Car Stuff, Compasses and Complaining

I’ve got more car stuff. What is a Skoda? What is a SEAT? The SEAT is the one with the logo with diagonal lines. I finally found a couple while I was on foot. And then there is the Opal. Haven’t seen one of those in some time. They are all over the islands.
And Citroens! I saw them in Brazil, Africa and here in the Canary Islands. The tour busses are pretty fancy and other than the occasional Mercedes Benz are made by companies I’ve never heard of.
We calibrated our compass today. After leaving port we spun around 360 degrees while a compass expert read our instrument. It is done whenever a ship crosses a hemisphere. About an hour after we left the island I was surprised to see we are still insight of land and I think it’s Lanzarote. We must be traveling at such an angle that it is still on the horizon. I don’t get it.
What do you do when you want to constructively criticize someone’s performance but realize that you are dealing with his or her livelihood? We have on the excursion staff a young woman who can only be described as an embarrassment to Holland-America. I hope they are aware of the situation; I think they are as I have heard many passengers complain even cruelly about this woman’s shortcomings. Her job includes presenting briefings of the upcoming ports and the excursions available as well as broadcast commentary approaching and leaving port. She does not do here homework. Her presentations are poorly thought out, she has trouble reading her own notes, her favorite word is “uh” followed by “um.” She seems to get very confused mid-sentence and sometimes just stops reading and picks up minutes later somewhere else. She’s only been with the cruise since Rio and has obviously never been to any of these places. What were her qualifications? I want to offer her my notes, amateur as they are, but I am afraid it would do no good. Her voice is akin to a nursery school teacher dealing with very young children. She has a singsong delivery in a high-pitched condescending tone. It is as if she is saying “all right kiddies, here is what you will learn from me to day.” The she proceeds to read the class random paragraphs from people magazine. I want to say something but it’s probably been said already. I doubt she will have a position with HAL at the end of this cruise… unless, of course, she is someone’s girlfriend.
Enough venting. A day at sea is followed by Casablanca. Here’s lookin’ at you, kid.