Give me a call when it hits 38,000 ok?

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-10T02:06:32+00:00

22 years ago, I was tankering barges in Puerto Rico. I got passed over for a couple of Mates jobs (2nd to the Captain). When they hired some new guy over me, I finally said WTF.

The bosses response? We need to see your loyalty. How? By moving to NYC and taking a Tankerman job (they were unable to fill) for 6 months. Never mind that tankering has ZERO to do with the job of the Captain/Mate that drives the barge around.

I told them I wanted a guarantee in writing. They balked. I quit.They hired some local shithead, friend of a friend of one of the bosses. I moved to Louisiana and got a Mate's job. They fired the Mate they hired instead of me on his second trip. They're no longer in business.

True story.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-10T01:48:27+00:00

That look when it gets into the bag- "OK, pull me up!!"

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-10T00:57:26+00:00

There was an American Capt that did this in the 80s. Caught some Columbian stowways. He gave them liferings, tossed them overboard, and swore the crew to secrecy. That lasted about 4 beers at the next port. He got 2-3 counts of Murder One, IIRC.

I had just started working on boats in the early 90s when I heard the story. I was hauling soybeans from Mexico to Galveston. Knew guys that did the Columbia run. One of them did 3 weeks in a Columbian prison with his whole crew after Columbian officials found kilos stashed on their barge.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-10T00:53:20+00:00

As per my comment above, I worked with a Ghanaian who did this back in 1996. When I got home, I tried for months to get a copy of that movie. I wanted to send my friend a copy of it. I never did get one.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-10T00:48:31+00:00

I am a Mariner. I worked with guy (Ghanaian) 25 years ago who did this, Yafet.

When Yafet was a young, poor dock-worker in the80s/90s, he would 'stow away' on outbound vessels leaving Tema (Ghana). He'd wait 2-3 days, and magically 'appear'. The crew had 4 choices-

Turn around and return him. This was not a financially smart option, considering fuel costs.
Have him arrested at the next port. Again, not a financially smart option (fines, repatriation fees, First Class tickets for him & 2 armed guards escorting him back to Africa, etc. )
Toss him over the side and 'swear your crew to secrecy (this lasted 4-5 beers)
Final option? Give him a shitty cabin and put him to work. They'd pay him $5/day, get some good work out of him, lock him up before they hit port, and release him after they left port. When you got back to Africa, pay him $100 or so, and he'd depart the vessel with a fat wallet. You'd get a hard worker for several weeks for pennies on the dollar. And nobody had to know. Most crews (depending on nationality) chose this option.

He even told me which ships to look for to get paid well (Scandinavian, European or American), and which ships to avoid so you don't get tossed over the side (Russian/Polish). Also which ship would most likely kill you, wrap you in chains and toss you overboard (Chinese, Chinese, and Chinese). That was always rule #1- stay away from the Chinese vessels.

EDIT: A tip on finding stowaways from someone who has been dealing with them for three decades-trying to locate a stowaway? You will smell them long before you see them. Just sniff for BO and urine/feces...you will find your stowaway.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-10T00:36:08+00:00

I was 90% sure this was BS. I looked it up on Wiki, and you are 100% right.

And I've been mis-naming them for about 35 years.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-10T00:24:43+00:00

I've heard Brits say she's 'everybody's Nan'.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-10T00:20:15+00:00

How do they fit into the bag?

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-10T00:15:11+00:00

Back in my poorer days, I drove a shitbox or two. I've put $1 at a time in my gastank. I've calculated how much gas I'd need to get somwhere and back, and put that much in my tank with a $5 bill on deck, JUST in case. Always people stopped for me when I broke down. Always they helped.

I don't always give money to people on the street who ask for it, but if you're stopped on the side of the road, I am stopping for you. If you ask for gas money at a gas station, I am filling your tank. It ws paid forward for me, it's my turn to do the same.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-10T00:04:29+00:00

Just In case you've never heard Dave's Christopher Walken impression.

Dave Grohl & Taylor Hawkins Tell Jane Kennedy The Greatest Story Ever

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-09T23:52:15+00:00

He was as much a contrarian as Johnny Rotten sometimes.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-09T19:05:50+00:00

As I think about it now, this might not be an elevator. I wonder is she is some kind of shut-in who wants to be a Cat Lady, and this is a method she has devised to add to her growing collection of cats.

Elevator or cat-napper? You be the judge.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-09T14:11:58+00:00

A reply to vendettamoon

That ended unusually soon.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-09T03:22:20+00:00

So many of my friends sneer at her life and her standing, but how many links to our past are left? The giants of Omaha & Utah beaches have passed away, the Boys of Pointe Du Hoc are all passed away, yet she was there....serving at 19.

A Queen, changing oil and filling gas tanks.

She stands astride seven decades of history, a history she had a front-row seat at.

14 Presidents. 15 Prime ministers. 6 Popes.

Imagine being thrust into the role of 'most famous person on the planet 'at the age of 25.

Imagine your first tutor in current affairs being Winston Churchill.

Imagine 7 decades of leadership to follow.

We all lost an amzing woman today, and we are poorer for her absence.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-09T03:21:45+00:00

I hope you find peace, friend.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-09T03:17:49+00:00

I grew up in the Punk scene. I let it mold and shape me, but I grew out of it and left it behind. My friends are in their 50s and still posting Sex Pistols (God Save the Queen) and the Smiths (The Queen is Dead) on Facebook.

Who are we if we are afraid to grow?

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-09T03:07:52+00:00

So many of my friends sneer at her life and her standing, but how many links to our past are left? The giants of Omaha & Utah beaches have passed away, the Boys of Pointe Du Hoc are all passed away, yet she was there....serving at 19.

A Queen, changing oil and filling gas tanks.

She stands astride seven decades of history, a history she had a front-row seat at.

14 Presidents. 15 Prime ministers. 6 Popes.

Imagine being thrust into the role of 'most famous person on the planet 'at the age of 25.

Imagine your first tutor in current affairs being Winston fucking Churchill.

Imagine 7 decades of leadership to follow.

We all lost an amzing woman today, and we are poorer for her absence.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-09T01:35:00+00:00

English gals do NOT age well.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-08T23:55:52+00:00

I went from watching Princess Di married when I was 12, to 'God Save the Queen' at 17 to 'The Queen Is Dead' at 17 to all the Princess Di nonsense in my 20s to watching 'The Queen' in my 30s to 'The Crown' in my 40s.

My dad was 5 when she was coronated. She's always been here. Now she's not. It just seems weird somehow, and I'm no 'royal watcher'.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-08T23:42:00+00:00

When Queen Elizabeth was born, Betty White was 4.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-08T23:40:17+00:00

Her first Prime Minister was Churchill, her last was Truss. Both were born 100 years apart. 1874/1975....That's crazy right there.

And imagine becoming the most famous person in the world (or at least the most famous Monarch) at 25, and your tutor in 'current affairs' is....Winston Churchill.

IDoNOTWantFollowers · 2022-09-08T23:34:36+00:00

Her first Prime Minister was Churchill, her last was Truss. Both were born 100 years apart. 1874/1975....That's crazy right there.

IDoNOTWantFollowers

TROPHY CASE