[QUOTE=anchorman;41353]No, Not really. I think necrophilia is actually pretty disgusting.[/QUOTE]
Ah, this is where the priapism started…
When you’re sittin’ in the bar with the after work crowd, don’t you feel sorry for the stupid work stories from the car dealers and insurance salesmen?
Seafaring is LIVING!
[QUOTE=seadog!;41368]When you’re sittin’ in the bar with the after work crowd, don’t you feel sorry for the stupid work stories from the car dealers and insurance salesmen?
Seafaring is LIVING![/QUOTE]
Know doubt our stories are way cooler.
What about rush hour traffic?
I refuse to go out at certain times of the day because of it, but if I do get caught in it I take a look around. I find the the guy in a little sub compact car with neck tie pulled down and that gaze that one gets from looking at a computer screen all day and having to deal with an asshole boss every day and thank god that’s not me.
This is the only industry I know of that a guy without a HS diploma can make over a 100k a year. So for the guy who’s tired of busting ass at a minimum wage job and a good head on his shoulders and a little drive this is the perfect place for them.
The same can be said for working for the oil companies, but after DWH I see that coming to an end with the Government wanting more and more degrees involved.
Some bitch about the perceived lack of quality time at home. I got a reality adjustment in June when I went to school for 3 weeks. Up at 05:30 to make it to class, asleep by 21:00 to make sure I had enough sleep. Weekends off. And don’t forget that if you left a few minutes to late you got stuck in traffic coming and going. FUCK THAT! I was more worn out then this last February when I spent all month offshore on a 90 ft G-Boat and only counted 4 days were the seas weren’t above 5 ft. Also gave me new respect for my Fiancee who does that every freaking day of her life. So instead of living the rat race when I go home rest up a bit from work, I do my thing while shes at work and when she gets home all my attention is on her. Not spent wasting it trying to do stuff that needs to get done but had to wait because I was at work all day and just getting home. We both like that.
Does it such at times, hell yea it does. Nothing worse then when a your family needs you and you cant be there. But that’s the sacrifice we’re willing to make so that we can be happy. Is this job for everybody? No, but it’s perfect for me and that’s all that matters.
[QUOTE=Jemplayer;41377]Know doubt our stories are way cooler.
What about rush hour traffic?
I refuse to go out at certain times of the day because of it, but if I do get caught in it I take a look around. I find the the guy in a little sub compact car with neck tie pulled down and that gaze that one gets from looking at a computer screen all day and having to deal with an asshole boss every day and thank god that’s not me.
This is the only industry I know of that a guy without a HS diploma can make over a 100k a year. So for the guy who’s tired of busting ass at a minimum wage job and a good head on his shoulders and a little drive this is the perfect place for them.
The same can be said for working for the oil companies, but after DWH I see that coming to an end with the Government wanting more and more degrees involved.
Some bitch about the perceived lack of quality time at home. I got a reality adjustment in June when I went to school for 3 weeks. Up at 05:30 to make it to class, asleep by 21:00 to make sure I had enough sleep. Weekends off. And don’t forget that if you left a few minutes to late you got stuck in traffic coming and going. FUCK THAT! I was more worn out then this last February when I spent all month offshore on a 90 ft G-Boat and only counted 4 days were the seas weren’t above 5 ft. Also gave me new respect for my Fiancee who does that every freaking day of her life. So instead of living the rat race when I go home rest up a bit from work, I do my thing while shes at work and when she gets home all my attention is on her. Not spent wasting it trying to do stuff that needs to get done but had to wait because I was at work all day and just getting home. We both like that.
