Sunday Blog for February 27, 2022

Good morning! As I write this, it is Sunday February 27 and we have just sailed into New York Harbor aboard Norwegian Cruise Line's Getaway. This is the first cruise in nearly 3 years for Stacey And me. It wasn't meant to be that long, but due to Covid, here we are.

On February 18, we drove to a hotel near New York City to spend the night before the cruise. It would be my second time in the Getaway and Stacey's first time. This was the first sailing out of New York City for the Getaway since Covid. Indoor maskin requirements are in place and we had to take a Covid test at the pier before getting on the ship. We both tested negative. Stacy met a lot of people and in a Facebook group so she already knew who to look for once we were on board. One piece of fun is that many of the crew members had never seen snow before. It's very cold in New York and a snow squall passed through while the ship was still docked. Many crew members were excited to see snow for the first time and went outside to see it.


We were two hours late embarking, due to wind and river current conditions. It was dark as we sailed out the Hudson River, so that left us with a spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline and Lady Liberty lit up at night. Our plan was to be on deck as we sailed under the Verrazano Narrows bridge, but it was too cold to stay out for very long.


Stacey really stood out with the entertainment crew as she wore her teacup pants and beads. We danced at the sailaway party, held in the Bliss ultra lounge, and she got on stage with the ship's band to do Sing it if You Know It. People from our Facebook group cheered her on.


The original itinerary was to have three ports in the Bahamas, but one was dropped and replaced with Norfolk, Virginia. We were supposed to get off the ship in Norfolk Virginia at 1 p.m. but arrived at 3 p.m. due to being late leaving New York. So our time in Port was cut from five and a half hours to three and a half hours. Stacey and I chose not to get off the ship.


It was about 40 degrees in Norfolk. We finally got some warm weather in Port Canaveral. We took a walk on Cocoa Beach and walked around some shops.


It was mid 70's at Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas. We relaxed on the beach, took a short dip in the cold water, danced to the DJ, and had lunch.


It was also mid 70's in Nassau, Bahamas, where we took a land and sea tour.


Our activities on board were the usual mix of fun, dancing, karaoke, participating in games, seeing shows, and hanging out with crazy new friends that we met!


We saw a show called Burn the Floor, and The Million Dollar Quartet. We saw a Fleetwood Mac tribute band, and the same group also did an 80's prom show.


The ship had a little over 2,000 guests on board, about 50% of capacity.


It was SO GOOD to be back on board again! Time to catch up; we have two more cruises booked this year

Sunday Blog for February 20, 2022

Posting the blog for Sunday, February 20 early.


Some people have asked me how Stacey and I met. It was March of 2017 and our common friend Judy had arranged for a bunch of us to get together at Taylor's Nightclub on Monroe Avenue to see the band Hall Pass. When I arrived, I texted to Judy that I was there. As I was standing near the front entrance looking for Judy, Stacey walked up to me and said, “Judy is in the back talking with someone she told me to come out and look for a tall guy named Paul.” I said, “Well that's me!” So as a group we all had a fun evening dancing and listening to the band.


I met her on a few other occasions that spring. One event that stands out to me was an 80s night at Burgundy Basin Inn. That night that I noticed that Stacey stayed on the dance floor longer than most other people. I was impressed that she had what I called “dancing stamina.” Another occasion that stands out to me is when Stacey and a few other friends came to Shortsville to see me in a parade. We stayed that evening to see the band The Dean's List play at the carnival. The ground was soggy from a lot of rain, and we remember that night as the night we danced barefoot in the mud.


Both of us were in relationships at the time, and by coincidence both of those relationships ended the same weekend. I was not ready to date anyone else yet. Stacey and I quickly became good friends, dancing and hanging out a lot together that summer. I was scheduled to go on a cruise in August. While I was on the cruise, Stacey sent me messages every day. I still felt like I wasn't ready for a relationship during the first part of the cruise.


A notable event happened about halfway through the cruise when I was in the country of Estonia. While on an excursion, the tour guide pointed out something called the Kissing Statue. It's a statue in a park of a man and a woman in an embrace and kissing. I took a selfie with it and posted it on Facebook with the caption, “I wonder what good fortunes this statue will bring to me!” It was meant to be in jest.


But in retrospect, I realized that shortly after I saw that statue, I started thinking that maybe I should pay more attention to Stacey. Just before I came home she sent me a message saying she was going to greet me at my apartment and give me a big hug and kiss. After I got home and saw her arrive, I said, “Well I'm yours if you want me.” She gave me a big hug and a kiss and we have been together ever since!



I will end this week with the poem that I wrote for my proposal to her in 2018:


Proposal


When we first met dancing

We weren’t thinking of romancing

Our friendship grew stronger

As our time together became longer

It meant a lot to me when you said

“When I’m with you I can just be myself”

I’ve grown very fond of you

And fallen in a love that’s true

The time is now right

A new beginning in sight

I now ask of thee

Will you marry me?


(Stacey said “Yes!”)


See you again on Sunday, February 27!

