Why do they call it Grand Turk? Of the group of islands, it’s the smallest. By a lot.
It’s like a couple miles wide by maybe 4 or 5 miles long. The island’s population is about 5,000. The ship carries 3,000 passengers plus about 1,500 crew – so you get the idea of the size of the island.
I’m writing this in the morning having coffee and watching CNN. I think Nuke closed down the bars last night – but no problem – we don’t dock till 1300.
Afternoon
We took a cab tour of the island. That took all of about 10 minutes. Just kidding. But it really only took about 45 minutes to an hour. The island is essentially flat. From the ship, docked at the south end, you can see all the way to the light house, at the north end.
This place was devastated by Hurricane Ike which passed over about 7 weeks ago. It was a full Category 4 at the time. Power poles are back up everywhere but power is not returned to a house or building until the roof is secure. Because of the extreme damage – over half of the population is still without power living in homes without roofs.
There is snorkeling and diving here. Or just lazing out at the beach. But not much else. Unless wandering around looking at the cattle and donkeys that roam loose is your thing.
Evening
Man – a lot of people get seriously dressed up for Halloween. Here’s some photos:
There was trick or treating for the kids.
Saw another comedian and the crew’s amateur talent show in the lounge. Corny but fun. Went to the bar later and stayed up till midnight!!!!
We signed up for the ship tour to Megan’s Beach. What is Megan’s Beach you ask? Well, it’s a beach. It’s basically a beach that is privately owned and operated. It has a bar, a shop, a grill and a nice beach.
The ship’s tour was basically the ride to and from the beach and admission. What would normally be a 9 dollar cab ride (times 2) was a 30 (roundtrip) ride in a truck. The grill was full of things like 6 dollar hot dogs, 18 dollar pizza, etc.
Megan’s Beach is pretty but it’s a rip off. The power of advertising. And the ship’s price to get there and back was the icing on the cake. Had a good time – just don’t like getting ripped off.
Dinner was Alaskan King Crab legs. Yummy.
Dinner ran long and I only got to see about half of the juggling comedy act. He was funny. I’ve really enjoyed the comedians on this trip.
Took a cab to Orient Beach. Been there before. Same as before. And before that. And before that.
Heavy rain storm though after about an hour. So, we had New York City priced cheeseburgers (with fries - $11.00!) and then came back to das boot.
Dinner was eggplant mango soup, salad, parmagana, and tiramisu (Italian night).
Before dinner, we spent some time in the wheelhouse bar listening to piano and guitar. I’m surprised more people aren’t in there – the music is wonderful. After dinner, Boseman and I went to another bar where the band was playing big band and swing. There were about a dozen older couples dancing. I mean really dancing. As in – they’d obviously had years of lessons and practices. Actual real dancing, with steps and choreography (and not just moving / shuffelling around) is something to watch. First class entertainment in my book.
Left the oldersters to their dancing around 9 PM. I needed to get to bed. I just can’t hang with the old geezers.
Sea Day. I like those. Just laze around the boat and don’t do a darn thing.
I’m having room service coffee and writing this with CNN on (low). Nice and quiet while Nuke sleeps.
Having a nice quite relaxing time. I’ll add to this entry this evening to fill out the day.
Lunch in the dinning room – fillet of sole over mushrooms and spinach with lemon sauce. Dinner was bow tie pasta and tomatoes and green peas.
Saw the comedian in the lounge – very funny as expected. Tried to watch the move on deck. The picture was fine but they had the sound unbalanced. Too much bass which drowned out the rest of the dialogue.
It was Iron Man. Dialogue was everything in that movie so since I couldn’t heart it well, I left after about 30 minutes and went to bed. At 9:30. Paaaaarrrrrrty!
I think this is the biggest ship I’ve been on. It is sold out and has a little over 3,000 passengers. That’s a lot of people.
Overall, I prefer a smaller ship. I don’t know why – it just seems better on a smaller vessel.
Our stop today was the cruise line private island. I bought 1 drink and immediatlly went to sleep. It’s true. And when I woke up, I went back to the ship for another nap.
Had pork and chilled mango soup (delicious) for dinner.
We went to a comedian / magic show in the lounge. I managed to stay awake for the late theater show. Or at least the start of it. It wasn’t doing too much for me and I was tired – so I left for bed after about the first 15 minutes.
Our cabin is on this top row - about 6 down from the front (where we are standing).
I just realized that the name Ft. Lauderdale implies a fort. Wonder if there was one, and where is it? Spanish?
Chuck and Brenda and Madeline visited Saturday night. Had a nice visit. Madeline is a sweet child, very happy.
Got up this morning and visited with Chuck awhile. Brenda and Madeline were still asleep.
Got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Direct flight to Ft. Lauderdale and a quick cab ride to the cruise port. Unfortunately, there was quite a line to get checked in.
Lets see . . . spent time sitting aft and catching up with Boseman. Then after wondering around – had dinner and now I’m back in the room writing this.
