I'm mentally unstable...

in

This post contains swearing....because there is no way you can talk about ships stability without swearing.... I woke up with a pounding headache this morning.  I really don't give two shits about the superbowl but, an excuse to drink is always welcome.  Thank god I woke up at 2 in the morning and decided I couldn't go back to bed without consuming handfuls of honey nut cheerios - I think this is the only thing that saved me and made me somewhat presentable this morning.  I wore an extra cute outfit (because that's what you do when you feel disgusting) and shuffled to the mess deck for some coffee - I also took 2 tylenol 500s (I wasn't sure if that was a good idea but I figured it probably wouldn't kill me...I'll have to look up the correct dose on webmd).

I plopped myself down in the classroom and within 15 minutes of class the instructor was diving into trigonometry and differential equations - I looked at the guy sitting next to me and said 'you've got to be shittin' me'!!!  Have you ever taken the dog for a walk and when you are two blocks from home the dog decides to sit down?  So then you are in the middle of the road and it looks like you abuse your pets because you're pulling as hard as you can on the leash and the collar is coming up around their ears.....please tell me someone else has had this experience at least once.  Okay, well, pretend my brain is that lazy assed dog.  I just couldn't get it to move!!!!

The instructor started drawing sin curves - and then he started talking about radians - and then he started drawing radian lines on the sin curve - WHAT THE FUCK.  Then he started going on about how you could use rads instead of degrees - why would you do that when you could just use degrees?! He's up at the front of the classroom drawing and scratching and gesticulating towards the white board - he finally turns around and looks at us looking at him and says, 'I'm looking at a bunch of stunned turtles'.  Talking about adding insult to injury!  Now I'm a hungover stunned turtle who's brain won't budge!

Here's the real kicker - we were assigned homework!  No shit.  HOMEWORK!  There were three problems.  I was sitting in the classroom until 8 pm!  The last problem took me an hour and 15 minutes.  That is just not right!

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disclaimer:  our instructor is actually very good...by the end of the day I was getting back in the swing of things...my plan is to actually write a post about ships stability (sometime soon) - especially since I've vented and feel much better :)

Word Junkie

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In yesterdays link love I shared a posting from Shutter Sisters where the author described herself as a 'word junkie'.  I had an aha! moment.  That's what I am!  I'm a word junkie! One of my best friends and I took a trip together to Paris - she taught me hands down my best travel secret.  She had a little pouch full of tiny art supplies....it didn't take much room and she kept it in her purse with her Moleskine.  As we tooled about the city she would find cool things and cut them up tape them up and glue them up into her journal - and then she'd write a bit about them.  I copy just about everything this chick does because I find her ridiculously cool.  So now I have my own pouch (I've upgraded a few times over the years but have settled on a velvet pouch made by MOTH that I bought on my first solo trip - to New Zealand....sigh...I love it there - I love this pouches mermaid colors).  I keep mini colored pencils, an uhu stick, mini scissors, a chop for stamping letters that I got in Singapore, tape and a bunch of other crap.  I keep it with my Little Book of Happiness and my journal.

Since I'm going to be here in Florida for so long of I've modified my system.  I went out and got some really cheap cork board squares and push pins.  As I cut things out of magazines (just random words that I like, photos that catch my eye, etc. I pin them to the boards around my 'dressing table'.  This way I read my words and see my colors every morning before I head to class.

When I switch words out I place the old words into a manila folder.  The magazine scraps eventually get used for collages or if I really love the words then they get taped into either my Little Book of Happiness or my Journal.  I have two manila folders - one is colorful and contains my schedule...sometimes I tape words onto my calendar if I think they will help motivate me - the other one is black and white....this folder is strictly for magazine snippets.

So there you have it.  I'm a word junkie - but hey, at least I have a system!

Friday = Link Love

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Admittedly today's link love is mostly for the ladies - I've been reading a lot of style and fashion blogs...and I've also been reading a lot of blogs written by kickass girls... If I was funny this is the kind of funny I'd want to be:  CAFFEINATE ME

If I was going to describe all my besties in three words they would be:  Smart Pretty and Awkward

I've always wanted to host a beautiful tea party with fancy teacups and cupcakes - plus she posts lots of pictures of flowers....I love flowers....

If I was getting paid to take photos these are the kinds of photos I'd like to take - today's sunshine photos made me sigh - check out 6 petals for great design ideas.

Just a friendly reminder that we are responsible for our decisions.....

I wore a pair of red sandals with a heel this week...I had to remind myself how to walk in heels.....

I swear I've never heard of the color 'honeysuckle' - apparently it's the color of the year!

I love words....one of my favorite things to do is snip words out of magazines and tape them to things...taking photos of the things I've taped words to is a really good idea!!!

Enjoy!  *and feel free to give me feedback - you likey?*

Marine Propulsion :: Food For Thought

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This will be my final post that contain the words Marine Propulsion (I promise).  Since I've been sitting in class listening to a lot about marine propulsion - as well as all the auxiliary systems required to keep the ship moving, lit and livable - it has made me realize that how truly impressive it is. By impressive I mean several things:  a) how far technology has come in a relatively short amount of time - by that I mean the level of automation and b) although, automation has changed the name of the game the principal concepts of things like heat transfer, combustion and propulsion were being pondered by greats like Da Vinci.

I'm also impressed by the sheer magnitude of some of the vessels that are plying the worlds oceans.  To illustrate exactly what I mean by 'sheer magnitude' let me tell you about the Emma Maersk.  This is the largest container ship every made.  I'm going to compare her to my own ship so that you can see how she dwarfs a product tanker (to keep thinks on the down low I'm going to name my ship Mi Barco).

The Emma Maersk is 1300 ft long - Mi Barco is 602 ft.

The Emma Maersk is 207 ft wide - Mi Barco is 108 ft wide.

The Emma Maersk can do 25 knots - Mi Barco seldom does better than 12-13 knots.

The Emma Maersk is 170,974 gross tons - Mi Barco is 28,500 gross tons.

The Emma Maersk has a 109,000 horse power engine - Mi Barco has an 18,500 horse power engine!

The Emma Maersk can carry almost 15,000 containers!

The Emma Maersk has a Dead Weight Tonnage of 156,907 - Mi Barco is 47,100 DWT.

Here is when things get crazy - this goes back to the technology and automation thing - The Emma Maersk has a crew of 13 and Mi Barco has a crew of 20!!!!

Googling Emma Maersk will provide you a plethora of photos and articles but for information on her engine this is hands down the best site.

photo source

M.L.I.S.W - Marine Propulsion Style

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I know I've told all of you that I'm taking a class called Marine Propulsion Plants...and I may have insinuated that the subject matter isn't what every Deck Officer dreams about studying.  What I haven't told you is that a really good buddy of mine from Maine is in class with me.  This is very exciting because I haven't seen him since graduation - I also have to say that he is a pretty goofy guy (I'm going to call him Stewie).  By this afternoon I wanted to tear my hair out!!  Hydraulic accumulators, steam condensers, positive and non-positive displacement pumps, air receivers - blah, blah, blah.  (Warning this My Life Is So Weird moment contains swearing) So my friend sidles up to me when we get back to class after a break....

Stewie:  Fuck all this shit.  Let's go rob a bank.

(I just stare at him)

Stewie:  We could stop talking about pumps and hydraulics and just go live in a Hawaiian hidey-hole.

(I'm still staring at him....)

Stewie:  No Seriously!  I've been thinking about this! I've been planning this for a really long time and I think the best way is to go under ground....we could dig a tunnel.  (I'm still staring).  No Really.  I've seen A LOT of shows about this!

Me:  I think class is going to start...maybe you should sit down...