Sunday Blog for February 13, 2022

I started this blog years ago, before social media became such a thing. I’ve always enjoyed writing. I let the blog slip. I’ve had short-term restarts through the years, but usually felt overwhelmed by keeping up with it on a daily basis. That was too much. I’ve decided to try a weekly approach. I thought, “How about publishing it when most people are home, like on a Sunday morning?” It’s gonna replace most of what I’ve posted on Facebook. Instead of impulsively posting thoughts on Facebook, I’ll put them in my blog draft through the week. Then I can expand on, revise, or delete any impulsive comments.

I’m making it a policy that anything that goes on my blog stays in my blog. Comments about my blogs are welcome, but they have to be posted within my blog, not on Facebook. I’m not going to respond to comments that people post about my blog on my Facebook page. So, feel free to comment below.


I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. I love how I can connect with nearly a thousand friends (do I really have that many friends?), but I hate the arguing. And I hate the idiotic way Facebook treats people. No, you can’t blame the government for that. Facebook is a private entity; you don’t own your Facebook page, Meta Platforms, Inc. owns it. They can censor or delete your page at will. You want your own website? Pay for it. I did have a situation recently where Facebook’s robot warned me that a comment I made on a complete stranger’s post was “against community standards.” That was a wake-up call. First of all, the comment I tried to make was in no way against any standards. But you can’t argue with Facebook’s robots. I want my Facebook page so I can stay in touch with friends and promote my drumming and wedding business. There is NO WAY I want a complete stranger to be the cause of me going into Facebook Jail or some idiotic “punishment.” So, for that and other reasons, I am limiting my Facebook activity from now on.


Looks like people have had enough of billionaires. They should dismantle Bezos yacht's masts so it will fit under the historic bridge, not the bridge itself.

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/09/1079568745/jeff-bezos-yacht-de-hef-bridge-rotterdam-eggs?utm_term=nprnews&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr


Hey people, STOP GETTING MEDICAL ADVICE FROM POLITICIANS AND TALK SHOW HOSTS!! Listen to your own doctor!! And keep your friends out of it, too. Their medical needs are different from your own.


Masks work. But they are ineffective when not used with other means to prevent Covid from spreading; washing hands, sanitizing surfaces, handling utensils, etc. People have been required to wear masks at work, school, etc. But when the same group gets together socially without masks, what's the point? And so many people don't wear masks properly. The nose is exposed or they drop the masks down like chin straps. Again, what's the point?


Well, I'm ready to stop all the social distancing procedures. I was in favor of all this until we had a vaccine. Now that we have it, we know it works, and the majority of the population has been vaccinated, we all know what to do to protect ourselves.


"If you're sick, stay home." Makes sense. So why do some businesses reward people who never take a sick day?


I see the car lots are filled up again. The shortage of cars is what drove the prices up. It's all about supply and demand. When things were shut down because of Covid, there was no way to get new cars into the U.S. That drove up the price of the remaining supply of cars. It's economics 101. I see people giving the President too much credit or blame for prices. It's the same with gas. There are a lot of factors that drive up or drop the price of gas. But at this time, you could blame Putin.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/oil-prices-slip-hot-us-inflation-concerns-2022-02-11/


And now this truckers' protest is causing shortages. People have the right to protest, but I don’t see how this truckers' thing is doing anything other than slowing down the economy and driving prices up even more by causing a shortage of items needing to be shipped. Workers in the auto industry are losing wages as a result.


But seriously, who is advocating this protest?

https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/fox-news-goes-all-promoting-anti-vaccine-mandate-canadian-truckers


Rich vs. poor. Have you noticed the rich like to post "private" at the entrance to their big fancy houses while the rest of us common folk put out "welcome" mats.


Have you ever thought of billionaires being hoarders? They hoard money!


After receiving a gift card, we finally tried out Chick-Fil-A. I don’t know what all the fuss is about. It was OK; didn’t taste any better than any other fast food I’ve had.


I’ll leave you this week with a poem I wrote a few years ago. This was inspired by a wedding that I officiated. It’s one of the poems in my poetry book, ‘60 to 60.

Slow Dance

She sat, smiling

Thin, frail and elderly

Reveling the celebration

She asked, hoping

“Will you dance with me?”

Her eyes, lit

Grand anticipation

“Slow,” she said

“It has to be slow”

We waited for a soothing rhythm

She rose, gently

Taking her delicate hand

I guided her to the dance floor

“Tighter,” she said

“Hold me tighter”

I held her close to my chest

Eyes closed

Time stood still

Caressed in sentimental warmth

Reminiscing

She relished anew

Memories of her youthful days

The song ended

A graceful twirl

Then back to her granddaughter’s day

Weekly Sunday Blog Start-Up

Starting this Sunday, I will be reviving my mostly-dormant blog with a weekly posting of my random musings of a geezer-in-the-making. It will be a great way for me to occupy your brain while you have your Sunday morning coffee! No topics will be off limits. I've been dissatisfied with much about Facebook in particular and social media in general. From now on I will be limiting what I post on Facebook. So I have decided to revive what has worked well for me in the past. In the meantime, you can read some of my old blogs from the past. See you Sunday morning.