Employee of The Month Dinner

As I watched the Watchmen, I got a phone call in the middle. I quickly got up to answer. It was Stu. He asked if he woke me, which he hadn’t, and I replied no. He then told me to remember the dinner tonight with the captain. He told me to make sure I’m dressed up nice, no elbows on the table, and to finish my vegetables (a little joke.) I told him no worries, and I went back to watching my movie.
When the movie finished, I went to take a shower. Then I played some spore. At around 7 I got dressed into my suit, and hung out at the CTC as I waited for us to leave (Simon, one of the CTC people.) He took me up to the bar outside the empire room. The deco lounge. Jim was playing guitar and singing some Bob Dylan. He had a nice little group of older people watching. He leaves in a couple cruises sadly enough, but I watched him play away. The Hotel Director was there, whose name is Keith. He’s a nice guy from what I’ve gathered meeting him in the past.
Soon, the Captain, the chief engineer, and head navigator arrived. Keith asked if I wanted a drink and to order it since it was free. So I ordered a virgin Bloody Mary. Very delicious! No need for alcohol! Keith asked how it was playing on Lido and I told him about my little experience with the interruptions. He said he had a meeting with Peter and Stu about not having people play during that time up there since it’s dead, and the possibilities of those interruptions.
We then made our way into the Empire dining room. I saw Svetlana and waved, as we, the group, walked down to our table on the floor below us. I was always under the impression that the food in the dining room wouldn’t be that delicious but that myth was definitely proven wrong. As we all sat, we were handed a menu. My eyes were set on fried oysters, shrimp cocktail, Steak and what ever dessert. Keith and I had the most dialogue. He’s originally from New Mexico, but lives in Hawaii now. I filled him in on my college, and music and all that good stuff. He told me he had a relative that was a disk jockey for radio in Arizona, and he would send my CD on over. So that’s cool!
The dinner was very delicious. I told everyone about my guitar purchases and such. The Captain said he had a friend who collected guitars. Had 13 gibsons, and fenders and other big names.
As we were finishing up our meal, over the intercom they asked everyone to congratulate the employee of the month for it’s because of their comment cards that we get voted to be it. Everyone clapped and all that stuff.
The waiter then came over and asked what I wanted for desert. I was stuck between this almond chocolate cake and this warm cake with ice cream. The waiter suggested the latter, but he brought out both. His suggestion was really REALLY good. I was so surprised.
By the end of the dinner, I shook hands with everyone and said my goodbyes, and headed down to the CTC, where I would hang before going to see the Big Easy show. An hour passed and I made my way down there and sat in the top row. Very good looking show until the middle where there was a technical difficulty and they had to stop the show. Due to lack of sleep I decided to leave, and try to get to bed around 12... Maybe it will put my sleeping pattern back in order!
I’ve been on the ship for 3 months and two days, and like the months before, I still love the job VERY much. The homesickness feeling has definitely died a lot in the last three weeks. Now I’m just falling into my patterns out here. It’s a great job and I’m really glad I was able to get set up in this! Hawaii was so worth it, and I loved Alaska, and now I’m in a country where I can use the 4 semesters of Spanish I had. Such a great job. Well, I’m off to bed!