Also, May brought my first visitors to SoCal. My parents were kind enough to bring me a few things I had forgotten at their house when I was collecting the belongings I had scattered around the country over the last 4 years. They were here just over a weekend, but we had a lot of fun.
First up, we went to a couple of local Long Beach attractions and visited both the Queen Mary and the Aquarium of the Pacific. I thought they were both interesting enough to visit once, but not really something I would need to do again.
Especially with the Queen Mary. I thought the history was fascinating, but the upkeep doesn't look like it has been stellar. I definitely think some additional restoration needs to be done.
What happens when you can't find the main passageway?
The clear view screen rotates at a high speed to spin off rain, sleet, snow, and provide a clear forward view.
The autopilot, called the Iron Mike, operates in conjunction with the gyrocompass to maintain the ship's course.
The Binnacle and the Helm - the binnacle is the housing for the magnetic compass, and the helm is the hydraulic controls allowing one man to turn to the forty ton rudder.
Steering Telegraph
Engine Telegraph
The Stone System controls all the water-tight doors on the ship. The 38 doors could be closed in less than one minute, providing protection in case of fire or flooding.
I consider this to be the Magic 8-Ball of the Queen Mary.
Me: Queen Mary, what should I do about the new reporting structure at work?
QM: Hold On
Me: Queen Mary, it has been an exceptionally long week. What should I focus on this weekend?
QM: Slack Away
We also saw a rotating exhibit of Princess Diana memorabilia. It was kind of cool... in the words of Miss Macklyn, "Ooohh, DRESSES!" But they also had a lot of the creepy dolls with miniature versions of her famous dresses. I HATE creepy dolls with miniature versions of famous clothes.
It was really pretty groovy to see, in person, clothes I remember seeing her wear in magazines and on TV, but the really cool stuff were the handwritten cards, notes, and letters from various members of the royal family. At the beginning of the exhibit there were old newspapers announcing the death of George V (I think) and all about the funeral arrangements, and subsequent coronation, abdication and coronation of Edward VIII and George VI, but the real gem was a blurb in the surrounding tidbits of news of a local murder house, and women buried in some random basement.
After the Queen Mary we went to the Aquarium. It was Saturday and packed with really loud kids and their equally loud parents. Not really my favorite type of environment.
Sea Slugs ... I couldn't help but sing "creature report, creature report" all through the exhibits.
Unhatched baby sharks
Giant Nautilus
Sea horses
I think my Dad's favorite part of the day was the free bus. Long Beach has a Passport bus service that travels a circuit around downtown and to the touristic (see, remember I learned that word in Europe and told you it would become part of my vocabulary!) destinations. I knew you could catch it somewhere close to my apartment, but it turns out that it is on detour (at least through the end of the year) and has a stop directly outside my apartment. I keep trying to get a picture, but haven't snagged one yet. The bus usually pulling out as I am getting a green arrow to turn. Up next a trip to The Getty...that'll be over at 1000 Places because (spoiler alert) it's one of the Places.
