Cruise 10/11/2003

[Rikersmom]

Hi, Guys!

Just thought I'd check in. Ed & I just got back from the Jan. 18th Western cruise. It was a last minute decision, and we had the noisiest cabin on the ship, but I'm really glad we had the chance to get away from the frigid weather in Pennsylvania.

Captain Marvin's was great! (I'm sorry that we didn't get to go with our DIS group from last year, though.) We had a group of 18 with Christopher and Roy in charge. The stingrays were amazing. My only complaint was that Christopher kept telling us to keep our feet on the bottom (the rays don't like it if you kick out and touch them)--I'm 5'4" and the water was a bit more than 4' deep. It's pretty hard to keep your feet on the bottom when the waves are over your head! I did get to touch the stingrays, but I didn't stay in the water very long. Next time I either need to get taller, or I need to hope that we anchor in shallower water.

It was jacket weather in Key West, but we had wonderful warm days in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. The winds were too strong for us to visit Castaway Cay on Friday--it would have been too windy and cold to enjoy it, so we weren't very disappointed.

Riker (the wonder dog) had a nice vacation visiting his "other" family, but we got a wonderful greeting when we picked him up. He's sound asleep on his special pillow.

Hope all of you are well.

Karen

 

[RellingTwin]

The cold you feel is HELL FREEZING OVER!!! THE TAMPA BAY BUCS have won the Superbowl!!!!!


Welcome back Karen and Ed. Glad to hear you made it to the Western and to Grand Cayman. Sorry you didn't get Castaway Cay, but you got it 2X last trip

Nancy..glad your house decluttering is going well!I think it's easier to keep something like that "going" then it is to start. Getting that first drawer, or closet, or room is the toughest!!

Eric, your FL resident alien comment reminds me of a funny story. While in collage in Fl, announcements were made everyday reminding all students that "ALL ALIENS" must register. The announcments and posters were everywhere. SO....on that day, my friends and I dressed as "space aliens" and showed up to "register"!!

 

[papa]

Weeeeeeeeel since it couldn't be the Titans-----YEA BUCS!!!!!

Eric, you don't need to wear your scuba gear to see the stingrays. They usually anchor in shallow water to let you swim with them. I am 5'2'' and could stand in the water while we fed them.

Scarlet is still sitting outside in the weather. I had a NFN visit in Hendersonville today and we went past the dealership where she was hauled. My baby was sitting outside in the cold and has SALT all over her. We had just washed her the day she got sick. I hope they are able to start her tomorrow so I can clean her up. No Eric, she doesn't have an electric fuel filter on her. She has glow (sp) plugs. I have to wait for the light in the speedometer to go out before I can try to start her.

The snow is lying in ditches and in the shade of places here and there. Mikes' mom always said that when the snow stayed around like that, it was waiting for more to join it. I love the snow but we have had snow twice now and I am ready for warm weather. My buttercups are up about 4 inches out of the ground. I love the spring most of all.

Welcome Matty. You will like us...ALL! We really are a friendly group.

To those of you getting to go to WDW, sigh, enjoy your selves. Think of Mike and me stuck in Nashville, Cold, cold COLD Nashville.
Will get off now. Take care everyone. Kathy, with a K

 

[Tulirose]

I REALLY wanna know whatever happened to Taswira!?

I trust that Dave, Ellen and their kids are all enjoying their cruise. I hear it started off a little chilly and rocky, but I'm sure once they get further south, everything will be great!

It has been something like 6 pages since I last posted. Great going guys but I can't attempt to comment on everything I would like to. Too much, too late, too bad.

Welcome to the Cult, Matty204. Be careful or the cult may make you disappear like it did to Taswira!

Richard is thinking of reserving our spot on Amtrack soon.

Pennsylvania people - Lake Ariel.... does it sound familiar??

umm....

