Day 5 LA to Hawaii Cruise January 2013

Day 5 At Sea- Sunday
January 20,2013
Cloudy rain Showers - High 64 Low 61
Sunrise 7:35 Sunset 6:46
________________________________________
 Our waiter warned us at dinner that we were headed for a really rocky night. He was right. This boat/ship was surfing most of the night. The stabilizers helped some of the side to to side but the swale  the forward and back movement were the largest we had had on this cruise by far.

I got my kindle charged so I am back in business with it. I am reading the book, "The End of the Line: Romney vs Obama 34 days that ...." its about the behind the scenes strategies both presidential candidates used in the final days of the election.

______________________

The Social Worker from Manitoba

I was eating at a prime spot in the buffett. A couple landed at my table., where are you from? Manitoba. What did you do? I was a social worker not a wheat farmer. They had traveled to all parts of Canada and started living in Montreal. I got to share my memories of Expo 67.

They thought that pharma was cheaper in the states. They were pricing a "shingles" shot. It was $250 in Canada with a prescription it was $175 in the US. With a prescription but the US pharmacy wrote the prescription on the spot.

___________________________________
The First Grade Teacher from outside Nashville

At lunch she was looking for a spot to "land" with per plate full of buffet food. She introduced herself and we talked about 1st graders and articulation. She has 5 grandchildren - had never been to Hawaii and kind of wanted to know where she could get little grass skirts. She had no idea what to get the little boys. I told her about the last time we were in Hilo there was a warehouse right where we came in to port. Lots of little hair clips and silk flower leis and such. She was happy to hear about that. (Sadly when we got to Hilo this port side shopping did not exist.  I think that the warehouse was not safe. We had to walk around the outside of it to get to transportation). I also mentioned that there was a bus to Hio Hatties on each of our stops.

_______________________________________

The 49ers Won! On to the Superbowl

The crowd had gathered in the front of Movies in the Stars to watch the big playoff games. Some were sunbathing and watching while others bought their "bucket of beers" and camped out. The Sun had come out and it was pretty nice around the pool. As you can see from the weather report at the top.. it was not exactly hot.  In the sun the temperature was a few degrees warmer that the 64... put the breeze and the 24 miles an hour that we were traveling worked against the serious Hawaiian stereotype. We were certainly not in the Caribbean.

There was also a big crowd in the Princess Theater with the notable gray/blue haired ladies chearing with their good Southern accents the Atlanta Falcons. They had plenty to cheer about as Atlanta took an early 17 point lead. When I joined the crowd in the theater later, the Atlanta fans had abandoned their favored team and found other things to do on the ship.

____________

More Ukelele Lessons

I left the game and headed to my place to get my uke lesson along with about 45 others. We learned about minor chords and practiced some alternative fingerings for come chords.
Our teacher teaches with a backup line synthesizer where he can control the beat. I think it drowns out those that have their instruments out of key. Half way through "Under the Boardwalk" he looked down and saw that one of his students was playing the chords to "Amazing Grace." It happens.

_______________
Heirloom Leis

Earlier in the day Sue and I headed over to where they were making heirloom leis. You buy a kit (charged to your ship account) Sue learned to do a popcorn knot in crochet that is essential in make her lei.

The men usually make a kakuie nut lei made with large brown nuts that were originally used to might the night in the tropical islands. The instructors (the ukelele instructor and his wife that taught hula) had big bins of these nuts and other items that could be strung together to make the lei. You gathered up what you think would amount to 25 inches of pattern you designed and strung them up. When you were finished, you brought the lei up to the desk . It was measured and knotted. It was sort of like beading on a huge scale. I made a pretty nice on while Sue worked on her crocheted one.

______________
Dinner:
Pat's
Appetizer: Lox (smoked salmon, slices with touches of cream spatter) lemon slice and capers
Ravioli- stuffed with ricotta and nutmeg with a soft brown sauce
Main: Veal Scalopini in reduced sauce
Desert: Banana souffle

Sue: Hamburger - Fries from the Grill
Fresh fruit from the buffet... pineapple slices, Apples and  bananas