Lefty D'Angelo just broke in a new dispatcher the other day and I had to answer for it.

Communications had been lousy for a couple of days and I was getting a little behind on a few things as a result. We were pretty much out of cell phone range which means we were out of computer range which means our reports were running late.

Cell phone coverage generally opens up before the internet does so as soon as we got a semi solid signal my mate called into the office to give the times and amounts of our recent cargo discharge. He opted to do this by phone instead of fighting with a balky computer that was on the edge of the signal and was too hit or miss to be reliable.

It was a new dispatcher that answered and when my mate asked him if he had gotten any of the times and amounts from other sources, the dispatcher said he hadn't.

"Start at the beginning," said the dispatcher.

"In the beginning," entoned my mate,"There was nothing and God created the heavens and the earth...And God created man and...Oh yeah, I'm gonna skip all the 'begats' because they're pretty boring."
He then went of for a couple of minutes with his version of the Book of Genesis and the creation of the earth. I knew this was too good to miss, so I turned the phone speaker on.

"And twenty-eight centuries after Moses, the vessel came alongside at 0830 and the first line was cast and affixed to the quay. And the dockman saw that it was good. And we went all fast at 0845 where it was seen by all the fishes in the sea and all of the birds in the air and it was good."

"The inspector boarded at 0850 and commenced his inspection, completing it at 0930 and determined there were 50,354.76 gross barrels on board and he then proceeded to net this cargo out, arriving at the amount of 50,016.73 barrels and he departed the vessel at 0945."

"And at 0955 the hose was attached and it was seen as secure. At 1005 the transfer of cargo commenced..."

And on and on he went until all of the times and amounts were passed onto dispatch. (And it was good.)

Of course, it wasn't very long before my cell phone rang and someone wanted to know about this guy.

"Leave him alone," I answered. "It's taken me months to train this guy and I now have him just the way I want him. Besides, it's your fault. After all, YOU wanted him to start at the beginning and he did!"

Bet you next time the dispatcher tells him to start with the 'first line' time.
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There is an awful lot of talent out here on the water and a whole bunch of it is shoreside talent that never seems to get used out here, but is constantly being used ashore.

You'd think that a bunch of sailors would be nothing more than a bunch of drunks when they got ashore.

While I am quite certain that there is no shortage of drunks, it would be interesting to note that there are also quite a number of people out here that do a variety of different things ashore.

There is one more than one guy I know of that has built a hot rod or some other car from scratch, another guy is presently building a house on a lot he owns and as it roughed in and figures that he wll be in it by the beginning of fall. He intends to finish it room by room over the next couple of years and will wind up with a pretty nice place that is paid for well ahead of the normal mortgage cycle.

A know of two painters and a couple more serious photographers that are very talented and stay busy with their hobbies. One of the photographers brings his camera to sea and is always getting some damned good photos out here. He's amazing.

One guy out here has a green thumb and has grown roses every summer for years and he lives near one of the photographers who has taken pictures of the roses. They are awful pretty.

Some guys, as is to be expected, hunt and fish and a couple of them have built commercial fishing vessels in their yards and work them on their time off. (To me that sounds like a busman's holiday)

There is another guy that skydives and another one that is an accomplished sailplane pilot and yet another one that hang glides.

There is also a guy I have met out here that builds very intricate doll houses and sells them. He told me that he actually figures he is doing it for much less than minimum wage when it is all over and done with, but he does it simply because he enjoys doing it.

Someone told me about a guy out here that built himself a working airplane. I believe him.

Yet another is a reserve policeman and a couple more I know of that are volunteer fireman and also one guy is a part time EMT.

Yet all of these guys are out here simply because they want to be here.

It can be interesting looking at my fellow sailors backgrounds at times.

Like a lot of things, there is generally more than what meets the eye.

my other blog is: http://officerpiccolo.blogspot.com/ http://piccolosbutler.blogspot.com/