Great Googley Moogley

Guess I gotta go buy a house now. Drop anything almost a whole percentage point and the economy is fixed. . . once I buy a house. Or something like that.

Been laid up a bit with typical ankle and ka-nee BS. Seems like every time I hit the gym the darn thing hits back. However, limping provides a stout reminder of one of the reasons I took this job. Flexibility. Of course I'm not speaking of my personal, physical flexibility but rather the fact that when I'm hurtin' I work from home. Simple as that. No inquisition, just trust.

Don't really have anything that I wanted to write about. Was gonna upload some pictures onto Flickr but the ol' company laptop is fighting me at every turn. Apparently uploading a photo of my brothers looking stupid doesn't comply with company policy. Turns out that the failure is okay cause most of the pictures were nothin' write home about. . . which is sort of what I'm doing I guess.

Well, I'm keeping busy. Gonna put the Serenade of the Seas into dry dock on February 11th and there's a whole lot of work to do between now and then. I guess for lack of any better ideas I'll give up my tentative traveling work schedule for the winter and spring. The start and end date on each of these is highly flexible. . . put it this way, I ain't exactly booked any flights yet.

February 11 thru March 5 -- Serenade of the Seas in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island
March 27 thru April 9 -- Independence of the Seas (New Build) in Turku, Finland
April 10 thru April 29 -- Celebrity Summit in Brest, France
And possibly;
April 30 thru May 17 -- Brilliance of the Seas in Hamburg, Germany

The Serenade and the Summit are my jobs. I'll be on the Independence just to learn the process of a new build so I can help manage the Genesis class in 2009. I doubt I'll work the Brilliance but it's a possibility since I'll already be in Europe.

I guess I can add my fall schedule too since it won't take too long.
November 15 thru December 3 -- Celebrity Infinity in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island

Guess I won't be home for Thanksgiving.
Hope everyone is taking good care of themselves.

Yup

Got back to Hollywood today. Job went ok but nothing fun to report. I've got almost a month till my project starts in Freeport. Hope everyone is doing well.

Freeport

Well, my first dry dock in Freeport and I'm bored outta my skull.  Okay, not quite that bored but seeing as how I'm not the lead Project Manager on this seven day work party the job is leaving a bit to be desired.  Really I'm only here to learn the capabilities of the shipyard in preparation for my three week project coming up in February.  Hell, I ain't even been out to the one town on the island yet. . . but seeing as how everything is imported to this island (and therefore ridiculously expensive) I don't think I'm going to lose any sleep over it.

Not much else to report at this time.  A beer or glass of wine in the crew bar costs a buck, but I've been pretty good about not abusing that.  It's pretty funny watching everyone walk away from the bar with their purchase limit though. . . a six pack or a bottle of wine per person, that's ALL you're allowed.  Funny.  Welcome to dry dock.  Even the easy jobs ones drive people to drink.

Unfortunately there's not much here to take pictures of but I'll try to post something interesting again someday.  I sort of promise.

Aside from this job, um. . . oh yeah, the family winter trip to Wisconsin was pretty sweet.  Ma, two bros, one bro's wife and one bouncing, baby niece.  My brother's kid was pretty much the entertainment the majority of the time.  She was about to turn one so she almost walks (the argument could be made that she took her first steps in the W-I), sorta talks (babbles), and generally has one helluva personality on 'er.  Aside from tossing the baby around there were cocktails and trap shooting and dinners with semi-distant relatives and a bonfire (complete with roasted snow balls), quite a bit of scrabble played and general christmas frivolity.  It was a very good time and caused me to forget quite a bit about work. . . in fact I'm finding that I still have a problem with remembering some of the things I am supposed to remember for work.  Oh well. 

Happy Frickin' Monday Everyone!
(today is Monday. . . right?)

As They Say. . .

. . . up in Wisconsin, "It's colder than a witch's tit in a frozen lake!"

OK, it's not THAT cold but by Florida standards yesterday was the coldest day so far this year. Got below fifty degrees at night and stayed under seventy (I think) during the day. Good times.

And speaking of good times I'm almost ready to head out to Wisconsin. In reality, I'm more than ready to get out of here but it turns out that in order to get paid for doing my job I have to, uh. . . um. . . do my job? (Insert hysterical swear word-hybrid funny word here.)

