Another glorious day

February 23, 2010 still on the high seas
The seas have been pretty high with good winds but the ship stays relatively stable. Of course, you’ll be walking along a hallway and suddenly be slammed into the side but that’s not the norm.
Laundromat update
Someone said they were in the Laundromat the other day and there were only two washers in there and one was not working. Apparently they were in there when the repair man came to check and as they told the story, the repairman checked the number of the washer against his repair order. The washer number he had was operating. The one next to it, which of course had a different number, was not working but he left nonetheless. Now who knows if this is true but it was an interesting tale.
So although we’re very familiar with this ship and especially the laundrymat from previous voyages, I went to check it out personally. As always, it has 4 washers, 4 dryers, 2 ironing boards with irons and one plastic chair inside.
One of our new table mates said she had gone down there one day and it was like “World War III”. AS the story goes, the Irish priest who was on the first leg of the journey (and who is from a very small village in Ireland and one has the impression has led a rather sheltered life; this was his first cruise) had put his washing in and left the laundrymat. So the women were upset because he wasn’t there to remove his belongings. I’m sure he never made that mistake again. In fact, I can’t imagine why anyone would leave their laundry washing or drying and then walk out but there you have it.
This ship is the one used to film “The Love Boat.”Does anyone recall any episodes that involved problems in the Laundromat?
Dinner Sunday night and Monday night
We met our new table mates, some of them anyway. Barbara and John I believe we told you about already. Nancy and Bob arrived last night; they are from Texas though not natives. Monday night Peg and Bob showed up. They are from Colorado and were both in the computer field; This Bob used to teach at the University of Wisconsin but had a stroke and is now unable to talk. It is so sad to see because he is clearly a very bright fellow. So we had a full table Monday night and had a ball. This is a jolly group. Nancy and Bob are on for the full cruise; the others get off at Sydney.
Entertainment Sunday night
This was a young man who did a repertoire of Nat King Cole songs and his imitations are very credible. Clearly he enjoyed Cole’s music and this is an homage to him. He is tall, black and wore a dinner jacket such as you’ve all seen on Cole. The singer’s next show will feature soul and jazz that he likes in his own style.
Monday
We woke up before 8 and I heard Ed’s tap tapping again; he hasn’t done that until now on this trip. I guess Amy had told him about it. We got ready and wound up at the lecture on WWII. The photos are interesting but this is a hobby for him and the content isn’t as thorough as one would like. If we hadn’t had the benefit of the lectures 2 yrs ago, we wouldn’t have a clue as to why things happened the way they did. And no sense of the Japanese frame of mind. Ed and I are also disappointed at the “them and us” orientation of the presentation; the ones 2 yrs ago were much more balanced and professional. I was also annoyed because I went up to suggest a book about Bataan that I thought he would find interesting and I waited patiently for my turn and others were just butting ahead. This guy made no effort to stop this stuff and so I left when I got tired of that tacky behavior. The people who butted ahead should have been more sensitive but the speaker also had some responsibility in this. I know it’s hard but those of us who have been in this position, I think learn to try to be sure that those who were there first, get priority in asking questions or sharing information. And the analysis of his presentations predates this experience; Ed and I discussed this at length earlier.
Trivia
We pulled in 2 ladies this morning and if we had chosen other answers for several questions, we would have won since more than one of us had written down the right answers. In one instance, our scribe hadn’t written down the answer accurately even though it was written in the original form correctly. So we lost. Se la vie. It’s just a game.
BUT this afternoon, only 3 of our core group were there and we pulled in 3 others who were handy. They really didn’t contribute much but we won nonetheless. It was the luck of the draw of the questions and I think a little more focus on the part of our scribe. We were 4 women and 2 men; I wonder if that played a role? So we now have a trove of 20 tokens to redeem later for “prizes” since Ed and I are pooling our “winnings.”
