Cruise 10/11/2003 Part 2

[Tulirose]

Hello All! Starting to play catchup right now. Twenty-some-odd pages.....

Hope to be caught up by chat tonight!

International Cruisetoberfest Chat: Saturday, August 23rd, 10 a.m. EDT

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Also wanted to say welcome to Lisa. We are driving also and it's about a 24 hour drive. We do it over 2.5 days on the way down and will do it in 2 days for the drive back. We will at all points have a full tank of gas after today too.

I've actually done the drive when my DS was 2.5 and I did it alone! He's actually a very good car person as has been since he was a baby. Started him early I think. I took lots of toys, and the books that had a cassette with them. He just turned 17 so this was a while ago. We stopped at McD's that had playgrounds to let him run around for a bit. The best thing I did though was that I left at around 4am the first morning so that he slept for the first few hours. The only problem I had was after we got to Orlando I couldn't get him back into the car. I was visiting a girlfriend who lived there at the time and the day after we arrived I had to put a riding toy into the car to get him to get into the car so we could go shopping! He didn't want to spend a third day in the car!

Now, we stop at Cracker Barrel and get the books on CD and listen to them on the drive. They do have kids books so it might be an idea.

Eric -- I actually like the idea of having the temp diff in the building and out of the building as you suggest. I'm not sure if it's regulated here but the big problem is that in most buildings here you can't open any windows at all so if the a/c isn't running there's absolutely no air circulation. My office has two giant windows that face west and depending on the day it's like sitting in an oven. I keep the blinds closed most of the day which sorta defeats the purpose of the window but oh well.

Fiona

 

[Tulirose]

21 pages and 4+ hours later, we are caught up. (Was not a straight run, however. Things came up causing breaks in the catchup time.

We had a great time in Omaha. The wedding was lovely. Maybe I will post a picture at another time.

Hey Dan - Miss you too babe!

Welcome to the newbies - Piglet, Texas Family, and Lisa and crew from Missouri.

Never made it into chat tonight.

Am exhausted. Voice is hoarse from reading postings to Richard.

Fortunately, Richard was still on vacation yesterday and today, otherwise he would have been stuck in Manhattan. Thanks for the concern of all who posted same.

Made notes. Will respond more on Sunday, perhaps Saturday night. Going to Jersey tomorrow.

Take care all.

Oh - We received no excursion listings from DCL or Dreams.

International Cruisetoberfest Chat: Saturday, August 23rd, 10 a.m. EDT

 

[Tulirose]

Hey! How about that!?! That was post 3582 and NOONE (especially Amy or Dan) stole it away from me! Yeah Rosemary!!! You go girl!!!

International Cruisetoberfest Chat: Saturday, August 23rd, 10 a.m. EDT

 

[alikat99]

Hey there Rosemary!! How are you tonight?!?!?

Just when you thought you were all alone.

 

[Cheese Please]

Glad to hear that Rich was not in the city for the power outage. We were only without out power for about 6 hours. We were really fortunate. It made for a different evening without the usual routine. The kids thought it was a "pain" but Ellen and I actually enjoyed the change. Of course we weren't stuck in the subway or an elevator.

Makes you realize how good we have it here even with little inconveniences. Hope everyone else in the power outage region is getting back to normal.

Dave

 

[Twinave]

Welcome home Tulirose and Tulirich!
Thanks to everyone who sent me the info needed for the Palos Brunch. We now have 47 people.
Having a great time with sister Mary this weekend. Nice weather. Hope to go out on the boat this afternoon. Then out to dinner tonight.
Computer is acting funny. I think we got a virus.
Got to run and get ready to hit the beach.
Later, Ave'

 

[Windermere]

GAsp, page 2. Everyone else is talking tonight except us.

 

[bettemom]

WE HAVE BERNIE !!!!!!!!

 

[papa]

We have the camera ready to take Bernie's picture on the cruise so that he can show his brother and sisters his vacation photo's. Mike

 

[alikat99]

Good evening everyone!!

