL 5 night cruise ... spend a little extra to fly from home (Northeast US) to reach west coast ... as well as more money for pre/post cruise stay in Vancouver or California? On the other hand, if we sail on another line, we would sail out of Florida ... save money on airfare ... but get a (mostly) ho-hum itinerary ... though some add an interesting port of call. Your thoughts?


Steven

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Speaking of next cruise, DW and I were hoping to book the West Coast REPO (May 2014), followed by the first Alaska Cruise of the season, which would now include Sitka ... turning the 7-night cruise into a 9-night cruise. We like to hit the specialty cruises whenever possible ... and doing a B2B is always very nice. Unfortunately, the price for the Sitka cruise proved to be outrageous, so we booked the 5 night REPO cruise as a dummy (San Diego to San Francisco to Vancouver). We figured we could spend a few days in San Diego ... and hit D/Land either befor or after the cruise ... with possible few days in Vancouver, or bounce back to Seattle.

The cruise was booked as a Secret NAV Verandah, at about $730 pp ... which has now increased to over $1,300 pp. Since we have sailed on Celebrity, Holland America and Princess, we are getting promotions for 7-night cruises for typical Caribbean cruises for about $700-$729 pp. We are not sure whether we should stay with DCL for a unique (albeit, shorter) cruise ... or switch to a "decent" cruise line for a longer cruise, albeit, common ports of call. Of course, if we switched to another cruise line, we would change out DCL REPO to a dummy, and push the date back further, in anticipation of DCL's return to Hawaii.

Any thoughts on what YOU night do? Stay on the DCL 5 night cruise ... spend a little extra to fly from home (Northeast US) to reach west coast ... as well as more money for pre/post cruise stay in Vancouver or California? On the other hand, if we sail on another line, we would sail out of Florida ... save money on airfare ... but get a (mostly) ho-hum itinerary ... though some add an interesting port of call. Your thoughts?


Steven

Since you are both seasoned cruisers and have experienced longer cruises already, I would do CL's 5 day and enjoy Disneyland. Land Sea vacations are great. You have the best of both worlds.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Update on DW (Donna):

As some of you may know, Donna aggravated a heal spur in a low speed 2007 auto accident. The spur was never an issue, until the accident. There is SMALL litigation STILL ongoing from the 2007 accident (mostly, to cover medical bills, and damages to our car).

FAST FORWARD 6-7 years: Donna fell walking down the basement stairs, as a result of the heal spur. She sustained abrasions and contusions on her elbow, as well as her shin. Within minutes after falling, her leg swelled up to about 2x the normal size. She was taken to the local ER by ambulance, as she was in extreme pain (screaming LOUDER than child birth). X-rays were negative, but we were told the excessive swelling did not shown the bone (swelling was too large). Within a day or so, a hematoma started to develop on her shin ... which eventually grew to about 2" x 4". After about one week, the family Doctor removed the skin, which (essentially) turned the hematoma into a 2nd degree burn (no skin) ... which fosters bacteria growth. Family Doctor prescribed a Fracture Boot to help he walk ... but the sides of the boot caused too much pressure on the sides of her leg. At this point, I was driving DW to, and from work every day.

The swelling was still excessive ... an MRI was ordered. Insurance company denied the MRI request, citing she should first obtain an X-ray (DUH, they could not read). Because of this delay, DW was forced to go back to the ER, due to intense swelling and pain. ER could not order an MRI, but ordered an UltraSound ... which proved to be negative. MRI was re-ordered ... which was negative for a fracture.

After the family doctor looked at the MRI, she saw points of internal pooling of liquids (blood or puss), and this past Wednesday, ordered her to an Orthoaedist immediately. Due to personal contacts, I was able to contact an Orthopaedic Surgeon acquaintance of mine, who was able to get her in to his office within 24 hours. Upon seeing her leg and the MRI, he said she needed EMERGENCY SURGERY ... the NEXT DAY. He would not wait until after Labor Day ... not would he wait until the weekend.

We were fortunate enough to have recently had bloodwork tests performed ... left an overnight message for family doctor to make copies, and submit referral to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 1PM this past Friday ... went through intake ... and went under the knife a few hours later.

The Orthopaedic Surgeon put his scalpel on the heavily inflamed area ... and it literally POPPED ... like an over-sized ZIT on a young teen (surgeon was thankful for wearing a full face shield). The Ortho Surgeon was able to have a Vascular Surgeon observed the surgery, to check on possible internal damage. Luckily, there were no obvious signs of internal damage. Her leg was wrapped up, and ordered to return for follow-up visit to Orthopaedist on Tuesday, and Vascular Surgeon on Friday (remember, most everything was now closed, until Tuesday AM). Interesting enough, the surgery lasted a whopping TWELVE minutes!

