I shall try again. I typed in three paragraphs, the computer said "thoonk," and erased all of it. Don't you just hate when that happens?

ANYWAY: I was just saying that in the news there are stories about a cruise ship in the Atlantic that was hit by a 70 foot wave that came out of nowhere. Yes, that part of the Atlantic is sometimes called the Bermuda Triangle.

It was said that the waVE knocked out windows and sloshed through passenger cabins. Some reports said it broke across the pool deck. There were no serious injuries, and the cruise line refunded half of what the passenges paid for the cruise and offered them another cruise at half price.

Still, there were people who where unhappy and blamed the whole thing on the cruise line.

Reality check time. Hello? Didn't they know that cruise lines have no control over rogue waves? They don't even show up on radar until seconds before they hit. Waves like that are so rare that most crew members have never seen one, even if they have spend a lifetime at sea. So how can anybody blame the cruise line?

If I had been on that ship, I would have felt like writing a thank-you note to the people who conceived that ship, designed it, built it, and sailed it. It took a hit that would have seriously damaged or sunk other ships, and it did it with style. The next cruise on that ship will go on as scheduled. That sounds like one tough ship.

Unless you have had the chance to stand on a dock beside one of those modern cruise liners, you can't believe how big they are. Most are over 900 feet long and several are over 1000. Think three football fields end to end. They tend to be ten to 14 decks high and many are more than 100 feet wide. 100,000 tons is not unusual. Think floating cities.

If a good deal on a cruise pops up on my computer next week, I'm ready to go. I wouldn't hesitate to sail on that ship.
Howard