Cruise-o-matic

My family and I are leaving next week on a cruise. That's right, a cruise. Some people (myself included) think that cruises are great places for old people to get together and spread all the wonderful germs they pick up at the various ports-of-call as they touch the varnished clam-shells-glued-to rock napkin holders in the local gift shops; but I'm an open kind of guy, and it's a wonderful opportunity for my grandmother to get to know my son, so Captain Stubbin, where's Gopher?, we're coming aboard.

I'm a research kind of guy. I like to read up on all the exciting things I plan to do in my life -- it gives me a sense of expectation, like standing in line at Space Mountain and watching the rollercoaster roll around every once in a while. In my reading up on "cruising" and this whole new world, I find that, besides the stories of people who have far too much time and too little life on their hands, some really wonderful tid-bits.

For example,This Link has live webcam views from the ship I'll be traveling on. I'll tell ya what -- I'll stand on the bridge foredeck at 12:30 EST everyday and wave my hands -- let me know if you see me.

There, that was fun, wasn't it? Actually, in my research, I have found that cruising is not as old or as lame as it seems. Take THIS for example. Turns out that Dave Matthews Band, along with Bob Weir, Toots and the Maytals, and a bunch of other great musicians, like to get together for a few days and play some music on cruise ships and islands around the Bahamas. God, would I hate to be a deck-hand on that ship.

I'll let you know how this all goes and try to send updates on the ship when I'm not discussing false teeth with Bob and Sylvia, the "Cruising Koslowski's" of Toledo.