For future reference, there is a very well known, amongst sailors but not necessarily naïve female IT Officers, Russian ‘Cultural’ Club in St. Petersburg.
It is a whore house.
Just for your information, should it ever come up.
Anyway, I decided to blow off some very stressful days, by spending a night in the Officer’s Bar. After drinking a few too many white Russians, I was hit over the head with a glass but the night didn’t end until given the proper Russia sound off, of a round of vodka shots.
At least that is what they told me the next morning.
I am going hot air ballooning in Stockholm on Saturday. How awesome is that!
OK, very sleep deprived! Too busy working and having fun.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Sunday, July 24, 2005
These Are Not My Co-Workers
(Title is reference to a song, "This Is Not My Beautiful Life." If you know the song I am talking about, and who it is by, please let me know.)
One of the weird things about shipboard workplace is the life and schedule. I work a four-two and a five-five split.
The five-five split is seven am to noon and four pm to nine with variation due to technical emergencies and cruise turn over. (End of cruise/beginning of cruise day, embarkation day, is a very long day of computer processing crap that the main frame should be able to do itself but instead needs a babysitter for.)
The four-two refers to four months on and two months off. Before you are in awe and envy of my two month vacation, do remember I work 120 days in a row, ten hours a day, before having two months off. I am not by any means complaining. Just saying it is well deserved.
All this was to explain how odd our workplace is because the office staff is constantly turning over. Every four months, each person goes on vacation for two months and there position is filled by someone else. Thus, for example, during your four months you will have two different bosses in the same position. When I started Joseph was the Hotel Director, now it is Herbert. This is true for every position.
Anyway, last week, by chance, 25% of the office staff turned over. Imagine coming into work one day and having 25% new staff. They are all returning staff, and know what they are doing, but you still have to adjust to everyone’s different styles.
In some ways it is great, you get rid of people who you don’t work well with. I lost one person I really clashed with…. But I got another one back. I guess there is a law: Conservation of Co-Workers Who Annoy You.
But it is a very strange environment to come into work one day and be working with completely different people, who do not need to be trained, who simply pick up where the predecessor left off. It is a little twilight-zone-ish, to simply wake up one day and have the office staff be different and yet everything else the same.
I find it interesting, so I thought I would share that twilight-zone oddity of my office life, at sea.
One of the weird things about shipboard workplace is the life and schedule. I work a four-two and a five-five split.
The five-five split is seven am to noon and four pm to nine with variation due to technical emergencies and cruise turn over. (End of cruise/beginning of cruise day, embarkation day, is a very long day of computer processing crap that the main frame should be able to do itself but instead needs a babysitter for.)
The four-two refers to four months on and two months off. Before you are in awe and envy of my two month vacation, do remember I work 120 days in a row, ten hours a day, before having two months off. I am not by any means complaining. Just saying it is well deserved.
All this was to explain how odd our workplace is because the office staff is constantly turning over. Every four months, each person goes on vacation for two months and there position is filled by someone else. Thus, for example, during your four months you will have two different bosses in the same position. When I started Joseph was the Hotel Director, now it is Herbert. This is true for every position.
Anyway, last week, by chance, 25% of the office staff turned over. Imagine coming into work one day and having 25% new staff. They are all returning staff, and know what they are doing, but you still have to adjust to everyone’s different styles.
In some ways it is great, you get rid of people who you don’t work well with. I lost one person I really clashed with…. But I got another one back. I guess there is a law: Conservation of Co-Workers Who Annoy You.
But it is a very strange environment to come into work one day and be working with completely different people, who do not need to be trained, who simply pick up where the predecessor left off. It is a little twilight-zone-ish, to simply wake up one day and have the office staff be different and yet everything else the same.
I find it interesting, so I thought I would share that twilight-zone oddity of my office life, at sea.
Monday, July 18, 2005
Random Pics
The Norwegian Fjords:
Me with trolls at the North Cape of Norway, where the sun does not set in the summer:
The view from my porthole when we dock in Oslo:
Me with trolls at the North Cape of Norway, where the sun does not set in the summer:
The view from my porthole when we dock in Oslo:
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Pictures of Tallin, Estonia
Tallin, Estonia was an amazing gem on the Baltic. It is a stir of Russian Orthodox, medieval fortifications, and summer charm.
