Lee McKusick

Stress Levels

Saturday, December 20th, 2008 | Life | 1 Comment

I’m going home for break tomorrow. I almost couldn’t.

Tuesday of week 1, I lost my wallet. I’m 95% sure it was in a classroom, locked overnight, so I couldn’t get at it, but when I went back the next morning, it wasn’t there. My theory, such as it is, is that the FMS cleaning person who found it never turned it in, conveniently for him. Leaving me without my driver’s license, debit/credit cards, some cash, and a few gift certificates. Thank you, sir.

After going through the ringer with Public Safety/FMS and having no luck, I cancelled my cards, and was told it’d be 7-10 business days before new ones would arrive. Fine, I still had my student ID, so I could use Tigerbucks to get by.

Week 2 brings sickness. A wonderful onslaught of what is now identified as bronchitis.

Fast forward to week 3. Every day this week, I’ve cursed the mailman as he brought me nothing. I’ve watched my stress levels go through the roof as my health continues to be poor, my pockets continue to be empty (along with my gas tank), and my plans for going home remain uncertain.

Last night, I talk to DCU, the credit union I belong to and the ones sending the cards, and they tell me that I can go to a credit union building a mile away and withdraw cash.

WHAT?!

So I’ve been ripping my hair out the past two and a half weeks, living off of pasta and pizza, not going anywhere because of gas conservation, and the whole time I could have walked down the street, and gotten as much money as I needed to get by?

Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me this before I had to put my life on hold?!

Whatever, past is past. I’m just glad I can get home.

Tags: money, stress, wallet

Day 8: At Sea

Saturday, December 6th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments

1:53 PM - Ahh, the final day. The day of packing, of last minute sunbathing, and of making sure you don’t leave anything (clothes, jewelry, small children) behind.

Spent most of the day so far poolside. Enjoyed a line dance “class” in the center of the pool area (was the only guy, among like 20 women… ), and some pool volleyball. Guests vs. Crew, we got owned. So did the other 3 guest teams though, hehe.

Soccer @ 3.

6:01 - Got beat at soccer, 3-4. Did better than the other teams though.

8:51 - At the farewell show, starts at 9. Did a salsa class at 8 in the Latin lounge, Boleros. At the end of the class, all the people came up two at a time for their “15 seconds of fame.” There were a few single girls there (where were they before?! =P ), so the instructor had me go in 3 times. =D

I. Love. To. Dance.

I especially like to show off what I know at times. Applause is always a welcome sound… =D

12:46 AM - Great night. Show was really good. The juggler from the first night came back. Didn’t do any comedy/speaking but damn was the routine cool. After him was another comedian, Louis Johnson, I think was his name. He was a lot funnier than the other guy.

After, I went back to Boleros for some more dancing. Had a blast! Even had some older Irish woman buy me a drink. I’m so glad that particular skillset comes in handy. =D

I feel bad though, I told some woman I’d dance the next salsa with her, but noticed it was 12:30, which is when I told myself I’d stop and retire for the night (had to get up early next morning). She’d walked off though, so I don’t know where she’d gone.

I need to find a Latin club in Rochester…

Going to bed for the last time on the Liberty of the Seas. Goodnight all, and farewell!

Overall, this vacation has been a great time, and I’m exceptionally glad I went. I would totally do it again, although there are some things I would recommend for anyone considering taking a cruise, but it’s a great experience.

Tags: cruise, vacation

Day 7: Cozumel, Mexico

Saturday, December 6th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments

7:55 - OMG, I SWAM WITH DOLPHINS!!!

Pulled into port around 10:30. Headed to Chankanaab Park for our dolphin Royal Swim.

They bring you out in a small group (ours had 7; around 10 was the normal size), and you get to pet them, dance with them…

…kiss them…

…let them tow you with their dorsal fins, and my favorite, push you through the water standing on their noses. I ended up coming completely out of the water. It was amazing!

We then hung out on the beach for a while. The water was crystal clear, and there were some really cool fish swimming around. I’m pretty sure I even touched one as it was swimming away.

Grand Cayman and Cozumel were both astounding. They certainly saved the best for last.

9:37 - The show tonight was really cool. It was a Cirque du Soliel-like performance; certainly not quite as impressive as the real thing, but very cool nonetheless.

