Alaska, 2006
(or Northern Exposure)
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June 23, 2006 (Friday)
Ah, the windy, overcast paradise of the North Pacific.
We woke up this morning somewhere off the coast of North America around 9:00 to a toilet that wouldn't work. Fortunately, the people who constructed the heads for 1,950 passengers perhaps foresaw the logistical difficulties ahead and provided for what I like to call "remote flushing." One call to the purser's office, and the toilet was working again within a few minutes.
Helene and I showered and hit the Horizon Cafe for a 10:30 brunch. I caught up on a little writing afterward, then shot some baskets on the ship's basketball court until around noon, when the whole clan was to meet in Dan and June's stateroom to discuss the order of march for getting home on Sunday from Seattle. We've apparently already made transportation arrangements from the cruise terminal to Seattle-Tacoma International once we're back in port.
After the logistical meeting, we had a family lunch in the Horizon and split up. I arrived in the casino, sat down at 1:20, and set about losing my money at Caribbean Stud. I finally have to admit that I don't have a winning knack at that game after losing $110, although it took me a couple of hours to do it. I switched over to Blackjack for the rest of the afternoon session, playing at a full table with a lot of good players having fun. By 6:40 when I had to leave, I cashed in $230 worth of chips and calculated that I was still $20 in the black after a solid week of gambling.
The family convened for dinner at the Horizon Cafe (we're all avoiding a second formal night at the Regency) for a buffet dinner—I think that's the precise point where everyone officially got sick of the buffet. It's now 8:05; we've finished dinner, and Helene has just returned from the onboard photo developers with our snorkeling shots. Not unsurprisingly, the majority of the shots we took were horrible. We're going to attend some sort of trivia event in the Atrium Lounge tonight and then go from there.
From 9:30-10:15 p.m., we played a campy version of "Name That Tune" with the lounge pianist. We left there for the Shooting Stars lounge to listen to a bit of karaoke. Judi was going to get up on stage but chickened out. I decided—after listening to the most horrible rendition of "My Girl" ever—that if that was a good as it was going to get, I was headed back to the tables.
Three Hours and $200 Later
I retreated back to the stateroom at 1:40 in the morning after losing $200 worth of chips at the Blackjack table. Actually, that's not a fair representation of that travesty of betting. I lost the last $100 in the span of six hands when I tried yet again to make up the loss of the first $100 in short order by betting green chips. What a world, what a world. I've gone from nearly $500 in the black to about $150 in the red. I'm pretty sure that I'd be a little more impressed with taking four days to give back the casino its money plus interest if it weren't due primarily to betting like a drunken sailor. [Expletive deleted], I'm going to bed before I do any more damage to my tab.
I am now as fed up with the casino as I am with the [expletive deleted] breakfast [expletive deleted] buffet and the [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] they're attempting to pass off as grits. [Expletive deleted]!
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