Lee’s gone and gotten himself sick again. At least he sure looks sick. Say’s he’s fine. Doc agrees,
aside from a ‘slight’ infection from Xiphias gladius. (aka the common swordfish),that
is, and of course, his caffeine withdrawal.
Like most of the crew, he’s demonstrating the usual
withdrawal symptoms of headaches and irritability. Of course, his irritability
is bit beyond the usual, so much now in fact, that it’s got everyone trying to hide from him. Even me!
I’ve even had to try to calm the chief saying ‘it’ll
pass’ and as Captain, Crane does have the right to point out any errors, discrepancies, sloppiness, etc. in fact, whatever
he damn well feels like complaining about on the part of his officers and crew. I think they’ve all just gotten so used
to Chip doing that for him (and Chip does it oh so well!) that they’re even more unhappy because its their beloved Skipper’s who’s so disappointed in them to growl at them himself.
Will
seems to think my nicotine addiction is masking my own decaffeination symptoms. How
can I tell him that I have another, totally different secret weapon. But damn
it, Lee’ll kill me if he discovers that I found a half jar of the instant stuff left in one of the guest cabins. Not
near enough to ration out, even if Cookie could dilute it into a kind of ‘flavored’ hot water for everyone. I did consider it. Truly. I didn’t
think I was heartless enough to keep it all to myself. At least, not until, in
desperation, I just had to have a cup first. But this crystalized stuff tasted
so bitter, that I added a little of the family label to it. Not quite an Irish Coffee, but with the help of a little cream
left over from my oatmeal, it was passable.
Is
it really my fault that ‘just one more’ sort of happened? I considered
taking that jar to the galley. I really did, but each time when I grabbed the jar to do so, I noticed there was probably only
enough of the dehydrated crystals for a few more cups. And if word got out there were only a couple of cups of coffee available, well, I hate to think what kind of riot might arise. Of course, Lee would probably arrange for a lottery or have the men draw straws, despite his own great need. That’s the kind of man he is, always thinking what’s best for his
crew.
But
there only seems to be enough for one cup left now, anyway. Best if I keep it
locked up, safe and sweet in my cabin.
