ahhh...

Nice to be back up north again. Cool weather, sunny... it's all good.
The ride up north was uncomplicated; exactly what I needed. I worked 4 hours of overtime every day, stood navigation watches at night, and slept when I wasn't working. Kinda dull, in all reality, but the unofficial motto of the US merchant marine is "Boring is Good," so I'm down with that, just now.

First off, a big shout out to my newest readers at the Pentagon! I’m flattered to be read in a place where people are doing things more important that driving a floating gas station.

Having said that, our floating gas station has just completed a voyage from Houston to New York, which was (finally!) my first opportunity to get to sea in something other than Hurricane Ike conditions. The ride across the Gulf of Mexico could be characterized thusly: sun, humid, calm=diaper rash. Not good times, sort of. It was nice to stand navigation watches where I wasn’t getting launched off my feet.

We encountered small gales when crossing Cape Hatteras, and I was sucking fabric halfway up my large intestine every time we took a roll for the first few hours. I guess I needed to see some seas to get my groove back, ‘cus I feel appropriately salty again… for the first hour there, despite the fact that we were barely rolling, I was contemplating the positives of growing corn for a living in one of the square states. Good to know I’m not a total pussy, anyhow. I calmed down. I think that I can finally put the chapter of my career that included Hurricane Ike behind me.

On the ride north, I’ve been working a lot of overtime, which leaves almost no time for the finer things, such as blog writing. Meal times have been my only time to relax. I’m making some pocket money, but it’s getting old, this being on the go from 0730 to 0000, with just an hour to nap in there after dinner. I’ll be glad in a way, to see us hit NY harbor, ‘cus I’ll have time for more critical practices: video games, reading and such.

Anyway, this is a boring entry: my muse was murdered after looking over my checking account when I first got into cell phone range.