Mind you, the surgery was completed after hours, Friday night. Two prescriptions were ordered (controlled substances) .. which would need to be filled on Saturday. We went to Costco on Saturday morning ... they refused to fill the prescriptions, unless Donna was there in person (not going to happen). To add insult to injury, PA law requires pharmacists to verify controlled substance prescriptions, and the local Costco received answering machines of the two Doctors who wrote the prescriptions. For some reason, they did not press "0" to reach a Doctor (who would have been able to confirm the scripts). To make a long story short, I made 4 trips to Costco, after having called the Pharmacist Manager an A%%hole, and complained to the Store Manager. A discussion ensured between the Pharmacists MGR and Store MGR ... and the Pharmacist agree to fill two of the prescriptions, after being able to confirm one script with one Doctor (but still refused to call the 2nd Doctor).

The Vascular Surgeon was leaving the state on Saturday, and would not be returning until Friday AM. He ordered DW to schedule an appointment for Friday ... regardless of whether there was an opening. Because of there the damage is located on the skin, there is very little fatty tissue ... very little blood vessels, and almost no possibility for blood flow to regenerate a scab and or new skin. This means, skin grafts are iminent!

Had DW broken her leg, it would have healed in 6-10 weeks, with moderate pain. Since this was actually a DEEP MUSCLE/TISSUE injury, recovery time is 8-12 weeks ... not sure hoe much time for the skin graft to take hold.

DW and I feel like a one-armed paper hanger ... so much to do ... but almost impossible to get stuff done, because of issues with not being ambulatory.

We were fortunate to have recently acquired a reclining, cushioned chair, which has the ability to elevate the feet, and recline almost flat. That helps DW *enormously* since she has to keep her leg elevated above her heart.

We are spending out time looking at cruises ... hoping to keep our minds off of issues at hand.

We've been handed a bushel of lemons ... and are trying to make a boatload of lemonade. Can't wait for our next cruise!

Steven

Now I know why you haven't been posting much lately. That's terrible for poor Donna. So glad you finally got a doctor who did something for her.
My brother had a skin graft on his forearm after having Melanoma, but I don't remember how look it took to take to his arm. He wore a bandage for weeks but I don't know if it was due to the graft to if the Dr. just wanted to keep it extra clean because his skin and flesh were removed down to the bone.

Talking about, planning and booking a cruise is a great way to put some sugar in that boatload of lemonade!!!

Tell Donna we will be praying for her to have a speedy recovery.

Keep us updated when you can.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Good Sunday morning everyone,


We decided to wait until Tuesday to go to Sea World so there won't be any crowds.

So now I have no plans for today accept to find trouble to get into. That's never hard for me to do.

Have a great day everyone,

Kathy

 

[LocustPoint]

Update on DW (Donna):

As some of you may know, Donna aggravated a heal spur in a low speed 2007 auto accident. The spur was never an issue, until the accident. There is SMALL litigation STILL ongoing from the 2007 accident (mostly, to cover medical bills, and damages to our car).

FAST FORWARD 6-7 years: Donna fell walking down the basement stairs, as a result of the heal spur. She sustained abrasions and contusions on her elbow, as well as her shin. Within minutes after falling, her leg swelled up to about 2x the normal size. She was taken to the local ER by ambulance, as she was in extreme pain (screaming LOUDER than child birth). X-rays were negative, but we were told the excessive swelling did not shown the bone (swelling was too large). Within a day or so, a hematoma started to develop on her shin ... which eventually grew to about 2" x 4". After about one week, the family Doctor removed the skin, which (essentially) turned the hematoma into a 2nd degree burn (no skin) ... which fosters bacteria growth. Family Doctor prescribed a Fracture Boot to help he walk ... but the sides of the boot caused too much pressure on the sides of her leg. At this point, I was driving DW to, and from work every day.

The swelling was still excessive ... an MRI was ordered. Insurance company denied the MRI request, citing she should first obtain an X-ray (DUH, they could not read). Because of this delay, DW was forced to go back to the ER, due to intense swelling and pain. ER could not order an MRI, but ordered an UltraSound ... which proved to be negative. MRI was re-ordered ... which was negative for a fracture.

After the family doctor looked at the MRI, she saw points of internal pooling of liquids (blood or puss), and this past Wednesday, ordered her to an Orthoaedist immediately. Due to personal contacts, I was able to contact an Orthopaedic Surgeon acquaintance of mine, who was able to get her in to his office within 24 hours. Upon seeing her leg and the MRI, he said she needed EMERGENCY SURGERY ... the NEXT DAY. He would not wait until after Labor Day ... not would he wait until the weekend.

We were fortunate enough to have recently had bloodwork tests performed ... left an overnight message for family doctor to make copies, and submit referral to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital at 1PM this past Friday ... went through intake ... and went under the knife a few hours later.

