IDEAS FOR A VLOG

Within a few months time 2020 will be gone on the calendar  and a brand new year will be going  on the calendar again.

 

After thinking for some time , I have decided that i will be establishing a YouTube Channel quite similar on format on how the way "Templin Institute" does in delivering videos on their "YouTube" channel. Its not exactly a "Copy" in terms of delivering video's but i would call it more like "Heavily Inspired" on their art style. I even named my Youtube Channel "The Marquina Institute" as paying homage for inspiring me on the art style.

 

Reasons that i decided to start up a channel is maybe that i could share all the collected knowledge i gathered thru the years to help out (at least) in general people or ordinary folks who would start up working in the maritime., Sharing and giving information on the practical side of things - which i think basically matters most . There's already a ton of videos out there in YouTube about topics in the maritime , both local Philippines and foreign made but i guess none of them created a video that serves more to be practical and useful , Most videos i saw in YouTube are usually viewed on officer's point of view rather than a ratings point of perspective. Which i think is too convoluted to follow and basically nothing really important happens.

 

For now this has been my interest lately and i have been occupied on the most of the days thinking and planning on what videos id come up next., and video editing. By the way I'm not a professional video editor when it comes to videos and my editing as of the moment is too amateur at the moment ., Currently I'm having problems and issues about the editing software i had at my disposal and had to work with the only limited resources available . oh and I found out lately that professional video editing software cost a fortune and that I'm stuck working with mostly trial and open source video editing programs , although however I'm relived to hear that there are a number (as in a lot) of video editing software's out there in the market and that the only issue i have for the moment is the price on purchasing. Currently I'm still trying to acquire a good video editing software and probably an audio editor as well to create a female voice ., which will probably serve as a "female anchor" ., of course its still an intendent plan and will solely depend on when i will acquire those equipment later on.

 

So for now here's the introduction video i made using the video editing software

THE OVERLORD CALLS

Two months have already went by since i came here from work and it went very fast and now as of yesterday i received an SMS message to my "overlord employer" asking about my readiness in being deployed on work to a ship by January and they also asked the status of my PSCRB certificate.

 

I havent made a reply yet and i still have to tell them that I'm not considering to back to the "Hartree" principal ., however i will tell them later on and id be direct and frank about it. 

 

I had already made up my mind a long time ago that i will not sail with that company over issues of unfair treatment and MLC violations ., aside from that i dont want to sail on a company that pays their sailors cheaply. Above the main reason i cant risk encountering my enemies again on that principal - As long as I'm working on that principal , a safety working environment cannot be 100 percent guaranteed

 

 

MY REPLY......

 

 

I said what i had to say to the company , its up to them on how they will accept or come to it. On the afternoon of my last entry , i said to the crewing manager via sms, if there's a possibility that i could go back to my previous principal. To my astonishment a few hours later he replied that its not possible anymore. Irregardless of the case , i still told him that i will still pursue to change principals...

 

after that, no reply was given which made me think that i might be in for the worse and immediately i sprang up with the plan that if no solution offers itself via january or february next year , then id be forced to act to abandon OSM altogether, should it be the worse case scenario.

 

 Now the question is , what will i do if ever i boils on that kind of option. The most likely scenario for me is find another company that doesn't make "age limit" a big deal ., I already come out with two prospects ., PTC and Knutzen ., but of course this is only leads no concrete proof nor assuarance that things will go out fine for me there.

 

For the moment before i think about that , i have first to fix all the needed agenda's i have to do , and first of it is fix my teeth then followed with the law enforcement clearance and than the renewal of PSCRB . Frankly i could have finished this in less than a month , if it weren't my sister borrowing 80k from me which severly depleted my money. but even that , i still have enough money to at least finish at least the important parts. The crippling blow came when i made a poor choice on my sexcapades which had me spent thousands of pesos without any good results  on a single person. Moral lesson i learned on that is never spent a single cent on a person no matter how much they beg and want something from you , I have to be ruthless next time and make sure that before they demand something , there should be a fair exchange first ., No exchange simply means no money to get (in fact there should be zero money to be involve) . Overall that mistake costed my almost 5k Php which i think personally i very costly and the costliest mistake i made on my sexcapades.

 

For now Im back again on the drawing board and looking on to it on how to resolve my current situation.

 

In other news ....

 

For now I'm still continuing my research about my "Next Evolution" project ., which is basically transitioning from maritime transportation to air transportation ., or to simply put it its the transition from being a seafarer to a commercial airline pilot , or to the least be a flight instructor.

 

I already got the information i needed to start up and the only limiting factor that i haven't started yet is because of the amount of money it takes to get things started and finish the said course. Thankfully being in the aviation industry is not that hard as it is in the maritime ., and if i played my cards right , its not a slow agonizing soul sucking job.

 

For now I'm trying to reach Philippine state college of aeronautics and inquire about the cost of their pilot programs (PPL , CPL ,) but unfortunately their contact numbers seems to be unreachable . I'd try to contact them using other mediums or social media to inquire about this. Overall this investigation of mine will probably take years before it actually materializes and the main candidate and cost efficient option i have is to study at the PSCA. After all as what my old friend told me that this is only education and training , There is still no guarantee that employment will come soon after this is complete and probably could take a few more years before any actual employment will  ever took place - If any at all . The fact is that there is still a doubt that after spending tremendous amounts of money , on training and education - there is still a possibility that it will fall to the same mistakes i did in the maritime and that they might go to the same category of falling to the "age limit" loop hole.

 

From a typical seafarers point of view the cost of training of one aviation pilots is still on the astronomical scale. Averaging from somewhere in the 2 Mil PHP scale - all the way up to as far as 10 Mil PHP. Probably the same cost as going to the medical doctor thing in a short amount of time.

