Monday, April 26, 2010

Terry on Entering the Red Sea

Terry’s Take on Entering the Red Sea
To an audience of about 40 people, Terry gave a power point presentation on a subject he knows well – power plants! The Rotary / service Club has met several times since we’ve sailed and talked him into sharing his knowledge with his fellow Rotarians. He was surprised that the only discussion about Nuclear waste came from a Frenchman who was totally satisfied with the way France was dealing with the waste. The majority of the attendees were in our age group and understood the role electricity plays in our quality of life. And Terry’s on a roll ….here’s what he has to say!
Well, we are entering the Red Sea, but it still looks blue to me. I wonder if this is where they first discovered red / green color blindness. We dropped off our two security guards; they boarded their “gun ship” and headed for their next assignment with their backpacks. If this stuff keeps up this would be a good business for Kevin and some of his friends to enter when they retire from the Navy. We will work on a business plan when I get back.
My thought is that we buy a couple of subs and then sell insurance against getting boarded by the pirates. The policies would take effect three months after the initial payment date. That would give us sufficient time to find and take out all the “mother” ships that supply the smaller boats used to actually attack the cargo ships. With the profits from the initial business we could buy an aircraft carrier and then bomb the villages where the pirates live. We would want good news coverage as we want our customers to perceive the problem to still be serious so they would keep buying the insurance. Once we have our steady income from the premiums and our costs of operations has been reduced to a minimum we package the business up and sell it to Goldman Sachs. They will then do an IPO and offer it to the pirates as a secure place to put the original ransom money they collected before our original security business came along. At this point you may think I am crazy, but hang in there.
The new pirate business owners now employ some of the poor stupid pirates to continue trying to attack cargo ships; this will keep up the facade that the pirates are still a threat. They also now employ the almost as stupid pirates to become the security force protecting the cargo ships. This will solve several of the country’s problems: population control while raising the average IQ, income for the poor, gain the respect of other countries, ….. This is a win-win for everyone. J
OK, we are having a good time; we still have several more days at sea before we go through the Suez Canal on Thursday. Today is Monday April 26, 2010; we are presently ten hours ahead of California time; it is 4:30 am in CA and 2:30 pm here in the Red Sea. We arrive in Athens on May 3rd in the morning after a one day sail from Alexandria, Egypt where we have scheduled a tour of the Pyramids and lunch on the Nile.
Betty has been working out every day; I have been working out as time permits between naps and meals. I have also been reading e-mails but the ships system does not let me send using my MS Outlook, so I can only send using “Yahoo.” So far everything I have read can wait until we get back so you will have to be content reading the blog we post on a regular basis. We will have about twenty-two hours of travel time by the time we get home. We gain ten hours and with “airport time” and customs we should be pretty well wiped out by the time we hit SFO and get the van to drive home.

1 comment:

  1. Hi BMK long distance Cruisers....
    Well, sounds as if you are having more fun these days...with a bit of excitement thrown in being within the "Transit Zone." Your business plan sounds pretty bizarre, but plausible. Count me in...maybe as your stateside advisor if the initial investment is not too severe. Not certain if purchasing operational subs and carriers is feasible, however. Enjoyed all the photos too.
    Local happenings are not as dramatic or exciting. We lost another neighbor, Ernie Furst, last week who corageously ended his long time health battle. "Opening Day" has come and gone and it was a glorious weekend weather-wise. Understand four boats with seven crewmembers (no asphalts) made the Benicia cruise. And, reportedly the "decorated" BMKYC boat was awarded 3rd place in the PICYA sponsored parade which was not as big this year. The Tiburon Harbor, as usual, was alive with activity and a BMK's boat, "Swedish Lady," who docks just across from Leila's, took 1st place in the CYC harbor competition amongst over a hundred decorated boats. Met the boat owner (Jan and his wife), at the CYC and ran into Ann and Mike who were aboard his boat for the weekend. The theme was "Building Bridges" and Mike spent eight hours building a replica of the GGB which was spread across the bridge of "Swedish Lady" with blue waters underneath...really neatly (and expertly) done. They did not enter the official parade. Seems as if a bit of prior verbal communication could have resulted in bigger benefits for our club. Your dancing buddy had his Sea Ray at Sam's for the weekend and there must have been fifty young ladies dancing on it...plus a couple severely annibriated individuals. But, what else is new...we decided not to visit.
    Still busy with "Stinson" averaging two trips a week to UCDavis. Still no pathology report, but we are hoping all was taken out. At least the wound seems to be healing and he is walking better...still hates that e-collar and boot however. Linda walked with the group this morning...Lynn and "LV" and dogs were present. All appears well there.
    Wishing you guys the best for the remainder of the cruise and return trip to CONUS. You are all missed...well, not so sure about Terry though.

    Bob

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