Wow what a busy day it was today!!! I got up early this morning to straighten the house before leaving for a baby shower. However, the baby shower was 2 hours away in Lake Mary (about 40 minutes on the other side of Orlando from Disney). It was a great shower and I got to see some people that I haven't seen in a while.

Then, Chris wanted me to stop by the Magic Kingdom on my way home to pick up the new Passholder pin that came out either yesterday or today. Well, I wasn't up for parking at the TTC, taking a tram, taking the monorail, walking up to Exposition Hall at MK. So, I thought that I was being slick by parking at the Grand Floridian and hoping on the Monorail. Well, I won't do that again. First off, the self-parking for the GF is across the street, so I had to walk quite a distance. Then, although the monorail only has one stop from GF to MK, I had to go all the way around on the way home. Oh well, that'll teach me to try to get around the system.

Then, I drove home and met Chris, Emily, my aunt and my mom for dinner at Carrabba's. That was quite an experience too. Emily was not into sitting today for dinner, but it was later than normal for her, so I didn't blame her for being ansty.

Then finally, I went to JoAnn Fabrics with my mom to get the fabric for Emily's flower girl dress for my brother's wedding next month.

Whew!!! I'm tired. Thank goodness that the only thing that I'm doing tomorrow is church and maybe laying by the pool.

 

[Viking]

Hi Folks,
good to hear that everybody has power supply again
I just read that a set of defective wires in Ohio caused the trouble, this can only mean one thing: An extra set of Buckeyes for all the Easterners and Canadians

For us it was a very busy weekend so far. So busy that I couldn'tr find a minute to spare for the update:
Friday I was at the office until late in the evening, picked up Anja from the late-shift. Then we went to my aunt, who altered both new evening robes Anja bought for the formal nights.
Yesterday we were in Mannheim, a city about 55 miles south of Frankfurt to celebrate a Polterabend. This is a German tradition coming with weddings: In the week before the wedding the brid & groom invite friends, colleagues and other aquaintances for an informal fest. Usually it's a lotmore people than for the wedding itself. Everybody has to bring pottery, tables, cups, etc which is then smashed in front of the pair. We have a saying in Germany stating "Broken porcelain brings luck". So by smashing the stuff you wish luck and the pair has to take brooms and clean up the mess. Usually the breaking is stretched over the whole evening and pair has to sweep again and again
Before the Polterabend we went to a local gym in Mannheim to work out and then we did some shopping.
Today we are invited for a housewarming which will start in the afternoon.
Monday and Tuesday I'll have to punch in overtime again and work out in the evening, but Wednesday -as stated before- I should be able to find time for updating the List and the website.
Sorry for the delay

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Yesterday Jim and I helped out at a soccer tournament. We paid out the referees so we spent the day with a huge pile of money that got smaller. Today Jim will go back to the tournament while I got to my nephew's first birthday party. Should be interesting as we stopped by my DB and DSIL's house on Friday and they had just got their power back on about an hour before we dropped by. My DSIL and the kids weren't home but my DB was. They are redoing their kitchen and it was supposed to be finished but isn't although they do have a working stove, dishwasher and fridge. Most of the kitchen stuff is in the living room and dining room. Hopefully it will be a good day today so that we can be outside b/c at this point there's not much room to sit down anywhere.

I had asked my DB how the kids were and it seems that there's a little bit of trouble between the two. My niece who turns 3 at the end of September has decided her brother is no longer interesting and is rather a pain. Everything in the house is 'hers' and anytime Parker touches anything he gets pushed down and cries. Sloane is a tad spoiled (the gifts for her 1st birthday were a bit extravagent) so it'll be interesting to see how she handles the fact that it's Parker's birthday and not hers. They are both adorable although Sloane is definitely in the 'no' stage. My brother's description of his children, laughing as he said it, was that Parker was a terror and Sloane was a witch.