Just finished playing some more Rock Band. Fact: I love to sing!

Checking out the Majority Rules game show; then a scavenger hunt later. Should be a fun night, now that I’ve given up trying to go against the flow…

10:17 - Majority Rules was fun; sat with a cool group of people. Good times were had by all. Gonna go see if there’s any new pictures in the Photo Gallery (pictures are fricking expensive!), to kill some time before the Quest.

11:59 - Wow. That about sums up the Quest.

Ok, so a little explanation is in order. As I mentioned, the Quest was a scavenger hunt. Basically, the arena was divided up into 10 teams, all with 2 team captains, one male and one female. For each quest, one of the captains had to find, from their section, a particular item, with bonus points to the quickest team. And about every fourth one or so, it was a group activity where people would come down and make some form of scene.

I ended up being a team captain.

We started off with some simple ones, like “an empty purse”, and “a business card”, then we had a group scene of 10 people playing Twister.

After that it got a little harder, with “a sock with a hole in it” (one lady was trying to chew through a sock!), and “an iPhone.” The next group activity was making human pyramids, whihc was pretty fun.

There were some clever ones in there, like 4 fake hands, i.e. two watches.

Then it started getting a little ridiculous, hilarious, or both, depending on how you looked at it, and probably how many Thursday Thriller’s you had.Things such as “4 men’s shirts (not being worn)”, “4 men’s pants (also not being worn; we didn’t get that one)”, “4 bras” (almost had that one, but one lady couldn’t get hers off), and the guy captain wearing lipstick…

Yeah…

So for the very last thingall the guy captains had to be wearing ladies’ shoes, shirtless, wearing a bra, wearing lipstick, and carrying a purse…

…and no, I don’t have any pictures. Sorry, ladies.

So yeah, I now have a fill for the slot of most embarassing memory. (Sometimes I regret being a blogger…) I’ll tell you though, being a team captain, in and of itself, and getting everyone fired up and into it all, was rather fun.

Drink of the Day: Thursday Thriller - Mango Rum, Pineapple Juice, Triple Sec, and Grand Marnier (I think)

Probably the best DotD so far; you could barely even taste the alcohol, which is both a good thing for it’s smoothness, and potentially a very bad thing, hehe.

Shot of the Day: Mudslide - Bailey’s, Kahlua

It was good, but it seemed like deja vu. They must have been overstocked on Bailey’s or something, cause every single shot this week has been Bailey’s.

Tags: cozumel, cruise, vacation

Day 6: Grand Cayman

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 | Fun, Life | No Comments

2:26 pm - Swimming with Stingrays was cancelled because the cove was too choppy. =(

Instead, we did some shopping, got a tour of the island, visited the Tortuga Rum Cake factory, went to the Turtle farrm…

…went to Hell…

Welcome to Hell.

…then headed back.

5:18 - Just left Grand Cayman. Awesome place. Best island out of the three so far. Dad wants to move down here…

Interesting thing is, they’re very strict about who they let in; you have to be married to a Caymanian, there on a work permit, or rich enough to prove that you’ll never ask for a cent of government assistance, otherwise, they deport you. Because of this, there’s virtually no crime.

8:43 - Waiting for the show to start in about 15 minutes. Just got done with a Rock Band competition. Only lasted a half-hour, and only played one song, but it was fun. We should totally have more Rock Band parties…Hmm…Small group after-event! Speaking of which, I wonder what the latest is on that…no! Must not think about anything responsibility-related!

Ship’s rocking again. Odd, because when we left, the sea was pretty calm. As long as I get to swim with dolphins in Cozumel tomorrow, I’ll be happy. I definitely want to check that off my list.

Anyway, show’s about to start…

10:04 - Show was cool. It was a fairy tale-themed performance, with a lot of modern songs built in (i.e. “You’re So Vain” for Snow White’s Queen [random thought: did Disney create the name Maleficent for her or was it preexisting?])

Pizza time, then probably gonna go back and read for a bit, then sleep. Throat’s a little rough, so I’ve taken massive amounts of vitamin C, and am probably gonna call it a night. I am NOT getting sick. Not for the next two days, anyway.

Tags: cruise, grand cayman, hell, turtle, vacation