World’s Smallest Political Quiz.
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Worlds Smallest Political Quiz
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Wishes
I wish everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I’m sure most people are happy to spend the holidays at home with their family. I consider myself lucky and very thankful to be back at work again.
This year I’m on the Seaward Explorer and we’re still in Hawaii! I really couldn’t ask for a better Christmas present. 🙂
How about you? Did you get your Christmas wishes?
A Night at The Big Easy: Blues and Good Company
I found my new favorite dive bar! The Big Easy. Too bad it’s in Houston and so far to drive. I can only really justify going if I have other reasons to be in Houston. Last week was a good example. I went to visit a friend and help with the annual Christmas gift boxes for the seafarers.
The Houston Pilots have been sponsoring this for the last few years and I always try to go. I bring little things I save through the year. They’ll get added to the boxes. We pack and wrap the boxes, snack on cheese and cookies, drink wine and catch up on news and gossip. This year I was late so not sure how many total, but over 400. As a seafarer, I know how much each one is appreciated. They really make a huge difference when someone is away from home for many months.
It was still pretty early and I wasn’t ready to go home yet. I don’t get up to Houston at night much anymore. I used to love to go up Friday night to catch a show, then spend the night in Houston. I’d explore more Saturday (after brunch) at the zoo or a museum. I haven’t done that in years- mostly due to fu*ked up schedule/finances since covid policies have kept me from working.
Last time I was in Houston at night, I was at the Big Easy. I was there for a meetup. I probably never would have found it otherwise. I had a great time listening to the music. The place was pretty laid back, people were friendly. Not a huge crowd, but people of all shapes, sizes and colors. I felt comfortable there. It was my kind of place with pool tables in the back (I really ought to start playing again). And not so loud back there that you had to scream at each other to talk.
So I figured I’d go check it out again. I was definitely not disappointed. Wednesday nights are for Blues at the Big Easy and this night was a Blues Jam. I was super impressed. People would just come and go. They’d sign up to play if they wanted to. They had a drum set and keyboards set up already but people brought their own guitars, etc. Everyone who signed up got a chance to join in.
You had to go outside to smoke. But that was OK, since it was a nice opportunity to meet more people and have a decent conversation. I met a couple of the musicians out there- Andre and Victoria. She told me she has a band- Victoria’s Secret. I’ve been trying to find out more about it but haven’t been able to yet.
I would have expected some to be not very good. It was a “jam”, not a band. So people weren’t used to playing together. I couldn’t really tell. Everyone I saw was really, really good. I’m not a dancer. But sometimes even I wanted to get out there with this one lady who was out there be-boppin’ around. I’m not a very emotional person, but some of those players brought me to tears. They were THAT good!
https://youtu.be/_Z5B2XYAK9w
If you’re in or around Houston, I highly recommend it. I love good music. Pretty much all kinds: Classical, rock, reggae, zydeco, country, jazz and blues… I’m always listening to something. Singing along to a CD or KPFT on the radio. I used to really enjoy playing piano when I was young. I haven’t kept up with any of that, even tho I talked my friend into giving me saxophone lessons. I keep saying I’m going to practice, but then something else comes up. You’d think with so much time “off work” (6 weeks off/6 weeks on lately), I’d be able to find time. 😦
I’m posting a couple of videos I took on my phone that night (I didn’t have my camera). The quality is pretty bad, I was sitting at the bar and moving around a lot. I thought I was holding the phone pretty steady. The videos don’t really do it justice, but hopefully you get the idea.
This Wednesday they’ve scheduled the Houston Blues Society Blues Jam. I’m planning to be there. I tried to get some friends to go up with me last week but I wasn’t feeling good and one friend has become a total homebody. 😦
I don’t know why I can’t upload some of the videos. I can’t get them to post here as videos, best I can do is share the links from youtube. I did have a youtube channel where I posted a few videos from travel, etc. For some reason I can’t do anything with that one anymore. I tried to help my friend post a video of his guitar picks. Since then I can’t get on my own channel. The video I made for him isn’t there anymore either. 😦
New Music Challenge: Discover Fiona Apple’s ‘Pale September’
I found a new blog challenge today. I thought I’d try it out. I found it through Pensitivity101 which I’ve been following for a while. She always has interesting posts and shares lots of great challenges. This one was linked to GLYN40WILTON which was new to me. Looks like she posts a lot of good music videos with lyrics. I was up for finding new music and thought this one was a good fit for this challenge.
