A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall

This morning I rode with the King and his daughter to the airport in order to borrow his car. After I dropped them off, I hit roadblocks. The detour signs seemed to be getting me further and further off track, so I swerved off onto a country-looking road that turned out to be the main access route to the prison. There was small roadblock across the opposite lane, so I slowed down.

"You here for visitation?" asked the guard.
"No," I said, "I was hoping to drive through here."
"I don't know what they're doing back there," he said. "Road's supposed to be blocked."
"So I can drive through, but just not pick anybody up? Is that right?"
He grinned and nodded; winked, "That's right, ma'am."

I rolled up my window, hit the lock button and kept on driving.

Smith helping me capture Harrison's new Harry Potter scar -
which he got when Rigby inadvertently elbowed him
during The Great Fend-off. 

All Hands on Watch

When I got back to the boat the winds had kicked up. They'd shut down the boat for visits, and the entire crew was wedged between the boat and the dock, trying to make sure the fenders didn't pop out. We're under a tornado watch until later tonight. Cap asked us all to keep our cell phones on us this evening in case we needed to rescue the boat from the three-foot waves.

It was a bit of a relief to see the King off. His presence on the boat reminded me of when I convinced my father to buy a house when I was in college, so that I and my sisters had a place to stay off-campus. Every time he came to see the house, he was frustrated by the fact that we didn't take care of it the way he would have. The King seemed a lot more hands-off than my father, which is surprising, given the fact that it's a boat and it needs a lot of constant work. Still, it's our home even though he owns it. When he was in the galley, I tried to see what he was seeing. "Sorry about that stove," he said at one point. I gave him a (small) earful.

Although Captain Bill is a nice ol' guy, I'm ready to see him off, too. Over the last few days, our boat has been top-heavy. Too many leaders in too small a space.  Like when the old cook, Mark, was still here. We probably overlapped by four days or something.

It feels like the boat has had a head-cold. I'm ready for us to get over it. Start fresh.

Saturday's Menu

Breakfast
I had planned to make sausage gravy but couldn't find the sausage. So I made biscuits, bacon and eggs. After breakfast Captain Flash said, "I'm not a morning person. I don't eat breakfast." I've decided that once Captain Bill leaves on Monday, I'm going to use breakfast as my spicy, experimental food hour.
Lunch

Pork being seared, beside the Chablis I used on the kale.

Spaghetti and meatballs
Dinner
Pork loin that I got on sale (I checked the date!) marinated for hours; it was delicious.
(http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/marinated-pork-tenderloin/Detail.aspx)
Rice with lemon rinds
Leftover baked beans
Kale and onions
Salad
Dessert
Oops. I guess they'll survive. Totally forgot about it.