Advice for a not-so-new shellback

welllllll, you could probably get a job with the govt. at sealift command, noaa or corps of engineers. good jobs I’d say with a good retirement but you’ll have to learn to humble yourself, take lotsa shit and get it in the behind plenty but nothing more than a well adjusted normal human should be able to cope with.
no school required to go to the top in eng. or deck.

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Not sure if I want to risk a government job as low man on the totem pole. I’d probably be fit for a straight-jacket after the first hitch. Prudence advises having a bigger sea-dick before I try to play fuckee with the gobmint.

I’ve got a stable gig now where I mainly only get it in the behind from the Office (in their infinite wisdom), and I enjoy my job for the most part. I will be upgrading soon, and after a few years here (give or take) I’ll move on. The only good boat is the next boat… And the last boat…

At this point, I’m loving the boat life, and I still remember my college years clearly enough to keep away from institutions of every stripe. Guess I’ll keep clawing my way up the hawsepipe.

Thanks for all the replies. Be safe out there. And have fun.

I like that last quote! Yea as a baby boomer even in the oil field I was loyal to the “company” only to a certain degree. I give 150%, for real but when it comes to violating regs for the company - nope. Being former military, I new better than make myself into an indentured servant, as was the mentality in the GOM at that time. Now I am union deep sea and I still have the following pecking order:

  1. USCG/ IMO compliance
  2. Union compliance
  3. Company, as long as they are not violating the above two.

Several different companies via C/M’s instructed me as a 2M that the “company” expected me to do chart corrections behind the curtain at night while on watch…told him I wanted to see that in writing from the legal dept and as part of the SMS…all I heard was .crickets. My OT was cut anyway but my crew was still alive and the ship was still floating.