I am at sea now and due to get

off in about 24 hours which means I will have about 2 weeks to fritter around with.

Don't expect much more than a placeholder post on the day I get off because that simply is the way it is. There is a lot to do before I get off. This vessel must be returned to the pristine condition I found it in and that means a lot of housework.

On the other hand, everybody tries to keep it up so it is not as bad as some that I have worked. I used to hate that because everything would be left until the last night and then all hands would not get a wink of sleep because they were too damned busy getting things ready for the oncoming crew.

Over the years the requirements have changed and these days they actually make a lot more sense.

We used to put out little table settings and doileys and all sorts of stuff. The wastebaskets would be unused and if you drank a soda you would go outside and either toss the can over the side (illegal and stupid) or reopen a trash bag and store it there.

Meals for the last 36 hours used to be nothing more than sandwiches if you were lucky because nobody wanted to make any sort of mess.

My relief and I discussed that a couple of years ago and we came up with something that is a more realistic standard. I generally turn over a neat, clean, operating piece of equipment to him and he does likewise. We both understand that all the 'Night before the Big Inspection so we sleep on the floor' crap is nothing but misery so we simply changed the standard to something more realistic.

Still, there is a lot of work to be done and Good Old Piccolo will find himself on the handle end of a mop and that is simply the way it will be.

I actually like posting in the morning when I wake up and start my day when I am ashore. It is a good way to start a day.

Anyway, when I get off I have to fight with a bunch of people over our property tax that just jumped through the roof because the people in the county drove past and used the wrong formula to count square footage.

The house is a cape with a 7/12 pitched roof and I believe they used the formula for a 12/12 pitch which would give more square footage to the top floor.

Anyway I will have a few things to do when I get off.
It won't all be peaches and cream, but there will be time to have some fun.

Oh, yeah. When I get off I will be making a stop on the way home to give some guy a hand for a short time. Seems shooter/ham out there just upgraded his ham ticket to General and he wants a few ideas for an HF rig antenna in a small yard.

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