¿Frog Senior?

Once again I find myself in San Juan, this time sitting in Senior Frogs by the pier surrounded by intoxicated passengers of an affiliated cruise line and karaoke songs that are reminiscient of Hellen Keller playing on a "My First Keyboard".  However, the internet is reasonably fast and the food, while overpriced, is not terrible.

Christmas is fast approaching and for me, as most of you know, that generally means more work which is great if you happen to be paid by the hour but it's not so much so if you are paid by the day (or salaried). As my hours go up I see my value dropping and it's not a great feeling. On those days you just have to remind yourself that there are days where you're worth quite a bit. 

As a little gift to myself I've revamped my office a little - it's the small things in life that you have to look forward to right?! It's times like this that all it takes is a little recharge... a day or two with a light workload or some time ashore that makes all the difference!

EST

It's been a fairly long crossing but I'm back in familiar territory once again. We arrived this morning in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where we have a multitude of inspections and drills before we're allowed any time ashore. Only one major inspection to go at this point, US Coast Guard. Once that's over with then we'll hopefully be granted shore leave and I'll be able to nip off for a few minutes! Wish me luck!

Greetings from Turkey

Just a little hello from Kusadasi in Turkey!

Croatian Pizza

Here I sit, litterally five minutes walk from the ship at a tiny six-table restaurant that makes pretty solid pizza and has decent internet. Having only been off the ship three times since I joined last month this feels great to be out and about even if I'm still within sight of the ship.

I know what you're thinking, "you can't possibly be that busy that you can't get time off". You would be right in saying that, the trouble is I know how much work and e-mails build up if I'm not at my desk. I'm sure those of you reading this can relate to that feeling!

Having said that, I'm enjoying this time of the ship being a real person for a little while and wearing anything other than my uniform. So if anyone is in Dubrovnik right now, you should come over to this little pizza place outside the port - I have a few slices left and I'm willing to donate!

Istanbul is Constantinople is where I a

UPDATE: Sorry about the crazy multiple posts - apparently our ship's sub-dial-up speed internet doesn't agree with uploading to SquareSpace. :)

So here I am in Istanbul and I find myself with no real interest in getting off the ship. There are plenty of things left to see here but I can't will myself to go ashore. My pocket book is cheering me on but I feel a little like a hermit. I haven't even been to the officers bar in weeks other than to grab a soda, maybe I should get a beer tonight. Were here until tomorrow afternoon, maybe I'll nip ashore briefly in the morning or something...

Here's a little snapshot of my view: