8/01/07

I have been down for a couple days so I had a few errands to run. Simple stuff, bank and my beginning of the month pedicure. I was ready to go out by noon. On opening the door I found a overdue notice for the water bill attached to the doorknob. Now, I was use the work sting to describe what they have going except that it is my own attention to detail that keeps allowing them to hit me with fees. Still if there was any possible competition they'd never get away with what they are pulling, but as a governmental enforced monopoly - they can.

Here's how it works. They are the ONLY bill I have that can't be automated. While they insist they are working on it (three years and counting for technology I offer my own customers) you can not pay via credit card - on a manual or automatic basis) or automatically from bank account. Every other business I deal with can do one if not both of these functions. Then they send you a bill. If they send you a second bill before the first is paid (you are now 15 days late on the payment) you get fined $15 and you get the yellow hanger on the door. 6 DAYS after that you get a forty fine (now you are 21 days late.) At 30 days your water is disconnected and that's $30 more to get it turned back on. No non-governmental business could get away with this.

Amazingly, my water bill is usually around fifteen to twenty dollars (possibly kept low by all the fees and fines), so my answer is to pay two hundred dollars when I go in and not have to worry about it for 10 months or so. Still each time they snare me, it makes me upset.

Anyway, that's the long version of why I headed out immediately over to the Water Department, checkbook in hand. There has never been any line before, but this time there was three people ahead of me. Not one of them spoke English and everyone had to confer on their cell phones with a third party to get whatever they were trying to get done done. By the time I was waited on the fight was tired out of me, and I just paid without comment (I didn't even sarcastically ask if they had automated payment yet) and headed on for my other errands.

Unfortunately this set the pace for the rest of my day out. The line at the bank was almost out the day and moving slowly. The guy in front of me was talking to another customer about Rupert Murdock's take over of the Dow Jones, and more importantly the Wall Street Journal, which he seemed to have confused with the New York Times. Already trying not be in a bad mood I strove to ignore the conversation, but then he turned to me with an "Am I not right?"

So I asked "Was he worried about them shifting away from the liberal press?"

"Liberal press?" he snorted. "The press is a conservative conspiracy, all owned by rich corporate owners" he recited the litany.

"So you are worried that nothing will change?" I asked.

He turned red, started a sentence, restarted it, turned back to the other guy, who was smiling at me, and then muttered something I didn't quite catch and found fascination with a spot on the floor. My mood brightened soon. I love it when they try to have it both ways when overlooking reality.

Just before 2:30 I arrive at the Spa. The four regular waiting chairs are full and I am directed to a spa chair. Over an hour passes before they ever but water in it. But I am reading without much comprehension from Gödel, Bach and Escher and watching CNN's take on the Murdock takeover. I'm in no hurry, it's quiet. I do feel better when they eventually add water but it is still some time until they get to me. I get home around 4:30, just enough time for Dan to go to the Post Office.

Bethra has written a long email. I'm having trouble comprehending with words. It takes a lot of concentration to read it and I don't attempt responding.

I go to bed early - tomorrow is going to be a long day.

 
8/02/07

Note: It's the 4th. I'm having trouble with spatial relations today which is making it too much of an annoyance to walk around. Thus I can be stuck in front of the TV or the computer. For now its the computer and I have caught up on my correspondence and am now working on the last few days events. My mind is slightly too disjointed to play under the hood today, so I'll just rant on here for a while.

Another email from Tracy, she is safely back in Canada. Barring flight problems (newspaper article: Northwest Airlines cancels over 12% flights in June and July. One leg of her trip is on Northwest) she will be here on Monday. I'm a bit shocked at how quickly the six weeks passed. I would have expected it to drag but it practically vaporized. This makes me a little uneasy as that means the time she will be here could pass just as quickly. I'm determined to cram in as much adventure and experience as this pathetic brain will allow.

Marilyn is coming to clean the house today in preparation for Tracy's visit. I have found it always works out better to not be underfoot when people are cleaning, so Dan and I are having a movie day. This is slightly bad timing as I was out yesterday, and have Massage Therapy and PT tomorrow so I will be out a lot tomorrow. Luckily it is quite overcast but there will be hell to pay for this somewhere down the road.

There is a website for people who want to pay once and view many. It's called Movie Madness, and it is a real time saver. I use to have to do this stuff by hand. There are three movies that I want to see: 1408, I Know Who Killed Me and Die Hard 4.

I plug in my zipcode and select the nearest decent theater. No good, can't get that combination of movies without hours of wait in between. Seminole Mall Theater doesn't have 1408. A check of Oviedo pulls it off: start at 11:45 out by 6pm and only one wait of 45 minutes. It is however a 40 minute drive.

