The Little Things

I started writing something up about the little things that bring joy to my life, but began having trouble making up any real list of multiple items. There were a few, but I felt I needed more than what I could come up with. I didn't post it. I'll include it towards the end of this though and hope you can enjoy it. It may be short - life is just amusing me more and more these days. It could have to do with my mind being spun. Thank goodness for laughter to get through the craziness.

It is difficult for me to come up with any other topic than what has consumed my life for the past couple months. I will be so happy when it is behind me. Oh my goodness - TWIC TWIC TWIC TWIC TWIC - is all I can think of; all I can talk about. Most of you who are around me know what I'm talking about. For those few that haven't been tortured by my talking about it....it's an I.D. type card that everyone will have to have in order to come into any marine terminal. A complete back ground check is run on you by Homeland Security/government and if you have a card you are supposedly not a threat. This Saturday (Feb.28th) it's done. You either have one or you don't. If you don't you are not coming in. I really need to learn how to say that in Spanish. My Spanish isn't good enough to correctly word/say that sentence. Oh...those truckers.

I wish I had something inspiring to say. I wish I had something creative to write. I wish I didn't have TWIC on the brain. I apologize for boring you, but I just had to vent it out.

Now here's my little attempt at not having a heavy mind:
Lately I've been really amused by the little things. There have been observations / moments that just crack me up. I just had to share them and hope you can be as amused. I will never be observant as the genius late Mr. George Carlin. I can only hope that everyone else can fine laughter and joy in every day life and your surroundings.

• The Discount Bridal Store in Albany is now Wholesale Plumbing Supply. What if you could combine both stores? Think about it...imagine it. A lot of things can be made from / designed with PVC pipe. PVC bridal fashion.
• One of the new E-Trade commercials has one of the baby's singing Mister Mister's "Broken Wings". Just proved the 80's will never go away.
• My older cat Screwball who disliked me the majority of her life (she's around 17 now) has become a cuddle/lap cat this past year. All it took was for her to get sick, have surgery and cost me more then anyone should pay for a pet. Go figure...should I have done that sooner?
• I saw a cute Pit Bull dog in a truck next to me at a stop light and the man driving thought I was checking him out and not the dog. It made me laugh when he started "car flirting" with me at each light.
• There is an auto warranty company that keeps calling me. When I hit the "number" to actually talk to a person; the minute I say I want to ask a question they hang up on me. This has happened three times now. Are they training these solicitors to just hang up as their version for customer service? It's crazy they want to sell me something and hang up rather than answer a question. Don't get it - just have to laugh.

Dr. Seuss tackles the waterfront

How is this possible that Dr. Seuss could tackle the the waterfront world? Well for now I'm going to refer to him as Captain Seuss. As I was waiting for containers to arrive to load to the ship I was working....I began to sound like Captain Seuss when someone asked me where the containers were. Thus Gray Ships and Cans (the maritime version of Green Eggs and Ham) was born.

Quickly for those who won't know certain terminology that I'll use; I'll give a few definitions.
Cans = containers
Haz = hazardous cargo
Motors = refrigerated containers have motors on one end; this motor has to face the "outlet" to plug them in.
Forward = front of the ship
Aft = back of the ship
I believe that covers anything that may be confusing for those not in my crazy ship world. Lastly, the ships I work go to Hawaii. That will explain the ending. I believe Gray Ships and Cans is still a work in progress, but this what I have at this time. Enjoy.

Gray Ships and Cans

by Capt. Seuss (a.k.a. Tammie)

They are not here, they are not there, they are not anywhere

I will not load them in a hatch, I will not load them near the stack
I do not like gray ships and cans, I do not like the ones I plan
I cannot load the haz right there, I cannot load the haz anywhere!
Oh where to load it, oh where to stow it, I cannot load that can
Which way to face them, oh where to place them
Motors forward, motors aft, just load the cans on the back
You use Mahalo and Aloha, why must you choose those words?
Thank you and hello is all I'll give you in return
I do not like gray ships and cans, I do not like the ones I plan

Again, this was just something creative that came to me while working. For the record (for those who work with me or are my customer) I love what I do. Without those gray ships and cans.....well I just can't see what else I'd ever do. Ships may be a "container curse" at times, but shipping is a true blessing. I hope the humor can be seen in this Captain Seuss inspiration.