I was online last night trying to remember what kind of beer they had in Kiribati for an article I’ve been working on. I wanted to write a little bit about when I was working on the tuna boat out there. I googled Kiribati beer and up popped this blog post https://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Kiribati/Tarawa/blog-429394.html
I was reading the post, checking out the pictures and what a surprise, I realized she was writing about me!
I should probably write more about my time on the tuna boat. I did really enjoy it and especially loved visiting all those out of the way islands. I do hope I can go back to doing that kind of sailing again. Where it’s an adventure, not just a paycheck.
World Oceans Day is coming up on Monday (June 8). This years theme is ‘healthy oceans, healthy planet’. It really is just common sense. The oceans cover over 70% of the earth. We all ultimately rely on the ocean for our own health and well being. It’s important to take care of it, if only for our own good. Monday will be a day to remember all the reasons we should respect and care for the oceans, it’s a day to celebrate and get involved too.
The oceans are a major source of food for people (and animals): fish, shellfish, seaweed, plankton, krill, etc. They also help to regulate the climate and keep some of the Northern areas warm in the winter and Southern places cooler in the summer (N hemisphere). The oceans are also extremely important for connecting people around the world. In the USA, 90% of our trade is by sea.
A lot of people make their living directly from the sea like I do. I’ve worked on the water from the time I was a kid. Fishing, recreation (cruising), and transporting cargo from one place to another (a ship is much more efficient than any other form of transport). Now, I work in the offshore oil fields, exploring for and extracting resources from the sea bottom.
If you live near the ocean, like I do, you already know how important it is for your ‘soul’, your mental health, your attitude. I can sit by the sea, listen and watch the waves roll in and it immediately calms me. I like to swim, snorkel, sail, SCUBA dive, surf (not very well), fish, and any other activity that gets me out on the water. 😉
I hope you’ll take a few minutes to think about how you benefit from it and what life would be like without a healthy ocean. Check out a few of the links. Get involved in some of the events if you can. If you can’t get out to any of the events on Monday, remember it doesn’t have to stop on Monday!
There are plenty of things you can do every day to help make things better. Even simple things like talking to people about World Oceans Day, disposing of your trash properly, using as little plastic as possible, not letting balloons fly away loose, etc. It all helps. 🙂 PS- none of the pictures in this post are mine, I got them all of the internet.
I found this video the other day when I was fiddling around looking for something else by this band. I really love Donna the Buffalo. I have a couple of their albums at home. I just got a new ipod (since I lost my old one somewhere) and I don’t have any music or anything on it yet. I was trying to find some good stuff to play.
I love this song. The words, the music, the story, and the video too. I saw that video and it reminded me so much of home. Not where I live now, but where I grew up in Florida. It was filmed in Marathon, down in the keys. My dad took the Island Girl down that way for a few years and I stayed there one summer with him.
I had a blast! The video brought back a lot of good memories. Fishing, diving, hanging out at the Dockside bar, sailing, hanging out watching the sunset with so many interesting fun characters.
It’s a sad song too, and all too true. Florida is not much like it was when I grew up there. “Progress came”…
Seminole Winds by John Anderson Ever since the days of old men would search for wealth untold They dig for silver and for gold and leave the empty holes And way down south in the Everglades Where the black water rolls and the Saw grass waves The eagles fly and the otters play in the land of the Seminole
So blow blow Seminole wind blow like your never gonna blow again I’m calling to you like a long lost friend but I know who you are And blow blow from the Okeechobee all the way up to Micanopy Blow cross the home of the Seminole the alligators and the gar
Progress came and took its toll and in the name of flood control They make their plans and they drained the land Now the glades are going dry And the last time I walked in the swamp I sat upon a cypress stump I listened close and I heard the ghost of Osceola cry
Oh boy, that is a good one for me! I had to think about it for awhile since there are SO many things I would like the government to do, or really NOT to do.
Here are just a few of the things I would LOVE to see them do: end the drug war, repeal the (misnamed) Patriot act, repeal the NDAA, abolish the TSA, abolish the NSA, bring our military back to the states and stop using them to interfere with other sovereign nations, stop the government from giving special favors Continue reading →
I support any policeman who knows his ACTUAL duty. Which is to protect the rights of the people, NOT to enforce the laws. Those laws may be (and in this case, in ALL cases of victimless crimes) unjust and wrong. I salute this guy. He deserves the support of every American who’s sick to death of having our rights stripped away from us.
I made it to London. I have another flight to Frankfurt and then one more to Luanda. It’s been a rough couple of days.
Even when I think I’m almost caught up with things, shit happens and I wind up frantically trying to get to the airport on time to make my flight.
This trip was no different. I had planned on leaving by 1600, that should have me to the airport by 1730. But I got delayed by a few phone calls (why doesn’t anybody ever call me except when I’m in a rush to get out the door?).
My accountant called me a couple of times about my estimated tax payment which is due by June 15, so I had to write a check before I left. To do that, I had to go online and transfer money.
Just a bunch of little things like that, but they added up and I didn’t get out of the house til about 1645. I was pretty lucky and didn’t hit the heavy traffic til I was almost downtown and it was only for about a half hour. I got to the airport about 1830. My flight wasn’t departing til 2045, so I still had plenty of time.
I had to meet the courier outside the airport to pick up my visa, that took another few minutes and then when I went to check in, there was some kind of problem. Somehow they had 2 reservations for me. I had gone online the night before and bought an upgrade for the flight to London. It wouldn’t let me do anything with the rest of the flight, but at least I got a few hours in relative comfort.
Anyway, I did check last night, and the computer showed my upgrade had gone through with my new seat. It wouldn’t let me check in, since you have to show your passport to somebody in person when you fly overseas now. So, when I got to the airport, they were checking me in but just to economy class. It took quite a while to get that straightened out.