 

 

 

RECENT FINANCIAL MISTAKES

Things are looking well for me on my usual routines , and my preparations for my next ship assignment have been ok (at least on the equipment i had to bring ) with a few notable exceptions.

 

I'm quite worried that some supplies needed wont be bought in time , like for my work clothes and medicines , not to mention some other equipment's that are being "on pending" status yearly because of budget concerns., to add more this includes long term projects.

 

To be direct the primary cause why I'm having this budget issues is because of my sister. Apparently she has been borrowing  much money from me and this year alone and she's borrowing too much. As in around 80k Php this year alone, which is horrifying on my wallet and budget and , 100 percent straining on my financial capabilities. To make matters worse there is no absolute guarantee that this large amount will be brought back , and I'm only relaying on the part "In good faith" which isn't exactly reliable to begin with . Gambling with 80k to begin with is a very risky and if something goes wrong my whole stay (and vacation here) would be disastrous ., there's a possibility that i might be stuck here for a long time because that

 

In any case , it is very foolish of me to be even trusting that huge amount in the first place - even on logical reasoning, hopefully i could walk out of this mess again like any other mess i went thru before. If this happens again by next year , I'd definitely protest and will not cooperate. This cannot continue and I don't want anymore wastefulness when it comes to money. 

 

Since mostly I'm just around the house - i mostly just go thru on the work testing my equipment or in someway improve or refine my equipment. Lately i had been fiddling around with my mac computer , and see how far can this old computer can go after being around for at least ten years., I had been also searching online for replaceable parts of this computer such as batteries ., Fortunately parts on this old mac are not that hard to find and i easily found possible battery replacements in a click of a button

 

"NEXT EVOLUTION" PROJECT

For now my career as a seafarer , is pretty stable and at now its height - Now the big question remains on how long will I be at the height of my career. Surely from my logical thinking the universal law of atrophy applies to all and that it's possible that one day my career as a seafarer will end ., On what date and time will it end is still up to be seen.

For now , like I said I'm pretty much stable on the job position and possibly I could still be around a couple of more years , but then after that will be a big problem for me . Sadly "Ratings" category on being a seafarer has an age limit meaning that the inevitable that I became too old for them (and probably out lived my usefulness) , I will be discarded just like any other seaman that got too old to work., and this is the reason why now I'm writing - what will be my next step after being a seafarer., 

One plan that I had been coming up ( out of the many possible plans ) lately is to start all over on another career. Probably jump to the aeronautical profession ., I have done a preliminary investigation (and more will be done ) on "how to be become an airline pilot" and found out recently that , it's not that difficult to be a pilot compared to being a seafarer in the Philippines. With the rising cost of education and training on seafarer's plus the limited employment opportunities offered where almost more than half of the class will not be employed anytime soon ., a student would start to think that being a airline pilot would be more than pragmatic.

Now being an airline pilot has its own share of problems ., first and foremost (and the biggest blockade) the number one reason why there aren't so many airline (Filipino) pilots to begin with is the cost of the education and training fee which is a staggering 2.6 Million Pesos to somewhere around 4.1 Million ., ( or in between that which depends on the school ) . Definitely the price tag of the training and education is NOT FOR A COMMONAIRE ., any student being educated on this type of programs should have a large pool of money to back up there education . To make it worst , the education in becoming an Airline Pilot is not on installment basis payment ., meaning a student has to pay in full the fee's for training and education. So the student should be prepared to basically drill a huge hole on they're wallets. 

The good side in being an airline pilot, is that basically anybody can be an airline pilot given that he / she completes the training education and licenses., the pre requisites are not that strict (at least on the Philippines) and rules are not that dogmatic., and to top it off , the employment opportunities are not that bleak as compared to being a seafarer.. 

My early inquires on aeronautical schools reveal that airline pilots education and training are in four stages ., two are compulsory and the other two are optional.  First is PPL (private pilot license) which is equivalent like a "student license" in driving a car., Second is CPL ( Commercial Pilot license) which is equivalent to "professional driver's license" ., These two are compulsory and imperative to be taken ., 

The other two license are optional and these are ATPL (airline transport pilot license) , basically I have no information about this yet but I do know it’s a "hardcore" mode of sorts . Flight instructor license , which practically means you're a teacher in a aeronautical school and building up flight hours experience. 

Anyway on my case….. 

Probably I should have started preparing on this project years ago., in fact I should have started on this year's back and possibly a decade back when I was still a rookie seafarer and should have been one of the "Back up" professions incase my career as a seafarer would not materialize (or materialize) or met some disastrous event. Targeting 4.1 Million pesos is a tall order and therefore will take time to accomplish, even my rough current estimates would take me at least half a decade to accomplish ., let alone the time it takes for the implementation of the training.

FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS

 Continuing on the work i left off on my last entry on this journal, I have already finishing updating some software apps on my Dell gaming computer and have already added a few games from the steam library.  So basically the only left work for me there is to do a few minor cosmetic clean up the dell laptop and it will be packed back to my luggage. 

(Due to budget constrictions ., I can only produce 2 MGP units , ("mobile gadgets platform") out of three intended for my electronic equipment. )

Another thing I had to update is my Nintendo Switch gaming console ., I added a couple more games that Nintendo offers for free . Unfortunately for me expanding my library games on Nintendo switch is limited due to two reasons , One is the cost of each Nintendo games purchased is expensive and can only buy a few games once in a while, Second reason is the limited memory I have on my gaming console which up to now I'm still having problems buying a bigger SD cards due to availability. Probably updating my Nintendo Switch will be finished sometime today.  

