My How Things Change: Now an A-Book

After my last hapless post, I now feel redeemed. Yesterday, I was sworn in as a full book member of The Sailors Union of the Pacific. I actually was handed my book last week, but it was yesterday that I was sworn in. It has been a long ten years, but I finally made it. I now won't have to wait around so long for work and can afford to be a little more choosy about the ship I take. Also, I can now start to take time away from work during Summer and during the Holiday season. It's a new day.

This is a big sea-change. Since now no longer have to take the first thing that comes along, I can now fulfill a promise I made to finally take a Matson ship running between Seattle, Oakland, and Honolulu. That will allow me to be home, for at least a few hours, every two weeks. I'm looking forward to that! It'll be so nice to see Margaret twice a month, instead of having to wait over five months. Next week, there's supposed to be three jobs opening up on the Kauai. My union agent says there's no reason that I shouldn't be able to get one of those berths.

I can't wait!

Aloha!
--Dave

Beggars Can't Be Choosers...

I flippin' can't believe it. After being ashore since November, getting edged-out of work a month and a half ago, and having to re-register two weeks ago, a big mess of jobs showed up today on a ship. And I blew it!

It's all looking good this morning, with the number of jobs and my ranking with among those looking to get out. Vince calls for a Bosun. Two A-Books throw in, and the guy with the Bosun's stamp wins out. And here's where I screwed up: Rhonda (the other A-book) doesn't throw back in for the next group of jobs--that of watch standers. She's holding out for one of the two dayworker slots.

Not realizing how the playing field just shifted, I'm thinking that I'm out of luck vying for a watchstanding slot. So I hold back my shipping card for one of the two day worker slots. You can see where this is heading. Meanwhile, I'm sitting very low in my shipping seniority list, and the last watchstander job gets snagged by someone lower than myself. Since Rhonda is wielding her A-Card, she already secured her dayworker berth. And, since another B-Book with an older card than mine wanted that last dayworker slot, I was left out in the cold.

Once again, I get taught the age-old lesson that "beggars can't be choosers." Well, at least something is supposed to turn up two weeks from now. The President Truman might cough up something. To think that was the ship I was hoping to sail on again--back eight weeks or so ago.

Airstream Coffee and Doughnuts to go

Any foodie wouldn't have been surprised by the Oregon plates on this tiny Airstream trailer that sells doughnuts and coffee. Though hard to discern, there is a shiny riveted-aluminum doughnut on top with the words, "Top Spot," painted on the round. Very cool to see scooting along on northbound Hwy 99. Yes, I do think Airstreams are cool.

Weird-Assed Shit...

Is Mercury in Weird-Assed Shit mode?  We're talking the world of communication and the means of getting through.  It's as if you're trying to get something done, and it's the means which is keeping it from happening. 

I've been trying to ship out for the past two or three weeks, and it has been for not.  I keep on getting aced-out by others with greater priority.  But that's how unions rig things to favor those who have been on the waiting list the longest. 

Still, Mercury in WAS keeps running interferance in other ways.  The lastest victim was my recording a video clip of my many takes of two ukulele songs I've been working on.  Ha ha!!!  So I finally have a reasonably good take of Minnie The Moocher.  I turns out that the file is too big for me to upload, via email, to this blog.  OKAY!  Now what?  You see, there never is an easy way.  There never is.  Sure, the idea is so sweet, easy, and perfect--but it never works the way you were hoping it would. 

On the otherside of things, I had to visit my mom to give her a hand with some work around her house.  On the way back, I decided to take the ferry from Southworth to Fauntleroy/West Seattle.  I brought my uke along to practice some songs, in case such an opportunity presented itself. 

It was pretty sweet.  I was lucky enough to get parked at the front of the boat.  Nothing but the changing view of Puget Sound--from the departure view across to West Seattle and the east side of the Sound, the backwards entry to Vashon Island and the northerly view to Eagle Island, and the final approach into Fauntleroy.  All a while, I worked out some tunes on the uke and a number with a harmonica solo.  It felt good.  I promise to get the songs I worked on posted. 

Ciao!
--Dave

Ukulele Baby!!!

This here is one of my musical treasures.  It is a September 2000 KoAloha Soprano ukulele. 