Work has been going, going and some days it just keeps going. But I had another positive (in my eyes) change to my travel schedule for next year and I might get to spend more than a week in Finland learning the new build process on the Independence of the Seas. The reason it's highly important that I understand the process is not for the benefit of the Independence but rather for the first ship of the Genesis class coming out in 2009.

If the name didn't tip you off you should know that the Genesis is the start of something big. . . really big. While the Freedom class (consisting of Freedom, Liberty and soon the Independence) is currently the largest class of cruise ship out there the Genesis class will be FORTY PERCENT LARGER. Say it with me meow. . . Holy Ship!

(Just tryin' to make my Poppa proud with some word play and keep the Flagstaffians (not to be cornfused with the Flagstaffafarians) happy with a "Super Troopers" movie reference.)

Well I know I keep promising fun things like pictures of the boat parade (video was a lot better than the pics cause of the light situation) and my full travel schedule for '08 (I might be in Europe for three straight months) or even an update that doesn't involve my job but rather my every day life. Along those lines I just became the proud owner of. . . . . . a swanky "new" BBQ. I'm sure most of you thought I was going to say "dog" or "mail order bride" or something fun like that but it just ain't in the cards.

That's right. . . there are cards. Think about it.

Lately

So (you ask not really knowing if you really want to know or not. . . um. . . want to know) what have I been up to these days? Nothin' special. Sorry to disappoint.

Fully moved in to the new place but not fully unpacked. Been to the gym a little bit lately, been at work a lot lately (go figure) and been planning next year a lot. I think I might have a preliminary schedule laid out through April of next year so maybe I'll try to get that put up on here at some point.

In the meantime you can check out my upcoming Saturday night plans. . .
http://www.winterfestparade.com/
I guess I know someone who knows someone who probably once had a dog who may have had a former owner who happens to know someone who has a place with a balcony somewhere on the Ft. Lauderdale waterways, which happen to be where this event takes place. All I know is that it's gotta beat out the Candy Cane Parade I attended last weekend. No, I'm not joking.

All I know is it's still pretty darn warm down here but in less than two weeks I'll be freezing everything off at my bro's house up in Wisconsin.

I wonder how much frostbite I actually need to suffer until I'll feel like coming back to So Flo.

Not Quite Dunn

Done gots myself moved in this weekend. Still got the big screen to man handle but it's actually been nice the last few days not having that thing call to me with football games aplenty in hi-def. The house I've moved into has a pool, backyard, bbq, a sane roommate and the rest of the amenities we take for granted. Living the last two months with only broadcast television and having to poach my internet connection from neighbors will hopefully make me appreciate things a little more.

Work tomorrow. For the first time in a long while I don't have a laundry list of things to do when I first get in. Don't get me wrong, the laundry list is there somewhere, but finally having four days off in a row and only doing a tiny bit of work on Thurs. and Fri. has cleared my head. Well I suppose that and moving all my worldly possessions from one place to another.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving week and weekend. I know we could all use more time off but at least it's close to Christmas. Dog knows I don't have to be religious to appreciate a holiday that provides me with time off and a good excuse to head to Wisconsin to freeze my butt off with family. My brother's little girl will almost be a year old when I get to see her. . . little terror will probably be walking and everything by the time I see her in a few weeks. Times they do change.

World Peas.

He Offered

I would like everyone to notice that in response to my last post my old college roommate actually offered to have my head bashed in with a boulder whilst I sleep. Hell, not even a rock. . . A BOULDER!

Only a true friend. . .

Turkey day has come and gone. Appetite for turkey has done the same. I managed not to buy anything on Black Friday but I'm sure I'll make up for it in the next few weeks like a good little American. You see I'm moving into the house a few days early and I needs me a bed and maybe somewhere to put my clothes. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about used furniture still at this point in my life, but I draw the line at a used mattress. . . actually I draw the line quite a bit further back but since the new bed is my only concern, um, that's all I'll be concerned with. Right.

So you all know how it is, you move into a new place and there are things that need a'buyin'. . . even when the new place is fully furnished. Still haven't figured out how that works. Now I'll have a slightly more solid address and that means it's time to register the H2O (no, I don't own a Hummer, I own an Element and can't think of anything wittier to call it right now) and maybe even get a Florida license. Shoot, I might just run right out and find a charity to send me way too many of those little address labels with my new numbers so I can feel guilty about not sending them any money for something I didn't ask for in the first place but still intend to use for the two pieces of physical mail I send every month.

