Three days at sea!

Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Friday, February 22

Where am I?

What’s been happening?

Tuesday

On Tuesday night, during some rough seas, I managed to injure myself. While returning from the “head” I was getting back into bed, slowly and in the dark. I had just made it to the very edge of the mattress when the ship was tossed by a large wave and I was rolled off of the mattress. My feet hit the floor, but my left side was held up just under the ribs by the edge of the side table. It hurt like the Dickens, but I was sure that I’d feel even more pain the next day. Makes me feel like I’m regressing to a childhood state again by falling out of my bed.

Thursday

The first thing you should notice is the list of dates for this post. See anything peculiar? I assure you, there’s no mistake.

I went to bed Tuesday night and woke up Thursday morning after an eight hour sleep. It sounds strange, and I think it was. During the night Tuesday, the ship observed the International Date Line and we lost a full day. This is what happens when you cross the line while traveling from east to west. The ship did not change the clock time, only the date. So what happened was we “officially” changed time zones from GMT-10 to GMT +14. The time on the face of the clock stayed the same, but the day of the week did not. The calendar “magically” went from Tuesday to Thursday. I think this is the first week of my life that did not have a Wednesday.

And, to commemorate our crossing of the International Date Line, we all received this certificate.

Also, this afternoon I visited the ship’s doctor as the pain in my back is much stronger than I expected. I want to rule out any bruising to internal organs. The doctor did as much as a ship’s doctor can do. He did eliminate several medical possibilities (like a cracked rib), so he and I are now operating under the likelihood that I just have a deep bruise, but a bruised spleen or kidney cannot be completely ruled out. The plan is to wait a week or so to see how and if my condition changes. If I position myself just right, I don’t feel any pain at all, but if I try to use the muscles in the impacted part of my back, I nearly go through the roof with pain. Here’s to hoping that things improve quickly!

Tonight, the rain showers came in. Watching the weather aboard ship while cruising in the South Pacific is really interesting. One moment I’m looking at the stars trying to identify the Southern Cross, the next minute it is raining torrentially! Here’s Thursday night’s version of a “wet bar.”

Friday

Nothing to report today, and that’s largely because I never left my stateroom. I’m hoping that by giving myself some complete rest my injured back might start to show some sign of healing.

Next stop: Tonga!