3-23-13

OK, OK, let's try to be a little less grumpy here.  I miss my family.  You can't blame a guy for being grumpy when he misses his family, right? 

Miche and I did get ashore on Curacao.  It was a nice day.  We only went places where I had already been, but it was nice to show her stuff.  She was duly appreciative and I think she enjoyed it.  I'm glad, because it appears ship life is chafing her a little bit too.  Could be my grumpiness rubbing off, of course.  Anyway, we had a good time and wandered around.  Today was a sea day.  It was also formal night.  That means we hid away in the cabin and watched Life of Pi on the television.  Good times.  And now for some pictures...

Michelle preparing to set sail from Ft. Lauderdale.  On the bow.

Sunscreen is a good idea.

A carving into a tree by the governor's mansion that I hadn't noticed before.  Pretty creepy.

Miche dipping her toes into the Atlantic. 

A colorful alley in Curacao.

Miche trying the door in my favorite grafitti alley in Curacao.

Obligatory.

 Queen Emma bridge on the move while we ate at Iguana Joe's.

3-20-13

Grumpy rant follows.  If you are looking for happy go lucky or fun pictures or something, check back later when we return to our regularly scheduled program.

So, on Monday, turnaround day in FLL, I had the morning clinic and then had the afternoon clinic.  Normally, if you are first call, you have the morning clinic and then 2nd call takes the clinic from 4-6pm so you can rest.  In FLL, 1st call takes it.  At least on this cruise. 

So, the next day is Half Moon Cay.  That is the day I would have been off.  Instead, I worked the clinic in the morning after being up much of the night as I have previously detailed here.  Then, the next day, today, I had to take the morning clinic because the entire rest of the medical team had to go to the newly embarked crew meeting.  And also, since the CMO was the 1st call, I had to be here to run the clinic while he sees patients as the crew doctor, which he couldn't do because he was at the meeting.  So when the meeting was over I had to run the crew and passenger hours together. 

Then I got a couple of hours off, which I spent with Michelle hanging out on the decks watching the waves go by.  She was up sunbathing while I was in the clinic. 

Then, I have to run the afternoon clinic because I am 2nd call.  And with thirty minutes left in the day what should happen but a patient gets wheeled in who has had chest pain since the day before the cruise started.  Now I am up tonight on watch with our ICU patient until midnight when I get to go to bed so I can get up and have the clinic tomorrow since I am 1st call. 

And Michelle comes to see me and she is so sunburned that she almost looks purple.  It was a cool day with a nice breeze.  She didn't use sunscreen and was out for around 90 minutes before I got up there.  I got sunburned on my face just hanging out with her. 

Poor girl. 

I hope she recovers enough that she isn't miserable in Curacao.  I think we will wander about a little and then hit the museum. 

Fun times all around. 

3-19-13

Tired today.

0300 wakeup for a fall with facial laceration.  Had to roust the doctor for sutures.  Managed to get about an hour of sleep before the alarm went off.  Then a call while I was in the shower.  Then another accident awaiting me at the door at 0800 and a busy clinic with 74 new crew to check in. 

Yup, tired. 

I managed to catch an hour of sleep mid day after running the morning clinic.  Then back at it when Michelle came back from the island.  Can't waste her cruise with me sleeping.  So now I can have some sleep.  It was an eventful day off. 

Anyway, tomorrow is a sea day and I hope to have little to do. 

Sleepy time. 

3-18-13

YAAAYYY.

Miche is here.  She arrived this morning and unpacked.  We got her settled in and I showed her around the ship.  Of course I introduced her to the captain and staff captain.  We set sail, it was nice.  I think she was a little overwhelmed at first but she got over that pretty fast. 

After dinner we went up to the officer's bar and hung out with Jon and Henry and Stephanie. 

It turns out that the mild awkwardness of sharing a bed with my sister won't be a problem.  While we were sitting in the OB, Jon seemed a bit taken aback that I hadn't put in a request for a passenger cabin for Miche.  I replied that I didn't know that I could do such a thing.  He made a phone call and Miche is now staying up on the 8th deck in her own cabin.  It pays to know people. 

For the record, I was a fan of Jon's before this.  What a nice guy.

So we are off on the cruise.  Tomorrow Miche gets to go off an explore Half Moon Cay.  I will be back on the ship running the clinic.  I volunteered to do so as I have been out doing the counts in the clinic on the island every time I have been there.  I don't mind staying aboard. 

Miche signed up to be an escort on a few tours in different ports and between her and the new passenger doctor, they convince me to sign up too.  I may escort the Costa Rica zip line adventure.  We will see.

Anyway, all for now. 

3-17-13

Happy St. Patrick's Day to those who care. 

Nothing to report today really.  We had a farewell dinner for the rest of the medical team.  Everyone but me goes home tomorrow.  Instead, I get Michelle.  I am really looking forward to having her onboard. 

Right now my phone keeps ringing. The rest of the medical team is in the OB waiting for me to come up.  I doubt they are really waiting, but I should go. 


Ta.