This is a song by Fiona Apple. I’ve never really followed her.I recognized the name Fiona Apple but couldn’t place it. I had to Google it. Then look for some of her music. After listening to this video, I wanted to check out some others. I really like her voice. I really love the piano too. I’m a sucker for good piano music. I’ll probably wind up buying some of her music now.
I have hundreds of albums at home. Some I’ve managed to save from when I first moved to Texas back in 1978. I’m almost as bad with music as I am with books. I am a major hoarder of books, cassettes, CDs, albums, etc. I like everything from classical to electronica. Only kinds of music I can really do without are heavy metal, rap, and opera. Probably because I like the stories in the songs. I can’t understand what they’re saying in those genres.
The lyrics in this one are a little confusing to me. I’m not exactly sure what she’s singing about but at least I can make out what she’s saying. I noticed what some people were commenting under the youtube video. Then I had to Google that too. Here’s what AI has to say about it…
Fiona Apple’s “Pale September” describes the emotional transformation brought on by new love, moving from a past state of emotional coldness and vulnerability to warmth and openness, symbolized by changing seasons and shedding armor. The song portrays a shift from isolation to a shared connection, even tenderly singing to the new lover, and represents love’s power to heal and transform past emotional hardship into vulnerability and connection.
Key Themes
- Emotional Transformation: The song illustrates a significant personal shift from a state of emotional coldness to one of vulnerability and warmth, a journey sparked by new love.
- Seasonal Imagery: The metaphor of seasons changing from winter to warmer times symbolizes the end of a period of emotional barrenness and the beginning of new growth and warmth.
- Love as a Catalyst: A new love interest is the catalyst for this transformation, inspiring the narrator to shed emotional “armor” and embrace vulnerability and love.
- Vulnerability and Openness: The song captures a shift from a guarded, emotionally closed-off state to a place of openness and tenderness, as evidenced by the narrator’s soft, lullaby-like vocals to her new love.
I hope you enjoy the music. Let me know! And please pass on any others you like.
Grafton: A Hidden Ghost Town Gem in Utah
I meant to write more about my road trip last fall before this. It’s been a year already. Wow! I’m back in Honolulu on the Seaward Explorer. I’m due to get off about the same time as I did last year. I’m too broke for another road trip when I get off this time, so just have to reminisce.
I love to fly in to Las Vegas. It’s a great starting point for so many cool adventures. Flights are cheap, so are hotels and food. I’m not much of a gambler. If I can, I’ll find a nickel machine and play video poker with $20 til it runs out. Sometimes I get bored before I lose it all. I enjoy talking to people from all over the world there. I also like to see a show while I’m in town. I’ll usually stay a couple of days in the city, then rent a car and take off exploring.
One trip I drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then up to Kanab and on to Bryce Canyon and back around to Zion National Park. Last time I went through the Valley of Fire State Park, then through Zion to Cedar Breaks National Monument, Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument and Kodachrome State Park. I was trying for Capital Reef National Park this trip. I figured I wouldn’t have enough time to see much of it so turned back. I made it all the way out Hwy 12 to Devils Garden. A pretty far out place with some cool rock formations. It was a beautiful drive over a washboard dirt road to get there.
I stopped at lots of places with gorgeous scenery and interesting history. All of those parks were just stunningly beautiful. Towns had lots of history and interesting stories. One such place was the ghost town of Grafton, UT.
Grafton was settled by 5 Mormon families in 1859. The Mormons had spread out all over Western Utah in the late 1800’s to farm and settle on the land. In Grafton, the main crop was cotton and they were doing pretty good with that for the first few years. But then they suffered through years of disasters: floods, diseases, and accidents. Relations with the Indians deteriorated. After a couple decades of this, most people moved out of Grafton and by 1906 it was abandoned.
Now Grafton is a fine example of a ghost town. It’s “a famous backdrop for movies, including “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” It really gives you a sense of the isolation, hard times and history of the place. I spent a pleasant 2 hours wandering through the vacant buildings and the nearby cemetery. I had a hard time finding the turnoff. Once I did it was easy to follow the signs to the town. If you like this sort of thing and you’re in the area it’s worth a quick detour.
