July 19th, 2013

The Magic surely is a beautiful ship.

The dock cast did their job admirably as always. I have always thought Port Canaveral has had the most professional cast of any port of call but its when you are going up the gangplank that you are struck by the beauty and majesty of the Disney cruise liners. I noticed the slight differences immediately,Donald replaced by Goofy, and those really nice oblong portholes replaced by circular ones, but overall a beautiful ship with beautiful lines.

The line moved up the gangplank slowly but steadily, punctuated by children’s screams of glee, parents keeping track of said little ones and the very annoying ring of Bruce’s phone. I love my son, but if that phone doesn’t stop ringing at some point I may have to pitch it, or him, over the side.

I had a brief chat with Dr Bernstein who has the unenviable job of chaperoning what must be a dozen teenage cheerleaders who seem to have more energy then sense. Its amusing to watch them try and be adult and above all the excitement of Disney, which is kids stuff, all the while they are bouncing up and down with excitement. There was a nice young man that seemed a bit aloof and was slender and handsome. I was thinking about Raul and then I see HIM and it teleported me to that night:

At the top of the ramp we greeted the Captain, who didn’t remember me, but he at least remembered my anniversary and invited me to dinner at the Captain’s Table which was nice of him. Our rooms were fine, the safety seminar was very well run by the Safety Coordinator Samantha Rawlins.

In the late afternoon just before dinner Walter spoke with me and it was a very disturbing conversation. First its very obvious his Alzheimers is getting worse. At first I thought maybe he was having some sort of psychotic break but after we talked I think its really real. He started by asking if I thought Bruce would want to take over the business because Alvin may be embezzling from the company. That was bad enough. Bruce would do fine although hes a bottom liner, he wouldn’t care about the company but then Walter dropped the bombshell. For years he has been taking money from the US government, an agency called VOPA, to put some chemicals in his toothpaste and the worst part is he DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE. 60 Million is a lot of….wait what, they want to change what they are putting in and they are offering you 15 billion per year. Also there have been a lot of deaths in the company, 3 car accidents, 2 heart attacks and one trampling!! We started to talk about it and then Walter had an episode, he completely forgot where we were or why we were talking. Hopefully he comes back so we can talk about this further. Maybe I can get Fatima to analyze the chemicals that are already in the toothpaste. Ill have to talk to her.

The day was a blur till dinner. The Captains table was immaculate and I was having a good time until Cooper cornered me with more of his supposedly paranoid ranting about how I destroyed his career and he was going to get me. I should have cancelled the trip, but nobody would understand why. To get away I dropped by my table to see the folks we would be sitting with for the rest of the trip. There were the Parkers a nice family. Mr Bernstein and two of his charges Tabitha and Patricia were there and then Candy and I will round out the table. I was making introductions when Mr Parker, George?, grabbed his chest, looked around wildly and then fell to the floor. I moved forward immediately to see if I could help when I was bulled over by some loud man with a slight accent screaming that he was a doctor. I appreciate the desire to help but doesn’t he know a calm firm manner is better than yelling and potentially causing a panic. Mr Parkers family is already worried enough without some brash person screaming…

Howard Barclay Prelude

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Howard Barclay Journal #2