March 1, 2019
Murphy’s Law was in full operation during my first talk of the cruise (Yes, We May Have No Bananas). It started downhill, and just never recovered.
I met with the tech people more than a half hour before show time to get things set up, and the first thing that happened when they hooked their system up to my main computer was the two systems – mine and theirs – saying, “We are not going to play together!” They hooked up the VGA connection and the picture started flipping not unlike the TVs that I grew up with, except this time there was no vertical hold. Flip. Stop flipping. Flip. Stop flipping. Restart. Flip. Stop flipping.
So they brought in their laptop and I plugged in my flash drive. Theirs was a gaming computer which means it all sorts of speed and memory and other stuff I know nothing about. I tested the audio on one of the clips and it worked fine. So show time.
The short version of this story is one of four videos played and two of three sound tracks didn’t. The audience was good natured. I pointed my clicker at the screen and made amusing remarks and we all laughed. Then we got to a spot where the sound did work and one of the ship’s officers came on with the noon time report and stopped the sound. We all laughed again. To make up for the lack of audio, I described the piece they would have seen and sang the tune. And I invited them back for the 3 o’clock show so they could see what they missed. I don’t think anyone took me up on the invitation. I guess my imitation of the Minions doing “Ba Ba Ba Bannnana” was okay.
After the show we hooked up my old computer with Windows XP, the one that I am typing this blog on and the one that will transmit it out to you, and you know what happened. Everything worked perfectly. So for the rest of the cruise I will go on stage with old faithful. This has happened before, never quite so dramatically, but we had a good time nonetheless. Holy cow!
I tried to tell you yesterday that getting to the ship and getting on board was the smoothest I think we’ve ever experienced. No problems at airport security, which meant that no TSA agent reached for handcuffs when a certain member of my party faced the scanner and the conveyor belt. We had to wait a couple of hours for the bus to come to pick us up because the Valor was delayed into Galveston by fog. We got on board, got to our stateroom and both of our sign and sail cards which also double as our room keys worked (that hasn’t always been the case). I talked to the maitre d about switching our 8:15 dining to the early time of 6 or My Time and today we got a note giving us 6 p.m., early dining. It is a table for 10 but there were only 6 of us there. Companionable folks.
The welcome aboard show last night was standard fare. The cruise director talked too much and the singers and dancers performed too little. But tonight’s show was top notch. A tribute to the 70s and Disco music. High energy cast. Great job. And an enthusiastic audience. All except the two people who sat beside me who looked straight ahead without a smile and almost never raised their hands to clap. But the rest of us enjoyed it and gave the cast a well deserved standing ovation.
I need to tell you that our room, old number 1202 is the last room down the hall port side forward. If we were any farther forward we would be wet. And being on deck one we sometimes hear the waves as they wash by the ship. Last night it proved the background for a restful sleep. Tonight, I think we are smashing whales. The waves are picking up a little bit. But one of my regular readers sent me a picture of the snow in his front yard, so a few extra waves in the Gulf of Mexico – with 70 degree weather, heading for the 80s – aren’t all that bad.
Well, my companion begs off tonight. I got a nap and she did not. But she will meet you here at the keyboard on an upcoming blog. Speaking of blogs, my social media talk is tomorrow. Only one talk tomorrow, Vasily. I will repeat it several days down the sea.
So, TTFN
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