The city is extremely old. Unlike many cities of its age it not only still has its original city walls but is also a functioning city within those walls. The walls two or three stories high, surround stone buildings with tiny windows and thick walls reaching to a castle and church at the high point of the city.
Even more charming was the pastel stucco fascades on these old, otherwise gray, stone buildings.
Many of the streets, narrow, spiraling, and too steep even for cars, revealed shops, café’s, galleries, offices and home. The cobble stones and the grade forces a careful step.
Where the streets opened up there were large cafés and kids in medieval garb selling fresh baked bread, still warm, and ripe strawberries.
I am not sure I would consider Tallinn a destination, as it is a long way to travel and I don’t know if there is much more to do. But if the opportunity arises, I highly recommend it a couple days wandering the old city.
It was an delightful highlight.
The city is extremely old. Unlike many cities of its age it not only still has its original city walls but is also a functioning city within those walls. The walls two or three stories high, surround stone buildings with tiny windows and thick walls reaching to a castle and church at the high point of the city.
Even more charming was the pastel stucco fascades on these old, otherwise gray, stone buildings.
Many of the streets, narrow, spiraling, and too steep even for cars, revealed shops, café’s, galleries, offices and home. The cobble stones and the grade forces a careful step.
Where the streets opened up there were large cafés and kids in medieval garb selling fresh baked bread, still warm, and ripe strawberries.
I am not sure I would consider Tallinn a destination, as it is a long way to travel and I don’t know if there is much more to do. But if the opportunity arises, I highly recommend it a couple days wandering the old city.
It was an delightful highlight.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Pictures for Kirsten
Modern Art, in Stockholm:
My phone bill...
We should all travel as much as my phone.
Tired... two crisis days in a row...
My phone bill...
We should all travel as much as my phone.
Tired... two crisis days in a row...
Thursday, July 07, 2005
On Bombs and Drifting Sail Boats
My mother, has that special over drive mother instinct.
If a bomb goes off near where I am, she gets worried. I was in Israel once, and a bomb went off killing three. I was fifty miles away. She cried with relief when we finally touched base.
So now, I am somewhere. It is hard to say where.
My mother saw the explosions in London on TV.
I could have been in London.
I could have been at sea.
I could have been in Europe.
But I was likely in London, on a train that blew up, at least in my mother’s logic.
Knowing my mother as I do, I called her as soon as I saw the news to assuage her fears. My voicemail said, "Hi mom. I am not in London. I am no where near London. I will not be in London any time soon, and I think I am in Norway."
My mother was glad to hear from me, even though she says she "decided" not to worry, which is different from not worrying.
Anyway… I have been at work since 5 am and it is 9 pm. At work is a funny thought… work was in Stravanger Norway for most of the day.
I was on the bridge this morning at about 5:30 am, as we headed into Stravanger, we were headed to run over a sail boat. That was cool. What does a 50,000 vessel do when an itty bitty sail boat drifts into its course?
Honk its horn.
It was very unsophisticated.
The whole scene was a bit boring. It was just me and the first officer on the bridge. No chaos. I looked out and said, "Hey Morton, we seem to be getting close to that buoy."
He looked at me like I had two heads. "You mean the sail boat?"
I am glad he was paying attention. (I am not blind… he had the binoculars, which only seems appropriate.)
I love Norway… just FYI, especially now that we are in southern Norway where the sun actually sets this time of year. It is so much easier to go to sleep when it is dark out.
So I think I will do that…
If a bomb goes off near where I am, she gets worried. I was in Israel once, and a bomb went off killing three. I was fifty miles away. She cried with relief when we finally touched base.
So now, I am somewhere. It is hard to say where.
My mother saw the explosions in London on TV.
I could have been in London.
I could have been at sea.
I could have been in Europe.
But I was likely in London, on a train that blew up, at least in my mother’s logic.
Knowing my mother as I do, I called her as soon as I saw the news to assuage her fears. My voicemail said, "Hi mom. I am not in London. I am no where near London. I will not be in London any time soon, and I think I am in Norway."
My mother was glad to hear from me, even though she says she "decided" not to worry, which is different from not worrying.
Anyway… I have been at work since 5 am and it is 9 pm. At work is a funny thought… work was in Stravanger Norway for most of the day.
I was on the bridge this morning at about 5:30 am, as we headed into Stravanger, we were headed to run over a sail boat. That was cool. What does a 50,000 vessel do when an itty bitty sail boat drifts into its course?
