Fie! I'm Going Back To Bed.

Boo hiss.  It's only just past 9:00 a.m. and already I'm having a very irritating day!

5:00 a.m. -- The ear splitting screeching and grinding noises jolt us awake as the tenders which are stored directly below our cabin are lowered to the water.  (We are at anchor off the town of Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands today.)

7:00 a.m. -- We realize that the toilet does not flush in our bathroom.  Upon calling to see if we can get the matter attended to, we are informed this is a ship-wide issue which is "being worked on."

7:15 a.m. -- We receive a note on our door informing us (yet again) that the tour we had signed up for has been cancelled, and they are replacing it with ... the EXACT same one we had the first time we visited Kirkwall a few weeks ago.  We are visiting again because the original itinerary included several Russian ports after Hammerfest which for obvious reasons have been cancelled.  Instead, we get to revisit Scotland.

8:00 a.m. -- The breakfast tray arrives.

8:10 a.m. -- The doorbell rings.  It's the waiter who wants to pick up the breakfast tray.  Not going to happen, say I ... not finished, not dressed, NOT AMUSED.

9:00 a.m. -- Receive snarky email from the manager of the condominium complex we live in when in Maine, remonstrating with us about contractors blocking fire lanes.  We're not there, and we have no way of controlling how other people choose to park.

The picture shows an enormous ship taking up all the dock space at Kirkwall (hence our reason to have to tender in).  This ship is also the reason we surmise our tour was cancelled -- no doubt they've hogged all the tour guides and buses available.  It also shows the offending tender davits below our balcony that shriek and groan and wake people from the dead.

Fie say I.  I shall walk around all day with a storm cloud hanging over my head!