Rest of Vacation

On Tuesday, the ship pulled in to Nassau Bahamas around 9am. We ate our first breakfast from the buffet on the Lido Deck on the 9th floor. I had a ham and cheese omlet with got grits. We got ourselves ready to head out on the island. We stopped to the excursions desk to book a tour on what is called the glass bottom boat. This seemed exciting because I always wanted to see the different sea creachers under the clear tropical water. It was booked for 3pm. So we walked around the the down town area and looked in the shops and took in the sights. We observed the natives as the carried on their daily activities. Three o'clock came and it was time for the tour. It was very unorganized from the start. We waited an extra 15 minuts before the tour guide led us to the boat. Then we walked another 15 minutes to get to the boat. This was rediculous and tiring. It was about 40 of us looking like the Isrealites on their Exodus. We got on the boat and there was no glass bottom. There was a small basement area that you had to walk down steps to and we had to go in shifts. There were a few small window on the floor of this basement that we had to crowd around to see a couple of fish swim by. These windows were dirty and scratched up. This trip was scheduled for 1 and 1/2 hours. We only got 13 minutes to look through the window. This was very disappointing and once returned to the ship, we filed a complaint and got half of our money back. That was nice of the ships administration. We had another whole day left on this island and we said we decided to take work with someone from the local town for our tour of the whole island and it worked out well.

Concluding Day 1

This is a continuation of my vacation. I left off where we boarded the ship and had lunch. It was cold and a mist of rain was covering the area. After a few moments of watching the ship sail away from the harbor in Norfolk. I went and immediatly tried to lay down and take a nap. Five minutes later the the captian of the ship relays a message via the overhead speaker telling us to report to our stations to go through the emergency evacuation drill. We had to get up, go down to the fouth floor and wade through the crowd to find our station. This lasted about 45 minutes. They explained how to put on life jackets and line up to board the life boats to flee the ship. After we finished this, we went back to our state room and realised that it was almost time for dinner. Our dinner was scheduled at 6pm in the Loundon Dining Room on the fourth floor. There was no need to try to rest, so we got ready and just strolled around the ship until it watime for us to head to the dining room. We get to the table at around 6:10pm. My brother in law and sister in law were there reviewing the menu. We had three course meals. The food was ok, not top shelf. I forgot what appetizer buy I ordered flat ironed steak for main course. We talked about the activities for the upcoming days and reminised on other vacations. We were excited but not anxious. I really wanted to rest. After dinner, we went back to our state rooms. My wife went out to explore the ship with her sister and I slept the rest of the evening. That was day one.

Vacation Day 1

For the past week I have been on vacation at the Bahamas. My wife and I left from home out of Norfolk. The Debarkation center was the best experience I had yet when boarding a cruise ship. We were scheduled to board at 3:30pm on Sunday, October 18. Our religious services are from 12:30 to 2:15pm. So we left services at about 1:45pm to go home and change and wrap things up to leave. We had a friend drop us off at Nauticus. We got there around 3:10pm and we were on the ship before 4:00pm. The day was cold and wet. There was a misty rain, but the adrenalin kept us pumped up. They had televisions all around with the football games playing and it was carpeted with nice temperature. The lines moved fast and it was very organized and well arranged. The staff were very pleasant and cooperative and helpful. We boarded the Carnival Triumph. We could tell that we were in line with a lot of first time cruisers because of the way they were talking and that they were taking pictures of everything, even the officers scanning their bags. They had a sparkle in their eyes as if the long line they were in was all part of the fun. Me, this was my second cruise and while in line all I was thinking about was just get me on that thing so I can get something to eat and take a nap. Once we got on board, we found our cabin with no problem. The main lobby of the ship was beautiful. It seemed like I just left. We reached our cabin on the 10th floor, stateroom 1028. We unpacked, took a mini nap and watched the ship pull off for a few minutes and then ate. This was the first half of Sunday, day #1.

Pain

Today I found out something very distressing. My wife explained to me that she is carrying around alot of hurt because of me. We have been married for three years now and she has a very hard time with my family. She explained that my family does not show any interest in her. She told me that my mother has proven that she really does not want anything to do with her. Of course I did not see things that way and I think that upset my wife even more. There was a situation when my wife talked with my mother one on one to confront her on how she felt and she did not like the response she got. She said my mother dismissed it as a misunderstanding. My mother called me to discuss the situation, I told my mother that my wife can be a little difficult, I also explained to my mother my wife's concerns with how my mother treats her. My wife inquired about how the conversation went, and I explained what happened. She told me today that It made her seem like she is the only one with a problem. She said that she is deeply hurt and it did permenant damage to our marriage. I had no idea that I did that to her. I did not see my mother and my family as being that offensive to her. I thought I came from decent people. I love my wife dearly. Honestly I am sad that she lives like this. She says she thinks about it every other day. This deeply troubles me. She also said there is no way to fix it. I did not think that my wife was so unhappy. Honestly this scares me. I wanted to be the last person to give her problems. I wonder now if she thinks she made a mistake. I know I cannot expect her to live like this forever, I caused this in her life and I can't do anything about it.