Does it such at times, hell yea it does. Nothing worse then when a your family needs you and you cant be there. But that’s the sacrifice we’re willing to make so that we can be happy. Is this job for everybody? No, but it’s perfect for me and that’s all that matters.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, it was a HUGE adjustment for me when I first came ashore. Working for ABS in most cases meant that I was working far more than I was when I went to sea. Getting used to the flow of traffic and then also having to figure the best way home from different places in the Houston area were quite a challenge. This was especially true when I was working out of and running the Galveston office. I worked most weekends, and would leave my house (an hour away) around 0600 hours. If I was lucky and it was a slow day, I would get home around 1700 hours. Quite often, though, I had to be down to the dispatch location to catch the boat (or if I was lucky, the helicopter) to go offshore. In the cases of MODU Special Surveys, I could be offshore for a few days. For routine surveys in the lightering area, I could be out for just a long day, but often I was at the whim of whatever transportation was available. There were times that I would get back in so late, that I would just catch a cheap room on the Island (that can be scary) or just go to the office and sleep in my chair and start the next day.
With the job I have now, it is a bit better. I am not on the go so much, but when we are busy, I can be gone, including international travel for days or weeks. When I do work in the office, I beat the traffic by getting into the office before 0600 (I only live 20 miles away, so the commute goes quicker than when I was working on the Island), but generally leave around 1530. Not too bad for the traffic. Of course now that the ol’ lady is an ex, and the kids are grown but living with me, quality time isn’t as much as an issue. I do miss getting large blocks of time off several times a year. But either way, I can’t complain.
I have a side business now as an auto racing photographer. When I tell the folks I know up in Indiana and such about what I do and did for a living, they have no idea. I almost feel like they think I am bullshitting them. Oh, well. As seadog! wrote, we certainly have much, much better work stories than they do. I could never have an “ordinary” job.
[QUOTE=Jemplayer;41377]
What about rush hour traffic?
I refuse to go out at certain times of the day because of it, but if I do get caught in it I take a look around. I find the the guy in a little sub compact car with neck tie pulled down and that gaze that one gets from looking at a computer screen all day and having to deal with an asshole boss every day and thank god that’s not me.
I hate it with a passion & could not think of sitting in that crap day in & day out.
This is the only industry I know of that a guy without a HS diploma can make over a 100k a year. So for the guy who’s tired of busting ass at a minimum wage job and a good head on his shoulders and a little drive this is the perfect place for them.
That was my deciding factor when i realized college wasn’t for me. It eats my sister alive that she spent 6yrs in college & makes less than me. Then again she is a govt’ worker with a cush job.
Some bitch about the perceived lack of quality time at home. I got a reality adjustment in June when I went to school for 3 weeks.
I like being home during the week while other people are working. There is nothing better than going fishing or hunting while people are @ work & not dealing with other people. I hired a yard guy for cheap & don’t deal with the yard anymore, best move i ever made. MY schedule is set up to be off for the holidays for my kids & that’s hard to beat.
Does it such at times, hell yea it does. Nothing worse then when a your family needs you and you cant be there. But that’s the sacrifice we’re willing to make so that we can be happy. Is this job for everybody? No, but it’s perfect for me and that’s all that matters.
Couldn’t agree with that more.
[/QUOTE]
…
I will only say that I am surprised by poll results. If you read the postings on gCaptain’s forums there are a substantial number of mariners trying for find work but not being able to than I believe is reflected in the poll. Perhaps those who don’t have the positive career experiences just don’t want to respond. It is kind of like an election I suppose…easier to get people to vote when they have a person or issue they really want to see win rather than voting to keep a particular person or ballot measure from not winning.
[QUOTE=c.captain;41627]I will only say that I am surprised by poll results. If you read the postings on gCaptain’s forums there are a substantial number of mariners trying for find work but not being able to than I believe is reflected in the poll. Perhaps those who don’t have the positive career experiences just don’t want to respond. It is kind of like an election I suppose…easier to get people to vote when they have a person or issue they really want to see win rather than voting to keep a particular person or ballot measure from not winning.[/QUOTE]
The people who haven’t had a positive experience probably don’t frequent the gCaptain website, they’ve moved on.
On the other hand there are those, especially in the GOM, that are paranoid and fear the company they are working for may find they said something negative and fire them. Presently it is an employers market in the GOM and being shortsighted some are constantly reminding their mariners how lucky they are to have a job. We’ve all seen this before. In a year or so these same employers will be crying that they can’t find qualified mariners. Same old same old.
