Category Archives: holidays

What Are You Thankful For This Pandemic Year Thanksgiving?

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I am so thankful to be at work. I am thankful that this year I have had more work than I’ve had since I was laid off in 2015. Maybe this long downturn is finally ending?

I’m thankful I still have some savings left. I’m not totally broke yet. I still have my house and most of my assets, though I’ve had to sell off a few things in order to survive the last few years with practically no work. I’m thankful I’ve had the years of experience of working in the offshore oilfield which prepared me for this time. I did all I could to be ready for the layoffs.

I’m thankful to be fairly healthy. I’m not deaf, dumb, blind or seriously injured. I do have some health issues (I’m getting old) and I’m still fat (nothing new there, I still have no success dieting). I’ve pretty much given up on that and just accept that I enjoy my food and drink and always will. I’d rather enjoy it all rather than deprive myself in hopes of a few extra years of life.

You never really know what’s going to happen anyway. You could die in a car wreck tomorrow. I could find out I have some kind of cancer next month. I have such a hard time right now with this ‘pandemic’, it has a 99%+ survival rate but everyone in the world seems to think it’s worth throwing away everything that makes life worth living in order to be ‘safe’. Like anyone ever could be.

There is no such thing as 100% safety in this world. Life entails risk! There is no living without it! Giving up so much, reaching for that 1% just seems totally insane to me.

I’m thankful for my friends. They accept me as I am. I don’t have to dress up or play any games. They don’t run me off (very often) if I start going on about one of my ‘conspiracy theories’. I’m glad I have so many I can talk about such interesting subjects with. I get super tired of having nothing to talk about but sports and babies!

I’m thankful that I’ll be able to eat and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner out here on the boat where we’re all living pretty much normally (we just check our temperatures daily). I do not have to worry about any idiotic mask mandates or restrictions on how many friends I can invite over to eat!

I’m really, really thankful that more and more people are starting to wake up. To stand up and fight for their (and our) freedom. That they are no longer willing to submit to the idiotic, arbitrary and ultimately useless rules and restrictions being forced upon the world using the excuse of a deadly pandemic (covid).

I’m thankful that I can still get around (tho who knows how much longer that will last with all the covid restrictions ongoing). I’ve been able to keep my ’97 F-150 going and do my best to take care of it. I don’t ever want to have to buy another car in my life!

I’d love to find somewhere to live where I don’t need a car at all. Somewhere like where I grew up in Florida, where everything I needed was within easy walking distance. Not like Texas, where everything you need is miles away and we have no real options for public transportation.

I’m thankful that I still have access to so many great books to read! I have my kindle with me and it’s full of a few dozen good ones. Everything from travel to horror, to biographies and science fiction. I also brought a stock of magazines with me. I’m still working through the Seaways from the Nautical Institute and just started on the National Geographic. I still have a couple of Smithsonian’s and Reason magazines to get through.

I’m thankful I have my house and garden to go home to when I get off this boat. A place of my own where I can spread out. I can relax and lay down on the couch if I feel like it. I can fill the fridge with food, cook and eat anything I feel like. I can adjust the temperature to where I’m comfortable (this boat is always freezing!). I can work on projects like painting while listening to my favorite music. I can look forward to getting outside to clean up my yard while the weather is nice and cool. I can enjoy watching my plants do their thing and pet the visiting cats that come by to meow at me pretty much every day.

I’m thankful for my cameras and computers. They allow me to take photos to help me remember all the fantastic places I’ve been and all the beautiful people I’ve met. I can look back and remember all the good times I’ve had and fantasize about having more in the future. I can wind up practically drooling over some of the emails I get describing bucket list destinations.

They also allow me to share and meet people all over the world who I’d never be able to in any other way. I’m thankful for that too. 🙂

What are some things you’re thankful for?

Happy New Year 2019

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Well, it’s over- 2018 is done! Hard to believe isn’t it? To start 2019, I’d like to say thank you for sticking with me- I know I haven’t been very consistent on here lately. Some days I just don’t feel like doing anything. Writers block or just plain laziness? Both, I think. Last year seemed to drag on forever, but now it seems to have gone by so fast.

I have to say, I’m very thankful that 2018 was better than 2017. My computer wasn’t giving me near as much trouble (until just recently- I wonder if the bats have returned). I was able to get a little bit more work. Not enough, not nearly enough to satisfy me and get me to the point of being comfortable, but enough to survive on. I was even able to dig myself slightly out of the hole the last couple of years of basically no work had put me in.

I actually had work every month last year (except Nov-Dec when I decided to take my long planned trip instead of hope for work). It wasn’t all offshore, well paid work. Some months, the only job I had was my role player gig at Maersk Training. But even that little bit kept me from having to use up the last of my savings.

I also sold a couple of articles (with photos) and paintings. That was a real boost to my confidence (tho not so much to my bank account).

