I'm at the coffee shop while Kat is off doing a read-through for some Day of the Dead
thing going on tomorrow. I couldn't help but feel like I had to put that guy to the right out of his misery. Who bakes unhappy ginger bread men? Perhaps he was the only one enlightened enough to realize his lot in life is to be dismembered and ingested. I had to eat him before he spread the news to the rest of the pile of ginger men and a yummy sugary riot ensued. Wow. I need to cut back on the caffeine.

We're back from the cruise, it was fun. It didn't give me a "Wow, we must do this again!" moment, but it was enjoyable. Kat pointed out that the rest of my discussion (below) doesn't sound like we enjoyed it. We did, but we aren't cruising converts.
I have to say if you have kids, cruises would be great. There were (so we were told) 700 staff on board for 2,100 people. I think that is a better ratio than at day care. We saw a lot of kids running rampant around the ship unsupervised and why not, where are they going to go? I guess they could have jumped off the ship, five stories down to the ocean. Of course if your child is the type to do that, they aren't safe anywhere.

Kat and I spent a lot of time lying in the shade and reading. Snoozing. Snoozing was really big. Staying in your cabin to relax wasn't really much of an option since it was a very small cabin. Some of the bigger boats we saw had cabins with balconies facing out, how cool would that be? They did make towel animals for you during the 'turn down service' they were adorable. I'll link in some pictures later.

They do try and keep you very busy, if you allow them:

• Didn't take part in the 'hairiest chest' competition.
• Did play some miniature golf. On a ship, top deck, how cool is that?
  
• Didn't do any of the bingo (although they were giving away a lot of money).
• Did go in the warm-tub (wasn't hot enough to be called a hot tub).
• Didn't go to any of the 'how-to shop' seminars.
• Did go ashore in Catalina and Ensenda (Mexico).
• Didn't do any of the package tours they organize.
• Didn't go to the meet-and-greet with the captain and the officers.
  
• Did go to the first 'show' they had. I don't go to those types of shows so I don't have much of a baseline, but when the guy starts singing J. Geil's band 'Centerfold' song and they've changed the words to be about women on a yearly calendar, ouch. When Ms. November came out dancing with a rubber turkey on a platter (Thanksgiving month here in the U.S.A.), I wasn't sure if that was the part I enjoyed the most, or cringed the most.
• Did go see, briefly, part of the hypnotist show. Just enough to realize it wasn't worth it.
  
• Didn't go to the second show they had. It was promised as 'completely different' to the first show and just walking by the auditorium, you knew it wasn't different at all.

In terms of food ... acceptable and ever-present.  One of the areas was open all the time. You could eat from 7:30 AM straight through to midnight if you really wanted to. On the second night we started to meet Kristina and Kevin at 'our' dining room (there were two). The chef was Indian, which meant the vegetarian dishes at supper were great, the others were good. Free food did mean we saw some of those unsupervised urchins running around at breakfast with a fizzy drink in one hand and an ice cream in another. Yeah, that's what we thought too. Explains why they had a 'serenity' section at the back of the boat where children weren't allowed. We spent a lot of time there.

One thing that did strike me was that I should have been reading a dystopian novel while I was on board, it would have *so* fit.
- You're issued a card when you board the ship. Everything you want to do, you use the card. It's ID, it's collateral for borrowing towels or putters, it's money for the slot machines, it's money for your drinks. England, you paying attention?
- Your picture is taken as you get on the ship, off the ship, and constantly during the trip. Oh yes, those pictures of you belong to them and they can use them as they see fit.
- They attempt to keep you busy all the time, join in with your comrades! Have fun!
- Attempting to leave the boat or getting back on means you line up, get your ID checked and everything else goes through the x-ray machine and metal detectors.
- No matter where you go there are 'staff' watching you.
- You want to go where? That part of the boat? I'm afraid not comrade, but remember the dancers are on at 6pm in the Mikado lounge!

Overall the cruise is very much like going to Vegas, if you suspend your disbelief and enjoy it (and ignore the cost of drinks) it can be a lot of fun.

I had a rather embarrassing revelation on my motorcycle last week. I have a sixth gear! The Yamaha only had five and I was constantly looking for another gear, the BMW has six ... but the five I was using for the last six months were doing fine. I had an inspiration on the way home from work to try and see if there was another gear and surprise, there was. I'll see if the discovery of the sixth gear will increase my MPG.

I finally bought a surf board: 8.2 feet. Picked it up last week last week and took it out last Wednesday morning. Embarrassingly (again) the surf was stronger than I was used to and I couldn't even get the board past the surf break. I'd paddle out 15 feet and get nailed by a wave that would push me back 12 feet. Three waves later I'd gone nine feet and realized that I'm seriously short of upper body strength. I caught some tiny waves as they reformed before hitting the beach. There is next to no surf this weekend so I'm planning my not-so-mad skills out to the beach again.