MetalMouse - we booked the Have-It-All fare which, among other things, gives us 3 restaurant dinners. Tomorrow, we’re going to the Pinnacle Grill - that’s the steak and seafood place. Next week, it’s Canaletto for Italian, and the week after, it’s Tamarind for Asian. The 4th restaurant is French and we could have either that or Pinnacle. Sorry - no real choice there.
We visited the Northern Lights Cathedral in Alta - very interesting and impressive place. Then we rode around Alta while our guide told us stuff. Unlike the other two places we visited, there were trees here! The Gulf Stream ends up in this part of the world and it helps moderate the temperatures. Plus there’s actual soil - not just rock. Slate is a major export, apparently the quality is exceptional.
When we got back to the ship, I saw someone strapped to a gurney. Our guide had mentioned that there’s no hospital in Alta - the nearest one is in Tromso, which is (I think) an 8 hour drive away. So someone’s cruise ended early. I hope they bought trip insurance.
Ooopsie - we did Holland America to the Panama Canal in 2018 and I don’t recall it being this mediocre. Dunno if Covid changed things or if we’re harder to please. But, for sure, HA is geared to the geezer crowd. No karaoke! No bellyflop contests! Not that it affects us much - I don’t think we’ve been out of our room past 8 all week. Yeah, boring.
We’re on our way out of the Alta Fjord. Next stop, Husavik, Iceland, on Wednesday. Two sea days to chill.
Hoo-raaayy! Again! Win win all around there. And chocolate chip cookies for the upcoming week. Score!!!
As to the mini digression on housing …
I think @Taters’ desires are readily doable. If she’s in a rural area in a low cost of living state. Which I don’t think quite applies to her current zip code.
Your ideas would fit me better, since like you there’s just one of me living here. If for some reason I ever went to a freestanding house it’d be about like that.
And no carpet; area rugs are nice though.
I’m a total convert to the no-hassle high-rise approach to living though. Never say never, but I don’t see me ever having a yard or exterior again.
Hmmm. I know exactly zero about Holland America. I do know that when I booked on Viking, they issued us two reservation slots to be used as we liked in the 3 or 4 nice sit-down restaurants aboard. Which I at first took to mean those two were our only opportunity to eat there, or at least to eat there without extra charge. So while booking shore excursions and such before leaving home, I also booked two evenings’ fancy dinners.
It was about day 4 of ~12 (I already forget!) aboard that we realized, no, they were only rationing pre-departure reservations, not meals. And in fact so few people ate in the nice restaurants that reservations were available for a decent time of evening every night for the rest of the trip. And no extra charge for eating there either. After that we mostly skipped the buffets.
We did note that the special du jour in the nice restaurants bore a suspicious resemblance to the special du jour being served in the main cafeteria. Better presentation and had spent less time being manhandled on a steam table, but same basic items. Perhaps unsurprising, but a bit disappointing. The restaurant items that were not the buffet daily specials were quite good.
The only people who like carpet are people with neither children nor pets (or extremely unrealistic expectations of what it’s like to have them inside your house - apparently middle-school aged kids aren’t supposed to rough it outside? :shrug: ) or I guess those with daily maid service.
I’m glad all the good stuff happened, and all the bad stuff you were anticipating … didn’t.
This has to be one of the best side convos in the history of the MMP.
Well, now I wanna know!
Neat!
No karaoke or bellyflop contests … that YOU know of!
That crowd holds out till at least 8:45 pm or so.
Gathered up a rather impressive amount of random household trash into assorted Amazon boxes (one of these things might … cause the other one) and have scooped Monkey’s box, so the biiiiiig bin is already out at the curb. That way Future Shoe doesn’t hafta deal with it.
A small-ish load is swishing in the washer. If it doesn’t get moved to the dryer before I gotta go to work (and I close tonight, so we’re looking at a 1 a.m. return home) it’s not the end of the world.
But it might have time. And I might remember.
Meanwhile, we got rain this morning so now it’s hyoooomid, bleah.
Last night’s long, lovely (indoor) shower is no match for this weather (and guarantee I’ll want one by the time I get home tonight anyway) so I’m recuperating from earlier endeavors with half a grape popsicle before tackling the rattie care.
Then I’ll decide just how many showers one woman can take within a 24-hr timeframe.
We have carpet everywhere but the kitchen and bathrooms, and the utility parts of the basement. The carpet is gray. Ziva is gray. No prob. And I don’t mind vacuuming. I like a warm, soft floor, not a cold, hard one. So there.