I bought this sweet little number new, back then in 12/2000, when I had to bail a ship in Hawaii, after a knee cap to hip bruise/contusion.  The overnight spell in Honolulu gave me the opportunity to visit the shopping mall of my childhood.  There, I found the Ala Moana Ukulele Shop kiosk--and this all koa wood soprano ukulele.  Apparently, back then, one could buy such a uke for under $400.  Nowadays, there's no hope (except for an Ebay score), to get such a perfect example of a Hawaiian koa ukulele.  Tone?  I just visited Dusty Strings, in Seattle's Fremont 'hood today.  There was this $4K Martin uke that paled in comparison.  Sure, that little flea was a very sweetly crafted instrument, but it didn't have the volume and clarity of my Kama'aina flea.  Wasn't there a band by the name of "The Screaming Fleas"?  That's my uke!

So what have I been doing with the dancing flea?  For only the last two years, after the previous eight?  Hey now!  The first song I figured out was Bob Welch's (formally of Fleetwood Mac) Sentimental Lady.  The second was the folk song, Wayfaring Stranger.  Those two took me, together, about one year.  More recently, I figured out Minnie The Moocher.  That probably took me about three weeks to memorized.  My latest project is Mac The Knife.  It's coming along.

The first version of MacHeath I heard was Bobby Darin's.  His take has been the definitive version for me, for decades.  However, I have to admit that Sting's slow rendition struck me as something that might have roots to the original stage production.  What made me think that?  Well, if you grab a uke and start slow, soulfully, staccato-raking the strings, you'll quickly get the sense of the difference between the two rhythms. 

If I get my shit together soon enough, I'll make it a point to post some videos of my playing.

Fuuuuuuck!!!!!!!  Me playing!!!!?????  Scary sheeett! 

Actually, the hardest thing to avoid is the sudden Foxtrot Uniform. 

Standby....

At Home... Still!

Well, I've been in the union hall again. It has been two weeks since I started looking for a ship again, and all has not been going as well as I would hope for. A couple of jobs were posted on the shipping board, but I was beaten out on all occasions. How did that happen? Well, it goes like this.

For one, I waited a little too long, after returning home, to re-register my shipping card. What's that all about? Well, the "game" works like this: The shipping cards issued by my union expire after 3 months. If I happen to have a ship in mind that I would like to sail on and there ought to be a job opening there on a given date, it would be a good idea to make sure my card is as mature as possible on the date that job gets posted. But it's never as easy as that.

Registering your shipping card for a ship can be tricky business. As I said before, the ideal is to have the oldest card on the job call date. However, should the ship become inordinately delayed, or there is a surprise schedule change for the ship, or someone with greater seniority beats you out, you will be left with an expired card. You are now at the bottom of your seniority list and having to wait for your card to mature all over again. Since I'm a B-card, there's always the chance that a full-book member (A-cards have invested six or more years of sea-time with the union. That can take anywhere from eight to twelve years) can snatch a job I've been gunning for out from under me.

To minimize the degree of job-seeking damage that kind of subterfuge can inflict upon me, I usually plan on having a little over two months on my card when shooting for a ship. Giving myself that extra month leeway allows me that month's worth of opportunity to salvage work somewhere else. Unfortunately, when the ship I was waiting for (the President Truman) showed up, two guys came out of the woodwork and beat me out. What made it really sting was that both of them were in my seniority level. Then again, it was obvious that they were waiting to get out for a long while. Chances are, they needed the work more than myself. No resentment there. We're all brothers in the struggle.

The Evils of Technicalities
Despite all that disappointment, there is still a bright side to all this shipping-out biz. It has wonderfully happened that American Presidents Line added an extra week to their ships' schedule--from 8 weeks/56 days to 9 weeks/63 days. What's so good about a longer voyage? According to the Sailors Union of the Pacific's Shipping Rules, Shuttle Voyages (trips that neither begin or end on the West Coast) are a minimum of 120 days and a maximum of 180 days.

How is that interpreted in cases of voyages greater or less than these times? If a given set of voyages fall short of the 120 day minimum, another voyage must be undertaken to secure a paid trip back home to the West Coast, as well as recognition as having not quit and access to unemployment insurance. That's the short side of things. With the old schedule, you had to do a three trip minimum of 24 weeks, for a total of 168 days. With the new schedule, it's down to two trips and only 18 weeks, for a total of 126 days. 42 days is a huge difference when it comes to your own personal measure of sanity, being able to score your free ticket home and unemployment money.

So here's the other tasty bit of scheduling news that's filtered down to the butt of scuttle: Despite the East Coast ships having to visit a very unsecure and unnamed port, it has been said that the ships will be visiting GENOA, ITALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is that not AWESOME or what?

I am dancing the jungle boogie as I write.

