I haven’t posted the last couple of days. I needed a break after finishing up the A to Z Challenge. I’m not used to posting every day and it was exhausting. It was fun and a great way to meet other bloggers, but I’m glad it’s over.
Today I’m back with a post for the Daily Post. The first one in a while I feel like I can respond to. I don’t really like what they’ve been doing lately with their ‘one word’ challenges. But I do know a lot about the beach. 😉
I’m from Florida. I spent a lot of time on the beach where I grew up, around Madeira Beach. It used to be so nice, quiet and peaceful. It was very relaxed and we were able to enjoy it pretty much every day.
I was never into sun bathing. As a redhead, I get sun burned easily, so I try to avoid just roasting myself. I liked to go swimming and snorkeling, shell hunting, observing the plants and animals, and just walking along the water. Friends would start up a game of frisbee, touch football, or volleyball. Sometimes we would have a BBQ with a bonfire.
I remember going out to Egmont Key, just outside Tampa Bay. We would head out in the Island Girl and raft up with a bunch of other sailors. We would spend the weekend out there, playing with our friends (all ages- from babies to oldsters). We had some really great times.
When I moved to Texas, I used to spend a lot of time on the beach at Surfside and Bryan Beach. My class would go down there to practice taking sights for our celestial navigation. We would go camp out for the weekends, have a bonfire where we’d cook out, sing songs, tell sea stories and play music.
I still like to go to Surfside. I love to go in the Winter when it’s quiet. I like to sit and watch the water, listen to the wind and the waves, watch the birds, look for shells, and just enjoy the peace away from everybody.
I travel a lot and there’s usually a beach involved at some point there too. In Thailand, it’s Phuket. In Indonesia (Bali), it’s Kuta. In Mexico, it’s Cancun, but I have to say Puerto Vallarta is hard to beat. 😉
Todays post for the A to Z Challenge is: TEFL-teaching English as a foreign language. This is something I’ve been considering since we first went to Thailand to find the cause of the tsunami when I was still working for Oceaneering.
I really loved Thailand and wanted to figure out a way to move there. I started looking into what it would take to move there permanently. I found out that I would not be allowed to work as anything other than an English teacher.
Of course, if I wasn’t working- if I wanted to open a business and hire locals, or I was rich enough to ‘retire’ with a steady income- then I would be welcome. I just wouldn’t be allowed to take any job from a local.
Turns out, it was pretty much the same story in every other country I looked into. 🙁
For years, taking the TEFL course was in the back of my mind. I was interested in doing it, but as long as I was working offshore, I just couldn’t justify giving up that lifestyle.
Well, things have changed drastically around here lately. I got laid off last September. I did manage to find a job after that, but it didn’t last long. I work a couple of days a month up in Houston. I’m still hoping to get a call to go back offshore any day, but it’s getting harder to keep that hope going as the days keep passing with no calls, no response to emails or online applications, nothing. 🙁
I finally went to take the course and get certified in TEFL. I had a great time while taking the course in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico a couple of months ago. I got to teach and I actually kind of enjoyed it. I think once I get used to it, I might like it.
I came back home because I was supposed to ship out for a short job. Short, but long enough to stock up the savings again. I had planned to go right back down to Mexico to start teaching. I had to put that on hold. I’m still waiting to ship out. 🙁
I’ve been a sailor since I was a kid. How about you?
I grew up on the beach in Florida. At my dads house, the backyard ended at the bay. He kept his big old schooner at the dock right there. I had my own little Sea Snark sailing dingy.
I had so much fun with that boat growing up! I would go out by myself, just puttering around. I might take a friend or two. It was always a great way to spend a couple of hours.
I went to school on a couple of large, traditional sailing ships. I went to a high school that also included a sail training program along with cultural studies, languages and international travel.
I decided while I was there that I wanted to be a ship captain! I wanted to sail around the world and get paid for it! I’m still trying to do that.
Over the years, I’ve managed to find work at sea until being laid off recently when the price of oil hit the skids. It hasn’t been on sailboats very often.
Today’s letter for the A to Z Challenge is: Q. I was having a pretty hard time coming up with something to write about today. It was either going to be QMED, Q4000, question, or quiz.
I love this little quiz. It’s the same one I keep as a sticky as the first post on my home page. It’s put out by the Advocates for Self Government as the “World’s Smallest Political Quiz”.
