Mystery Post

Behold! The mystery post! Marvel at it's....uhhhh...Mystery!


And what could be more mysterious than my August vacation plans? Allow me to clarify the situation.

1. I like boats.
2. I like the sea.
3. I have NEVER been to sea in a large boat. By "to sea" I mean far enough offshore that I can not see any traces of land and by "large boat" I mean anything larger than a 72 foot charter "party" fishing boat.

So my supervisor gets these emails from Florida International University. Apparently she once send them money. I have never sent that place any money after getting my degree.

Anyway, she got a email about an alumni cruise to her work email account and was going to delete it. I asked to have it forwarded to my work email account.

The deal was pretty good. I figured I could afford it. Sort of. And why the hell not go? I could not think of any reason to not go.

Now to ride solo, I would still have to pay for a cabin - and on cruise ships cabins are based on double occupancy. This translated into the "$380" for an ocean view cabin really costing me $760

So once I add in tips and booze and video poker and something to do in Mexico and a passport and whatever else, I was looking at $1200 - $1400. Or less. It all depends on how much booze I decide to consume, and how much I loose at video poker.

Going alone would be sort of boring. What the hell would I do? The reality of this is I would probably drink more, gamble more, sleep more, and generally have less fun.

But which of my friends would go? Which COULD go?

There was only one I could think of. She currently lives in North Carolina but is talking about moving back to Florida due to a job offer. Plus she does not really like North Carolina too much.

So I fire off an email. The next day I called and asked "HEY! How would you like to go to Mexico on a big ass ship?" - half expecting to hear "what are you crazy? I have to work and stuff!".

And this is how I found someone who could go. It will still cost me fare for two - but it was going to cost me this anyway. I have a better employment situation, so the other person can not really afford to pay half the cost.

At any rate, this is the deal. I have someone who will go on the ship with me, and who wants to go on the same shore excursion (visit Mayan ruins). I have to cover a lot of the cost, but it is either that or I do not go - or I spend almost the same amount and go by myself. Having some company is important, or else I might just end up spending the time sleeping and looking out my ocean view window. I can be fairly introverted if left to my own devices.

And I am tired of this "I can go later" shit. Who knows if there will BE a "later"? I might spend the next 10 years waiting for the "later".

Sometimes, you just have to do stuff. So I am. In August. It will be OK.