My view today is pretty terrific:
She’s always smiling …
… when she has sand between her toes:
Yours might not have been in the sand and sun, but I hope it was a fine day.
photo
10
Jun 14
Another sea day
Before my first cruise, when I was skeptical about the entire idea, I was pretty sure a sea day would be the worst part of it all. Before that first cruise was over I decided I liked the sea days best of all. You can rest and read and relax and there is always plenty to do.
I did some more high-tension climbing on a stationary bike this morning, about six miles worth, just warming my legs. This is the view from the gym:
I ran a 5K on the deck where a guy announced they should kill the engines and run off of me. We’d never make it to Bermuda.
Perhaps that was his point. Maybe he wanted another sea day, too.
Our view before dinner tonight:
We have not felt the ship move at all. The water has been incredibly calm. And we arrive in Bermuda tomorrow.
8
Jun 14
We’re cruising
The Manhattan skyline, as seen from Bayonne, New Jersey. They call it Cape Liberty now, because everyone smirks at Bayonne. As if a name change could change what you saw on the way in. Either way, the views are nice, the weather is warm, the sun is out.
We had breakfast at the in-laws’ favorite diner. We loaded the car, unloaded the car and reloaded the car correctly. We did not photograph how we stacked all of the luggage. We should have.
We drove to New Jersey, unloaded the car, gave the luggage to the union guys and then worked our way through the process of getting on board. We were early enough that this went smoothly. The clerk who processed me in remarked on how young I looked in my passport photo.
That was only eight years ago. Have I aged that much? Excuse me while I undergo several new skin treatments.
We got to our room, took the traditional OJ toast and are waiting on our luggage and to get underway.
So things will be sparse for the next week. A photo here, a video there. We’ll get back up to speed soon after.
Until then, I’ll have a relaxing time for you.
5
Jun 14
A quick Thursday post
I don’t know what you had for dinner tonight, but we went here:
It is one of those look-forward-to-it-all-day places. We always visit here when we’re on the Gold Coast. It wasn’t even especially good tonight and it was better than most things you could enjoy.
Tonight we attended the year-ending party of Special Church, which is a program my mother-in-law runs for special needs community members. The Waffle Man was there, with ice cream. The music therapist played songs on a ukelele. One of the attendees did a great solo, others danced and shook noisemakers. We had party favors and tropi-coladas: coconut and pineapple juice and huge sugar rushes. We got hugs. It was a fine party; it always is when we are there.
Things to read … because when have you not been to a party that had a lot of great reading?
Exactly.
Huge leap in mobile video usage and ad interaction
Mobile is fast becoming a central hub of entertainment decisions, with not only content usage climbing but also a commensurate leap in ad engagement, says research from Vdopia.
Among the key findings revealed by the latest edition of the mobile video advertising provider’s Vdopia Mobile Insights (VMI) report was the fact that the number of people who consumed entertainment content on their smartphones ever in a month jumped 28% in the past year to 109 million. Americans now average 33 minutes each day watching videos on their smartphones.
Moreover, mobile entertainment audiences not only are twice as likely to click on mobile ads but 45% recall seeing ads compared to only 24% for non-mobile entertainment audiences.
Which one of you is watching that much video on your phone? Pretty sure it isn’t me.
There’s an Alabama hook here, and four amazing stories: Four POWs we should all remember.
Veteran, 89, Recreates D-Day Parachute Jump: “They made me feel very relaxed but I wanted to get out that door!”
I’m just going to read every D-Day story, aren’t I?
This one features a different fellow. D-Day paratrooper, 93, to jump again for anniversary: “They are worried about me getting hurt. I said, ‘Don’t worry about it. If I get hurt or I get killed, what is the difference? I’ve lived 93 years. I’ve had a good life.'”
And, finally:
3
Jun 14
Not sure of my time zone
What day is it? What planet am I on?
Transnational travel in a day is a surrealistic thing. On the other hand, we traversed almost 7,000 miles in a day.
I ran one mile today, having not put on those shoes in a week, and my body feeling pretty terrible both because of that and the travel and the sleepiness and it all just hurt. So I sprinted, which still felt like a slog on my wife’s high school track.
Saw this truck while we were ordering sandwiches. I feel like they got the tint of the paint job just about perfect:
These were our collective fortunes at dinner tonight. One of them makes no sense and, thus, all of the sense in the world:
Things to read: because reading always makes sense.
What passes as sports journalism at home today: Alabama All-Americans on the same bench as AJ McCarron meets Forrest Gump. I’ll leave it to you to decide if I mean the subject matter or just writing things from social media accounts you follow.
Something more important, Exclusive: Sharyl Attkisson on Journalism’s Very Dangerous Trend:
Sharyl Attkisson, an award-winning investigative reporter who resigned from CBS News earlier this year, says the news media are heading down a dangerous path with attempts to “censor or block stories” that don’t align with their preferred agenda.
“There’s a tendency in the news media, on the part of some managers, to censor or block stories that don’t fall in line with the message they want sent to the viewers,” Attkisson said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Signal. “I think that’s really a very dangerous perspective to have.”
This makes sense, and you’ll see a lot more stories like it. Online, mobile consumption soars among sports fans means you should go where your audience is.
Internet Use Over Time is an excellent resource from Pew.
FAA Weighs Letting Film, TV Industry Use Drones reminds me: I still need a drone.
And, possibly, a good night’s sleep.