Philly

I lived in Philadelphia with my grandmother for a year. It is big difference from Portsmouth Virginia. The City of "Philly" is very condensed. And I lived in the south west section that is the most condensed you can get. I liked it there, but it takes alot of getting use to. My grandmother lived in a row h0use that is connected to the whole block. The street are pretty much in a grid format. There are electric trolly cars that run on metal tracks that are embedded in the middle of the street. They are also connected to a wires overhead that network throughout the whole city. I mentioned earlier that they have blocks and blocks of row houses. These bocks of row houses normally has a storefrot on the corner unit. This usually serves as a deli, mini market, barber shop, ect. This makes it easy to walk and get anything you need from around the corner. This section of the city is unfortunately crime and drug enfested. Because of the condensed population, there are many murders weekly. The people there tend to be active after sundown. From sun up until five in the afternoon. The neighborhood looks like a ghost town. After six pm the city wakes up and is active and busy until about three of four in the morning. Summertime is nice, you see the children playing in the fire hydrants, something you will never see in Portsmouth. There are plenty trees but it seems they grow from the concrete. Sadly, most of the building are rundown and the pavements are cracked and full of pot holes. Litter is everywhere and It looks like no one cares they just live there. Ilike visiting, but I cannot do no more than a couple of days.

Gas Happy

On the news yesterday, there was a report about a man that led the police on a chase after steeling gas from a gas station in Dallas Texas. This story was pitiful. Here you have a young 22 year old man, who drives his F 150 to the gas station and decides to fill up his tank and leave with out paying. What was he thinking. I was at work when I saw it on the news. An hour later he was still driving. He almost hit a policeman, the shot one of his tires out, he still managed to drive for over 2 hours. My thing is, he stole gas and burned it up running from the cops. This needs to make that show, America's dumbest criminals. This man was clearly not thinking with his right mind. What was he thinking when he woke up that morning. "Every man should have a right to all the gas he wants, lets try it". Did he drive to the gas station on E and realized he for got his wallet and was simply going back home to get it and no one would believe his story? Has he done this time and time again and this time they set him up? Maybe he tried to prove a point on how ridiculous gas prices are and took it a step further than a gas out. You know when the whole country decides not to buy gas for a whole day (all they do is fill up the day before anyway). He wanted to make a deeper impact. "I will fill up my tank take off and drive until my tank and all the cops following me are empty". Who knows, but all this man said at the end is that he does not want to go back to jail. The police said "we won't take you to jail" but they were just gassing him up!

Favorite Sport

If I had to choose a favorite sport, I would choose Football. I really enjoy the game. I am not a statistic head that can tell you all the players of each team, their records over the years ect. In terms of playing the game myself, that is what I enjoy. Every since I was about nine years old, I enjoyed playing. I used to watch the game on TV and act out some of the plays during the commercials. I loved the position of running back and quarterback. If I were a professional football player, I would be a quarterback. I love to be the one with the ball and make decisions. I love the pressure and the leadership involved. I like to call the plays and bring out the best in the team. I never got a chance to play for school or and organized league, but I played many years in the neighborhoods with friends against other neighborhoods or against each other. I loved to run the ball also. That’s why I like the running back position. I love to juke and make people miss. The thrill of crossing the goal line for the touchdown. I also like being active in football because you are forced to stay in shape. You have to be winded and solid enough to take many falls. You are constantly changing speed and direction. Although I never played with a helmet and pads on, I have much experience playing the game of football by the professional rules, well, most of them. This is my favorite sport. Football

Whats up Doc?

Today was an ok day. I had an appointment with my dermatologist, Dr. Trehern. This was my second visit at this office. I am seeing her due to scalp issues. My appointment was at 10am today in downtown Norfolk, VA. This is what we call our inner city. There are orange cones and barrels everywhere. The streets are stripped to dirt due to the mass construction going on. Detours are posted on many roads so getting around is a challenge. Parking was the pits. I had to park about four blocks away. I arrived in the office at 9:55 and the waiting room was packed. I sat in the waiting room listening to my IPod and watching a family devote all their attention to a little girl of about 12-15 months old. The child did not know or care where she was. She only wanted to be catered to and given attention. Must be nice! I had to wait for 45 minutes before I was called in. was about seventh in line to be seen. I had to get injections in my scalp "OUCH". The doctor and her assistants were very professional and I was impressed. The office is ran by all women. They did a good job of making me feel comfortable. I noticed the chemistry of the staff. They seem to get along, but I noticed clashes. The Physician's Assistant seemed meek, it was obvious that she wanted me to recognize her position. The LPN made it clear that she was irritated by everything the PA said and did. Everyone stood up stiff as a telephone pole when the doctor walked in. The receptionist that checked me out made it apparent that she would not pass on the opportunity to get out of there on the next train smoking. That was just my morning before 11:30am.

A Dog???

I am staring my puppy Sheba in the face. It all started seven months ago when my wife called me at work and said my father said he has something brown and fuzzy for her. A puppy had been wandering around in his yard and it did not have a home. We agreed to take this puppy in and give it a try. This animal required so much attention. We both are workers that are not home a lot during the daytime. Our lives immediately changed. Anything we planned had to depend on making sure Sheba is taken care of. We started buying dog food, dog toys, doggie bed, and visits to the vet. We did not know that taking care of a dog is this involved. We found that Sheba is a Shepherd/Retriever mix. It is very interesting raising Sheba, examining her motor and cognitive skills develop. I am not known as an animal lover, but Sheba is kind of softening me up. They really think they are human. They crave affection and when they do not get their way, they rebel. They read emotions and body language to determine your mood and react accordingly. I think this is fascinating. Now that she is seven months old now .We have taken her to get shots, illness prevention pills. She had surgery and came home with antibiotics and pain medicine. The doctor called our house to check on the dog and addressed her by her first name followed by our last name. We also had to register her with the city and she will have mail in her name coming to the house for her registration renewal. Yes this dog has changed us completely.