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RDP Sunday: Festival- Guanajuato’s Festival Internacional Cervantino!
Guanajuato, Mexico celebrates the city’s artistic and literary heritage during its yearly International Cervantes Festival. Beginning in 1972, this year it will be held Fri, Oct 11, 2024 – Sun, Oct 27, 2024.
Last year I showed up during the festival, unprepared. I had no idea it was going on. As I wandered around the winding cobblestone streets and passageways of the central area, I continually spotted references to Don Quixote. I wondered about his connection to the city.
The festival itself grew from the activities of Professor Espinosa at the University of Guanajuato in 1953. He put together a show and later a symposium devoted to Cervantes and his famous character Don Quixote. This caught the attention of the Mexican President which led the government to create the festival “to promote cultural, artistic and humanistic communication with other countries.”
Last year, there were events ongoing for 2 weeks at over a dozen different venues. Wandering characters dressed in period costumes welcomed visitors from around the world, passing out flyers and selling tickets.
Along with the usual roving mariachi bands to be found in any Mexican city of any size, there were musical ensembles playing classical, martial, and popular numbers for the free enjoyment of the citizens.
The festival seems to grow every year, with a good diversity of activities around the city. For example, in 2017 “2,367 artists from 35 different countries were invited to carry out more than 180 activities, of which 120 were scenic, 29 exhibitions and 37 academic activities in 51 forums.” Many of these activities are free in various parks and squares around town.
The Museo Iconográfico del Quijote is another example of the tie to Cervantes and Don Quixote in Guanajuato. It’s full of paintings, ceramics, sculptures, books, anything depicting Don Quixote- over 1000 items! The story goes that the founder Eulalio Ferrer Rodríguez traded a pack of cigarettes for a copy of Don Quixote de la Mancha while he was held prisoner in Spain during the civil war. The book was of such value to Eulalio that he later began collecting anything to do with Don Quixote and/or Cervantes.
After the war, Eulalio moved to Mexico and eventually- with the blessings of the Presidents of both Mexico and Spain- his collection became the museum which was gifted to the people of Guanajuato and Mexico. I spent a couple hours there, enjoying the serenity of the space and the evocative and expressive art. Some of the paintings were just amazing. If you are at all interested in art, Cervantes or Don Quixote I highly recommend a visit. It’s free on Tuesdays and only a couple of dollars otherwise.
The city itself is worth spending some time. Guanajuato is a World Heritage Site, with beautiful well preserved colonial architecture, unusual design features and interesting history. All that in addition to its compelling artistic and literary traditions. This post is specific for the Rag Tag Daily Prompt: Festival. Check out their site for this and other challenges. 🙂
More About Point Nemo- Inaccessible, Spacey, with Scary Monsters
I was scrolling through my emails the other day (I get a LOT of emails every day), when I clicked on an interesting link from gCaptain. For the first time ever, a cruise ship reached the North Pole of Inaccessibility. Looking at the picture there reminded me of the cruise I took to Antarctica a few years ago on the MS Roald Amundsen. We also plowed through the ice like that and we all got to get out and make snow angels where no one had ever been before. It was just amazing to be at the far end of the Earth like that still be so comfortable. I really enjoyed that cruise and hope to go back someday. 🙂
Considering that the ship I’ve been sailing on lately is named the Point Nemo, I clicked around the net a little bit and found another article on Atlas Obscura (I bought a book of theirs a while back- they’ve got tons of really fascinating stuff they write about). Point Nemo (Latin for “nobody”) was named for the fact that it signifies the most remote spot on the planet. It’s also a ping back to Jules Verne’s island base for the Nautilus. It is called the oceanic point of inaccessibility, located at 48°52.6’S 123°23.6’W.
It’s pretty far out in the middle of nowhere (pretty much like we are right now- a couple thousand miles SE of Hawaii). It’s 1451 nautical miles from land: North of Antarctica, S of tiny Ducie Island (‘near’ Pitcairn Islands) and SW of Motu Nui (near Easter Island).
Since it’s so remote, it’s a great place for dumping some of our ever increasing load of space debris. Not much chance of anything landing on top of somebody’s house, or a passing cruise ship or 737. It seems to be a favorite place for the Russians to send their old satellites. The most famous being the old Mir space station. Other countries also send their space junk there to the point it’s nicknamed the Spacecraft Cemetery with near 300 disposed of in the area since 1971.
Continuing with the spacey theme, the actual location of Point Nemo is within a relatively few miles of H.P. Lovecraft’s R’lyeh, a “nightmare corpse city (…) built in measureless eons beyond history by the vast, loathsome shapes that seeped down from the dark stars”. The drowned city of Cthulhu…
I’ve read very little of Lovecraft’s work. I never really got into it, tho I do love reading and some of my favorites are scary stories. I love Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Joe Hill, Anne Rice, Clive Barker, Justin Cronin, George Orwell, Robin Cook- I could go on and on…
I love all kinds of weird stuff. I read constantly. All kinds of things, but my favorite genres are science fiction and fantasy, history, alternative history, science, philosophy, politics and social issues. The final weird thing about Point Nemo mentioned in the Atlas Obscura article of “the Bloop” was just the icing on the cake for me. I just had to write this post and share it to the rest of you. 🙂
Blasted by Beryl in Texas
After 3 months away from home sailing across the Pacific Ocean on the Point Nemo, I came back to find class 1 “minimal” hurricane Beryl had done more damage to my property than all the other storms (Alicia, Harvey, etc) combined for the last 30 years.
Onboard the ship, I could only see news reports of Houston/Galveston and Surfside Beach. The photos and videos looked bad. Big trees downed and flooding all around Houston. Lots of flooding at Surfside and a few houses looked totally demolished. Surfside is only about 10 miles from Freeport where all of my rental properties are located. I used to live there and a lot of my friends still do.
I didn’t worry about it too much since I’d never been flooded before and I didn’t have many trees around my rental properties (though I did at my own house- which had trees fall through the roof twice since I’ve lived there).
I was more worried about the power being out again. Last time we had a storm knock the power out, mine was out for weeks. I came home to a horrible stink, tried my best to clear out the freezer without puking, threw out a couple thousand dollars worth of meat- but still couldn’t salvage the thing and had to buy a new one.
I lucked out this time. My own house made it through with minimal damage. Siding and gutters blown off and a few big limbs down in the yard (but thankfully not on my roof). I felt grateful. I walked around the block every day and it looked like at least a category 4 came through. There were trees down everywhere- BIG trees! People had stacked up huge piles of soaked sheetrock, carpet and ruined furniture along the side of the road. Only 2 houses down from me, a huge tree fell over from a neighbors yard onto their house. It must’ve been about 5 ft in diameter. One big old oak tree. I thought it was only sitting on the back part of the house, but a few days later there was a demolition crew there tearing down the entire house. Even the foundation is gone. All that’s left is their backyard shed. I hope their insurance paid.
My town, Lake Jackson, TX is a “tree city USA” and very proud of their beautiful trees. Beryl took out a lot of them. A friend of had one demolish their garage- took out a couple of their cool old cars. All over town the maintenance crews were out with backhoes and chainsaws for weeks. It was still going on when I left for work 6 weeks later.
I spent my entire time at home trying to deal with the damages to my rental properties. I felt so demoralized. Almost every single unit was damaged. I’ve spent so much time and money over the last few years working to get them in good shape to rent out. This was supposed to be my retirement. I finally had everything almost finished. Just one apartment needed a little bit more work- 2-3 days worth- and it would be ready to rent. Then we were going to paint a couple to make them look like new on the outside, I already had the paint and everything was ready to go.
Then came Beryl.
