Jewel Hunters Roll call!!

[maw]

Paw and I have been married 53 years and live in mid Missouri think Jewel is our 11 cruise never thought I would get so many I would forget how many. We started cruising in 2001 when Paw fully retired. I had worked as a Social Worker for State of Mo. and Paw ended his working years working in Auto Parts stores. We have 3 children and 7 grandchildren(still count the steps) 2 greats who are the light of my life. Paw enjoys his yard work and I spend most of my days playing on computer. Now tell us abt you.

 

[Corky]

Maw - Congrats on 53 Years!!

Den & I have been married 27 yrs. We have one son, Ryan - age 24 - who just graduated from college and headed West. And we have one dog, Molly, who is 12 this year. I'm a Sales Analyst and Den is a Finish Carpenter. We've lived on the same Block for 24 years, in two different houses. Can't imagine living anywhere else in town. Our hobbies are, Den: Reading, hunting, gardening. Me: Reading, stained glass, gardening. But we are up for most anything...especially outdoors. That us in a nut shell.

 

[earl_m]

I live alone in Montreal . Was marry, didn't work out , I have 3 children, all move out of the
house a few years ago , all marry. couple of grand children. I work in a film lab, Quality control
for technicolor
My girl friend and I have been seeing each other for about 20 years, she has cruise 2 times and i have
14 times, all in the Carribean, because I love the sun and the the beaches.
If I ever won the lottery I would cruise 2 times a year , 6 MONTHS AND 6 MONTHS

 

[red stripe]

we share interests....
but one thing jumped out at me...

Den is a Finish Carpenter.

... Corky, when are you coming this way? :grin

I have done a few things, not well,.. but sturdy.:lol You know how in kitchens they sometimes build that cute but useless desk area?
we have one. if you put a chair there and sat down, you would block the entrance, and who actually uses them?
so the chair space is a wasted area.
I but in a raised flooring, the same height as the rest of the baseboards in there, and I figured to put in a shelf and add doors.. I can do that :grin
but now I have re-thought it.. and drawers would be a LOT more useful... so I am about to start cracking the books to see how to make the drawers. I am OK with the actual drawer.. it is basically a box with a face. it is the guts that hold it up I am not sure of :lol

Like Paw and maw, I love my garden, I love birdwatching. I get a lot of enjoyment sitting in the small porch/glassroom at the front of the house in the evening and watching the sun set.
I love classical music, and when I am stressed or angry it can calm me.
I also love jazz, but it is not calming :lol
I sew, do cross stitch on linen, I can knit, but do not do that often. I can paint, rooms, birdhouses, pictures.. I am not an artist, but I can copy :grin
I do stain glass work and Einstein made me a room for doing it.
I will have to come up with something for the cruise....
and I READ! I think if something defines me.. it is that :lol
I read very fast. once I needed another class to fill in the gap while waiting for the girl that I rode to college with...
So I signed up for speed reading.
They gave me and the rest a test to see what our start speed was. I think the average reader does 250 words a min?? I tested out at over 750 :lol
I ended out in a class by myself.. they would put me in a room, start the screen rolling with perhaps a book or an essay, then go away. when it was done, I pressed a buzzer. someone came in, gave me my test papers and left me to it. You were timed.
Then someone came back and graded your test. you had to get at least 85% comprehension to move on to another speed.
I maxed out their equipment at 1350 words per min, and finished the rest of the semester sat in a room reading :grin

NO. I am NOT a brain.. it just happens that reading is the only skill I have, and I was born with it. I read real books at age three. not "see spot run"
To me, it is a blessing, and I feel sorry for those who can get no enjoyment out of reading.
My lifetime wish is to live next to the public library. :lol

what else do I do?? can't think :lol

Oh yes..... love to travel =sailor

 

[red stripe]

Earl... I love that answer "six months and six months" :grin

 

[Corky]

Red - unfortuantley not for a while...I now have to get from April to September w/o going Anywhere!! Den closed my travel accounts!!

