Charlestown

Neighbors

We’re snugged up in Charlestown Navy Yard, next to the USS Constitution, which is still a commissioned Navy ship. Today has been leisurely. With no wind and stifling heat, the Captain decided we would stay here an extra day rather than bob around and swat flies in Cape Cod Bay. We take off tomorrow morning, and plan to show off all our sails as we make our way out of Boston. She’s a pretty thing, and we intend to flaunt her beauty and sashay our way out.

First thing, we got a “behind the scenes” tour of the Constitution, before it opened to the public. The world of tall ships is a fairly small one, and it turns out that our first officer and two of the crew had served with one of the riggers for the Constitution. He is now a civilian government employee of the Navy, (he said “with a house and a wife and a dog and a car” with a deprecating laugh) in charge of maintaining a lot of the rigging and fixtures of the old ship. So he led us around, behind the ropes that say “authorized personnel only”. Being a fan of naval history (in the form of historical fiction) I was delighted to be able to physically appreciate the reality I have read about so often.

See how low the overhead is on officers’ quarters of the Constitution
- and this was a big ship!

Then a few hours of chores, break for lunch, and free for the rest of the day. 

I walked a few miles of the Charlestown part of the Harborwalk, then made my way up to the Bunker Hill monument. From there, a “special” ice cream place, a seat in the shade near the water, and read for a while. Probably a few of us will go to a harbor side bar for a drink before bed.

As a commissioned Navy ship, the Constitution fires its cannon at 8 am and pm, as the colors go up and down. As a courtesy, we make a point of managing our flags to their schedule. That’s the only remaining duty today. 

I can’t get over how pretty she is!

The Zipper Game

My bags-within-bags exploded on the bed

A fun game my mother taught me:

Buy cute luggage that has many convenient zippered pockets to organize your stuff. Further organize your stuff by first putting it all into convenient zippered bags, before stuffing those bags into the convenient zippered built-in pockets. Then, see how many zippers you have to open to find the thing you need RIGHT NOW! Bystanders can enjoy it too!

I wrote the above during my June voyage aboard Pride II. I was embarrassed as I tried to lay out my clothes for my 4 am watch while trying not to disturb my roommate in the upper bunk. Aboard the ship, all of my stuff has to live in my bunk with me, which means I’m constantly moving stacks of convenient zippered bags around trying to find the one I need. 

After a couple of days, I figured out which bag and/or compartment held what, and so my average numbers of zippers per clothes change went way down. I further refined things on my car trip to Maine. Now, I think I’ve got it down. 

I am hyper about packing light but also about having everything I actually need, and a few things I want to make life more pleasant. I know from my previous trip that folks on the ship wear the same clothes for several days in a row. I cut back on some quantities (tshirts, pants) but held the line on types of stuff: long sleeved shirts as well as tshirts, shorts as well as pants. Also one each of rain gear and swim suit. My use of toiletries was at a minimum on the last trip, so that got cut back as well. 

It’s really important that I be able to lug all my stuff myself. On this kind of a trip, I can’t ask my peers to carry my stuff for me. I remember reading an adventure travel book some years ago, about a woman doing white water kayaking in Indonesia. She was miffed that no-one offered assistance in lugging her boat - she had always depended on guys helping her out. She wondered in the book if it was a sign she had become less attractive to men. My mind was blown away by this. Wait, guys help you out? You expect it? When ;you sign up for an exotic outdoor adventure, you are not expecting to pull your own weight? And, this is your due because you are cute? This is not an expectation I ever had. 

On all my travel, this year and before, I expect to lug my own stuff through airports, train stations, up and down escalators. Wheels help, of course, but no wheeled bags on the Pride, no space to store them. Collapsable duffles or packs, that are soft for sharing bunk space with, is the best bet. So my current favorite bag is a pack that is carry-on sized, where all the straps can be secured inside so the multiple handles allow it to be treated as a duffle. 

I was pleased to see that the total amount of walking for Amtrak was much less than getting to and from airport gates (especially at Dulles, where I had booked my Boston flight). Still, metro to Union Station, off to the Amtrak platforms, through Boston’s South Station and the Silver Line T to the hotel, I was glad of the shoulder straps. 

Now, I’m taking a break in my tour of Boston before heading to the ship via Uber (because of the hurricane, they changed docks to Charlestown).  This morning, I walked from the hotel to Faneuil Hall via the Harbor Walk - following each pier out to the end and back in again. The area where my hotel is, Seaport, is undergoing a tremendous amount of development and construction. It’s noisy, and the still active fish market smells. Planes taking off from Logan are low as they pass overhead. The convention center is here, and last night there were groups of people with tags around their necks searching for places to eat. This neighborhood is very much a work in progress. But it’s got a similar vibe to DC’s waterfront and the new Wharf development. But gotta go - late checkout at the hotel is nearly up, and there is likely to be ice cream in my near future. 

Pandemic Thoughts

Pandemic Pup

We thought we were done with this! It is SO DAMN FRUSTRATING! This was so avoidable. It proves we need the vaccine to be universal - and that includes internationally, because variants will continue to arise unless the whole world gets vaccinated.

Way back in the 1980s I read some science fiction books* that tell the story of a planetary epidemic, of flu. Scores of people all over the planet are sickened and die. A vaccine is developed. Then the crux of the story: the vaccine must be distributed planet-wide within a short period of time or else it won't work - the virus is evolving quickly. A risky time-travel method is used, and our hero self-sacrifices to get the job done. But the basic point was made. Everybody needs this, and needs it now, or it won't work. We know what to do, people. We need to do it!

I went past a lovely coffee shop in town today, Kaldis. Back in the Before Times, but post-retirement, I went a few times there with my laptop to get various things done, including blog posting. Every time I went I felt I was play-acting the life of the freelance writer, as so vividly told by my New Jersey friend. This coffee shop was late to re-open for seated service, but today as I went past there were people seated with their computers. The sign outside noted limited hours - daytime, not into the evenings. But I won't go in there to sit, not now. 

My grocery shopping habits have changed so much during this time. I was probably going to the store 3-4 times a week before. In January and February of this year, probably my most hunkered down in place time, I only went about every three weeks. I started growing my own lettuce on the countertop, so I had something fresh all the time. I'm so much more focused on using up my food before buying more. I keep an inventory written on front of the fridge, and I add expiration dates to somethings noted there. I also maintain a much better shopping list. It's on my phone, and I add to it often while in the kitchen or perusing recipes. For non-perishables like dishwasher detergent, I add to the list as soon as I open a new container, so I always have another standing by. Folks, this may not sound remarkable to you, but I've never been this organized before. 

There was a long, comprehensive article about masks in the NY Times Wirecutter section this week. I got into designing and engineering cloth masks, and I have a substantial collection now. It's time to review them - replace the elastic, in some cases, replace the metal nose wire in others. I've also got some disposable surgical masks and some KN95s. I thought maybe I had overbought, but no. I think I'll get a chance to use them. I feel KN95 is the most secure, but not the most comfortable. 

I'm so glad I went traveling when I did. I've another trip coming up, by public transport - either a plane or train (depending on hurricane impacts - I have reservations on both). I went and got tested today - I have no symptoms, but it seemed a responsible thing to do, to head off inadvertent spreading. I'll get tested again when I get back. Testing remains easy here - I waltzed right in (mid-morning) and was out in five minutes. I'll be wearing a mask during my travel, of course, for several hours, and so will probably take several to be able to change when they get damp.

I went ahead of the science and got myself a booster vaccination, of a different technology. I had the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, single shot. Not so many of us had that shot, compared to Pfizer and Moderna, so there is very little information available on its efficacy. Recommendations expected soon will not include the J&J, because they don't know. Not, you will note, because they think it isn't needed. In fairness, the J&J was distributed two months later, so if there was any reason to think its efficacy period would be similar to the others, it can come later. But wait - it's a totally different technology! Why would its period be similar? When they do come out with recommendations, they will focus on whether J&J should be boosted with another J&J shot. But I decided to roll the dice and get a booster of one of the other ones, a "mRNA" version. Studies in Europe of mix-and-match technology have shown increased efficacy from the mix-and-match approaches. I believe the U.S. should be widely distributing the vaccines around the world, but I still got my own booster. Shading of principles with self-interest.

The picture of the pandemic pup is only for the cuteness factor. He loves his lobster from Maine!

*The science fiction books are part of the "Dragons of Pern" sagas by Anne McCaffrey. She wrote a bunch (16?) books all set in the world of Pern, and now her family members have continued the business. Several of the books have references to the epic song cycle "The Ballad of Moreta's Ride", and finally she wrote a book with the story of the ride. She also wrote another book taking place at the same time with a different main character, much more focused on the effects of the pandemic.

Report Card

 I have continued to compile and look at statistics about me. It helps motivate me to look at the actual data of what I have done versus what I remember doing. I like to know if I am moving more or less, how I'm spending my time, what I'm doing to take care of myself. My memory is fallible, so actually entering the data into a spreadsheet is helpful. Turning it into a picture can be even more helpful. But then I need to look at the data and figure out what story is it telling me? What can I learn from what I've been doing in order to do better?

So herewith is part of my report card through July. On the individual months, more green is better. On the comparisons of years, the darker blue is better. I've had to play with the sizing, so the numbers may be hard to read. Luckily, the actual number matters less than the relative colors (darker is better, except red is bad). If you are on a phone, turn it sideways.

ACTIVITY

By any way you look at it, I'm less active this year than the two previous years. In fact, it's been a pretty steady decline each year. The one thing that is better this year than last year (so far) is the amount of working out (strength and flexibility) I'm doing. After the gyms closed last year, I lost focus. But now I'm working with my trainer twice a week, via video.

To focus on this year, I really worked to get in shape in May, to get ready for my big offshore voyage to Bermuda. (See Kedging It works!).  My mileage and steps were up significantly from the previous months. June has very few steps, at least partly because I had a whole week on a 100 foot long ship - not so much walking required! July steps reflect not only my daily efforts but also a couple of really long hikes in Maine. I'm aiming at averaging above 8,000 steps in August, at least until I get back aboard that big ship. The "miles walked" records deliberate walks, where I start up my GPS to track the distance. So I could have a fair number of steps if I get them just incidentally while going about my business during the day, but a very low number of miles. You can see by the high number of miles in May that I really went about deliberately getting those steps in. 

Mental Health

 I tend to meditate when I feel bad. In January, it was dealing with migraines. In May, it was dealing with the tsunami of anxiety I had about the upcoming voyage. I had been hopeful that my migraines were on the run, when I got socked in July after both vacations. In other news, I'm sleeping less, but that is actually a very normal pattern for the summer when it stays light so long. My resting heart rate increase probably reflects both the decrease in my aerobic conditioning as well as my high anxiety during vacations. (They make me anxious, but I want to do them. I've decided "thrilling" is my word - I'm scared, excited, and happy.)

Amusements

 I am a master of distraction. I am reading, listening, and watching rather than doing things pretty often. I had actually set myself a Goodreads target of fewer books this year than last, because I think I spent too much time curled up with a book rather than getting up and doing things. But I also set myself a target of more movies, and after the Oscars surge I let that slide. I'm now, when casting about for "what next" in my unstructured life going to my list of movies I want to watch. (I didn't keep track of movies in 2019.)

I added something new here: number of days away. I went back and reconstructed 2019 and 2020 travel - pretty easy, since there wasn't that much. I don't have a target, but I do want to be aware. It turns out that I slept at home in my own bed every single night from March 1, 2020 (after the Brooklyn Bash) until I boarded the ship in Baltimore in June 2021. Wow. But I'm making up for lost time now!

Did I mention I'm doing another Pride of Baltimore II voyage? At the end of August, from Boston to Baltimore. I'm hopeful my anxiety this time around will be much less, since I have such a good idea of what I'm getting into. And it's another kedge to keep me moving!