the wait begins

Well, I made it back to the HQ without much fuss- I had a relatively empty flight, which is both rare and awesome. I sent off my license renewal package to the Coast Guard, so now I wait and see what happens.

     Last time I renewed my license, I had to hand-deliver it to the regional exam center, which was a good thing, as they discovered that my doctor had forgotten to list his medical license number, which would have caused my application to be rejected- while it made for a pain in the ass, the instant feedback was great, as I was able to drive to the doc's and back to the exam center on the same day. It made for a long day, but I got my papers in, anyhow, and a few months later, got my credentials back.

 So now most of this is done online. I'm pretty good with details and filling out forms, generally, so hopefully I did it OK. I'll find out in the days and weeks ahead, I suppose. I'm still not sure which is better, the old way or the new. The old way had its' drawbacks, but being able to talk to a live person last time saved my bacon, and, back in the day, when I first started sailing, I could do everything quickly- usually in the same day. I took the Able Seaman exam and turned in some endorsement certificates on the same day, and got them all added to my Z-card on the spot. These days that's a months-long process. We've certainly lost some efficiency there.

 Anyhow, I'm back on board, and I'll be working tonight, so I have time to sleep and to get on watch and on a watch rotation proper-like, with appropriate rest, and I already got moved back in, so it's time to go to work.