Friday, June 21, 2013

Porcu(pining) for Dublin

Dear Readers,

Well, we’re cruising right along through the Atlantic, and Summer Sea Term for that matter.  I can hardly believe we’re just four days off from Dublin!  And here’s a fun fact: tomorrow we’ll be heading over the Porcupine Abyssal Plain.  I had no idea there was such a Plain named after a Porcupine, but there it is on our chart!  I’d love to find out how it got its name…

There’s just one round of finals left for Engineers and first class Deckies (cargo safety, marlinspike seamanship, knot tying, and ground tackle)  tomorrow, many of whom have been camped out in the library all day.  Most other cadets are now on the final stretch to port and taking advantage of some long-missed down time, including a very heated foosball tournament going on outside the library in the “rec room.” Whether it’s just for 15 minutes between classes or for hours after dinner, crowds of students gather around the three tables to outpace the others in an epic battle of spinning very small soccer players rapidly around on a post, keeping the foosball out of their respective goals.  So far, there appears to be a three-way tie for the lead between Cadets Adam Gray, Atley Sanders, and Mate Owen Palmiotti.

Others have taken a preference to a less fast-paced activity; like, you know, reading, playing Scrabble, or chess.  (I had to gently suggest today that “iorny" was not a Scrabble-approved word, and perhaps they were thinking of “irony” instead.)


Wishing everyone good luck over the next few days, and hoping for successful exams and final assignments!

Until next time,

Books

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