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There comes a time in every ship-girl\u2019s vacation when the inevitable shadow falls over the metaphorical sun\u2026there, suddenly in the middle of a bright beautiful august day\u2026is the monster descending on your world.<\/p>\nThere comes a time in every ship-girl\u2019s vacation when the inevitable shadow falls over the metaphorical sun\u2026there, suddenly in the middle of a bright beautiful august day\u2026is the monster descending on your world.<\/p>\n
Come on, your suitcase says, you have to face me some time or another<\/p>\n
Fine! I\u2019ll start packing!<\/p>\n
Packing for me, is an almost scientific process, one that has taken me several years to perfect. Amras can watch me pack with a look of intrigued bemusement on his face, usually followed by \u201chow do you do<\/em> that?\u201d. Well to begin with, I\u2019m a girl; I swear that genetics has something to do with the ability to cram a life neatly into a suitcase like a giant game of Tetris.<\/p>\n I start \u2013 geek alert \u2013 with an excel spreadsheet.<\/p>\n This is something I started a few years back, when I was still doing the world cruise and was required to take so much theme wear with me that I had to keep everything written down or I would lose track of what accessory went with which costume. I\u2019ve recently picked the practice back up again. The upside of this is that I know exactly how many outfits I can get out of how many mix-n\u2019match tops and bottoms, which means I end up with more space in my suitcase. Then everything that\u2019s on the list gets taken out of my closet, folded neatly and placed on the bed next<\/em> to the suitcase, where it is sorted and organized by usually size or bulk, and then a few days before take-off I put everything into the case itself.<\/p>\n And even if I managed to follow that carefully prescribed plan, there is still<\/em> always something I forget.<\/p>\n So I ultimately end up packing and repacking despite all my preparations\u2026<\/p>\n But the upside is that at least this time\u00a0 don\u2019t have to pack as many formals, since the new job doesn\u2019t have as much in the way of evening duties. I\u2019ll be away for Christmas, so the floor length black is required for the Christmas Eve concert, but other than that I no longer have to pack 16 formal gowns. In a way that makes me somewhat sad, but at the very least I am glad of the lower weight of my suitcase. Or at least, I certainly hope it will be a lower weight!<\/p>\n So\u2026here we go\u2026step one\u2026preparation mode engaged\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There comes a time in every ship-girl\u2019s vacation when the inevitable shadow falls over the metaphorical sun\u2026there, suddenly in the middle of a bright beautiful august day\u2026is the monster descending on your world. Come on, your suitcase says, you have … Continue reading