By the time I got my boarding passes and through security, I only had about a half hour before the flight started boarding. I got to the lounge to hang out, but it was packed. At least I got a little snack (they’ve improved their offerings- they had soup and salads- usually they only have cheese and crackers).
I was so wiped out when I got on the plane, I was SO glad I had that opportunity to have at least a little comfort for the flight. (United has ice cream sundaes for dessert where you can choose your own toppings and I really enjoyed that. 🙂
There was a lot of turbulence, but even so I managed to get a couple of hours of good sleep. I feel much better today and hoping the rest of the trip goes OK.
Is there anybody out there now who actually still enjoys flying? I remember when I did. I actually used to look forward to it. Seems like it was such a long time ago, but it was really only after 9-11 when it got soooooo bad!
I really wish people would not have let them punish ALL of us forever over that. Yeah, it was terrible, it should never have happened, but WE have done more to destroy our freedoms than the terrorists ever could have dreamed of. 🙁
Another Memorial Day weekend has passed. I’m not much for holidays. I did go up to Galveston for the National Maritime Day Commemoration Ceremony last week. It’s pretty sad to say it, but I probably would have forgotten it myself if I hadn’t gotten a couple of reminders from friends.
Galveston Coast Guard keepers of the flags
Since I am a merchant marine and have been almost my whole life, I feel like I should at least remember this day and the reason for it. Everyone else celebrates Memorial Day for the ‘armed’ services and forgets about all the Merchant Marine has done for the country (and still does, EVERY DAY).
Galveston had their celebration on Thursday, even though the official day is on May 22.
I was going to try and get there early enough to help man a ‘water table’ for the kids coming up to see all the ships, but it took longer than I expected to take care of my property tax protest in Angleton. I would have liked to take a tour myself, the General Rudder from Texas A&M was dockside, the Elissa was right next door, there were a couple of other ships/boats around and also the Ocean Star oil rig.
By the time I got there, the actual ceremony was about to start. Continue reading →
I see this more and more. Media promoting bug eating as a great idea to save the planet.
Yeah, if we’ll all just substitute a few giant roaches, beetles, or crickets instead of a nice juicy rib-eye, we can reverse climate change, save more wilderness, feed the starving children and as a bonus we would even lose a few pounds!
I suppose if I had nothing else to eat, for a loooong time, I would eventually eat the bugs. It’s just the whole idea of it that makes me squirmy. And I really don’t like the insinuation that we all really ought to switch to bugs over steaks, to lower our standards of living, to help ‘save the planet’.
Why the hell can’t we seriously discuss limiting the human population for a change. Just get people to use birth control for a while! Try something that would be GOOD for everyone here already AND the planet, AND would actually help!
What do you think about lowering your living standards so that we can just keep on having more and more people live on the earth (and nothing else)? Do you think it’s a better idea to try and get everyone here already to ‘live light’ (eating bugs, no cars, serious restrictions on ALL energy use, etc), or get the people here already to limit their childbearing so that eventually we can reduce the human population so that everyone here can have a GOOD life, and still have room for wilderness and all the other creatures that depend on it?
I’ve been reading this book lately. It’s called “The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth” by James Altucher. I really like his down to earth style and his sense of humor. I admire his ability to live his life the way HE chooses, and I am thankful that he decided to share his lessons in how he got to that point.
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that individual liberty and personal freedom are very important to me too. I’m trying hard to find any possible way to get out of the rat race and find a way to live my life the way I want to instead of being stuck doing things the way everybody else thinks is best, only so I can stay out of jail!
I read his earlier book “Choose Yourself” a while ago and I thought he had a lot of good points. I still think so.
I have been working on his “Daily Practice” that he explains in “Choose Yourself“. He means to take care of your mental, spiritual, emotional and physical needs every day. Makes sense to me, but still hard for me to put into practice every single day.
Today, I read a chapter he calls “Four Things I Do That Can Change Your Life In The Next Ten Minutes”.
Someone asked him “what can I learn in the next 10 minutes that will be useful the rest of my life?”
I thought, what a great question! Here’s what James had to say as an answer…
“I can show you four insanely stupid things that will make the rest of your life better. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.”
Here are the 4 things:
Use $2 bills
Wear a doctors coat
Use waiters pads
Watch standup comedy
He does give a little explanation for why he does these 4 things and why they work for him. I’m kind-of interested in what you may think the reasons are. 😉
What do you think about those 4 things? Do you have any suggestions of your own? Would you do his? Why or why not? I think I’m going to give it a try, have to go find me some waiters pads and a Drs coat!
I’ve been out doing some errands today. I went around to my rental properties to take some pictures. The taxman is somehow claiming (again) that my properties are all worth SO much more this year than last. Most of them have gone up tens of thousands of dollars in appraised value and some even more than doubled!
Hard to believe? Yeah, it is hard to believe, especially since every single one of them has deteriorated since last year and the market sure as hell has not improved enough so that people are just throwing money at the kind of crap I own!
So, I was out taking pictures to prove to the tax assessors that they should not appraise my properties at such high values. No one in their right mind would offer anywhere near the price they claim my property is worth!
It really irks me that I have to do this EVERY year! I can only imagine how many people just can’t get out and around and do all the things necessary to protest every year. How many people wind up losing their property because of this crap! I can only imagine how much MORE of my money would go down the drain every single year if I wasn’t able to get down there to argue with them every single year!
I’m sure the tax guys are happy as hell that most people just never can get around to protesting the exorbitant property taxes we have around here. I can’t believe how much money is totally WASTED around here on total BS! Things we do NOT need, but make people feel better. The people who run this country/county/city/town just love to scare the hell out of people by telling them if they don’t raise the taxes then things will just go straight to hell! What a hell of a scam they have going on!
