April 11, 1912

Titanic arriving in Queenstown, Ireland

After leaving Cherbourg on April 10th, the Titanic sailed overnight to Queenstown, Ireland, now Cobh, for her last port of call.  The ship arrived in Queenstown at 11:30 a.m. the morning of April 11, 1912, on a partly cloudy, but relatively warm day with a brisk wind.  Just like Cherbourg, the port of Queenstown was too small to allow Titanic to dock, so tenders had to be used to ferry passengers, supplies, and such to the large liner.  In Queenstown the two tenders were the America and the Ireland who made the two mile journey back and forth to the ocean liner.

The stop in Queenstown brought aboard mostly third class passengers, with 123 new arrivals coming on board.  There were also seven second class passengers who arrived.  The Titanic received 1,385 bags of mail as she was the R.M.S. Titanic, meaning Royal Mail Steamer.  As in Cherbourg, there were passengers who disembarked (7 total).  The most noteworthy passenger was a gentleman named Francis Browne, a teacher and Jesuit student who brought along his camera to photograph the ship while on board.  His photograph's of the ship itself are some of the only ones in existence, including what is believed to be the last photograph of Captain Smith.

 
At approximately 1:30 p.m. the Titanic set off from Queenstown towards the Atlantic.

The last photograph believed taken of the Titanic as she leaves Queenstown

She followed the Irish Coast to Fastnet Rock, a distance of 63 miles before turning out into the Atlantic Ocean.  As the Irish coast became distant, third class passenger Eugene Daly played "Erin's Lament," an Irish folksong to those assembled on the deck. 

After leaving the Irish coast behind, the ship followed the Outward Southern Track, typical of this time of year.  This route was followed by ships in the summer months, which constituted January 15 through August 15. The purpose of this route is to sail south enough to miss the ice burgs that sailing further north would encounter.  Unfortunately for the Titanic, this route wasn't south enough.

On this first day, the ship sailed at 21.5 knots, allowing it to cover 386 miles from noon on the 11th through noon of the 12th. 

February Update

Time to see if I met my monthly goals.  I know, exciting huh?

1. Lose 5 pounds a month
        Success!  I actually lost 7.2 pounds in February.  I am very happy with that.  I try to follow the 80/20 rule most of the time.  I had a couple weeks where I didn't completely follow it, but it seems like adding in the gym 3-4 days a week helped. 

2. Run 25 miles
         Success!  I actually got through 25 miles on my long runs this month, let alone the miles on the treadmill.  Total miles run was about 41.5.  I am sure it was a few more, but I didn't do the greatest job of writing it down each day.  Oops!  Good thing I have my long runs written down and I ran them all as scheduled. Must add keeping the journal updated better to the list of goals.

3. Bike 40 miles
          Success!  Oddly enough... Granted I didn't ride my bike outside and it was the stationary bike at the gym, but I managed at least 45 miles on the bike.  I usually got more than that, but didn't write the miles down, so I averaged it to 5 miles per ride (which is the lowest estimate I could figure) and still managed to meet my goal.  I can't imagine how many miles I might get when we get outside! Add keeping better tabs on the miles to the list.

4. Work on my photography
          Eh.  This didn't go to well.  I didn't do much with my camera this month.  I have a feeling my concentration on my other goals kept me from doing much.  I took some photos of the cats, but other than that, February was a pretty slow month.  Must work on that for March.

 
5. Focus on the big picture
          For the most part, I managed to keep this goal.  I had a set-back at the end of the month where I had a couple days of wallowing in self-pity, but I was able to move beyond it.  I'm still sad about what happened, but I'm trying to remember that there must be something else around the corner.  There must be something better to come.  And with so many things going well this month, I need to focus on that rather than the negative.  Easier said than done some days...

So all in all, not a mad month.  I wonder if 5 goals a month is a bit much.  I do think I might get better at the photo thing this month with a couple races and a couple parties.  I might get that camera out yet!     

New Year's Resolutions - The big picture

Be happy with what you have,

not sad for what you don't.

This idea has been running through my head since 2010.  It is how I decided to look at our trip to Europe.  I was so excited to be going to Italy, France, and England.  But, I knew we had a limited amount of time and honestly, we could have spent weeks there and not seen everything each city had to offer.  So what did we do?  We mentally decided to not worry about the stuff we couldn't get to, but be grateful what we could get to.  

