The Diamond Princess left Phuket, Thailand, and will be at sea for three days, returning south past Singapore, then heading north to arrive in Nha Trang, Vietnam on Day 9.  Map on right just shows the juxtaposition of these stops. On Day 6, my usual ramen lunch, with a lot of veggies and a piece of meat or two, plus a beer. Again, took a nap, then walked a mile around the ship.  Had a drink in the Captain's Reception, On to dinner at Pacific Moon.  Menu. Started with the chowder and tender greens salad.  No wines tonight.  Leftover from pre-dinner drinks. Cumin spiced beef short ribs with chilled coconut soup.  I've never used a straw for soup before.  This was not a great combination.  The beef was dry and the soup too sweet.  But this was expected, for it included orange, honey and lychee. Rum Raisin Panna Cotta with Drambuie on rocks. We were early for the theater show, so stopped by for a drink at the Wheelhouse Bar. Then on to  Born...

The death toll for Category 4 Hurricane Helene is now up to 64 .  Surprisingly enough, South Carolina is up to 23, with Florida at 11, with 10 of them from the Tampa Bay area.  Perry and Tallahassee had none.  Note that the dangerous quadrant is to the northeast ( 0 to 90 degrees ).  These numbers are expected to further rise.  There is particular worry about North Carolina.   4.8 million lost power.   Notice how the eye of Helene has circled back to Tennessee. I read an article by John Crisp on  Live on Mars? How about life on Earth? What should be the priority of NASA?  Send people to the Moon and Mars?  Or minimize mammoth expenses by focusing on telescopic explorations to find life in our solar system and beyond? I once worked on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence at the NASA Ames Research Center, and eight years ago Harry Jones, who works there, speculated that the  cost of the first human mission to Mars wo...