Honk its horn.
It was very unsophisticated.
The whole scene was a bit boring. It was just me and the first officer on the bridge. No chaos. I looked out and said, "Hey Morton, we seem to be getting close to that buoy."
He looked at me like I had two heads. "You mean the sail boat?"
I am glad he was paying attention. (I am not blind… he had the binoculars, which only seems appropriate.)
I love Norway… just FYI, especially now that we are in southern Norway where the sun actually sets this time of year. It is so much easier to go to sleep when it is dark out.
So I think I will do that…
Monday, July 04, 2005
A Month of One Lazy Afternoon
It is July 2, and I sit in the sun, bundled in sweatshirt and jeans, enjoying cool artic air. The sun rose at 1:40 this morning. It will not set for me this calendar day. I am nearing the artic circle.
This whole sun all day thing is very bizarre. You never have a clue what time it is. Take now, if I were to guess, I would say it is two in the afternoon. If you had asked me an hour ago, I would have said the same. If you ask me again in two hours, when it is actually two in the afternoon, I will likely say the same. It is a strange existence to go to bed in light of the mid-afternoon and wake up to light of the midmorning, only to check the clock and realize you have slept not fifteen hours, but only four.
It gives everything the feel of a lazy afternoon, all day long, for days. It has been lovely and warm in Norway… but funny to see these towhead people, blindingly white, laying in the summer sun.
Norway is a calm land of quiet sedate people, majestic scenery and the endless summer afternoon. Everyone speaks perfect English and is quite happy to help.
Norway is the home of the deck staff. I believe Norway has amongst the best maritime schools in the world, hence of the cruise ships I have been on, the deck staff is predominantly Norwegian. They, the deck staff, are home. Little tow headed kids are visiting the ship, and the energy is high, spirits up with the joy of seeing loved ones and home.
The country has a strange integration of Christian religion and pagan lore. For every cross you see, there is too a sprite if not a troll.
I thought I had a lot to write, and I do, but I am so tired. We work ten hours a day, standard and some days are more like sixteen. Last embarkation day I worked midnight to eight am, eleven to six pm and then was paged and worked eight pm to ten pm. I had to be up at five am the next day.
To be quite honest, I hate the work. But I love the life. I like walking into the mess and being greeted by friends. I like how bizarre it is to ask, “Where are we and what is the currency?” (This is a question asked frequently by the crew. We don’t pay much attention.)
There are three ships in our fleet, the other two are in Alaska and the Mediterranean. I have fellow IT Officers I can contact on those ships when I need to bounce ideas off of someone. These are people I chat with online and make jokes with everyday, yet have never spoken to or met. I will ordain them, my virtual co-workers.
I highly recommend virtual co-workers, they are all the helpfulness and none of the politics.
I will meet them eventually as there is a bit of movement from ship to ship. We have a good time, bantering back and forth.
Yesterday we had a problem on this ship. We emailed the other ships for help.
We have the omen or idle or icon of an African face, named Tokolash. He is mounted on our server rack. You rub his forehead for luck. My co-worker, Adele, prays religiously and believes fervently in the power of Tokolash. Anyway, we had a problem on our mainframe. She decided to rub Tokolash and an hour later the problem stopped. We sent an email to the other ships saying we had solved the problem and they should see the picture for an explanation. The picture was her rubbing Tokolash.
To which one of the other ships asked if Tokolash can switch DLT tapes (a backup method on major computer systems), cause then they want one.
So we have a good time. So, yeah, I guess I recommend server rack deities as well as virtual co-workers.
Another thing about cruise life is crew drills. Every cruise we have a crew drill. This involves five hundred and some crew members putting on neon life jackets and going to an appointed location in order to help guests evacuate, followed by evacuation to an upper deck.
Some people have more active rolls than others. I for example, have to make sure that fifty people stations on five different decks are manning their stations. I report back to an officer. As I was walking to the officer I passed two people, one in uniform, one in casual clothes, in their big bright bulky orange reflective life jackets, on an office couch, lounging, each separately engrossed in reading a book. It was by far the most ludicrous sight I have seen in a while.
Anyway, it is foggy and wet and cold on deck… which is kind of what I imagine the weather is at home at the moment. I am going to grab some lunch before the mess closes.
