Pigeons in Vigo

Now to me the average feral pigeon is simply a flying rat. I'm sure I'm not the only one. They're everywhere. Sure, most of the food they find is dropped by us, but that doesn't mean I like them. In Vigo however it's a different matter. The locals positively encourage them. These birds aren't any different to those I see at home. Not endangered in any way. Small, scrappy, grey, missing toes and some look as though they couldn't fly even if they wanted to. Local restaurants give them scraps of bread actually inside the premisses as well as outside. I think public health would have a heart attack in the UK. I have seen one old man chase away sparrows from titbits he'd put down. He didn't just wave his arms either, he chased them all round the fountain. Not everybody likes them though. On the promenade near the cruise liner berth there are plenty of little cafes and restaurants. As is the custom here, tapas is presented with every order. This could be bread, peanuts, tortilla etc. Most of the locals don't finish it and it's left for somebody to clean away. If they're not quick enough the birds get there first. As they're not the most careful of eaters the crockery can in everywhere. This isn't just pigeons though, as the sparrows and seagulls get their piece and break just as many plates and glasses.

Moving on... Gijon to Vigo

I've only just arrived in Gijon, Spain to work on the building of the Blue Arrow and I'm being moved off to Vigo to help them out instead.

Oh to be so popular. It makes one quite giddy with anticipation.

Not sure what it's going to be like down there though. As usual the people I'm with at the moment don't want to let me go but not a lot they can do about it except make noises. They're trying to make sure the pressure is on to state this is only a loan but I probably won't be coming back.

When I get working on the Vigo boats I'll be involved with Logistics (which involves tracking all the shipments in/out) and they probably won't want to let me go until the boat floats.

At least on the Arrow project there are plenty of people to socialise with. Not sure there are many people down in Vigo yet. Could get quite expensive if I'm having to go out every night. Will have to wait and see.

Friends like mine

I have a great set of mates.

They help me out all the time. When I'm at work they look after the house, cleaning up the mail, checking I've locked up etc. They all help to keep me calm down when I'm quitting..... again!

Most of the time they're just around when I need them. I get help with questions I have, especially about technology stuff which I only like when I can work it. They accept my parcels when I've decided to spend money on things.

I really like having as many people as possible around for BBQ's at The Swamp. Some of them go on until well into the night. Most people seem to like them.

We're all getting older.

What's brought this on is that I've started to read a book by Danny Wallace called 'Friends Like These'. In it he finds an old address book and decides to look up his bestest ever mates from the 80's.

Holiday plans in Fort William

A few days ago a friend of mine invited me to his wedding. He's finally getting hitched to his girlfriend of many years, Andrea. Before they both moved to Southampton, for her to follow a course in Underwater Archeology, they lived in Canada. I was not a little surprised, therefore, to find out the wedding will take place on a boat in Fort William (Scotland if you didn't already know). It will start in the afternoon onboard, alongside and then proceed to go up the loch, finally coming back at about 10pm.

Since finding out the location I've been trying to get all sorts of things sorted out. Travel, accommodation etc. This has been further complicated by the fact that I'll be in Birmingham immediately beforehand at a Discworld Convention.

So far I've got the train from Plymouth->Birmingham, hotel accommodation in Birmingham, flight from Birmingham to Glasgow, accommodation in Fort William and Glasgow, and the flight/train back to Plymouth.

Seeing as I was going all that way North I decided to accept the fact I'd be away from home for some days and make the most of it. As a result I've extended the stay in Fort William after the wedding itself.

The last few days have been quite exciting. I've never actually planned a holiday in so much detail before. What normally happens is that I finish a trip onboard somewhere I've never been before and just decided to stay and see what happens. Don't get me wrong, I've really enjoyed some of the places I've been to, but I didn't realise how exciting the anticipation for a holiday could be.

I've looked up Fort William on the web and it looks great (duh! you might say). I've seen there's plenty of outdoor type things to do and visit. In fact they advertise themselves as the outdoor capital of the UK. Ben Nevis is right on the doorstep as well as the loch, ruined castles, walks, cycle paths distilleries, islands, heritage etc. I am really looking forward to this trip.

I should be able to indulge my photography with all sorts of different projects. Landscape, architecture, wedding etc. Not that I'm that good mind but at least I can have a go. I shall have to take plenty of high capacity cards for the camera as well as a decent bag for all the stuff I might need.

I've even decided that I'd like to visit the Falkirk Wheel. If you don't know what that is, visit the website at http://www.thefalkirkwheel.co.uk/index.html. Personally I think it looks great.

Only thing I really have to do now is try and book the car hire for a week at a reasonable price. Most of the national ones are quite pricey but I'm unsure of the local ones.

I quit..... again

The other day I quit my job.

Again.

I seem to be doing this on a regular basis at the moment. At least once per trip. It seems I've lost the ability to just let things slide. The lengths I go to are getting more and more extreme. This time I actually sent a mail to the office wallahs in personnel as well. It was quite possibly the most scary thing I've done in a long while. This is the only job I've known and afraid of what I'd do if I didn't do seismic.