Phew, I think I just channeled Sammy Davis Jr. He didn't donate for those labels either, ya know and Adam Sandler once told that Mr. Jr. only had one eye. . . but I still think he just had a facial tick (like Galen Pallas).

Well I guess I've only got about thirty-two hours left before it's time to return to work. It's supposed to be in the mid-eighties and "sticky" all week. Good times they are a'comin'.

(Insert inspirational, deep and witty words of wisdom here.)

A Minor Sign

Two nights ago whilst lying sleepily in my bed I heard a funny sound on the floor, just to my right. That funny sound was followed by an annoying sound from my ceiling fan. That annoying sound from my ceiling fan was followed by the realization that something odd had certainly just happened. That's right, one of the blades of my ceiling fan SNAPPED clean off mid-way through the metal arm that, under normal circumstances, holds it firmly to the body of the fan motor.

I'm gonna go ahead and make a leaping judgement here that I need to get the heck outta this condo. I'll be moving into a house at the end of the month. Same house I was supposed to move into when I first moved out here in March so some of you may still have the address.

Send cookies. Chocolate cookies.

A (was-almost-killed-in-his-sleep-by-flying-fan-parts) D

(I guess this means I'm free to die the way I've always imagined. . . by TC crushing me in my sleep with a rock. Good luck doing it from Flag, T.)

Presentations

I present to you. . .

. . . the reverse mohawk.


. . . Half Dome.


. . . a Key Largo sunset.


. . . a van and some people in front of Mount Rushmore.


. . . three million dollars worth of slot machines in boxes.


. . . and finally. . . Van Golf! (I have no idea what I'm doing here.)


As my oldest brother would say in his most condescending tone,
"That is all."

The Cool 66

The new magic number down here is sixty-six. Well, really it's anything that's under seventy. No a/c now at the house cause it's frickin' beautiful outside. The doors and windows stay open all the time and that's all the air control I need. Suppose that's one of the reasons I haven't written anything for a while. The other is that the madre came in last weekend and after showing her all there is to see in my little area of the world (one morning of work) we went down to Key West and had a good time. Sunset, drinks, gorgeous.

We hit up an alligator farm and a huge tropical fruit stand down near homestead and now I've got an avocado the size of my head waiting to be made into guacamole, a dragon fruit waiting for slicing and something else I can't remember the name of but I know I can't eat it until I leave it on a paper towel for a while and it turns completely black. No shit, them's the rules. Figure the guac. will make a fine how d'ya do for the Aunt and Uncle coming in this weekend. I can only hope that the TransAtlantic cruise they're comin' off of will make them think a Sunday afternoon with me watching football, drinking beer and eating fresh guacamole is relaxing. . . or something.

Not that football is all that's on the menu. . . it's just that I'm still getting over the picture on that TV I bought. Sure am glad I don't have HD cable (or any cable at all) cause I'd probably take a week off just to enjoy the picture. Anyway, I've got a few pics to put up soon but for now I must work.

Start 'er Up

Not that I know who she is or why she needs starting, but. . .

Found a possible beacon of civilization (or at least a kind-er soul) down here. Went to see a PT for my elbow today and it's possible that he will be resolving my knee issues on the side. BTW ('cause apparently I'm hip enough to use Y-Gen acronyms now), my primary care "physician" most likely missed (or misdiagnosed) my knee problem so badly that I may as well collapse to the left in his honor. Who's surprised by a show of hands? Mighty fine absence of hands I don't see out there right now.

In my physician's honor I'm going to wade a little further into the system, change my HMO to a PPO during the only fifteen days of the year they (my co.) allow us to and continue to fight the non-chalant, give me your co-pay, if-I-don't-look-you-in-the-eye-maybe-you'll-go-away medical system that has been created in this land of the free. The word free only existing in our mottos these days and not in, or around, any other part of this civilized society.