Oh here is another tidbit. Everyday the captain comes on the PA and talks about the day. He includes the locations of our sister ships as well as our own.
Except our captain keeps getting it wrong! He used to be captain of the one of the other ships. He switches our ship, in reading the bulletin, with his old ship. Hence he says we are where his old ship is.
It throws the guests a little off when the Captain says we are in the Mediterranean and yet we are supposed to be in Norway.
“Well, I did see him have a couple glasses of wine last night…”
This whole sun all day thing is very bizarre. You never have a clue what time it is. Take now, if I were to guess, I would say it is two in the afternoon. If you had asked me an hour ago, I would have said the same. If you ask me again in two hours, when it is actually two in the afternoon, I will likely say the same. It is a strange existence to go to bed in light of the mid-afternoon and wake up to light of the midmorning, only to check the clock and realize you have slept not fifteen hours, but only four.
It gives everything the feel of a lazy afternoon, all day long, for days. It has been lovely and warm in Norway… but funny to see these towhead people, blindingly white, laying in the summer sun.
Norway is a calm land of quiet sedate people, majestic scenery and the endless summer afternoon. Everyone speaks perfect English and is quite happy to help.
Norway is the home of the deck staff. I believe Norway has amongst the best maritime schools in the world, hence of the cruise ships I have been on, the deck staff is predominantly Norwegian. They, the deck staff, are home. Little tow headed kids are visiting the ship, and the energy is high, spirits up with the joy of seeing loved ones and home.
The country has a strange integration of Christian religion and pagan lore. For every cross you see, there is too a sprite if not a troll.
I thought I had a lot to write, and I do, but I am so tired. We work ten hours a day, standard and some days are more like sixteen. Last embarkation day I worked midnight to eight am, eleven to six pm and then was paged and worked eight pm to ten pm. I had to be up at five am the next day.
To be quite honest, I hate the work. But I love the life. I like walking into the mess and being greeted by friends. I like how bizarre it is to ask, “Where are we and what is the currency?” (This is a question asked frequently by the crew. We don’t pay much attention.)
There are three ships in our fleet, the other two are in Alaska and the Mediterranean. I have fellow IT Officers I can contact on those ships when I need to bounce ideas off of someone. These are people I chat with online and make jokes with everyday, yet have never spoken to or met. I will ordain them, my virtual co-workers.
I highly recommend virtual co-workers, they are all the helpfulness and none of the politics.
I will meet them eventually as there is a bit of movement from ship to ship. We have a good time, bantering back and forth.
Yesterday we had a problem on this ship. We emailed the other ships for help.
We have the omen or idle or icon of an African face, named Tokolash. He is mounted on our server rack. You rub his forehead for luck. My co-worker, Adele, prays religiously and believes fervently in the power of Tokolash. Anyway, we had a problem on our mainframe. She decided to rub Tokolash and an hour later the problem stopped. We sent an email to the other ships saying we had solved the problem and they should see the picture for an explanation. The picture was her rubbing Tokolash.
To which one of the other ships asked if Tokolash can switch DLT tapes (a backup method on major computer systems), cause then they want one.
So we have a good time. So, yeah, I guess I recommend server rack deities as well as virtual co-workers.
Another thing about cruise life is crew drills. Every cruise we have a crew drill. This involves five hundred and some crew members putting on neon life jackets and going to an appointed location in order to help guests evacuate, followed by evacuation to an upper deck.
Some people have more active rolls than others. I for example, have to make sure that fifty people stations on five different decks are manning their stations. I report back to an officer. As I was walking to the officer I passed two people, one in uniform, one in casual clothes, in their big bright bulky orange reflective life jackets, on an office couch, lounging, each separately engrossed in reading a book. It was by far the most ludicrous sight I have seen in a while.
Anyway, it is foggy and wet and cold on deck… which is kind of what I imagine the weather is at home at the moment. I am going to grab some lunch before the mess closes.
Oh here is another tidbit. Everyday the captain comes on the PA and talks about the day. He includes the locations of our sister ships as well as our own.
Except our captain keeps getting it wrong! He used to be captain of the one of the other ships. He switches our ship, in reading the bulletin, with his old ship. Hence he says we are where his old ship is.
It throws the guests a little off when the Captain says we are in the Mediterranean and yet we are supposed to be in Norway.
“Well, I did see him have a couple glasses of wine last night…”
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