I can’t believe I have only been here 5 days it feels more like two weeks and I miss Debbie and the little ones (bar the pooey nappies) more and more each day. At least I had the opportunity to go ashore yesterday and use Skype in Costa’s. It was really great to be able to see everyone.
It seems really strange though going ashore as I remember coming here and it felt like a foreign county and things were dirt cheep. It has all changed now, it just seems like any other touristy/Americanised city with huge shopping Malls (they are quite impressive though). OK I must admit I would come here on holiday if I ever had the money and I know Debbie would love it here but I do miss the feel of the old place when there was the feel of being on the edge of civilisation.
Work wise things are still intense but I am settling into my routine of getting up nice and early so I can start going through emails, signals etc at 0615 to get ahead of the game. It is always the same for the first few months whilst I get my head around things plus I don’t like having to go past 1730-1800 if I can help it. All the information is slowly getting into my grey matter and I am slowly getting to grips with all the organisations out here. I know that once we get to sea things will be a lot easier and we will soon get into a routine.
I am really going to try and loose weight this trip as last summer I had done so well but then I seemed to hit a brick wall and I didn’t manage to loose anything last leave so I am a stone heavier than I was in August, saying that I am still 2 ½ stone lighter than I was in 2009 so I will get there. At least the exercise bikes are in the hanger on here as there is nothing more depressing than staring at a blank bulkhead for 45 minutes. Being in the hangar with the doors open at least I can see things moving outside and I get fresh air at the same time. I only did a gentle 45 minute cycle today as I was engrossed in a book. Well is it wrong to sit on the exercise bike peddling away and reading the kindle at the same time. It certainly keeps the boredom away and I had a good 45 minute bout of exercise for not only body but also the soul.
I am really pleased Debbie got me the Kindle for my Birthday as it has been great, I am getting through about a book a week at the moment and the best thing is that it weighs next to nothing so I didn’t have to worry about lugging lots of heavy books away with me. Yes I know there will always be something about the smell and feel of tree books that I will always love, but it is good to embrace technology. In addition it has worked out as a great cost saving, I downloaded about 46 books before I came away (all sorts Dracula, Shakespeare and some modern thrillers) 40 of which were free and 6 of which I paid for, even then a lot of the books available are less than a pound. If anyone out there loves reading I would recommend getting one. The only downside is that all the formats don’t work on all the different readers but Amazon has over 500000 titles so there is plenty to choose from.
Anyway I suppose that is about it for now, hopefully we will get this week over and done with quickly and get to sea so that we can settle into a nice routine and then hopefully the trip will fly by.
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