I am not surprised at all. This is a great job, with good pay and good benefits. I must be missing something. I have only been out here since 1997 although I did work 6 months as an OS before I went in the Air Force in 1991. Every year the bottom line was better than the one before. My career has not been without disappointments, but overall it has been positive.
Not many young people can claim 80k a year while only working 6 months. It’s not until you have a family when the tough decisions have to be made on whether to continue or not
Only if I knew they were a glutton for punishment (like me) or that their passion for it outweighed their ability to make an intelligent choice (like me).
[QUOTE=brjones;44960]Not many young people can claim 80k a year while only working 6 months. It’s not until you have a family when the tough decisions have to be made on whether to continue or not[/QUOTE]
Exactly why I would recommend a career at sea for a young person. Back in the 80’s, I was clearing over 65K and only working about 8 to 9 months a year (it was supposed to be 6 months, but things happen). It was hard work but there was a freedom to it that cannot be beat. Of course the irony of all that freedom is spending most of the year trapped on a piece of steel out in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of people that I wouldn’t spend time with in any other given situation. I can also say that when that time came to make the “tough decision”, I had a wealth of experience that I could use for a shore based job, albeit in the maritime environment. I have recommended the same career to my kids, but they weren’t willing to make the social sacrifice necessary, but I am at least happy that they are both working and going to college.
I have recommended a sea-going career to many folks and most of the time I get a luke-warm response. I really think that the idea of work and sacrifice have changed a lot since WW-2. Before folks were more used to the idea of doing whatever needed to be done (look at how we won WW-2), and they had a better sense of adventure. Also, before, people actually knew what the Merchant Marine was and what it does. Nowadays, many (most?) folks just draw a blank when I tell them. Working on ships and on the water is so far off most people’s radar they can’t even begin to comprehend. 
Now we have a generation that expects that getting a BA degree in Lib Arts (History, Arts, Sociology etc) somehow should translate into a good paying, white collar job, but reality hits when they still have that 8 buck an hour job at Starbucks, but now they are 40 grand in debt and they now think they’ll too good for any manual labor gigs cause they have an almighty degree. :rolleyes:
I really believe that too many people now skip a vocational/technical career (which they could study in a year or two at a public vo/tech school or community college without going into debt) because there is a huge push from high school teachers and counselors to instead get a BA/S degree (regardless of the ability of the graduate to even find gainful employment afterwords). 
Honestly when I was 16, 18 etc (Now I do [I]feel[/I] old, LOL) I had never even heard of the Merchant Marine or any possible career opportunities even though I grew up in Los Angeles. Thankfully I wound up in SW Louisiana and then in the oil patch followed by going to Alaska to work in the seafood industry, so I got to know (by word of mouth) of the possibilities and opportunities in a maritime career.
Im 25 and went from an office job to a tug job. I have a year doing it. I laugh at the people I know that have some 9-5 making nothing.
After ignoring this post since voting (and I am joined by only two others in the NFW selection) I saw a comment worth responding to.
There was mention why no ‘successful’ mariners were responding. I believe that is because most ‘successful’ individuals I know are fed up with the industry as a whole, from a regulatory and administrative standpoint. I can’t in good faith recommend an industry that is being squeezed from both within and without, making it harder to just exist. To recommend a newbie to enter into a field where the possibility of advancement from within is being stifled, and when you add the problems of relationships, distance, and time apart makes this hard. Really, really hard to recommend.
Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE my job. I enjoy teaching/imparting such wisdom as I can infer to a young(ish) trainee. I thoroughly enjoy the time off. But I think back thirty years ago and wonder if I could/would be as successful if I entered into the industry now as I have been. I don’t think so.
As an aside, a while ago I asked my Rebbi (who took me under his wing, got me a Z card and my first job way, way, way back) how many people he had helped get started in the industry. He said he got about 25 people started with jobs and Z cards. I asked how many were still doing it. He said TWO! I asked, how many were Captains… One (Me.)