Reptile Attacks Reporter!!! Leaping Lizards!!!

First of all, I have to thank the folks at 10 Zen Monkeys (http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/) for posting this video.  It was part of their 5 Best Videos of Animals Attacking Reporters.  You can chase down the rest--if you want.  The link is embeded in the title for your convenience.  However, I'm presenting you this one video, because this was the most harmless one, as one can say the critter wasn't really attacking the reporter.  Perhaps it mistook him for a tree? 





The reporter's reaction is priceless. What's great is how he maintains his sense of humor. 

Have a nice day, where ever you are!

Multimedia message

Matilda kitten sez, "Hai!"  She's hoping to snare a LOL Cat gig by the looks of it.

At Home: Greenhouse, Bad Feather Day, and Peeps Perching.

I recently looked back into the photos I took, back when I first arrived home.  I think the subject matter says a lot.

Here's the greenhouse I built for Margaret.  It wasn't fully finished when I shipped out last year, around the end of spring.  I managed to get all the glazing on, with the exception of the door and a salvaged window pane on the east side, to the right of the door.  What was still unfinished  However, with the help of Grant, the husband of one of Margaret's friends, Betty, this is how it looks now.  Grant did a great job!  Leave it to someone who actually knows something about building construction--unlike me.

Above is a glimse inside to how Margaret decorated things.  It's her happy pod!

This is how I left it looking when I shipped out last year.  Still some shingles left to put up.  Like I said, Grant did an awesome job completing it.

Here's Edie recovering  from her first molt.  Looks like a bad feather day.  Too bad I missed out on seeing what a full-fledged molt looks like.  Only she and Henny, the other Amerucana, molted.  As it turns out, when chickens molt, they stop laying eggs.  With the combination of the loss of feathers and the onset of winter, egg production slowed to a crawl.  I suspect that mostly Penny and sometimes Butch were the only ones laying.  There were that few eggs.  Even now, in March, production isn't like last year's, though it is clear that the girls are actually ramping back up.

Here's Butch and Penny--our top layers.  Penny was the first to earn her keep, back two winters ago.  She may be the nervy, noisy type, but she always produces more than the others. 

Here's a good shot of Henny.  Notice the minimal comb and absence of wattle?  The girls do love perching on the bedroom window sill.  The rhody bush also gives them good protection from the eagles that sometimes glide by.  When the crows raise the alarm, the hens dash for cover.  Yes, I have seen that happen!

Oh, yeah.  One more picture.  This is where the girls aly their eggs and sleep the night away.  It may not look like much, but the design was more to suit the needs of a chicken than any human aesthetic.  Inside are roosts leading up to the nest boxes.  That they have to ascend to their nests adds to the sense of security needed for a stress-free egg laying session.  Nothing but the best for the girls!

Umm...  By the way, Margaret still isn't letting me post--let alone take--a picture of her. 

Ciao!

--Dave

Back Home (Three+ Months Later...) with Flashbacks

Sorry for not posting after having been home for over three months. It's just that I always have to get my head on straight before I can begin again dealing with life ashore. If I'm lucky, I can manage that after about a week. There have been times when it took me a little over a month. No kidding. People shouldn't underestimate the experience of months of very restricted social interaction and then being thrown into a virtual ocean (pun intended) of humanity. Hey, any group of people numbering over 20 is more than I had to cope with while I was working. All I can say is to imagine someone getting out of prison after serving time.

Anyway, it's always good to be home. Unfortunately, this stay at home is going to be shorter than last time. As a matter of fact, it's now March, and I'll be back in the union hall looking for a ship towards the end of this week. Not that I'm guaranteed to get a ship, but it's more the matter that I've pointed my nose back in that direction. Fugly.

So what have I done since I got home in November? Well, let's reel things back a little. Um... How about back a lotta ways.


I really don't wish to neglect some pictures I took on my last voyage on the President Truman. This is the mosque at Port Suez, at the south end of the canal. If you click the image, you will be able to view it in greater detail. This is an amazing piece of architecture. There is so much for the eye to take in. Though I've been through the Suez Canal many times over, this particular structure never fails to engage me.

Below is a picture of one of my favorite sailors to ship out with, Mike Orosz. Big Mike and I always manage to have a good time. It doesn't matter what we might be up to, but we always manage to squeeze a laugh out of near any situation. Sadly, we somehow manage to spend no more than one round trip together on a ship. Also, he's looking to retire soon, so I'll view myself as lucky if I sail with him at least once more.