The launch initiator this time was a dispute over how I get home and how much it costs.

Let me explain.

My expense sheet this time included a train ticket from Gatwick Airport to Plymouth, costing £166. The party chief onboard was concerned that this was more than twice the air fare with AirSouthWest, at £75.

My main reason for losing it this time was the fact that the PC wouldn't accept any more first class tickets. The SLB travel standard states that 1st class train travel is allowed, but only at managers discretion. For the PC to stop me using this seems to me to be a bit cheap. I should also say that it's part of the PC's performance to reduce costs onboard, and he gets a percentage of what's saved.

Going on the flight means I have to go through security again, can't drink too much because of the flight, and then I'm crammed into a tiny plane for the 1hour 20mins it takes to get to Plymouth. I also have to wait 5 hours in the airport. It's not that good an airport. If there was a business lounge I could use that'd be different. With all the noise etc I'm normally quite tense and not at all relaxed when I get home by plane.

The train takes a more leisurely 3.5-4hrs to get from Gatwick to Plymouth. I'm much happier sitting on a train listening to my MP3 player and drinking a bottle of wine. By the time I get home I'm nice and mellow. It's a great way to chill out. As Pink Floyd would say 'Comfortably Numb'.

The office fella rang the other day to ask what was going on and to offer me a place on the new vessel, Blue Arrow. I thought about it.

The red mist has since lifted and I've decided to stay on, for a little while longer at least.

Breathe in, breathe out, move on.

I've now got to send an email to the office, explaining everything again. Don't want to cry wolf too often, especially at the office. Quite lucky at the moment as I know both the office dudes from my time on the Pride.

Not that keen to go to the Blue Arrow as the shift they offered is on for Christmas this year and I don't want that just at the moment.

Match.com

After more years than I care to admit, even here, I have finally got round to trying to find somebody to share my life with.

As I'm not much good at approaching people in a pub or club I'd thought I'd try the online option. Which one though? There are plenty out there, both free and fee based models.

For some reason or another I finally settled on Match.Com. Still don't know why but there you go.

I started to fill out the profile months ago but couldn't quite get round to finishing it off. Well this trip I finally finished it and paid for the first 6months. This seemed a little steep at 65 quid but then I thought, if it helps me find that somebody, it's probably no worse than wasting loads in a pub and getting nowhere. It also allows me to get the initial contact done while I'm at sea.

As it turns out, I'm finding it just as hard to approach women online as I did offline. I've sent out a few emails and winks but nothing back yet. I suppose I'll have to give it a few days or so as some of the women seen haven't been online for a day or so themselves.

Well that's not entirely true I did get a reply from somebody in the middle of the US. The cynic in me thinks that was just a ploy by Match.Com to get out of their 6month guarantee.

How can people be so inconsiderate !

I work at sea. This puts me in close proximity to people from lots of differing countries and cultures.

When I'm out here I'm amazed at how little people think about what they're doing!

One of my main bugs is noise in the public areas which are connected to the cabin areas. People talk too loud or stomp around as though they're walking on solid ground. They have little or no consideration about how this can effect people. The main culprits are the youngsters we get out here. Personally I can hear low frequency bass a lot. Probably something to do with my elephant genes. Even when the stereo is on the gun deck, at the stern of the vessel I can hear it when they have it up loud, in my cabin at the bow. Only the other day I had to remind people about keeping it down in the corridors as people were trying to sleep and there really was no need to talk where they were. You don't want to know me if I haven't had a good sleep for a number of days.

Today though is a real issue. One of the public toilets has a flushing problem, and has for some time now. The pipes are too small or they're blocked further down or something. Whatever the cause, every other day or so it backs up and won't clear when the vacuum is applied. The other day the sign was put up as it wouldn't clear properly. Not a problem as it only had water in it, probably from somebody doing a test flush first. This morning however somebody has used it and now the toilet is full with feces in a kind of soup. It's not as if this issue hasn't been known about. Fucking idiots. The engineers onboard are not going to be happy with that. It wouldn't surprise me if they finally say, enough is enough and close it permanently.

Why do people think they can blindly do things with no thought as to the consequences.

God some people really piss me off. I spend 6 months of the year out here and it's part of what I consider my home. I was going to say they think this place is a hotel, but then again I don't think they think at all.

It's the same in the mess room. Just because it's called the mess they think they don't have to worry about what havoc they cause. Oh it doesn't matter, somebody'll clear it up !!

Cycling through France ?

I have taken it upon myself to cycle through France.

So far the longest I've ever done is across Devon from the South coast to the North coast. I went with a couple of friends and we took two days over it. We only took the minimum amount of kit to last us one night as some more friends were meeting us at the finish, with my Landrover full of kit for a few days camping.

The idea for the French adventure came about from a comment made by one of these cycling mates.