Three Things Challenge: Clump, Clamp, Class
I’m trying to spend more time on WordPress and checking in with some of the bloggers I follow. I haven’t really been keeping up with it at all lately. Just too many other things on my mind. Now that I’m back at work, somehow it seems I have more time. Or maybe it’s just less stress that allows me to do more creative stuff?
I’m joining in the Three Things Challenge. The three things this week are:
Clump
Clamp
Class
I hope some of you will also check out the links and take a look to see what others have contributed this week.
PS: that was not my class with me in the last photo, but it was a class trip. They were learning about some of their history at the Prambanan site. They immediately spotted me as a foreigner and wanted to practice their English lessons. I was happy to oblige. I had flown over to Java from Bali to visit there and Borobudur. Both of which are well worth a visit!
Exploring Oahu: My Visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center
Last summer I joined the Point Nemo again. I got on the ship in Honolulu and I was so lucky to get off there too. We completed our project over a month at sea maintaining the NOAA weather buoys in that section of the ocean. It was such a nice change to work somewhere other than the Gulf of Mexico (now called Gulf of America). I am really, really tired of sailing out of Port Fourchon!
One of the main reasons I chose to spend my life working at sea was the chance to travel. The opportunity to sail around the world. To see the sights. To learn about different people, places and things- and get paid for it! Plus plenty of time off and a decent paycheck to enjoy it all.
I didn’t really have time to see much of Hawaii, but what little I did see was just stunning. We docked in Honolulu and I rented a car for crew change. I really only had about a day and a half. Not nearly enough time to spend there, but I was super excited to see and do everything I could.
I decided to check out the Polynesian Cultural Center. It’s in Laie, way up North on the East side of Oahu. I wanted to scope out the beaches, at least get my feet wet in that beautiful blue water. I headed East on the Kalanianalole highway (hwy 72). I love those Hawaiian names ;-). Maunalua Bay Beach Park was my 1st photo stop. From there, I followed the coastline around the island. Every few minutes I couldn’t help commenting to myself on the absolutely gorgeous scenery I was passing by.
I stopped at Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, Lana’i Lookout, Sandy Beach, Kaloko Beach, Makapu’u Point Lighthouse, and just about every other beach or viewpoint along the way. It should only take about 2 hours to drive from Waikiki. If you just drive and don’t stop every few miles like I did.
I got to the Cultural Center around 1000. They have a huge parking lot, so it didn’t seem very crowded. During the buffet lunch, there was a crowd and it seemed a bit rushed. When I left to get dessert, they cleared my table. 😦 The food was good and there was a huge variety. They had 2 soups and 4-5 fresh baked breads. Green salads, slaw, potato salad, carrot salad, fruit salad and tons of different fruits. Baked ham and roast beef, BBQ and baked chicken, fried and baked fish. Fried and baked potatoes, green beans, broccoli, and more. Once I finished lunch, I was directed toward the little lagoon where they were putting on a welcoming show. The crowds were even more obvious there.
The weather was warm and sunny as we all sat on a low set of bleachers surrounding the ‘lagoon’. Soon we heard drums and music as barges made their way along the waterway. Filled with locals dressed in traditional dress, they welcomed us all to the island. There were crews from many of the different Polynesian cultures showing off examples of their native dress, dance, and music.
After the big welcoming event, we were free to wander the grounds. The crowds dispersed and were much less noticeable the rest of the day. Each area was dedicated to a different island group: Hawaii, Tonga, Fiji, Tahiti, Samoa and New Zealand (Maori). Each ‘village’ showcased different aspects of their traditional culture.
There were demonstrations and lessons on cooking, dances, music, games, arts like weaving cloths and baskets. The locals working there seemed to really enjoy telling stories and teaching us about their culture. I always love to watch people dancing and they put on a really good show. Each village had their own style. There were a lot of similarities, but differences too. I got a kick out of watching the guys climb the coconut trees to throw down a few. I liked tasting the different foods and learning about how they managed to find it in the first place and then to prepare it. I mean who was the first guy to figure out how to make poi? I especially liked learning about the way they used to navigate using the stars, currents, winds, and other natural phenomena.
At night they put on a big production. A sort of mythical story with dozens of performers involved and afterward we could take pictures with the cast. A story with friends, family, lovers, trials and tribulations, celebrations and songs. With everyone in costume, the dancers and acrobats really put on a fantastic show. The ‘fire-throwers’ were the ‘highlight’ for me. pun intended 😉
If you’re on Oahu, I highly recommend spending a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. There’s so much to see and do. I wouldn’t mind going back again.