This here is one skinny waterspout I saw while the Truman was sailing north through the Straits of Malacca. I think we were off of Port Kelang, Malaysia when I spotted it.

Below is the Mount Lavinia Hotel. It's located in Colombo, Sri Lanka and dates back to the early 1800's. Apparently, the new British Governer arrived and was disappointed with the residence he was presented with. In turn, he had built this palace.

I have to say that the one thing more impressive is the view out back. The following picture was taken earlier in the day.

Very nice poolside scene.

Just before sunset, a rain squall drove everyone inside. While I waited for the dinner hour, a group of young musicians came in and started their set.  The music is pretty cool and represents well the South Asian musical traditions, though I suspect the music is of India and not Sri Lanka. Still, the drowsy sound well suited the post-rain humidity.

This is a Mediterranean fog bank. Most awesome looking, but one pain in the ass. If I recall correctly, we were sailing somewhere near Sicily. I suppose the temperature difference between the western and eastern halves of the Med and tide pushing water around is the main cause.

How do you know you're almost out of the Med? How about The Rock of Gibraltar? Cool, no?

Well that about covers the last group of pictures that I wanted to post. Whatever I forgot to include, I imagine I'll have plenty of opportunity to post new pictures of the same in the future. Next post will be of what has been so good about being home--now that I'm about to ship out again... Boo hoo!


Ciao, Peeps!
--Dave

Bad News From Home

Major Bummer!  I called home from Sri Lanka and could hear in Margaret's voice that something was wrong.  Apparently, two days ago, Wanda the cat was hit by a car and was found in a neighbor's yard.  She's the cat featured near the beginning of my blog, back in June or July.  I was shocked and dumbfounded, as Wanda seemed too sharp to allow that to happen.  My theory is that it was a hybrid car that did her in.  I say that because she grew up near busy intersections (46th and Fremont Ave in Seattle) and never got in trouble.  She was used to traffic.  Well, I should stop with that blathering, as I'll only get more depressed.  I know it will really hit me when I return home in two and a half weeks and not have her greet me. 

That enough for me for now.  The ship will be leaving Sri Lanka early tomorrow morning.  Might as well sign off.

Ciao!
--Dave

Back In the Orient Again: Banana Port Control, Jamming on the Uk e, Jack Tar Guilty and Fined, and Seafarers Club WiFi Bandwidth

Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been kind of distracted lately. Yes, "The Blue Screen of Death" and the task of rebuilding my hard-drive. Of course, that only takes up so much time, but it's more about finding out
what no longer can be done, due to lost codecs and other items installed through 6 years of updates to resident software. 

Another distraction that has kept me away from blogging is that I've been trying to learn the folk song, "Wayfaring Stranger" on the ukulele. The chords aren't that difficult to learn and get right. What is hard is memorizing all the lyrics. There isn't really that much when it comes to the number of words and verses. The problem is with the regional turns of phrase. As a speaker of the West Coast dialect of American Standard English, my language habits make me want to resort to words not in the song to say the same thing. This is a big No-No when you have end-rhymes. I actually have a photo copy of the lyrics in my pocket as I type. If I wasn't so tired all the time, I probably would have had this task completed by now.  At least the song sounds like it was meant to be played on the uke. Since the song is about someone looking forward to dying and minor chords sound brittle when played on a ukulele, it really works. 

The ship is currently heading for Singapore, having finished with Jebel Ali this morning. The passage through the Med and the Suez Canal all went well.  The passage through the Straits of Hormuz (between Iran to the north and Oman and U.A.E. to the south) gave the night watches a heavy dose of Banana Radio. The Filipinos, Pakistanis, Indians, and others were out in full force insulting each other over Channel 16 ("I can't see you, but I can smell you."). There will be more of that, as the ship exits the Persian Gulf. Fujairah, U.A.E. has an incredible number of ships sitting at anchor there. Basically, at night is when the stars of "Banana Port Control" come out. I just wish these clowns didn't jam-up the frequency reserved for ship-to-ship hailing.

Jebel Ali went as well as one can hope for. I went to the Seafarer's club again and finally managed to get online with my laptop. The WiFi system was easy enough to connect through with; however, with all the people there with laptops being online, the speed of the broadband connection was reduced significantly. This was very apparent when loading web pages and attempting to navigate through my Hotmail account. Often images failed to load. When I visited Boing Boing, download time was long and many image boxes remained blank after the Internet browser indicated it was finished loading. One other thing I discovered was that the videos I uploaded to my blog are presently missing. I don't know if the fault was with my computer's browser of if it's with my blog. Either way, I have no way of knowing at this point. I am bummed.

