December 8th Update from Diego Garcia

What's up scumbags

Just loaded a WIFI card since as you know, my internet on the ship is complete dogshit. I can browse PFA, but every time I try to reply to or start a thread, I get cock blocked from the slow ass connection.

Anyway, obv I am at the bar now after 14 straight days at sea back and forth from Diego to Singapore. Unfortunately, we just drop anchor long enough in Singapore to load cargo and refuel...then make a U turn and head back to Diego.

Really nothing too dramatic or newsworthy to report, because quite honestly I have been too busy working my fucking ass off 14 hours a day.

Wake up at 5 AM, prep and serve breakfast...quick break before prepping lunch and dinner...serve lunch...work 2 hours of overtime cleaning or organizing stores...then dinner.

I haven't worked this hard for years and my body is paying the price. I developed a severe case of carpal tunnel that I actually went to the base clinic for treatment.

Its been so bad I considered getting off the ship on a medical release, but decided to slug it out. The wrist splints and ibuprofen they gave me were pretty much worthless...but in the middle of the night, the pain is so bad it wakes me up...if you've ever had carpal tunnel you know what I'm talking about.

OK enough of that sob story.

Willie chilled out after I basically dropped the hammer on his face. We are getting along fine and coexisting peacefully. He is getting off in a couple weeks when we get back to Singapore

JFC I just lost almost 1500 words of content I'd written before this lame ass book WiFi logged me out

Guess I have to just write posts in short spurts.

Will try to upload recent pics and videos as the opportunity presents itself

Diego Garcia...the land the internet forgot. So lame

Microsoft Word

ctrl+S

OK this video is very cool IMO

I was leaning out over the bow of the ship when we were in the middle of the Indian Ocean last week and the conditions were incredibly smooth. The ocean was like glass. Notice the reflections of the clouds on the water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Aubv5cbywY

Just gonna upload a bunch of random pics taken over the last 2 weeks....hope they all post properly





Jumbo Shrimp & Chicken Breast Kebobs



Trolling for Wahoo 2 days out of Diego



Random sunset last week 1000 miles from land



My crew eat like royalty



Departing Singapore last week



Monster Sub's



Amazing sunrise at sea

Wow, fucking awesome.

WP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iID8alcrMmc

Sunset on the Indian Ocean

re: carpal tunnel
splints only help while sleeping
don't be afraid to remove aluminum part and bend to fit your arm and palm when hand is perfectly aligned with arm. bend it so there is no contact with your arm where tendons and veins are visible near the palm and about an inch further up the palm.
ibu can only reduce inflammation. might help at night. 50/50 800mg
get surgery as soon as you have 5-7 days off. should walk out of surgery with a bandaid and sutures that bioasorb.
make willie do more chopping and carrying heavy stuff up from storage.
try to hold things looser than normal

amazing pictures, looks awesome.

thanks for sharing.

ship the perc to tyde for the carpal tunnel.

Good call on sticking it out, got to get this first trip on the books.

Try to get your hands on some lidocaine patches. Probably can't use them while cooking, but after a long day, they will numb the pain enough to sleep.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tyde

Its been so bad I considered getting off the ship on a medical release, but decided to slug it out. The wrist splints and ibuprofen they gave me were pretty much worthless...but in the middle of the night, the pain is so bad it wakes me up...if you've ever had carpal tunnel you know what I'm talking about.

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Honestly I am a little disappointed that you even wrote this. This leads me to believe you are setting a precursor to quit. I mean you gotta toughen up, Trump didn't quit did he when the stack was against him?

This is what I watch when getting down. It gets me going:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL2CsP5JG2Y

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Draymond

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tyde

Its been so bad I considered getting off the ship on a medical release, but decided to slug it out. The wrist splints and ibuprofen they gave me were pretty much worthless...but in the middle of the night, the pain is so bad it wakes me up...if you've ever had carpal tunnel you know what I'm talking about.

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Honestly I am a little disappointed that you even wrote this. This leads me to believe you are setting a precursor to quit. I mean you gotta toughen up, Trump didn't quit did he when the stack was against him?

This is what I watch when getting down. It gets me going:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL2CsP5JG2Y

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LT sighting at 0:40.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by v12cl

Good call on sticking it out, got to get this first trip on the books.

Try to get your hands on some lidocaine patches. Probably can't use them while cooking, but after a long day, they will numb the pain enough to sleep.