My manager didn’t want me freaking out while I was at work on the ship (and couldn’t do anything but worry) so she didn’t tell me everything about all the damage that had been done. When I got home, a lot of the major stuff had already been dealt with: 6 roof leaks, 27 blown out windows, 2 doors blown out, soffit and fascia blown off 1 building which caused the ceilings to collapse in the upstairs and downstairs apartments and also flooded the downstairs apartment. They told me the water was just pouring in, had a few inches of water on the floor!
My maintenance man had already fixed the roof, door and windows in one house and repaired the drywall and carpets that were ruined. He’d also fixed the roof leaks and drywall in another apartment, fixed most of the other blown out windows and doors, everything was fixed in the downstairs apartment.
When I got home, I think I pissed off my manager a bit since I insisted on getting the soffit/fascia repaired before anything else. We had more rain coming and without repairs, the rain would ruin all the work we just did in the downstairs apartment.
The woman who was “renting” that apartment (who had stopped paying rent before the storm came) was threatening my maintenance man every day to the point he didn’t want to work on that building anymore. She was also calling the city to complain about how I was such a “slumlord” every day. I had her apartment fixed only1-2 days after the storm, we had to prioritize. Lucky for her I wasn’t waiting on insurance like most people had to. Her actions slowed down our work quite a bit- for her and everyone else in that building.
Oh yeah, she also cut her ceiling back down after we fixed it so she could splice into the electric we were using to repair the upstairs apartment since she had stopped paying her electric bills and got cut off by the electric company. So she was blasting her AC 24/7 and threatening the maintenance man “don’t touch my electric” every time he tried to work on something in the maintenance room (she had cameras watching).
I also had another tenant who had a tree fall on her roof. I was told there was just minor damage, broke a window and some water got in that was causing mold to grow. She hadn’t been paying rent either, but my maintenance man had gone and fixed what he could for her a couple of times. She was moving out so when we went to take a look, we found the tree had done a lot more damage. Basically the entire back part of the house needs to be fixed and a window leak caused major damage in another room.
Another place I didn’t know was damaged except for a window and door turned out to have the entire ceiling come down in the kitchen and water damage practically everywhere.
SO. I’m back on the boat, waiting to hear back from the insurance agencies and my manager to hear what progress (if any) has been made. I knew rental property could be a hassle, but I really didn’t expect it to be this bad. I keep seeing stuff online about how landlords are just “evil”, out to just screw over the renters. Really? I don’t see it that way at all. I was a renter for decades and now I own rental property. I never felt that my landlords were screwing me, but I never rented a super top of the line place either. Maybe that would be different? My rents barely cover my expenses and so many tenants just screw me over- don’t pay rent, tear things up, etc. You really wouldn’t believe the conditions they leave. I wonder how in the hell anyone can live like that.
It’s pretty gross. I can tell you later. I have to get some sleep now…
Unalaska- A Day of Aleutian Life
We’re long gone from Alaska now. We left Dutch Harbor -our last port in Alaska- a few weeks ago- May 28 to be exact. This is really the first chance I’ve had to work on my computer since then. When the ship is constantly rolling around so much, it’s really too hard to concentrate on doing anything else but staying stable.
We had a nice break in Dutch Harbor. It took us about a week to get from Kodiak to Dutch Harbor and rough weather all the way. It was nice to spend a couple of days at the dock. We all got a chance to walk around town and relax a bit. Even the weather cooperated, it was actually pretty warm and sunny for most of our time there.
I really wanted to see the bears in Kodiak, but that will have to wait for another time. I did the next best thing and found Aleutian Life Tours to explore and learn more about Dutch Harbor, Unalaska Island and Alaska.
Lynda, one half of Aleutian Life Tours (her husband Dennis is the other half) was kind enough to meet me at our boat to start the day. She asked me more about what I was interested in and then took off around the ‘Spit’ to take a look at some of the fishing boats docked down there and see if there might be some sea lions hauled out on the rocks. I didn’t see any of those, but there were a lot of eagles waiting for scraps from the boats.
We took a ride around town to see the old radio station and the small boat harbor where more of the fishing fleet docks. Some of the famous boats from “Deadliest Catch” dock there. I got a few good pictures there. We saw a few sea otters drifting around, but too far away for me to get any decent shots of them.
On the way back, we stopped at a place where Dennis’ family used to live. I love to explore old buildings and hear about the old days and it was really interesting to hear how people used to live around here.
We rode up to a hilltop for a nice view of the town, overlooking the Russian Bishops house (1882) and the Russian Orthodox Cathedral. Lynda explained how the building was shipped up here in pieces and put together when it got here, too bad the bishop never got to see it completed. He fell overboard on the way to Alaska and so never got to live in his house. Luckily his body was recovered and was buried in the graveyard outside the Cathedral of the Holy Ascension.
The town was small, but was very neat and clean. One small park had the most trees I’ve seen around these islands, they’re very uncommon around here due to the high winds. The school and community center looked like new and plenty big enough for the whole town to enjoy.
I really enjoyed hearing about the local history and Lynda told me stories about her family and how they’d been there for generations- about being evacuated during WWII and even about how they dealt with the Russians. She even knew where to find an eagles nest where we could see the mother eagle feeding her chicks. Amazing to watch…
It was time for me to get back to the boat after a really wonderful day of exploring the island. I highly recommend Lynda for anyone wanting to explore Dutch Harbor. Next time I might have to get Dennis to take me out in their boat to find those sea lions and get a better look at those otters. 😉
A Beautiful Sunday in Kodiak
It was a beautiful sunny day, the first one we’d seen in a while. I took advantage of the weather and decided to go for a walk around town. Since we were docked at the Ferry Terminal, the first thing I did was to visit the Kodiak Visitors Center right around in front.
The people there were very nice and helpful. They gave me some good ideas for things to do and answered a bunch of my questions. What I really wanted to do while in Kodiak was to see the world famous Kodiak bears. They told me it wasn’t really the best time to see them yet (they’re most active later in the year when the salmon are spawning). Since I was limited on time I didn’t bother trying to connect with a guide with a floatplane as they suggested.
I was looking forward to checking out the Kodiak History Museum, right across the street. I was disappointed to see that it was closed (only open Wed-Sat). I could only peek through the windows in the old house and take a walk around the grounds to see some statues and grave markers from hundreds of years ago. That led me around to the Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Church. This place is famous as being the oldest in the country- established in 1794. It’s characteristic blue onion domes are a reminder of the days when the Russians occupied Alaska. The parish priest was actually canonized and became a saint (Saint Herman) due to his efforts in behalf of the native Alutiiq people. His casket still remains here.
I took a few photos outside and took a quick look inside, but they were holding Sunday services so I didn’t stick around too long. I would have liked a closer look at some of the icons and other religious objects inside but not enough to hang around through the entire ceremony. Outside they were preparing a bar-b-que and I stopped to ask a few questions. “What is there to do around here on a Sunday morning?”. “Well, you could join us for a bar-b-que”, the men told me. “There’s not much else”, they said. But they did tell me about some nice trails for hiking and recommended a couple of restaurants for later (it was still even too early for lunch).
Up the block was a small park celebrating the original Alutiiq people, the Alutiiq Ancestors’ Memorial. A unique gateway led into the park, insides covered with small metallic salmon- an indication of how important these fish were for them. It was a nice place to rest for a few minutes and read about some of the native people and their history.
Continuing up the street, I was looking for the Alutiiq Museum. I was interested in learning more about the history and culture of the native people here. Sadly, it was closed for renovations until 2025.
I circled back around, hoping to visit the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, but it was closed too (only open Tues-Sat 12-16). I was getting discouraged on finding much to do with my time here.
I decided to take a walk around the harbor and maybe see some fish being unloaded. Fishing is a big business in Kodiak (and Alaska in general). Kodiak is home base to over 2000 fishing vessels. They fish for salmon, herring, halibut, cod, pollock, and (of course ) crabs.