Then the cities get in on the act and fine the hell out of people for not doing the yard work and home maintenance up to their required standards. Knowing full well that they’ve made it too expensive for most everyone to comply. With all the added rules and regulations causing prices to skyrocket to do the work! Eventually, the city comes around and condemns your property and then they steal it for a song!
Yeah, hard to believe. Little power hungry authoritarian ‘elites’ making decisions that completely change the course of someone else’s life! This used to be a free country. Not so much anymore. You think you own property here? Think again when your property tax comes due!
I just HOPE all my photos will prove that my property is NOT worth as much as they claim! I’m fighting a losing battle, my property has already gone up more than double since I bought it in 2005! I’m sure some people think that’s a good thing. Yeah, it might be IF you’re trying to sell. If you’re not selling, its a really BAD thing!
I thought this was about sharks, you know, the kind that swim in the sea. But actually, it’s about a different kind of shark. The kind that lives on land. The kind we REALLY need to worry about.
I never heard this group (Wailing Souls) before, but I love this song. I really love reggae music anyway, and this song has lyrics worth paying attention to. The video reminded me of a great book I read a few years ago.
It’s called Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins. Anyone who’s interested in what’s going on in the world today will get a real education if they read it. I thought it was a great book and should be taught in all our schools (but of course that will NEVER happen!).
I know most of you absolutely HATE it when I start going off on politics and my philosophy of liberty and freedom for all. But I’m hoping it’s a short enough video you might just take a look.
Let me know what you think. Of the music. And the video (the political one- the one by Perkins!) 😉
Shark Attack- Wailing Soul
When you hear this ya one Wailing Soul you know fe true yeah man When you hear this ya one ya Wailing Soul you no fe joke (repeat)
Better stop this cultural diffusion Spreading fear & confusion Playing cloak & dagger wars Losing what you fighting for
Back back, coming with a double attack Step back, here comes the shark attack (x2)
What more do they want? They have got all they need Yet they turn their backs On the hands that feeds them
Back back, coming with a double attack Step back, here comes the shark attack (x2)
Wo wo wo wo yeah Wo wo wo wo yeah Wo wo wo wo yeah yeah Wo wo wo wo yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yes it’s a new world order, oh yeah Another new world order, oh yeah A wicked world order, oh yeah A new world order, oh yeah
Back back, coming with a double attack Step back, here comes the shark attack (x2)
Better stop this cultural diffusion Spreading fear & confusion Playing cloak & dagger wars Losing what you fighting for
Back back, coming with a double attack Step back, here comes the shark attack (x2)
Wo wo wo wo yeah Wo wo wo wo yeah Wo wo wo wo yeah yeah Wo wo wo wo yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yes it’s a new world order, oh yeah Another new world order, oh yeah A crucial world order, oh yeah A wicked world order, oh yeah
Back back, coming with a double attack Step back, here comes the shark attack (x2)
Wo wo wo wo yeah Wo wo wo wo yeah Wo wo wo wo yeah yeah Wo wo wo wo yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yes it’s a new world order, oh yeah Another new world order, oh yeah A crucial world order, oh yeah A wicked world order, oh yeah (repeat fade)
Part of the reason I haven’t been getting much done since I’ve been home this trip is the fact that I went to the OTC last week and the Happy Hour afterwards.
The one I went to on Tuesday is just one of many similar parties put on by various companies to make it ‘easy to do business’. Hey, I’m all for that!
This one was sponsored by Wilhelmsen (ships service) for the USMAAA (Kings Point grads). No, I didn’t graduate from Kings Point. I did apply after I graduated from high school on the sailing ships and decided I wanted to become a professional mariner. Too bad they turned me down because I was “too fat”.
Too fat for WHAT?
They couldn’t give me a good answer for that, neither could the Navy when I tried them afterwards. Oh well, I found ways to sail without either Kings Point OR the Navy. It just took me about 10 times longer to reach my goal of Unlimited Master. Too bad things have deteriorated so much in that time that it’s no longer worth being a ships master. 🙁
It’s really great that the USMMAAA doesn’t actually require you to have gone to KP. They’re actually open to any member of the maritime community. I joined them a couple of years ago. I like to go to their events when I can.
This particular event was a happy hour held at Pappasito’s right around the corner from the OTC. They had a nice buffet with Mexican favorites like tortillas, burritos, quesadillas and plenty of beer and margaritas to wash it all down.
I met some interesting new people there and caught up with some old friends. That’s always my favorite part of these things. I love to learn more about all kinds of maritime subjects, but I really like to meet all the interesting people there and hear their stories. Some of them have been sailing even longer than I have!
I was having such a great time, I stayed a little longer than I should have. I didn’t get home til late and I’ve been making up for that late night ever since.
I haven’t really done much since I got home. I just can’t seem to get over the feeling of being so tired. I’ve been super lazy, but I did get out to go to the OTC in Houston on Tuesday.
I wanted to see all the neat new stuff they always have there. It’s a really great place to learn about what’s happening in the oilfield and get a feel for what the work situation will be like over the next year or so. I wasn’t able to go last year when it broke all records, but considering the price of oil and the feelings of most oilfield workers I’ve heard from, it did pretty good this year.
One thing they changed this year and I definitely did NOT like, was that they banned all photography. I really have no idea why they would do that and for someone that likes taking pictures as much as I do, it really SUCKS. Here’s a picture of the outside of the NRG center which is where the OTC is held in Houston every year.
I went to a lunch presentation about DP (Marine Technology for Dynamic Positioning). It seemed to be mostly promoting the German companies involved in the marine industries (MAN, Schottel, L-3) and wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I did meet some interesting tablemates: a couple of guys from Malaysia, a couple more from Turkey and an engineer from Paragon Drilling (which recently split off from Noble).
I wandered around for a few hours checking out all the displays. I was especially interested in the ones with new vessels coming out. I liked the ones from Ceona,McDermott, Boa and Subsea 7. I talked to a few people at the booths about future hiring possibilities. Sad to say (tho not unexpected in this market), most were not looking for any new crew.
I did meet a recruiter from Swift. They had a booth outside and were the only ones I met who were very actively looking for people to sign on. I was happy to talk over job prospects in their air conditioned tent over a beer. My feet were starting to ache after 4-5 hours of walking around!
All in all an interesting day, but if I’m home again next year I’ll go on Thursday when it’s FREE!
I got home from offshore the other day and I’m still trying to get back in sync with things around here. I’m still pretty far off the sleep schedule, but slowly getting back to normal.
Last night I stayed up late watching TV. I watched Saturday Night Live, then stayed up for the Texas Music Scene and the Conspiracy Show. Yeah, I love all that stuff!
Humor- not politically correct.
Music- that never gets played on the radio, (or maybe only on KPFT).
Conspiracy theories- too many questions for the ‘official story’ to be accepted as told (no, I don’t believe all that stuff, I just think the questions they bring up are VERY interesting and deserve a wider audience).
Those are 3 of my favorite shows! Too bad they’re on so late at night. Then again, if they were on in the daytime, I’d never be around to watch them.
During the day yesterday, I cooked up some banana nut muffins and a big pot of 15 bean soup with the hambone I had left from last time home (I cut up the ham and froze most of it for later). I worked through a bunch of paperwork: mail, bills, etc. I got online and made a few blog posts. I did some Facebooking. I took a walk and checked out how my plants were doing (lots of tiny lemons, raspberries barely growing, grapes on 1 vine!).
So today was just a lazy Sunday. I slept late, got up around noon. I made it out to the store to pick up a few things (strawberries on sale). I read the Sunday papers. I registered for the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) and the KP Happy Hour.
The conference starts tomorrow and goes on all week but I’ll probably only go on Tuesday. It’s a HUGE big deal here in Houston every year. You can find out all about everything to do with oil drilling. I think it’s pretty interesting and try to go if I’m in town. Good thing I live nearby tho, since almost every hotel room in Houston was already booked up yesterday.
I guess tomorrow I’ll keep on with the paperwork and maaaybe even get started on the taxes! I got my property tax appraisals in the mail and oh boy did it get me going! They doubled the price on most everything! That’s a post for another day.
Yesterday, I’ve been here for 28 days. That doesn’t count the 2 days travel time and the day we spent in Mauritius in a safety meeting (ALL day).
It’s been non-stop since I got off the plane. I thought it might slow down when we finished our acceptance trials (we had to show the client that we could do everything we said we could- test all equipment, etc). The auditor left a couple of days ago. But now we are preparing to go to work and things are still moving a mile a minute.
A new ship is nice, but there are always bugs to work out and lots of extra stress getting everything working the way it should. I hope things will get closer to normal in the next couple of days.
Most of the crew I came with left the ship to go home yesterday. I sure wish I went with them!!!
If more people knew and understood the truth about our system, we would not be stuck with obamacare now. We MIGHT actually still have a decent health care system! I wish more people would pay attention to what goes on in the world around them, maybe we could make things better instead of worse.
Have you got a code you live by? What are the principles or set of values you actively apply in your life?
I don’t usually think too deep about that kind of thing. But after I thought about it again, in response to the prompt today, I realize that yes, I really DO have a code I live by.
That code is simple:
LIVE AND LET LIVE
I’ve always thought that philosophy would make the world a MUCH better place if more people would live that way.
I thought when I was growing up I was alone in my thought processes. For so long, it seemed that everyone else around always thought for some strange reason that someone else (god, family, state, etc.) had some sort of ‘right’ to dictate how others should live their lives.
It was very encouraging for me to learn a few years ago that there are actually a lot of other people who think the way I do. Who believe in the philosophy of liberty and value freedom for all (actually, Americas’ founding fathers thought the same way and tried hard to form a government that would protect our rights to live this way- too bad their vision has been totally destroyed in only 200 years).
I only found out about the libertarians when my local Texas congressman Ron Paul was running for President as a Libertarian. It was SO nice to find that there were other people I could talk to who actually agreed with me. 🙂
(On most things- or at least the basic principles. Of course, if you’ve ever been in a room full of libertarians, you’d never believe that since we can argue for hours over the minute details of some proposal.)
But, the BASIC principals are not really an issue.
Self ownership: YOU own your life! No one else!
Everything else comes out of that most basic principle. Things like personal responsibility, honesty and respect for others. Everything comes together in a very sensible, ethical way for people in society to live. Each person is free to chose how to live their own lives in the best way possible for them (live according to their own values), taking into consideration their personal circumstances, and remember that they’re free to do whatever they choose as long as they don’t hurt anyone else while doing it (and, that they’re responsible for their own choices/actions!). That brings up a biggie.
There is also the non-aggression principle. Here is a good explanation of that by Dr. Mary Ruwart…
QUESTION: What is the libertarian “non-aggression principle” (or “non-aggression axiom”)?
MY SHORT ANSWER: Libertarianism is based on a single ideal, the non-aggression principle, so libertarian rhetoric tends to be remarkably consistent.
Libertarians oppose the initiation of force to achieve social or political goals. They reject “first-strike” force, fraud or theft against others; they only use force in self-defense. Those who violate this “non-aggression principle” are expected to make their victims whole as much as possible.
This “Good Neighbor Policy” is what most of us were taught as children. We were told not to lie, cheat, steal, not to strike our playmates unless they hit us first. If we broke a friend’s toy, we were expected to replace it.
Most of us still practice what we learned as children with other individuals, but we have grown accustomed to letting government aggress against others when we think we benefit. Consequently, our world is full of poverty and strife, instead of the harmony and abundance that freedom (i.e., freedom from aggression) brings.
Simply put, libertarians take the non-aggression principle that most people implicitly follow in their interactions with other individuals, and apply it to group actions, including government actions, as well.
You might have heard the Libertarian Party (LP) referred to as the “Party of Principle.” This is because the LP bases its programs and policy positions on the non-aggression principle.
Yeah, I really DO believe in these principles and yes, I do live by them.
If I haven’t gone too far off the deep end for you, and you’re interested in learning more, try taking the quiz (that’s why I keep it as a sticky first post on my blog). Check out the links in this post, or try the Advocates for Self-Government or the International Society for Individual Liberty, they’re both full of good information and more links to other resources for the liberty movement around the world.
Have you ever heard of libertarians before? Do you agree with these principles? If you don’t mind me asking, why or why not?
Seems like I’ve been home for such a short time! I guess that’s because I’ve only been home for a little over a week and the 1st couple of days were totally wasted just trying to catch up on sleep!! So I HAVE only been home for a short time!!
These long flights are really getting old. Especially when they make it so there’s no way to even TRY to upgrade! I started trying to upgrade as soon as I found out I would have a 15 HOUR flight! (And that’s only the FIRST leg to Dubai, I still have another 6 1/2 flight to Mauritius after that!) It would be nice to show up somewhere and not be completely exhausted for the 1st few days you get there.
I don’t have enough miles on this airline (Emirates). They don’t allow use of miles from another airline. I tried to BUY an upgrade, they wouldn’t even tell me how much it would cost!
All this because I’m on a ‘seamans’ fare’, not that it’s really any cheaper than I see online every day. What a rip-off! They USED to be good for a good rate for sailors that had to get to/from their ships on short notice. Not the same anymore, they’re more than the online tickets now.
I could possibly upgrade through my travel agent, IF I could contact them. Seems that is just not possible. I tried calling, emailing, and filling out their online form. Been trying for a WEEK now. STILL no response from them.
So, I guess I need to psyche myself up for a 15 hour long flight with no sleep. I WISH I was one of those so-lucky people that can sleep while sitting up!
I just hope there are no seat-back kicking kids or screaming babies nearby. 🙁
Amazing! I only got home from Angola late Thursday, and Friday I got an email from work asking me to go to Mauritius!
I’ve never been there before. I LOVE going to new places. I just hope to have at least a little bit of time to see something of Mauritius. I’d hate to go straight from the airport to the ship. The pictures look gorgeous! Here’s one I found on google.
I’m going to meet one of our new drillships and bring it around to the other side of Africa and hopefully stay to get it started on its’ first contract. This will be the first time I’ve actually gone anywhere on a ship for months. That will be a nice change.
I’m excited to be able to sail a ship again, instead of just keep it sitting in one place, which is what I’ve mostly been doing for the last few years. Here’s a map of Africa. You can get an idea of where we’ll be going. Just find Mauritius (East of Madagascar) and head South around the tip of South Africa and then back up North to Congo on the West Coast.
Looks like we’ll wind up not too far from where I’ve been working off Angola for the last few months.
This is a classic song from the maritime industry. Gordon Lightfoot wrote and performed it and it was a big hit back in the 60’s. It’s about the sinking of the ‘Laker’ SS Edmund Fitzgerald in a winter storm almost 40 years ago (November 1975).
She was the pride of the Lakes fleet and it was such a tragedy when she went down. Lost with all hands aboard. It almost makes me cry sometimes when I pay attention to what he’s saying. We can never forget the power of the sea.
This is a sad song, but it’s also a good one. What do you think?
I haven’t been able to post on here much lately since I’ve been pretty busy for the last week or so. I left home last Monday and spent 2 days traveling to the rig. I got here on Wednesday the 11th and was lucky enough to be assigned to the midnight to noon watch (so I got to go to sleep pretty soon after arrival onboard).
I was just starting to get settled in, then we had drills Sunday and unlatched the BOP on Monday. We moved right over to our next well and stabbed in later that day. We should only be on this one a couple more days and then move on to the next one. So it looks like this hitch will be pretty much like the last one. Constantly busy with setting up, maintenance, moving around, rip tides to watch out for, etc. Not much time for taking care of other business.
I got news right before I left home that the plumbers will be asking around $3000(!!!) to repair the sewer issues at one of my properties. We had been trying to find a way to do it ourselves since it mostly consists of digging a hole.
I even went to talk to the city code enforcement officer about doing the job myself. He told me I could only do the job if it was my homestead and I would have to show him proof that I lived in that house. Owning it was not enough (WHY NOT???).
Since my drivers license did not have that address on it, I was SOOL (shit out of luck)!
He would allow me to dig the hole myself, which we had hoped to be able to do. Since that was by FAR the main part of the job, that would save us a hell of a lot of money. So, for the next couple of weeks at home I was trying to help find a LICENSED plumber who would be willing to do a little moonlighting. Let us dig the hole and he could just come at the end to supervise. All he had to do was be there to connect the pipes back together.
In the end, we could not find any one like that (I guess the plumbers union must be pretty strong). They all insisted that THEY must do the ENTIRE job.
So, I will have to spend an EXTRA $2500 (and up), for licensed plumbers to dig a hole (at $100 per hour and up)!
WOW! What a friggin’ RACKET these guys have going! BS your way into getting the government to FORCE people to hire you, even for jobs they’re perfectly capable of doing themselves! WOW!!
Does anybody else have a problem with this situation?
I mean, WHY the HELL should ANYONE be able to dictate what you can do on YOUR OWN PROPERTY??????
The principle of ownership implies USE of something. If you can’t use your property, the way YOU want, then you do NOT own it! Yet, you still have to pay for it, and you have to KEEP ON paying for it. Even after you have paid the full price (many times over if you financed it).
Property taxes, they mean that you NEVER really can own a piece of property.
