Another foggy day at sea. It is strange to be Sunday, on ship there is no real sense of time. The days blend into one another seamlessly, if I didn't write every day, I would have no hard concept of what day it was, despite the information given in the daily ship's log and program.
Jim Jarvie spoke again. This time about how the intricacies of dealing with non-British law and drug enforcement agencies were frequently as labyrinthine and trap-laden as investigating the actual smugglers and dealers themselves. To no one's surprise, the USA has many, many counter-productive regulations and laws concerning prisoner exchange and capture, but we are cherubic compared to some Asian countries whose laws are draconian!
Knitting was thinly attended. My guess is because the sea was smooth and the weather warm enough for on-deck activities. Shuffleboard has never appealed to me and why any one would want to GOLF on the deck of a vessel going 23 knots across a heaving ocean is beyond me! Golf must be an addiction equivalent to heroin!
I did put my foot in my mouth this afternoon when I was talking with Dianne. She was telling about her church activities and wondered about mine. I answered I am not a church-goer, but am a God-believer. In the course of our discussion, I related the anecdote about me telling my then college hall-mate that religion was more personal and private than sex as that activity generally required another person and my faith was between God and me. Dianne was more accepting than I anticipated, but Father Dueffel (from dinner) was sitting behind us and gasped. Oh well. When I quipped at dinner that I hoped I hadn't driven him off, Everette quipped back, "No, he's in the bar drinking!"
Speaking of Everette, he spoke this afternoon on Queen Mary and affirmed my thoughts that he'll make an excellent Insights speaker. I hope he gets the gig!
Chris Ward's talk on surviving a disaster was informative but not illuminating for any one who lives in a tornado/hurricane area. I am still considering how to react to his edict that preparation for a terrorist attack is a modern-day reality. How could you possibly prepare for another London street bombing? I could not live my entire remaining life in fear of what might happen..where would I find delight and joy if I quaked about each noise I heard and each stranger I espied? Preparation is beneficial, paranoia is not.
The Captain asked for anyone with an up-to-date donor card and O-positive blood to come to ship's medical center. I was stunned to learn how many of the people around me had no idea of their blood type, including Sheila and Stephen!! I scolded each! That's the epitome of being unprepared for a disaster to me!!
Finished a novel by Alan Bradley titled Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust. It is the 6th in his series about the crime-solving pre-teen, Flavia De Luce. She reminds me of Eoin Colfer's creation Artemis Fowl as the poster children for inquisitive children who are so much more than the adults around them perceive. Of course, these are just some of the literary descendants of The Bobbsey twins!!! Anyway, I picked up the book for its title and checked it out because of page 1:
The ship's library has two others in the series, I plan to read both before entering United States waters again.
Planned to meet Donald and Stephen in Chart Room before attending the World Club gathering. I got there early and staked out a seating area for us. No one showed, so I walked out and BINGO there the guys were sitting at the bar, looking for me and Sheila, who showed up milliseconds after I did. I spent the gathering showing Stephen how to use his first-ever smartphone (why me? He has an iPhone.) He's like a kid with with a new bike, can't wait to see how fast it will go and how tightly it will turn!
Dinner was wonderful.
Rosemary shared pictures of Apache Warrior the Second, her award-winning pinto carriage horse! He's gorgeous!
Everette has been working at establishing and cementing relationships with Cunard PR folk regarding Queen Mary and Queen Mary 2 future events.
During dessert Phillip arrived to check on Rosemary as she had visited his table in her wanderings before she landed with us. I enjoyed listening to his Irish brogue but thought him a bit too full of himself when he whined about not being able to get a dinner at 9:45 in the evening without having to go up to Kings Court! he needs to get over himself, plus he disrupted the convivial tone of our dinner table. Grrr.
Went to the Big Band celebration after dinner. I wish I could dance. Sadly numerous attempts during my life has convinced me of the disconnect between my head and heart's willingness to move in syncopation and my feet's inability to comply.
Once again, we closed the Queen's Room party. This time I declined the Commodore Club and headed for 8077 and my sheets.
Captain Wells promises no fog tomorrow. here's hoping he is an accurate weather forecaster!
I forgot to include this NYC selfie of me on the empty Q train! Amazing to be in such a situation!
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