And another thing I had been up to, is to reuse again my old HP gaming laptop which I bought way back 2013. Strangely to my surprise this old laptop functions well for its age and still performs good. Although I still haven't tested this old computer yet for playing games on steam and if it still can perform like an old gaming laptop years back. I remember I stopped using this computer years back when its power systems started to fail for some reason and upon further checking I found out that the root of the problem was the battery , and to complicate the problem further is that this HP's computer battery was internal and not external . Meaning it cannot be removed without opening the casing of this computer and taking a look inside. I stopped using this computer sometime in 2016 and it was "on the box" for some years up until now when I finally figured out on how to remove the internal battery of the computer (or got an idea on how to exactly remove it). As soon the battery was removed ., I factory reset the computer back to its  windows 8 operating system state and started working there . 

Another thing that I had updated recently , is this journal and for the first time ever I might be entirely relaying on a cloud service (courtesy of Microsoft Onedrive ) to integrate and centralize my entries on this blog. Basically all my notes on all my devices ., no central or main hard drives to work with , just some storage up in the internet . Therefore , my entries here will be similar to all my numerous devices as long as it is connected and on sync in a Microsoft user account . All my notes and entries will be the same regardless of what kind of platform or device I will be using.  

Of course having an offline journal doesn’t mean its going to be obsolete , I'm still keeping an offline journal on my hard drives as a redundant form of journaling incase being online and sync  will be limited (as such on my case being a seafarer were internet connection would be scarce) . 

MGP Project

In a couple of past few days i was busy on a lot of things ., mostly stuff related to my work . I'm not exactly on work right now but I'm mostly developing equipment that might be of use on my next ship assigned , which includes both software and hardware type of equipment.

 

One such project i had been working out is a "Mobile Gadgets Platform" ., which is more like a fancy name for a foldable laptop desk. Basically my idea is more like having my electronic gadgets be put up on a small portable (and foldable) desk for a laptop. Anyway for now i cant really give much detail about this since its in the "prototype" phase and will have to do some more refining and test . Its final trial (if this project ever makes it) will be the actual usage when i'm working onboard on a ship.

 

another thing i had been working on is upgrading of the vintage MacBook i got on an online buy and sell site. The MacBook i bought is apparently vintage and obsolete now in todays MacBook's standards and yet surprisingly it still works fine (software wise) despite being around for at least over a decade. I tried to upgrade this Mac on the software and at least put it on the nearest usable operating system it has to offer. "El Capitan" Operating System is the nearest i could upgrade without hacking the system ., I'm worried that if i hacked on the system and upgraded it to the latest O.S. (High Sierra or Catalina) , there would be some functions on its hardware that would be unusable like for example its "trackpad" or the "WIFI device". Apparently this was mentioned by the hacker i saw on YouTube when he showed it in his channel. He explained that it has something to do with the hardware and that Mac's have problems when it comes to backward compatibility issue when it comes to hardware unlike Microsoft windows.

 

In any case i didn't bother to upgrade the mac any further than "El Capitan" ., I figured that its too much of a hassle (and risk) in sacrificing a trackpad or the WIFI device - it will be better off when i buy a much more better Mac next year and that i only bought a MacBook for the reasons of being familiar with the in's and out of using apple software.  Speaking of software upgrades ., I did purchase an app in the apps store in Mac unfortunately when the time came to "activate" the app ., it simply ceased to function and a pop message keeps coming up telling me to "purchase" the app. hmpf ., i have already purchased the app and the only thing I'm wondering is why this app hasn't been activated yet ??? i already wrote a number of emails on the developer of the app and i didn't get a single reply. Really serves me a lesson on not to trust apps and hand out my credit card details because of this ., totally a waste of money.

 

In other news ...

 

I'm also into upgrading a few software's on my regular windows 10 device ., one of these upgrades that i had been doing is also expanding my steam games library by purchasing a few new games ., Thankfully steam platform always offers discounted games or promo sales which make buying of video games a lot less costly. Aside from that I had also upgrades some few games on my Nintendo switch , although to be frank games in Nintendo switch are expensive which results of me buying a few games on that console.

 

In other news ....

 

Aside from my task of a ton of upgrades and maintenance work on my electronic equipment ., I have also unpacked the stuff i have ordered from shopee online store months ago when i was still onboard. Materials and equipment related specifically for my work as a seafarer involved in maintenance. I unpacked a lot of equipment just stored on my closet,  There's a ton of set of tools i bought and even a whole gas mask set (3m 6800 gas mask) for use in work especially nowadays when there's a pandemic around which probably will last a year or two. I also included  to upgrade my the med kit i have and bought a whole new set for replacement.  

INTEGRATION OSX

A lot has gone by this few months that passed by , and id have to write a separate journal entry on that …  but before I wrote that , I should be writing up first on my most recent progress now that I'm back in the Philippines

 

First off , as soon as I arrived on my house , I immediately came to work on my luggage and replaced equipment that is already deemed obsolete or unnecessary. I replaced some major equipment and checked everything . Fortunately enough for me , I had already prepared the equipment I would be needing for my later work which I had already ordered those equipment in advance and bought them online while I was still onboard . It didn’t took me long to unpack all the stuff I ordered online.

 

Within days , My luggage was ready and the all of the equipment I will be needing for the next ship assignment was in place. Probably on the next ship assignment., I'd be more equip and ready than ever before.

 

Aside from the preparations I had made .. I was also into upgrading and purchasing the recent Mac computer I just bought, ( Its not brand new and I think I wont be buying any brand new mac computers at all) . Basically the Mac computer I bought is around somewhere on the 2009 model ., so hardware wise , its already on the "obsolete" spectrum. Despite of this the mac I bought is not totally a useless junk and believe it or not ., the software inside (and probably hardware as well ) was still intact and in good shape. I spent days in upgrading its software capabilities and testing also its hardware , just to ensure that it can still do "offline" apps the way its supposed to do .

 

So far this mac computer would probably end up being my  "work" computer , since mac computers are more suitable in doing Office apps, Social media,  and light computing task than heavy duty work like based on reviews I just read online , Mac's are not by designed for gaming in the first place. So I guess I would be retiring my Acer tablet computer soon., (assuming that this mac trail will succeed)

 

I guess that’s it for now and will later update this journal about my progress in the days to come. 

