-=*September 10 2011, Westbound Transatlantic from Barcelona to Port Canaveral*=-

[granmaz]

I was sent this link today. Worth looking at if you like ballet.

http://www.nzwide.com/swanlake.htm

 

[Pinky166]

Grin, just makes you realize what different curbballs life can throw us. We're about the same age (I'm 31) and a "bit" of difference in experience in being an aunt. The baby is due around half of january, actually on my moms birthday. We all know very few babies get born on the due date but she's sure hoping for a birthday present being born!

Brother and SIL know if it's a boy and girl, the grandmas know and grandpas don't (my dad doesn't want to know, other grandpa can't keep his mouth shut ), nobody else gets told. I've got a good idea, think somebody made an "oops". Not that it will matter in the end, I'll spoil the child rotten.

Must be fun though having a teenager nephew! I've got a bit of a softspot for that sometimes a bit awkward time of developping out of a teen into an not-just-yet-adult. You can now do a whole new batch of fun things together.

Yes a very different experience in becoming an Aunt! I was thrilled to become an Aunt so young, I was 16 and loved being able to babysit & I was always taking him out in the pram for walks. I don't see him much at the moment as he is away at University but I have 5 other nephews & 3 nieces so plenty to keep me a busy!

I am sure the baby will be spoilt rotten, they always are! It would be lovely for your mum if it is was born on her birthday. Fingers crossed!

 

[Pinky166]

I was sent this link today. Worth looking at if you like ballet.

http://www.nzwide.com/swanlake.htm

Wow that is amazing! Thanks for sharing.

 

[karentan]

hi everyone!
its been sooooo cold here today, had to defrost my car this morning on the way to work, and the gritters were out when i was on my way home! i dont think it ever got better during the day!
well the saga of the holiday request continues! at least its not a no, but there were a few emails flying back and forth today, asking if my manager thought it would be better if i was given 2 weeks paid and 2 weeks unpaid (hello... i only asked for 3 weeks, not 4 ), then if i even got that much holiday allowance. think netty is getting as bored with this as i am!
well at least its not a no i guess!

but got a few days off approved for next month so me and gary can go up to glasgow to see his parents before christmas. his dad finishes radiotherapy tomorrow so hopefully he'll be a lot better and have his energy back for christmas.

 

[birkner]

Wow that is tall!!!! We have a few large trees in our garden but nowhere near that tall......I love them except when the leaves fall! I feel like I am raking them up every other day!

The largest redwood tree in the world is the General Grant tree, located in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park It stands 271 feet tall and is 28 feet in diameter at six feet above the ground.


It was very icy here this morning, had to defrost the cars. It is frosting up tonight already too.....winter is definately on it's way.
Lovely day here with temps in the high 70's or about 26C.



Well done on starting your Christmas shopping! I am going to sort through mine this week & just double check that I have finished everyone off. I wanted to get it done early this year before I go away at the end of the month.

My shopping is about 50 done as we have so many bdays as well in Nov and Dec.

 

[birkner]

I was sent this link today. Worth looking at if you like ballet.

http://www.nzwide.com/swanlake.htm

Thanks for sharing such a wonderful video of such talented dancers.

 

[birkner]

hi everyone!
its been sooooo cold here today, had to defrost my car this morning on the way to work, and the gritters were out when i was on my way home! i dont think it ever got better during the day!
well the saga of the holiday request continues! at least its not a no, but there were a few emails flying back and forth today, asking if my manager thought it would be better if i was given 2 weeks paid and 2 weeks unpaid (hello... i only asked for 3 weeks, not 4 ), then if i even got that much holiday allowance. think netty is getting as bored with this as i am!
well at least its not a no i guess!

but got a few days off approved for next month so me and gary can go up to glasgow to see his parents before christmas. his dad finishes radiotherapy tomorrow so hopefully he'll be a lot better and have his energy back for christmas.

Hope you get your vacation leave sorted out in the near future. Finger crossed and for your FIL to be feeling well for Xmas.

 

[Brookspayne]

Just found this on a site that I check every now and again, when I get the Magic "Blues" and want to know where it is in the world. Noticed that the Magic and Wonder are in Castaway Cay on the same day, 26 Nov 2010.

How I would like to be on the Magic on that day? What a photo you would be able to take.

I know that they are extending the docking area to take the Disney Dream but will it be able to take both the Magic and Wonder at the same time?

