A New Tattoo?

 What do you think?

No...I am not getting tatted up. No ink for me, although Deck Boss has a couple of tattoos himself. Ok, maybe a couple is not the right word. Fifteen is the correct word, to be precise.

Anyway, while I have been battling some health nonsense, I have spent A LOT of time trawling the interwebz. I use my phone most often, but sometimes I resort to dragging myself into the living room and working on the desktop pc when my phone aggravates me and makes me cuss crazy. I am a night owl by nature, and inhaled steroid medications make me hyper so late nights with restless mind syndrome have become the norm for me. I Google and Google image search things like "merchant mariner" and "tugboats" and "tugboat wife" (where this very blog comes up about a 100 times with pictures) "merchant mariner wife" (Where the blog Callie's Mariner comes up about 1,000,000 times! Check out this blog at http://www.calliesmariner.com/ She is so cool. I want to be her when I grow up)

A few days ago, Deck Boss posted the photo above to my Facebook wall. I loved it immediately. I wish the image was of higher resolution so I could have it made into a t-shirt. It would make a stellar, totally awesome tattoo, if I were so inclined to participate in the inking of my body. But I think I will leave the ink to Deck Boss and less permanent things like eye liner and mascara to me.....although I hear you can get those tatted on now too.....but I am not brave enough to try it!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Really Cool Reading!

While nursing my addiction scrolling through Facebook the other day, I came across a suggested page to "like". It looks like this:

Well, if you know me, you know that caught my eye! I had to investigate.
I scrolled.
I read.
I ooed and aaahed.
I "stretched to enlarge" pictures.
I may have drooled a little.

Between my love of the water, the love of my mariner and my love of photography, I think I hit the jackpot on this one.

I came across this picture, with credit given to Brian Swartzbaugh:

The caption reads: "You think you have a tough time managing certain spaces in your SUV? Imagine pushing this load around corners on the river."

And this photo...which made me so thankful my man stays ON the tugboat instead of scampering around between the tug and a cargo ship....

If you have time, check out the Seamen's Church Institute on Facebook. There are some really neat articles and up close photos of maritime action! Or check them out online at http://www.seamenschurch.org/


Have a great day!

Anchors Aweigh!!!!

Happy Sunday! I wanted to share a couple of photos with you from our lives recently....

First off...The Navy is in town! Yep! The USS Farragut is in town for the weekend, so our fair city is partying it up as only she can. Lots of beer flowing, lots of men wandering...lots of young ladies more than willing to welcome them into town! I know....I love me some sailors!

Anyway, our local newspaper has live cams on the riverfront, and I found this one on www.savannahnow.com:

See the little yellow tugboat? Yep! That is my Deck Boss on Tug Georgia helping push the ship to the dock.

This morning Butch (Deck Boss) sent me this photo from another ship heading upriver....

That is the view of the bow of Tug Georgia...with a HUUUUUUGE anchor on it!
Holy ANchors Deck Boss!

Anchors Aweigh bloggy friends...until next time!

A New Name In A New Season

Does your man have a nickname?

Practically since we met, Butch and I had nicknames for each other. He called me "Panda Bear" and I called him "Jamie Bear". Over time, they changed to "Miss Panda" and "Brown Bear". Now it's usually just "Bear" and "Brown".  Hey.....it's been a long 18 years together, ok???? Don't judge my insanity because it's different from yours!

Anyway....when Butch first started on the tugboats he learned that everyone was assigned a nickname. You don't choose your own. it's earned. After a while, his nickname was assigned. It was "da Butcher". based on his previous employment as a meatcutter. Over time....it was shortened to just "Butch". (Hey...it's the deep South...we shorten EVERYTHING!!!!! Examples: maters. taters, y'all, fixin' to, etc.) Boat after boat and crew change after crew change, he's been "Butch". As parents of a 17 year old girl, it's been very effective that he has that nickname. No questions asked.

But as the song says, "It's a new season, it's a new day...." My man called me today with the news that since being on this latest boat with this crew, he has been assigned a new nickname. Ready for this?

Meet......"Deck Boss"!

It's Been A Great Day!

In fact, it's been a great few days! Butch came home Friday, and I was sure glad to see him. Sometimes a week away seems like much longer than an actual 7 days..or 168 hours. I traveled last week to Baton Rouge with the Princess to see family, and the miles only made him seem farther away.

I was nervous about how he would come home. A new boat, a new crew, a new shift, a new schedule, a new Captain.....I wondered how the move would work out.  However, when Butch came in smiling ear to ear Friday morning, I knew right right away that he had an excellent week! The change was good....he loves the new boat, the new Captain, the new schedule, and everything about his new position. I am so thankful to God for all of His blessings!

Notice Anything Different?

Yes indeed...it was time to update the old bloggeroo.......
New cover photo.
New color scheme.
New layout.

