And then there are the days when Mamma Ocean, just does not like us at all.
For the most part, my birthday has been thoroughly enjoyable. I keep myself to myself, I make a point of not telling many people that it is my birthday, so the wishes I get are heartfelt and from actual friends rather than from random crewmates that I’m not even lucky enough to know (as happens when your name is on the inter-department birthday list, almost every year I have HR remove me from said). I got lovely cards from my parents and from Amras, opened a long awaited gift from home that contained a beautiful set of gold and silver earrings, and another from Amras that presented me with an equally long awaited electronic guitar tuner (finally! I can properly tune Strange all by myself!). I had my coffees paid for, and had most excellent chocolate fudge cake with dinner…
I didn’t start work till 10 but was up at 8:30 so I actually had time for a nice relaxed breakfast (mmm waffles!).
That was all very lovely, one of the nicer birthdays I’ve had at sea for a long long while.
But see that’s the thing. We are at sea. We are, in fact, in the midst of a crossing to Japan. And…mother nature is not currently very happy.
Those of you who have known me for more than a few seasons know I have a very strong constitution, I don’t get sick. I’m one of those crew member who silently rolls her eyes when the passengers complain that it’s rough when I can hardly feel the ship moving. Many of us are like that. Tonight, even the most veteran of us are eating our words and turning green around the gills. It is bad. Picture a speed boat zipping back and forth over a ferry wake, the lift of the bow and the crash down back into the water. Picture that on a much much bigger scale, and that is what we are going through right now. The pitch of the ship is so extreme that they cancelled the dance performance that was scheduled for tonight because it was deemed too unsafe for the cast to set foot on stage. They scheduled a musical performance instead, but the truth is it’s not even safe for the musos. At this point, I’m honestly wondering if it’s just a matter of time before someone takes a header.
As for me, I’ve laid all my computers in the workshop flat down on the carpet, for fear that one good crash would cause the industrial strength velcro holding them in place to give way and that’s something that I can’t just can’t afford. Once that was done, I battened down for the night, chugging back gingerale, and trying hard to convince my stomach that turning itself inside out would really really not be a good idea.
This can stop any time now
Please…?