Someone once asked me where I got my education.

I told them that the twelve years I spent in public school were a waste and I learned nothing there. During that time the education I got was at the kitchen table being taught things by my father.

After that it was three years in the United States Army, a year living in a tipi in the Rockies, eight years commercial fishing in Alaska and thirty years in the Merchant Marine.


I entered the Merchant fleet as an ordinary seaman and for a few years afterwards I would park a cup of coffee and a pack of Camels next to a textbook on the galley table and sit down and study. As I near retirement I still read up on things work related. Education is a never ending thing.

Under a year later I was an Able Seaman with a tankerman's endorsement AND an entry level officer. I added a few other things over time, studying at the kitchen/galley table. A year after that I became Captain Piccolo.

As a result I have never been without work.

It is interesting to note that every classroom I was in that was worth a damn I was permitted to smoke in. That's an Old School Hawsepipe education!






To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY