Barbara J. Hamby

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Writing Through the Mist

Whether it’s jet lag, lack of sleep, or just old age fatigue, a misty haze fills my brain and crowds out clear thought. After two naps today, I’m barely able to focus. On second thought, I might be suffering from an overdose of computer functionality or, in my case, dys-functionality. This morning, when Al’s sister Charlotte came over, I managed to get my stubborn laptop to present the pictures on our digital camera in a slideshow. I did it once before in Beijing, but still don’t know how I did it either time, so next time will be just as much of a struggle.

This evening I had better luck transferring the travel logs written on the Asian cruise to a CD from the laptop, then on to the desktop from the CD. Text is my media; pictures are a mystery. Now I can edit and print out each one in multiple copies to take to my critique group for additional help with the editing.

Today we received in the mail our cruise critique questionnaire sent by the travel agency. I may be able to use it to get the message to the cruise line that we are not happy cruisers, at least not with them. We find no fault with the travel agency, but we have done a number of cruises--Al has done many more than I--and we agreed this was the worst one for either of us.

Being lost in Shanghai without our passports--being held on the ship--and with no Chinese money or bilingual cheat sheets was one of the highlights. Did I mention rain soaked us as we waited in vain to find our guide and/or our bus? For once in my life, I joyfully greeted street vendors. They sold us umbrellas for one American dollar each. Stay tuned to my website to see if/how we got out of there. I hope to have the stories posted by the 15th of this month or so. Be patient, I move slowly these days