The Hills Hit the Deck

(Bob:) Days 4-7: The last entry was about the ship pitching about. Well it got worse -- a LOT worse. It you see those cruise ship ads about how smooth all cruise ships are now with their stabilizers, it’s a lot of B.S. if Mother Nature decides to take matters in her own hands. The ship started some serious rolling on Days 4 and 5 because of the big storm to our northeast. It was the kind of rolling that makes even sitting difficult in some circumstances and keeps you awake at night as drawers in your room open and slam shut by themselves from the motion of the ship. Forget about keeping anything stored on a flat surface.

I don’t suffer from seasickness, so I was feeling smug until on Day 4 I was sitting in a class I was auditing, a swell hit, and me and my whole student desk I was sitting in pitched sideways onto the floor. Immediately, students in the class rushed to my aid -- OLD COOT ON THE FLOOR IN AISLE 7. I said I was fine and tried to compose myself. I had actually bruised my hip on the desk but didn’t want to let anybody know since I was embarrassed enough already. I made jokes at meals about providing some comic relief for the students.

Then the next day the rolling continued, and this time Luana did the same type of sideways fall in another meeting we were both attending. This time it wasn’t funny: a dislocated ring finger on her right hand. People rushed to get the ship’s doctor, while I told her not to look at it. Fortunately, almost before we knew it, another of our old coot group, who turned out to be a neurologist, popped her finger back into place -- and it didn’t even hurt when he did it.

The ship’s doctor and nurses showed up quickly and took Luana down to the infirmary where he put a splint on it as a precaution, since it seemed fine with good movement. The doctor and nurses seem very competent and are very nice people. The splint came off today, although Luana is keeping it taped to another finger as a precaution for awhile. Now, the only problem is the paperwork we have to fill out to satisfy the ship’s lawyers.

Finally today the rolling became much more manageable. Now you just have to lean a little one way while walking another, and sitting and sleeping are now getting closer to normal.

The anticipation is starting to build for Hawaii, which we reach on Day 9: Hilo on the Big Island first.