The way I look at it is: if you want to dictate to me what I can or can’t do on what is supposedly MY property, then YOU can PAY for it, since you get to use it for what you want and I don’t get to use it for what I BOUGHT IT FOR!
Too bad there are so many busy bodies that just can’t control themselves. Our entire society has pandered to them for much too long (they should have been laughed out of town the first time they mentioned the subject!). Now, they even imagine that they are in the right (they are NOT). But there’s no fighting them anymore.
Oh wait, there IS one group that is having some success in fighting this sickening trend. The Institute for Justice does help people fight for their property rights (among other things). They’ve been doing an excellent job and I am happy to support them as much as I can (wish I could do more- so many people need their help).
We’re all between a rock and a hard place. Either you pay rent forever so you can never escape the rat race (and put up with even MORE restrictions on what you can do in your HOME), or you buy property so you can earn some income, but yet you are more and more restricted every year.
So, the figures you based your decision to buy an investment on are devalued every year until you wind up even worse than you would have been if you never even tried.
It’s absolutely shameful what we have allowed to happen in the USA. We used to have a free country (or at least one we could say was more free than anywhere else). Now, we are SO FAR from that idea, it is ridiculous to even mention those words together any more. They are almost opposites now (America-free).
I sure hope the sewer issues are fixed by the time I get home. I sure don’t want to have to deal any more with this ‘shit’! (But I already know I have another problem to deal with at another place- and it will also be very expensive!). 🙁
This is another great article from the Dollar Vigilante.
Yep, here we go, following in the footsteps of such wonderful places as NAZI Germany, Soviet Russia (USSR), and Apartheid South Africa. We absolutely MUST stop this! We do NOT need to “show our papers” everywhere we go!!!!! We are NOT slaves or animals that must be constantly tracked and under surveillance!!! Yes, ‘our leaders’ do think so, but why do so many ordinary people go along with them? WTF is WRONG with people, that they would even suggest this???
And, believe me, this will only be the beginning. 🙁
Better be prepared for some SERIOUS SHIT when they get this “law” into effect! I hope to hell I can get myself out of here before the shit hits the fan and I encourage anyone else here in the US to find some options too. The USA is NOT going to be a safe place to be for much longer. Get out while you can!
I was really hoping to make some serious progress in a couple of months when I was due to get my yearly bonus from work. Got news the other day that they’ve cancelled my bonus (not all of it, just stopped earning it from end of the month- it’s a HUGE pay cut). Not just me, everybody was cut! How can they do that? It was in the contract. I guess those are only for one side to obey, the side that doesn’t have the power and money to do whatever they want. 🙁
With the price of oil so low, I guess I should be happy to still have a job. I’m sure the company knows that and so that’s why they’ll do whatever they want regardless of any ‘contracts’.
One step forward and 2 steps back. That’s what it seems like around here. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I can see what’s coming and take steps to prepare for it. It sure as hell adds a lot of stress to life tho.
I’m trying even harder to find some way to get out of the USA. I haven’t been able to find anywhere else to go that will allow me to WORK to support myself. That’s the only holdup. A lot of nice places are OK if you want to just go there to live, or to retire, or if you want to start a business. But they won’t let you work and possibly take a job from a local. I don’t blame them for that, it’s just frustrating for me when I want to leave so badly and I can’t find a way to do it.
Lately, I’ve even looking at just saying screw working anymore. I’ll just get permanent residency somewhere. I MIGHT be able to scrounge up enough to live on til I die. IF I move somewhere cheaper (and I die young). Maybe I’ll get lucky and that country (wherever) won’t deport me to the US when it really gets bad. Just got hit with approx. $3000++ plumbing bill, that kind of thing sure doesn’t help!
I was reading an email this morning about education. It was really more about the disadvantages of “public” schools (government schools).
This video was in the email. I don’t usually listen to rap music. I’ve never heard of this guy, Dave. Or his Boyinaband. I did check it out today. Just because I finally have some spare time at home and because of the recommendation in the email from TDV.
I think Dave makes a LOT of good points! No, I don’t think school should completely eliminate ALL the classics. But I DO think they spend a lot of time on things that nobody is EVER going to use.
OK, if you’re going to be an engineer or scientist, (or math teacher) then I’m sure you’ll be using quadratic equations. For pretty much everybody else, you’ll be fine if you ace geometry (or even just basic arithmetic) and skip algebra completely.
Same goes for all the other subjects: Science, English, History, Civics, etc.
Why don’t we just give all our kids a great background in those basic subjects. Up to about 4th grade, say. They OUGHT to be able to ace it by then. And if they’re some of the few that can’t, then DON’T let them hold back the ones that can do the work! Put the slow ones in a special remedial class and stop with all the political correctness that is ruining everything for everybody! Get some discipline back in the classrooms so the kids that want to learn, can learn. Concentrate on giving ALL of them a good foundation: “readin’, writin’, ‘rithmatic!” Spend the rest of the time up til High School building on those foundations with more intensive studies.
Then, after that, let the kids and their parents chose a more applicable education. Surely by High School, all involved ought to have a good idea of what they want to do with their lives. Let them opt out of todays’ standard “college prep” and take something more practical if they want to (technical or trade track).
I agree with the premise that kids are naturally curious and WILL learn what interests them. If you show them how a subject will be relevant to them, then they’re a lot more likely to take an interest.
In my own personal experience, I was very lucky to have the chance to leave the ‘public’ school system before it totally destroyed my chance of a good education. I was one of those students who always aced the tests, etc. I made straight A’s without even trying. By the time I got to High School, I had already started skipping school. Just because it was SO DAMNED BORING!
I decided I had much better things to do with my time than to take Algebra yet again! I had been taking that class (earning straight A’s) since 4th grade! No one could/would explain to me why I should waste even more of my time in that class. Nor could they say why there were no options!