I have no experience in long distance multi-week cycling and some people are at pains to point this out. As usual I'm being bullish about it and steadily plodding ahead with plans here and there.

I've bought the following equipment to try and make it easier -

• clip pedals and shoes. So far I've only used them around town and they seem to be okay. I've only come a cropper once so far, going up the last hill to my house.
• a small sleeping bag. I still haven't worked out whether I'm camping or using pensions etc. I use it in my kayak anyway so no big problem there.
• Solio panel. This is a solar power storage device which I can use to charge my mobile phone, mp3 or Nintendo DS console. This should at least keep me amused, and in contact without having to rely on charging from the mains. My issue is now to be able to charge my camera batteries or take enough so it doesn't matter. I even tried to find some solar charged bike lights, but no success so far.
• Cycling shorts. The ones I got from the US actually look like normal shorts but they have the all important padding and Lycra inside.
  

The local cycle dealer has offered to go over my check list for me to see what can be pruned, exchanged or added. I really need to get on with that as it might prove useful for my practice runs as well.

Once I decided I was going to cycle through France the next big question was the direction of travel. Either N->S or S->N had advantages and disadvantages.

Doing North - South :

1. Starting in the cooler climate.
2. Relatively flat, and I could get saddle fit as I went along before getting to the Pyrenees.
   
3. Would have to meet plane back to blighty on a specific date.

Doing South - North :

1. Could get the flight over and done with at the start of the ride.
2. Hills would be bit of a shock to the system at the start.
3. The climate would be hotter.
4. At the end I could get the ferry across whenever I actually managed to get there, no rush.

I have come down slightly on the side of South to North at the moment.

Still plenty to do.

Obsessions.....

I think it's now beyond any doubt -

'Hi my name is Zippy. I am an addict. I am obsessed with my garden'

While I'm offshore and sat at the processing desk I'm constantly uploading the latest picture from my web-cam. From day to day I can see the grass is far too long, the pond plants seem to be growing nicely and there's nothing I can do for at least another 3.5 weeks.

I'm even thinking about buying more web-cams that can be powered off my solar panel so I can see more of it.

Last leave I spent most of my free time in the garden getting things sorted. I made a new deck, planted up new pots and and the original planters, re-arranged my water collection system to take a solar powered pump.

While at work this time I made an Instructable to show others how I made my pond and rockery. You can see it here http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-raised-pond-and-rockery/

I've got quite addicted to this idea as well. You want to do something this web site will probably have instructions on how to do it.

Bjork Concert Plymouth 22nd April 2008

In my last leave period I went to two concerts at the Plymouth Pavilions.

A few months earlier I had seen that Bjork was going to play and went to buy a ticket. While I was doing that, I saw a tribute band for Pink Floyd would be playing the next night, so bought ticket for that at the same time.

The first concert was Bjork. I like some of her songs from her albums Post and Debut and thought it would be nice to go see her. I have to admit I hadn't listened to any of her recent stuff. One guy had already seen her show in the Far East and was saying it was excellent. Some others onboard really slammed the idea saying it would be terrible. I still went ahead thinking at least I'd give it a go.

On the actual day of the concert I was a little apprehensive as this would be my first concert and I was going alone. I had no idea what would be expected of me or what the format would be. I had assumed that no cameras would be allowed so left all of them at home. I even left my phone at home in case it was confiscated. I managed to get to the venue in plenty of time.

I was surprised at the cross-section of people who turned up. There were families (I assume they were kids and parents etc) and a wide range of ages. When they initially opened the doors we only managed to get as far as the bar. After another 30mins or so we were let into the venue proper. I had a seat in the gods somewhere and found myself alone for quite a long time. The standing area in front of the stage was filling up reasonably quickly. This might have been helped by the fact that there were booths selling alcohol on either side of the standing area.

I needn't have worried about cameras and phones etc as I saw some people walking in with everything from handbags to rucksacks.

As the lights went down I thought the show was about to start. Well it did of a sorts. Some woman came on stage on her own and started to play the most god awful racket on a set of DJ decks. No-one else appeared for about 45mins. I thought it was absolute drivel and probably sounded worse than a strangled cat. Initially I thought this was just the support act, although there was no mention of any in the concert blurb, but I now have a sneaking suspicion that it was Bjork herself. I was so put out by it the only way I survived was to put a set of ear plugs in. I even offered them around. Hey, what can I say I brought ear plugs. Sue me. This lasted approx 45mins before the main act appeared.

Excellent, I thought lets get on with the real show. Unfortunately the same sort of din happened after the break as before it. The only difference with the second half was the fact that it was produced by live people and not from a couple of deck. To me it seemed like the instruments weren't even in tune. Whether this was by mistake or design I'll never know. After 2 songs I put the ear plugs back in. After a further 2 I couldn't stand it any longer and had to walk out.

It was a complete waste of money. Needless to say I didn't purchase any T-shirts etc on the way out.