The boardwalk was quiet and lined with plaques explaining about the harbor and fishing industry of Kodiak. I stopped to talk to a group of local fishermen enjoying their morning coffees and smokes. They were in high spirits and looking forward to a good catch. I wished them good luck and continued to the end of the boardwalk and over across the street to the Ace Hardware (where I was looking for a few items).
Across the harbor is a shopping center with a few popular bars and restaurants. My crew had already told me how they enjoyed their time at Tony’s. It was still too early for me to want lunch, but I checked out the menus they had posted at Henry’s Great Alaskan (and couldn’t believe the prices!).
Wandering back to the boat, I noticed a few interesting murals/photos posted around town. They’re part of an exhibit of the Kodiak Maritime Museum that I was really interested in. They have those QR codes where you can scan them with your smartphone and find out more information. Too bad I couldn’t get that to work on my phone.
Next to Trident Seafoods is a big parking lot for the harbor, with a boat ramp and an exhibit of the old canneries. There’s also a little boat there with an interesting story. the “Thelma C“. She was a typical salmon seine boat, maybe the last survivor of this type of vessel. Saved by the people of Alaska and the Kodiak Maritime Museum.
All in all, a good mornings walk. I needed to get back to the boat. Hope to be able to come back to Kodiak again in time to see the bears. 🙂
Surprise Stop at Kodiak
Another long break from posting here. Sorry. I just haven’t been up to it. Nothing special going on, so I’ve had a hard time getting around to writing.
At the moment I’m on another ship. It’s called the Point Nemo (ex: New Jersey Responder). It’s with the same company I worked with last summer- maintaining the weather buoys around the Pacific Ocean.
Last night we arrived in Kodiak, AK. We hadn’t planned to stop here, we were on our way to Dutch Harbor. A crew member had to get off for a family emergency so we brought him in and we’re waiting for a replacement.
I’m on watch nights so I haven’t gone ashore yet. It was really a beautiful passage in to the dock. If only the sun wasn’t blazing right into our eyes the entire way in (at 2100 hours)!
We’re docked at the Kodiak Ferry Terminal next to the Trident Seafood dock with it’s giant ship-shaped office. We’re all wondering what exactly is going on there? Did they build a ship on the shore? Did one wash up on the beach from the 1964 earthquake/tsunami? It’s weird and definitely unique.
From what I can see Kodiak looks to be a walkable little town. There’s the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center just a block up the street. Nearby are the Kodiak History Museum and the Alutiiq Museum. I can see the Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Church with its distinctive onion dome from here.
Just across the bridge to Near Island is the Kodiak Laboratory Aquarium (& Touch Tank), the North End Park and South End Trail (one of many around Kodiak). I hear the hiking is excellent around here. I might go try a nice hike myself if the weather clears up.
I’d really love to go see the bears this island is famous for, but I’m not sure how long we’re going to be here or able to stay at the dock. Some of the guys onboard here say they got chased by a bear when they came up here last year. They were checking out some fishing near their hotel and a bear was after the fish. Wow!
It really is beautiful here. I hope the weather clears up.
More later 🙂
More Explorations of Mexico- Leon to Guanajuato
I spent most of the month of August in Mexico. I’ve been working on getting residency there and hoping to be able to move sometime soon. I’ve been exploring around the country, trying to find a place I’d really enjoy to call home. So far, I’ve been to Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, Juarez, and Tijuana along the border. Cancun, Merida, Playa del Carmen (North) and Ciudad del Carmen (South) on the Yucatan Peninsula. Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan on the West Coast. Mexico City, Leon, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Queretaro, Toluca, Morelia, San Miguel de Allende in the mountains. And Tapachula at the Southern border.
So far, I’ve decided that although I love being near the ocean- for the beaches, and the opportunities to sail, snorkel and SCUBA dive- it’s just too dam HOT and humid for me. I’m just tired of being hot and sweaty all day long whenever I step outside the air conditioner. I grew up in Florida, have lived in coastal Texas since, and it’s always been hot and humid where I live- but I’ve never liked it. Never really enjoyed it- tho it was much better in Florida when I was young. I lived directly on the water then and was swimming and sailing practically every day. We also had a decent sea breeze that helped a lot. In Texas, I spend as much time as possible in the AC- almost never go outside in the summer ( where high temperatures last most of the year).
This year I was concentrating on the central part of Mexico. Up in the mountains. I flew into Cabo since that’s where I was dealing with immigration for my visa. I transitioned over to Leon to start looking around. I spent a few days in each city, more if I really liked it less if I didn’t.
Leon didn’t impress me much, tho I’m sure I could have found more to excite me about it if I had more time and interest. It seemed just another big city to me. It didn’t help that I had a not very good experience with the taxi I took from the airport to my Airbnb. The driver really had no idea where I was going but refused to admit it. He dropped me off saying it was 200 m down the block (it wasn’t). I wound up wandering around for over an hour before a nice policewoman helped me out and basically took me by the hand.
The place I stayed at was beautiful, had everything I needed and was just a few blocks to the center of town where I was interested in exploring. I just walked around looking at the churches, hanging out in the parks people watching and listening to the wandering mariachi bands.
I just didn’t feel like Leon was the right place for me. I soon moved on to visit Guanajuato, Queretaro and San Miguel de Allende. These 3 turned out to be some of my favorite cities (so far).
Guanajuato has an interesting history and some unusual features. It’s very hilly and even the central part has some fairly steep streets (like the one where I was staying). It’s also riddled with tunnels from the old days when they were created to divert the rivers from flooding the downtown area.
It gives the centro almost a medieval feel. The sight lines are short, so every few minutes you’re looking at something new. The colorful buildings are full of interesting shops selling everything from shoes, clothes, leather, writing supplies, arts of all kinds, and food. Panaderias (bakeries), butcher shops displaying delicious smelling baked chickens at the entrance, chocolaterias selling amazing hot chocolate and candy. Street vendors at every corner offering elote (corn- on the cob or cupfuls with your choice of added flavors: mayonnaise, jalapeño, lime, chile, cheeses, salt/pepper, and more).
I spent my time there just wandering around, I hadn’t planned anything. I noticed a statue of Don Quiote at the bottom of my street and wondered about it. Turns out Guanajuato has a Cervantes Festival every year. I noticed a museum with another statue outside. Turns out it was a pretty cool little museum on Cervantes and Don Quiote (more on that later). I spent a couple of hours there admiring the artwork. Definitely worth a visit if you’re into Cervantes or art (painting, sculpture, writing).
Every evening there was something going on. Groups of actors dressed up in costumes from the old days passed out flyers to the International Cervantes Festival. People hung out in the plazas to meet friends and relax while the mariachis serenaded couples and families out for a birthday party.
I really enjoyed my few days in Guanajuato. I’d definitely go back.
September- Working for Adriatic Marine
I returned from Mexico late on August 30 and thank god I had work waiting for me. I had to rush around to get caught up and ready to leave for work on the 1st of September. That only gave me 1 day to get everything done that I could.
Most important was to get a doctors appointment. Urgent need for that. Since I am a merchant marine, I must apply for a license to work from the United States Coast Guard. If they do not approve, I am not able to work. I don’t like that fact. Not at all. I think it’s completely against the foundational principles of our country (and basic human rights) that anyone should have to beg permission from the government in order to earn a living. But, I don’t really want to go off on that tangent right now (later I probably will)…
So. Part of what I have to do in order to be allowed to work is to take a USCG approved physical every 2 years. My latest medical certificate expires mid-October. So I can’t work after that until I get a new one. Send the physical in and (if) they approve it, then I can continue to work. I sent it in early August. I didn’t want to turn it in any earlier since the earlier they get it, the more time they remove from your ability to work (they date your medical certificate from the date of your physical). On August 29, they sent me an email that they wanted more information and a letter from my doctor before they would approve me. At one point they had asked for that info but stopped- told me I didn’t need to send it to them anymore so I didn’t. Now, they wanted it again.