I was able to take that 2 month long trip and still come out a couple thousand dollars ahead of where I was on New Years Day 2018. 🙂

So, I’m thankful, very much, that 2018 was better than 2016 and 2017. I was able to get enough work and even to take a couple of trips (not including work). In March I went to Roy Stephenson’s travel writing/marketing class in Seattle. In September I attended GEP’s Travel Writing & Photography Workshop in Austin. I spent November and December traveling around the world, stopping in Paris, Tanzania, Bangkok, Vietnam and Cambodia.

I may be ‘greedy’, but I’m really really really hoping that 2019 turns out to be even better than 2018. I sure as hell don’t want a repeat of 2016-2017 which just sucked! I hate being broke and watching everything I’ve worked so hard for just slowly disappear.

I hope things will pick up offshore so there is more work this year and the agencies actually have more than a single job to fight over! It feels great to get 3 calls in a day from 3 different recruiters, but it really sucks once you talk to them and realize they’re all pitching the exact same job.

I don’t know what to think now. I had a job lined up before Christmas. It was supposed to start on the 3rd. Friday I asked about details and was told the job was cancelled. 🙁

I got another call yesterday. It sounded like a good job, but I felt I had to turn it down. I just don’t feel confident that I could handle the particular position on offer. I’m hoping tomorrow will bring some business. There have been some hopeful signs in the news lately.

I haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions this year. I never seem able to follow through on them. They’re always the same: lose weight, clear out the house, write more. I never make any lasting progress.

Instead, I think about the things I would like to do. Top of the list this year: get residency visa for Mexico and make that first move, find a decent room-mate (which will make that move to Mexico SO much easier), take my bicycle in to get it repaired and adjusted so no more excuses to ride, have at least one garage sale and get rid of unused stuff cluttering up my living room!

If I manage to cross those things off my list, and if I manage to find enough work to strengthen my finances a little more, I’d love to do some more traveling. Next big trip I’d like to take is a cruise to Antarctica. 🙂

How about you? Do you have any New Years resolutions? Any trips planned? Where would you most like to go and why?

Happy New Year 2018

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Here’s to hoping 2018 is a better year than the last one!

Christmas at the Dock

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We made arrival in Norfolk early in the morning on the 24th. We were all fast by 0315. I slept in til 0630. Got up for breakfast and watch at 0800. We spent the day securing the port accommodation ladder, sending crates down to the engine room with the crane, putting the port lifeboat in the water and putting primer on the catwalks where we’ve been chipping.

Since it’s a weekend, we get overtime even for working on watch. It’s nice to get OT again. I’ve gotten so used to working in the oilfield where there is no such thing as overtime. We work 12 hours every day (or more). No such thing as a break for weekends or holidays. It’s very nice to go back to a traditional schedule of 4 hours on/8 hours off (except that I am here working as a “day man” so I work 8-5).

Today is Christmas, so I took the afternoon off. I think most of the crew did the same. Some of the crew went ashore last night and today. They say there are a few shops right outside the gate (we still have to call for a ride to the gate).

Santa made it to the ship! Actually, it was the local seaman’s center that brought presents for the crew. You have no idea how much it means to all of us working out here to get something like this. So many sailors are working for months, even years at sea without ever seeing their friends or family. It means a lot to know that someone cares enough about us to make the effort to bring these presents to the ship.

Santa brought presents to the ship!

I opened mine this morning. It had a nice Christmas card on top with a thoughtful comment. It’s full of candy, shampoo, shaving cream and razors, lotion, soap, q-tips, etc. All things you need and might’ve forgotten or run out of on a long voyage.

Christmas goodies from thanks to the seaman’s center

The stewards department was really the only one that really had to work today. I have to hand it to them, they put on quite a nice spread for both lunch and dinner.

We had ham, turkey, deviled eggs, corn on the cob, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green peas, fresh bread, cranberry sauce, and then apple and pecan pie. 🙂

Cooks are happy they made it through the holiday

Not counting the salad bar and freezer full of ice cream. 🙂

For dinner, they had super tender filet mignon, home made crab cakes, shrimp and again all the rest. I was so stuffed, I couldn’t even finish my steak.

It’s cold (37) and really windy here, but no snow yet. Tomorrow we’ll be back to work as usual. The ship is due to sail at 1900. Sadly, I won’t be going with her.

I hate to admit it, but I guess I’m just not as young as I used to be. I took this job as a day man, not knowing what I was getting myself into. Big mistake! Since a large part of my job is running the cranes (4 of them), and the controls are very high up there, I had to face the facts and ask for a replacement.

I’m sure if I’d have shipped out as a regular AB. A watch standing AB, I would’ve done fine. I’m frustrated with myself that I took this job without finding out more about it, but it’s like pulling teeth sometimes trying to get information out of them at the union hall. I was really looking forward to making this trip. Crossing the Atlantic and seeing Europe again. From what I can see, the regular AB’s have it made on here. I’d have no problem doing that job.