As you can tell from my tagline (she sails the seven seas in search of freedom) and my posts the last couple of days, I’m into politics. 😉
I tried to copy and paste it onto the page so you can take it right here. It didn’t quite work. Close enough if you want to try it tho. Just choose wether you agree, disagree, or you’re not sure on each question. When you finish you can click on ‘get your results’ and it will take you to the actual quiz where you can get your score.
I’m really curious as to how many are interested in this sort of stuff, and especially where people score. If you take the quiz, please comment and let me know your thoughts and if you want to share, let me know where you score on it. 🙂
Personal Issues
Agree
Maybe
Disagree
Government should not censor speech, press, media, or internet.
Military service should be voluntary. There should be no draft.
There should be no laws regarding sex for consenting adults.
Repeal laws prohibiting adult possession and use of drugs.
There should be no National ID card.
Economic Issues
Agree
Maybe
Disagree
End “corporate welfare.” No government handouts to business.
End government barriers to international free trade.
Let people control their own retirement; privatize Social Security.
Replace government welfare with private charity.
Cut taxes and government spending by 50% or more.
“The Quiz has gained respect as a valid measure of a person’s political leanings.” – The Washington Post“The World’s Smallest Political Quiz stands ready to help you determine your political identity. Quick and relatively painless.” – USA Today
“The World’s Smallest Political Quiz is savvy and willing to tell you the truth.” – YAHOO! Magazine“Give this quiz a try. It’s fun, and who knows, you may be surprised at what you find.” – Politics on the Net by Bill Mann
Today’s A to Z challenge post is: Politics. Yes, I can hear the groans already, but I hope at least a few of you will bear with me for a while.
I’m sure you know by now how passionate I am about freedom and individual liberty (check my tagline!). This leads me to also being passionate about politics.
Not because I like politicians or want to become one, or even because I’m interested in the behind the scenes action. No, not at all. The only reason I’m interested in politics is because it has insinuated itself into every little detail of our lives.
We have completely lost sight of the principles of individual liberty this country was founded on. We have forgotten what it means to be free!
Just for example, there are now hundreds of thousands of ‘laws’ on the books, most of them totally un-necessary (and unconstitutional). We started out with a fairly short and simple document. The US Constitution. That document (along with it’s amendments and the Declaration of Independence) is the basis of all law in this country. It was purposely written so that every one could understand it. It was NOT supposed to need a lawyer to interpret it!
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.- Declaration of Independence
*my emphasis with the bolding!
Somehow, those simple documents have grown into a system of ‘laws’ so overwhelmingly complex that not even the brightest lawyers can figure it out. There are so many ‘laws’ that it’s pretty much impossible for anyone to get through a day without breaking at least one!
Try reading the book 3 Felonies a Day by Harvey Silverglate (some other great books in that link too). It tells the story of how this situation came to be. How special interest groups manipulated the politicians to get benefits for themselves and the hell with everybody else. How when big benefits accrue to few, they’re justified in their hard work to pass these beneficial ‘laws’. The rest of us don’t bother to fight since it’s not really that big of a deal and it’s just so much work (if we’re even lucky enough to learn what’s going on before it’s already over). It hardly makes a difference to us, so why make the effort? This is how we wind up with millions of rules and regulations!
I get so tired of people telling me ‘there ought to be a law’! Most likely, there already is! But even if there wasn’t, please tell me why we always need to use FORCE to solve every conceivable problem?
Do we really need a law to force kids to apply for government permission to sell lemonade in the front yard now? Do we really need a law to prevent people from collecting rainwater on their own property? Do we really need a law to prevent people from choosing their preferred method of relaxation? Do we really need a law to prevent people from gardening? Do we really need a law to prevent people from feeding the homeless?
All of those are (or recently were) against the law, right here in the ‘free’ country of the USA. Public interest law firm the Institute for Justice has been fighting to correct the injustice of enforcing these ridiculous ‘laws’. They’ve even managed to win a few cases. But it never ends, they just keep piling on more and more and more and more…
Do we really need all of these ‘laws’? Do we really need ANY of these ‘laws’?
Then WHY do we have them? What is preventing us from eliminating them?
It might be well hidden, but there are costs to each and every one of them! According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the cost of the regulatory burden was a staggering $1.88 TRILLION! And growing! In 2014!
That is just the cost of complying with the regulations- “in lost productivity and higher prices”. That does not take into account the other costs involved like the loss of choices, the loss of freedom, the loss of human spirit. I can’t even imagine what that would amount to in dollars. trillions? Quadrillions? Googles?Sexagintillions? Mega-multi-quadruple-googleplexes?
