This is not a great day for the USA, Planet Earth and Humanity. MAGA for Donald Trump and our country today could well be the acronym for Make American Grim Again. We've had worse days, but from all fronts, life is grueling. President Donald and Melania Trump went to Texas today, where flash flooding killed 120 people last weekend, with another 161 still missing. Even though he will be in a Republican stronghold, he will be faced with the fact that he cut back on FEMA and NOAA funding that no doubt exacerbated the debacle. This will not be a crowd that will heckle him for downplaying global warming, but the media will. The State Department will today fire 1300 employees, further drawing the U.S. into isolationism. The Supreme Court this week cleared the way for these layoffs. The department has already dismantled the entire U.S. Agency for International Development. Is Elon Musk's American Party a concern? To Republicans and Donald Trump, yes. M...
Almost everyone on a cruise gains weight. Typically, five pounds for a two-week sail. There are exceptions. If you get seasick, for one. There are a few with a strong mind. You can try to lose weight on tours. Sleep, I learned, helps reduce gain. I've tended to increase from 5-8 pounds on a cruise. I allow this to happen because it turns out that I can lose them all in a week or two when I get home. Makes a case for this type of weight gain being mostly water . We always get the full alcoholic drinks package, have at least two meals a day ( we tend to skip breakfast by enjoying a nightlife, whereby you wake up just before lunch ). But two large meals, snacks and 10 drinks/day add up calories, especially when one doesn't exercise much, like me on a ship. I'm still hesitant to use the wellness centers from those pandemic days. There was one exception. We took a 52-day Seabourn cruise from Sydney to Honolulu....