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Oct. 29th, 2003 10:23 amIt is now 11:20 local. Been up for 26 hours. I worked the 0000-0800 watch and never had any time to type on my laptop. We are getting down to the wire with the cargo and now there is a lo0t more to do on watch. Especially the Mid watch because the SuperCargo people have managed to put all the morons on at night. Which isn't to say that things are completely fucked, but I have to spend more time out on deck watching operations, and checking the drafts on the Barge for any excess Hog/Sag. The SuperCargo got things so fucked the other day that we were almost 17 foot down by the stern. The barge looked like it was ready to blast off into space. The normal tolerance for the trim is 7 feet. And when all that was going on, the bargwe had a foot ande a half of hog to her. That means that the the barge amidships was a foot and a half above the bow and stern. The upward tolerance for that is seven INCHES. Could have snapped like a twig, ya know?
So anyway we are geting down to the wire and I decided that I was going to take the trip up into the mountians to Asmara today. Instead of Camel races. Things didn't quite pan out. Seems you need to obtain a travel visa for about US$75. And then MY cab driver, Moses was already on his way to Asmara by the time I got to the taxi stand, and the other taxi drivers were fucking with me. And I really can't stand all the Haggling BS. I just walk away, which usually leads to them following and screaming at me as if I was skipping out in a fare just for asking about something. Fuckers.
Ansd I know that I had all gl;owing reports about eritrea last night, And I do really like the place, but there is a big problem. Land Pilots.
Land Pilots can be helpful when you are new in town and you pick the right one. The problem is that this town has an over abundance of land pilots, and they just don't understand you when you tell them to go away. Even when you tell them you are getting angry. SO anyway, Johnny is my land pilot. In fact he is on top of the heap. There is a definite Hirarchy going on, and johnny is self admittyedly the "number two pilot" but the number one pilot moved to asmara indefinetly. So the junior pilot's association of all the six year old aspiring pilots wait oput by the gate to the port, and as soon as you walk out of the gate the telegraph starts going. And the next thing you know, you have an entorage. And I'm not saying that it is a bad thing, but a man needs to be alone sometimes. It's kind of like being a rock star, only you have to pay for everything instead of getting everything gratis. I mean I always wanted to be famous, but not David Lee Roth famous. More like Raymond Carver or Jonothon Richmond famous, ya know? This is ridicilous.
Yeah, so I just went to the big market with johnny and Lilly. I really want to go for a camel race with lilly out at the beach, but we just can't seem to shake johnny. Tenatious little fucker. I shook them and ducked in here because I knew he was going to have me buy all of us lunch. Which, I have to say, I really don't mind. The thing is that he EXPECTS it because he is spending all of huis time with me. All of his time that I don't want in the first place. Anyway. This is probably mty last day of leave and I cashed WAY too much money this morning before I figgured out that I couldn't get to Asmara. So I guess I gotta spend it all on drinks. So there is johnny.
And there is Lilly. She is a very pretty girl who has decided that I am going to take her back to the states for some reason. She ain't no girlfriend, she's just the person that I have the most fun with. We can usually drink Johnny under the table and ditch him when he's passed out at the bar.
OK, so here is the plan: I'm going to log off and try to sneak over to Lilly's and whisk her away for camels while Johnny is (hopefully) taking a siesta.
Wish me luck.
One last thing, before they give me the boot (everything closes from 1200-1600...) Massawa is great because the bars open and close depending on my whim. They will stay open as late as I want them to. and even better than that it is the fact that I never need to get a hotel room because any time I am staggering down the "street" early morning, people just take me into their burned out, bombed out bullet ridden hovels and let me sleep in their beds. NO charge, no hassle. Just pure hospitality. I havew a few stories about waking up in strange places, but like I said, I'm getting the boot.
So anyway we are geting down to the wire and I decided that I was going to take the trip up into the mountians to Asmara today. Instead of Camel races. Things didn't quite pan out. Seems you need to obtain a travel visa for about US$75. And then MY cab driver, Moses was already on his way to Asmara by the time I got to the taxi stand, and the other taxi drivers were fucking with me. And I really can't stand all the Haggling BS. I just walk away, which usually leads to them following and screaming at me as if I was skipping out in a fare just for asking about something. Fuckers.
Ansd I know that I had all gl;owing reports about eritrea last night, And I do really like the place, but there is a big problem. Land Pilots.
Land Pilots can be helpful when you are new in town and you pick the right one. The problem is that this town has an over abundance of land pilots, and they just don't understand you when you tell them to go away. Even when you tell them you are getting angry. SO anyway, Johnny is my land pilot. In fact he is on top of the heap. There is a definite Hirarchy going on, and johnny is self admittyedly the "number two pilot" but the number one pilot moved to asmara indefinetly. So the junior pilot's association of all the six year old aspiring pilots wait oput by the gate to the port, and as soon as you walk out of the gate the telegraph starts going. And the next thing you know, you have an entorage. And I'm not saying that it is a bad thing, but a man needs to be alone sometimes. It's kind of like being a rock star, only you have to pay for everything instead of getting everything gratis. I mean I always wanted to be famous, but not David Lee Roth famous. More like Raymond Carver or Jonothon Richmond famous, ya know? This is ridicilous.
Yeah, so I just went to the big market with johnny and Lilly. I really want to go for a camel race with lilly out at the beach, but we just can't seem to shake johnny. Tenatious little fucker. I shook them and ducked in here because I knew he was going to have me buy all of us lunch. Which, I have to say, I really don't mind. The thing is that he EXPECTS it because he is spending all of huis time with me. All of his time that I don't want in the first place. Anyway. This is probably mty last day of leave and I cashed WAY too much money this morning before I figgured out that I couldn't get to Asmara. So I guess I gotta spend it all on drinks. So there is johnny.
And there is Lilly. She is a very pretty girl who has decided that I am going to take her back to the states for some reason. She ain't no girlfriend, she's just the person that I have the most fun with. We can usually drink Johnny under the table and ditch him when he's passed out at the bar.
OK, so here is the plan: I'm going to log off and try to sneak over to Lilly's and whisk her away for camels while Johnny is (hopefully) taking a siesta.
Wish me luck.
One last thing, before they give me the boot (everything closes from 1200-1600...) Massawa is great because the bars open and close depending on my whim. They will stay open as late as I want them to. and even better than that it is the fact that I never need to get a hotel room because any time I am staggering down the "street" early morning, people just take me into their burned out, bombed out bullet ridden hovels and let me sleep in their beds. NO charge, no hassle. Just pure hospitality. I havew a few stories about waking up in strange places, but like I said, I'm getting the boot.