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it's interesting to me how these patches work so well for some and are useless for others. I was in the latter group.

just sayin

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tyde

Just gonna upload a bunch of random pics taken over the last 2 weeks....hope they all post properly



My crew eat like royalty

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Boil your eggs with a teaspoon of baking soda to have them peel without taking egg with it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tyde

Its been so bad I considered getting off the ship on a medical release, but decided to slug it out. The wrist splints and ibuprofen they gave me were pretty much worthless...but in the middle of the night, the pain is so bad it wakes me up...if you've ever had carpal tunnel you know what I'm talking about.

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I'm on 200mg ketoprofen, once daily, for basically/exactly what is ailing you. It's an anti-infammatory that eases the nerve restriction through the small bones in your wrist & if I forget to take it I get reminded of it in a bad way later in the day. Seriously, it's good shit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tyde

My crew eat like royalty

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Is this some sort of joke? I've seen better spreads at elementary PTA meetups.

Food looks good. Need to start a Tyde food porn thread just for your meals.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Krypt

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tyde

My crew eat like royalty

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Is this some sort of joke? I've seen better spreads at elementary PTA meetups.

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Dude, he is out to sea, you are not going to get a Ruby Tuesdays type Salad Bar out to sea. The only thing I protest though are the hot dog buns as bread. Needs to do better than that.

Friend had carpal tunnel. She had an operation for it and fixed her up. No problems since except for a little numbness.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hockey Guy

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tyde

Just gonna upload a bunch of random pics taken over the last 2 weeks....hope they all post properly



My crew eat like royalty

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Boil your eggs with a teaspoon of baking soda to have them peel without taking egg with it.

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cool tip, but all you really have to do is rinse them with cold water and let them cool down before trying to peel them

i'm guessing tyde (or willie) got short on time and just had to make it work

and food looks good tyde - not easy to put out that much food on a deadline by yourself (if dinner is supposed to be at 5pm and it's not ready exactly at 5 you have a bunch of pissed off crew)


edit:
question(s) for marty:
does the crew have money taken out of their check for food or is room/board/food included with their contract?

also, how have you been doing with your budget? are you just making it, or are you ending up with a surplus?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WillieMcFML

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hockey Guy

Boil your eggs with a teaspoon of baking soda to have them peel without taking egg with it.

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cool tip, but all you really have to do is rinse them with cold water and let them cool down before trying to peel them

i'm guessing tyde (or willie) got short on time and just had to make it work

and food looks good tyde - not easy to put out that much food on a deadline by yourself (if dinner is supposed to be at 5pm and it's not ready exactly at 5 you have a bunch of pissed off crew)


edit:
question(s) for marty:
does the crew have money taken out of their check for food or is room/board/food included with their contract?

also, how have you been doing with your budget? are you just making it, or are you ending up with a surplus?

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Meals and accommodations are included in the contract for all officers and crew.

As far as my monthly budget goes, the company has allotted me $9600.00 per month for all produce, frozen goods, and incidentals like paper cups, bleach etc. Actually keeping stores in line is one of the most challenging aspects of my job.

The orders are split up between stops in Diego Garcia and Singapore.

I'm currently running well under budget which the captain is very pleased with. My last stores order in Diego was only $3100.00.

The Chief Steward I relieved was a total fucking gimp who obviously just copied and pasted the same order over and over...which explains why I have like a year and a half supply of sausage and literally a 4 foot high stack of frozen vegetables.

I actually pissed off the Chief Mate when I declared that I was going to dump a lot of crap that had obv been in the freezer for months and other shit like surplus bread.

His argument was it would 'cost the company money'....I'm thinking you fucking retard the money was already spent by the last stew, and will have no effect on the funds I dedicate to future orders.

He is eating his words now considering my last 3 orders have run over 25% under my monthly budget.

I terminated my entire bread order from Singapore because the quality is shit, and replaced it with bread from a local baker in Diego for half the cost, and infinitely better freshness and quality.

I'm shaking things up a bit, but for the better.

Oh and today the base commander for the British Navy was on board for lunch, and raved about my food. The captain was obviously stoked and gave me mad props

Uploading several new videos to YouTube as we speak and will post as soon as they are available.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tyde

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WillieMcFML

cool tip, but all you really have to do is rinse them with cold water and let them cool down before trying to peel them

i'm guessing tyde (or willie) got short on time and just had to make it work

and food looks good tyde - not easy to put out that much food on a deadline by yourself (if dinner is supposed to be at 5pm and it's not ready exactly at 5 you have a bunch of pissed off crew)


edit:
question(s) for marty:
does the crew have money taken out of their check for food or is room/board/food included with their contract?

also, how have you been doing with your budget? are you just making it, or are you ending up with a surplus?

