Yesterday's final dispatch arrived early this morning as Dan finished his coffee and cleared his desk. "Captain and crew were up early this morning steaming towards today's destination - looks like the party on the aft deck was just coming to an
end as the sun was rising. What to heck is with the laundry over the aft railing - and who but up that new flag on the tallest mast on the ship? Any way - back to the news - 16 racers arrived at the Day 8 location - with several making great advances in the ranks. - 6 racers are still un accounted for - the police in Mexico and Panama have been put on alert. Allyn still holds onto her 1st place lead and is the first to break 1000 points at 1098. WC Donna - fearing a slip, has still managed to hold onto 2nd for another day - 867. NPS makes biggest change in the top 5 moving to 3rd at 761.... Kay, still hot on her heels though in 4th with 759...CitySue rounds out the top 5 at 739.... Trivial Trivia for DAY 9 - There will be no TT wild card today - every one will get a zero added to the day's score. Starting time today 24:00 ZULU or 00:00 ZULU which I believe is the more accurate description of the Starting Time - don't forget everyone should check the starting times in case there are changes. Signed, HRS. . . .Karen admitted the flag was hers, " I am the one responsible for the flag Dan. I started knitting it as I crossed the canal and finished it on the other side on the day I showed up at the location 31 minutes ahead of time. Is the flag big enough? Does it stand out enough? Never leave home without knitting needles and yarn...(water proofed in this case)" . . .Relief from Dan. "Whew - glad to hear that - at one point last night I woke up from a dream - in it Dale was threatening to put Ruth's bikini up there!" . . .Dale rolled his eyes, "Boy are you in trouble now- Karen -- Ruth just told us that nobody better touch her Bikini - now where did you hide it?" . . .Karen said, "In a keg of rum that can be found with twelve other kegs in the aft of the kitchen... Now which keg has it? . . .Dale said with a straight face, " The one with the bubbles coming out!" . . ."Vera joined in, "So sorry Ruth - forgive this question. Now, was Ruth in it at that time or running from him trying to get it?" . . . Ruth's airy reply, "Such impertinence! Who runs at times like that!" . . .Barely able to contain herself, Esme waved her hand to ask, "I do have one question. When I clicked on "Daily Race Times," the "s" stayed blue and the rest of the letters turned purple. Are you trying to save the "s" for a secret stash later?" . . .Not missing a beat, Dan replied, "That's a definite possible maybe! - Of course now that it's so visible to everyone - that's reverted to a - I'm not so sure, maybe it's not now, never has been, never will be, could be, yup just not sure when, but if I were you I'd pay attention - because the most blatant way to be subtle - is indeed to be obvious." . . .Everyone applauded his wise words! . . .There was an interesting colloquy on the ZULU time. Following Dan's placing the GMT/ZULU time on the Web, Dan asked racers not in the Eastern time zone to verify it's accuracy. Snoopy called in, "I looked at it and it looked correct to me....correct for my time" . . .Donna reported "works right here too Dan.... now if we can all calculate from there we will be all set" . . .Dan said, "I thought it would, but glad to know it does...It should be looking at the local clock on your computer and converting it from there." . . .Donna laughed, "Yes, it does... but then we have to figure what is the difference between the times-- then add it to the current time... and hope our calculations are right!" ... Dan slowly said, "Once again - I ask - and your point is? At least now you'll know if you are early or late!" . . .Dale spoke up, "Dan, --- Esme is giving away secrets don't you think she should help with the laundry?" . . ." No", said Dan, "but I am contemplating putting her in charge of selecting the location for the secret stash - and after she tells me where it is, to move it! But nothing in the rules against sharing information!" (Mighty generous of him!) Donna laughed, "I think we should all give her a point or three for helping us out." . . .Esme retorted, "I tried to be blatantly obvious." signed, "Subtle TM56." . . ."You did good - you set up the SS for the day perfectly." said Dan . . . Humpf, said Dale, "Nobody offered me points when I tried to help everyone." . . .Slygranny joined in with, "But we did give you pointERS when you needed them! For that we should get samba lessons as well as laundry!" . . .Holli announced, "A great pick today, kids...Have fun!," as she waved and headed for work. Her Bullistic Bingo, a great picture of Snoopy and Woodstock, was a gift to Kay! . . .Kay was pleased. "Aw, that's so cute! Thanks Holli!... I don't think I had that picture, and I have a TON of Snoopy pics." . . .Esme sent a link with this note, "Here's something to pass the time while waiting for ZULU hour: http://digicc.com/fido/ <http://digicc.com/fido/. " . . .Dan thanked her saying, "He's our ace mathematician on the Hollidan Arithmetic, Math and Science - (HAMS) team - looks just like me when I had hair!" . . Rita commented, "Yes, it is amazing. I tried several different numbers and he always guesses correctly."... In an aside, Dale said, "Tracy-- would you please help me?...While Dan's taking his nap, slip me the answers." . . .(Boy, the whole ship heard that through the laundry chute!) . . .Dan replied, "I have forwarded your request directly to Tracy ( tlima@dtlima.com )-we've been married for 36 years next month - and we both understand it's not a good idea to answer for each other when we can answer for ourselves." . . .(Does he have a license to practice marriage counseling?) . . .Dan clicked on the microphone. "I'm off to inspect the ship - I hear there is some kind of ruckus going on in and around the laundry room - will be back on-line to check postings and scores then - as of this moment 15:06 ZULU - all scores are up to date - please verify your score when you get a chance." HRS . . Allyn finally showed up after a full night. "Whooee, what a night! Frank staggered into the kitchen, ate breakfast, took a bath, and collapsed into a snoring heap. He's sprawled out all over my desk and I can't get him to budge. Never saw anyone Samba like that! We should enter him in "So You Think You Can Dance". . . .(Wonder when the rest of the racers will show up! -- pretty wild last night!) Donna called to PattyBo, "Did your DH make it back ok from his gulf trip?" . . ."Yes" she answered, " He got back about 11PM last night and just finished cleaning the fish that he brought home...There were five guys that went. He caught the most and the biggest...The best fishing was done all night long so he is definitely tired. We ended up with 50 lbs of filleted fish - grouper, snapper and jack and a lot of stories and aching muscles since he had never done any salt water fishing before and the intense reeling in of the fish. It took 15 minutes to get the biggest one into the boat... so big it wouldn't lay flat in his cooler which I think is 4 ft long. I took all kinds of pictures of the fish and the fillets, etc. Looks like some good eating. The captain told him the grouper goes for $7 - $8 a lb usually if you sell it. We'll cook some today and freeze the rest. He gave his Dad and our son some also since they helped clean it." . . .Dan was delighted. "Please check your score - up to date as of 16:48 ZULU --- Gotta head down to the ships freezer and make room for PattyBo's Big Fish Story ---- er I mean fish - hey Patty can we have a Fish Fry tonight - I'll alert the cooks? After that this judge will be on inspection - Dale has taught me a neat thing to inspect - the insides of my eye lids ---- be back when I wake up! OODJ . . ."So what time is dinner?" asked Allyn, "I'll bring Billy's nearly-famous potato salad and some Turtle Tarts from Valerie/Chef Snoopy." . . .(Not to be confused with our green chili Snoopy, Kay, -- the racer!) . . .Vera was impressed. "Sounds like a great trip! WOW - what a haul!" . . . Ruth said, "PattyBo --- you'll have to share the photos... fantastic good fishing...it carries stories to last many a campfire...a rich haul at $7 - 8 a pound... without factoring in the other costs -- boat, equipment, and so on. I love to fish -- just never did ocean fishing...we'll dine well tonight!! Dale promptly remarked, "Ruth, you'll just have to give it a try, the way you cast a line, you will have a big one on in no time." . . .Karen flashed a HEADLINE . . ."Scout plane reports back to Houston...Mystery item...dish detergent mixed with laundry detergent and salt water....A month supply of both detergents is the estimated amount used..scout plane issues call to environmental police...who call MSPCA just in case the dolphins and whales want to give their side of what happened...Where is Dr Doolittle when you need him?" . . .Dan replied, "That would explain the calls from Fox, CNN, MSNBC!" . . .On the subject of green chili stew that Doris found so yummy in her kitchen (Gary's pot of green chili stew on the stove), and Kay wondered if anyone else knew about it, Donna said, "I don't...do I want to know?