Guidos and such

Not so much to report. As much as I feel like I am neglecting my sworn duty to produce these posts, I also think the fact that they are becoming less and less frequent is rather a good sign that I am beginning to catch my stride and fit in with my seasoned “shippies”. It’s a bizarre feeling to walk into such a tight knit group of people and be almost “close” with them after only a week. We hear the term “brotherhood” batted back and forth these days like old ping pong balls, but I think it’s fair to say that when you spend every waking (and some not so waking) hour with people, you really have no choice but to bond or be a loner. Thankfully, I have chosen the beforehand proposition. On a ship, people generally gravitate to each other much like freshmen do in high school. The so forths hang out with the so forths and the bingo bangos hang out with the bingo bangos. The difference is, while there is the department you work in, you also have the nationality aspect to sort out. Add regional affiliations (Yankees, Southerners, Russians, Ukrainians, West Bumfucks and East Bumfucks) and you have an extremely interesting dynamic going on. Again, think high school, only this time the jocks are Italians, and the Northern Italians are the baseball team and the Southern Italians are the Basketball team. There are almost 1500 crew members aboard, and maybe 100 of them are from English speaking countries. You want to talk about melting pot, and I’ll show you the bloody rainbow coalition. Incessant rambling aside, I have become pretty close with the guy I am replacing (which sucks because he’s gone in a week) and the trombone player in the show band. Both are from major northern working class cities and both of them hold union cards. Birds of a feather….. anyhow, I had a very long post planned updating everyone on the upcoming week and such, and a well thought out conclusion to the aforementioned rambling, but to tell you the truth, I am really tired. I’ll be sure to pick up where I left out tomorrow but for now, I just lack the ambition. To tell you the truth, I'm just trying to buy time until I can lull you back into happy readership with glossy images and more pictures of my tiny, tiny bathroom. Thanks for reading, and as always, keep it on the reel!

Seabag