For those interested the site is http://cruisett.com/ships.php?ShipID=88&date=27.

Burnice

 

[squitty]

Morning everyone

Well it's absolutely freezing here, all icy.

All my Christmas shopping is done as my girls are older they wanted money for their main Christmas present.
My eldest (24) is off to Las Vegas on Dec 1st with her friend, so I had to buy $$'s for her.
My youngest (17) just doesn't know what she wants, so she asked for money so she can buy what she fancies in the January sales.

I got them a few stocking fillers so they have something to open on Christmas morning.

Just found this on a site that I check every now and again, when I get the Magic "Blues" and want to know where it is in the world. Noticed that the Magic and Wonder are in Castaway Cay on the same day, 26 Nov 2010.

How I would like to be on the Magic on that day? What a photo you would be able to take.

I know that they are extending the docking area to take the Disney Dream but will it be able to take both the Magic and Wonder at the same time?

For those interested the site is http://cruisett.com/ships.php?ShipID=88&date=27.

Burnice

Cool site, thanks for sharing. It's nice to see where the Magic is...can't wait till we're on it.

 

[MandyGirl]

For those interested the site is http://cruisett.com/ships.php?ShipID=88&date=27.

Thanks for sharing! Since we switched PC to Mac, I lost bookmarks, and had remembered a website that showed ships in port. That will be odd cruising in Sept and not having a single ship in port until we arrive in Florida! Not odd, but I'm so used to seeing another ship in port at most ports while cruising. However, this will be our first September cruise when school is in session.

Morning everyone
My eldest (24) is off to Las Vegas on Dec 1st with her friend, so I had to buy $$'s for her.

Gotta love Vegas! People always laugh at us when we tell them we enjoy going - but don't gamble, drink, or do the crazy stuff. We enjoy the nice hotels/pools/spas, nice meals, and Cirque shows. DD1's favorite hotel is "the lion hotel"... MGM... she loves watching the lions and playing in the lazy river... so we often split our time there between mine and Curt's favorite and her favorite.

well the saga of the holiday request continues! at least its not a no

but got a few days off approved for next month so me and gary can go up to glasgow to see his parents before christmas. his dad finishes radiotherapy tomorrow so hopefully he'll be a lot better and have his energy back for christmas.

Praying for him!!

And I hope the time off resolves soon! We are just the opposite -had to bid for vacation early. In the department Curt is in now with the airline, they must bid for their work days in June for the upcoming year, and turn in their vacation options requests in late July for the upcoming year. So in July, he turned in his hopes for 2012 vacation, and they do "round one" starting with the most senior guy in that dept, award his vacation, then go to guy number two. Once they get to the bottom, round one is done, and they go to round two and repeat the process. So if you have 20 days to use, and you want to take it in four blocks of five days off, you are looking at four rounds (each block of time off is in its own round). Or if you are hoping for one specific day off (like Easter Sunday) then that counts as a round - no matter if you are taking one day or all 20 days at once. We were thankful to get the September block off for sure! He even got Thanksgiving off for 2012 -- our first major holiday off.

 

[birkner]

Yesterday John had jury duty. He was not chosen to serve from the jury pool but he had an interesting day. Potential juror number two was Joan Baez who also lives in Woodside. John says the attorneys question her extensively but she was not chosen, She spoke about her political views, ex husband David Harris and son drummer Gabriel Harris which John found interesting. I remember when she used to date Steve Jobs who also lives in Woodside.

 

[granmaz]

You must have a different system of choosing a jury. I served for 2 weeks last year. Well a year ago next Monday actually. We were just called by name out of about 18 of us asked to attend and the rest went home, then came back the next day to see if they were chosen for another trial. We all had to turn up committed to 2 weeks so could I suppose could be going there every day and not actually getting a trial. That would be annoying. Our trial lasted almost 9 work days.

 

[birkner]

You must have a different system of choosing a jury. I served for 2 weeks last year. Well a year ago next Monday actually. We were just called by name out of about 18 of us asked to attend and the rest went home, then came back the next day to see if they were chosen for another trial. We all had to turn up committed to 2 weeks so could I suppose could be going there every day and not actually getting a trial. That would be annoying. Our trial lasted almost 9 work days.

The County of San Mateo send a jury summons in the mail with a parking pass for about a month before the summoning date. You need to call the night before after 6:00 PM (Friday in his case as he was summoned for Monday) to see if the court will need you or not for a case. On Friday, John was told to call a certain number between 11:00 AM and 11:45 AM on Monday to see if there was going to be the need for a jury. When he called on Monday, he was told to report by 12:45 PM.