Florence?  Didn't see the David. Paris?  Didn't see the Mona Lisa.  I know!  What were we thinking?  We were thinking there's so much to do, let's just take the city in rather than stressing over getting into a museum (did I just say that?!?!?!?).

From that trip forward, I have tried to keep that thought in mind.  Be happy with what I do get to do, rather than upset over what I am unable to do.  It's amazing what this mindset has done for me overall.  I've been much happier with life.  It's made me realize there will always be things I will be unable to do, but if I focus on those I will be unhappy.  If I focus on what I am fortunate enough to do and experience, life becomes so much more bright and filled with opportunities.

This year my goal is to keep this idea upper most in my mind.  I know there will be times when I won't, but all I can do is try.  The first few days of the year found me in Jamaica.  We consciously decided to not go on any excursions.  This of course meant we didn't get to see anything of the area, but it allowed us to just be.  Relax.  Enjoy each others company.  And when we did actually leave the resort, we stopped at Margaritaville for a drink.  Sure, we could have taken a shuttle to the famous Rick's Cafe, but you know what?  There's always next time.  And if there isn't a next time, then I am perfectly happy with the trip we had.  No regrets.

So, I started off the year with this thought in mind: Be grateful for what you experience, not upset with what you haven't.  Hoping to focus on that all year long.

New Year's Resolutions - Get back to photography

After losing my job in 2009 I thought I should follow a dream to be a photographer.  I love taking photos and I've learned a lot about photography over the past couple of years.  I've learned composition, I've learned about my camera, and I've learned editing.  I'm not perfect, but I know my skills are much better than they were.

When I started volunteering at the Archives in May 2011 I stopped photographing things, unless it was something big.  I got caught up in "working" again and didn't take the time to go out with the camera like I used to.  I have photos of things we've done, but the big photo stuff really revolved around vacations.

Walt Disney World in February 

Disney Princess Half Marathon weekend

Bascillica of Notre Dame in August

Montreal, Canada

Sunset in December

Negril, Jamaica

I need to get back to just going out and taking interesting photos.  Bringing the camera with me more often.  Taking the chance when doing everyday activities to take images.  I also want to try to get more portrait and couple/family photo experience this year.  It's something to strive for.

New Year's Resolutions - Bike 40 miles a month

Last summer I decided to try my hand at a duathlon.  This meant I needed a bike, which I just happened to inherit several years ago, but had done nothing with.  So, the bike got new tires and a tune-up in March and I started riding in April. 

Turns out I really enjoyed it.  I started off at the same park I started my running training at.  It was a loop that is generally used for walking or running, but whatever.  It was helpful when doing bricks during training.

The duathlon did not go as planned.  I was sorely disappointed in it, but the positive is I really enjoyed the biking I did to train.  And long after the duathlon was over, hubby and I would hit the Rail Trail and bike.  It was fun and with the weather so hot this summer, biking gave us a chance to stay active without getting too hot.

So, this year I want to bike on the weekends.  Last summer we started a routine where we ran on Saturday mornings and biked on Sunday.  I'd like to keep that going come April and get in 40 miles on the bike.  Will we be perfect every month?  Probably not, but I'm hoping that by making it a goal that we get our butts out there and ride!

2011 Goals...maybe...

So, today is the day we make big decisions about our life.  How to make us better.  Trying to improve ourselves and leave those bad habits we've formed behind.  I've got some ideas floating around in my head, but nothing totally concrete, so today I'm going to do a rough draft and see what happens...

1. Lose those last 20 pounds.  I had hoped to do that this year, but I got about 20 off since May.  Maybe I can do the last 20 by May 2012?

2. Run 25 miles a month.  I'm really bad some months.  Maybe this will help keep me running consistently.

3. Bike 40 miles a month from April through October.  I really liked biking this summer and want to keep it up.

4. Get back to photography.  I got busy with the Archives and half training and really let this slip.  I am going to make it a priority this year.

Just a few ideas running through the head.  Last year I didn't really set any goals, so I suppose I met them all!  LOL!

Happy New Year to you!!