DeYank

Well, Christmas is now over. Got some very nice things, but it was a really laid back holiday for just the two of us. We exchanged gifts on Christmas morning and watched a couple of DVD's the rest of the day. My wife gave me some nice leisure clothes - the kind you wear around the house when you aren't expecting anyone to show up. I got her a new mouse for her laptop. One of those little mini-mouses (mini-mice?) that has a retractable USB cord. She had one before, but the left button quit working on it. Too much clicking I'd bet.

We are starting to gather stuff we'll need on our cruise. First order of business was to get my tux cleaned and pressed. We have two formal nights aboard the Oosterdam and I want to be ready. Now I have to figure out how to fold the thing so it won't look like I've slept in it.

Not going to bring my laptop this trip. I usually use it only to download pictures on a daily basis to make room for more pictures, but now I have a 1GB card and the camera tells me I can shoot 999 pictures. I suspect that it may be more because the LCD display will only hold three digits - hence the 999. Since I have space for two cards (the second one is just a 32Mb card) I have room for loads of pictures. I'll be sure to post at least one or two good ones here.

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Posted by: DeYank    in: My entries

Modified on December 29, 2006 at 9:13 PM

The wife and I are counting down to the cruise in january.  She just got her renewed passport in the mail last week - hates the picture.  Maybe there really is a "Department of Making Your Passport Picture Look Horrid" somewhere in the State Department.

The group we are going with is loosely called "The Pirates of the South China Sea" mostly because we all served on one spy ship or another during the Vietnam unpleasantness 40 years ago.  Mine was the USS Oxford.  We hit some pretty nice places like Bangkok, Thailand; Kao Hsung, Taiwan; Sasebo, Japan; and some others that weren't so much fun, like: Cam Ranh Bay, Nah Trang, Da Nang, and Subic Bay, Philippines. We even gor surrounded by Cambodian gunboats off the Isle of Phu Quok over on the west side of Vietnam.  Our main armament was two guys manning our twin-fifty calibre guns on the port and starboard side.  If anyone is interested, there is a site for my ship: USS_Oxford  This site is linked to other sites that may be interesting to Vietnam buffs or spy ship buffs.  There is also a link to the USS Liberty site I think. 

Chrismas shopping is somewhat done.  Most of the time I have no idea what anyone really wants because they are so far away and we don't communicate as much as we should.  One daughter in Colorado and the other in Texas.  Our eldest is (su-prize, su-prize) expecting another in April so maybe that gift is taken care of, but I don't have a clue for the other.

Got some real snow the last week.  One day, it would alternate between snow showers and dark, glowering clouds, interspersed with periods of sunlight so bright that it hurt your eyes.  Nutty weather.

I really don't like to go out into stores this time of year because of all the "elevator music" they have playing.  If I hear about Frosty once more I'm going to barf.  Wearing hearing aids is a good thing because I can turn them off and ignore the music.  What's bad is when a salesperson (when you can get their attention) asks me something and I have to turn them back on again.  They are digital and amplify everything around me - including the music - especially the music - and because of that I can hardly hear anything said to me nearby.  Resturaunts are bad also with all those clashing dishes and such. It also makes it hard to listen to the TV when the acoustics of the room aren't right.

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Posted by: DeYank    in: My entries