Top Highlights from My Road Trip to Zion and Bryce Canyon
October 26-28 2024- International Living put on the Ultimate Go Overseas Bootcamp in Las Vegas and I was there. As usual, it was extremely informative. Full of fellow readers hopeful of a future living and traveling outside the USA.
Three full days spent learning more about the many appealing options to choose from. The event left me excited and ready to get moving. A road trip seemed like a great idea.
I couldn’t find a map anywhere. I finally broke down and bought a smart phone to better plan my drive. It’ sad how dependent we’ve become on this technology, to the point that there are no other options. Anyway, after that detour, I left Last Vegas. Heading East on I-15 to the Valley of Fire State Park.
An easy 45 miles from Las Vegas on the freeway, Valley of Fire is Nevada’s oldest state park. Officially created in 1935, the park covers 40,000 acres. Day use fees are $15 for out of state cars (only $10 for NV). Known for it’s colorful red/orange Aztec sandstone, the park contains petroglyphs dating back 2000 years. There are many hiking trails, but most are closed in summer due to the dangers of heat stress.
The visitor center (open 9-4) is about halfway along the drive through the park. It’s a good place to stop for restrooms and trail information. Exhibits educate about the history, ecology and geology of the area. There’s a much appreciated cold water fountain outside.
Continuing East on I-15 into Utah, I decided to stop for the night in St George. Plenty of hotels and restaurants made it an easy choice to stop before another long day exploring.
I’ve always been fascinated by old stuff and abandoned places, so I’ll check out any ghost towns around. Grafton was settled by Mormon farmers in 1859. But constant flooding and Indian attacks eventually forced even those hardy pioneers to give up. The last residents deserted the town in 1944. It’s still popular with tourists and known as “the most photographed ghost town in the West”. Grafton is only a few miles from the entrance to Zion. I spent a couple of hours wandering around, checking out the buildings that were open for entry. I got lots of good photos of the town and surrounding scenery.
I spent 2 days exploring the awe-inspiring area in and around Zion National Park. This trip I got the senior lifetime pass. It’s really a sweet deal. For $80, you get access to all the National Parks and most federal lands (BLM, Forest Service, etc) for life.
The parking situation in the main section of the park sucks! You’re no longer allowed to take the scenic drive during “the season” (it’s only allowed in winter). Luckily, I was able to find a spot near the visitor center. Otherwise, paid parking is spread out all over the nearby town of Springdale, with shuttle access to the park. The visitor center was busy but I picked up some trail info and recommendations for my short visit. The free shuttle comes every few minutes and stops at many of the trail heads.
The weather was perfect- high 70’s, light breezes, sun shining. I hiked a bit of the Court of the Patriarchs trail, the Grotto, the Riverside Walk near the Narrows and Emerald Pools trails. I wish I could’ve stayed at the Zion Lodge. Built of stone and wood, it brought back memories of traveling with my grandmother staying at similar park buildings. I took a look around the interior and ate a snack from the cafe outside in the beer garden.
There is so much to see and do in this part of the country! Las Vegas, Valley of Fire, ghost towns, Zion National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Great Basin National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument, Capital Reef National Park, Kodachrome State Park, petrified forests- and so much more. I wanted to do it all, but with limited time I had to choose. I decided to head over to Bryce Canyon National Park.
I backtracked to visit the lesser known Kolob Canyon section of Zion and stopped to see Cedar Breaks National Monument to the North. I was starting to worry about the weather since it was getting cold that high up in the mountains. It started snowing and I was only prepared for the heat in Las Vegas.
Coming back down from Cedar Breaks, it warmed back up again and Bryce Canyon was absolutely stunning. I stayed a couple of nights at Ruby’s in Bryce Canyon City, just a few minutes drive into the park. Very convenient and the buffet was a great deal. I didn’t do any hiking in Bryce, just a few easy walks around the viewpoints. I’m not good with steep, strenuous trails and most looked like they’d be that kind. If I had more time and been better prepared I would try to do more. I still got a bunch of fabulous photos.
That night I went on a Dark Ranger Telescope Tour. Only a few miles from Ruby’s, the sky was dark enough to see the stars. It’s been too long since I’ve seen the magnificent Milky Way in all it’s glory. That was one of the reasons I chose my profession. Sailing across the ocean, standing watch at night, with no lights to wash out the starry sky. A truly awesome sight. I could see it again here.
