Turns Out

Well, no surprise here, it turns out that warehouses are the same all over the world. Gruff workers smoking cigarettes, fork trucks threatening every last little piggy under leather and more disorganized freight than you can shake a mongoose at. (ed. note: this blog does not condone the shaking of mongooses (mongeese?) at anything or anyone, under any circumstances. Keep your mongeese to yourselves people.)

My work here in RTM is pretty much done. There might be some freight this afternoon but for the most part everything is labeled, organized and prettier than a cold beer on a Friday afternoon. Speaking of which. . . every office I've visited in Europe has cold beer in the fridge. Where did we go wrong people?!? If the USA is the freest country in the world then where's the beer in the workplace? Seriously, this upsets me more than a little. Not even for the lack of actual consumption but more for the implication that people aren't responsible enough to enjoy one beverage with their co-workers and then drive home. Life is sooo hard. . .

. . . just ask Paris Hilton. (Here's a ray of shining intelligence for everyone out there; the aforementioned girl (not woman) is UGLY. Not an attractive thing about her. Think about it and then find some dog-awful picture of her at some premiere for some event that she did nothing for. She's skinny, squinty, sallow and sad. All in a row. This has been a public service announcement from a guy who has no right to give public service announcements.

Off my high horse and back to the real world that matters, or doesn't matter. . . I can never remember which is correct. Does the "real" world (i.e. getting up, going to work, dealing with BS all day just to buy things that you don't have the time to enjoy) matter? Or is what Really matters the complete opposite? If somebody figures it out please let me know.

Sorry, no interesting pics of Rotterdam yet. Haven't gotten out much and we all know how well those night pictures of the distant skyline turn out. Oh well, I'm sure I'll be back here and I'm staring ten days in Hamburg square in the face before the vessel even arrives for dry dock. There might be a few beers consumed in that time. Check out the famous fish market on a Saturday morning and scrupulously avoid anyone who wants to drag me through the red light district. My motto, if you have to pay for it maybe you don't deserve it. Just my personal opinion. But what else is a page like this good for if not my personal opinions?

Don't answer that.

For those who care, the people here where I'm working are nice, at least to me. But then again anytime I thank somebody and tell them that it wasn't necessary for them to bring me that sandwich for lunch or that second cup of tea they just laugh and say, "It's okay, you're a customer." Makes me wonder what life would be like if I wasn't a customer. . . and if I was paying all the bills on this trip. Oy! I can remember how incredibly broke (and buried) I was when I returned from that two month European trip last year. At this point that trip feels like it was four years ago.

Hope everyone is well wherever you are and whatever you're doing. Whatever you do, stay away from College Ave in Berkeley this Saturday because it's birthday weekend among my old group of friends back home and some insobriety may ensue. Break out the notes and the pirate eye Jones, I'll be thinkin' of you all this weekend. And to top things off the Candeeman turns something like forty-seven this Saturday in Vegas as well. Helluva weekend to be sober. . . so don't be.

A Heineken tipped back to you all. Grab your bike and move to the Netherlands, you'll fit right in.