optimistic

I've got to say, the folks I've been speaking with in my presumptive new community in S. Florida have been fantastic. School staff, the manager at the gated community where I'm looking (no space to stretch out in, but armed guards for the fam whilst I'm at work=one less worry), real estate folks, they all seem super nice.

 Contrast that with a few days ago, when the dockman at a tank farm in Bayonne NJ says "What the fuck's good about it?" when I wished him good morning.

Ah well. Here's some giggle-worthy stuff to look at.

this may be the greatest photo ever.

the zombie bandwagon

Why, oh why, in the name of the seven mad gods of the sea, did I request to work 10 weeks in a row? It's not like I was asked to work extra. I CALLED THEM.

 OK, the money's nice. I swear I can hear my hair falling out, though, every time I get out of bed at eff-this-thirty for watch. And then the damn shit tank went and took a dump, too, spilling unspeakable awfulness into our after rake, the underdeck dry goods storage compartment here at HAWSEPIPER's Afloat Global HQ/Centers Of Unspeakable Smells.

 Well, strapping on a respirator and vacuuming out that compartment with a 200 foot long hose at an industrial facility made things easier. Could have been a LOT worse. Could have had to get in there with a wet-dry vac, right?


 After being here too long, little stuff gets blown out of proportion. I slightly overcooked a frozen pizza the other night, and almost had a meltdown. I felt embarassed at my own level of butthurt.

 I need a few weeks to decompress... and that time is almost here. 7 weeks down, slightly less than 3 to go!

 But, yeah, I can totally still smell that funk from the other night. Turning a 50x20x20 foot compartment into a giant diaper pail, and then hanging out in it for a couple of hours is going to mess with anyone's head, I guess.

damn!

Weekend cargo looks pretty light. I've got 500 tons of oil to pass along to a ship tomorrow, but then some dingus in the office went and fixed a cargo for us on Monday. I had to be here for last fucking Thanksgiving. I had to be there for Christmas. I'm going to miss my kid's birthday, and mine, and now I have to miss Irish Christmas too.

 Dammit.

no more adventure for a bit, thank you.

Well, I would have rather have just gone home, but when I decided to work an extra 2 weeks to pay for the impending move, I got to do some different stuff. I got to go on the icebreaking run up the Hudson to deliver home heating oil to the folks of the Pocanos, then I got to work the early prototype for our new design oil barges currently under construction (having done so, I appreciate the older-type vessels like HAWSEPIPER's Afloat Global HQ. Better and more homey quarters for yours truly.

 Anyhow, I'm back Home aboard the HQ, here for the next month before I can actually go home-home. Loaded up on grub, got a good nights' sleep and we're ready to go move some stinky-ass black oil so you, Dear Reader, can have your plastic lawn furniture, IPhones and fresh vegetables delivered to our shores.

 Oh, I also had to go ashore in Brooklyn yesterday, so I got a haircut from a muslim from Kazakhstan Call me what you will, but when he held up the straight razor and asked me if I wanted a shave, I felt like the cow must feel when hoofs hit floor at the abattoir. Kid looked like he was about 12, and was as ernest as could be, but I puckered up so hard that I could taste the fabric of the leather chair I was sitting on. Shame on me, I suppose.

soon come

after 2 weeks away, I'm back on board my own particular floating pickle barrel, and happy to be back at the HQ. Expect awesomeness, after I get caught up on sleep

Rejoice, my brothers! Brazil's Carnival 2014 (semi NSFW)

Here's something:  Today marks the last day of Ordinary Time, also known as Fat Tuesday. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, when Catholics like moi enter the season of fasting and abstinence prior to Easter. (Well, fasting. I'm on a floating pickle barrel of a boat. Wine and women are verboten, so abstinence is a given).

 Lent sucks. It really does. You gotta give up something you enjoy for 40 days, and there are dietary restrictions, as well, if you're healthy and able-bodied.

 BUT... fear not. Just as Inappropriately Hot Foreign Wife enriched my wife and brought joy into my life by introducing me to a whole new culture and way of life. so too, I am sharing this joy with you... wait for it...

Brazil's 2014 Carnival season wraps up today. Check back here often and oftener for pictures. Even though you and I couldn't be there this year, we have God's gift to men, the Web, for some second-hand ogling of Brazil's celebration. Stay tuned.

For some reason, a whole lot of Germans went to Brazil on Vacation in 1942 and never came home.

Brazil is an example of Hybrid Vigor, the optimization of gene lines that comes from mixing ethnic groups.

A masculine-dominant culture, you might notice the difference in idealized female body forms compared to the US.

The bunda is a matter of great concern and discussion

Any place where paint is a reasonable substitute for clothes is OK in my book.

Body paint IS an art form, as you can see here.

This lady is about your mom's age. Dem's some fine genetics!

God bless the Brazilian Wax, from whom all good things flow. 

Ice is not nice (part 4 of the trilogy)

 On our way up north. Cutting through rime ice sounds much like standing directly behind a jet engine.

Sleep deprived.

Tug Red Hook. Our Charioteer.

*Insert Led Zeppelin Intro Here*