Thank god I had time to call my doctor and she was able to see me. I called from Mexico since I had only 3 days maximum to get this all done. I got home from Mexico late on Wednesday, August 30. Doctor was closed on Thursday. I was at her office at 0730 on Friday and had to leave for work that afternoon (flying to New Orleans).
I made it to the boat on time that Friday evening and nervously waiting for test results and letter from my doctor to be approved by the Coast Guard for the next week and a half. I was SO relieved to get that email from them that I was approved (finally) and they had mailed my certificate. Now, I just have to get home to get my mail!
I’ve been working through CLS this hitch. They got me a gig with Adriatic Marine on their supply boats. I got on the Caribou on Friday, September 1. Switched to the Axis on the 6th, the Red Stag on the 11, and the Bison on October 5. I’m still on the Bison and hoping to stay here until crew change.
We’ve been running from Fourchon out to MC-650. Working for Chevron with the Blind Faith and the accommodation vessel Safe Concordia. It’s about a 12 hour run and the weather has been pretty rough the past couple of weeks. I think we’re having an early winter. Temps at home have been getting down in the 50’s at night. We don’t usually get that cool until late November. I’m looking forward to some of that. 🙂
I’ll only be home for 2 weeks. They’ve asked me to come back here and I’ve already agreed. This job is pretty good. I’m working as DPO and these boats hold pretty good. This one has an MPT (Chouest) system, but the Red Stag has Kongsberg (which I definitely prefer). We’re just doing deck cargo (no bulk) so just have to pay attention to weather (no hoses to worry about). We do a lot of back and forth between the Blind Faith and Safe Concordia. Breaks up the day. Lately we’re doing a run to the beach every couple of days so I’m hoping we’ll be able to crew change at the dock instead of by helicopter.
*(I wrote this while at work a couple of months ago- in September)
Another Long Break
It’s been a long time (again) since I’ve posted anything on here. I just haven’t been able to make the time for it. It actually takes me quite a bit of time and effort to make a post here. It helps to be in the right frame of mind, but even so it takes me at least an hour. Sometimes 2-3. I’ve been fairly busy this summer. Thank god I’ve finally got some work!
I wrote before a little bit about the job I had on the Bluefin. We were crossing the North Pacific Ocean, working on doing maintenance for the weather/tsunami buoys. That was probably the best job I’ve had in a while. I would probably try to hire on permanently if they paid a bit more and had some kind of benefits (but they don’t have any at all).
I was home for about a week- spent running around on errands. Catching up on sleep and bills. Had the air conditioning repaired again. Didn’t bother cleaning the house (tho I really should have). Then I was off to Mexico to renew my visa.
I flew into Cabo San Lucas on August 5. Had to renew my visa before it expired on the 9th. I spent my time relaxing around the pool, walking around town in the evenings when it cooled off (slightly) and trying to practice my Spanish. Went SCUBA diving one day and would have gone again, but the current was so bad on the 2nd dive that my toes got all bloodied up from rubbing against my fins that I didn’t think it was a good idea (sharks).
I finally got my permanent residency after 4 years of reapplying every August. Now I can come and go whenever I want. I’m hoping to be able to take a trip in January for the Greater Reset event in Morelia. I’m also hoping to finally see the whales and whale sharks in Cabo- or maybe I’ll go to the Gulf Coast near Cancun/Cozumel to see them.
I usually like to explore a few places when I go to Mexico (or anywhere else). This trip I went to Cabo San Lucas, Leon, Queretaro, Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende. I have to say I really have enjoyed my time in every place I’ve been to so far in Mexico- but I like the weather a whole lot more in the higher elevations. I go in August so I can see what its like in the hottest part of the year so I can see if I can find a place I’d like to live permanently. I love the beaches. Being near the ocean is so nice. I love being able to go swimming, and fishing and diving, and just hanging out in the shade with an umbrella drink. But it’s SO damn hot!
I’m looking for a place where I can really enjoy being outside. I love to just walk around (even at home- I walk every day). But I hate sweating! I grew up in Florida and have lived in Texas for about 40 years now and the summers are just miserable to spend any time outside in the daytime. I’m hoping to find somewhere much cooler.
So far, I think my favorite city was Morelia. I want to go back to explore more of the area. Some of the smaller towns around there might be a better fit for me. I definitely need to go back! 🙂
Long Time No See…
Hey. It’s been a loooong time since I’ve been around. Sorry. It just got to the point where I was just ranting all the time. I felt I was turning people off. Yes, it was helpful to me to be able to get what I was feeling out into the open. Write it down. I probably should’ve started my journal again instead of putting it all out for the entire world to see.
Anyway. I’m back. I HOPE things are getting better now. For sure they are in the short term. I don’t know if I will be able to stop with the ranting since I’m pretty sure all the bad sh*t that we’ve all had to deal with the last couple of years is not over yet- in fact I think we’re going to have to put up with a lot worse. In the meantime, I’ll try to write about more positive stuff. As always, I will post about whatever I find interesting and hope somebody else out there will too. Maybe we can all learn something new together?
So. What have I been doing since my last post? Wow- November 2020! Well, not a lot of the usual stuff I do. Since the covid shots came out, I have basically been locked out of almost all of my usual job prospects. NO job is worth ruining my health for and that is what has already happened to millions of people who took those shots (including my watch partner- who WAS a healthy young man and now has his health ruined by Bells Palsy for the rest of his life). So, I’ve had VERY little work. Consequently, very little money. So very little ability to travel or do anything else.
I’ve mostly been hanging around the house. VERY frustrated, angry and kind-of depressed. Feeling like I’m at the stage of my life where I should have been able to stop working and really start enjoying everything the world has to offer. I had saved up a good bit of money, bought rental properties so I would have a steady income. Planned to work a couple months straight and then spend the rest of the year traveling the world.
I’d signed up as a house/pet sitter, got certified to teach English as a second language and was using Duolingo app to learn Spanish. But then- COVID. The entire world ground to a halt. Not for the 2 weeks they scammed us into agreeing to, but MORE THAN TWO YEARS! For what we now know (and DID know from the start- the information WAS out there for anyone who bothered to look) is that NONE of the tactics they used to “fight it”, to “flatten the curve”, would do or did a damn bit of good- but did do a hell of a lot of harm!
I’m sure some will call me selfish. To think that my freedoms are so important. OK. Yes. Hell yes, I DO think that! You think I’m selfish for wanting to be able to live my life the way I choose? Too bad! I think you’re selfish for wanting to protect yourself at the expense of everyone else on the planet! And stupid to top it off!!! NO ONE is guaranteed to live for even 1 day in this life! NO ONE is guaranteed their health. Or to never get sick. NO ONE is guaranteed any kind of safety in this world- and to trade away freedom for that false sense of security is an idea only fools would go along with. (Am I pissing you off yet?)
YES! I DO think freedom is more important than “safety”. There is only ONE legitimate function of the US government according to our founding documents and that is to preserve and protect our FREEDOMS! NOT our safety! We, as individuals are responsible for our own safety, and especially our own health. I can’t speak for the governments of the rest of the world, but personally I think if they are NOT doing the job of protecting the FREEDOMS of their people, then they are NOT legitimate- but only robber barons in disguise.
PS- our rights do NOT come from the government (any government), they are inherent to the fact that we are all human beings!
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am more than ready for the return to “normal”. It was nowhere near perfect, but a hell of a lot better than what we’re looking at now.
