2010 - Day Thirty Two...

Welcome to February, 2010! So, it is theme month on the blog, and the theme this year is ‘Where’s the Tiara?’ Everyday this month, I am going to try and find someone who will allow me to take their photo with the tiara AND allow me to post said photo on the blog. It should be fun. Today’s victim volunteer is Shara, and she is really a good sport to be the first! This photo was taken prior to the beginning of the first MCE class today that was presented by Mark. Mark is a mortgage broker in Austin, and he gave a GREAT class on how to better understand credit and credit issues in our ever changing world. Very interesting and well received by the group.

This is a photo of my room before I assaulted it with all my stuff. I have lots of baggage on this trip, and as long as I am here, the room will not look this good again. It is a cozy yet comfortable room, but it would be really tight for two people. My friend Jana and her family are in a room as well, and I really need to know if their room is larger than this. I have a nice balcony, and it has finally started to warm up outside. Last night I was FREEZING, but it is better today. It is warm and humid right now, but this morning I had to start out with a fleece jacket. Later, I began to glisten, so I changed out of that and just wore a shirt.

Last night I had dinner with my ‘assigned’ table mates, and it was a lot of fun. I most likely could not have hand chosen better table mates. I was assigned to sit with; Shara and Mark, Helen (a REALTOR® from Dickinson), Jack and Jill (no, really), Carrie and Bob (who I had not met before), and Pam and Jim. We were all gathered up for the 8:15 seating, and there was a delay…whatever…but we finally got settled in and had a wonderful time talking amongst ourselves. So far (in my opinion) the food on the ship has been mediocre at best. This is the second time I have cruised on a large ship like this, but this one seems to be ‘nickel and diming’ us much more than the other company. Wine with dinner was a charge, room service (just coffee, which tasted like it was brewed with water from a shrimp boil) is a charge, EVERYTHING is a source of revenue generation. I am glad that I am figuring that out now.

Here is another thing I need to get over really quickly; THERE ARE LOTS OF SMOKERS ON THIS SHIP. Incredibly, I was taken by surprise by the level of second hand smoke on this ship. I am hoping it is because everyone was confined to the interiors because of the cold weather. I really wanted to go into the casino but could not really do it because of the smoke. We do pretty much have to walk through the casino to get to our dining room, and it is really, REALLY smoky. HOWEVER, I am certain I will be able to get in there and drop some cash before this cruise is over.

Mark and Shara and I went to check out the ‘classroom’ where we will be teaching on Monday and Tuesday. No signs of a screen, no indications of where we will connect our laptops; Mark is up first at 9 o’clock, and I will let him work out all the technical stuff, and then I will follow him.

I chose the sausage lover’s breakfast this morning, and so far I am still doing pretty well with the eating challenges. I did have this breakfast, and I did not have any lunch because I needed to get my afternoon class under control and all set up. I am sure I could miss a few more meals and not endanger myself. I will not eat until LATE tonight (dinner starts at 8:15), so I think I may go and get a snack before dinner. I will all work out, I am convinced of that.

Okay, I have now finished my first instruction class, and I will instruct one more class tomorrow morning, and then it is all casual and no commitments for me for the rest of the cruise. The class went well, and I think the objectives were achieved. The objective with each class is to get the required information across to the learners, and to make it interesting enough for the learners to stay awake. Mission accomplished.

This is a photo of the smoke stack (do they still call them that) at the rear end of the ship. I think it looks pretty cool, so I thought I would share it with you.

That’s it!

Changes, Deeds, Actions, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!