The Rangers put on a good show. First a little video to give us all a little background before we got time on the telescopes. We saw and heard about the moon, stars, constellations, galaxies, novas, satellites, and more. Different telescopes aimed various directions and brought clarity to those distant objects. It was well worth it.
This post is getting too long, I think I’ll have to cut it in pieces. Check back for the rest of the story and more photos…
Being a Landlord
I haven’t been keeping up with this blog as well as I’d like. I’ve been off work since late October. I should have been writing more often. I’ve been busy with all kinds of things. Some interesting, most not so much.
We got hit pretty hard by Hurricane Beryl last July. It really wasn’t a very strong hurricane, but it did a lot of damage around my area. My town is a “tree city” USA and pretty proud of it’s beautiful old oak trees. Beryl took out a huge number of them this year. I’m not sure why so many this time. The wind was much less than the last few storms we’ve had. Those trees did a lot of damage when they came down. Lots of power lines down, lots of roofs damaged. My neighbor had a tree take out half the house. I guess the insurance company figured a total loss since the house was completely removed. Even the foundation is gone now. A friend had a tree take out his garage and his 2 classic cars that were in there.
I was lucky that nothing major happened to my house, but instead Beryl caused chaos with my rentals. I have a total of 14 rental units- 13 had damage. Five had major damage. I have windstorm insurance which is supposed to cover this sort of thing. I guess I’m better off than the people in California.
Those poor people had their insurance canceled right before the latest fires burned down their homes. I wasn’t canceled. They still want to collect their payments. I only bothered to file claims on 2 properties. I didn’t figure the repair costs would reach the deductibles on the others.
I filed on those 2 properties. The insurance company completely denied everything on one building. It’s a 4-plex apartment building. It had roof leaks in 3 different places and the ceiling fell through in 2 of those places. They said it wasn’t due to the storm. WTF??? What else would it be? Ceilings just decided to fall down one day for no reason at all? It just happened to be the same day of a hurricane?
I also filed on a small house.They decided to cover the carport and part of the roof where a tree fell through it. But not the water damage to the bedroom where a window blew out and ruined the walls, carpet and floors?
I don’t think I’ll bother to renew either windstorm or flood insurance after this.
So, I’ve been super busy working on all those damaged properties trying to get them in shape again. Almost all of my tenants moved out, either right before or soon after the storm. Out of those 14 units, I’ve only had 4 rented since August. It’s been killing me, trying to find the money to fix things.
At this point, I’ve managed to get 5 units ready to rent. One of those got snapped up only a day after I posted it as available. I don’t know why, but nobody is even calling about the other 4. I had another one almost ready to go. It was one where the ceiling fell in because of a roof leak. Everything was done waiting on a roofer to fix the leak. It was a spot just about 2 ft square.
For some reason I can’t figure out, the roofers decided to take off the entire roof. So then the ceiling came down in the entire kitchen and half the living room! Drywall and pink insulation everywhere! It’s finally stopped leaking (I think) and so now we can start over and repair the drywall again.
I have another unit almost ready. We’ve just been working on trying to figure out the rats nest of water lines running through the building. I want to have all the old ones removed and only the ones that work properly left. It’s taking a while to sort it out but I think we’ve finally got that problem solved.
All I’m hoping for now is to find some decent tenants. It would be great to find some that would actually pay the rent. Maybe even not completely trash the property?
I don’t know if I’d still have bought rental property if I’d known then what I know now. I never thought it would be this much trouble. I had hoped to just do basic maintenance. Little by little upgrade as people moved out, but it hasn’t worked out that way at all. If every landlord has issues like I’ve had I don’t know how land-lording could ever be a thing for as long as it has. I guess I must just be super unlucky.
How Orange Challenge- Weekly Prompts
I’ve been trying to get back into blogging more often. When I get a bit of time to do that I usually go online and look around at other blogs. Today I found this challenge: Weekly Prompts Color Challenge- Mainly Orange.
So, to join in I looked through some of my photo collection and found a few to fit. I tried to find some different ones, things you wouldn’t usually expect. Like an orange, or a pumpkin (though I did just have to throw that one in). 🙂
I didn’t realize how many different shades of orange there are in all the common things we see. I’d be interested in seeing how many others you can come up with. 🙂
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.
Capt Jills Journeys 