Are any of you keeping up with the WEF (World Economic Forum)? Their plans for 15 minute cities, 70% reduction in personal automobiles, our future diet of “bugs” (none of which applies to any of them of course)? Or the WHO’s (World Health Organization) plans to completely take over your life/health? How about the EU/WHO digital passport thing? No passport- no travel, no work, no food, no housing- or just go straight to the lock-up! Or the worldwide rush to CBDC’s (Central Bank Digital Currency)- where they will know everything about every single dollar you spend, where you spent it, what you spent it on. They will take their taxes out of every dime and if they don’t like what you want to do with YOUR money, they will shut you out of the system. Exactly like they did to the Canadian truckers (who were 100% legally protesting their tyrannical government). Just like in China, the social credit system will restrict your ability to work, to travel, to educate yourself or your children- pretty much everything. Bow down and enslave yourself to “your” government or pay the price!
Yes. This IS coming. The US is planning to bring out what they’re calling FedNow in July. That is the beginning of the CBDC here in the USA. The WHO is in (mostly secret) discussions with countries around the world re:amendments to the “Pandemic Treaty” which will severely limit your access to any kind of freedom re: YOUR life and YOUR health.
All it takes to stop this evil from once again dragging us down is to stand together and just say NO! Keep on saying it. DO NOT COMPLY!
Yes, it’s been hard the last couple of years without work. Running through my savings (thank god I had some!). Selling whatever I could get rid of to bring in a few extra bucks. Constantly being told I’m just a “crazy conspiracy theorist”. Not allowed to work, travel or even shop freely. Favorite bars, restaurants and businesses shut down, most never will recover. Being insulted constantly and banned from social media for sharing FACTS. TRUTH. BUT, I’m RIGHT. The masks don’t work for a virus (never have, never will), covid is nothing to worry about for MOST people (fatality rate less than 1% for everyone under 80 yo- so 99% (MOST) survived it just fine)(those Chinese videos of people dropping dead in the streets were as obviously fake as all the zombie movies I used to watch), the shots don’t help, there are other things that DO help, quarantines are for SICK people- NOT healthy people, etc!
Now, even the mainstream news is admitting all of those things are true. Wondering if people will finally open their eyes? Now that the people they trusted are finally telling the truth, instead of their constant parroting of the flat out LIES of the so called ‘elites’? I still see WAY too many people wearing masks- driving around in their cars by themselves. Sad.
Here’s a cool video, thanks to my friend Jack at Everything Voluntary. Hope it makes people THINK!
BEARS! Wild Bears on Kodiak Island
I haven’t had much work since the covid shots came out. Before that, things were finally starting to pick up from the last crash in oil prices and I was getting more work. I’ve had almost nothing since I was laid off late 2015.
Then, I just had to quarantine for weeks before I could join the ship. Locked up in a hotel room. Daily covid tests with a stick so far up your nose you’d think your brain was going to start leaking out. Cold food. Nothing to do but think about how things were so screwed up or distract oneself with mindless crap on TV. Well, at least I was getting paid. I had to consider myself lucky that I had an approved by the elites (“essential”) job.
No work for 5 years due to low oil prices and another 3 now of covid crap and I’m REALLY sick of it! Not that I’ve been physically sick for even 1 day since the covid crap started, but mentally? Yeah, that crap’s been doing a pretty good job of destroying my peace of mind, my daily sense of magnanimity, my outlook on society and life in general.
Lately things have been a little better. I finally got approved to teach again at San Jacinto Maritime College. I was teaching there part time before they had to shut down due to covid. I had to re-apply since it had been so long ago. I was ready to start with a couple of tankerman classes they had lined up for me when another job I’d been hoping for finally came through.
Of course I’d rather be out on a boat anytime than doing anything ashore, so I pissed off my boss at school and jumped at the chance to actually go somewhere other than the Gulf of Mexico for a change. So. Here I am now aboard the M/V Bluefin.
I left home at 0300 Sunday Jun 4 to fly to Kodiak, AK. I wish I was able to leave a couple of days earlier and do some exploring around town before joining the vessel, but I went straight to the boat- exhausted. They let me sleep late (amazing) and gave me the rundown Monday.
The Bluefin is an old fishing boat that’s been converted for research. We are chartered to NOAA to service their buoys all over the world. For this voyage, we are working the North Pacific Ocean. I joined in Kodiak, AK and will be getting off when we reach Yokahama, Japan. It took us about a week and a half to make our way here to Dutch Harbor from Kodiak.
We checked out about a half dozen buoys on the way. Also had to shelter for weather for a couple of days in Shearwater Bay (S side of Kodiak Island)- that’s where the bears were. One of the crew onboard- AB John- had a drone. He takes some amazing pictures (check out his Instagram). He sent his drone over to get some shots of the bears- they were too far away to see much more than big fur balls from the ship (that’s it in the background). Sadly, his drone ran out of juice on the way back to the ship and sank.
I was expecting the weather to be better- more like summer. It is the middle of June already. It’s nice that it doesn’t get dark til almost midnight, but so many days have been overcast, rainy, windy and rough. I’m really impressed with how well they’re able to work those buoys.
The Bluefin is technically a Dynamic Positioning vessel since it has a DP system onboard, but it’s not classed and they “never” use it. I rarely even notice them using the bow thruster. They tell me they usually only take an hour or so to work a buoy, but a couple of times so far we’ve spent 2-3 hours hanging on.
Yes, they literally hang on to the mooring of the buoy while the technicians are checking everything out. We can’t put any strain on the line, so have to maneuver the vessel so that we stay in position very close to where we picked up the buoy and put it on deck. So far, I haven’t had the chance to work a buoy. I’m on watch from 2330-0730 (fantastic watch schedules on here!), so I’ve mostly just been driving the boat. A couple of times they were still working the buoy but the mate wanted to finish the job rather than have me take over (when I’ve never run this boat before).
So we finished up our last one before our planned crew change in Dutch Harbor just in time to avoid another strong weather system. We arrived late afternoon on the 17th. The weather was beautiful. Sun shining and warm for a change- but I was sleeping. Saturday morning was cold and rainy again but I didn’t want to miss a chance to go ashore. I went to the grocery store with the cook and stocked up my stash of snacks- for some reason the owner doesn’t like to supply the boat with that kind of stuff (cereal, chips, sweets, etc) so we all bring our own favorites.
After shopping, we went for lunch at the Grand Aluetian Hotel. They had a really nice buffet. breakfast/lunch with all the usual- plus. Made to order omelettes, prime rib, ham, biscuits and sausage gravy, chicken breasts, baked halibut, pancakes, blueberry muffins, danish, bagels with cream cheese and lox, macaroni salad, potato salad, nice green salad with all the fixin’s, fruit tray (canteloupe, melon, pineapple, grapes, strawberries), smoked salmon, and a fantastic dessert table full of delicious sweets (chocolate layer cake, pecan pie, lemon meringue pie, cheesecake, brownie bites, petit fours, pudding, lemon bars, and more).
I went back again and again, pretty much stuffed myself. Needed those sweets like I need a hole in my head, but damn they were good! I spent about $50, but it was worth it (cost $49 plus tip). They have a seafood buffet on Wednesdays. Everyone says it’s amazing and “not to be missed”. That one costs $65 but I don’t think we’ll still be here by Wednesday.
Yesterday I got to go with the cook again. We went to the store again to check on some last minute grocery items. I found a couple of interesting books on Alaska and fishing (hopefully will review them here after I read them).
We drove around a bit, searching for a good lookout to get a few nice photos. We found the cultural museum (where I discovered my camera battery was dead)- it was closed- and the military museum– it was closed too. We spotted the ‘famous’ Russian onion domed church from afar, but it looked pretty far way so we skipped it. We found a real interesting old house of a former radio station and the ruins of an underground hospital. We never found a great lookout, conscious of other crew also wanting to get ashore and needing the van we were driving around in. We decided to check out the famous “rat bar” and then head back to the boat.
