No miracles here

Travel is supposed to be fun. But somewhere along the way K picked up a bad cold, and suffered a lot with air pressure differences as we flew home yesterday. I felt fine, though I did mention while in the car that “…it’ll be a miracle if I don’t catch this crap you’ve got.”

Right on cue, this morning I’m congested and coughing. No miracles. So now we have to do all the catch-up work accrued after a week away while feeling like shit. Did I mention something about travel and fun?

It’s not surprising – air travel, crowded cruise ship, exposure to people from all over the globe – this is a self-inflicted wound. Doesn’t make it feel any better. I suppose I’ll hunker down today and do as little as possible. I’m pretty good at that. Meanwhile, here’s another piece I wrote during our cruise.

***

September 10th

At sea with no Internet again, this time for 48 hours!! That’s been the case most of this trip. Since the previous post, a lot has happened and I’ve managed to get bits and pieces of information via text, TV and short connections in port.

The record heat wave in Socal finally subsided, though a big fire did break out not far from our house toward the end of the heat. The day after the fire broke out we got a little bit of rain from an offshore hurricane, so that should have allowed firefighters to extinguish the Hemet fire. I’ll find out tomorrow when we reach Victoria.

My stepmother has decided she’s ready to leave this world and is refusing food and treatment. So I’ll be back in KY for another funeral before too long, unless she relents.

I*have* gotten a lot of exercise, but I have also eaten a lot. Too much; the will is weak. Shipboard life has been pretty peaceful, but not as healthy as I had hoped.

The British PM changed, and the Queen died. That’s a pretty big shock for stodgy old Britain.

Kentucky beat Florida today! I didn’t get to see the game, but I saw the final score. That bodes well for the rest of the season.

We’ve visited Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. The Alaskan weather has been gloomy. Most of my pictures will be either B&W or dull colors. Not optimal.

I read the latest Jack Carr book, #5 in The Terminal List series. Carr is a good writer, but his politics are starting to get in the way of the story. He’s a *serious* gun fetishist, and while that’s interesting for a while, I could do without the detailed description of each and every weapon used in the story. It’s a bit much. I like a good spy story and plot, and Carr delivers on that.

I also read a creepy serial killer story by Meg Gardiner titled Unsub. It is set in the Bay Area, and I know some of the settings well – Walnut Creek, Oakland airport, Berkeley. Good characters, detailed plot, and a cliffhanger setting up the next book.

Perhaps this wasn’t the best time for me to go on a cruise with other folks. I’ve been in serious introvert mode – early to bed, no partying, only leaving the cabin to eat or exercise. I’m not a lot of fun to be around. But that’s where I’m at.