Back to bed now. It's not even 6am here but the dog wanted to go out early. There was a skunk outside somewhere but luckily she didn't get sprayed.

Fiona

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Oh, forgot to mention that Jim actually shaved off his beard. Kept the moustache though. He's growing it back though. Every couple of years it gets to be too much and he shaves it all off and then it grows back. Usually happens during summer when he gets stubborn and decides not to trim it and just lets it grow to the point that even he can't stand it.

Fiona

 

[Viking]

Originally posted by cdnmickeylover

Eric -- I actually like the idea of having the temp diff in the building and out of the building as you suggest. I'm not sure if it's regulated here but the big problem is that in most buildings here you can't open any windows at all so if the a/c isn't running there's absolutely no air circulation. My office has two giant windows that face west and depending on the day it's like sitting in an oven. I keep the blinds closed most of the day which sorta defeats the purpose of the window but oh well.

Fiona

This is why we have power operated exterior blinds on all windows facing east, west & south. On the windows facing north we have simpler manually operated interior blinds.
The power operated ones are automatically lowered at sunrise to prevent the building from heating up. Every four windows have a common switch and then the people manning those office can manipulate the angle of the blinds or roll them up/down. Additionally all windows can be tilted or fully opened and each office or cubicle is equipped with a fan. We usually have four-person cubicles (My teammate and I have a four person-cube for the two of us), which are about 20x20 feet, because the space everybody must have is strictly regulated over here. Additionally everybody must be seated not to far away from a window, also about 20 feet. All this makes for good working conditions. And a smokefree environment it is also!! No smoking anywhere in the building.
All these measure help creating good working conditions without a/c, very little energy consumption and give the people a feeling of control of their work environment.

 

[cdnmickeylover]

That sounds like an amazing attitude to your working environment Eric. Here most of the buildings are sealed and none of the windows can be opened even a little bit. The blinds in my building at least are all self operated. There might be buildings in downtown Toronto that have automatic blinds but I don't know. Our office is typically designed in that around the outside there are offices that have windows and then inside are individual cubicles where the secretaries are. Not a great design really but typical. Without a/c the building gets really hot, really quickly. It went out last summer and we bought a bunch of fans because when the a/c isn't on there's no air circulation either. I think I'd rather work in Germany.

Fiona

 

[@GoofyNut]

Just checking to to say HI to everyone and hope you are having a VERY MICKEY WEEKEND!

Bette ... Bernie's custom sized name tag and laynard have jut been finished. I guess you guys are getting to know each other and he's being sized for his cruise wardrobe! Will he be at the sail-a-way?

Check on you all later ... have to get back to laminating.

Cathy with @ C.

 

[Twinave]

Rellingtwin left this morning. She's been on the road for about 5 hours now, and no phone call saying she's broken down.
Bette, Love the name Bernie! That movie was so funny! Loved it when Bernie went waterskiing.
Wow, Jim shaved off his beard, Rich got a tatoo. What next?
OK now my lesson on how to say Ave'. Pay attention, there will be a test. 2 syllables. Ah (as in the doctor says say AHHHHH. Va, long A ( as in vase ).
Got to run and start on the laundry that I have been avoiding since Mary got here.
Later, Ave'

 

[hopelea]

IS IT TIME TO GO YET????
I am going crazy waiting for this trip!!

I check the boards every day to read the new posts. It makes me more excited!

I know these next two months will go fast....but not fast enough.
I don't want to rush the time away, because then my trip will be over. The anticipation is driving me crazy.

Hope everyone is doing fine. It finally turned into summer here. We are finally where we should be....92 degrees and really humid.

Well, I guess I will go read my passporter AGAIN!!!

Hope

 

[alikat99]

Originally posted by Twinave
OK now my lesson on how to say Ave'. Pay attention, there will be a test. 2 syllables. Ah (as in the doctor says say AHHHHH. Va, long A ( as in vase ).

I am so glad that you posted this. Now, when we meet, I can say it correctly!