February 6, 2019 – at Sea
I’m not sure what I expected to find in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Maybe some rougher water? It has been quite calm. The ship sways just enough to give you a bit of help on that last inch on the bench press. You just have to wait for it. Almost as good as the help a spotter would give.
There is so much food available that it would be very easy to pack on some extra pounds during a 4 month cruise. I have been sticking to Cheerios and blueberries for breakfast. Terri usually has oatmeal or an egg. The coffee is the one disappointment. Coffee service for 1600 means less than gourmet. There are few places to purchase a better cup but I decided to put up with the mud. I overheard someone on the elevator say that he has learned from past world cruises and he brings his own.
I have noticed that a persons’ waist size seems to correlate to the line they are in at lunch. There is a line at the salad station and one at the ice cream bar. People seem to have different waist sizes here.
I was knocked out in the first round of the table tennis tournament. Thought I had it but lost two points in a row. The early loss meant I was in time for team trivia. We all sound so smart when we discuss a question but rarely are we sure of an answer. Since I am the scribe I usually ask what percentage of confidence a team member has on the answer they have. Low or none is usually the response. We finished with a 6. Winning team had 11.
The internet was very slow today. Bad satellite connection possibly? Couldn’t do much online other than texting. Wall Street Journal would not download and I had to settle for the New York Times satellite edition printed by the ship. I want to scream when I read this. I did hold this paper in high regard at one time in my life. Probably in the 70s. The journal is nothing like it used to be but is still a bit better. The Detroit News and Free Press became trash after the joint operating agreement back in ’86? Remember Charlie Manos? Pete Waldmeier, Joe Falls? Now I am impressed when journalists can actually put a sentence together in these papers. Every article has a political slant to it along with the poor grammar and spelling mistakes.
We had dinner in the main dining room. A couple from Florida joined us. Barb and Jim were originally from Queens. I told Jim I was surprised because I detected no accent. He had no problem reverting to genuine queens vernacular as a demonstration. This was their third World Cruise. I would refer to them as “newbies”.
The entertainer for this evening was Tim Abel from England. Great pianist. He did some ragtime, boogie woogie, blues, classical, and jazz. His final number was happy birthday played in 10 different styles. It was hilarious. Great show!
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