WILL RESUME WRITING

took in a couple of months break from writing anything .... hopefully id be back again and resume my updates on this blog ., For now i'm still busy doing some hardware upgrades and doing my best to migrate the old files i have to a new company ...


I'd be in touch as soon as i have finished on this work

CHANGE OF MANAGEMENT STYLE

New rumors are flying again that a crew change (for most filipino crew) will happen somewhere around 2nd of august in Reunion Islands , a French territory island somewhere near Madagascar. "Merk" just gave us the details on what might be a possible crew change ., Of course it’s a "WHAT MIGHT" part - may come true or may not come thru based on the news coming from the office . If this rumor is true then I'd be more than relieved to be getting rid of this principal , GOOD RIDDANCE. !!!

I had been already requesting that I'd be out on this ship as far as back in January and so far nothing is done yet on this and my contract has already went beyond that and going longer than expected because of this COVID pandemic lockdown ., (which in turn left me stranded on this ship). I'd be a dream come thru to be disposing this principal once and for all ., Besides who would want to stay on a company that doesn’t pay crew salaries for the whole 9 months ?? Absolutely no seafarer on their right mind would be willing enough to stay on that kind of treatment .,  Not anyone I know of.

Maybe for now., I just consider this as a rumor and I don’t want to get my hopes up.

In other news .…

As expected "Merk" being fully in charge on deck affairs, has tighten up some work policies. Aside from that being a Filipino with an unpredictable nature., he is also shown us his arrogance and mood swings . There was one instance during the discharge operations that he yelled over the two way radio ,without any reason or warning. It was loud enough to be heard all over the channel 2 frequency and probably any nearby ships who are using that channel. I myself am surprise on that sudden outburst .

Anyway I expected no less , on this kind of behavior when it comes to Filipino ship officers - its predictable that they have a nasty rude manners when it comes to radio conversations . Obviously a toxic and poisonous person in a working environment and anyone caught in the middle of his tantrum will certainly suffer. Another instance of his tantrum , was when someone used a mop on the SOPEP Equipment. He immediately called everyone on the crew to attend his "urgent meeting" and gave everyone a scolding over a trivial matter. Aside from that , he is also seen hovering around like a helicopter and keeping an eye on the deck work area like a jail guard , probably monitoring people.

From what it looks ., "Merk" will be problematic in the long term as a ships official ., but I guess thats another story to be told and a different crew will be a witness to that ., As far as I know "merk's" reign here will be short lived and will only a few months , maybe a two months or three before disembarkation.

After this ships finishes its discharging operations in Rotterdam Netherlands, it will be headed for brazil for a loading operations..  

CREW MOVEMENT

Earlier thinking that this will be a long and arduous campaign., Miraculous news has reached me that Pump Man Carnaje will be going home on grounds of medical leave. Based on the rumors I had been hearing , It’s a case of abdominal hernia which will need surgery for him. Making him leave this ship.

I was over joyed to hear the hear the news that such a misfortune happened to him and this threat to me has ended for the foreseeable future . As long as he is out of the way , rest assured that existence here on this ship will be smooth and probably tolerable.

Oh and I do wish that his intestines would drop and get mixed up like a spaghetti thing when he boards a plane home. Good bye and I hope I will not ever get to  see a monster like him again EVER

In any case during the unloading operation in Netherlands , a new A.B. arrived to replace A.B. jun which is now promoted to pump man (replacing Pump man Carnaje). The new A.B. is a Romanian and is about roughly at least 50 plus years old, So basically he's an oldie. From the looks of it he's not that much of a trouble in the work place so I guess he won't be a problem at all.

Aside from the crew movement ., apparently "Merk" will also be promoted to full chief mate after our Russian chief mate "Smolev" will leave as well here on Netherlands (finish contract). For now I don’t think "Merk" will be a big threat or problem on the deck but there are signs that he's not to be taken lightly ., and based as far as I know when it comes to this kind of work , usually filipino chief mates are disagreeable to work with over numerous reasons.

In any case as long as he is out of my way ., I don’t think he will pose a threat or a problem for the long term.

This is currently what i'm feeling right now , after months without being paid a single cent on my onboard salary ., I have no idea why this company hasnt paid me at all . To duke out my frustration and anger., I simply vandalized a ships equipment 

Crew changes and repatriation are allowed (and even encourage in passenger ships) , although since im not in a passenger ship and working an oil tanker ., I am essential stuck and trapped on this boat until further notice . Sometimes i feel jealous over passenger crews because they workers rights are more monitored compared to any cargo ships around 

BROKE BUT NOT POOR

Just another shitty , penniless day at work . employed but no cash

UNCERTAIN CREW CHANGE

It's been a quiet month for the month of May and this ship has been here for almost a month now in Netherland anchorage area and up to now there is no sign yet that this ship will go to berth yet.

A couple of weeks ago , This ship's Captain told the deck cadet to write down names of any of the crew who wish to go home. Deck cadet wandered around on the crew mess during lunch and asked each crew who's interested . I told him I'm interested to go home early, Now weeks have passed since I said to deck cadet that I'm interested , and there is still no reply coming from OSM nor any news coming from the principal "hartree" about any crew change. Perhaps there will be no reply at all and that "Hartree" (or maybe OSM ) doesn’t have any plan or intention to have a crew change here in netherlands. 

A week ago and by surprise , OSM management along with the principal "hartree" made a video conference to the whole crew at the CCR. From my perception, the video conference was all about the management wanted to know our opinion regarding about being put up here on this ship on a much longer period , and from the way on how conversation went out , it looks like that OSM and Hartree did not have any solid plans yet for a crew change.