The Norwegian Rat is the best bar in Dutch (at least the only one we found). It sits right on the bay and has fantastic views of the beach and the boats sailing by. They have a huge fire pit outside and I can imagine how sweet that must be when it gets dark in the early afternoon. They had a pretty decent menu, it was hard to decide what I wanted. All kinds of burgers and sandwiches, chicken wings, spinach/artichoke dip, nachos, chili, gumbo, steaks, pizzas, etc. I finally decided on a pizza (pepperoni, mushroom and onion) and Derrick had chili (home-made) and nachos. The pizza was great and cheers from Derrick on the chili too.
Seems I’ll miss out on a lot of the things I was hoping to do here. The military (WWII) museum is closed for repairs and the Cultural museum was not open until Tuesday (today) from 11-16. I’m not sure if I’ll make it over to town again today. Still, I’m glad to be here at all and looking forward to Yokahama.
What Are You Thankful For This Pandemic Year Thanksgiving?
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?
Are Things Getting Better in the Gulf of Mexico?
I’ve been back at work since late October. I joined this vessel in Amelia, LA on October 27. It’s an ex- Tidewater supply boat, the Ken C Tamblyn, renamed Ocean Guardian. It had been stacked for a few years until this company bought it, They had a couple of guys onboard for a few months, getting it ready to go to work. Then they lined up a job and crewed it up at the last minute.
A company new to the Gulf, has to have a super hard time finding work for their vessel. It’s been hell even for companies that have been around for decades. There are hundreds of boats stacked up all over the bayous of S Louisiana. They must have a hell of a salesman, they’ve managed to find work for it with a dive company for at least this one job. In November no less!
If I could find work like that, I would be seriously looking for a boat of my own.
Too bad I couldn’t sell steak to a starving man. Also, I’m still basically broke. Still trying to catch up to where I was a few years ago financially and don’t have any spare cash to invest in a boat or anything else.
I do think this is probably the best time to buy a boat I’ve seen in a long time. We got to work offshore for a while and then had to bring the boat in to Port Fourchon for the last hurricane (Eta). We spent a couple of days shifting between various docks (doing the old Fourchon Shuffle). It seemed busier than the last few times I’ve been in here.
We went offshore to get a little more work done before the weather kicked up again and we had to come back in. Again, we have no dock space so shifting around over and over. It seems to be a sign of an improving situation for boats working in the Gulf. Everything comes through Fourchon now a days (personally, I still think that’s a terrible idea- we should not put all our eggs in one basket/port).
There aren’t nearly as many boats in port as there were previously, but the ones that are here seem to have work. I see a lot of subsea boats running in and out with equipment on deck. I’ve noticed a few supply boats loaded with pipe and casing and various tools. Maybe things are finally picking up offshore?
The latest lease sale was a bit of good news, with a larger than expected $120 million bid. I really hope that translates into improved work situations for all us offshore workers. It’s been a LONG 5+ years since the layoffs started in 2014.
I’d really like to get at least one more full year of work in. I know so many people who have been struggling to survive the last few years and just trying to hold on. It would be great to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and come out strong again. I’ll just have to keep on hoping.
What’s Really Open in Europe for Americans Now?
So, where in the world are people still living normal lives? I’ve heard Turkey, Serbia, Croatia, and of course the poster child- Sweden.
Sweden sounds like a beautiful country. I was there once when I was in high school. We stopped at Visby for a couple of days. I don’t remember a whole lot except that the weather was gorgeous and it was very green. I’d like to go back for a visit some time and see more of the country.
Croatia looks beautiful from what I’ve seen of it online. I used to work with a couple of guys from there. They both made it sound very nice.
Serbia? I don’t know anything about it except that it had a war going on for a while. I should probably be ashamed for my ignorance. I would love to go there and learn more about it. Any Serbians here, please feel free to inform me. 🙂
I’ve been to Turkey a couple of times. I really loved it. I love history and I enjoyed spending time in the many museums and some of the ruins around the country. The coastline is gorgeous and I bet there must be some good places to SCUBA dive. I could definitely see myself spending some time there.
Is anybody on here familiar with any of these countries? I’m especially curious right now about how different places are dealing with the covid-19 virus. How close to normal (the old normal, not the ‘new normal’) are they?
I think I will spend some time researching how many countries Americans are allowed to travel to and how much time we’re allowed to spend there. I hate to spend so much time, money and effort to go someplace and then get chased out after a short time due to visa issues. I think we were allowed only 3 months in European Schengen zone (before covid) and not allowed at all in a lot of places at this point.
Sad. Really, really sad.
New Normal? NO! Let’s Go Back to Living!
I haven’t been very motivated to write or do much of anything else since all this covid crap started. I’m sure some of you believe it is a serious disease and we’re ‘all gonna die’ if we’re exposed to it like the media keeps terrorizing everyone with their dire predictions (none of which are true). I don’t believe any of it.
Oh yeah, I’m sure covid-19 is a new disease. What I don’t believe for a NY second is that it ever was a “dangerous pandemic”. We’ve known from the beginning that basically the only people seriously endangered if they catch it is those people who are already medically compromised.
What I don’t understand is why did most people around the world believe without a second thought what they were told by the ‘authorities’? Why did almost no one take a minute to question the narrative? Why did we all the sudden go along with their orders to place ourselves under house arrest- when we’re HEALTHY?
Why do we go along with the propaganda that this disease is so very different than every other one that we’ve ever dealt with? Normally, when we have something catching going around, we isolate those people who are sick- NOT the healthy people! Why are we doing the opposite now? Oh yeah, cause supposedly we’re ALL sick. We just don’t know it
That’s another thing. When did we all the sudden decide that someone is sick when they don’t have any signs of any kind of sickness? Covid testing involves sticking a swab so far up your nose there is pretty much a zero change that anything they find up there is ever coming out on its own. Even then, they have to multiply that sample dozens of times to make it come out with enough of a virus to show up positive. Then again, those tests are notorious for being WRONG.
But, because of all this, we’ve allowed our leaders to force the entire world to shut down.
The “new normal”.
This is causing MUCH MORE death, destruction and long term human misery than ANY virus ever possibly could!
Personally, I want to travel again. FREELY. I want to be able to enjoy life again. I am furious that so many people feel like they are justified in causing all this misery. I see the world falling apart and my country destroyed, it will never recover if we don’t stop this theft of our freedoms NOW.
I am torn between doing all I can to fight, staying home and taking a huge chance of winding up in some sort of prison. Or giving up everything I’ve ever worked for, running away to some foreign land and hoping it will not turn into the same panic driven banana republic the US is fast becoming.
It seems I am one of the very few who believe life is for LIVING and not for barely surviving while shivering in fear over some tiny chance of dying. Why won’t people face up to the fact that people die. It happens. It is going to happen to all of us one day. None of us is ever guaranteed to live even one more day, ever. Why are we allowing them to change so much of our lives for the worse, over THIS particular threat?
And one more question: why do so few allow their fears (or even worse- other peoples fears) to rule their lives and place no value on freedom?
Who Knows
I’m asking everyone her, who knows of a place- anywhere in the world- that has not gone bonkers over the novel coronavirus? Does anybody have any suggestions where a person can go to live like normal? NOT the “new normal”, which is anything BUT normal! I want to go back to actually LIVING my life, not getting used to giving up everything that makes life actually worth living.
I want to be able to talk to people- up close, not from 6 feet away- to see their facial expressions and smiles. I want to be able to give and receive a hug or a handshake without people looking at me like I’m going to somehow murder them. I want to be able to enjoy traveling again, in comfort (or at least what passed for comfort in those tiny airline seats). I want to be able to visit a new place without having to plan every minute in advance since everything is so confounding with all the ridiculous covid rules. I want to see busy city streets full of people living their normal lives and lined with thriving small businesses of all sorts- open to everyone without restriction.
I can’t stand to see what’s going on around the world and especially in America. Once the “home of the brave and land of the free”. Sadly, the insane over reaction to this virus has completely demolished any real freedoms Americans had left.
