Tuesday October 14

"God is good, all the time, all the time God is good". One of the great things about being on the ship is the friendships that are made. Tomorrow an Australian couple are leaving the ship so I was asked if I would like to come and say goodbye to them and "by the way, can you bring something edible with you". Along with half a dozen others I indeed took something edible - banana bread made from scratch (much to the amazement of a young american looking on when I was making last night).

We had such a fun time and even managed to sing a bit having borrowed a guitar. But these friends have invited me to call in if ever I make it to Oz and since I already have reles over there that is a real possibility. Importantly though they have set the example by going to one of the wards and singing with the patients and I'm going to carry that on along with a couple of others while I am still onboard.

As for work, oh yes, that place where I have so much fun ... same again with the same team so now we are working well together. we are getting to the stage of not having to ask all the time for things as they appear. One of our patients caused us a little anaesthetic problem and took rather more than the average amount of drugs to get hime to sleep. It just goes to show that one has to be prepared for all eventualities especially onboard ship. With changes of staff caused by emergencies on the ward we all need to be very adaptable. As one anaesthetist said, " This is just so different to the usual day"

And it is. No 2 days are ever the same. Sometimes we don't have exactly what we would like but we all just get on with it. No temper tantrums, no toys thrown out of the pram, just a calm acceptance and a quick think of how to resolve the problem together.

The other little jaunt I had was to visit the engine rooms down in the bowels of the ship. A planned visit and good to find out what it was that kept me awake last time I was here and slept on the second deck. this time I'm on 3rd deck and its so much cooler!! God is good......