According to an article I read, the Federal Register was ‘only’ 2,620 pages long. By 2012 it was 78,961 pages, and since 1993 has been growing by an average of 286 pages per day! Read the article for more interesting statistics.
HOW did we get from a country where we declared “Give me Liberty or give me death!” to one with a (mostly useless) pile of rules and regulations standing taller than the Washington Monument? WHY are so very few people concerned about the insanely large government we have now and the almost total control they’re asserting over our lives? WHEN are people going to start thinking about the loss of freedom and individual liberty that’s happened just in our own lifetimes? WHAT is it going to take for people to stand up and take back their freedoms?
WHERE can lovers of liberty go if we can’t reverse this trend in America?
I should have saved this post for today’s A to Z challenge, but instead I’ll tell you about my high school- the Oceanics. That was such a fantastic experience! I’m so thankful I had that opportunity at such a young age. It really did change my life.
The Oceanics was a really special school. It was run by Chick and Stephanie Gallagher out of their apartment in New York City. They somehow managed to round up small groups of students and a few teachers and send them off on round the world adventures aboard various chartered square-rigged sailing ships.
I see a few organizations today trying to do something similar. Not the same tho, not gone long enough, not the right kind of ships, not the same atmosphere. I’m sure they’re still great experiences for anyone who is able to attend. I don’t think there’s any better way to create a confident, competent, creative, cooperative human being than the way they did it at the Oceanics.
Spending months at sea working together to sail the ship from point A to point B. Learning every aspect of how to do the job properly, we earned a sense of a job well done and self esteem. It takes a lot of teamwork and trust in each other to sail a square-rigged ship. Running up the ratlines to furl the sails in a squall with the wind howling and the ship rolling needs to be an immediate response with all hands on deck. Ask the worlds navies why they still use sailing ships as training vessels, they understand.
The ship was just one aspect of the Oceanics. Captain Jespersen was our sail training master. We spent time with him every day learning the names and functions of all the rigging and sails aboard. We sailed the ship from Pireaus, Greece across the Atlantic to Martinique. We spent our time aboard in school, taking regular classes in math, science (oceanology), world history, cultural studies, local languages (Greek, Spanish, Russian), literature, etc. We also learned seamanship, navigation, and how to take care of the ship.
We all stood watch when we weren’t in class. The traditional 4 hours on, 8 hours off. Standing lookout and tending the helm. In between, we kept busy sanding, varnishing, washing the decks, painting, tending to the rigging, splicing line, even helping the cook peel potatoes.
My favorite time aboard was standing lookout on the bow. Watching the dolphins play in the bow waves on a bright sunny day. Seeing flying fish popping out of a wave, to spread their ‘wings’ to fly across the waves before dropping back into the water. Picking out the constellations in a starry, starry night sky. 🙂
I can’t express how truly awesome it was.
And then, when we got to port we could go ashore once we were off watch. Or we might all go ashore together for an adventure. We spent a few days on the Greek island of Agistri hunting octopus for dinner and playing soccer on the beach. I spent a few days with a family in La Gomera (Canary Islands) improving my Spanish and learning more about the locals.
We sailed the schooner Ariadne across the Atlantic to Martinique. On arrival we had a well deserved break on the beach. A few of us hitched our way up the island to hike up Mt Pele. I still remember the deliciously sweet pineapples we had to snack on.
Ariadne
We left the Ariadne in Martinique to fly into Caracas and our South American adventure began. We had been studying Spanish since we left Italy. Now was the time to put it to use. Our plan was to travel from Venezuela to Bolivia, we would figure out the details along the way. We got into some really cool, out of the way places. 🙂
Plenty of the places we wound up had never seen anyone like us before. My red hair stood out like a torch, the locals would surround me and ask to feel it. Young Joe with his bright blond hair was extremely popular with the ladies. People didn’t know what to make of us.
We might show up in a group of 6-10 students (ages 14-21) and 1-2 teachers trying to keep us focused on our studies but also allowing us to get out on our own. We had lots of independent projects. I did one on comparing fairy tales in different cultures and another one identifying plankton I caught in a net on the way over to the Caribbean while we were still on the ship.
We made our way from Caracas through Venezuela to Cucuta, Columbia. From Bogata we headed to Ecuador. Quito, Otavalos, and Guyaquil. We took a boat out to the Galapagos to check out the wildlife and swim with the sea lions and iguanas. We made our way to the jungle and the rivers feeding the Amazon. We traveled down the Rio Napo to visit the indigenous shamans and learn about the plants and animals, (I had to try the ayuhuasca).