Oh, I knew there was something else on my mind. Now, I know that there are original 9/22/01 Cruisetoberfest cruisers going on this cruise. And I know there are September 2002 Cruisear people going on this cruise and I know some of the Cruisear people were our *competitors* from the 9/28/01 cruise. I am getting old (Eric 40 is nothing-so quit ya bellyaching) and I don't recall names very well. Can you guys just refresh my memory and tell me who was a 9/28/01 cruiser and who was a Cruisear cruiser. I'm just curious. Thanks.

 

[Tulirose]

Oh and Matty, someone will eventually get around to answering your question on how to get the countdown timer. I can't help you with the specifics except maybe tell you to check out the Technical Board for information if you can't wait. Otherwise, I'm sure someone here will help you out sooner or later (I bet you it ends up being Mike (papa).

 

[Viking]

Rosemary,

you lost your bet: Here comes the CountdownTimer-link Click here for your Timer

Papa,
we keep our fingers crossed for your Little Bug to thaw up again

 

[@GoofyNut]

? What was you favorite Super Bowl Commercial .... Art LHAO at the very first one with the "horse replay and the "Ref". Sometimes I think that the commercials are some of the best part of the whole game (Disgruntled Eagles Fan Here!)

Way to go BUC'S!

Elaine ... Glad William liked his frame. The holes are just the right size for the pin backs. I got some pins for less than $1 and was thinking of doing the same for pin trading. Have a great time at Disney and let us know what's new when you get back.

Karen ... Glad you got to actually do the Western - now you can be an "advisor" for the rest of us! So nice to hear that Riker is OK too.

Rosemary ... Lake Ariel is not far from where I live (about 10 miles or so) WHY!

Oh well ... work calls.................

Cathy with @ C

 

[papa]

Waiting for 8:30 am to get here so I can call the dealership to get Scarlet into a warm bay. It is 14 degrees here this morning. I am frostbitten.

Mike rented a Ford Escape while Scarlet is sick and let me tell you something. I could go for the extra room! However, that gas mileage would have to improve some. I like my diesel (most of the time) and I don't like the gas mileage on the Ford. I keep having to remind myself that Katie won't be in a carseat for too much longer. Mike told me when I said that she would only be in a car seat or booster for the next 4-5 years. Well, my car willl be paid for by then. Then maybe Grandpa can get her a van with TV and VCR or DVD then...You know, for those trips to Disney???Huh?

Hi Rosemary, wondered where you were. I love your new furniture. It is lovely. Beats the heck out of my card table.

Gotta get a bath and get ready to do some NFN visits today and go see my boss at NFN too. Gonna be a long day cause I have to work at the hospital too tonight.

Take care, Kathy with a K

 

[papa]

Hi Cathy with a C, you just posted 2 minutes ahead of me. Good morning! Hope your tooshie doesn't freeze off this morning.

My favorite commercial that I got to see cause I was out on visits with a sweet little girl, was the one where this guy is talking on the phone with his friend who says " Look at the mom cause in 20 years that is what your girlfriend will look like" and he thinks she is ok until he opens the door and sees the bottom half of the mom! It was funny. Tasteless but funny.

See ya. Kathy with a K

 

[alikat99]

Yeah Bucs!!! Well, the Tampa Bay area is completely stunned by the fact that we actually won the Super Bowl. I woke up this morning thinking, "Did we really win, or was that a dream?". Anyway, what a great game!!! I've only been a Bucs fan since I moved here in '97, but I'm sure glad to see them come out on top, especially since they've come close so many times in the past couple of years.

Eric - That is great to hear that you're coming to Madiera Beach. We will definitely have to get together while you're here. We're only about 1/2 hour from Madiera, so we'll make plans as it gets closer to your vacation.

 

[dvcChrisVWL]

Hey, AMY! Aren't you supposed to be working?

Yes, it is amazing that the Bucs won. Ha, last I heard, the point spread was supposed to be 3 points - to the Raiders! The Bucs used to amaze me at their ability to lose a winning game - now they have done the opposite. Goes to show you, you can never tell until it's over. The sports shops here are going nuts trying to keep up with the demand of the public...

