12 Nov 2014 This was a sea day. A day when the cruise ship just cruises without stopping at any port. Tomorrow will be a port day, and around noon we will anchor off of Cabo San Luca where we’ll spend the afternoon. The cruise lines advertise the port days, but for my money the sea days are often more enjoyable. Not that I’ve ever really regretted going ashore at a port, but I really like having absolutely nothing to do while being in a comfortable place, with privacy, room service, and many of the delights of the civilized world within easy reach. I took a stroll around the ship to get some photographs to give you an idea of the ship. It is very large (2.8 times around the ship on Deck 7 is a mile), and although it is going into dry dock soon for a 90 day make over, everything seems to be in good shape. Nothing is broken, nothing is ragged, nothing is scratched, or in need of fixing up. The contrast of life shipboard and life in the cities we visit is strong, starting with Los Angeles. Compared with a cruise ship almost everything on land is poorly designed, inefficient, ill maintained, and built with shoddy materials. I walked my mile just before taking the photos. Before that the day went like this: I was sleeping soundly when a discrete knock came at the door a bit after 9 a.m. It was room service with the breakfast we ordered last night by filling out an order form and hanging it on the outside door handle. We use room service as our alarm clock, asking them to come at the time we want to wake up. I had raisin bran with a banana and milk, my sweetie had hot tea, and a croissant. She worked sewing her blouse for tonight’s formal dinner, and I checked my emails and Facebook. Well, really, I checked Facebook and then my emails. I always go to Facebook first to see what people have to say. Then I stamped for a while, bringing my computerized database more up to date. I kind of wish that I had created a database for something of more immediate practical use than registration indicia on envelopes mailed in the Falkland Islands, because the data is sufficient now to give me new information about the older data when newer data comes in. I can make connections and see patterns that would not be possible for anyone without the database because the information comes in such scattered and inconsequential bits. It has taken some years to get this work to the point where really new research results are possible. Imagine now that the database had to do with molecular biology or climate patterns and was at the same point….. I owe it all to ebay and Apple. Ebay is such a wealth of information on so many subjects that I’m surprised not to see it cites in research papers. But then it was lunch time and we went to the Horizon buffet on the 14th deck and had lunch. I had sweet and sour pork, fried rice, broccoli and a fruit tart. The tables are open seating. I had gotten us the two seats next to the panoramic windows so we could see the ocean easily, and after a few minutes we were joined by a woman from Chicago who flies out to the coast with her husband to cruise in the winter. She doesn’t like her room because it is too close to the engines, and vibrates. Keeps her awake. Her husband sleeps like a log. The ship is completely booked but she is on the wait list because a few people who missed the sailing in LA will either join us in Cabo tomorrow, or their cabins will become available. We learned much more about her life, desires, and ideas in the 20 minutes of conversation we had. People on the ship enter into chatting quite easily. In the late afternoon, after setting up a new client meeting for my return , and dealing with hiring an expert for another case, both by email, I stamped a bit more while half listening to a movie about a guy who loves someone I thought was Kiera Knightly. Will Smith is God, Kiera dies, stuff happens. Then we dressed in our formal clothes and went to the Exclusive Lounge for cheap drinks and free munchies. It is so exclusive that about ½ of the passengers on the ship, and maybe more, qualify for it. This evening they were serving steak tartare. It wasn’t as good as the tartare we got in Norway, but it was good just the same. My sweetie and I sat on a couch, ordered drinks, and fell into conversation with the couple on a nearby couch. He was a lawyer from Northern California and there went the evening. We talked until everyone had left the exclusive lounge, then joined the couple for a dinner at one of the specialty restaurants – the Bayou Room. We talked till that place shut down, too. It cost $25 per person to eat there and I must say it was a mixed blessing. The waiter brought the wrong food, and way too much of it. But the food was really good. Especially the porter house steak, and the fries. I thought the Gator Ribs were ok but the bones were very small. No one is getting 10 foot gators and serving them up as ribs. These were smaller than chicken drumsticks. I was considering the fillet but in order to add ambience to the place they called it Carpetbagger something, and, of course, no southerner like me is going to eat anything celebrating carpetbaggers. I had no ideological problems with porter house, however. Were I in charge of the ship “hotel” I would discharge the wait staff at Bayou at the next port. I would keep the chef and kitchen workers, and the person who buys the food. Tomorrow, Cabo. Tonight, sleep. Good night friends, may you always find interesting company on the next couch. Sleep well.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 16:01:08 +0000
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