We leave at 10am, leaving the house unlocked since Marilyn is running a little late and I seem to remember that Shaun's key is still with Bill. Dropping the days mailings at the post office on the way by, Dan and I go to Bob Evans for breakfast. This place can often be too loud, but at this time it is bearable. Sausage Gravy and Biscuits; hell on the blood sugar, easy on the soul.

On the road slightly ahead of schedule the rain has picked up as we get on the highway. Light traffic and a surprisingly accurate memory of how to get there gets us to the theater with time to kill. We wander the mall aimlessly. Oviedo mall is one of the most boring malls around; virtually no stores of any interest and after walking it once and stopping in no stores we retreat to the theatre. There is no one in line when we purchase two tickets for 1408.

I'm torn as to whether I liked this movie. John Cusack is always a treat, and Samuel Jackson is his usual bad self, but the movie itself is the type of horror/suspense movie that I do not like. A good horror movie should have rules. This one has none; anything could happen at any moment. The ending was open to deeply entrenched opinion possibilities as to whether or not Cusack is still in the room (ala Total Recall but with 3 possibilities.)  I guess the fact that it is still this fresh in my mind puts it slightly in the good category.

During movie, an employee we came to think of as the "Clip board Nazi" entered the room three times. As we were two of only four people in the theater and there was a very real possibly that we would be the only people in "I Know Who Killed Me" I decided it was a bad idea to be the only two people in a theatre for which no tickets were sold, so with 45 minutes to kill we left and went down the escalator to the food court. After some hesitation we decided by default on Subway. This turned out to be a surprisingly good decision. One not so hastily eaten meat stuffed sub later, I purchased tickets for "I Know Who Killed Me".

I went in with very low expectations, but Lindsay Lohan playing a drunken teenager stripper whore, gave the whole affair a Paris Hilton - morbid curiosity - appeal that I just could resist experiencing. For having zero expectations, it was slightly better than I anticipated. I found myself rather distracted trying to deduce when this was made. Given her recent troubles with the law and media this seems like a disastrous career choice.  But I find it much more likely that it was made just after "Herbie" and she was trying to take on an adult role to break out of the Disney Girl stereotype not realizing that real life would more than accomplish that for her. It bares mentioning that the special effects on the missing limbs was really well done. It was also a rather brave performance in that camera, far from covering defects, seemed to delight in magnifying each imperfection. That challenges my previous impressions of her shallowness.

After the credits started, despite the continual presence of the Clipboard Nazi we walked across the hall into Live Free and Die Hard. This was Die Hard meets James Bond; Bruce Willis as comic book superhero - check your disbelief at the door - over the top action. But it was very high energy and did not take itself too seriously. It was easily the best of the 3 and a fun, if silly, ride. Clipboard Nazi came in four times venturing further into the room than usual. We laughed imagining that he knew the count was off but had no idea what to do about it or who to suspect. The little pleasures in life are the best :)

We came home to a clean house - although a note said she would be back to finish tomorrow. My bathroom was so clean and white it was like something out of 2001.

My arms were killing me when I went to bed so I put some Pain Buster on it. Then I couldn't recall if I took my Xanax or not. I clearly remembered thinking about it, and taking a swig from the bottle - but was there a pill involved? If not I'd never get to sleep and start worrying about future. If I took an extra I'd sleep that much better but be groggy tomorrow (plus the addiction issues.) As I had to get up and out the next day I decided risking taking 2 was better than potentially not taking any.

 
8/03/07

 
8/04/07

Three days of travel, sun, audio and visual stimulation have taken their toll. However it bodes good for the cruise that the toll was not as heavy as I had expected.

My day got started by getting out of bed and spinning to the carpet. It took three attempts to get up to me to get the hang of it. My spatial markers are all screwed up. Its not that things aren't quite where they should be (although they aren't) nor is that they are moving (but they kind of are) its more like each part of me is moving like a gyroscope - counterintuitive to the motion initiated.

Bob Dutton has just called saying he is three minutes away so I will wrap this up now and get back to it - hopefully - this evening.

Bob's visit was very nice. Much more trips down memory lane than last time but also some more about the future. Unfortunately very little of it stuck, which is more the norm for days like these.

Okay, back to my story. Usually on days that I need my cane my pride won't let me leave the house, but this morning I was determined to follow Bethra's example and just go to breakfast cane and all (I have done that once or twice before).

It occurs to me I've told all this in an email to Bethra that I answered earlier when I plunked down at this keyboard initially. As I am beginning to seriously fatigue I am going to cut and paste clips from that message to complete today's entry.