Most of the crew never spoke their opinion about this matter during the video conference and those who did spoke , was not actually speaking about crew change issue or crew welfare topic but rather spoke flattery to the company, basically sucking up to the management .

The funny part about this video conference was that , Senior ship officers do the best they can on sucking up - To the point that I get the impression and was astonished that these people are basically "Company man" to the core. From what I saw with my own eyes I'm disgusted on how Filipino ship officer's really sucking up to the company, and that they never really care about the welfare of their fellow Filipino crew or their workers' rights matter . Anyway it's not surprising ,on how my fellow Filipino would behave like this infront of the management (and everyone in general ) , After all it’s the FILIPINO way and that is a fact . having really no shame on having no dignity at all or backbone to stand up with workers rights

filipino ship officer would look like this in a comical way

Filipino seafarers are efficient workers but the dark side is that they are mentally unstable , ruthless, coldhearted , and basically a threat to every fellow filipino around the workplace. Even Filipino Senior ship officers are ruthless enough to be intolerant of minor faults and imposes severe punishments to their Filipino subordinate, they are highly power hungry, Selfish , cruel , ruthlessly sadistic and hot tempered .  Make no mistake , Filipino Chief mate's and Filipino captains shows utter ruthlessness and bloodlust just to accomplish their goals and strongly disapproves failure and disobedience in any form on their subordinates . It is  a Fact that Filipino's are hostile to their own countrymen Period. A person who betrays his fellow country men cannot be fully trusted at all. 

During the video conference , I choose to remain silent and just listen to what was going on . I really wanted to speak and ask the management , if they have any plans at all for a crew change, however i held my tongue and  knew better that if ever I spoke at all about this , It might end up as a "public execution" for me for questioning the management. Being mindful to what happened to me several years back in CF Sharp company were I spoke openly against the management ., It would be rational to just keep my mouth shut on this situation ., Speaking against or questioning the management in front of the crowd of "Company mans" would be as safe as being in the front lines of the battle field - A TOTAL KILL ZONE AREA.  Based on experience as a sailor , having an "open conversation / conference" amongst the crew doesn't really end up good  and never works out . If the company is sincere enough to fix the problem and wants to know the truth about how people think without any fear of persecution or repression , then they should ask the crew one by one without any supervision or any one monitoring the conversation - anything beyond that is PURE BULLSHIT.

A NEW ISSUE

I thought earlier that the brawl between O.S. Alvin and O.S. Dalida would be the last thing that would happened on this contract - Turns out I was wrong and the new issue now is that A.B. Chris and Pump man Carnaje now had an argument and resulted that Pump man challenging A.B. Chris to a brawl. Unfortunately it didn’t end up on that way, So I guess the picture that Pump man being pummeled by someone by the crew will not happen at all.

In any case whatever the reasons behind this. I'm not surprised that A.B. Chris has already loss his patience on that old scum. I mean Pump man Carnaje was already an asshole to begin with and it only takes a matter of time before someone losses his patience on his obnoxious manners. Infact Pumpman here has already been at odds with most people here . I for example which already went near in a brawl , and just didn’t retaliate even thought I had every reason to do so (he smacked me in the face) .  He's been at odd's with wiper as well and even fitter, I'm not exactly sure on how many more on this ship don’t like him as well.

So I suppose A.B. Chris became at odds with him for the very same reasons, why I'm at odds with pumpman as well. Anyway it doesn’t matter now for me , I have lasted for more than 6 months now without any official "Job orders" and I'm close now to finishing this dreadful contract and start over again on another principal . Hopefully I will not encounter Pumpman Carnaje nor any person similar with that kind of obnoxious behavior on a new ship assignment.

being berthed in a U.S. Port is not exactly as tedious as what I earlier thought , In fact its quiet easy. Everything went find on the mooring and as a plus O.S. Dalida was not there so its easier for me to work without his annoyance and loud mouth.

Probably the visit in U.S. would have been good if the shore leave and "private orders" wasn’t cancelled. I would definitely wanted to Walmart or best buy store after a long time., It would have been a great opportunity if this principal was not  neglecting crew welfare.

Even the port authorities here was not that strict this time when it comes to checking people. The U.S. immigration officer didn’t even bothered to board our vessel and instead just requested to put the whole crew in the gangway and counted us, After that he immediately took off. Ahhh… the wonders of having a Pandemic around .

After loading operations , this ship went on to the anchorage to wait for a ship to ship loading operations. It took almost 4 four days at the anchorage and enough time to prepare the needed equipment for the mooring. The Loading operations via ship to ship went smoothly as expected.

NEW HAIRSTYLE

Great News !! I had finally got a haircut after almost half a year, No thanks to Deck Cadet who volunteered to cut my hair . Now its bye bye to that itchy feeling on the ears and that Thermal discomfort plaguing me often when the hair traps heats . 

Now the Bad News !! - I don’t like the hairstyle , It was just basically look like a Slim trimmed style like an afro thing, (I actually looked like an Afro, really). Anyway hopefully it wont get notice in the next 62 days, besides "The End justifies the Means" , As long that itchy feeling Stops and I'm thermally cool in the head (or at the very least thermal heat is lessen) then I should be fine in this haircut. Aside from that it has also a perks of letting me see better and I don’t have to attend to my hair often just to clear my view. 

This haircut should be enough for me till I reach home 62 days later - by that time this haircut style has already outgrown and can be fixed back in the philippines.   

In other news …. 

For now I'm still testing and experimenting on this so called Microsoft OneNote program (not desktop edition) and see if its online cloud meets my expectation. Of course MS OneNote is not totally free and without any "Paid subscription" ., there will be limitations on how I can use it - which right now I'm still testing it to see on how far a Free a account can get. I think from what I read on the internet , Microsoft OneNote "free version" is only limited to atleast about a hundred entries before some message pops up a saying you need to subscribe to a Paid subscription of 69 U.S. dollars per year. Obviously I haven't reached a hundred entries yet so far so its still yet to be verified.  