Sort of long odds for a hawspiper, ya think?
This industry takes a special breed to thrive. It takes a special breed of spouse to survive. It takes a special kind of acumen to succeed. And it takes a set of brass balls to pull it off. I rarely find those attributes in a person to even encourage them to join the fraternity.
I think some may be confusing recommending a job over the unemployment line, versus recommending a job to pursue, grow in, excel at and prosper.
Is this career better than the unemployment line? Sure. Do I recommend it for a young person starting out with no related job experience and a desire to have a normal family life? No.
Being a young person myself, I would recommend it if only because it beats the alternatives. Unlike the military if you don’t like your job/supervisor/where you get sent, you can quit and do something else. Plus theres zero chance of running into some roadside bomb. Go to some liberal arts college and graduate with a useless degree and try to get a job in the real world, especially with how the job market is nowadays. Or be like half my high school classmates and let mom and pops finance grad school so you can get a worthless Masters or Doctorate and avoid entering the real world for as long as possible. Compared to any of those, this looks like an awesome option.
That being said, I’d say go engine side, without a doubt.
[QUOTE=brjones;44960]Not many young people can claim 80k a year while only working 6 months. It’s not until you have a family when the tough decisions have to be made on whether to continue or not[/QUOTE]
I have found the opposite. Any young person I have talked to ‘claims’ they WILL make that kind of $$$!. Most young people are ignorant of the actual value, worth, and need to make such money. I actually volunteered and went to five local High School career days three years ago. I heard from two prospective high school seniors at a job fair that they could not leave for “so long” to do this job and were looking forward to becoming managers at Best Buy and going home every night! I heard several comments that ‘I’ll get a better paying job around home.’ So much for reality. The other comments are true about unrealistic expectations being promoted by out of touch high school career counselors, and college recommendations which are warping the value of young aspirants today.
[QUOTE=SaltySailor;45036]I have recommended a sea-going career to many folks and most of the time I get a luke-warm response. I really think that the idea of work and sacrifice have changed a lot since WW-2. Before folks were more used to the idea of doing whatever needed to be done (look at how we won WW-2), and they had a better sense of adventure. Also, before, people actually knew what the Merchant Marine was and what it does. Nowadays, many (most?) folks just draw a blank when I tell them. Working on ships and on the water is so far off most people’s radar they can’t even begin to comprehend.
Now we have a generation that expects that getting a BA degree in Lib Arts (History, Arts, Sociology etc) somehow should translate into a good paying, white collar job, but reality hits when they still have that 8 buck an hour job at Starbucks, but now they are 40 grand in debt and they now think they’ll too good for any manual labor gigs cause they have an almighty degree. :rolleyes:
I really believe that too many people now skip a vocational/technical career (which they could study in a year or two at a public vo/tech school or community college without going into debt) because there is a huge push from high school teachers and counselors to instead get a BA/S degree (regardless of the ability of the graduate to even find gainful employment afterwords).