On the up/down side my new PT took one look at the x-ray pics of my elbow on my flickr page, asked how he could put his pictures online and proceeded to enlighten me as to the fact that without surgery on my elbow I might as well be signing up for the hi-pain-threshold club when it came to retirement. We'll see how that one plays out. Don't get me wrong, the HPT club has been around longer than the Stone Masons (or so the Simpsons tell me) but I'm not sure I should be one to join an old-boys-type club. My delicate rear never did bear the spanking sessions well.

Three physical therapy sessions next week. I figure they'll cause me to drop thirty pounds and take away any joint problems I may have in about a week and I can go on with my life just as I did coming out of high school. Wait. . . what? It DOESN'T work that way? Damnable brochures and their shiny pictures always showin' the best.

Oh yeah, I'll be moving into the house I originally booked passage into (back in March) sometime either during November or at the end of said month. The internet connection looks to not be poached anymore and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Kinda enjoy borrowing connectivity from my neighbors. I swear I'm not changing their internet preferences to cat fetish sites and the 24-hour weather website. . . cause they're already there.

As Ik would say; A-out (though I may be a bit further out than should be allowed. Is somebody gonna throw a brotha a line or what?)

Free Meals Are OK

Group lunch today footed for by some body's corporate card. Nice. Sucked into a meeting at four-thirty in the afternoon. Probably not going to be nice. Meeting goes till about eight o'clock, after a mandatory stroll through the warehouse. (At least we toured the empty, but still cold, freezer section.) What's that? Our gracious visitors who want our business would like to buy us dinner. Ow, my arm hurts. The Italian piano bar hasn't gone the way of the dingo in So Flo just yet. Wine, fish, limonchello, desert, champagne. . . are we celebrating something? Nope. The game was one. I hate the Red Sox.

Go A's. Go to Fremont, apparently. I doubt I'll ever see a live game again after they move.

I Didn't Even Know I Was Gone

Surprise! I flew out to France on Monday afternoon. Got into Paris Tuesday morning and then immediately flew to Nantes, France. Picked up my rental car and drove about forty-five minutes to St. Nazaire. Got in around noon and slept. Then I slept. Then I slept some more. Knee was killing me from the flights and the driving so didn't get much of a look at St. Nazaire. Small city though and I'll probably be back one day. Made it out for dinner at a local bistro which was good. Slept.

Spent all Wednesday in meetings with the local shipyard and two logistics companies. Getting people to work together. . . good times. Dinner out with colleague Wednesday night but travel plans the next morning necessitated an early evening.

Up at two-thirty in the morning, not part of the plan. Couldn't get back to sleep so stayed mildly entertained with French music videos till four-thirty. Took a bath, since there was no shower in the room. Drive from St. Nazaire back to Nantes and try to check in for my flight to Madrid. Woman kindly tells me that the flight is delayed at least an hour and they are looking at how to get me to Miami once I actually reach Madrid. It's six-thirty in the morning. Oh shit.

Somebody was mistaken. Flight from Nantes leaves just a few minutes late and even though it's a forty passenger jet and a bumpy ride it isn't full and the service is good. Things are looking up. Typical layover at Madrid then American Airlines decides to show what it can do. Full flight, a/v system that doesn't work, terrible food, crying babies. . . the whole nine. A/V system finally starts to work but our row doesn't get audio. Two cherries on top. One; our reading lights turn on and off without you bidding them too. Two; it's the hottest transatlantic flight ever. Usually they keep it cool and skinny people use the blankets. Apparently it was a tribute to summer and people were fanning themselves. Seems funny when it's forty below outside.

Good week. I took today off. Yup, there's work to be done but. . . time to go enjoy the TV I finally broke down and bought.

Here's to it. . . whatever it may be.

100

Well, this is the one-hundredth time that I've posted something on this pitiful little blog. Started it around summer of '05 so at this HIGHLY prolific rate I can expect to hit the one-thousandth post sometime after my grand-kids are getting to college. Not that I hear much guff from my adoring horde of fans (all four family members) and it has become readily apparent to me that while some of my friends are big fans of myspace and facebook and all those others they don't seem to get the knack of looking at this site to see where I am in the world. No to chastise but it never fails, every email I get from a friend back in Cali asks where I am right now. . . . oh well.

78

That's the real big number in my life. Seventy-eight is the exact temperature that my apartment stays when you open it all up and turn on the fans. At least it's down to that these days. I don't even have to turn on the a/c until it's time to turn in.