As of the moment I can worry about that thing later , and focus on testing this online version of MS OneNote and use it more like an "online sketchpad". I still have an "offline" version of this MS OneNote and I could just simply copy paste the final write up before publishing it on my Blog.  

To mention one notable downside of having a cloud based app like MS OneNote , is that it requires to be constantly online and connected to the internet all the times just to back up files and sync. If a person (such as myself) works on a remote area and there's not much bandwidth to go around, then its better to be shifting to an offline desktop version instead.   

In other news ..

I had been doing some Internet "window" shopping lately and looking for some latest updates on some working equipment id be needing for the next ship assignment . I'm still lining them up on my wish list and guess be later be bought when I arrived in the philippines    

CHANGES UNDER CONSIDERATION

Quarantine in almost all countries on the world still rages on to starve out the corona virus pandemic. While countries are struggling to combat this , most people in the world are stranded on their homes and their workplace due to almost worldwide lockdown , and on my case since I'm a seafarer - I'm stranded on my workplace as well. In addition there has been some reports on the social media that Filipino seafarers are being discriminated back in our own home country , some dormitories, hotels , condominiums and even motel and apartments refuse board and lodging to Filipino seafarers because they fear that seafarers are carriers of the COVID 19 Virus. One video I saw in Facebook was one resident of a condominium was publicly harassing Seafarers on a  passenger ship and yelling that "they are a pest and should not be allowed to enter the building"  

Although in a technical sense , this workplace may be the safest round environment against a pandemic - it is out of irony , one of the most stressful and unsafe when it comes to mental health. In any case , My situation being stranded here is really a burden for me than an advantage and there is nothing much I can do about it . I'm really eager to be off on this ship as soon as lockdown is lifted in the Philippines. Although I myself will be in a dilemma since folks back home don’t want us to return .

Situation here in this ship is a big letdown , when my expectations doesn’t materialize. Why ?? Imagine having no Payout salary onboard for 6 months now (and still ongoing), and no shore leave (essentially trapped and locked down) , and even the "Private Orders" for items are cancelled. The more I think about this disappointments on this principal  , the more I remember the good times with my previous principal which has better treatment . (the more my urges desires to return to my previous employer, for better treatment) I'm not saying that TCC is a good principal , In fact TCC is another kind of fuck up company however at least in there I have a better chance of something rather than here.

What happened here on this working contract is that I just basically swapped my bad employer to something even far worse.

In other news …

I might be phasing out (or retire) the use of my "Military Water Canteen" type of equipment and be shifting to a more light weight type which can carry more water. The reason why I had to shift from the model I had been using for the past five years was because of weight luggage constraints at the airport. (Seafarers are only limited to two sets of check in luggage ,each with a 20 kilogram limitation). From what I really the "Military Type" water canteen weighs at least near a kilogram. 

I'm also considering the possibility that I could at least salvage some parts of my working belt and not wholly throw it away after this ship assignment. I checked thoroughly and perhaps the main belt can be possibly salvaged aside from the Leg Rig, as I checked it has only a little dirt and almost little degration - making it at least suitable to used for another ship contract perhaps, . I'm thinking that maybe I could bring it back home just to save money on the cost of almost buying a new one each year (or each ship contract). Maybe I'd just put those in the washing machine before I store them back to my luggage.  

Another thing that I'd be making changes (or probably still greatly "under consideration") is transfer of the Microsoft OneNote , and other office apps to the android platform. In other words , I'm planning or thinking that I might be phasing out a windows based tablet computer . although Up to now  I'm still heavily considering the possibilities of using an android tablet as the main computer for those kinds of functions .

Android Tablet / Phone ----> specialized apps (for banking , social media , GPS Maps  , and can also handle phone calls and send / received text SMS message plus email . Practically almost an all in one Gadget for office / work type plus internet.

PROBLEM ?? Limited storage capacity, scope of usability beyond "specialization" app,  easily gets obsolete

Windows Tablet / Computer ----> General purpose computer, can be used offline, can access internet and social media, Better battery capacity and computing output

PROBLEM ?? Limited storage capacity , Bulky equipment, weight issues on luggage , Problem with data synchronization

In any case I'm still greatly thinking on what possibilities , I can use for my line of work and currently undergoing some trial and error process and a series of experiments which is suited best . It really depends on the practicality of use,

In other matters relating to what's going on in the work place ….

There has been a ruckus lately last Sunday . Apparently O.S. Dalida has outdone himself in bothering people again on this ship. This time he makes a lot of noise on his cabin to the point that its bothering people in the B deck area. One crew member (O.S. "Alvin" ) got fed up on his annoyance that he took matters in his own hands and went thru O.S. Dalida's cabin and smacked his face , In return O.S. Dalida fought back and things got messy , to the point that both of them got the attention of the whole crew residing in B - Deck area along with the rest of officers residing in C and D Deck as well. From what i heard both of them have been summoned after the incident to the captains office and from there I assumed the captain filed some sort of crew report.

I don’t know the exact details on what happened and only heard what happened in the morning, however I suspected something was already going on the afternoon when I went outside my cabin to wash some clothes to the laundry room, and when I was about to get back - I saw O.S. Dalida's luggage bag inside one of the spare rooms in upper deck area (which is exactly the right next to my room). At first I figured that this ship might be expecting some visitors probably an inspector or a superintendent perhaps and they wanted O.S. Dalida to be out of his cabin so the guest can use it. My suspicions was wrong when I heard to other crew members in the morning that the reason O.S. Dalida moved out of his cabin was because of the common.

