Maybe the ancient Mayan,s calendar ending in December of this year was a foreshadowing of this thing with Multiply shutting down and nothing more ... I am now looking for a new blogging home. Please allow me to introduce myself
In 1957 I was born as a mirror twin (my twin bother). Started working when I was thirteen. All kinds of old jobs. One of the best was picking up golf balls at a driving range...
The just after the Vietnam conflict was declare over, I joined the US Coast Guard and became an electronic technician at Governors Island (four years).
After experiencing New York City, I like living in mega cities
Was station on Marcus Island (Minami Torishima) for over a year. There was a woman behind every tree... but there were no trees. There were these plants called Manra Scaevola, which were more like a plant than a tree.
Visited Iwo Jima twice for a total of fourteen days. The John Wayne movie should of be called "The Black Sands of Iwo Jima"
Spent a year on a Micronesia Island name Yap. Fell in love but did not get married, she ran away...
After hitch hiking all over America, I wound up homeless in the Florida Keys (Islamorada area). Lived on boats and a VW micro bus. Became a very good sport fishermen as a deck hand. Shortly thereafter, I hung out in Jamaica and the Caribbean for six months...
BTW - during the above time frame (Marcus - Caribbean) I did a lot of scuba diving for work and play
Also - Six months after Reagan Administration did the Cuba thing, I took a shotgun to Cuba and murder a bunch of birds that were distroying fruit orchards
I became a productive member of society by accident. I went to the wrong personal office and they wanted me to work as a seismic navigator (doodlebugger). I was not sure but when they said "you will be working in Brazil on a brand new boat as a navigator and we will pay you lots of money." I said "were do I sign?". The best part of working in Brasil was being a base station coordinator. I got to travel the Brazilian coast twice with a fleet of trucks setting up navigation base stations. During my breaks, I explored South America, Central America and Mexico while sporting long red hair and a top hat (sorry, no photos).
After reading James Michener's "Drifters"; I cross the big pond to work in the North Sea and the Middle East. The plan was to become a renascence man. Towards the end of the chapter, I fell in lust with a big boobed English gal. On the 4th of July I was wearing fowl weather gear as I walk to the local pub. That was the end of the renascence period.
True story - While doing a transition job in Egypt, I crossed the Gulf of Suez with a zodiac to buy cases of Israeli OK beer.
After learning the hard earn skills of a navigator, I became a contract navigator. Lots of interesting jobs while ping ponging between Alaska, Hawaii and the Gulf of Mexico. I live on all the Islands of Hawaii but the micro climates of the Big Island (fire and ice) was my favorite. And a course, I did like the charms of Hotel Street in Oahu.
GOODSTUFF -- This is when I got the name "GOODSTUFF". The seismic industry was going through a slow period. As a contract navigator I needed a gimmick. Therefore, instead of saying "roger roger" on the radio/intercom all the time, I started saying GOODSTUFF.
Around this time I became a "Master Navigator" and the Taxman was confirming that I needed to stop paying taxes. While I was hanging out in the Fijian islands a job came up in South East Asia.
cool note -- Just after the 1987 Fijian coup, Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka saw me walking around Suva while carry his just released book. He flag me down and insisted that he sigh his book. I did not argue with him. He was a big scary looking Dude.
(enlarge)
The pre-GPS days - I was asked to fire up a job in South East Asia on the TSS Beata. The job (it's not a job, it's an adventure) was so much fun that I never wanted to take a break. During this time period I worked as a Master Navigator, Base Station Coordinator, Navigation Manager, Scout Dude and Expeditor.
I live and worked all over Asia, South East Asia, the outback of Australia, Spratly Islands, and India. When I did take a break, I went to really exotic places like Burma, Borneo and beach resorts in Thailand. I was use to the differences of third world countries but I found my self saying "Wow! look at that square egg", at least once every two days.
This is a "no shit story" - I was shipped wreaked in the remote islands of Indonesia with out water. I swam across an estuary to harvest some coconuts. On the return swim, I was chased out of the water by crocodiles. Close call!
cool note - Over the years I mapped/explore the entire coastline of Borneo.
The domesticated years - After a couple visits from the Grim Reaper, the advent of GPS and other changes in the seismic industry I needed to make some changes. The biggest changes were getting married to my only wife Srisuda, adopting A Dude and Boobee Kid and helping take care of a bunch of kids with cat/dogs while living just outside of Bangkok, Thailand.
I still needed adventure in my life. I then pioneered the job know as Scout Navigator. Which entails living on small local boats while supporting the mother boat, clearing fishing gear, chasing away fishing boats, hazard mapping, reporting and being a Commodore (max; 23 boats, 120 plus men)
real life - I have had several close encounters with real pirates
showing off - I can map in real time using pencil and paper. Using a computer, I can process the collected data and have a final product within two hours. Also, I can build code in four languages
BTW - Look Mom, no tattoos
note - some cool stories and stuff have been omitted to protect the not so innocent.
0 comments:
Post a Comment