I hated to ask the captain for a relief. I don’t like to give up. I don’t like to be a quitter. But, I also have to take into account that I am getting older, I still have not lost any weight, and climbing up and down straight ladders more than a couple of times a day is killing my legs.

I’m bruised all over my body, I keep smashing my knees into the ladder rungs going up the cranes and I’m afraid one of these days I’m going to fall off while I’m cussing out my kneecaps. I have to remind myself that there is no way I can afford to get hurt and if I keep on climbing those cranes, there’s a pretty good chance I would hurt myself before the ship returns to Houston and I’d be due off.

So. I’ll be getting off tomorrow and flying home to Houston. I don’t have any idea when yet. I may be working all day tomorrow and just have a few minutes to throw my gear together. Or maybe they’ll let me know earlier so I have some time to clean my room and get ready.

I’m just hoping they can find me a cheap ticket, since I’m told they will be deducting the price of the flight from my pay. Looks like I may’ve wound up working pretty much for free this trip. 🙁

Lesson learned: NEVER take a job as a day man!

 

WISTA Sista’s- Santa’s Helpers for Houston’s Seafarers

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Tonight was the annual get together of the Houston-Galveston area WISTA Sista’s to ready the Christmas care packages for our local seafarers. The Houston Pilots let us use their facility to organize the assembly of the boxes.

One side of the room had tables filled up with supplies for the shoe boxes: pens, mini-flashlights, pads of paper, snacks, candies, razors, hats, gloves, toothpaste, cards/envelopes, calendars, tissues, etc.

The other sides tables were filled with supplies for the assemblers (us)! 😉

Trays of cheese and crackers, sliced turkey and salami, pickles, olives, fruits and dip, sandwiches, tiny little cheesecakes, sodas, coffee and wine. 🙂

A few of us filled up the boxes, while others wrapped them up and tied ribbons. I’m not sure how many we made up, but we filled up 2 trucks by the end of the night. Half will go to Houston, and half to Galveston.

I’m not that much into Christmas. I usually work over the holidays. In fact, up until the last 2 years of this horrible downturn, I’ve worked every Christmas but 2 over the last 40 years! It’s great to be home with friends and family. To enjoy all the holiday spirit, traditions, good cheer and company.

Out on the ship, it’s hard to deal with the holidays sometimes. You miss all that’s going on at home. You may or may not have communications with your family (some ships still have no internet access for the crew and cell phones usually don’t work unless you’re in port). Most ships try to do something special for Christmas. They’ll set up a tree, put up some decorations and cook a special meal. Santa may even show up at the ship! 😉

You have no idea how much difference these little shoe boxes can make to a ships crew at Christmas. I’ve seen guys break down and cry. It does make you feel good to know that someone out there is thinking about you. Someone who you don’t even know, that wanted to make sure you had something special for Christmas.

I’m hoping I’ll be back at sea by Christmas! I don’t know if I’ll see Santa this year, but I know that there are people around the world who care for the seafarers (not just Houston, I know Freeport’s seaman’s center does and other seaman’s centers do too).

PS- WISTA is an organization of women in shipping and transportation (there are men members too). We had a couple of students from Texas A&M tonight (male and female). We had women who work in insurance, logistics, trading, piloting, training, and sailing. The maritime industry covers a lot of ground, there are all sorts of jobs on shore and on the sea.

SNL- Dysfunctional Thanksgiving

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Yeah, I know it’s a little late. Thanksgiving is over already, but I was looking at youtube tonight to get some info about teaching in Ukraine. I watched the weekly TEFL webinar and they got me curious about how it is over there and they recommended I watch this youtube video. These SNL videos were posted all along the side of the page.

I hope your holidays don’t go like this, but mine were fairly similar when I was growing up. Anyone today would say I had a very dysfunctional family life when I was a kid. I’m glad now I have good friends with ‘normal’ families I can hang out with. 🙂

A Few Funnies for Thanksgiving

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I hope everyone is having a happy Thanksgiving. I’m already home from my friends house, where I stuffed myself with a delicious dinner. 🙂

The kids stepped up and made the stuffing, gravy, banana pudding and even mani-mahi (first time I’ve seen that done for Thanksgiving). We also had mashed potatoes, broccoli rice casserole, ham, turkey, hot rolls and roasted vegetables. That was all before the desserts: Sue’s fabulous apple cinnamon cheesecake, pumpkin pie, pecan pie and pumpkin nut bread (with chocolate chips).

I got home and forced myself to take my walk before I fell asleep. I’m trying not to take another nap! I don’t want to get my sleep schedule all twisted again. I’m trying to get back to normal- up in the daytime so I can get things done.

I want to spend this weekend working on a few projects I’ve been putting off (just too tired to get to them). I got a few plants on sale last week. They’re mostly still alive so I need to get them in the ground! I want to finish up the last chapter of the book I’ve been working on. I need to choose a few good photos for the Houston Maritime Museum, I’m hoping they’ll let me place a few there and maybe someone will buy a couple. 🙂

Here are a few more cute cartoons I found online for Thanksgiving. Enjoy…

Happy Thanksgiving

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I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, spent with friends and family.