In any case , I wont take sides on whatever grudges they have against each other, and wont let myself be plagued with these trivial things because I roughly got only two months left before my contract finishes and get the hell out of here, Besides I knew better that both of them have problems when it comes to their manner's. Alvin being aggressive and too dominating to other people (co-workers) , and Dalida on the other hand being a dick and an asshole in general when it comes to on and off work.  Frankly Dalida got what he deserve for being an annoyance and a scumbag , especially on his exploits disturbing and annoying people during off work.  Same goes also to Alvin , getting on what he deserves for taking matters in his own hands and being dumb in not seeing the consequences in his actions. 

As far as possible I'd try to stay out of trouble and the ruckus they made was a good diversion , Now all eyes of the crew are in both of these people and I'd stay hidden and unnoticed.

"Military Water canteen Type" which i will be retiring this year and be replaced with a new light weight type 

The new type of water canteen i will use by next year (or next contract) 

TOR BROWSER : DRILL A HOLE ON THE FIREWALL

After months of figuring out on how to bypass the internet firewall of this ship, I have now finally came up with a solution and progress. TOR browser which is mainly used by activist (and in some cases espionage activities) can be used here onboard as well.  The trials I had made using this web browser were a success and I can now browse internet site that up to now is blocked by this ship's firewall.

Although its successful it is still limited to browse websites and cannot do online transactions like buying digital video games as of the moment , (probably because of the "cookies" thing when it comes to login). In any case it's still a big help that I can access website that are "censored" on ships internet connection.

Of course as a precaution, I will not tell anyone on the crew about this and will keep this secret only to myself - as I have trust issues with them. Besides that this information / knowledge should not be shared with people like them who rat out they're fellow crewmates. Best keep it only to myself and inside my head.

TOR Browser is very similar to Firefox Mozilla browser when it comes to function with few notable exemptions of course. I highly recommend TOR Browser to seafarers who have problems accessing websites on their ships Internet connection due to firewall.

In other news ….

While news about my disembarkation is still nowhere to be heard of., I'm already spending my time preparing for the items (and equipment) I will get to use next year. In fact I'm already prepared a list and this time the provider for the item I will buy online will not be LAZADA but its competitor company called "Shoppee" . Hopefully the product they sell their have a better quality than the near "China Made" quality Lazada markets.

I have nothing against lazada but lately , they opened their business to Chinese suppliers which by accident led some of their products selling to have a lower quality. Some of their product they were selling were even defective as well.   

CREW CHANGE SUSPENDED

I was not very happy to hear the news of "crew change will be not allowed for the time being" ., especially that I had already submitted my early vacation request. In fact I'm furious over my current situation because I dislike the ships working environment., I'm itching and hurrying to get out of this ship and change principals as soon as I can but with this current situation where most Asian countries are currently implementing a lockdown on their borders (due to the COVID pandemic) and might It take some time before it settles. For now crew change on this company is temporarily halted until further notice.

Speaking of crew change suspension . It seems that the first batch of crew change on this ship in south Africa is halted as well, and probably crew change will be now somewhere in the U.S. - at least for those who have a U.S. Visa around, for those who don’t - then they'd have to wait for the next available non  U.S. territory for a crew change , a country that has no lock down.

Hopefully based on the Philippine Tv news ., The nationwide lockdown will be lifted probably around April 14.

I'm still hopeful that maybe I can get off on this ship by May

In other news …

Here life onboard is on the usual routine, and as always O.S. Dalida pesters me around on his chatting of none important things but its more of an inconvenience now rather than an annoyance. As much as possible I tried tgo ride along with his worthless chat or if it gets to annoying , I try to ignore it.

Not much to write about anything ., the whole news is flooded with this corona virus , no new memo about crew change

Speaking of which there is rumors that even shore leave might be cancelled in the U.S. as well . Captain here is paranoid that one of crew the might get infected along the way , so probably he's thinking that the stuff were trying to buy in the U.S. will be just for sorts  "private orders".

In any case U.S. is not officially lockdown yet , so there's a possibility for a crew change for non - filipino's . 

THE LONG 90 DAYS

By the time this ship arrived , every crew here was wearing his issued standard "disease and prevention" kit as a prevention on this corona virus thing. Personally I think this suit is somewhat overboard as the area in china in which this ship berthed is relatively disease free and no infections. Still despite being relatively safe., xenophobia here on this ship is way over the top, such instance was fourth engineer being furious that a Chinese is having his pack meal inside the crew mess. He looked on to this people with digust and malice , saying that they're "polluting" the area with their viruses and disease.

Even some of my co-workers avoid , even talking to Chinese jetty men and let them do all the work on the cargo hose connection in the loading arm. For myself I don’t harbor any disgust or xenophobia against them, they're just simply workers doing their job and nothing more.

Xenophobia here is really extreme that sometimes I'm thinking that my co-workers are already being a racist and that they're just justifying it because of this corona virus thing .

After the discharge operations., this ship proceeded to Singapore for its routine bunkering and provisioning supplies. Due to the ship reaching this area within less than 14 days of local quarantine regulations on this country., no crew change was allowed and will have to wait on next port

On the moment that bunkering and provisioning ops was finished , it came the news that this ship will be heading off to Texas U.S.A.  For loading cargo and then discharging it back to south Korea. Apparently from what I heard the whole trip will take about 90 days at least , (35 days going to the area , and possibly another 35 going back , and this doesn’t include the days involved in loading and anchoring) which meant that this will be going to be a very long trip and knowing that south Korea will be in some sort of lockdown quarantine , its possible that no crew change will be allowed for the whole trip.

No crew change means people here are stuck until they sort out this whole shit and allow freedom of movement on ship workers.

EFFORTS WILL BE REWARDED

Its already the month of march now , and a few more months of waiting , all my efforts and hardships will soon be rewarded. If my contract tells me correct , my stay here on this crappy ship will only be up to June and after that - that big plane home and probably deliver that "retribution" thing I really wanted.