Reading - Den goes through a minimum of 5 books a week...his mistress is the library...I've learned to live with it...it is hard, but at least I know where he his - we even joke about "her". =lolgang

 

[red stripe]

he sounds a lot like me. I would expect he is also as fast at reading.
And I wonder if he also does what I do.. if I find a new author and I read one book and like it. I go online and order from our library every one of his books, and if they have a central character in each book.. I read them in order :grin

 

[earl_m]

RED, it must cost you a fortune in books. I guess you must buy lots of used books, I love reading, mostly
action, war or mystery. and of course cruise books, I have room in my house call ``my cruise room`
the walls are full of pictures from past cruises, a book shelf full of cruise books and magazines, I have a wall full of cruise hats
sometimes at night i put on a CD and a glass of wine and just look around my cruise room and enjoy the moment!!

 

[maw]

Rd check your q-mail in case you can't tell is picture of Corky Denny E you and me with John NJ

 

[red stripe]

Thanks maw, got the picture.. a little late, as I was planting :lol
earl. your room sounds great.
years ago I had an extensive library, I remember donating 900 book one year to the library.
But I also bought a lot of books from the Library book sales.

These days I go to yard sales for books that I know I will read more than once, and I am also a number one customer at the public library.. I see no use in paying top dollar for a book that I will read in an hour or two.

I have to admit.. I would love a room that was a library.. filled with the classics.. I happen to love Plato Aristotle etc.
and those books you will read more than once.
I would paint what wall there was with library green :llol
and the walls would be floor to ceiling book shelves.
a couch or easy chair, table lamp.... single malt.... and a good book.
Oh yes, besides the original classics that I no longer own.. I love mystery, thriller, history, etc.
right now I am working through Lee Child's.....

 

[Calgon1]

Well, a bit about us ...

I'm a Japanese-American. I was in the US Army for 23 years and retired in '92. I kicked around various jobs (prison cop, petting zoo farmer, store detective, delivery driver) and finally ended up as a firefighter, emergency medical technician, canine handler/search & rescue specialist and hospital security officer. Becuse I know the body won't continue to take the heavy physical abuse, I'm currently working on my certification as a professional emergency manager to qualify me for management of an Emergency Operations Center. SunFlower is the love of my life. We met on the net. Really! She's British-American raised by an Irish mother. She put in 6 with the Mayo Clinic, 11 years at Pfeizer Pharmecuticals, and 23 with the University of Michigan (Infectious Disease, Marine Engineering and the Ross School of Business). We are the parents of one DD (married, w/3 DS's of her own), one DS (Also married, w/2 DD's), and Cody, a 2 yo GSD (German Shepherd) who is my partner in Search & Rescue and SunFlower's partner in Hospital Therapy. LOL - We're a regular UN here ... Japan, America, England, Ireland, Germany .....!

 

[red stripe]

Calgon, you have led an interesting life and perhaps moved around a lot..?
:lol

I moved frequently, and have a small book that is sadly out of date. It has almost ALL the addresses I have lived in.
I need to add a few more to make it current. But right now before bringing it up to date, it had 47 addresses in it

I worked as a Respiratory Therapist But a move to Mississippi put me out of that business.
Mississippi is about the poorest State there is, I was offered a wage so small to work, I figured that it really did not pay. By the time you add the cost of running a car, those fast foods you tend to buy when working, clothes extra taxes.. I think I would have been working for a few bucks an hour :grin A BIG letdown from my regular salaries.

But I did love the work, and mostly worked ICU and CCU..

 

[nieciez]

Hello fellow Jewel Hunters. Denise and Bill from Locust Grove VA (75 miles SW of DC) This will be cruise # 21 for us if all goes well. As many of you know Bill is going through some major health issues that might curtail our cruising in the near future but Dr says book but get insurance, which we always do. We've been married 38 years (in 2 weeks) and met when Bill (aka Leatherneck) was a patient at the U. S. Naval Hospital in Philadelphia. I met him at a VFW party for ambulatory patients. He was having ear surgery. We started cruising in 1994 and have loved it ever since. He is a 20 year retired U. S. Marine...and now works as a Contracting Officer for the U. S. Department of State. I also work for the Department of State as an Contracting Officer's Representative on a large Telecommunications Contract that the Department has to operate our telephone and data network. We have three daughters, 2 granddaughters, 6 grandsons and one on the way (due in July). We have two dogs, Buck and Georgie and a cat Bella. We live in a lake community and enjoy our boat, fishing, gardening, reading and collecting movies. Looking forward to sailing with new and old friends.