My alarm kicked me up at 22:30 today. (My shift starts at midnight) – I knew I was going to take a rest from the training but what I didn’t expect was to fall deep asleep again.
Like I blacked out.
Next thing I know Rich (my room mate) is knocking on the door. Luckily he needed to go to the gym so at least I could get my shit together and leave the room nice and tidy. Just as well we were at the dockyard and not on shift, out at sea.
So yeah check my new room out (I got the top bunk):
Getting down from there is a nightmare. That ladder does absolute Jack. What I really need is a fireman’s pole to slide down. But then again I sleep completely naked and the thought of where a friction burn may occur is making my eyes water.
Why do I gotta move cabins?
I’ve had to move into another cabin and share because it’s pretty busy just now at the dockyard. The vessel is maxed out with engineers trying to do their work. I haven’t slept in a bunk for a while (maybe 3 years). It gets warmer because there’s not as much circulation – you’re closer to the ceiling. I woke up and I was sweating (despite the temperature turned right down). I couldn’t be sure though because I had a bad dream about Hiss, the snake from Jungle Book. Sharing the cabin’s fine though because Rich works days and I work nights. We’re never in the room at the same time. Oh yeah and I banged my head at least 3 times during the night.
I’m tired…, erm again
I needed to take a day off from the training completely today and that whole sleeping-in thing just confirmed that. Either that, or my sleep was so poor that my paltry 5-6 hours just wasn’t cutting it. Plus I woke up and my elbow joint was just sore. Plain sore. Too much punching action.
Want to write more
I was thinking of my short story The Kid and even though it constituted the equivalent of a a few hundred words… that’s the first piece I’ve ever finished writing since I was 15.
And you know what?
…I really enjoyed just reading something complete. I just hope I can translate that into something bigger. I’ve wanted to publish something since I was 15 but back then my old man stopped me from pursuing that. He got it into his head that going science and engineering was a safer bet. Maybe he was right (because judging from the number of stories I’ve trashed maybe I’m not a natural storyteller) but it’d mean the world for me to be able to get a story out. Something finished.
That boxing gear we ordered on welfare arrived!
Did I mention that some of the other crew took a bit of interest in my boxing? So I think some of those guys wanted to try it at some stage so I was allowed to buy a new heavy bag. (The one I resurrected was pretty old and by week 2 I’d punched all the sand to the bottom). We also decided to buy some gloves and some focus pads and some other bits and pieces. Hung the bag up just today – check it out…
It’s 1.5m tall – that’s 5-feet. It’s pretty solid. Had to do some trickery with the chain to get it to hang higher. It sits pretty nicely now.
Reunited with my Reeboks
I left these on another boat almost 4 years ago. The crewing manager promised me I’d return but I never did and they actually demobbed her a few weeks ago and I got some personals back. These are just a pair of Reeboks I bought when I was in Galveston, Texas. First pair of Reeboks ever but they’re such a great running shoe. They only cost me 45 bucks (compared to some of the crazy 200 dollar jobs you can find) but they’re the only running shoes I ever tried to buy thereafter. I don’t think Reebok make the Realflex model like this anymore. There’s something about this design I love so much. It’s a shame they stopped. The new one’s aren’t so nice. I’ll treasure these until the day the grip dies.
Poppy is getting better
I mentioned my dog had a stroke while I was away but she’s getting better. She’s walking stronger, getting back to her old self. Stairs are still a bit of a problem for her but she’s improving all the time. I’ve got 4 more days away from my wife and dog (and the cats) but I miss them so very much.
One more thing I need to mention…
When I started writing this blog I just wanted to keep a diary on my boxing… but I read and follow other people. I didn’t expect that I’d take an interest like that but some people are keeping diaries on their illnesses, their problems and their worries and I found that I really care about those people. I want them to get better and get over their hurdles. I’d love for people like peaceableme to not feel so forlorn or for boxingandballet to feel better at work. It makes my problem of trying to make my left cross better seem so trivial and stupid. I hope they’re all fine.
Here’s a view of Rissa in Norway where we are just now. This is about as dark as it ever gets this time of year and there was more light than this because the exposure on my camera phone wasn’t so great. (I was stood underneath the helideck)
Hey tomorrow I’ll tell you the story of how I took this forklift truck for a joyride, how does that sound? – Still sounds crap maybe? Oh well, I’ll try and make a fair stab of making it seem interesting.
A Southpaw Swan 