Honestly when I was 16, 18 etc (Now I do [I]feel[/I] old, LOL) I had never even heard of the Merchant Marine or any possible career opportunities even though I grew up in Los Angeles. Thankfully I wound up in SW Louisiana and then in the oil patch followed by going to Alaska to work in the seafood industry, so I got to know (by word of mouth) of the possibilities and opportunities in a maritime career.:)[/QUOTE]
I sure can relate to this. Im 28 and just graduated with a B.A in Anthropology, concentration in archaeology and a minor in history. And what do I do now? I work in the mental health field only making $11 an hr becasue there are no Archaeology jobs where I live unless I get a masters but screw that im already $24,000 in debt. After finally realising the reality of not beng able to get a good job with my degree I would say I had a mini quarter life crisis. All my buddies have good paying jobs…scratch that “careers” by now and im still making a few bucks more than I did out of High school. I cant say that I know if going into this career field is better than going to college but I do know that if you do want to go to college MAKE SURE YOU CAN GET A JOB WHEN YOU GRADUATE. I have been following this website for almost a year now and im just gathering information on what companies are the best to work for, who pays the best and rotation schedules. Im just biding my time untill things pick up and I can get in. Im in no rush but even at 28 I feel if I knew then what I know now (dont we all wish that) I would of got into this field a while ago, skipped college and debt and chances are I would be making good money by now. Oh well
[QUOTE=maxpwr48;55809]I sure can relate to this. Im 28 and just graduated with a B.A in Anthropology, concentration in archaeology and a minor in history. And what do I do now? I work in the mental health field only making $11 an hr becasue there are no Archaeology jobs where I live unless I get a masters but screw that im already $24,000 in debt. After finally realising the reality of not beng able to get a good job with my degree I would say I had a mini quarter life crisis. All my buddies have good paying jobs…scratch that “careers” by now and im still making a few bucks more than I did out of High school. I cant say that I know if going into this career field is better than going to college but I do know that if you do want to go to college MAKE SURE YOU CAN GET A JOB WHEN YOU GRADUATE. I have been following this website for almost a year now and im just gathering information on what companies are the best to work for, who pays the best and rotation schedules. Im just biding my time untill things pick up and I can get in. Im in no rush but even at 28 I feel if I knew then what I know now (dont we all wish that) I would of got into this field a while ago, skipped college and debt and chances are I would be making good money by now. Oh well[/QUOTE]
What about Maritime anthropology? Kinda cool… just think in 20 years you could be quoting this site… Already following this site for a year… thoughts different?
Never knock yourself for trying to get a higher education first.
Robert Ballard was into Marine archaeology, but he applied some ideas from anthropology. He did not try to find a shipwreck from a trail of “floating” bottles. he figured they[I] drank[/I], and his search resulted in a find, from “empty sunken bottles”.
Anyway, cant remember what ship it was, the trail led him to find, hope you get the idea.
Here is a recent book that includes marine anthropology.
Well, good luck, just an idea maybe you hadn’t thought of.
Would I recommend going to sea to a young person today— yes, but (ah see) you have to be a certain breed. I first went to sea very young and it worked because of adventure and travel and to get the hell away from it all. At the time I didn’t care what the pay was. I liked being on the other side of the world and away from everything and everybody. I didn’t mind solitude, loneliness and living with, at times, some odd characters. I’m sure I am one of those odd characters. I enjoyed the foreign ports and the chow is pretty good especially since it’s free. The government puts up road blocks but with a little effort, annoying as it is, you can get your papers. It helps to be a bit of a loner and have goals. I’m a lot older now and it is still better than a lot of jobs I have done. I have sailed with people who had been all sorts of things before shipping out. I say if you are looking for a change this would qualify. But be warned it takes discipline, patience and endurance. I have met some people on shore struggling financially and when I suggest working on ship they quickly stop complaining and say no way pal.
[QUOTE=NAUTICART;55967]What about Maritime anthropology? Kinda cool… just think in 20 years you could be quoting this site… Already following this site for a year… thoughts different?
Never knock yourself for trying to get a higher education first.
Robert Ballard was into Marine archaeology, but he applied some ideas from anthropology. He did not try to find a shipwreck from a trail of “floating” bottles. he figured they[I] drank[/I], and his search resulted in a find, from “empty sunken bottles”.
Anyway, cant remember what ship it was, the trail led him to find, hope you get the idea.
Here is a recent book that includes marine anthropology.
Well, good luck, just an idea maybe you hadn’t thought of.[/QUOTE]
Very interesting that the “Father of Underwater Archaeology”, Peter Throckmorton appears to be left out of the book. Of course he has passed on. Much of Mr. Throckmorton’s work predates Ballard. I had the pleasure of spending time with Peter, on a “treasure hunt”, so to speak. The organizers had enlisted him to give the project some legitimacy. Very interesting man. His work and his partnership with George Bass set the foundation for the study.
Oh, and for the record, Archaeology is a branch of anthropology.