Gonna play with some big boxes tomorrow. Hope to take some rather graffic images of the horrors of Asian packing techniques. I swear they're making pallets our of balsa wood over there. We unloaded five forty-footers into LC2 (logistics center 2) this afternoon and not a single pallet made it out in one piece. Anyway, might have to explain another minor logistics snafu later on. If I start a rant on it now I'll never get my ugly rest. Needless to say, there was some miscommunication (seemingly standard in my job) and I can't fit the freight from five forty-footers into the other five forty-footers that we ordered to transload (another great made-up logistiky-type word) the freight into. Ah, nevermind. Good night.

Eat your greens.

Go Figure

My frustration has a name.

And That name is The World.



Has anyone looked at this world lately?


And I'm not just talkin' about network TV and
news channels. Though I am talkin' about the
fact that my local channels seem to think that
B-Spears getting a flat is more important than,
well, more important that ANYTHING ELSE!

I'm going to try and go to bed without writing
something mean. It's a tough job, but. . .

I wish I were insane.

Back In Miami

I swear it's gotten more humid since I left.

 

Flights were typical flights.  Booked completely full, faulty entertainment system, multiple screaming babies, good times all around.  Not sure yet what my feelings are about being back in an office.  The Office.  I finally have my own cubicle to colorfully decorate with Dilbert cartoons and other trinkets that show that I'm really not the type of person who normally works in a cubicle. . . even though I work in a cubicle.  Don't remember where I first heard the term "Cubicle Farm" but it is rather fitting for our little logistics office here in So Flo.

 

I've been working for RCCL for over six months now.  Feels a little longer than that.

 

Finally have business cards too but since the phone line in my cubicle isn't actually connected to the phone number on my card I'm not sure how effective of a tool the business card really is.  Have a spanky new(er) laptop waiting in the wings as well which is good cause the miniature hampsters that are powering my current laptop are getting tired.  Also their running wheels are a little rusty and I've had a hard time getting any WD-40 in there to help them out.  Man, life is sooo hard.  I haven't had anything delivered to me on a platter actually made of silver in DAYS and this silver spoon is really getting uncomfortable in it's current position.

 

On to the next phase.

I'm not completely done with the Quest.  I still have to organize crane support, labor, garbage dumpsters, etc. . . for when she arrives in Miami on the 20th.  But in order to prove my worth, earn my keep, justify the existence of my job I guess, I'm going to start working on a diesel engine project for a couple of different ships.  Don't remember what I've wrote about this but whenever I mention it to people in the office they just get this slightly tazed (not dazed) looked on their face and after a few seconds they develop a sad little smile on their lips and shake their heads wistfully, as if to say, "Another one thrown under the bus. . . and he was so young!"  In truth I'm looking forward to it.  Anything I can do to justify my existence is just fine by me, though a pinch on the arm followed by a good yell seems to work just as well.

 

Came off dry dock with a sore knee, a cold and a cold sore to boot.  Think I'll take it easy this weekend.  The apartment is now cable free and the internet is highly limited to when I can poach it from my neighbors.  Looks like I'll get a lot of reading done this weekend.  Might even find time to unpack. 

 

Time to work on my expense report. . . hasta la bye-bye.

Dunn

Flying back to Miami manana. Yeah, it's a little early. No, I didn't do anything bad to get me sent home. However, I did pull a typical move (typical of me at least) and got hurt in an odd way. Strain in my foot turns into a limp. . . add the limp to three days working however many undogly hours in new work boots. . . you've got a recipe for a knee swollen to melon-like proportions and a distinct inability to walk properly. Same sad song; Boy meets boot, boot meets pavement, pain meets boy.

Anyway, I'm not being deported for my lack of mobility. (On-board doc says it might
be a problem with one or both of the meniscus in my knee, which sounds likely and bad and means I'm in for a fun future.)

In terms of logistics this job is going extremely well. Add that to the extreme number of logistics people we have here and people have gotsta shuffle. So, I fly home tomorrow and I'll be back in the office on Friday. (I'll take my medicine and like it gal' darnnit.) The rumor is that there are fires to put out back at base. Fires that will only be squelched by smoothly moving freight and well planned delivery times coupled with flawless cooperation between multiple feuding entities. Logistics, like manna from the heavens. . . or somethin' like that.

