It was a long time coming and maybe I lost my head a little along the way.My Merchant Mariner Credential upgrade finally went through and I'm none the worse over it.Seems that the wind was taken out of my sails along the way and looking back I should never have let that happen.Never accept what things are,anything can be changed.A simple to the point quote a captain told me the other day.I find myself playing musical boats over the last few weeks and I'm not complaining.The new MMD came in the mail in late December after I fulfilled the National Maritime recommendations.I didn't celebrate.smile,pat myself on the back or anything along those lines.I told myself,this is just another rung on the ladder,keep climbing.So here I sit on the tug that turned my life around.After a few strange days dredging on a tug in the NYC harbor I was shifted to the tug that I went to Panama on.Funny thing is the crew on board was exactly the same guys I went to Panama with.I had never had a word with any of them in the last two years.Coming on board it was like I never left.The nicknames we had all given to each other and all the old jokes and pranks came back up.The camaraderie of this boat is how I imagined it would be five years ago when I decided to make a career in this line of work.I know there is a good chance this isn't a permanent boat change but it's nice to be back amongst some of the best American Merchant Seaman I have had a chance to work with.
1 comment:
It's funny....those pieces of paper. I still have my diplomas hanging in my office. It's not that I went to amazing colleges, or that I am in a field where your specific college makes a huge difference, but dammit, I am proud of those pieces of paper, so there they hang!
Nothing wrong with being proud of "making the hurdle."
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