I would have to say that my favorite 2 commercials were:

1) the spoof on FedEx and the movie Castaway - the one where a guy delivers the package after beeing marooned on the island for 5 years and he asks what was in the box and the lady tells him just a few silly things - satalite phone, gps, water purification tabs, and [vegetable] seeds

2) the extended version of the Visa commercial with the Barber twins - Where at the end, the sales clerk makes one final comparison - that Ronde's brother is IN the Super Bowl and that his brother is *watching* the Super Bowl! (just an observation, she says!)

A few others were worth chuckles - like the play on the old commercial with beer and twins and someone is using a remote control to fast forward to all of the places in the commercial that shows the twins in bikinis.

I was not tickled by the Sierra Mist commercials, although the one with the monkeys at the zoo was really good on graphics (the monkeys build the teeter-totter to launch one monkey over the lion/tiger and into the polar bear pool).

Matt: Welcome aboard!

Oh, and to all of you in the cold - it is a frigid 54 degrees here now in central FL and only expected to reach the lower 70's by the end of the week!

 

[alikat99]

Ok, Chris, my dear hubby, aren't YOU supposed to be working???

 

[bettemom]

LOL Amy.....

 

[alikat99]

Well, the funny part is that I work from home, and my dear hubby normally works at his office about 10 minutes away. But, this morning, he decided to call in sick, so he was sitting in our computer room playing on the DIS, while I was in our family room on my work laptop doing my job.

So, who's the one that's playing hookie????

 

[scootersmom]

Amy & Chris-- LOL!! I guess our DS9 is playing hookie today too. We had what looks to be about 6" or so of snow yesterday and last night. Some of the schools were already cancelling last night before I went to bed. I got up this a.m. to a temp of -6ºF and wind chill of -19º, neither of the two streets I could see had been cleared at all, and every school district but ours was closed for the day. So, I called him off. Just couldn't see him walking down to the bus stop and standing out in that waiting for the school bus today. I suspect he won't be the only one out.... I had to try the call-off line a couple of times before I got through.

The guys watched the Super Bowl here last night. Don made a big pot of chili. They were LOL at the first commercial with the horses. Jen and I were in the dining room entertaining the kids. We played Old Maid, Rack-o, and Boggle.

Welcome, Matty! Keep posting with us to help pass the time till the cruise.

I'm going to go ahead with my bubbles idea for the sailaway. Eric, do you mind if I use the Cruisetoberfest II logo? I'll order them today and then I can get started. Any guesses as to how many we'll need?

Keep warm!

Colleen

 

[Viking]

Folks,

please be so kind and tell the non-native English speaker what "playing the hookie" means.

Amy,
I mixed something up:
I was really thinking that I made reservations at a motel in Madeira Beach, but when I checked my mail today I discovered that I made reservations for a 1-bedroom-appartment in a motel in Indian Rocks Beach. So it's 15 minutes more driving time. I must admit that after checking out about 200-300 motels I got kind of confused I reduced the final number of motels to about 10 and when I eventually called the place in Florida I thought I was talking to the landlady of the Wits End Motel on Madeira Beach. I had the rooms-and-rates page in front of me and just concentrated on getting the right room. Then I booked it and went to bed. First thougt in the morning when I woke up was: "Why did I send a confirmation to Whisperings Waters Motel - When I booked a room at Wits end?"
But it's a nice place anyway and we'll stay with it.
And just to prevent any of you jokers out there (i.e. Rosy or Cathy ) from making nasty remarks about us being booked on the Big Red Boat instead of the Magic: We are absolutely sure to be on the correct ship - See you later, now I have to check our documents

 

[alikat99]

Hey Eric - sorry to confuse you. Playing hookie means that you're taking the day off of work/school, most of the time, with no real reason, except that you just don't want to go.