I have found it odd that I can usually read a computer screen even on days when paper is beyond me. Of course when full on visual aphasia is upon me, all reading is out of the question. Much more common for me and subtle is my finger not properly translating what my brain is instructing it to type. As bad as that already is, without the spell checkers, grammar checkers, heuristic mistake checker and occasional proof reading my blogs and emails would have much more of a “Flowers for Algernon” quality about it.

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I have my “poor poor me” days, I just don’t tend to feel much like communicating on those days. So the happy days and the pissed off days are almost exclusively what come through. And the Xanax helps more than even I know. When I forget to take it at night, all these fears and worries descend on me like a hammer. But for the most part I figure its inevitable so why waste the little time left making worse by moaning about the hand I’ve been dealt (besides I already did that for three years – six if you count the first go round 25 years ago when my first wife was killed.) Live and learn. In a way I think it is easier knowing that the time is short. I can think of so many worse scenarios.
 

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I’ve been out of the house for extended periods for the last three days. The first two were overcast so it wasn’t that bad, but yesterday kicked the stuffing out of me.

My spatial orientation is all messed today. Once I’m oriented I’m okay (which is good because otherwise it would take forever to type) but nothing is quite where I think it is, and if I’m not touching something I become very disoriented and apprehensive.

This makes it an excellent computer day except for the random continuity destroying lightning bolt ringing through my brain just behind the left eye.

Thinking of you, I forced myself to go out for you customary Saturday breakfast – I usually don’t go out when I need my cane.

I was quiet, it was uncomfortable but I felt proud for having made the effort.

It turns out Bethra's real name is Diane.

Dan cooked the left over steak piece I had left lying around all week for dinner and it turned out to be really good. But having skipped lunch (because I got sidetracked with all the typing here and Bob's visit) I'm still very hungry. Hungry and tired - I wonder which one will win.

I told you to worry about the raccoons.

Opposable thumbs and the ability to use tools.

Soon they won't be satisfied with our trash. :)

 
8/05/07

I had trouble falling asleep. Then not long after I finally drifted off I must have thrown up a bit in my mouth. Acid burning my throat woke me up confused as to what had happened. There was nothing cold and edible in the house. No liquid other than water (it occurs to be now that there probably was soymilk on the bottom shelf but I didn't see or think of it) available. I drank water and tried to get Tums to dissolve in my throat rather than move on down to my stomach. I went back to bed but I'd couch and the burning would start again.

I gave up and watched TV, drinking watch and sucking Tums for a while. So in total I think I got less than an hours sleep.

My body never reacts well to that, but I also felt like I was coming down with something (that always sounds funny to me considering I have two permanent illnesses) as my sinuses were full and I felt kind of fluish.

I spent the whole day on the couch, except for a few short trips to the computer, watching TV that you could drift in and out consciousness on without feeling you'd missed anything. Getting a flu just as Tracy arrives, perfect.

I took vitamins. I took Theraflu. I took 4mg Xanax at bedtime.

 
8/06/07

Its good to know that a double dose of Xanax can still knock me on my ass. I didn't go straight out, but pretty quickly and sleep straight through for 11 hours. I feel much better. Whether I nipped the illness in the bud or it was just a symptom of lack of sleep, I will never know.

It is silly because Tracy will see me in all my infirmity soon enough, but I want her first opening impression this go round to be one of virility (or what passes for that on me). Silly pride - you'd have thought I'd have chucked that somewhere along the way.

Anyway, I'm off to clean the sheets and prepare myself. You probably won't hear a lot from me over the next two months. I'll try to post here and there, but if I don't - don't be alarmed - that means I'm having too much fun to relegate much time to the computer.

Sorry it is taking longer to post than I thought. The job is large, there are tons (literally over a thousand) of pictures to sort through. And I have another cruise coming on September 8th, so I am being increasingly intimidated by this job of remembering and communicating my time since Tracy arrived. For now you will have to settle with my notes. I will flush this out more fully and add pictures as the mood moves me.

*****

8/18

Easy to get on cruise

Chaos/ smaller than expected room-balcony

Lifeboat drill

8/19

Not up to leaving ship

Tracy goes to Bahamas, I watch TV

Hot Tub

Captains Dinner (picture) Rock Lobster

Lost Bathing Suit

8/20

Lost Pill case

Casino

8/21

St. Thomas - Charlotte Amalie

(extra Xanax)

Tracy, being Canadian, had to go through Non-US Customs which they would not let me go through. So we made plans to meet at the lobby couches after she cleared and then disembark. As we had docked late and our tour was scheduled for as soon as we docked and was a bit antsy as time dragged on. On my second trip to the doorway of the Amber room, which is where Tracy was, I was informed I had to go through US Customs on deck 5. This had not been mentioned in any of the paperwork (and oddly only applied to St. Thomas - the only US country we sailed to) and now as I got in a fast moving but unending line I worried about how we would meet up, especially considering she had the tickets and I couldn't remember the name of the tour we had signed up for, Forever later I handed my passport and FunPass to a customs agent who glanced at it for half a second and ran both through a barcode reader.