Dinner was prime rib, shrimp cocktail and chilled pineapple soup. Nothing adventurous – just a nice good meal.
Travel days are tiring so I’m in the room at 9 PM and will be asleep soon.
Nuke is exploring and I’m sure will be one of the ones closing down the bars.
Watched Volver last night. Not all that good - not all bad. If it shows up as a Netflix in your mailbox, watch it. But don't make a special trip to video store for it.
We played Florida State last night. It was the Thursday night ESPN game. Plus the NC State Fair opened next door as well.
Traffic was awful. Still, we made it to the stadium on time for the National Anthem and kickoff.
FSU won – but not by much. It was a tight game the whole night. You can tell FSU was just a little bit better – but we’re not far behind.
This team has come a long was since the beginning of the season. With all the youth, inexperience, and injuries – we should have folded up a long time ago.
But no – these kids are hanging in there and it shows.
It may sound off, with only 2 wins, and one of those against a Division 2 team – but NC State is becoming a good competitive football team. Even with all the adversity – we’re darn close to being a top 25 team.
The fact that we are getting so much better with so little, and so many injuries – tells me the program is going in the right direction.
Last night was fun. Plus the Fair fireworks came right at halftime – around 9 PM. There we a LOT of fireworks – they lasted about 10 minutes.
It’s tough getting home at midnight and going to work early the next morning – but that only happens once a year so.
Next weekend (Saturday) my brother and sister-in-law and possibly the great niece are coming down to NC. They are having a sort of high school reunion at a friend’s home in Pinehurst. It’ll be nice to see them Saturday night.
That Sunday I leave for a week’s cruise ship vacation.
Then the election and, hopefully, a new direction for America.
Then we have 2 final home football games in November.
Then basketball season starts.
Yeah – I’ve lost over $30,000 in my 401k – but overall – life ain’t too bad.
Addendum - Raccoon Update
Haven't written about the 3 raccoons in a while - they are doing fine.
They look fully grown and healthy.
They still pal around together and I still feed them about 3 times a week. Basically they get leftovers and the occasional cup of dog food.
Tonight they got a fig newton, some popcorn, and 3 chicken wings from last weekend.
Their behavior patterns are set. While all 3 are very wary of me - one will come up to the door, wait patiently and take food directly from me; one will shy around and wait till I'm gone to get food from the bowl; and the last one is the most fearful and runs as soon as he / she sees me - coming back later to get what's left.
Watched Good Night and Good Luck last night. Good movie. Not a great movie but felt like it could have been. Somehow it just didn’t click. It's worth renting.
Moved it to the top of my Netflix list right after we watched The Majestic.
I think the race for president is going to be closer than even the extremely close polls indicate.
There’s a phenomena known as hidden racism that will come into play. There are a percentage of white people who simply will not vote for someone who is black, such as Obama. They may not be overtly racists, but they have a lingering distrust of black people in general.
Back in the 30s and 40s and 50s – these weren’t the people who were active in or marched with the KKK. Instead, they were the ones who stood idly by in tacit approval.
And I think there’s a lot more of them out there than we care to believe.
In my neighborhood, just 4 short years ago, the developer / builder Lloyd came by one day and talked to me about a couple that wanted him to build a house for them – almost directly across the street from my house as a matter of fact. Who they were, where they were from, what they did for a living, etc. He gradually worked into the conversation that it was a mixed race couple.
Which went right over my head until Lloyd started laughing and said something to the effect of “Bill, you not only don’t care what color somebody is, you don’t even notice”. Which, I hope, is generally true.
Turns out that Lloyd was casually gauging the neighborhood to see if anyone would have any strenuous objections to a mixed couple moving in.
I was rather taken aback and told Lloyd that I couldn’t believe that people still thought or cared about such things. He told me I’d be really surprised at some of my neighbors.
Lloyd, who’s pretty religious, also said something that stuck with me – He said there’s a lot of church going people who aren’t Christians like they think they are.
I think we’re beginning to see that in some of the rallies – especially the Palin ones.
I’ve since come to think that some of my, solidly upper middle class (especially for Lee County), neighbors are closet racists. I’ve heard some amazingly intolerant and bigoted comments.
These people don’t come out and state they are bigots or wouldn’t vote for someone just because the color of their skin is different. I don’t think the polls pick up on that.
My guess, and it’s a totally unscientific guess, is that hidden racists will make up about 3 or 4 percent of the vote. Thus, I think that in the close states, unless Obama is up by 4 percent or more – I think those states will actually go for McCain / Palin.
Looking at the electoral / poll map (link in the right hand column) – I think the slightly blue states such as Florida, Ohio, Nevada and Colorado may actually go for McCain. Possibly by only a percent or so, or even less. They may be too close to overcome hidden racism.
States like Virginia which show Obama 51% to McCain 45% will go Blue but will be much closer – say 50% – 49%.
States like North Carolina and Missouri which have been drifting between Red, Tied and Blue will go McCain – say by 52% - 48%.