People seem to think that the ONLY place you can learn something is in ‘school’. I disagree!! I’ve learned a hell of a lot more on my own, then I ever did in school.
Looked to me then (and it looks to me now), like we have a one track system. Dumb down the smart kids (and the middle of the road kids). Let the slow kids set the pace of the class. IMHO, that is a road to disaster! And just look at how bad the results are compared to a century ago! Here’s a link to an 8th grade exam from 1912. Could YOU pass it?
(I can’t. I have 2 degrees- one of them is in math).
BUT; if kids could pass it then, they COULD be taught to pass it NOW.
Now we graduate kids from High School that can’t even READ! Or do even BASIC math! I know, because I used to tutor a hell of a lot of them when they got into college. And WHY are they even allowed into college if they can’t ALREADY read, write and do math???
We really need to stop spending so much time, money and other resources on making sure (or trying to) that everybody can go to college. Somehow we’ve managed to make a college degree a ‘necessity’.
MAYBE if we got back to where a high school diploma actually meant something, like a graduate really knew how to read, basic math, basic all around education and HOW TO THINK, then a business would once again be able to trust that the person they’re interviewing for a job could learn the skills to do the job without needing a complete education after they got hired! Maybe then you wouldn’t ‘need’ a college degree to get a ‘good job’.
After all, one of the main reasons we send kids to school is so that they can ‘get a job’. Hopefully, a job that will allow them a decent standard of living. A “good job”. I don’t see why we should FORCE kids to stay in school if that’s all they’re looking for.
The other reason we send kids to school is to give them a real education. To learn how to live their lives. I think we are failing BADLY in this task. I think we should teach these lessons from the earliest opportunity and all the way up through High School.
Yes! Like Dave says; teach them about money, currency, and where it comes from! Teach them about finances, about how the stock markets work, about banking, about budgeting, about debt and interest, about how to balance a checkbook, about how to run a household.
Teach them about how to shop for groceries, about nutrition and healthy eating, about how to cook. Teach them how to grow a garden. Teach them about their bodies and how to stay healthy (and how NOT to become parents!), and how to raise a family IF you want to.
Teach them about the society they live in (and the worldwide situation), about how they are part of the community, about their rights and responsibilities. About politics and voting and corruption and how the system REALLY works! About history and how all this came about.
Teach them about the rest of the world: Geography, world events and how they relate to history and how it affects them, now. Languages, to help them get by in a changing world. Natural science and environmental studies, so they can understand how the environment they live in affects them and is (or is not) effected by them. Throw some travel in the mix, it’s a GREAT way to teach many different subjects!
Teach them about science (and math), basic principles and how it is relevant to them!
Most important, teach them how to THINK!!
NOT just how to regurgitate facts, or to pass the next test. Teach them how to go about learning about a subject. Teach them how to find the information they need to solve a problem or to answer any questions they may have. How to use logic and how to get past all the advertising and propaganda we all have to deal with constantly.
I think learning HOW to learn is the most important thing we can teach. But I don’t see much of that going on in schools anymore. 🙁
Listen to the lyrics to the song above, do you agree or disagree with Dave?
Yes, Ron Paul is right about this (as he was about so many other things). Most Americans refuse to open their eyes to this truth (or about the rest of them). They seem to be either just slogging through the daily grind with no time to think or anything else. Or they’re completely convinced that the OTHER mainstream political party is the cause of all the problems in the world.
Truth is that BOTH the mainstream political parties are in reality the SAME and they ARE the cause of most of Americas problems. Try getting people to see the truth to that, keep on banging your head against the wall.
Yes, we ARE living in a police state! Thanks to Ron Paul for all his work, from another head-banger. 🙁
Yeah, I know I’ve been doing a lot of political posts lately. I hope it’s not getting to be too much of a downer. But one of the main reasons I started blogging was to try to get a discussion going (with me or with others) about all the things politics is doing to our nation and our world.
I’ll move on to another subject soon, I promise. 😉
This video is kind of long (16 mins). I thought John Oliver did a great job of injecting some humor into a subject that is really pretty sad. Super sad when you think about it. All those millions of people having their lives ruined, just so the powers that be can say that they are fighting the war on ‘drugs’. As this video on asset forfeiture vividly shows, it is NOT a war on drugs, it IS a war on US.
This whole asset forfeiture thing is just one way they fight their war against US. The very idea that they have the right to tell a person what they can put into their bodies (eat, drink, or otherwise consume) is a humongous fraud and a HUGE violation of the principle of individual liberty that this country was founded on.
The principle that the ONLY legitimate function of government was to PROTECT those liberties that we ALL were BORN WITH simply by the fact that we are all human beings.
I don’t watch all that many movies. But when I’ve got a long plane ride, I might watch one or two. I usually have a hard time finding one I think will be worth the time. Since I can never sleep unless I’m lying down (or I’ve been up for over 24 hours and just too exhausted to stay awake any longer), I’m apt to try out the in flight ‘entertainment system’ on the plane.
My flight home from Luanda to Frankfurt was 8 1/2 hours long. Then I had another 10 1/2 hour flight from Frankfurt to Houston. I didn’t really see ANYTHING worth watching at first glance. I flipped through the choices again and again, searching for something to keep my mind occupied (the book I was reading just wasn’t holding my interest).
I finally decided to try this film. It’s not something I usually would have watched. I usually prefer science fiction/fantasy, horror, or really silly comedy. (I also watched the ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ this trip home.)
I’m glad I did decide to watch the ‘Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’. It really was pretty funny. Not in an ‘in-your-face’ kind of way, but in a more subtle kind of way.
The idea behind it- of a fantastic retirement home in a faraway, exotic, cheap and affordable location- was very interesting to me. I’ve been looking for that myself in real life. I watched the movie to see how the characters dealt with the different things they’d come across in daily life in a foreign country.