If you’re offshore, I know you’re thankful to still have a job (I would be). Enjoy the great food and camaraderie out there. 😉

SNL: Vincent Price’s Halloween Special

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More fun for Halloween!

Do you remember Vincent Price? I do. He was a favorite of mine in those old Saturday morning Creature Features and assorted horror movies.

I can’t say I remember Gloria Swanson. She was before my time and I never have seen Sunset Boulevard. I’m not up on James Mason either, tho I do remember seeing him in quite a few films. Seems kindof out of character from what I remember, but maybe I’m thinking of the wrong guy.

I love how Vincent (Bill Hader) tries to keep the show ‘PG’, safe for the kids. Liberace gets in a few good ones too. It’s hilarious.

Maritime Monday for October 30th 2017: Lumber Hooker

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Here’s the latest maritime news from Monkey Fist and gCaptain. There’s always something interesting in the mix. This week I really liked the Halloween story of the Boston “Ghost Ship Harbor”. I love that kind of stuff!

The articles about the Voyageurs, the Enigma machine and the code breakers was all pretty interesting too.

Check it out…

Europa, later SS Liberté, was a German ocean liner built for the Norddeutsche Lloyd line (NDL) to work the transatlantic sea route. She and her sister ship, Bremen, were the two most advanced, high-speed steam turbine ocean vessels in their day, with both earning the Blue Riband.  more Leave it to Boston to create a […]

Source: Maritime Monday for October 30th, 2017: Lumber Hooker – gCaptain

Two More Days to Halloween!

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Halloween is one of my favorite holidays (the other is St Patricks Day). I love all the costumes, parties, and candy! I don’t bother to decorate my house, it looks like it’s a Halloween House year round anyway, but I do buy some extra candy now for the trick or treaters who might come by. I’m too paranoid to go out to any of the parties anymore. 🙁

I thought this video was kind of cute. I do like to read horror stories and I get a kick out of those campy old movies with the zombies and werewolves. I’ve seen a couple of the Saw movies, a few of the Elm Street movies, a bunch of zombie movies too.  I remember Michael Jackson and the Thriller video when it first came out. I loved his dancing. Sad that he died so young.

Poor Freddie, his jokes weren’t going over too well. The werewolf has his own take. He’s cute. 😉

CFFC: Tombstones or Cemeteries

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Here’s my entry for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Tombstones or Cemeteries.

I took these photos (and a lot more) at a meet up for the Brazoria County Models and Photographers group. This one was at the cemetery in honor of Calaveras Day (Day of the Dead).  I haven’t been to many of their meet ups yet, but they seem like a fun group and I’ve enjoyed them so far. I wish they would have more frequent meet ups!

PS- I’m joining in the Blogger’s Pit Stop. I’ve found a lot of really cool blogs by visiting over there. 🙂

Another Busy Week

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And not accomplishing much of anything. 🙁

I’ve been working on all the usual stuff around here. Still looking for work. Spending hours filling out online applications for any offshore job I happen to see posted. I’ve been talking to one company for a couple of weeks now, but they don’t seem to have any idea of when they might (or might not) need me. It’s very frustrating, but at least they’re still talking to me. That’s more than I’ve had in over 18 months now!

We finished up working on one apartment and got it ready to rent. I thought we had it rented before we even finished working on it, but that fell through. I think it will go pretty quick (I hope so). I’m still waiting for the roofers to fix a leak and the levelers to honor their warranty (good luck!!).

I have one more apartment over there that needs work, but I need to wait til the rents start coming in before I can afford to start on it. It doesn’t look like it needs as much work as the last one, but I never know what I’ll find once I get started. 🙁

I had some good friends come down and visit. We pigged out at the Chinese buffet and had a good time catching up on everything.

Other than that, I finished 2 paintings in class on Tuesday. I took them both to Hobby Lobby to get them framed. One of them was finished in time for me to enter it in the People’s Choice show (I’m always amazed at how many really talented people we have around here in this area). The other won’t be ready for at least another week. I think they both turned out OK, but especially with the lighthouse, not really what I was trying to do with them.

I wasn’t quite finished with the lighthouse when I took this photo. I’ll get another when I get it back with the frame.

I went to my usual political meeting Tuesday night. We’ve decided to re-start our project to get the BWA to remove the fluoride from our drinking water. It really doesn’t do anything for your teeth by drinking it. It only helps if you apply it topically (like with toothpaste). It’s really not at all good for you. Yeah, I know, most people will read that and think I’m just another tin foil conspiracy theorist. I think there’s more than enough evidence to show it’s not really necessary for good teeth (or any other reason).

