I always get up and walk around the ship once or twice
before I go into the office. I do this
for several reasons. The most important
being that my hair is usually sopping wet in the morning so walking outside in
the heat dries it a little before I go sit in my freezing office. I also check the bridge to make sure that we
are still connected to the platform, meaning I don’t have to get on a boat
first thing in the morning (also, very important). It’s usually really quiet, and there is something
incredibly peaceful about being in the middle of the ocean before sunrise. So I’ve come to love my morning routine, even
though I start off hating the sounds of my alarm at 4:47 every morning…
On Monday, I started out with my coffee and walked into
(what I thought) was a pack of butterflies.
I have a serious love for butterflies that my mom passed down to
me. For several reasons, I think
that butterflies are so special. At
first, I was so happy and enchanted by the sudden appearance of the pack of
butterflies. Then I realized that these
flying creatures were NOT butterflies, they were GIGANTIC moths. Like the size of my palm. And for some unknown reason they are
EVERYWHERE. I’m assuming that some
shipment came in with a bunch of moth larva (disgusting, I know), and as a
result they are all over the ship. I can
tell they are dying out, but there are still more floating around than I’d like
to see…
Tuesday was another interesting morning. My walk was interrupted by a torrential
downpour. Normally, I appreciate a
little rain. It makes for a relaxing day,
however this was NOT the case on Tuesday.
I typically walk over to the platform every morning between 5:45 and 6
to attend our morning meeting. So I
braved the downpour and ran (literally) across the boat, up the stairs, across
the bridge, up the stairs and into the control room. I arrived to the meeting sopping wet, as did
everyone else. About 45 minutes later I went
to go to the bridge and much to my surprise, we were disconnected…whoommppwoompp. So I stayed on the platform, in the rain, until
a boat came and picked us up at 11:30. I
got back, took a hot shower and told announced to everyone (who conveniently didn’t
make it across the bridge before it was disconnected) that I wasn’t going back
over for the rest of the day. Queue my
newest nickname, sassy. Which is #3
behind blondie (um, hey guys my hair is red) and pinky (kudos to my pink hard
hat).
So, I am always sharing/exposing stupid and embarrassing things that happen to me, and (sadly) there are so many things that happen to me on a daily basis that I just forget about and they never make my blogs. Lucky for yall, I had a good one just yesterday, so it's fresh on my mind....I saw two of the mechanical inspectors that I had been meaning to talk to about some insulation of one of the HVAC units (Pa, you would be so proud). They were walking across the bridge so I caught up with them and started talking about what I needed to see and blah blah blah. So I talked on and on for about 6 or 8 minutes and occasionally they would nod or at least make eye contact to reflect that they knew what I was talking about. We got to the bottom of the stairway and one of them goes, Alli, you are speaking about insulation. I, annoyingly, said yes. Then he replied, we are electrical inspectors. Meaning, they are most definitely NOT the two guys that I needed to talk to. He then proceeded to call me out for thinking that all Koreans look alike (jokingly). Speechless is an understatement.
Ooooon another note, I’m finishing up my 15th rotation (WHAT, crazy?!), and I can say with 100% certainty that this is the MOST excited I’ve been to go home. I have been soooo antsy, and couldn’t figure out why until a few days ago when it dawned on me that I was working last Christmas and basically bypassed the 2014 holiday season. I just can’t wait to get back to scarf weather to listen to Christmas music, sit by the fire, EAT, and spend quality time with family and friends :)
33 days down, 2 to go!
xoxo…
