All Aboard

All aboard finally. I was picked up at my hotel this morning and was tendered to the Crystal Serenity, still lacking two of my bags. One is a guitar and the other is a regular piece of luggage with books and CDs and such. I'm in room 7001, which I previously thought to be an ideal place directly adjacent to the back of the of the ship on level 7, right next to shuffleboard. Two seasickness pills later, I realized my significant miscalculation upon daring to venture past a daunting sea door whose circular crank handle withheld winds that blew me down with such a force, I immediately looked around to see if anyone had seen my fall. I was ineffective for an hour getting used to the unsteady rocking that comes with the front of the boat. The only upsides to living in the front are 1) it makes the rest of the ship seem downright steady 2) makes for some good laughs in the shower and 3) at night I sleep like a baby in cradle.

I went to the beach with some of the dancers and musicians from the ship, then played a rousing game of paddle tennis. My team quickly lost 3 balls into the ocean. I don't think you're supposed to swing so hard. After dinner, one of the musicians, Tim, introduced me to the cruise director. He's a hilarious man in his 50's who proceded to show us his favorite youtube videos, one being something called the "buttrocket". It's refreshing to find that the one guy who I could consider my 'boss' is as seemingly young as we are. Whilst schmoozing the director, we got going on the topic of golf and I think I secured myself a place in his foursome to play in Acupulco and in Puerto Chipas, Mexico. Unfortunately, Greg, the cruise director, is about to take a long vacation, otherwise proving myself on the course could mean a slew of golfing excursion around the globe. We'll see if my luck runs out.

Hank Aaron is giving a talk in about 10 minutes. I'll be checking that out, indeed.