Showing the Love

Another day at sea in the Mediterranean and the good ship “Empire State
VI” continues on its leisurely cruise. Weather, as has been the case has
been calm, although we saw some showers today.

Alas, there were no boat drills yesterday since we did not receive
permission from the Majorcan authorities to conduct them. It looks like
we will not be doing them tonight either. However, this morning, the
cadets continued to have fun with their “how to plug a leak drills” and
since it was already raining, they did not seem to mind being wet.

Last night, the captain approached me and wanted to give me an update on
the insidious email situation. As you know from my previous posts, the
problem is with Seawave and the captain has been on the phone with them
trying to get the situation resolved. We need the system fully
operational in order to do customs, etc before getting to Dublin. As it
stands now, I have approximately 40 emails waiting for me, although I
cannot see the subject or who they are from. Thank you very much for
showing me “the love.” I can’t wait to read them all. I usually get
asked several times a day about the email status and almost all questions
are prefaced with a situation about how this “sucks” followed by a
particular situation about why they must have email.

I also shook the Captain down for another piece of information – we are
going to be berthed at “Ocean Terminal West Berth 33.” This will
apparently be a few kilometers from the center of Dublin. It is a good
thing I bought new sneakers before coming on this voyage.

It’s hard to believe that this part of the trip is wrapping up for me.
I’m not going to lie – I’m definitely looking forward to getting back to
New York although I really wanted to go to Malta. I don’t know why –
maybe it is because I don’t know anybody who ever went there.

People are definitely starting to get a bit land-crazy. Last night, while
we are anchored off of Majorca, I came on deck after work and it was
filled to the brim with cadets staring hungrily at the land. I hope they
realize that when they do this for a living they’ll be away from land for
much longer periods of time. Everybody sort of wants these islands that
we are not going to go to (unless you happen to be one lucky ship’s doctor
escorting a kid for an x-ray) to go away. For myself, I just know we are
not getting off till Dublin, so for some reason it isn’t bothering me as
much. Or perhaps this is the first sign of the onset of insanity.

Anyway, last night I showed the twin feature of “Spiderman” and “Rocky IV”
(i.e. the one with the Russian). I still can’t get over at how popular
some of these movies are that came out before these cadets were born. I
had a full house for Rocky IV, but my number one crowd pleaser was “Top
Gun.” I find it all very amusing that all the pop culture from when I was
a kid/teenager has gained a cult following. I can’t remember anything
similar when I was their age except maybe I like Led Zeppelin and I Love
Lucy. Why do these kids have to rip-off my childhood?

Speaking of age gaps, I came to the conclusion that I’m getting older.
While I had supposed myself a modern-day Lazarus, several cadets were down
here borrowing a dictionary from me for their Scrabble game when somehow
and someway I got asked my age.

So I told them facetiously that I was ‘46’… which is a decade off. They
responded… ‘ooooh’ as in “Wow sir, you really take good care of yourself.”

Of course this was worse since they actually believed me. Impulsively I
corrected them with my true age to which they responded, “Oh your still
old, but you look good for your age.”

Then I calculated their birthdates (all at about the time I graduated high
school), a fine melancholy settled in for a few minutes. Fortunately, I
am not the kind of Bibliographic Mariner that broods overmuch. Well,
maybe I do a little, but my brooding usually involves pondering
quasi-functioning email systems. Also, I keep my brooding to myself
except that brooding (such as this one), that becomes plastered all over
the internet. It is a sure sign of an ingrained streak of masochism. It
is good that I have avoided establishing a Twitter account.

As part of this full internet disclosure, I shall also inform you that I
have sent some of my minions (work studies) undercover to obtain some
photos for me. In particular, I got some photos of the mess deck which
were requested by one parent. I wish to get images of the cadets in their
native environments and since I cannot install a trip camera, I had to
convert one of their own to do my bidding.

Is megalomania a sign of being at sea too long?

Also, to the parent of Cadet Frate… I had a conversation with your
daughter where I have been asked if I was as “funny in person” as my
writing. Personally, I was shocked that I would ever be asked that
question. My writing is of the most serious nature as I explore the
sociology of this ship. And if you think leaking ceilings on my person at
0300 are funny… well, you are a bit twisted. We’ll have to meet for tea
sometime. But I did assure her that I was not funny, humorous or witty in
any way. In fact, I informed her that I was quite depressing to be
around. Thank you.

Fair Winds and Following Seas,
Joe