As for Madiera versus Indian Rocks Beach, they are still about the same distance for us. We are in Northeast St. Pete, so either way, we just make our way over to the west coast beaches and head either north or south, depending on where we're going. Either way is fine with us. We love heading over to the beach, and sometimes we forget to take advantage of the beach, even though it really is so close to us.

 

[scootersmom]

Eric-- Here's a site and a quote from the site copied for you. The short answer is that you're supposed to be at work or school, but call in 'sick' and stay home, or go on vacation! Or I guess, in the case of some of the kids, pretending to go to school and then not going.

Colleen
____________

http://www.word-detective.com/070599.html

Incidentally, grownups call them "sick days."


Dear Word Detective: Do you know where the expression "playing hookie" came from? -- Cathy Friedmann, via the internet.

Now there's a term I haven't heard in a while -- "playing hookey" (or, as you spell it, hookie) definitely seems to have fallen into disuse. Today's school kids, who play hookey to an extent earlier generations would never have dared, usually call the practice "cutting." "Hookey" first appeared in print in 1848, although the term had probably been in common use among children long before then. The phrase "play hookey" seems to have been an American invention, and had a number of variations: in Boston, children who skipped school were "hooking jack."

"Hookey" (also spelled "hooky") apparently developed from the colloquial phrase "hooky-crooky" common in the early 19th century, which meant "dishonest or underhanded." The connection between the two phrases becomes clearer when we recall that to "play hookey" properly, one had to pretend to go to school. The child would head out the door at the proper time, schoolbooks in hand, and only when safely out of sight of home would the little nipper's true itinerary become evident.

Incidentally, simply because I know how this racket worked does not mean that I myself was a practitioner of "playing hookey." I adored school, and was heartbroken when, occasionally, an especially fine Spring day would cruelly rob me of the opportunity to watch filmstrips on Mesopotamian culture in sixth grade history class.

"Hooky-crooky," to return to our subject, came from "by hook or by crook," meaning "by any means or tactic, fair or foul." Although this phrase first occurs in print way back in 1380 and is still common today, no one is sure of what the hook and crook were. One theory is that while tenants on English manors were not allowed to cut trees for firewood, the lord of the manor permitted them to have all the branches they could pull down with a shepherd's crook or a curved knife on a pole called a "hook." It sounds like hard work to me. Personally, I'd rather just go to school.

 

[@GoofyNut]

Rosemary .... Is Eric trying to say we have some sort of reputation?

 

[padisneyfan]

Rosemary--- I've seen that Taswira has posted on the annual pass cruise thread and that cruise was just this weekend. So she is currently in Florida. I guess she was just been busy planning for that cruise. Also Norm and I were with the 9/28/02 cruise (Cruisears).

I didn't watch any of the Super Bowl or commericals so can't comment on them. Was over on Lifetime TV watching chic flicks and then Nick at Night "Coach" marathon.

Colleen-- Now that you mentioned it I never heard my two DS's say they wanted to play hookey. What a wealth of information you are.

Karen--- It was so nice to hear from you and that Riker is doing well. I wear my PA Disney pin everyday to work and think of you often. So glad you got to do the Western Carribean, but a bummer on not getting to Castaway Cay. Please stay in touch with us.

Kathy & Mike--- Hope that Scarlett is soon fixed up and back on the road.

Norm had to have a femoral stent put in as an outpatient today. Since he had open heart surgery 7 years ago, he has had problems with the right leg and the circulation wasn't as good as it should have been. He was given the option to have a stent put in to improve circulation to the leg. Since it wasn't an emergency we waited until I had all my treatments completed to have it done. So had it this afternoon and is now doing well in recovery. He will get to go home later this afternoon. So since I work at the hospital, I'm in my office catching up on my paperwork (plus checking on the Dis boards) until I can see him after he leaves recovery area.

It is now cold again, the weekend was the warm weather in the 20's now back in the teens.

Nancy