---

As far as my monthly budget goes, the company has allotted me $9600.00 per month for all produce, frozen goods, and incidentals like paper cups, bleach etc. Actually keeping stores in line is one of the most challenging aspects of my job.

The orders are split up between stops in Diego Garcia and Singapore.

I'm currently running well under budget which the captain is very pleased with. My last stores order in Diego was only $3100.00.

The Chief Steward I relieved was a total fucking gimp who obviously just copied and pasted the same order over and over...which explains why I have like a year and a half supply of sausage and literally a 4 foot high stack of frozen vegetables.

I actually pissed off the Chief Mate when I declared that I was going to dump a lot of crap that had obv been in the freezer for months and other shit like surplus bread.

His argument was it would 'cost the company money'....I'm thinking you fucking retard the money was already spent by the last stew, and will have no effect on the funds I dedicate to future orders.

He is eating his words now considering my last 3 orders have run over 25% under my monthly budget.

I terminated my entire bread order from Singapore because the quality is shit, and replaced it with bread from a local baker in Diego for half the cost, and infinitely better freshness and quality.

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smuggle it off board and sell it to local contacts - tell them to ship to your stars account

and were the foods past their expiration date per your training?

The whole reefer was stacked with shitty bread going moldy and getting stale.

I have a very small walk in freezer and reefer and need to maximize my space, but the CM seems to think he is an expert in managing my inventory.

I think I'll make a video of my clusterfuck of a freezer tonight just to show you what I'm talking about.

I'm only about 50 days in to a 120 day contract, and still trying to clean up the mess left for me by the previous fuck up Chief Stew

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WillieMcFML

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hockey Guy

Boil your eggs with a teaspoon of baking soda to have them peel without taking egg with it.

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cool tip, but all you really have to do is rinse them with cold water and let them cool down before trying to peel them

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You do that too but if the eggs are too fresh(under 2 weeks old) rinsing them with cold water does absolutely nothing to help the peeling issue. If you don't know how old your eggs are & you know you're gonna peel them using baking soda isn't gonna hurt anything & will most likely help the process.

I wouldn't recommend peeling eggs like this if you were serving them to others but this is how I do it for myself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2gYHJNT3Y

Had to laugh when you mentioned the bread from Singapore. Bakery and dairy in Asia are very hit and miss, mostly miss. Forget finding a real bagel, ever.

Always been curious with a merchant ships defense protocol. Is there a small armory in the ship and crew members that are responsible for her defense from pirates or terrorists? Dangerous being in the middle of an ocean unarmed if there isnt.

Being in the middle of the ocean isn't the problem, cutting close to land to save time is the problem.

Ala capt. Phillips, what a putz.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tegnation22

Always been curious with a merchant ships defense protocol. Is there a small armory in the ship and crew members that are responsible for her defense from pirates or terrorists? Dangerous being in the middle of an ocean unarmed if there isnt.

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I think I mentioned this in a previous thread, but I took a class in San Diego called VPDSD (vessel personnel with designated security duties) which was essentially an anti piracy course.

I was rejected by MSC (Military Sealift Command) because they had a separate anti piracy course which I hadn't taken.

Ironically, that ship was based in Cape Canaveral with no stops in foreign ports, and sailed only in American waters and just off the coast of Cuba where there is little to no risk of a piracy incident.

The company I was hired by operates my vessel smack dab in the middle of the Malacca Straits, which is arguably one of the riskiest parts of the world in terms of piracy for merchant vessels.

Our ship is lined with razor wire on all accessible areas on the stern, port and starboard sides.

When transiting the Straits, we go into a full 'dark' operational status, meaning no external lighting, and all crew is required to keep their portholes covered and lights off after sunset...this is to simulate a Navy vessel which is obv a deterrent for any pirates.

Piracy is no joke and happens more often than you might think, especially in this part of the world. We have weekly drills and training sessions on a regular basis.

And no, other than a few small rifles on the bridge, there are no arms kept on board. Its a huge liability issue in international ports.

And also yes, Captain Phillips was a huge fucking moron. He tried to cut time and fuel costs by sailing way too close to the Somali coast

Yesterday on the beach in Diego Garcia