We are in the 26th day of a 113 day cruise. Amazing, it seems like we haven't really started yet. Sister Moe has only 11 days before she jumps ship in Sydney, Australia and goes back to the land of PHSIC, [permanent high-speed internet connection].
I think, [fingers crossed], that I/we have the computer issue sorted. The ship had a clinic for people with connectivity problems with four techies attending to make adjustments to laptops and iPads that have had issues. Guess what, that is me. I went to the clinic on two successive days and I am hopeful that the fix will allow my mind to open and I can do a bit of writing instead of just getting the blog and some pictures off. In some cases that effort would take me a day or two, on and off, to get it away. Time will tell.
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Well, now… We have had a few highly successful port days and I must say they are less stressful than sea days! It seems at sea I have this 'self imposed obligation' to exercise, do Tai Chi, take in the upcoming port lectures and also as many educational lectures as possible. When do I get to relax? Anyhow I am working on that issue.
Before leaving on this trip my main concern was the house and its security. We have a house sitter and by all reports things are going well on that front, I hear from son Wally on the business front and all is well there. [At least that is what he says.] Daughter Jeanette and son-in-law Robert also give periodic reports on the family, farm studio, etc. And of course son Craig is in the final stages of home construction and I miss seeing it in person but getting reports from him after the event are very exciting to us.
What I am saying is that I am pleasantly surprised how relaxed I am on home issues and amazed that our house and home does not cross my mind too often except when my mind is at rest, which isn't too often I am sorry to say.
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Not much happened today other than reluctantly getting up and try to fit all that I want to do into a few daylight hours. I skipped two lectures and spent time with Moe organizing her pictures into Albums for every port and the sea days in between. Quite a challenge. The iPad is NOT a computer but we seem to expect it to be able to do all the neat things a computer does which can be a little frustrating at times.
Our next port is American Samoa, and is not part of French Polynesia. American money is the official currency there obviously and goods are much less expensive there, not that we buy much anyhow. We are hopeful that there may be a workable internet connection there so I can get some of my regular mail that I have only seen snippets of on my iPhone since leaving home.
There has been a German ship, Amadea, along our path since Peru some two weeks ago. We met and talked with a lady on that ship at the beach yesterday in Bora Bora. The ship is on a five month World Voyage, from Nice France in the Mediterranean leaving December 20 a will return after five months, going through the Suez.
I made an observation yesterday while lying on the beach: there was a couple, somewhere around 70 or 80 years old, holding hands, walking slowly through the ankle deep water, they were european, likely German, from the ship I mentioned, I could tell by their bathing suits. They were a bit overweight and slow moving. Assuming they were married for some 50 or 60 years, imagine what stories they could tell about being a child, courting, newly married, having children, their working careers and trials and tribulations. Yet there they were fortunate enough to be in Bora Bora paddling in the surf along with other lucky ones who have made it to that age, together. I venture to say this is part of their life that they did not contemplate in those earlier days when they had their head buried in life. At least I certainly did not.
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Self-inflicted-wounds…
Yesterday we got too much sun. We applied sunscreen before entering the water, [dumb], and only applied it once. We tried to keep under water or in the shade the whole day. Yet when I was getting ready for bed last night I could not believe who the heck was that red guy in the mirror. We did not notice it when showering so it came as a shock. In the Army, sunburn is a self-inflicted-wound, punishable as an offence, because it is preventable.
Once again, I am dumbfounded as to how four people with combined life-time experiences of over 300 years can continue to bumble through life and still do really dumb things. Jim showed us his burned belly this morning and I took a picture of Fellette and my self-inflicted-wounds.
Pictures: They are not naughty, but a bit personal. You can tell by the look on our faces that we were not happy about getting burned. The German ship we are cruising with: 74 years ago one us would have likely been sunk, strange world.
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