Friday, June 2, 2017

June 2017 Crossing Day 3

Today began with a great breakfast of fresh fruit and yogurt! And a morning promising glorious sunshine but that didn't last long enough and the fog crept in again. We're traversing the Gulf Stream and this afternoon the air was so warm that no one on deck wore even a sweater! It is disconcerting to see cloud speckled sky and no water due to the wave-hugging fog.

Sheila is still investigating the missing woman. She has discovered that the cabin with the security tape belonged to the woman, not the cabin adjacent to her own. The search for facts continues.

I have concluded that line dancing will never be an accomplishment of mine, and I am satisfied with that realization. I have no sense of coordination and my feet do not respond to commands quickly.

I attended a lecture by a famous interior designer (Nick Haslam) unknown to me because I presumed I would see houses he designed for Ringo, Rod Stewart, and Charles Saatchi. Nope! He was intoxicated (I think), stumbling over words, unable to move the PowerPoint forward and slurring his sentences so badly, I left after 15 minutes. I had been chatting with the lady sitting next to me who knows Haslam and approved of my leaving as "it will only worsen as he tries to salvage this."  Plus!! he loaded a corrupted thumb drive and couldn't access more than half his pictures! I heard later from a fellow knitter that all he talked about were his family and the famous people they knew. What is wrong with Cunard lately? How did they tick off the cruise gods??
I listened to a RADA presentation on the history of Cunard and after hearing the list of Cunard ships torpedoed during WW1, I wondered about submarines during that era. This is an area of utter ignorance for me as I have never associated that time period with submarine warfare. I mean, weren't trucks just beginning to replace horses as cannon-pullers? 

In conversation with Dianne and Scott from Ontario, I learned that I needed to find Frenchies when we dock in Halifax as it is an "excellent thrift shop"!!

Ate lunch listening to the Royal Court Theater Orchestra play 40 minutes of Dixieland Jazz. Excellent for digestion, not so much for conversation!! My favorite was their Dixieland cover of Glenn Miller's The American Patrol















Knitting was great, though only a few showed up. I sat with Joan from England who has been working at MIT since the late 1960's, lives in Beacon Hill and rides her bicycle to work!! She's retired twice and STILL gets re-hired. She "rides herd" on 85 post-doc students, keeping their data organized and their research available until they graduate after which she maintains contact with them for her boss. 

Ruth from Switzerland who lives in Wisconsin learned to scuba in a Wisconsin quarry when she was 62!!! She knows Lauterbrunnen and we chatted about watching an Eiger ascent and the changing face of the mountain as weather blew across it. That memory is nearly 40 years old, yet it still gives me shivers!!

Pre-dinner cocktails at the Captain's Britannia cocktail party netted me a delightful couple Gordon and Patricia from Lincolnshire who are on their 43rd Cunard cruise! I just cannot imagine that. We're meeting at high tea tomorrow as we had such a delightful time. I was tickled Sheldon came over, unasked, bringing a Tanqueray and tonic; I may have become associated with that drink in the Commodore Club. 

At dinner Kelvin seated a new table mate, Rosemary, who is on her first cruise and is excited about being here having sailed previously on NCL, Viking, and P&O. She left early to dance. Sheila and I remained as we were entertained by Aleksander and Vladimir our waiters and Daniel, a former sommelier, who came over to visit from his present station. There is an ego boosting quality to having someone from a year ago recognize you and come over to continue the acquaintance.

I declined the show and headed for a long shower and bed! Hey, I wouldn't want to be predictable or in a rut, now would I?

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