When “our leaders” can put all of under house arrest. When they can arbitrarily decide who can and can’t go to work, who’s allowed go shopping (and what we can or can’t buy), who’s allowed to keep their business going, …
They have taken it on themselves to decide who can and can’t actually LIVE in this ‘brave new world’ they’ve shoved down our throats. I shouldn’t say it like that, since it seems so very few object to this new medical tyranny.
Most of the people I see when I go out anywhere seem to be completely OK with the ‘mandates’ coming down from above. No matter how stupid, senseless and ridiculous they are!
For example, the mask mandates… there is not one single scientifically rigorous study anywhere that shows that masks help prevent the spread of the flu (or covid). There are a whole lot of them that do show that masks are actually harmful! Yet, our leaders still insist we wear them and most people are happy to comply. WHY?
I want to know WHY we have all thrown out our common sense and submitted to these draconian measures for THIS particular disease? The experts, even the ones at the CDC and the WHO have admitted that masks are NOT the way to go! They have admitted that these mandates (masks, social distancing, lockdowns) are all MUCH MORE HARMFUL than the virus itself.
Why does no one care about all the other reasons people die every year? All the deaths from car accidents, plane crashes, cancer, obesity, tuberculosis, malaria, and all the other diseases have somehow lose all importance and we ONLY care about covid- WHY?
I admit, I am a conspiracy theorist. but when there is no apparent reason for something then I start looking for something that may be hidden a little bit. In this instance, it is blaringly obvious to me that all this is about nothing but CONTROL. PERIOD!
Why this disease and why now? Simple, because it is only now that “they” are able to exert so much control over us all. With the rise of the “surveillance state“, digital currency (or even credit cards), and social capital like in China, they have the technology in place to track, trace and eventually take complete control of EVERY aspect of our lives.
You think not? Read George Orwell’s “1984“, “Animal Farm”, and Huxley’s “Brave New World” think about it a while and then tell me they’re not being used as a road map for ‘our leaders’ to follow.
What’s Happening
So, I was able to find another job after only 2 months at home this time. This company called me out of the blue late Friday afternoon and asked if I could join the ship by Monday. Luckily, I have been keeping my sea bags packed and only had a couple of things I needed to take care of before I could leave.
I flew to New Orleans Monday evening, spent the night in a hotel and had my covid test the next morning before heading to the ship in Morgan City. It’s an old Tidewater OSV. This company bought it cheap and somehow managed to find work for it.
There are hundreds of these vessels laid up all over Louisiana. If I had a steady paycheck or a decent amount of money in the bank, I would be looking to buy one myself. Of course, I would first need to find a job for the boat and I’ve never been much of a salesman. Too bad, now is a time of fantastic opportunities if you have any way to hold on until things get better.
Boats, real estate, etc. I think any hard assets would be worth investing in right now. I’m very tempted to take what little savings I do have left and put it into real estate. Either another small rental locally or something overseas in a place I’d like to spend some time.
That’s a major issue. I can’t decide where to go. I’ve already been trying to move out of the US for a long time. I hate watching what’s happening here. I realize there’s really nothing I can do to change things. I LOVE what this country stands for and I believe in our founding principles 100%. I just can’t stand to see all that just thrown in the garbage. It’s extremely frustrating, depressing and makes me miserable if I think too much about it. I try to ignore it most of the time, but like when I have to fly and the TSA forces the loss of my freedom right up into my face, I just can’t ignore it any more and the whole flight is ruined.
I’m not a big Trump fan, but I have to admit he did do some good things for this country. I was hoping he would win the election (if Jo Jorgensen lost). Bidens plans will just flush us down the toilet even faster. I’d like to see some REAL FREEDOM in the USA, or anywhere in the world for that matter!
My best hope at this point is the Seastead ship. The “Santochi”. I’ve already emailed to ask for a job on there. I don’t see them looking for mariners (they must already have some), but I do see them looking for painters, plumbers, carpenters, etc. If I had any of those skills, I would definitely apply!
The prices for ‘apartments’ onboard seems pretty reasonable, even considering that they’re all up for bid so might come in quite a bit more than their starting price. The real issue is the monthly cost on top of the purchase price. You have to pay a fee, similar to a condo fee for maintenance (fuel, water, electric, etc) and that will add up quickly. Too expensive for me to afford, although IF it was actually going to be run as a libertarian community I would sacrifice a LOT in order to be part of it.
As I said, I would love to see at least ONE place somewhere in the world where people could live with some real, actual freedom. The USA used to offer that. Sadly, that is no longer the case. It hasn’t for a long time now. It’s just getting to be more and more obvious.
The covid panic has brought it all out into the open. We have become a corporatocracy- 100%! We have no real freedom any more. Our state governors have declared that none of us has any right to work, to travel, to shop for food or anything else, to go to church or to gather for any reason. They have made themselves the supreme arbiters of our lives. WHO gave them that power??? I most certainly did NOT! NONE of us did! They STOLE that power and they have NO legitimate authority!
President Trump did the right thing constitutionally by ‘allowing’ the state governors to decide how to handle it, but if I were him (especially knowing everyone hated him already), I would’ve declared that the USA was going to handle the “pandemic” in accordance with our foundational principles. That we would not shut down ANYTHING. That if anyone felt concerned about their ability to deal with a virus that had only a 0.0003% fatality rate and almost no one realized they had until they had a swab stuck up their nose almost to their brain and then replicated dozens of times in order to gather enough of the virus to show up on the (60%+ WRONG) test, they’d be welcome to stay home and quarantine themselves. Everyone else was going to go on LIVING their lives!
Any ship, airline, bus or business of any sort doing business in the USA in any fashion would be 100% immune from any legal action relating to covid-19. People could choose to do business or not according to their own risk tolerance but they would NOT be able to push off the responsibility for their choices onto anyone else!
Americans would uphold their traditions of the home of the brave and the land of the free and NOT the country full of paranoid whiny babies who can’t take any personal responsibility and run home terrified to mommy government over the slightest risk.
The world has gone completely nuts over this covid virus. It deserves it’s name covid-1984! The governments and media of the world are complicit in the worst crimes against humanity by their decisions to TERRORIZE everyone over this disease.
What I don’t understand is why have so many otherwise intelligent people fallen so completely for the SCAM? Why do we pay even one bit of attention to our leaders when they insist that we can’t let even one person die (from covid- when milliions die every day from all sorts of other things)? It’s so OBVIOUSLY NOT ABOUT OUR HEALTH OR SAFETY!
And yes, even tho some people have died from covid, it is still a scam! There is NO reason at all to shut down the world over this particular disease. Ebola-with a 80%+ fatality rate, people melting down into a bloody mess- yes- THAT would be a justifiable reason to shut down the world. THIS disease is NOT!
What Do You DO Out There?
I sometimes mention in my posts that I’ve been busy. I was thinking, maybe people might be interested to know what we’re so busy doing out here in the middle of nowhere. Well, at the moment I’m back to working as DPO. Dynamic Positioning Operator. On here they call my job ADPO (assistant). They have a DPO and ADPO. Other places the same jobs are labeled SDPO (senior DPO) and DPO. What we do is drive the ship.
Or not.
Seems like most of the time our job is to keep the ship in exactly the same spot. Especially on a drilling rig, which is where I’m at now. We’re working about 100 miles E of Guyana, a smallish country in the Northeast coast of South America.
I’ve never been to Guyana before and don’t really consider that I’ve been there yet. All I’ve seen of the country is the airport and what I could spot through the rain on an hour long van ride from there to the heliport. I doubt I will be able to see anything else on the way home either.
Here’s what a day on board here looks like for me…
My alarm rings at 0420. I wake up, stumble to the bathroom, brush my teeth and hair. Get dressed and then head to the bridge to collect the data I must report at the morning pre-tour meeting (work technically starts at 0600).
