 We
Cruised and Ate, Cruised and Ate
Sunday, July 9
The Sleight family
joined Grandma Ginger and Susan Rutherford with eight others
from BCS and rode a school bus to the dock. Other friends and
alumni of BCS joined us on the ship. Upon boarding the
Norwegian Star we quickly unpacked and headed to Deck 12
by the pool for an early dinner (after the obligatory lifeboat
drill.) . We had begun our long awaited 7 night cruise to
Alaska
 Monday,
July 10
This was a cruising day and a chance to explore our home for
a week. Our family had
three cabins on deck 5 of 14. Nancy
and I has 5082 with a great window view -- and near enough to
the water to enjoy the 25
knot speed of the ship. The kids shared 5081 right across
the hall and Ginger and Susan were two doors down in 5085.
 I
never found time for the pool but I managed to use the
exercise facility twice.
I read one chapter from the five
books I'd brought. I'll know better next time. The
music and dance stage shows that began Monday night were
outstanding, especially the Andrew Lloyd Weber Music of the
Night songs on Monday night, the comedian/juggler on
Thursday night, and the Chinese acrobats on Friday night.
Tuesday, July 11 Between
breakfast and lunch I decided that the cruise would be much more
enjoyable (in the long run) if I stopped eating all I could at
the all-you-can-eat buffet.
 The
BCS group had times of devotions throughout the week, mostly in
the ship's chapel, which were led by Joel Ulrich, Nathanael's choir
teacher. At one point, while he was teaching on the topic
of "living in the moment," he stopped right in the middle of his
talk so the group could watch Killer Whales just beside the
ship. Thanks Lord, for the living illustration.
 Alcohol on the ship was pricy and contrary to the
custom of our family so as the song says, "I took a little
stroll to the Red Dog Saloon"
by
myself when we got to our first port of call, Juneau. But
first Annie and I visited the State Capitol building and met up
with the others at the State Museum. For me this trip was
my chance to get drunk on Northwest Native Art. That I
did. This chief's ermine headdress was a great piece at
the museum.
Wednesday, July 12
We arrived in Skagway early in the day.
Our plan was to
take a rented truck up into Canada and hike in the White Pass
area. They couldn't find the truck reserved by Susan but
substituted and even bigger one that we all could cram into
(sheer providence). While others spent $100 a person to
take the train, we spent $100 for all 7 of us and stopped at
every
roadside attraction.
  We hiked in a barren glaciated
alpine wonderland. The kids and Susan even reached a
mountain top. My bad leg was content to turn back at our
lunch stop because we were hiking over rough terrain.
Grandma sunned herself back by the truck. Rain storms
passed on either side of us but did not rain (much) on our
picnic. This excursion was the highlight of the cruise for
most of our group.
Of course I photographed
everything. I took about 2.5GB worth of photos this week.
Thursday, July 13
At some point I discovered the omelet making station and
choosing what to
have for breakfast suddenly got easier.
I
gained only 2 pounds on the voyage.
Thursday was our trip through
Glacier Bay. The clouds threatened, but our
visit
was satisfactory, with little rain.
I got so many great photos of
the family and individual shots of the kids! Click on the
four pictures here with wider boarders to enlarge them.
Friday,
July 14 We had only the morning until 1:00PM to
tour Ketchikan. This was "my day". The Saxman Native
Village we visited was a disappointment in one regard. It
was quite small and had little to offer. But
the gift shop there yielded treasures. I purchased three
signed and numbered prints. The large one of two whales by
Yukie Adams was especially nice ("Potlatch Dancer - Orca" done
in 2001, #88/95, $150.) And the one titled "Holy Spirit"
will be very appropriate in my office. Back in town, in a
shop on "Creek Street", I met
the wife of Marvin Oliver, my Native Art instructor at the UW so
long ago. She
told me that Yukie was also a student of her husband's.
The print I had just bought suddenly rose in value in
 my
estimation. The Frog was offered to me for only $20 because it
had no price tag. I had seen it before. (I found similar
ones by the same artist, Maynard Johnny, Jr., online when
I got home for $65.)
We celebrated Ginger's 84th
birthday a few days early on Friday night. An
international group
of waiters sang her "Happy Birthday." Our favorite
waitress Melody from the Philippines even joined us and fixed us
a big banana split.
Saturday, July 15
Our last very brief stop was in Victoria, B.C. I took all but Ginger
on a walking tour of the inner harbor. We
stopped at the WorldMark condo I had stayed at with my parents.
We visited the Empress Hotel, Thunderbird Park, and shops along
Government Street.  We saw enough to realize we needed more
time in this beautiful city.
This trip was an adventure and
did one thing especially well. It got my mind off of work.
While it was not really relaxing, it was refreshing. If my
mate would agree, we'd take a cruise every few years. What
fun that would be. But, alas, while Nancy enjoyed her time
afloat and ashore, she has no interest in that kind of vacation
ever again. The kids enjoyed it but agreed that we were
"too busy to do anything."
Technology Training
Begins in Earnest I
just realized that I've been in my current position as
technology manager for SBE for ten years. In that time my
tech skills have grown steadily but slowly. This summer my
main "to do" is my own training.
 |
I'm preparing to take two
exams to qualify myself as a Microsoft Certified Desktop
Support Technician (MCDST). This will also make me a
Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). It's still a
lot of work. Rather than sign up for formal classes,
I ordered an online training course myself for one-third the
price.
Also with the approval of my boss, I purchased a laptop for
my use at SPU (and home). I bought it online
from Newegg.com and balanced price and features. The
Acer brand is part of the same company as BenQ which I have
bought before so I expect similar quality. I want to
set this one up just as a student might who is coming to
SPU. So it will not be set up like the two machines in
my office or the 22+ in my lab. Its main use this
summer will be for my training on Windows XP and to
learn about wireless networking. |
Nathanael and
Jeannie star in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
Once again the kids
participated in Taproot Theatre's Shakespeare Super Camp.
This year eight youngsters, 6 girls and 2 boys, managed to
master Julius Caesar in their two weeks of camp.
Jeannie especially did a great job since she missed three days
of camp the first week due to illness (which she passed on to me
the following week.) Nathanael got top billing in
the title role as Julius Caesar, and after he died he returned
as Caesar's Ghost and as Octavius Caesar. Jeannie
shared the role of Cassius and like everyone in this small cast,
had a number of smaller parts. Both Sleight kids continue
to grow as they follow in acting footsteps of their sister.
 Grandma
Ginger decided that it was now a tradition to celebrate her
birthday after the play by eating at Ivar's Salmon House.
This time she splurged on dinner inside instead of just fish and
chips by Lake Union. I enjoy eating out but it doesn't
help my diet efforts. June Quote: "You can't spell slaughter without
laughter."
"We need salt. We shall drink the blood of
our enemies!"
— Nathanael R. Sleight
Comments at
the start of Washington Intensive
wrestling camp. |
July
3rd and the Promised Race
I
once promised to race Annie but the event never occurred.
I did not make that mistake again. Jeannie raced me three
times around the Bellevue Downtown Park circle and soundly beat
me. She'd just taken a math placement test at BCS that
morning and at Noon we ran. Nathanael paced Jeannie and Nancy
managed one lap while Annie timed and took pictures. My time was
12:12 and hers was 11:34 for 1.5 miles. We race again on
September 4th.