So, I spent some time researching that. I also got a writing assignment for Great Escape Publishing. Whoo-whoo! Another byline!! I really need to find the time to query more publications. But that takes a HUGE amount of time! I was very hopeful when I applied to Big Grey Horse when they said they were looking for Texas writers. I think they would’ve contacted me by now if they were interested. 🙁

I’ve been working on my yard the last few days. In between the rain. I’ve got the front yard about 25% finished now. It makes a big difference when I pull all the clematis vines off and put a little mulch out. All my citrus trees are starting to bloom. The grape vines are starting to leaf out. The strawberries are coming back!

Today I took a break and went to the movies. I go to the matinee when it’s cheaper. I wasn’t sure what to watch, either Logan or Get Out. I decided to watch Logan. It was pretty good. One of the X-Men movies. A pretty good action movie featuring Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine fighting the forces of evil in the shape of another mutant (Boyd Holbrook as Pierce).

I don’t want to spoil it, since it really was pretty good, but it’s not all blood and guts. There was actually a pretty good story. I’m sure there will be more sequels down the road. 🙂

Tomorrow is the biggest day of the year around here. St Patrick’s Day Parade at Surfside Beach! I have to get up early so I can get down to the beach in time to check everything out before the judging. Take a look here. Once the parade starts, I’m done with that! Time to wander off to the various parties. 😉

I hope the weather cooperates. It’s calling for 90% chance of rain tomorrow. 🙁

Color Your World: Green

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Here’s my entry for Jennifer’s Color Your World challenge: green.

I took it at our big St Patrick’s Day celebration a couple of years ago. That’s our big event of the year at Surfside Beach. We have a big parade and everyone comes down to see everybody they haven’t seen since last year.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it this year. I’m still hoping to find a job soon!

Mardi Gras

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Yesterday I finished early and went down to the Malecon in time for the Mardi Gras parade. I walked around the pier and watched the sun set, watched the pirate ship come in and talked to some of the artists.

When the sirens started going off, I followed the crowds up the street to watch the parade go by.

It was pretty good. Much smaller than what I imagine New Orleans or Rio to be. I liked the fact that anyone was welcome to join in. I loved that there were hardly any crowds. It was great to be able to see everything clearly. I was able to get some decent photos. The only problem I had was that they were moving by so quickly and a lot of them were dancing. It was hard to get good, clear, sharp pictures.

Everyone was having a great time. The costumes were ‘fabulous’. I loved watching the dancers. Those guys were really hot! Too bad they were mostly all gay. I kept thinking to myself, “what a waste!” The crowd seemed pretty subdued for a Mardi Gras parade. Maybe it was still too early? I do notice the crowd here in Puerto Vallarta is much older than in New Orleans.

After the parade, I went back to the Malecon to watch the pirates shoot off their fireworks. I’ve noticed they usually start right after 2100, they waited til after the parade. I’m not sure why since the fireworks only last about 5 minutes.

The clowns were putting on a show at the arches again and there was a pretty big audience. I wish I understood Spanish better so I could really get what they’re saying. Clowns are funny anyway, but these particular ones seem to talk alot. 😉

I got home in plenty of time to get a good nights sleep (but stayed up late on the computer again).

Year of the Fire Monkey

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According to the Chinese zodiac calendar, 2016 is the Year of the Fire Monkey: a year of strength and determination. It’s the year of not only setting goals, but also meeting them.

What will your 2016 bring? What goals will you set this year? Which ones will you meet?

That was the beginning of an email I got this morning. It went on to talk about how the prediction calls for a year of prosperity. It ended up trying to sell me financial advice (I didn’t buy it).

I don’t know much about the Chinese zodiac, other than I’m an Ox. All I can say to this prediction is, I sure do hope it comes true! It would be great to actually meet more of my goals this year!

PS- Join in the Just Jot It January challenge here.

PS- Those photos are not actually monkeys, they’re chimps (from the Houston Zoo), but the best photos I could come up with out of my stash. 😉

Happy 2016!

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fireworks

I sure hope this year turns out better than last year was. Happy New Year 2016! Hope you’re all happy and healthy and ready to roar!

Thanks for checking out my blog, I appreciate it and hope to see you all stick around for more. 🙂

PS- I took the picture at the Renaissance Fair a couple of months ago.

More Jingle

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A few more photos from the Krewe of Jingle Christmas Parade in New Orleans. I always try to go to New Orleans the 1st week of December for the Workboat Show and they have this parade right afterwards. It’s always a lot of fun. 🙂

Krewe of Jingle Christmas Parade 2015

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I went to New Orleans for the Workboat Show again this year. I didn’t stay as long as usual  (due to not working this year), but I still had time to catch the Christmas Parade. 🙂

I had actually forgotten about it. They changed the usual schedule for the Workboat Show, so I was off on my planning. I flew in the morning of the show, made the WISTA tea that afternoon, went to a party that night, spent the next day working the Show. I spent all day Friday tracking down paperwork from my last boat (in Fourchon).