Another killer to the online experience was that my computer's processing power was distracted by its need for updating. Imagine all those seafarers' laptops doing the same thing, because we've all been at sea and away from an Internet connection for the past month or so. Now imagine the drain to bandwidth. Flashback to dial-up, anyone?

One more thing about the Club: The band was back again. The big difference was that there was a new girl on stage. I should have spent some time taking them in, but the Internet took priority and two of my shipmates wanted to go back to the ship as soon as they were done online. Geez, what's with this new generation? What ever happened to sitting around in a bar and knocking back a few cold ones and BS'ing until closing? Umm... How about the amount of cig smoke in the room and the need for sleep? There you go.

The latest word on the sailor who was taken into custody four months ago, is that he was declared guilty of whatever it was they charged him for (Bad-mouthing the country?) and fined $2700.00. Since there are still more formalities that need to move forward, he's still in custody. Fortunately, he has been staying in an extended-stay hotel suite somewhere--instead of jail. At this point, no one knows how much long it will be. For some reason, something tells me that I'll make it home before he does.  Since the ship finished cargo way ahead of schedule, we were called out at 0345. Unfortunately, that turned out to be premature. More trucks with containers kept appearing at the last minute, prolonging our stay by more than an hour. An then, the pilot took forever to arrive at the ship. In the end, we didn't get underway until after 0600. Unbelievable! So I now have to go to bed to make up for that loss of sleep. No, it's more like I NEED to. 

So that's it. Good night for now. By the way: Less than a month to go before I'm home!!!
Ciao!
--Dave

Grim Tidings...? or "The Blue Screen of Death Strikes Again!!!"

I can't believe it's happening. My Gateway notebook computer finally has
shown me the blue screen of death. It's been six years since I bought it,
and--after all the wheezing and puffing it has exhibited to me over the last
couple of years--it finally decided to wave the blue flag. Well, instead of
letting it die a dignified death, I decided to resusitate the coma victim.
I am re-formatting the hard-drive. I accept the ugly fate of amnesia in the
name of preserving the body. Re-education might restore the memory, but I
realize that this creature will never be the same. It will be like the mind
of a child inserted into a body in mid-life crisis. I did save all the "My
Documents" folder in an external hard drive or thumb drive. Somewhere. So
hope springs eternal.

I return to my stateroom/the patient's quarters to assess the progress.
Wish us well.

Ciao!
--Dave

Obama's Nobel Peace Prize

Are we surprised that Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, or what? I
have to laugh, as I know there are a lot of detractors out there who are
gnashing their teeth. Still, it's safe to say that what he was recognized for was his reaching out to the international community and for his respectful tone. In other words, the recognition is more for how he is
going about things than for what he has accomplished. From what I've read in the NY Times Digest, it would seem that this is a point that Obama's critics miss completely. Then again, this is also the same thing the Bush
Adminstration failed to grasp while they held the reins. There you go.

Ciao!
--Dave

Graffiti-Style Street Art in Singapore

Here's some pictures of some Singapore urban art.  The first one is taxi dashboard art.  I really dig the strange, featureless smiley doll sitting above the Jesus cross word.  For some reason it makes me think of Karl Marx saying that religion is the opium for the masses.

The following pics are of the only instance of street art I've seen in Singapore.  I think I saw these before at either Boingboing.net or the Wooster Collective website.  I highly recommend both.

This last one made me laugh.  Like it makes the joke:  What does Count Dracula and a vacuum cleaner have in common?  They both suck."  Of course, you are not laughing.  I'm not disappointed by that, you know. 

Well I hope you enjoyed the pics.  I hope to figure out more to post by the time I reach Jebel Ali and Singapore.  Certainly some of the new guys in the Deck Gang, eh? 

Ciao!
--Dave

Minor Update: Heading Westbound Across the Atlantic

September 20, 2003

The ship is clear of the Mediterranean and heading across the Atlantic, back
to New York's Staten Island. We've received notice of the new guys for the
Deck Department. I've sailed with two of the guys before, so I'm happy to
see them again. Both Big Mike Orosz and Dave Shands are good people. The
Bosun is new to me, but Norm vouches for him. That is a good thing.
Captain Carubia will be back for next trip, but we will be getting a new
Chief Mate. The Mate who normally is scheduled for this interval sailed as
relief captain for this trip. Bill Westrum also got promoted to the captain
slot on the APL Japan, so that explains the opening here. Additionally,
Captain Diederiks would normally be here for the interval of next trip,
except that he decided to retire. As his replacement, Captain Reynolds,
from the APL Thailand, will be promoted to this ship. This is a promotion,
because the C-10's pay at a higher rate for captains and mates than the
C-11's.

