Sea Fever

in

I woke up early this morning - I threw on a 'house dress' and a hoodie - and I walked over to the mess deck to fill up my coffee mug.  While on my short walk I realized that I was missing waking up to spectacular sunrises - then I thought maybe you guys missed sunrises too!

There is always some point in my vacation when I think to myself - I could go back to sea today and it would be okay.  When I have this thought it always really bothers me because the day I got off the ship I was thinking, 'if I don't quit shipping out soon I won't have a soul because the industry will have sucked it dry'.  When I'm thinking these thoughts I know that it is overly dramatic - I also realize that I only had to do 90 days on and 90 days off....but instead I did 120 on 70 off 120 on 60 off and 135 on....meaning I'm 'over' shipping.

My 'little book of happiness' contains the poem Sea Fever by John Masefield.  It is a very well recognized poem and I'm sure you all know it....it starts out 'I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and sky'.  The poem is one of my favorites - I really love the second and third verses:

'I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; and all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, and the flung spray and the blown spume, and the seagulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life.  To the gulls way and the whales way where the winds like whetted knife; and all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow rover, and a quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long tricks over.'

John Masefield seemed to think he had a Sea Fever.  When I'm at sea and I want to go home it's called being homesick - if I'm at home wanting to go to sea does that mean I'm seasick?

Boots On The Bus

in ,

There is a girl sitting across from me on the bus talking on her cellphone about how she doesn't know who the father of her baby is. She's hoping that it is James (the approximate date of conception would most likely make it so) because they are going to buy a car together this weekend - she just can't stand taking the bus any longer - giirrll tell me about it!

Thank You.

in

Valentines Day.  It's my ultimate favorite.  As a general rule of thumb I love to wear pink - except today I am allowed to get totally decked out - no apologies necessary.  There are hearts everywhere - I love this because a heart is just about the only thing I know how to draw.  It's my Bestie's Birthday - which means that it is always a celebration.  Not that those three things alone aren't enough but, everyone is lovey-dovey and thoughtful...and I LOVE that! When I was in Intermediate School Valentines was a girls big day.  When I was in 7th grade (I think this is when I became my most neurotic) I made my Mom go to the grocery store on the way to school.   I made her buy me a cellophane wrapped rose and a balloon and, I made her deliver it to me at school on her lunch break (spoiled I know).  I went to the office to pick it up at recess and then told all my friends that I didn't know who it was from.

Segway to 27 year old Megan....Today I get a call that I'd received flowers.  NO WAY!  Of course I rush up on my next break - the secretaries (who I love) have a black box on their desk.  They're oohing and aahing and make me open it up then and there - I get it open and they are saying 'who's it from?!  who's it from?!' - and I honestly didn't know!  Of course they loved that even more.  In the box was a single red rose.  It was packaged beautifully with sheer gold and black fabric.  It had it's own vase in a sheer black gift bag.  It was just so beautiful!!!!

Seriously - this was so much better than 7th grade (besides the obvious fact that I didn't send them to myself)!!!  It made my day.  The rose is absolutely lovely.  I cleaned off my desk and put it next to my blogging station - because that is where I spend the most time.   So..Thank You...and, Happy Valentines to you too :)

The Titanic

in

This may sound strange but, when I'm in class I keep thinking about the Titanic.  I can't get this ship out of my head!  An idea will be presented - such as damage stability - I'll think about my own vessel and the equipment we have onboard - I'll create a plan in my head for the best and most effective response - and then I'll think 'why the hell didn't they do that on the Titanic'?! Let's talk about the Titanic.  The vessel hits an iceberg - okay, I get it...shit happens.  However, the Watch Officer goes full astern and then they shut down the ship - due to the nature of the engine once it was shut down it wasn't possible to immediately get back underway (they dumped all their steam and shut the boilers down).  I've been reading a bit online - there was a 12 foot gash in the hull.  The Captain goes below and sees a compartment with 4 feet of water in it.  They have shut all the watertight doors at this point.  The Engineers have used the emergency escape to leave the engine room - so now the engine room is unmanned.  The Naval Architect just happens to be onboard - he tells the Captain that there is no hope because the bulkheads don't fully meet the overhead.  I'm sure I don't need to explain this to you since everyone has seen the movie.

Think about that for a second - let it all sink in (heh heh).  Alright, now for the outburst:  WHY DIDN'T THEY PLUG THE HOLE?!  I mean, REALLY!  What were they thinking?!

There wasn't even one person on the vessel that looked around for something that they could shore up the bulkhead with?  Even if the 12 foot gash was unreachable how about trying to fill the void between the bulkhead and the overhead?  With the amount of available bodies they could have created teams so that all the voids were being filled and shored up simultaneously.  During that time period vessels routinely had a carpentry shop - I would hazard a guess that there was a fair amount of lumber to be found.  How about mattresses?!  Not only did the ships crew just accept their fate but so did hundreds of passengers!  There wasn't one person from the lower class cabins that had done carpentry in their lifetime?  All those hard working Irish immigrants didn't fight for survival?!  I also find it absolutely untenable that the Captain lets some office geek tell him that there is no hope for the vessel.  That's it?!  Someone with no experience at sea - no seamanship skills - is going to tell a Captain with 40 years of experience that there is nothing that can be done?!  I for one know that I would exhaust all means possible before resigning myself to my fate - in North Atlantic water!

You know what else - there were Merchant Vessels in the area!  Not only did they receive their Mayday transmissions but they saw their distress rocket flares.  There was more than one vessel that passed the Titanic while she was in distress - that just breaks my heart.

It all just seems so strange...

Saturday Morning

in

I love savoring a Saturday morning. I wake up early and get my coffee together (I make my orange goodness even when I'm on the go). I open my RSS feed and I peruse my favorite fashion and lifestyle blogs.

This morning I finished my coffee way too quickly - so I made a pot of Red Rose tea. (I think yesterdays post made me miss my Canadian Aunties - there is no such thing as a morning without Red Rose!)

I put my shells and yogi tea quotes on a saucer.

I made some valentines :)

Next on the list: spend some quality time writing...I have tons of ideas...bringing them to fruition is a whole other story!

How do you guys like to spend a Saturday Morning?