I loved the movie. The actors, (Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Penelope Wilton and Dev Patel), all did a great job. I especially loved the way Muriel (Maggie Smith) grew into her new life. The director (John Madden) found the perfect settings and put it all together in a wonderful way. I really enjoyed myself. I laughed a lot, I even cried a couple of times. I’ve always wanted to visit India and this film has given me even more reasons to go. 🙂
I have a couple of friends I really hope I can get to watch this movie. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes an adventure, travel, learning new things, new cultures, about life, about yourself. I thought it was very inspiring and worth sharing.
Let me know if you’ve seen it already and what you thought.
We should be finishing up this well sometime tonight and probably getting underway tomorrow. That means I’ll be even more busy (with less time to blog) than usual.
I’m not used to these drilling rigs yet. I’ve only been doing it off and on for the last couple of years. I’m a mariner, not a driller. 😉
I do find it amazing how fast they get the job done on these rigs over here in Africa. In the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), I seem to remember it taking many months to drill a well.
Here it seems to take them only a few weeks. I’m sure part of the reason is that these ships are the latest and greatest (so far)- 6th generation dual derrick drill ships. They can use both derricks at once, that saves them a LOT of time.
Ocean Rig Olympia
I hear this next job will only take a week or so. That one is only putting down the ‘top-hole’, it’s not the same thing as drilling a well.
This kind of work keeps me MUCH more busy than I usually am offshore. I’m learning a lot, which is always good. I just hope it doesn’t get too stressful (it’s ALWAYS stressful when we’re moving).
It should only take us a couple of hours to get there once we finally get underway. The new well is only about 12 miles from where we’re at right now. What takes time is getting underway and then getting set up again once we reach our new location.
Our drillers and subsea guys have to pick up all the riser and the BOP. We (DPOs and ROV guys) have to pick up all our transponders and then secure our transducer poles for our acoustic reference system. All that can take quite a while.
When we get to our new location, we have to do all that in reverse. We will also spend a lot of time and effort to calibrate all our equipment so that it all works as well as possible.
I’m looking forward to the move, but a little nervous too. :-/
PS- I was on the Olympia last hitch, but these are not my photos, (I got them from googling “drillships”)
Here’s another entry for the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge:Yellow. This one is more about things I see at work.
I took the first photo at the Maritime Museum in Aberdeen when I was there in July for the freefall lifeboat course (click the link for more on that). The museum is really great and well worth a visit. They had some great exhibits on the offshore oilfields, the fishing fleet and the square-rigged sailing ships they used to build so many of nearby.
Here’s picture of a ‘NEWT suit’ they use for deep water diving.
I took the next one at the Workboat Show last time I was home. They have it every year in New Orleans and I try to go if I’m not working. The show is a great place to meet old friends and make new ones. The big companies always sponsor happy hours to meet and greet, they’re a lot of fun and probably where most of the real business takes place.
mini ROV by SeaRay
I got to play with the little ROV (remotely operated vehicle) this time. Usually there are so many people trying it out I never get the chance. I worked for Oceaneering for years where we used their big ROVs to do all sorts of interesting projects. Similar to the one in the background of the top photo.
The ROVs were used when the work was too deep or otherwise not available for the divers (even with the NEWT suits).
I think if I ever lose my mariners license, I’d like to try ROV. It was a real challenge to get the buoyancy right, but I think I was starting to get the hang of it. 🙂
The big discussion I’ve been having with everyone is over the price of oil and how it will affect us (we all work in oil related industries).
I’m sure for most people, it must be just such a nice bonus, especially this time of year. To have the price of a barrel of oil cut in half over the last few months is probably giving most people a little bit extra to spend on Christmas presents.
I think it’s got to be a boon for the world economy. Oil plays such a HUGE part in our everyday lives. Most people don’t even realize.
It’s not only used to fuel almost the entire transportation industry worldwide (there are a few electrically powered cars now), but it’s used in so many OTHER things we never really think about.
Things like plastic, which is itself used in almost everything. Like pharmaceuticals, fabrics, lubricants, fertilizers, chemicals, CDs, artificial limbs, and here’s a link to a list of some other uses.
Of course, I do have a life outside of my job. 😉 I love it when the price of gas goes down and I can think about going exploring around my neighborhood again. I appreciate when the price of a plane ticket goes down. I love it when the prices of all the things I have to buy drop because the price to deliver them to the market drops. (Why does it always seem that it doesn’t drop as much as it SHOULD?)
But, since I’m working in the oilfield (again), on a drillship, looking for MORE oil, when the price of oil drops it’s not usually a good thing. The oil companies we work for definitely take note, and things start slowing down out here.
New projects are delayed or canceled. Boats and rigs are put into storage. Crews are laid off. Like most people, we’re also living paycheck to paycheck.
So the rumors are flying. We’ve all heard about companies already paying millions of dollars to back out of contracts. Projects being cancelled. Rigs with no contracts. People in super-high demand a couple of months ago unable to find work and others being laid off. Companies starting to change their policies so that working for them is not as good as it was last year (they realize we are not as willing to just jump ship if we don’t know we have another job or 2 waiting in the wings).
We’re all wondering if our companies are going to keep their contracts (and so we will be able to keep our jobs). We’re wondering how low will the price of oil go this time and how deep the cuts.
Yeah, I think it’s a help to the worldwide economy when the price of oil drops. I also know that the price of oil affects the entire oilfield and everyone related to it. It’s a HUGE influence all over the Southern US. So many people all over Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida work offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, they support entire counties in those states with their paychecks!
The shale boom from Texas up through Oklahoma and the Dakotas (and all the way up into the Northeast) has helped bring the US out of the “great recession” (finally). Shale drilling is already screaming to a halt. The boom in those states will go with it.
So we’re all just wondering, how low can the price of oil go and for how long?