A 60 persons pool was summoned. After the lawyers questioned 24 persons, a jury of 12 with one alternate was chosen. The lawyers for each side want to choose jurors who they think will be sympathetic to their clients. The plaintiff's lawyer wants jurors sympathetic to working persons. The defendant's lawyer wants jurors sympathetic to business.

The jurors were told that the trial was expected to last until this Friday, November 19. The case was a civil one about a wealthy family who own a family business and had laid off employees. The employees were claiming that the family did not pay them what the former employees said was the compensation promised by the family.

 

[granmaz]

The County of San Mateo send a jury summons in the mail with a parking pass for about a month before the summoning date. You need to call the night before after 6:00 PM (Friday in his case as he was summoned for Monday) to see if the court will need you or not for a case. On Friday, John was told to call a certain number between 11:00 AM and 11:45 AM on Monday to see if there was going to be the need for a jury. When he called on Monday, he was told to report by 12:45 PM.

A 60 persons pool was summoned. After the lawyers questioned 24 persons, a jury of 12 with one alternate was chosen. The lawyers for each side want to choose jurors who they think will be sympathetic to their clients. The plaintiff's lawyer wants jurors sympathetic to working persons. The defendant's lawyer wants jurors sympathetic to business.

The jurors were told that the trial was expected to last until this Friday, November 19. The case was a civil one about a wealthy family who own a family business and had laid off employees. The employees were claiming that the family did not pay them what the former employees said was the compensation promised by the family.

Well for the most part then the system is similar. I believe the lawyers etc can object to a prospective juror, but there is no questioning etc. You as a juror has to say if you know of the accused too.

The case I was on was nasty. A paedophile grooming and then raping 2 children, 9 and 7 at the time. Horrible and disturbing. He was found guilty and eventually sentenced to 9 years minimum. I'm so glad i am not facing tat again next week.

 

[birkner]

Well for the most part then the system is similar. I believe the lawyers etc can object to a prospective juror, but there is no questioning etc. You as a juror has to say if you know of the accused too.

The case I was on was nasty. A paedophile grooming and then raping 2 children, 9 and 7 at the time. Horrible and disturbing. He was found guilty and eventually sentenced to 9 years minimum. I'm so glad i am not facing tat again next week.

I agree the system is very similar. What a terrible case you had to sit on as a juror. I would not want to ever face that kind of a case.

 

[granmaz]

I agree the system is very similar. What a terrible case you had to sit on as a juror. I would not want to ever face that kind of a case.

We went straight into the case from being selected and I had a young lad next to me. He was visibly shaking by the time the prosecution had outlined the case. Fortunately for us all we had a fantastic jury with a lot of fun at times, and we did have a lot of spare time in the juror's room. I hasten to add we treated the case with great seriousness, but did need that light relief. Everyone got on well too which helps.

 

[birkner]

We went straight into the case from being selected and I had a young lad next to me. He was visibly shaking by the time the prosecution had outlined the case. Fortunately for us all we had a fantastic jury with a lot of fun at times, and we did have a lot of spare time in the juror's room. I hasten to add we treated the case with great seriousness, but did need that light relief. Everyone got on well too which helps.

I can imagine that it was a very difficult case to hear and see. Having persons that you can get along with must have made it easier to deal with such terrible facts.

 

[karentan]

That must have been a really horrible thing to have to hear all the details of. One of my managers has just come off jury duty and he ended up being out for 2 weeks, it was a rape case. Must be a horrible thing to do.

Well after a lot of emails backwards and forwards and 4 weeks later, I can now happily confirm that I am now able to definitely come on this cruise! Lol, finally got the holiday request approved!
I'm working tomorrow but am going to work on the new thread on Thursday. Apart from the usual lists of cruisers, space for FE info, logos etc, what other info do I need to save space for? If anyone has any specific info they want put in the first page, please PM me

 

[karentan]

Also, having just checked the thread name poll, looks like we have a winner - "from spain to space mountain-taking the magic home"

 

[granmaz]

Excellent news Karen!!! So pleased the uncertainty is over for you and you can get on with your planning!!!

Now we can get this party started!!!

I think as people start organising things and MAKING LISTS then they will be sending them to you to add. Perhaps you will need the proper format for the Logos? I am not techy at all so not sure about that.