MEMORIAL DAY 2022

Every few years I delve into the meaning of Memorial Day.  I did that last year.  Our Freedom was not free.  We are what we are today because of those who died protecting us.

Ever wonder what the difference is between Memorial Day and Veterans Day?  Read my posting of 2016.

What should you do on Memorial Day?  You already missed the PBS telecast of the Concert on the Mall.  But click on this for a You Tube recast.  This was a different kind of show, for it was lacking in stars, but more than made up for it with stories of patriotism.

In Hawaii, I sometimes went to the Shinnyo Lantern Floating ceremony at Ala Moana Beach  That has changed, and today will occur on their temple grounds.  However, you need reservations, and there are none anymore.  There will be a live broadcast from 6:30 to 7PM on KHON2.

I could again walk up to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific inside Punchbowl, but will not.

This the 60th anniversary of the official opening of the USS Arizona Memorial (left). There will be Taps Across America Tribute at the Battleship Missouri Memorial.  This Moment of Remembrance is an annual event for Americans, wherever they, at 3 PM local time on Memorial Day, to pause for a minute to remember those who have sacrificed their lives in military service to the country.  It does cost $35/person to board of ship, half price for 4-12.  Every 15 minutes from the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center at 1 Arizona Memorial Place, you can catch a free shuttle to get you to the Aviation Museum, where the historic Ford Island Control Tower (red and white tower above, and below) just opened.

Otherwise, can report on two events happening on Thursday this week, June 2:  

• The nearly century old Scripps National Spelling Bee, will not be on ESPN, but on Ion, Bounce, Laff and TrueReal.

• 
  Here is how to get the program on Ion.  In Honolulu:
• I looked it up for Spectrum for my zip code, and was led to Channel 27 and 1027, KPXOHD.
• Semifinals at 7PM on Wednesday, with Finals at 7PM on Thursday.

Also on June 2 will be first game of the 2022 NBA Finals, with the Golden State Warriors hosting the Boston Celtics.  On ABC or fubo TV at 9PM EDT.  The odds are Warriors -160, Celtics +140.  

• A minus means the team is favored, or plus is the underdog.
• Go to the right column of this blog to out what these numbers mean.
• This site says that if you bet $100 on the Warriors, you will get a total of $162.50 back.  
• Or the implied probability is that the Warriors have a 61.54% chance of winning.
• If you bet $100 on the Celtics, you win a total of $240.
• Or the implied probability is that the Celtics have a 41.67% change of winning.

Tom Cruise is back.  

• His sequel, Top Gun: Maverick. will probably earn $156 million this 4-day weekend in the USA, and $280 million worldwide, even though the movie is not yet playing in China and Russia.  

• 
  The original came out in 1986.  Rotten Tomatoes reviewers did not think much of this production, giving a 57% rating.  However, the audience said 83%.  That was 36 years ago, with Take My Breath Away by Berlin going on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
• TG2 was completed two years ago but this release was delayed because of the pandemic.  Rotten Tomatoes bestowed 96/99 ratings.  The song this time is Hold My Hand by Lady Gaga.

Hurricane Agnes is a Category 2 storm, and poised to strike Oaxaca, Mexico over the cities of Puerto Angel and La Crucecita.  While earlier today she was up to 110 MPH, there is a weakening trend.  One potential danger is that, after moving on to Tabasco, Agnes could enter the Gulf Mexico and threaten the Yucatan.  Being an A means this is the first hurricane of 2022 in the East Pacific.  Next will be Blas.  In the Atlantic, the first will be named Alex.

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SO HOW WAS OUR NORWEGIAN PRIDE OF AMERICA HAWAII INTER ISLAND CRUISE?

Our 7-day Norwegian Pride of American cruise through the Hawaiian Islands ended yesterday.  We had not traveled for 27 months, so the escape was adventurous, considering the state of this pandemic, and a bit stressful, because of COVID-19.  However, it was supremely enjoyable, especially when we tested negative on our return home to 15 Craigside.  For those considering a cruise in the near future, perhaps these thoughts can be useful, especially if you decide on the Pride of America.