On the drive into work this morning I heard an interview with a ‘guy on the street’ in Ohio who said something that I’ve been saying all along – and the quote was something like this: “If Obama were white, it wouldn’t even be close. He’d be winning by a landslide”.
There’s still a lot of bigotry and racism in the USA. And tons more of it in the rest of the world. We’re not as civilized as we might think. Civilized behavior is a thin veneer on some pretty base emotions out there.
I think I’ve got 1 or 2 in my immediate family.
I think we're starting to see more and more of it surface as the election draws near.
Basically good people – but hidden racists who have ‘reasons’ for their views such as a President Obama would be looking out for ‘his’ people and not the rest of ‘us’. Or; Obama is a 'secret Muslim' who supports 'terrorists'.
Ignorance and stupidity are sadly still with us.
Make no mistake - this journal entry is not about the vast majority of folks who support McCain for legitimate reasons. People who may prefer a more conservative government or who may feel that Obama doesn't have enough experience, etc.
I'm talking about the fringe right wing nut racists - the so called 'Christians' who wouldn't recognize Jesus if they bumped into him on the sidewalk.
The bottom line is - Vote for who you want, but don’t make up crazy lies and stuff.
Actually, not that great of a movie per se, but the acting by Robert Downey Jr. was over the top.
I think acting is overrated. They get too much credit. But then, they get too much blame when a movie flops. They can only work with the script that's handed to them.
But in Ironman, Downey was amazing. The scriptwriters wrote the script for everyone. Downey took his role and just ran away with it. He obviously ad libbed and it was perfect.
His robot, the one with the fire extinguisher, got some great droll laughs too.
Worth a rental.
Don't expect too much in the way of plot, continuity and such.
Just sit back, have a beer, and enjoy the ride.
Tires
Stopped at CrossRoads Ford on the way home to get an alignment and the tires rotated and balanced.
Even though it's an econo box, my car has a sports suspension, over sized wheels (for a little car) and Pirelli sports tires.
Story short - I needed new tires. The car has 50,000 miles and change. Goodyears and Michelins would have lasted about 60 or 70 thousand miles. But these Pirelli tires are 'soft' for handling more so than long wearing. In fact, the guys said they usually wear out at around 40,000 miles but mine lasted longer probably since most of my mileage is 'highway' due to my commute.
So, what should have been a $90 maintenance stop ended up being a $600 stop. Those tires are expensive.
Plus, I need to make an appointment for the car's 50,000 mile service - transmission fluid change, differential fluid change, fuel filter, injection cleaning, etc.
It adds up.
But boy, that car is still a blast to drive.
Clemson
Today, Tommy Bowden resigned as Clemson's football coach. Within the hour, acting head coach Dabo Swinney fired offensive coordinator Rob Spence.
Tommy Bowden is the Herb Sendeck of football coaches. A good man; a good coach - but not a great head football coach.
Rob Spence was a disaster and should have been fired a long time ago.
Good luck to Clemson.
It's tough to have your school's athletic program in turmoil. We went though the same thing 2 years ago in both football and basketball. We're still going through the pain of adjustment, rebuilding and transition.
We're halfway through the season. 3 home games and 3 away games left. My heart says we'll win at least 2 more. My head says "Oh yeah? Which ones?".
Tonight on ESPN it's Clemson at Wake Forest. Both teams are a bit of a let down. This game could have been between 2 undefeated teams. It still ought to be a heck of a game.
DVDs
Watched There Will Be Blood last night. God, what a depressing movie. Superb acting but geez, what a downer. And long too . . .
Nuke's Dad brought up some books for Nuke to read. I snagged The Art of Racing in the Rain. What a wonderful book. It's the end of life memoir of a dog. A very enjoyable read.
The dog, Enzo, knows a lot about Formula One racing and is looking forward to reincarnation as a man. Especially having opposable thumbs.
For the first time, I've put up a campaign sign in my yard.
Jason sent me this photo.
LOL
I think he's voting for Wasilla Chihuahua and the Geezer. I'm voting for "That One".
Hummingbirds
I think the hummingbirds have left for the winter. They go through the 3 feeders in about a week. I haven't seen them in a couple of days and the nectar in the feeders is not dropping.
The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has just finished a new building in downtown Raleigh.
The official grand opening is today.
They were going to have BASE jumpers - you know - the guys who jump off building and bridges with parachutes.
That has been cancelled.
Here is the priceless quote from a front page article in today's News & Observer:
"Given the recent market activities, we just didn't think it was an appropriate time to have people jumping off of a bank building". - Jamie Averette Mitchell, RCB Bank spokeswoman
I honestly did not know that the Department of Defense (or somebody) executed 5,000 people after Hurricane Katrina.
Here's former Congresswoman Ima NutJob speaking on that very, heretofore unrevealed, topic just last week. She's the official candidate for President from the Green Party.
The sad thing is, there are people who seriously believe and support this stupid idiot.