-- are you gonna tell me?...Kay laughed. "I don't know if you do or not. Green chile stew is just good stuff and a staple around here. I think that most of the green chile is grown in southern NM so we get lots of it fresh roasted. Recipes vary but the most common ingredients probably are beef, chicken or pork, potatoes and lots of green chile. It can be hot (as in spicy) but usually isn't........ just very flavorful. We eat it (green chile, not necessarily the stew) on just about everything here." . . .Suddenly Dale popped up waxing eloquent. "Astronauts on the Space Shuttle, while on their space walk noticed a stream of strange looking objects floating up toward the shuttle, Asking Houston Command it they were picking it up on their screens. Fearing the unknown objects, word was sent to the "Hubble "to turn it's telescope to get a clearer picture. It seems to be some kind of thin round object with a variety of lights. As one got closer one of the Astronauts reached out to touch it. POOF it was gone. The trail reaches all the way to the sea. Great pods of whales seem to be converging toward South America.As the Hubble brings it's eye closer we see a great white covering of suds around the coast of South America. Dolphins are playing and the whales are blowing bubbles. What a sight to see. Houston is sending a scout plane out to investigate." . . A startled Ruth retorted, "Doggone it -- I knew he'd put too much soap in that Bikini!" . . .Rita was alarmed! "Oh no, the HUSTLE II is going to get fined for discharging waste into the sea. Looks like laundry duty has now turned into cleaning sea water duty." . . .Dismayed, Allyn said, Oh, dear Dale! You can't use dish soap in the washing machine!!!" . . ."There's a difference??" Dale asked. "But this one had a lemon scent." . . .Promptly at 2200 ZULU the race began and the first clue shot over the airwaves. . .A) When you get there you'll be 12,448 feet above sea level and on an island... The racers scattered -- some didn't know where they were going, but scatter was in order. B) Site of Flight 901 crash. -- Aha -- familiar, mebbe! C) Lava Lake surrounded by snow -- yes, yes, I know the spot!... hmmm, better hold off, penalty too high! D) Named after one of the two ships that were sailed to it's discovery -- THAT"S IT -- GO!! Mount Arebus on Ross Island in Antarctica!! My favorite winter spot for photographing snow. . . Now to wait for the verdict from Our Noble Leaders! Gut wrenching wait! . . .The word came loud and clear -- Passed the test! It was correct! . . .Well deserved rest for all racers was needed. It had been a full day of Secret Stash searching; lengthy study of Aggravating Acronyms, an exciting game of Ballistic Bingo (my name wasn't called), admiration for the portrait of Snoopy and Woodstock that Holly searched for and found in honor of Kay (our Snoopy); total failure at trivial trivia and exultation over accomplishing the race to Mount Arebus! Most satisfying day! Dinner was a 10 course meal with PattoBo's succulent Grouper carried in by four waiters, his enormous size overflowing the 6 foot platter, the whole thing supervised personally by the royal Chef. PattyBo's DH, nursing sore fishing muscles, was profusely thanked for the feast, and color slides of the weekend fishing expedition were enjoyed by the racers . . .Dan was ready to join Tracy, and announced, "All scores posted as of 00:55 ZULU - please make sure I haven't missed any - still a few people to arrive but I doubt they'll have any trouble following the soap trail south!... Catch you all in the "hey M," . . .It was too cold for deck strolling with temperatures down to minus 40, although being entertained by waddling yellow-eyed penguins was a delightful experience. It was very late, and another long, exciting day was waiting for us tomorrow. One last glass of wine by the fire before we say goodnight . . .