We fixed my Mac Mail program and now I’m trying to figure out why my hair is thinner again. I’m far from bald, but I find it odd that it thickened up and is now thinning again. I noticed this since we got back. According to my research, the common causes are thyroid disease and menopause. Well, my thyroid is treated, so I guess that leaves menopause. I’m now 8 days late for my period.

Tom has had a bad back for 8 days now, too. Icing it used to help but it doesn’t seem to be working its magic, he said, unless he’s lying down.

I’m more worried about Aly. She said there’s only a 20% chance of the chemo pill working and will probably need surgery. The good thing is that it’s got a 70% chance of working. If it was under 65% I’d be really worried, but there’s no reason not to believe at this point that somehow, some way, she will make it through. It’s sad that the stem cell will cost her something like 6K, though.

It’s also sad that some people in their 80s are in better shape than those in their 20s, but that’s a whole ‘nother story. I’ll just say that it amazes (and saddens) me to see Bob walk, ride his bike, go golfing and climb onto his roof to blow leaves from his gutter, while my sister contemplates having her bathtub removed because the poor girl can’t get into the damn thing. Yeah, God is grand.

And then there’s Marie. Marie… who will always have a special place in my heart but who also makes me shake my head sadly with her “20-year-old” problems. She asked me, saying I was the only one she could trust with it, if I thought she should move on if a “girl” tells her she’s not emotionally unavailable due to the fact that her ex-girlfriend accidentally shot her. I’m sorry she’s going through this, but seriously, these are the types of problems and issues we have in our 20s and maybe even our 30s. But the woman’s in her 50s, for God’s sake. Shouldn’t she have found Miss Right by now or pretty much decided to go it alone? She goes through one relationship after another and the immaturity involved is rather sad. The fact that she has MPD doesn’t help either. But yes, I would certainly move on in her case. Who wants to be with someone who’s not emotionally invested in the relationship?

I chatted with Christiane early yesterday morning. She went down to Austria to do some skiing. She can have the damn snow, I told her. She gets together with Nane once a year. Nane went up to Leipzig last year, so Christiane is going to go down to Munich this summer.

Sometimes I miss my old cyber girlfriend, judgmental, hypocritical Hündin or not. She was smart, talented, honest and damn good-looking, even if her sense of humor was a bit dry. Smart, honest and sane… not qualities that are easy to find.

Germany is almost always the runner-up visiting country to Blogger. Because of her?

I was laughing my ass off when Tom told me that he described the ship as a floating Motel 6 to its coworkers. That’s exactly what it was! Things were filthy, the place was chaotic and noisy, and the service was shitty. If Costco doesn’t refund the better part of our money, I am personally going to introduce them to my dark side.

He brought up something that I’ve been wondering myself… why wasn’t it possible for them to dock in Costa Maya? The waves were just a little choppy and it wasn’t storming at all. The seas were much rougher and the weather was stormy back when the Westerdam failed at its attempt to dock at the Grand Turks & Caicos, another place without a safe/protected harbor, which makes perfect sense. Yes, the boat would sway enough that when you walked down the long narrow corridor to and from the room, you would sway a bit like a drunk, but it was nothing like on the Westerdam. On that ship, things like pens and tubes of lipstick rolled around on tables. Sometimes the sea smelled salty, and other times it smelled like dead fish. Didn’t smell much of anything most of the time.

Either way, it was so horrible that Tom did make it to customer service in the end and not only refused to allow them to take tips, but he also demanded a refund on the Internet service we never got. This much they did comply with.

I love that one of their other ships got damaged. Hope no one was hurt, though!

I also liked being in Hawaii in my dreams last night until a hurricane arrived. I saw Nane in one of the dreams too, no doubt influenced by discussing her with Christiane.