Lunch
Just Ed and I for a change. I’m happy with this but Ed clearly prefers a large audience at the table. Since meeting new folks take a lot of emotional energy on my part, it was a nice treat to just enjoy the meal without making conversation with new folks. I don’t want to emphasize this part too much, but it is a clear difference in how Ed and I approach new experiences. I can do it, but it takes a lot of energy for me. Whereas, for Ed, he thrives on such opportunities.
Our Sun
The astronomer did another excellent job of discussing the cosmos, today our sun. While she’s very scientific, she’s also accessible for everyone whether they know her field or not. While I may never use any of the knowledge she’s given us, I still enjoy the explanations of how they determine certain things.
Star party: they’re going to try to arrange this but the weather is unpredictable and so it’s going to be a last minute decision with an announcement shortly beforehand. The wind up top today was way too strong for folks to be up there despite how gorgeous everything is.
FOX news
Rarely or almost never can we get CNN now but Rupert Murdock is ever predictable: Fox news comes in loud and clear. On some programs it is possible to squeeze out the background info in such a way that you feel satisfied that you’ve been able to tease our the real story rather than a digested version that hardly resembles the original data.
Monday night’s entertainment
It started off with JJ singing a song. He has a lovely voice and was a lead singer for many years. He got a standing ovation from everyone: men and women.
This was a magician (you all know how I feel about these guys) comedian. He’s British and absolutely hilarious. The magic is an excuse for his dry wit. He works with the audience largely and this isn’t easy. In some instances, I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes.
Bingo: side observation.
We’ve been talking about the zeal and focus of the bingo players because today was a jackpot bingo where someone had to win. Of course, many folks only show up for the big jackpots, including, occasionally, Ed and I (but not this time). One woman told that a lady leaving the ship in LA bequeathed her daubers to this lady still on the ship. Another lady told me that in the real world, one can buy a small machine and it will keep track of the numbers. You don’t even have to use a dauber or push the holes thorugh. This lady was from Las Vegas so we were talking about how silly it all is; why bother?
International Date Line
We are all anticipating this event as we will lose a day. So while we are now behind you guys, soon we will be ahead of all of you. We’ll lose a day I think 2/24. So there’s a ceremony usually when you go across the equator and when you cross the international date line. The ship may decide to do them together. The international date line isn’t straight down; there are areas where it’s worse than a dog’s hind leg. The ship can decide when to observe the latter but the equator crossing is more definite.
Reading we brought
I brought some of the magazines that had collected in the few weeks we were gone so we’re slowly plowing through them. But Ed also bought calendars on sale and so I’m currently racing through Click and Clack the tappet brothers. Those guys are nuts and their calendar pages are a riot. I have some nurse calendar ones as well and they also have quizzes on the reverse.
Oh yeah: they had a meeting of medical professionals today. A lady asked me if I went. Told her no, you wouldn’t find me there. She said there were 3 MDs there (I don’t know if that’s all or not).
Remember
We get an extra hour tonite but we lose Wednesday when we go over the international date line so tomorrow is Tuesday and the next day for us is Thursday.
Tuesday 2/23/10
We woke before 7 and finally opened the drapes to a gunmetal gray sky and blue steel ocean with good swells and some white caps. We watched a little TV; no satellite of any kind EVEN Fox news wasn’t available. We are out in the middle of no man’s land truly. Ed eventually made his way to the gym and I caught up on some reading while trying to decide if I had a severe sensitivity reaction to something on the ship or a real cold. Since I had been on a good pulse of Prednisone, which depresses your immune system, and since I have two genuine pimples, there’s evidence the immune system is still depressed. So I eventually unearthed the pseudophed and took some to help stop the dripping. It seemed to help a little and I made my way to the Cabaret Lounge to get a good seat for the Corporate Lawyer speaking this morning. I so want to asking him if ethical corporate lawyer is an oxymoron but of course I won’t. But perhaps I’ll silently cheer if someone else does.