Well. Day 3 of quarantine. Or 4. Depending on how you look at it. I say it is day 4 but the problem is no one cares what I say.
It’s interesting. Allegedly, I sit here and on day 6, I’m tested. If it is negative, I can go. Not sure what happens if it is positive, because there aren’t 6 more days left in the cruise at that point. Let’s try not to think about that.
I say allegedly because no one has told me this. I only “know” this because Jason asked the doctor this morning when he reported for his daily required test. He has to be tested daily, since he was exposed to covid through me.
Why can’t I be tested daily? What if today I am negative? Can I spread COVID if I am negative for COVID? What if I’ve been negative every day since the day I was tested? According to the CDC website, day 0 is really the first day of your first symptom. I only had symptoms for 24 hours and that was April 1. Today is April 11. I get quarantining me because I tested positive. But test me every day. Why randomly wait?
I have a lot of time on my hands to think. Also, I now talk to myself. Why not?
I’m reading three books simultaneously and interjecting some old reruns of Bull in between that. Here’s what’s happening:
a fiction book, the first in a long series, of awesome swashbuckling sailing stories. Written in the late 40s, I believe. This is egging on my pirate talk and helping me figure out the underbelly of ships.
A non-fiction book on ending poverty by ending violence. My extreme longing for justice and freedom is reaching new levels.
A non-fiction book on olive oil. The history of, the usage of, the seedy backstory and fraud happening across the industry. The author is from a small Italian village right near where I was a week or so ago.
And the TV show Bull…he’s a court scientist, helping pick juries. Using psychology and the human condition to inform trial proceedings
If you put all these things together, you can see I’m about to go on crusade to free the people of this earth from the tyranny of evil and violence, and also from bad olive oil and poorly calculated quarantine times. Just this morning alone, I spent at least 9 minutes thinking up ways to start an underground newspaper here on the boat to get the word out about… whatever.
Of course, that was more due to the fact that around 7:45 am I was sitting on my bed wearing a small tank top and short shorts (this is my pajamas, people. Don’t worry - I’m not wearing this around town) when all the sudden, there is a man on my balcony. He says, “Hello, ma’am” and waves. “Hello,”I yelled back, over the ocean, as though this were very normal.
“May I close your door?” He says pointing at the sliding door.
“Why not?” I agreed.
“Cleaning, “ he says, in explanation.
Alright.
Now here’s the thing. In the non-quarantine world, I would have gotten a letter about this in advance. And my cabin steward would have told me. Close your door and curtains. We’re cleaning tomorrow! We want to respect your ability to be naked at 7:45 am. You know the drill.
But in quarantine, it’s not mentioned. You find out by being naked at 7:45 am when a man appears on your balcony.
Why?
Are we not worth the cost of paper to let us know?
We don’t have stewards, so that’s out. Ain’t no one coming round to clean these rooms.
Hence my long and troubling thinking on starting my own underground newspaper to spread the word.
I’ve got a couple of problems.
I don’t have any paper.
I don’t have any information.
Now, I’m a problem solver and that’s no hill. I just need more time to think. Which, I have. Stay tuned.
Among other problems I have, I also have not yet been successful at getting any salt and pepper. This is for sure spelled out clearly in the actual constitution of the United States under whichever part talks about cruel and unusual punishment. Have you ever tried to eat a cold poached egg with literally nothing on it? Might as well eat a cloth napkin.
Yesterday, in an attempt to be a healthy eater while only having the room service menu to select from, I ordered the hummus plate. The hummus was literally just smashed chickpeas. Nothing else. I could have flat shanked someone for a single drop of Hope in Spades Olive Oil. One small dash of salt. The tiniest of pepper grinds.
Being the out of the box thinker I am, I grabbed the errant tortilla chips from the night before and brushed the salt off of them into the “hummus”. It was so good as though I could almost taste it. On the plus side- the veggies were fresh and delicious. I was very thankful for them.
Jason is out there in the free world trying to find a way to contact Dragon. If we can make contact, we might find a way to get salt and pepper moving. Once that highway is open, anything is possible!
We’re at sea today. That’s a bit of a bummer really. It means 100% of the passengers are on board. That a lot of competition when you already struggle to get anything. It does buy me one more day before I miss something else. Next stop is Kotor, Montenegro. I’ve heard it’s one of the most beautiful ports in the world. Oh, please, Lord. Please let the boat dock on the port side so I can see this port!! Better yet, let me somehow spring outta here and get to walk it. But I’ll take a view of it.
In other emerging news, I feel like I’m developing bed sores. I’m currently sitting in the office chair at the little desk to type this. The chair is a little too tall, so my legs fall asleep after about 13 minutes. It’s still a nice change of pace. It’s very windy and cool so far today, so sitting on the balcony isn’t yet an option. I have hope for the afternoon.
Oh, I forgot to mention- when the balcony man came to clean this morning,he went and opened all the adjoining cabin doors up and then…nothing happened. No cleaning. After awhile, he came back and closed them all. Down here in the clink, they don’t care if our windows are dirty. Upstairs, they’d never allow for all this sea salt all over the windows! Thankfully, I can open the door and see out. It would totally suck if this was just a window. Maybe I’ll clean it myself later. I have some free time. WAIT OMG I JUST REALIZED SOMETHING. I have a plethora of sea salt caking my balcony. WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THIS SOONER.
I just realized there are no cabins on the floor below me. I was thinking I could do a little exercise but didn’t want to make a lot of noise and disturb anyone. I should do some jumping jacks or jog in place a bit to get my heart rate up. Hey, things are looking up.
Well, it's time to read some more and continue pondering on my underground newspaper. Also, my first attempt to harvest my sea salt from my balcony door. More later.
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