*quivering with exhaustion*

 This is just a quick update to let everyone know that I am still alive and kicking. Been awhile since I updated the blog because for the last three weeks I have been working the experience of a lifetime on a lobster boat in New Brunswick.



 Some truths... 

 1. I am weak....not in spirit but physically....this is a fundamental truth that 38 yrs of soft living           produces. The ability of the boys that grew up on the water is phenomenal. Yes they may all be crippled by the time they are my age but here's hoping longevity to them in their chosen employment.

 2. I am not a fisherman....yet. This thing that I am experiencing is awesome and I am loving it...but I am "knot retarded", sea "unsafe" and when the shit hits the fan and you need to be there...you better know that I am really just there for the ride because I am not to be trusted with the sea worthy-ness of a .5mil boat. My sea cadet dad and the Commander (Steve P) might be proud of me for working the boat in all conditions...but they'd be disgusted with my ability to rope it down under duress  ;)

 3. I am tired....if my mom didn't read this I could type swear words for ten minutes and still not express my fatigue. Tired..everything weighs 100lbs and just for me to make it through the day I am setting a new personal best every morning I put on my big boy boots. 

 4. As a greenhorn they test you...I've never made worse money in my life...which is offset by my amazingly cheap living scheme (heck yeah to the Chariot) and my love of cash ;p cash makes it better...4.00hr doesn't make it better but Marine Law says - no minimum wage, no minimum hours, no guarantee of next day employment and no compensation for accident or dismemberment. So there...

 5. I love the hierarchy of the boat. At the college I found myself begging someone to just kick my ass or anyone's ass for that matter, Employment means more to me when someone is driving you...and rewarding you in kind for your direct efforts. Working for my mentor Lantz was like that. Rode us like slaves (funny because the ship I am on is nicknamed the slave ship...also ironic after visiting all of the civil war sights and coming to a simple conclusion that the concept of slavery didn't end it just became colourless and therefore universal)...but at the end of it, you are better at whatever it is you were trying to do. Lantz gave me two philosophies...1. it's not good enough. The kitchen crew used to hate those words..good enough is burger king shit, not what Lantz (or we) did. 2. Listen, ask questions if you didn't understand and then get it done. No one ever got mad at you for asking a question about what it is they were trying to get you to do, especially if it's something they are passionate it about. They might throw you out of the way in a fit of "hurry" but in my experience they will never get mad...just expect you to have learned whatever it is you needed to learn and not f it up on the next round.



 6.... life rocks!! ;) pics to come!!