The Orthopaedic Surgeon put his scalpel on the heavily inflamed area ... and it literally POPPED ... like an over-sized ZIT on a young teen (surgeon was thankful for wearing a full face shield). The Ortho Surgeon was able to have a Vascular Surgeon observed the surgery, to check on possible internal damage. Luckily, there were no obvious signs of internal damage. Her leg was wrapped up, and ordered to return for follow-up visit to Orthopaedist on Tuesday, and Vascular Surgeon on Friday (remember, most everything was now closed, until Tuesday AM). Interesting enough, the surgery lasted a whopping TWELVE minutes!

Mind you, the surgery was completed after hours, Friday night. Two prescriptions were ordered (controlled substances) .. which would need to be filled on Saturday. We went to Costco on Saturday morning ... they refused to fill the prescriptions, unless Donna was there in person (not going to happen). To add insult to injury, PA law requires pharmacists to verify controlled substance prescriptions, and the local Costco received answering machines of the two Doctors who wrote the prescriptions. For some reason, they did not press "0" to reach a Doctor (who would have been able to confirm the scripts). To make a long story short, I made 4 trips to Costco, after having called the Pharmacist Manager an A%%hole, and complained to the Store Manager. A discussion ensured between the Pharmacists MGR and Store MGR ... and the Pharmacist agree to fill two of the prescriptions, after being able to confirm one script with one Doctor (but still refused to call the 2nd Doctor).

The Vascular Surgeon was leaving the state on Saturday, and would not be returning until Friday AM. He ordered DW to schedule an appointment for Friday ... regardless of whether there was an opening. Because of there the damage is located on the skin, there is very little fatty tissue ... very little blood vessels, and almost no possibility for blood flow to regenerate a scab and or new skin. This means, skin grafts are iminent!

Had DW broken her leg, it would have healed in 6-10 weeks, with moderate pain. Since this was actually a DEEP MUSCLE/TISSUE injury, recovery time is 8-12 weeks ... not sure hoe much time for the skin graft to take hold.

DW and I feel like a one-armed paper hanger ... so much to do ... but almost impossible to get stuff done, because of issues with not being ambulatory.

We were fortunate to have recently acquired a reclining, cushioned chair, which has the ability to elevate the feet, and recline almost flat. That helps DW *enormously* since she has to keep her leg elevated above her heart.

We are spending out time looking at cruises ... hoping to keep our minds off of issues at hand.

We've been handed a bushel of lemons ... and are trying to make a boatload of lemonade. Can't wait for our next cruise!

Steven

Sorry your wife had to go through all of this. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Have you looked at the cruises from Baltimore, New York orNew Jersey? Would save the expense of air fare but would add port parking?

 

[sdlong329]

Have you looked at the cruises from Baltimore, New York orNew Jersey? Would save the expense of air fare but would add port parking?

We're really afraid of going on NO-wegian, or un-Royal ... and I believe those three cruise ports see a lot of those two lines, as well as that C-cruise line (shhh, promised I would never mention that circus-name). We've been looking through the e-mails from online T/A's, and brochures from cruise lines we've sailed with previously. Quite honestly, I should have thought about looking into NJ, NY & MD ports (thanks for the reminder). I like to use VacationsToGo.com for doing initial leg work ... their website is very good with providing excessive details

Oh, the worries of having to wonder which cruise to book next!

Steven

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Happy Labor day everyone !!!

I hope most of you don't have to labor at work today.


We had a HOT night last night.

Lost power twice for over an hour last evening. Not fun on a 95 degree day.

Luckily I have small personal battery fans which made it bearable and I have 3 lanterns to light up the place.

The neighbors were having a big party with about 70 people. They had 2 huge blow up bouncy houses for the kids. When the power went off they deflated, then an hour later they automatically inflated again when the power came on, then 20 minutes later it went own again with the next outage, then back up again.
I felt bad for the kids but it was kind of funny for them to keep going up and down. They had a huge tent area with games an food they all went into so they still had a great time.

Hopefully they have fixed what ever the problem was.

Have a great day everyone,

I hope Donna is feeling a bit better today

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

We had a great time at Sea World yesterday. The new penguin encounter is really nice.
There are 2 rides through it. One is mild and one is Adventurous. They both follow the same exact route but the Adventurous side your car spins around several fast circles now and then an rocks back an forth with a hard shaking motion.

So if you don't like to spin, do the Mild version. Plus if you want to take photos the Mild is best. The other is too jerky. You can take all the photos you want but they are enforcing No flash!! People were scolded by employees when they use the flash an they stood next to them to make sure they didn't do it again.

I will be posting a few photos here and on FB too.
After that we spent 90 minutes at the vet which made for a long day, but a good day.

Today is back to normal around here.

I hope everyone ha a great 3 day weekend.

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Entrance to Penguin Encounter






Entrance to the Café.