Ireland!

Ireland!

Haven't explored the city of Dublin much, but have found many old buildings falling
to pieces with windows broken but stuff inside, building facades with no buildings
inside, and new modern buildings under construction.  A new statue without even a
completed sidewalk around it already has a large chunk missing from a beveled edge,
and the warrior princess' sword has been lopped off at the hilt.

Dashing through ports and whirlwind activities onboard means I've little idea what
I've written, but I know I've done a few things in the past few days:

Around Norway the ocean is really cold.  The water in the pool onboard comes from
the water below in the ocean, so my quick dip in the pool gave me a tiny idea of
what it must have been like in iceberg laden waters 90+ years ago on (and by on I
mean off) the Titanic.  I leaped out as quickly as possible, shouting "Worst Idea
Ever!!" as I ran to the hot tub.   Brandt was enjoying a soak in the hot tub as
well so we relaxed there a bit.  Later I thought [that pool wasn't so cold] so I
ran to jump in again.  I didn't last too long (maybe a microsecond) before lunging
for the ladder to climb out in distress.  I hit the hot tub again and Brandt said,
"your worst idea ever has now become the second worst idea ever, surpassed by
getting into the pool *again*."

We took this to the logical conclusion: if I jump into the pool enough times, the
first time I jumped in will be like the best idea I've ever had.

So I decided to jump in the pool and stay in as long as I could.  Vigorously moving
arms and legs to stay afloat and warm, I lasted maybe 20 seconds, then ran back to
the hot tub and leaped in.  Amazingly, the water in the hot tub felt *cold* and
then warmed up quickly.  I was amazed by this epidermal confusion, so once I warmed
up, I ran to freeze myself in the pool again.  Maybe only 15 seconds this time, and
then jumped back into the hot tub, carefully monitoring my skin's reaction. 
Unmistakable - the water felt cold, then warm.   Amazing!

We had Irish Night a couple nights ago, on July 7th, the night of the bombings in
London.  A minute of silence for the victims and a meditative prayer for peace
before dancing.   I wasn't really in the mood to dance, so I left the party early. 
Though I gave riverdance a good shake (kick).

I trust all my peeps are well.
    Love Love
     - Rob!