After I get the information I need, I head down to breakfast. I’m usually there from 0510-0525 and then have to hurry to get to the meeting at 0530. I can’t be late. I’m not the first person to report, but I am second. I report on the weather during the night, at the moment, and expected during the day ahead. I report on the vessel heading, the wind and current, the ‘drift off times’ for the drillers so they have an idea how quickly they’d have to disconnect if we had some kind of issue.
When the meeting breaks up, I catch the elevator to the bridge (around 0555) with a few others who work on the Nav deck (this is where most of the offices are on this ship). I meet my relief and go over what’s been happening overnight and then he’s free to leave and I take over the DP desk.
I go through the checklists, making sure all the reference systems are giving good data, the engines and thrusters aren’t working too hard, the ship is staying well within her heading and position limits. I’ll call the engine room and the drill floor to check our DP status alert lights (green, blue, yellow and red). If anything happens, we can flip a switch on the bridge and everyone will immediately be aware of an issue and take steps accordingly.
Once I’ve completed the checklists, I continue to monitor everything. I have cameras to see a lot of places on the ship. I usually watch the drill floor, the helideck if there are choppers expected, the boats working alongside, and the cranes to help me see if I need to ballast.
Sometimes, it’s really slow. Other times, the weather is changing or there’s a lot going on and it gets stressful. I’m always busy with answering the phone, making pages, standing lookout, communicating with other vessels, keeping up the log books, etc. We usually work an hour on the desk and then an hour off for our 12 hour long days.
The hour off the desk we take care of people with work permits, answer emails, keep our charts and publications up to date, work on any projects the captain gives us, etc. We get relieved for meals, a half hour. The food is pretty good. I wish I had more than a half hour to eat it. I can only really enjoy it at dinner time after I get off watch at 1800.
This is our routine every day for 28 days. Only Sunday is a little different because we almost always have drills. It’s a US Coast Guard requirement that we have fire and abandon ship drills at least every week. There are a bunch of others we have to have too: man overboard, rescue at heights, confined space rescue, oil spill response, ballast control, helicopter crash, dynamic positioning, H2S, security, search and rescue, etc.
Sundays at sea used to be a day of leisure. We only had to do the absolutely necessary work for the ship. It was also the day we could take it easy, do our laundry, relax and take it easy. Now, it’s the busiest day on board. We all have so many ‘safety’ items to take care of: lifeboats & FRC (fast rescue craft) for the mates, on the bridge we are doing our housekeeping checklist, cleaning the bridge, exercising the ballast valves, a more detailed GMDSS (radio) check, weekly chart/publication updates, check the beacon batteries, update reports, etc.
People see the DPOs on a rig sitting in a nice chair on the bridge and think we’ve got it easy. That that is all we do.
Not quite.
Catching Up
So, to catch up a little bit since I took that long break from writing anything on here, I’ll tell a little bit about what’s been going on in my world.
My last post before the break, I was just leaving for the Seven Pacific. I flew out to Moble, AL to join the ship, everything was still pretty normal. As the days passed by, the panic grew around the coronavirus spreading worldwide.
Seven Pacific
The TV in the mess hall was continually reporting every death and the resulting fear-induced over reactions. Lockdowns and government tyranny spreading almost everywhere. I remember hearing of Chinese government agents welding shut the doors of their people (tho who knows how much to believe of any news out of China).
I have always been skeptical of anything coming out of the TV and almost never take the news at face value. The constant terrorism set off alarm bells for me almost from day one. Nothing made sense. If this virus has been floating around the world since October (when it was first reported in China), then it should have already spread around the world by April.
I had been traveling a lot since October. I was in Chile, traveling by bus, taxi and plane, before and after my cruise to Antarctica (with quite a few Chinese tourists onboard). I had spent a few days wandering around Santiago, mingling with the huge crowds of protestors (notice how all those protests- Chile- Hong Kong- Paris- etc- ALL just suddenly stopped without even a whimper out of all those millions of rightly angry protesters). I had spent a couple of days at the casinos in Lake Charles. I had spent over a month on board two different vessels, each with over 100 crew from all over the world. Yet, neither I, nor anyone on board had any kind of symptoms.
Many of the crew were listening to the constant listing of deaths around the world and were becoming very concerned about their friends and families at home. Then came the lockdowns and travel restrictions. I was lucky to be able to get off the ship and go home. That was only because I was onboard as an extra hand and didn’t require a relief. I actually had a relief try to meet me on the ship. He flew to the states from Cyprus (which still allowed travel). He spent days flying half way across the world, only to be turned away at the heliport in Houma, LA and had to fly all the way back home! Then, to top it off, he had to go into quarantine when he got back over there!
None of the Filipinos were allowed to travel. Most of them on ships around the world still aren’t allowed to go home or return to work if they’re at home. Most of them have already been working 6 months and now are over by 6 months or more. How in the world can anyone justify keeping seafarers locked up onboard for so long?
Whatever, right? We all just need to get over it. Amazing, but that’s what so many people keep on telling us. Like it’s no big deal to be kept from seeing your friends and family for many months more than you had agreed to. Or that you must sacrifice everything you’ve worked for your entire life to help other people deal with their fears.
Anyway, I was very lucky to be able to get home, only a little over a week late. I can always use the money and all the things I wanted to do had already been shut down/canceled anyway. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if those poor Filipinos in the crew were still stuck onboard. The company didn’t seem very concerned about making crew change. Why would they be? It had to be saving them a fortune in air fares.
I had a good hitch on that ship. It was a beautiful vessel, with a good crew and an interesting job. We did a lot of underwater installation work that hitch. Laying down pipelines and jumpers. That sort of thing. I was home by the end of March. It was so weird, flying home with only 5 people on the plane- 3 of them from my ship. The airports at both ends were totally deserted. I felt like I was somewhere in the Twilight Zone.
I still feel like that. Or really, more like George Orwell’s 1984.
Too Long
It’s been a long time. I’ve debated just giving up and letting the blog go, but when the renewal notice came in recently I decided to keep it.
I haven’t been blogging because I haven’t felt like writing. I haven’t felt like doing much of anything at all. It’s been really, really hard for me to get motivated to do anything. If you’re been following me for any length of time, I’m sure you can guess why.
One reason I started this blog was to try to build an audience for my work. My writing, photography and art. Another was to ‘meet’ people online, from all around the world to have interesting conversations.
I haven’t had much success with the first goal, I’ve never made a dime from anything to do with my blog. I have kept on hoping to find a way to earn some income here, whether from directly selling a painting or photo to someone who sees something they like, or someone likes what I’m writing and gets in touch to see if I can do anything for them, or even figuring out how to put some relevant ads on here (instead of the ridiculous crap they’ve been putting up- I’m pretty sure no one here is really interested in those ads for skin creams or the diet pills that ‘really work’).
I’ve had much better luck with the second goal: to meet interesting people around the world and learn from each other about all kinds of things. I really was hoping for more back and forth discussion, but maybe a blog is not the right place for that? Facebook seems to get all of that sort of action.
I don’t want to scare off anybody, but I’ve decided that sometimes I do really want to just go at it on here. I want a place to express my thoughts and not have them censored. Facebook and Twitter are getting to be really bad about that sort of thing.
So. I hope if you’re still hanging in there, following me and looking forward to seeing whatever I may post, that you won’t get scared off by what I’m fixin’ to do.
I managed to get back offshore. I’ll write more about that soon. As usual, I don’t have a lot of time or internet access to be able to blog much from out here, but I will try to post more often than I have been lately (that shouldn’t be hard at all). 😉
Please comment and let me know what you’re up to and your thoughts on this. I’m really hoping to get back into the online community (I still miss the old wordpress).
Capt Jills Journeys 