I went down by the couches, no Tracy. At the Amber room I was informed most of the Canadians had been processed. Should I go to the room, stay at the couches or disembark? I decided to go to the Pursers Desk to find out how to disembark - I hadn't been off the ship yet and had been counting on Tracy to show me the way. And there she was trying to communicate with a Purser that was having trouble understanding her to have me paged.

Down to Deck 0, and presenting our documents two more times and we were off the ship and into hot hot sun. I began to wonder if even if my sunscreen was properly prepared would it be strong enough for this direct sun, especially as I was wiping off sweat every few seconds. On the dock there were people with tour signs everywhere. Ours was one of two that started with Blackbeard and at first we got in the wrong line, but then saw our - much shorter - line to our right and soon were in a small open air (in fact open sided on the left) bus. Tracy took the far inside of the first row and I of course next to her. Our bus driver was also a lieutenant police officer and at first I thought that was why he ran so many red lights, but later I noticed that no one seemed to give any notice to the streetlights at all.

We drove up some insanely steep and narrow two way roads as we steadily climbed up the mountain from the dock. Our guide was spouting various facts but none of it stuck. It seemed like we could see our ship from almost everywhere we went, which was actually rather reassuring. We stopped at a little tourist trap shop for 15 minutes, the deck of which looked out over the bay from a great height and offered some great photo opportunities. I bought a couple of post cards.

Twenty minutes of twists and turns, and one straight up driveway later we arrived at Blackbeard's Castle - where we found our "tour" consisted of a one page hand-drawn map and notice that we could cabs back to the ship anywhere that should cost $4 each.

The castle itself was a simple tower with a small metal staircase inside. I only went up a few steps before thinking better off it and waited in the shade of the bottom for Tracy to ascend and return. As the gift shop was air conditioned we spent a good deal of time there. As my black cap was already completely soaked through totally, I decided a lighter colored cap would be both practical and a souvenir.

We then wandered around the pools and patios taking pictures with the pirate statues and some of the bay (again our ship was in view). We walked through what was described as a Botanical Garden but could have been almost any walkway on the Vineyard, then through a variety of preserved houses. I was reminded of how quaint this type of thing has seemed in Nova Scotia, but those seemed downright professional compared to these, which had no personnel to ask questions of (not that Tracy or I are likely to ask anything) and precious few explanation plaques, aside from "keep off the grass" and "don't touch".

Each destination took us further down the mountain.

The next air conditioned stop was the Rum Factory which was located near the top of the '99 steps". A simple gift shop, but cool and offering free rum samples - what more could you ask for? Soon I was cooler and more relaxed, and in possession of a Blackbeard tee shirt. We left the gift shop from a different door then we had come in which took us off both the 99 steps and the edge of our map. 

We appeared to be in the heart of the commercial district, and after crossing a few streets with cars zipping every which way, we came to a small park where I rested for a few minutes. After that which each step someone would ask us if we wanted a taxi back to the ship. There was a small tent city of shopping merchants but it offered no shade and I soon began to feel too overheated. We accepted a taxi offer and I was sort of surprised to discover that we had walked down to ocean level - it hadn't seemed that far. 10 minutes or so of bumper to bumper traffic and total disregard of traffic signs we arrived back at the ship. We still had a three hours or so of dock time left and Tracy still had plenty of vim, so I retired to the ship and she went off for some shopping.

A shower later, the full effect of the sun was upon me and I sat in front of the fan and read for a few hours and then went over to the deli and got a Ruben Sandwich. I sat by the port window and looked out at the island. There was a marvelous castle/building across the water very close by. It was quite captivating and for the first time I broke out my own camera. My stomach, which had been acting up the day before, seemed not mind the sandwich but I became very full and tired and returned to bed and tried to read some more.

When Tracy returned we went for a pre-dinner - dinner being at 8 and she having skipped lunch- at the food court but I just picked a little. Looking at the dinner menu there was nothing that interested either of us, except dessert, so she went down and got herself some key lime pie and me some cheese and crackers. We skipped the pretense of a movie tonight and soon were fast asleep.

8/22

Cleaning balconies.

Breakfast - 1 + 5 - drill

St. Maarten

Tracy leaves early, I sleep in.

Tour at 12:45. Double breakfast.

A/C Bus - Screaming child.

Shopping - swim suit - Caribbean shirt

Glass sub boat - sep from Tracy - screaming child.

Back to boat. Final gauntlet of sound. Over stressed. Tracy stays behind to shop.

8/23

Jivuto

8/28/07

Cruise #2 Summary