Power, water, and so on...

So we had a power outtage (necessary due to some wiring that needed to be upgraded) for a day and a half, which also affects the fresh water. It was almost eerily quiet on ship. I was on watch from 8pm to midnight the day we didn't have power, and the ship felt like a cemetary. The lack of power also kept us from getting started laying some flooring, though myself and a new crew member finished that task today, with only molding and some cleanup remaining to be done. Looks pretty good, though when you deal with 99% donated tools, you just have to accept the best you can do.

As I haven't been in the galley for two days while doing flooring, few things to report there. The last dinner I did met with great enthusiasm from the crew: penne pasta with sauteed mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, and broccoli; mashed potatoes with carmelized onions and lots and lots of fresh sage (so much it turned fairly green); and spinach salad with fresh veggies. Not sure about tomorrow, but probably something potato based. I'm kind of tempted to do potato latkes and applesauce, since it's fun, deep fried, easily veganized, and we have all the ingredients. Now that I've found the slicing and grating attachments for the food processor, doing large amounts of grating and slicing and dicing are vastly more pleasant. I actually have calluses built up on my palms from cutting with knives.

I met a couple of really fantastic people from Melbourne Food Not Bombs, and plan to go cook and serve with them on Monday night. Should be fun and interesting: I'll report more afterwards.

Last night I read a roughly 300 page book from start to finish in four hours, including time to dish up and eat my dinner. Not a particularly good book, mind you, or a challenging one: Pacific Vortex, by Clive Cussler. But it moved fast enough, and wasn't too ridiculous, such that about 150 pages in, I decided to just go straight through to the (lame and fairly predictable) finish.

Home, soon... while I'm excited about it, it's a bit odd to think of going back to the states in less than three weeks. It's interesting how quickly one can become accustomed to life on ship, and life away from home, and life in radically new environments. Not that I don't miss J every single day: I do. But just how you can find a home away from home, and lonliness; things to keep busy, and time fillers; quiet spaces, and social spaces; routines, and random interactions; expectations, and coping mechanisms when those expectations aren't realized.

Confidential to TGS: thinking about you.