No love lost here. Back in the day when I was trying to get my AB, coming from the fishing industry, they gave me nothing but grief. Maybe it wasnt the fault of the examiners, but I got nothing but a bad attitude from the people behind the counter. I got the feeling they enjoyed turning people away after making them wait an hour or more. A woman I know lost her MMD, and she had to wait 3 hours for her name to get called after she signed in. At Portland REC, Im usually greeted as I walk in, “Oh and by the way, please sign in”. No wait, VERY HELPFUL! For me, it is worth driving a few extra miles to Portland, but then I live near Olympia.<br>I got my lifeboatman in Astoria, I had to launch a REAL lifeboat, with REAL davits. Not only had to know my rowing commands, but use them in such a way to take the boat to the end of the pier and back to the davits again. Glad I did it instead of pretending with a toy model. Your oarsmen are young kids in the Job Corps who want to impress you with their skills. They practice several times a week, so they got the procedure down cold. It was actually fun!<br><br>Well maybe they can find a job at the TWIC center?