• When all the tips and taxes are added, we paid nearly $600/person/day.  I thought this was rather high for the type of ship, services and accomplishments, especially as we took no tours.
• If we can later cut this price down to $400/person/day, including drinks, internet and tours, that would be something to consider.  When I went as a single on a previous cruise a few years ago I paid only $350/day.  This was with a wine package, internet and a tour on each island.
• I gained four pounds, and another I know must have grown at least that much, for she ate and drank twice as much as I did.  This is not quite an exaggeration.
• 
  The timing was terrible to take a chance on something like a cruise, where we could have been stuck on a ship with a thousand other passengers, plus staff.  The thought of another Diamond Princess incident weighed heavily.

• Nothing was officially said, but we were told by staff that there was a prevailing red alert, meaning that there a relatively high number of COVID-19 cases.  
• However, checking the CDC cruise ship page, I see an orange color for the Pride of America, which means that positive cases have been tested, and the CDC will be investigating.  Of course, almost all cruise ships these days carry that color.  
• Not that this is really all that important, but Hawaii is effectively on red alert, and 15 Craigside, as of today, has 7 residents and 8 staff on active-COVID status.  A startling 34 employees have recovered from being infected, and the latest indication is that we can't anymore prevent this virus, so we are in a mitigation mode, meaning that some staffers who are currently testing positive are working if they are asymptomatic.  As scary as that sounds, what else can they do if there is a severe staffing shortage, and, since we're all double-boosted, the odds are high that no one will die.  I know of no resident or staff who has passed away.  The long haul potential, though, is a serious concern.
• I should mention that the day we left for the cruise, a close neighbor was quarantined in his room, and so were 15 other rooms in the building.  I saw no quarantined rooms on the ship.
• 
  How badly is Hawaii faring?  To quote from my May 26 posting:

• Hawaii, though, is getting worse and worse, as we are up to more than a 1000 new cases/day, and on the past seven-day average had 911 new cases/million/day.  Frighteningly enough, there is speculation that the new cases/day will continue to rise and peak at 4000 new cases some time in June.  If this turns out to be true, Hawaii would then be at 3644/million population, right up there with where North Korea and Taiwan are today,

• 
  The Pride of America has a capacity of 2600 passengers.  Only a little over 1000 were on board, plus staff.  The reason why it was so low was because Norwegian cannot find enough qualified/certified workers.
• Their French restaurant, Jefferson's Bistro, was excellent.  We even went back a second time to have their escargots and endive salad.

• 
  More than half of the restaurants never even opened.
• Because the drinks were unlimited, we overdid this.  Mind you, these were not exactly free, for we had to pay a 20% tip plus state tax.  In other words, for a $15 scotch, we were docked around $4.  Any beverage over $15 meant that you also paid the difference over $15, plus additional tax and tip.  The wines were good, and we particularly liked the Conundrum by Caymus.  Each glass cost $10, while the bottle was priced at $39.  You can find this in Honolulu for around $20.

• 
  While I particularly enjoyed the departures and arrivals, I spent almost the entire trip in my room, so as to avoid others.  Never went to the exercise facility for the same reason.  No Netflix.  No major league baseball.  No UH Rainbow sports games.  The channels were limited pretty much to MSNBC, films (for which there is no printed schedule) and ESPN, which mostly showed boring stuff.  We did go out for meals a few times, but mostly ate in our room.  I slept a lot.

As my camera could not link to my computer, I only used my iPhone shots for my daily blog.  However, I kept taking photos on my Sony, and ended up with 120 of them.  Here they are chronologically, beginning in Honolulu and ending at 15 Craigside.  

 

You say, too much beef and alcohol?  Yup.  Got back safely to 15 Craigside, though, where, after testing negative, we shopped and had chicken katsu plus ahi poke for lunch, while watching sumo.

Why did we take a chance on a cruise?  We are running out of time and...

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