These changes will be interesting, as it will significantly change the scene
for the Truman. I hope to keep in touch with the guys who will remain
behind here after I leave in November. I hope to return here, when I ship
again in March. If the word gets out too much that the Truman is a good
ship--which it is--then I can expect some A-books to start getting in my
way. All three of the sailors coming to this ship are A-books, so the
change just might be at hand. My fingers are crossed that this is only an
accidental blip on the radar screen of the future. It's hard enough finding
a good ship these days. APL added two re-flagged ships for the S.U.P. to
this route. Unfortunately, they pay at a lower rate than the existing ships
we have. Worse than that, the days you have to work on those ships for
medical benefits is bad. There, you have to return to work two months after
get off, least you lose your benefits. Considering that you have to work 5
½ months (three trips) to get your unemployment and transportation home, you
are getting a very raw deal. After three trips, you really have no desire
to return until close to four months have passed. Since I view the
President Polk as a pariah of the fleet (two fucked-up captains), I have
only the Jackson and the Truman as viable ships to work on. If I find that
I have enough time with the Union to get my A-book, I'll be looking to fly
to Hawaii, San Francisco, or Los Angeles to get a job before I have to ship
on the Polk, Agate, or Japan. At least I'll have fun (though not in Los
Angeles) while waiting for a ship.

Well, it looks like water spout weather is upon us. I saw one this morning
while on watch. I was telling 3rd Mate Kyle that I was wanting to see a
water spout, when I decided to take a stroll out on the starboard bridge
wing. I thought to look behind the ship, and, lo and behold, I noticed a
bit of a cloud forming a point from underneath the larger mass. Sure
enough, as a few minutes went by, it grew larger and more pointed.
Eventually, it formed into a funnel, though not reaching fully to the water.
Still, from what I've seen in the past, the funnel doesn't have to clearly
touch water to actually start drawing water upward. What you can see, if
you're close enough, is a swirling on the ocean's surface where water is
getting lifted up. The distance from the water can be several hundred feet
from the tip of the funnel for this to happen. Nonetheless, I'm still
waiting for a full touch-down. When that happens, I hope to have my camera
on the ready. I figure next trip should provide some camera opportunities.

Well, that's about it for now. There's less than a week from New York and
less than two months before I return home after that. I can't wait to be
home again! Though it will be late November and the beginning of winter
weather, I'll be happy nonetheless. It'll be the life of cooking dinner for
Margaret, hanging out with the cats and chickens, and going out fly fishing
again.

Sri Lanka Again, Death by Slow Connection Speed, and International Phone Calls

Once again, I'm defeated by slow Internet connection speed. I was hoping to post pictures of some cool street art I saw in Singapore. I guess that will have to wait until I get to the Seafarers Center in Charleston. When I was wandering down that street, the graphics I saw looked strangely familiar. I think I might have seen them posted at either the Wooster Collective website or at Boingboing.net. If you haven't checked out these website, I have to strongly recommend them. Some good eye and brain candy to be found.

Right now, I'm killing time at the Flying Angel Seaman's Club. In about fifteen minutes, I'll be heading out to the hotel next door for something to eat. I've heard that the food is good, so that should be interesting. My experience with Sri Lankan cuisine has been limited to a platter of spicy shrimp I had here at the Seaman's Club. It was very good, so my hopes are up for some good grinds. After that, I'll be heading back to the ship for some quality phone time with Margaret. We killed a couple of hours when I was back in Singapore. It's always nice to chat with her and get connected again.

Speaking of calling home from overseas, it is so important to have an unlocked SIM card phone. When travelling from port to port, one can obtain local SIM cards to insert into a 3G phone to make calls home. If you can get a local international calling card, the price of calling home gets reduced dramatically. A $20 top-off card and a $10 calling card can get you as much as 10 hours of talk time from Singapore. Of course, calls get dropped and connection fees can rob you of minutes. Still, even if you get half the talk time, you're doing very well.

Another option is something I've heard about but haven't yet fully investigated. It's MaxRoam.com. They provide an international SIM card that supposed to be cheaper than ATT and T Mobile when roaming overseas. Additionally, you can get the area code of your choice assigned with your number. That's a nice thing for the people back home calling you.