For now I have to be patient , and continue my struggle and it won't be long till I get the hell out of this. Aside from the contract due date, There's also an option called "Early Vacation" thing . Although its unofficial, I'm also aiming for that goal to be at least home by May (a month earlier than the contract deadline), I'm not entirely sure If this principal grants it , but I'd take my chances in submitting an "early vacation" request rather than do nothing and endure all that bullying and harassment.

Speaking of "Early Vacation" request, I had already finished making a request letter for it and already gave it to A.B. Noel , so that both of us can submit it to the captain , simultaneously. I'd figured that our claim of having an early request would be more valid if there is more than one person submitting this kind of request. The more people involved in it , the higher the chances that it will be considered and probably be approved.

Initially there were four of us who wanted to have an earlier vacation , Me, A.B. "Noel" , Fitter and Mess man. Unfortunately Mess man's request didn’t materialized because of the schedules we were requesting, which leaves him out . So basically now there's three of us left.

Me and A.B. Noel had been discussing this for several days now and had several delays before deciding to submit it (which I assume that probably "Noel" was not experienced dealing with this early vacation leave thing) , then on the day that were finally going to submit it , it was delayed again because fitter on the last minute decided to submit his request and join up. I don’t mind the delays, besides the more people joining in on this objective , then the better.  In any case hopefully "Noel" is able to submit it by now and honestly we are running a bit late on the schedule of submission., I'm going to check later just to ensure that the request was really submitted

THE FATE OF TCC

It's been seven days since my last log, took quite a few days to have me log back probably because my emotions have been more stable and perhaps some part of it may be due to lack of time. Anyway I'd start ….

It has been my suspicion that the whole news of me wanting to go home early have already spread even on the engine crew , (No thanks to that backstabbing gossiper O.S. Dalida) because I was asked by one of the oiler's on what is the reason that I intend to pass an E.V.L. , I simply just gave him a makeup reason that the income here is unsatisfactory and I have to go back to the "Other" principal.  In any case I should have known not to trust him (O.S. Dalida) its was a very big mistake in doing so and that I should have gone "solo" on my problems ., Good thing I didn't reveal all the plans I had up ahead . Anything that he knows is basically none essential information and I have already stopped giving details of any other things

Officially I haven't submitted yet my EVL ., and that I'm still waiting for A.B. "Noel" to make a move so I can hitch with they're request to make it more valid. Up to now I'm still waiting for news on them since Noel hesitates in making one. From what I heard here , the policy of OSM is to make the request earlier than the usual one month notice on other companies and that its implied that it should be at least two months. Given that if that’s the rule , then I have to submit it somewhere in March.

On my best bet if this is the situation then I'd have to submit it either via 7th  of march or 14th of March. I could submit it now , but I'm still thinking that I have to wait until "Merk" is gotten rid of first for more efficiency on my EVL. Somehow (and a fact) I distrust a fellow Filipino as a seafarer especially Filipino Senior ship officers.  

In relation to this topic, I have received word from my former co-worker which I chatted via Facebook messenger that TCC is apparently will phase out OSM as it manning agent - meaning that TCC will transfer to a new company somewhere in makati. From what I heard to my former co-worker, "Vanguard" and "Excelsius" ship is scheduled to be sold by October this year. So on my end , I'm feeling a bit down because this principal is my "safe zone" here in OSM and that my possible planned return there will not materialize , if the news were true.

In any case, TCC or not what I can tell is that I cannot stay here on this "Hunter" ships and I'd be better off somewhere (or anywhere) than here, maybe on another principal or another company. I have to think of the possibility that if no other solution applies then I have to result in abandoning OSM as well ., The only question if that possibility happens is where should I go next ?

PICK A WRONG MONTH

Never thought that I'd be handling the job of painting again , not at all and it never occurred to me ever since O.S. Dalida made bad rumors against me and told an accusation to Pumpman Carnaje that "I don’t know how to mix paint" . Ever since then my job at that moment was more related to cleaning rather than painting, but to this day I was simply dumb folded (or maybe puzzled) to know that the job order assigned for me was painting. In any case I'm glad id be stretching my hands and fingers again after a long time in painting some "Tiger Marks" on those bollards.

In other news….

From what I heard, A.B. Noel is planning to have an early vacation and the latest news is that there's at least four of us here planning to have it. I suggested to A.B. Noel to submit a "collective" kind of request letter to the captain detailing that four of us request to have an early vacation and in that way , our request could be more valid and thus have less chances of being turned down. He already spoke to fitter about this and I'm still waiting on what time and date will he submit  and if it will be a collective request or maybe a "per person" request letter.

In any case if this plan will not materialize (because I'm not ruling out that A.B. Noel might hesitate ), I have to prepare for a backup plan on my own to submit an E.V.L. by sometime in April. Hopefully if all goes well "Noel" should go for it and make a EVL for all of us four, and finally it's up to this principal for them to approve this . As much as possible I want to get of this as much as possible and don’t plan to stay any longer than necessary.

Another news that I have to write about is that it looks like that OSM management will be making changes on its policy about the payroll, based on the documents they circulated to all of their fleets - it looks like that they're MPO (also known as "Special allotment" colloquially ) will be phased out and replaced with an "online banking" type of system similar to my previous two employers "CF Sharp" and "UPL - Shell" , which is based that monthly wages will be automatically be forwarded to their respective online dollar accounts (in my case BDO Dollar ). It also said on their memo documents that the implementation will be on January 2020 , but as of yet February 2020 there still no sign yet that they have transferred the cumulative wages OSM owe me.

On my end ., Online banking is fine (and if not welcomed) but the problem is that they picked a wrong time for the MPO to be cancelled and that they are scheduled payments that I have to make and without any assurance that my salary will be forwarded it will be a disastrous time for them to implement.

here are the document memos they put up in the crew mess