I had to return the car Saturday morning, so got up early. I had planned to go to the WWII Museum right next to the car rental, but I saw them setting up the streets for a parade and it was going to start in only a little over an hour. I wanted to see it for sure!

I decided to spend the time before the parade started in the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. It was interesting and I managed to check out all of it and still have enough time to get a good spot to watch the parade. I even had time to wander around, check out the costumes and take photos before they started marching. 🙂

some Pussyfooters

This is the Krewe of Jingle parade, they’ve been doing it the last few years right around the same time as the Workboat Show (Dec 5 this year). I LOVE this parade! They have such great people, fun costumes, and they’re all having such a great time. It’s contagious. 🙂

I’ve got a lot of great photos from the parade. I’ll share more later, don’t want the blog to get bogged down loading. 😉

So Hot!

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Jeeze, it’s Christmas Eve, but it’s so hot here I’m gonna have to turn the air conditioner on again!

Is anyone able to enjoy a real WHITE Christmas, with SNOW and all the stuff we usually think about for Christmas? You know- snow, snowmen, snowball fights, real icicles dripping from the eaves (not pretend little LED lights), sitting around the fireplace sipping hot chocolate- yeah, all that!

I live in Texas now, but I still remember that stuff and I do miss it. We never get real snow here.

I took that picture a couple of weeks ago from right outside the door of our writing workshop in Evergreen CO. I loved seeing the deer right there, and the SNOW!

Thank goodness I don’t have to deal with it all the time. I have no idea how to drive in it, I’m sure I wouldn’t like having to shovel it out of my driveway every day, but it sure was beautiful to look at and I’m missing it right about now. 🙂

Merry Christmas 2015

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DC AWAI workshop

I hope you all have a great Christmas!

It looks like I’ll be home for the first time in decades. I’m having a hard time trying to get into the holiday spirit.

I’m going to see some good friends tomorrow for Christmas, so looking forward to that. We’ll eat, drink and be merry. Hope you’re all doing the same. 🙂

7 Ways to Drink (and Eat) Eggnog!

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Seems I can’t use “Press This” anymore either since I moved my blog over here. Just one more frustrating fuck up! Makes it harder to share good stuff I see online and when I decide it is worth all the extra effort, the post looks like hell. 🙁

So, I’m not much in the holiday spirit. Things have not been going very well around here lately. I’m home, for one thing. I’m almost always out to sea on the holidays, it’s always the best time to get work. Most people want to be home with their families over the holidays. I need the work more.

So, I’m sitting here tonight, chilling out, having a drink and still HOPING to get a call tomorrow. Some last minute rush to get me there before crew change, nevermind holiday airport madness. I thought of this email I got the other day, thought some of you might like it too…

cashew nut nog, epicurious.com

Here’s the link to a site with some pretty cool looking ways to make eggnog. Surprisingly enough, most of the recipes are for eating your eggnog. I’ve always been a fan of real (spiced) eggnog, even if I do only have it around Christmas time. I have to admit, I never thought about eating it before.

Some of these recipes make me feel like I ought to spread them out over the rest of the year. I especially like the Cranberry Eggnog Tart, which is really a cheesecake with some cranberry jam to change the taste a little.

They also give recipes for Cinnamon Flan (made with rum spiced whipped cream), eggnog sauce for your spiced apple cake, Tiramisu Eggnog Trifle, and even eggnog ice cream (made with heavy cream and dark rum) that sounds like another real winner. 🙂

And if you just want to stick with drinking your eggnog, they have a recipe for Cashew Nut Nog and another for a coconut eggnog they call Coquito.

I don’t know about you, but I think I might need to pick up another carton of eggnog before this is all over. 😉

More Moonshine?

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I was looking at my stats and I found it hard to believe SO many people liked those posts I did way back when on ‘moonshine’. They were my all time most liked posts! (Don’t bother clicking the recipe links in my earlier posts, for some reason they’ve disappeared off the internet. I didn’t even know that was possible!).

Makes me think I need to post some more on that topic.

What do you think?

Christmas is coming up…

Veterans Day

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Today is Veterans Day, at least in the USA. I think in lots of other countries, they celebrate Armistice Day instead. It seems to be basically the same holiday.

To remember those who served in the armed services.

I noticed quite a few special things going on today for military people. Lots of restaurants giving out free meals to veterans, free drinks in the bars, special sales in stores, even parades in some places.

That’s nice, I thought. I also thought it would be nice if the Merchant Marines were included in these things. I know in the USA we also have to swear an oath before we get our documents.

We don’t usually sign on for only 4 years either. I’ve had my ticket since I got my AB limited in 1979 or so. If I was in the Navy or US Coast Guard, I would be retired by now with some nice benefits and of course, have a special day (today).

I wonder why we’re never remembered for OUR services?

One reason is probably because we’re never mentioned in school or media. Most people have no idea about the Merchant Marine. Who we are, what we do, what are we there for?

I know we have Maritime Day in May, but it’s not like it’s a holiday or anything and almost nobody even knows about it.

Things have changed a lot in the last 50 years. People have forgotten how much the Merchant Marine has always been important to their lives (and still is- check out the book Ninety Percent of Everything).

It would be nice if people would have at least a thought for us today. Maybe remember we had more casualties than any of the other services. We lost so many ships (and men), something like 1500 American ships! That is not even taking into account all those lost from other countries!

Maybe think about all the hell mariners went through to deliver the arms, men, materials, to the fighting forces overseas. Some of them had their ships shot out from under them 2, 3 times and they still returned to sail again. One guy (Harold Harper) had his ship torpedoed 6 times! Another lost his ship 10 times! And they still came back for more. Yet, the Merchant Marine still gets almost no recognition. 🙁

The Maritime Executive Magazine has a nice article today. They’re one of the few places I’ve seen any mention of the Merchant Marines role and relationship to Veterans Day. I thank them for it and will hope they get a widespread readership. I hope you’ll check out their link (and the other ones I’ve made today).

Hope you all had a good holiday. I appreciate all the people who tried so hard to do what they thought was right.

US Merchant Marine flag

US Merchant Marine flag

Yuk!

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I got home late from Houston tonight and I was taking my daily walk. I was searching the sky for Orion, to see if I could spot any meteors (the Orionid metor shower is still going on).

All the sudden- ICK! YUK! UGH!

I walked under a tree and it was like I got attacked by a giant spider! For a minute I felt like Frodo when he got tangled up in Shelobs lair in the Lord of the Rings. 😉

I’m still not sure if it was a real spider web I somehow ran into, or if it was a Halloween decoration gone wild, but it got me good!

At least I didn’t ever see the spider who might have made that giant web!!

Sad to say, I didn’t see any meteors tonight either, it was just too cloudy and the moon was still too bright to see many stars. I need to get to sleep soon, so won’t be staying up to try again when the moon sets. I’ll be up and out early in the morning, so maybe I’ll have better luck then. 🙂

Arrrgh- I Missed It!

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Aye, I’ve been so busy here on this old ship, I totally forgot that yesterday (Sept 19th) was International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Yaaar, I be stuck here on this old ship, but I still could have had some fun with the whole pirate thing. Yeah, even here.

Of course, it would have been a hell of a lot more fun to be off. There are parties all over the world to celebrate and for sure I would have been in attendance!

Next year, I’ll be sure to remember next year.

 

What I Did for Labor Day

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I know everybody’s out there enjoying the holiday weekend. 🙂

I went sailing again. Not racing this time, just a nice, relaxing cruise. I went out with the Sail La Vie meetup group. We went sailing for the day and then came back to join a BBQ party in progress on the dock.

Things didn’t start out too well. It was pouring buckets on the drive up to Kemah! I had to slow down to 30 mph a couple of times, just to see where I was going. It was still raining when I got to the dock, but just a light rain so it wasn’t too bad to unload the truck and get down the dock to the boat.

We had a full crew for the Paradise,13 including Capt Kent. Everyone was in good spirits, even if they were all wet. The mimosas helped quite a bit. 🙂  No fair weather sailors in this crew! We checked the weather online and saw there was a pretty big squall line right over us. We decided to wait out the rain in the cabin before leaving the dock.

outbound, waiting for the rain to stop and the wind to start

hoping for the rain to stop and the wind to start

We got underway and headed out into the bay. Capt Kent brought along his dingy. The plan was to sail for a while and then take the dingy in for lunch. Once we got out of the channel, we put up the mainsail and found out there was no wind. 🙁

The weather was still against us, so we decided to go ahead and have some lunch and hope the weather would improve. We put the sail back down and motored over to ‘Noahs Ark’ in Bacliff. It was a little hard to find it, but with the help from the internet (google maps) and a good lookout, we found it pretty quick. Kent had to shuttle back and forth a couple of times to get everybody over there. He had a little trouble with the outboard, but eventually managed to get us all over (and back). 🙂

Gary and Bill dropping the anchor

Gary and Bill dropping the anchor

It didn’t help that they insisted they wouldn’t allow us inside without ID! (How ridiculous is that?! I never heard of anything like that before. Yeah, I know you can’t serve alcohol to someone without ID, but FOOD??) They lost some business over that cause a couple of our crew didn’t have ID. I never thought the USA would devolve into a state where ‘let me see your papers please’ was the accepted reality. 🙁

So, a couple of people had to stay on the boat, but they took it pretty well and there were plenty of drinks and snacks so they didn’t starve. We had a pretty good lunch ashore. The music was just right for our bunch, lots of Jimmy Buffett and 70s-80s stuff. We liked the décor, open air palapa bar, lots of funny signs and pictures around the ceiling, nice underwater painting. The food was good, I had a patty melt with onions (but it didn’t come with mushrooms).

Nice choice for lunch (except for the thing with the IDs)!