But if you look closely, you will notice an even bigger change.

See it?


Put on your glasses. (They're probably perched on top of your head, or at least that's where I usually find mine)

I will give you a hint. It's in the photo.....

.....which was provided to me courtesy of Captain Anthony Gober.

See it now?

Well do ya?

Ah, my astute blog reader...I assure you that your eyes are not playing tricks on you.
That is indeed a different tugboat.
And why did I change my header picture to a different tugboat photo you may ask?
The answer is simple.

It's a new picture of a different tug because that tug is now home to da Butcher. It was provided by a new Captain because he is now Butch's Captain.  Instead of Tug Florida, Butch now calls Tug Georgia home.

Here's to fair seas and following winds!!!!!

Seriously???

Geesh! How long has it been since I posted??? I knew I was behind, but had no idea it had been 3 1/2 months since I posted! In all fairness though, I did have good intentions. I even downloaded the blogger app to my android phone, thinking that would make it easier for me to post on the go (since it seems I am CONSTANTLY on the go anyway). Boy was I wrong! What a nightmare! I got the app installed easily....but then.....oh Google....with our love/hate relationship. First I had to add an account on my phone and I foolishly assumed that I could use my already existing sign in, Silly me, that caused my phone to spaz and lock me out of Google all together. I went through recovery steps while peering closely at the micro-fine print on my phone....all to no avail, I fussed and cussed fiddled and FINALLY got the stupid thing to work. Then I attempted a post.

WELL.....that was a joke for several reasons:

1. The print is very small and I couldn't read what I was typing.     
2.  I am totally used to auto correct on my phone and could not remember to capitalize "I" and insert an apostrophe in "I'm" and "we're". 
3. My batter got low and threatened to shut my phone off. My darling baby girl had my charger. Hence my agitation. I may or may not have cussed. 

I gave up.
Tonight, I sit at my trusty desktop with it's large monitor and my bag of pretzels and sippy cup of wine, er, Coke.

What I was trying to do was post some pictures from my phone that I have been meaning to upload for sometime. Enough drama....let's see them!

 Here is Tug Bulldog doing her thing.....When standing next to the tug it looks big, but next to this giant cargo ship she looks tiny!The blue rope is a working line.  It is slowing the cargo ship down and assisting in the steering of the ship. It will help them maneuver through the river. Incidentally, this cargo ship was built in 2005, and according to Wikipedia it was at that time of the the largest in the world. Read more about this ship here .

 This is Tug General Oglethorpe heading upriver to Georgia Ports. She used to be a Coast Guard Ice Breaker. She is the oldest in Savannah's fleet and is a single screw boat, meaning she has one propeller.







top photo: courtesy of Frankie Davis
Bottom photo: source unknown

Tug Pictures

Just a regular old day at the dock......

It was low tide, so the boats were down low. They remind me of my cat when they look like this....hunkered down and ready to spring. Although I have never seen a tugboat "spring", I have seen them move rather quickly.

Bows of Tug Florida and Tug Savannah. I like to watch them parallel park at the dock, especially two deep!

When I first reviewed these pictures, I wondered why in the world I took a photo of half of Tug Florida and half of the other tug company's boat. Then I focused, moved the cat off the keyboard, and realized I was being nosy. This was the day before Saint Patrick's Day, (see previous post about that madness) and police boats were already in place on the river. At this point, they were all tied together, floating. Probably the only boats on the river without beer on board. At least I hope no beer was on board.

More nosiness.....really wish my phone camera had an excellent zoom lens...

Hey! It's me! And the Butcher!

Up a little closer...thank you Princess for being our photographer!

It's just us again....

Back views of Tug General Oglethorpe, Tug Georgia and Tug Bulldog

Front view downriver. All tugs at the dock, but some hidden in crafty parallel parking maneuvers :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saint Patrick's Day

Living in a port city is always an adventure. Our fair city is beautiful, and one of many people's favorite historic cities. Many weddings are held here and I just saw an article that listed us very high on America's List of Most Charming Cities.

However, the month of March in the Hostess City is different. EVERYONE falls into one of three distinct categories. To some, the city is one big party. (This group is tourists who came to party and a lot of locals) We host the second largest Saint Patrick's Day Parade in the country, which sounds like a great big good time until you factor in all the drunken revelers. This brings us to the second group. myself included, who avoid the downtown area at all costs this time of year. Hotels are booked a year in advance. Parking, which is always a challenge downtown, is even worse. Unsuspecting tourists who don't understand one way streets are just the reason for locals to throw up the one finger salute, and don't EVEN get me started on the perils of parallel parking. The third group, while small, still very much exists and contains unsuspecting folks who don't know about our festivities and come expecting a romantic trip full of azalea blossoms, dogwood trees, cool breezes, historic homes and horse drawn carriage rides. Boy are they surprised!