Where was I? Ah, yes. . . rambling.

Good and bad. Cold and hot. Well handled yet still FUBAR. However, at least I get to sleep in a decent bed again in a clean room. While I do happen to have my own room on board the ship it hasn't been a cleaned in days and they are doing work in there every day. Two nights ago I came home to metal shavings all over the floor and sawdust in all the drinking glasses. "I'm sorry, Bob, but I'm gonna have to go ahead and skip a night in the room of podiatric lacerations and just, uh yeah, punt."

Yeah, PUNT! If Fitty says it's a good idea then it can't be all bad. Gotta admit that I'm not mentally geared to go back to the land of spontaneously combusting lizards and beach-folk with faces like old leather handbags just yet.

Alas, the travel is over for now. There's a very small possibility that I'll find some distant adventure within this new project I'll be working on, but most likely I'm grounded till Xmas in WI. Good time. Good and cold.

In the meantime I guess I'll have to find my board shorts and flip-flops.
And on that disheveled note. . .

Thirty-two dozen points to the person not named A.C. who can tell me which fairly modern cartoon this is from.

One man speaking all the lines to nobody in particular:
"And he said, HEY! I DON'T LIKE THE CUT OF YOUR JIB!!
And I said, I'M SORRY, BABY!! IT'S THE ONLY JIB I GOT!!!"

Turns out it ain't cool to talk about how another man's headsail has been trimmed.
Go figure.

Not Quite Worth Five Thousand

With my job I have to deal with this. . .


But I also get to see this.


There's a whole lot of this. . .


But who wouldn't enjoy seeing one of these?


However, this is the reason for it all. . .
I give you, the newly named Azamara Quest.


She's a small vessel so she don't look like much in the graving dock. Only holds seven-hundred and ten passengers who have paid for white-glove service and a chance to visit some smaller ports that our larger ships can't go to. Celebrity Cruises just bought this vessel from Pullmantur Tours (even though we own them) and everything with the old ship name (Blue Moon) on it needs to be replaced. All new carpet, mattresses (yay!), storage shelving, mini-suites and fancy new Bolidt decking on all the open decks (and that's just the beginning). At this point we're actually more than halfway through the job so I'll have to get a few pictures up of the work being done.

Well, back to it.

RE: vitalization

When I finally find/make time to create an update it so happens that my hands are a bit frozen. Turns out that Northern Germany is about as warm as the name would imply. Actually can't complain 'cause it's only been 'mostly cloudy' the last few days. . . though today showed a chilled face of such ferocity that it even bit through my 'padding' and numbed me up good by the end of the shift.

So how's the job going?
Typical dry dock. Long, semi-productive days with a distinct lack of respect for the logistics department. It's a small ship that's trying to complete more work, in a shorter period of time, than much larger ships complete. We've got six logistics people working the cranes and forks. Four on day shift, two on night. Normally we've got two or maybe three people total. Needless to say we could use another person or two and we're constantly pinned against the wall by contractors, marine department, F&B department, hotel department and of course more contractors.

Whelp, there ain't much to this but it's all I'm up for. I'll try again over the weekend but we've got full services so I ain't holding my breath.

Hope all is well whoever you may be.

Hamburg

Great city.  Good beer.  Pretty girls.  Having fun driving in my spanky new Golf TDI rental. 

 

Head to the Blohm and Voss shipyard again tomorrow to start work in earnest.  Co-worker and I dropped by there today but just to look around.  HUGE YARD!!  I mean, like, bigger than one o' dem lampshades that Tiny Elvis was always talking about back in the day on SNL.  Seriously, the shipyard in SF has two dry docks and a few piers. . . this place has something like 17 docks! 

 

Um. . . yeah.  I've got shipyard envy.

 

Not gonna type long cause the free computer I'm using in the hotel lobby has a German keyboard, I suppose as it should.  The z and the y are switched, the shift key is the same size as a normal key, there are quite a few bonus keys with fun little markings over them and almost all of the special symbols aren't where we Americans think they're supposed to be.  Ah yes, it's the little things while traveling. . . like being able to write a coherent email in under fifteen minutes and without hurting your delicate hands, like mine.

 

Hope to establish a pseudo office at the shipzard tomorrow and will maybe get a few pictures up. 

 

Double dunkel please.  Danka.