The wind has kicked up - we can tell by the whitecaps and the wind sounds. So far, the seas have been smooth - are we going to encounter bumpies as we move west? Guess we’ll see tomorrow. Oh, and tonight, we move the clocks back an hour. The joys of international travel across time zones…
So, yes on the maid service … just not outsourced.
(And I loathe vacuuming. The noise is unfriendly, and most vacuum machines emit a faint smell that reminds me of when you first step onto an airplane … )
Afternoon all. Dinner has been dined upon and a couple minor shopping chores have been completed. Now deciding if I want to go to the gym for a couple hours (they close at 6pm on weekends) or just veg. 97F outside so that is a vote for staying indoors, but ate an extra helping of french fries at dinner, so that is a vote for the gym. Decisions, decisions…
Taters, hope it’s quieter tonight, might be some residual booms, but give Maisie a couple extra scritches from me. And you want all that in a house and reasonably priced…well, I wish you all the best on that quest.
Dicey, I guess it’s starting from England and that is what is available (and relatively cheap). Let us know how Princess is, I can’t remember ever cruising with them. And need to do some of those tasks about my house…someday…
Oopsie, glad the BFF day went well and the hornets were dispersed. And just remember Susan Ivanova…No boom today–boom tomorrow. Sooner or later: Boom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnR3Tyrg_10 And happy Lego-ing.
FCM, think you made a good choice. I skipped the Speciality places on my cruise but the last night I spent about $30 extra and got a T-Bone steak.
I have carpet in the living room and 2 bedrooms, tile in kitchen, bathrooms, and library, and wood in the 3rd bedroom/office. Covered all my bases, I did…
Concur.
And it’ll be 3pm before I can get to the gym now and need to start getting ready to leave there by 5:20pm, so I think I’ll skip it and try to get back into the groove on Monday. Take care all.
Howdy Y’all! We deheathenated and I didn’t trip or spill wine while takin’ Communion out to folks for whom comin’ up for Communion is difficult. I call that a win. First Sunday brunch was fantastic! All kinds of good eats. There was some really good brisket. I am not a big fan of brisket, but this was very tender, melt it your mouth good. Nappage was needed when we returned to da cave. It’s very hot and hyooomid out so we have been glad to be inside in the a/c. The biiiiiig trash can has been hauled all the way down to the road for pickup tomorrow. Chillage now ensues.
I cleaned. I changed Spot’s litter. I changed the sheets and comforter(Spot was so wrapped up in watching As The Squirrel Turns, he forgot to interfere). Also the problem with keeping a comforter in the underbed storage thing is somebody uses it as a nap nook, and covers it with white hairs. I did 3 loads of laundry, I took out the trash and recycling. Spot and I took a nap. There’s been some light rain, one big downpour, but no wind. There was a tornado up the road.
Carpet is good older pets for walking. For cleaning accidents, not so much.
I think it is time to put the AC in the window. Tis 90 ferrets outside. Getting to the window where it goes is a bit more problematic since I moved many of my tool into the living room after giving up the shop, but we shall muddle through.
Thinks back on well-spent youth. The answer is five. You need to be sure you have time to dry your hair before going back to bed.
Back when we thought Hubs elderly father was going to move in with us, we looked carpeting the areas he would be in. The elder care folks told us to not do it because carpet is a tripping hazard for folks who aren’t great about picking their feet up. That was back when we had hard laminate, wood is much more forgiving.
So the long weekend is almost over, I’m starting to see more traffic on the highway. Everyone is going home.
Harry finally got the OK to ride his mower around unsupervised, but of course everyone is keeping their eye on him. The grand did get paid a little for some of the time she spent caring for him which she considered to be a bonus cause she was planning on not getting paid at all.
My cherry tomatoes are finally starting to turn color. Usually by this time of year, I’m swimming in tomatoes, but I lost a month hoping the first planting would perk up and get better. Oh well, we knew that this was going to be a starter garden, I’ll get things figured out.
I’m still pretty headachy and washed out, the main reason I started babbling was to talk about George. As usual
I thought my pores were getting clogged and went to Walgreens to get a peel. NO JUDGING! Usually I get a mundane clear one, but this time I bought a black Hawaiian salt peel and applied it to my face after my shower last night.
I came out of the bathroom fully intending to sit and stitch with a glass of wine when the gormless one freaked the fuck out and started banging around in the cabinets looking for a place to hide. After much fussing, he got tossed into our bedroom with the door closed after. Then we restored order to the cabinets. Well, I did, Hubs was pretty worthless, every time he looked at me, he started laughing again.