Anyway, whether you love St. Patrick's Day or can't wait for it to be over......there is always something going on. Even in tugboat world.

Today I bring you pictures courtesy of my hubby and his captain, of one of the ships the escorted in this weekend. Meet the USS Hue City.

 Thanks to my hubby Butch for this photo, which he posted on Facebook and titles "Lock up your daughters"!

Here you see the bow of Tug Florida as she follows the USS Hue City upriver.

This photo is courtesy of Cap'n Schaaf. :)

Even though I was a US Navy wife for 10 years, I was unfamiliar with the USS Hue City. Thanks to Wikipedia, I can educate myself (and you!)

USS Hué City (CG-66) is a Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruiser serving in the United States Navy. She is named for the Battle of Hue, fought in the city during the Tet Offensive 1968 by the 1st Marine Regiment (composed of 1st Battalion/1st Marines, 1st Battalion/5th Marines, 2nd Battalion/5th Marines and attached units) during the Vietnam War. The three battalion commanders were the honored guests at her 1991 commissioning.
Hué City is the only U.S. Navy ship named for a Vietnam War battle, although it had been planned to name LHA-5 as USS Khe Sanh after the Battle of Khe Sanh, but that ship was commissioned in 1976 as the USS Peleliu. As the only US warship named for a battle that took place during the Vietnam War, the USS Hué City has had the opportunity to reach out to the veterans of the battle for which she is named. She has done so frequently by holding a Memorial for the Battle of Hué annually every year the ship's schedule permits. The Memorial has served as a great opportunity for veterans to re-unite, meet the crew, and honor their fallen comrades.
The warship took part in the Sixth International Naval Review in New York City in July 2000, attended by President Bill Clinton.
Recently, she successfully completed consecutive deployments to the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea.


Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone!

Big Boy BooBoos Big Time

Working on a tug boat is hard. It's hard mentally, because you are away from home and family for an extended amount of time. You are gone half the year, which means that lots of holidays, birthdays, school plays, recitals and sports events get missed. (Did I mention the Superbowl? No???? Yup. He missed it. The sheer horror.........missing the Superbowl in the deep South where football is religion!) Butch hasn't been home for Christmas in 8 years. He has missed almost that many Easters and birthdays and even (gasp) Valentine's Day and our anniversary dates. And Halloween, not that we celebrate it. Most every Saint Patrick's Day too, he is motoring up and down the river, spraying green tinted water for the drunk tourists and locals as they party it up on the day that EVERYONE in the city is Irish.

It is also hard physically. There are a lot of heavy lines to pull and lift, lots of sanding, grinding and painting. Lots of boat washing to get the salt water off and protect the paint, lots of window cleaning to ensure good clear visibility for the Captain, lots of deck work to be sure things aren't slippery when wet and lots of lines to repair when they part. Lots of work and little sleep.

So, after a few years of this, it takes it's toll on the body. Enter Butch's latest boo-boo.....a torn meniscus.

I didn't know the human body had a meniscus, much less where it was or what it did or how bad it could HURT until I saw my man crumple in pain when he moved wrong. First, we saw our family doctor who injected the knee with Kenalog and prescribed Prendisone to help healing, suspecting arthritis or just a wrong move was the culprit. When those treatments lasted only a couple of weeks, an MRI was ordered and it showed the real issue....a torn meniscus.

It was a routine procedure, done as outpatient surgery. Butch came home the night before surgery so he could rest. I shaved his knee for him (SO THANKFUL Butch isn't a furry gorilla man) and fed him well before the imposed midnight fast began.

The next day we arrived at the hospital bright and early. Notice I did NOT say bright eyes and bushy tailed. I am neither of these before noon. If you want bright eyed and bushy tailed pre-noon, I suggest you go find yourself a squirrel.

Since we happened to know the head surgical nurse, she allowed our daughter to help with the prep before surgery. (The Princess plans to go into the field of Sports Medicine)

After he was scrubbed up, he got drugged up.....

And then surgery. It went very well, and the doctor was able to do the surgery exactly as he had planned. (There was a suspicion that the tear may be worse than seen on MRI, and that some plastic hooks and screws may have to be used. Praise God, they weren't needed.)

He came home and rested fairly well that night, but the next morning......drama. He couldn't feel his foot and his knee and calf were very swollen. We went to his doctor's office where they immediately drained 58cc of blood and fluid from the knee. Ew.

My poor man :(

After that, healing was easier. He lost almost a month of work, but he is back at it now. His only restrictions are not to kneel in water and to not dig at his incisions, lest they pop open. We've been blessed by so many friends, family members and church family during his time off work.  We are hoping he can work all week and not have any difficulties, so please keep us in prayer!