The one combination that they can't beat is using a local SIM card with a local international calling card. I just visited their website and used their rates calculator, and saw that a local call in Singapore is about $0.24/minute, while a call to the United States is $0.86/minute. This is pretty good; however, the above cited Singtel top-off card and the Sunshine calling card will give you something like a $0.02/minute rate (that's if connection fees reduce your talk time to 7 hours). There's your comparison shopping done for you. Nonetheless, if you can't get an international calling card where you live, the MaxRoam option seems a good one.

Gotta go. It's time to eat.

Ciao!
--Dave

The Ship's Server is Back Online, Jack Tar in Kafka's "Trial", "Payboys" in Singapore, and A Meditation on Prostitution.

Thursday, September 03, 2009
Well, it has been somewhat like a vacation with the ship's server being down for over a month. I say that because I ended up using my writing time for sleep and reading books given to me by Margaret. I finished two books since I received my new glasses and have started a third--but more on that in a later post (if I remember to).

I must have mentioned this before, but I do work 12 hours a day and seven days a week, when the ship is out at sea. On occasion, I will pass on 4 hours of overtime, but that happens only when fatigue has left my body feeling near ill. Why do I do this? Well, if it wasn't for the overtime, this job wouldn't pay enough. Clear and simple. You might ask why I don't find a job that pays the same without all the additional hours. Well, how many jobs allow you four or five months off a year? People often forget that time is money when operating within a capitalist economy. So, more OT I make, more time I can spend at home. It's as easy as that.

First of all, an update on Jack Tar in Jebel Ali is required. I heard tonight that his story was covered by CNN. The latest word is that he was brought to trial, but a translator wasn't available. Down with the gavel and trial delayed for another two months. I have to say that it's unbelievable how this has gone on for so long. Of course, such would be unheard of in the United States; however, with such shenanigans, it would appear that the local authorities seized this opportunity to harass him. As I said before, his only crime was to get upset because the Immigration officials were acting like unprofessional jerks. True, there might have been new requirements for photo identification, but the way they handled the matter was clearly gauged to frustrate and infuriate. Their motivation was clearly to wield the power of a petty bureaucrat over those with less power than themselves. Sadly, he played into their hands.

Anyway, the ship left Singapore this morning. The two nights spent there was well received by the crew. The one crimp on the fun was that the ship docked on Tuesday sometime around 9:00 pm. That didn't leave the "Payboys" ((not "Playboys," if you know what I mean...) much time to make it ashore tto Peoples Park. Of the ones who made it there before the girls gravitated to Orchard Towers (this generally occurring around 10:30 pm, they arrived in such a harried state, two reported experiencing degrees of erectile dysfunction. The phrase, "Haste makes waste," comes to mind here. Actually, it probably had more to do with a work long day, high heat and high temperature.

The following morning, and through the afternoon, was somewhat of a cluster fuck. Bunker barge, stores, and engine parts all competed for the Deck Department's time. For some reason, none of these arrived at 8:00 am, when the work day started. Worst of all, the food stores and the engine parts showed up late in the morning and just before a cargo crane shifted to hatch #6, effectively blocking off the delivery trucks from our stores crane. Though it is possible for a truck to squeeze in between the crane and the edge of the dock, this is strictly not allowed by the port. The ship's agent did manage to hold off the return of the cargo crane, when it took an hour to work another hatch. Unfortunately, it came back during a momentary lull between crane lifts. This resulted in a several hour delay in the loading of the engine parts.

Now, there is a side to these unfortunate series of delays which ties together both of the previous paragraphs. You see, the postponement of stores was detaining the Deck Gang well into the afternoon. Had the
deliveries appeared first thing in the morning, we would most likely have been done by noon or shortly after that. As it was, I believe the lifts were completed late in the afternoon or not long after dinner (I was cut loose at 3:00 pm, since all hands were not needed for the last of the lifts). The twist to this story is that the Payboys, having been disappointed by their performances the night before, were on a mission for redemption. To them, the whole day sat as torment, leaving them kicking the stall and chomping at the bit. And it didn't help that the powers that be failed to schedule deliveries to the ship in a smart manner.

What's this? Do I sense some scorn towards the Payboys for their catering to the ladies of Peoples Park? Nay, I must protest! What many do not know or realize is that these hard-working guys are in their 60's. They are men who, to paraphrase Dylan Thomas, "do not go gentle into that good night. They rage, rage against the dying of the light." Some may view them as cads, but none can deny their verve. By the way, their second night did find redemption.

While I do not condone the whole business of prostitution, I certainly will not sit in judgment against it. It is because there is one aspect that I suspect many of those who condemn it fail to consider. It is that of the
human need for intimacy. And, when I say "intimacy," I'm encompassing the aspects of the emotional, the psychological, the physical, and, perhaps, the spiritual.  Sure, one can validly suggest that johns should instead cultivate a normal, healthy relationship with a woman. There is also the matter of many a prostitute having a history of sexual abuse, thus experiencing a destruction of intimacy and the subsequent  rationalization of "might as well sell it." Unfortunately, since I am neither a woman nor one who experienced sexual abuse, I feel I am not in a position to speak to how a woman might uniquely experience damage to her capacity for intimacy. However, in the midst of all this loss, there still remains desire.

But what is the shape of desire in a world where life, let alone intimacy, has been mediated by monetary exchange? Consider this: The average unlicensed sailor spends the majority of his year, and, by retirement, the majority of his life at sea. For that time, he is lives among men. If he is heterosexual, he is lives removed from women or the experience of life with women. While ashore, he might or might not find the opportunity to cultivate a relationship with a woman. Depending on his prior level of emotional maturity around women, he might find himself in a strong relationship. Otherwise, the day he retires, his wife might just greet him
on that day by dumping a pot of boiling water on him. Nonetheless, he will spend the better part of the year away from her. If he is homosexual, more often than not he will find himself among only heterosexuals who are not interested in his desires.

In all cases, the seafarer is at a disadvantage when it comes to fulfilling his need for intimacy when the rest of his emotional life is as a cog in the vast machine of global commerce. In the meantime, he feels his life force, his verve, ebbing away as more than half of every year he lives passes by estranged from human touch. So this begs the question: In the face of an inherently emotionally alienating lifestyle, how might he find a means of experiencing some kind, any kind of intimacy? When those who live in a world where half of all marriages end in divorce feel fit to sit in judgment, who is right and who is wrong when it comes to how a human being seeks out intimacy in what ever form it might take?

In the face of all this, I think it useful to consider the possibility of the union of a particular set of desires. When a man in need of experiencing intimacy contracts with a woman seeking to salvage her sexual
dignity, what might be the interaction? While one can preempt with the suggestion of a mutually enabling relationship, I would counter that this position is potentially nihilistic. This assumes that any contractual
relationship will be bereft of transcendence. I must protest and insist that this is not necessary. At the least, when both parties are aware of their desires, certainly the possibility of redemption exists against the
loss that both have experienced. Even if the relationship is an imagined fantasy, in that realm of the imagination redemption is acted out. Therefore a therapeutic value does exist. Is there not the element of an acting out upon a theater stage when a client talks out his or her anxieties with a psychotherapist? For that reason, I have to hesitate to judge.

Fun at the Jebel Ali Seafarer's Club

I really love these people! Their hearts are so pure--and it shows in their performance. 100% corazon! I would introduce the name of the song, but I would rather have it as a reward for those who choose to watch this video. Towards the end of the night, they allowed some of the people in the audience--some fortified with drink and others less so--to come on stage and perform a favorite song. Sorry no videos of full performances, as the file size would exceed the limits set by the Blog Gods. Enjoy!

Scenes from the Suez Canal

This is a Suez Canal line boat. Every ship must hoist to the rail one of these boats prior to entering the canal. Should a ship lose power or steering, this boat will take a ship's lines to shore, where the ship can moor up. If a ship chooses not to take aboard a line boat, the other option is a tug escort--the pricier option.



This is one of the Suez Canal pilots. I took this picture from last voyage. That's Captain Diederiks staring out the window in he background. Unfortunately, I neglected to get this pilot's name. He was one of our northbound pilots. I printed out this picture for him, and he was very pleased.

This picture also came from last voyage. This is Captain El Rafey. I mentioned him in a previous post. He was our southbound pilot and the one who filled me in on Egyptian's national football/soccer team.

This is a typical fishing boat found in Bitter Lake, the anchorage for the southbound ships transiting the Suez Canal. As you can see, the fishermen both sail and row these boats. The sail is interesting, as it is a traditional lateen(?) rig for these parts. Sadly, I've also seen boats that had to stoop to a blue tarp for a sail. Yes, those very same blue tarps that you can buy in any store at home. I would have posted a picture of one of these boats, but it was too sad for even myself.

This mosque is located at Port Suez, the southern end of the Canal. I really love the lines of this structure. I probably should have loaded up the full-sized picture, so people could really take in the details.