In Peru we made our way from Lima to Cuzco (fantastic) and took the train to Macchu Picchu. That was back before it was overrun by tourists. We stayed at the Banos (hot springs) alongside the river and soaked in the hot springs at night after hiking back down the mountain. Another experience I’ll never forget. That place was magical, I could feel it.
We made our way across Lake Titicaca to La Paz, Bolivia to finish up the semester. We were all sad to leave. I didn’t want to go home.
I returned to meet the Ariadne in Martinique a month later. I had another semester to finish high school. Our graduation ceremony was on the pier side in Copenhagen. Another semester of overseas adventures at sea and ashore. It got in my blood and I’m sure I’ll never get over it.
I sure wish I had a better camera back then. Take a look here for some photos collected by Brian who was along for the trip with me and T. (who met me in Nicaragua). You can see me in a couple of the photos (in the yellow foul weather jacket by the cannon). 😉
I don’t know how many of you around the world are forced to beg permission from your governments in order to get a job, but here in the USA (supposedly a free country), there are a LOT of us! More and more every year.
People here have to get a license to be a tour guide (to tell stories), to be an interior designer (to pick out color schemes for your living room), to be a hair braider, to work on a boat (like I do), and for hundreds of other occupations.
The Institute for Justice put out a report (License to Work) documenting the licensing requirements for over 100 low and moderate income occupations. We’re talking florists, manicurists, painters, makeup artists, bartenders, landscape workers,…
In fact, about 1 in 3 occupations now require a license! Back in the 50’s only about 5% of jobs required a license (mine was still one of those-deck officers started getting licensed in 1873).
I know things were simpler back then, but did all the jobs people used to be able to do without any governmental approval become SO much more complicated that they just can’t be done safely without the government’s approval?
I wouldn’t get quite so upset if it wasn’t the government involved in all this. After all, this is supposed to be a free country. Personally, I think any job ought to be between the person doing the job and the person doing the hiring. But even with that aside, why does it have to be the government issuing these licenses? Why can’t it be a private organization? Something like the consumers union? Or even the one I have to deal with all the time- the Nautical Institute?
That way, at least we would have some options, even if not many.
I’m pretty sure there were barbers, hairdressers and manicurists back in the 50s, or even before. According to Wikipedia, the 1st barbers school in the USA opened in 1893. It was the first in the world. I’m sure it must have taken at least a few years for the barbers to convince the governments to restrict their competition and require a license to become a barber. Do you wonder how we all managed to survive for thousands of years without them?
I know my own profession started agitating to be licensed right around the same time. I’ve been told it was actually the AB’s who started the whole thing. 🙁
I can verify in my own profession that the licensing has become much more stringent and much, much harder to comply with since the 70s. When I decided to become a professional mariner in 1977, the rules were so much better for us (as mariners).
I could work my way up the hawsepipe (without spending a dime for school). If I could prove my sea time and pass the tests I was issued a license for “freight and towing’. I could work on ANY vessel, anywhere in the world. Yes, I still had to get my license renewed every 5 years (requiring a physical and a couple of simple things like RADAR recert).
I could get hired on, work on deck for a couple years and when I passed my AB test and got my AB ticket, that document was good for LIFE!
Now, things are completely different. We can’t just work our way up anymore, we have no way to avoid paying thousands of dollars for ‘training’ courses ashore. Personally, I have spent at least $50,000 (to upgrade from 2nd to chief mate). There is no way to just take a couple of simple courses to renew now either. They keep increasing the number of required classes to be re-taken and it’s adding up to some serious money. Even as an AB, I have to spend weeks ashore and thousands of dollars to renew my documents!
Even that’s not enough for them, they have also restricted our ability to work! Instead of the ‘freight and towing’ license, which allowed us to work on ANY vessel, now we have a license for ‘steam and motor’ which does NOT allow us to work on any ‘towing’ vessel (without additional time and money).
I have been a mariner since 1970, professionally since 1977. In all these years, I can say it has been harder and harder to find work, to keep working, to find a job anything like the way it was back then. When I actually loved my job so much!
In fact, I got laid off back in September and haven’t been able to find even a single job since October! There are some (towing) companies hiring (I don’t have that license so out of luck). There are some foreign companies hiring (they usually don’t hire Americans so out of luck there too). 🙁
As many others have noted, the insiders restrict entry to their profession through licensing to increase their pay, benefits and influence. In the name of ‘public safety’ they convince the government to go along with the idea. In the end, it doesn’t really work.