Nice choice for lunch (except for the thing with the IDs)!

By the time we were ready to go, the sun was shining and the wind picked up enough that we could set both sails. We had a great sail back to Kemah. We had good music,  good snacks, good conversation, good wind, plenty to drink and not much traffic. Not more to ask for on a day on the water.

Alright! Now we have both sun and wind!!

Alright! Now we have both sun and wind!!

Capt Jill teaching Kim how to steer a course

Capt Jill teaching Kim how to steer a course

We dropped off the dingy and motored into the dock around 6:30 and then headed over to the Sail la Vie BBQ party. Our chefs for the event Vic and Paul had some special recipe chicken cooking and there was plenty of fruit, macaroni salad, chips and dips, cookies and drinks to go around.

Vic and Paul explain their selection of BBQ sauces

Vic and Paul explain their selection of BBQ sauces

It was nice to meet some of the other members and catch up with some I hadn’t seen in a while. I haven’t been going to the meetings for a while, mostly because it takes me so long to get up to Houston and home. I don’t go up there anymore unless I have more than one thing to do.

I wound up getting home about 11:00. Too tired to do much but hit the sack. It was so nice to sleep in today. I plan to do it tomorrow too! 🙂

That’s how I’m spending my holiday weekend (nope, nothing about remembering what it’s really all supposed to be about- LABOR day and all that). Just chillin out and enjoying the time off.

How are you spending your weekend? Let’s hear it. 🙂

 

Maritime Day 2015

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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

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 Made It!

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After 2 LONG days of traveling, I made it home! Ahhhhh. I can finally sleep.

I did that yesterday. I got home. I passed out. I slept for 12 hours straight. 🙂

Last night I stayed up too late, so I only slept about 8 hours. Today is the big St Patricks’ Day Parade down at the beach and I don’t want to miss it.

The weather here has been rainy for the last 2 weeks, but this morning it looks gorgeous. A beautiful day for the beach. 🙂

Last year it was raining, but the parade went on anyway. This year looks like it will turn out much better. If anyone wants to come, the parade starts at 1300 (1 pm). 🙂

I’ll be taking lots of pictures. Here are a few from last year…

Irish pirates
high hopes

 

 

Sailor's Valentines

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While I was home last time I went to see what the local painting class was all about. I’ve been wanting to try it for a while, but haven’t done it because it lasts for 4 weeks and I’ve never been home to be able to start and finish the whole class in one hitch at home.

Since I was home a little longer than usual (and had to pass up the trip to Panama I was hoping to take due to paperwork issues), I called the lady who runs the class to ask if maybe I could take 1-2 classes each time I’m in town.

She was very nice and told me that would be fine, and invited me to come in to the next class just to see if I thought it would work for me.

I showed up late and just watched for a while. I met everyone there and wandered around to see what they were all working on. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. They all had their own projects to work on. Everything was very informal. The instruction is for either pastels or oil painting. I’m really more interested in watercolor or acrylic, but I figure it will still help me a lot to learn the techniques and most of those should transfer over to whatever medium I choose to work with.

The class meets weekly at the Brazosport Center for Arts & Sciences. After the painting class was over I spent a little time looking around the facilities. I’d been there before, but not for years. There’s a museum, a planetarium and a theatre. They also have a gallery where they feature art by members of the local art league. They had some really nice paintings in there, some beautiful portraits and some seascapes with birds I really liked.

I went through the museum again. They’ve really added a lot since last time I was there. They’ve always had a fantastic shell collection. It’s one of the largest in the country. They have some pretty good fossils. I noticed the megalodon jaws, (they were giant prehistoric sharks!) the minute I walked in the door. They’re hard to miss since they’re about 6 ft accross and at least that tall!

They have a really nice collection of moths and butterflies. I tried to take pictures, but I just couldn’t get any good ones with the way the light reflected off the glass. I did get some good ones of the ‘Sailor’s Valentines’. Since Valentines Day is coming up soon, I thought I’d post about them. Here’s a picture I took of one.

The Sailor’s Valentine is typically a box covered with shells formed into some sort of ‘romantic’ theme. They were supposedly by sailors who would pick up shells in their far off travels and then make these pretty little boxes to present to their loved ones when they got home. It was a pretty big thing back in the 1800’s. They fell out of style but are making a comeback now. The ones I saw at the museum are alll made by locals (not sailors) recently, as hobbies.

They just seem like a lot of work to me. I guess the sailors must have had a hell of a lot more leisure time back in the old days!! Then again, their hitches usually lasted for years rather then the month or so most of us (American) sailors have to stay out for now. The crews from other countries aren’t nearly so fortunate as we are. Some I know of have to stay for a minimum of 2 years(!!) before they’re allowed to go home. 🙁

Here’s a picture of my favorite one from the exhibit. It’s not so ‘romantic’ and could be for anything. I really like the flamingo. 🙂

<3 Happy Valentines Day! <3