Snow

The snow, although pretty to look at is a real pain. I feel like I have been trapped in the house for days. I have tried to get out but their is very little I can do outside with everything covered in snow and the road out of the crescent is sheet ice at the moment.

I did manage to go out on the bike on Monday. I needed to go to the bank in Bideford so rather than driving I decided to cycle. It was really hard going and made me realise that all the effort I made getting fitter earlier in the year is rapidly being undone. The cycle was good though and it was wonderful to see all the snow everywhere. The views in this part of the world are so wonderful all year round with the rolling hills and views out to sea. Anyway I did learn two valuble lessons. Firstly when cycling in the snow make sure you have water proof foot ware as after the first mile my feet were soaking wet and by the time I had done twenty miles there were frozen solid and I couldn't feel the pedals. The second lesson is avoid the icy bits as it is a bit hairy slidding all over the road but at least I didn't fall off and I did manage to get there and back. Other than the frozen feet it was an exhilarating cycle.

Foolishly we braved the supermarket in the week with the two little ones. We parked alright but I should have realised it was going to be bad when there were no trollies. We finally managed to find one and then had a tortuous shop with William screaming the whole time. I think next Christmas I will do the food shop without little ones in tow.

Tomorrow should be good though, the little ones first real white Christmas and I am really looking forward to the little ones opening their presents. Then of course there will be a trip down the Green Dragon for my first pint of Rattler this leave.

Day At The Zoo

Well as you can see by my lack of updates and moans about the world I have escaped the ship and am now back on leave. I feel shattered already and have only been home 10 days. The little ones have been up every night so it is hard to get a full nights sleep. I really don't know how Debbie has managed to stay sane for the last four months what with lack of sleep and daily bouts of Cbeebies.

This weekend we took the little ones to the Zoo to see the animals and Santa. On arrival we walked around in circles trying to find the big cats. The tigers hid at the back of the enclosure but the lions came right up close which was great. Little Elizabeth got all excited pointing at them and started going 'eow' as she hasn't quite got the M for meow yet.

Most of the animals were hiding away as it was a bit cold but we did see some of the apes around which always give good pictures.

After having a look at the animals we took the little ones to see Santa. We had hoped to get some pictures of the little ones with Santa as last year Elizabeth burst into tears. Unfortunately when we went into into Santa's grotto this year Elizabeth took one look at Santa, Screamed and ran out of the Grotto in tears so no pictures this year and little William wasn't much better. I don't know why she is afraid of Santa, I don't think I help matters now as I tell her that if she is naughty Santa will come and visit her. Maybe it will mean cheaper Christmases. Anyway it will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow as I have been roped into dressing as Santa for the kiddy group that Debbie goes to on Wednesdays. I wonder if little Beth will burst into tears or give me a big cuddle?

Finally no trip to the zoo would be complete without a visit to Alexanders relations.

Yippeeeeeeeee

 

The end is nigh as I have a relief and a relief date. My relief joins this Friday and so I will be home Saturday after a long and at times eventful trip.  Having first joined the ship in early July the trip was expanded as I had three weeks at home recovering from my gall bladder operation.  It was all a bit surreal having spent a week in hospital and then going home.  Its sodding typical though as I missed the best port visit of the whole trip as the ship had 10 days in Leith during my period off sick.  Saying that though as much as I would have liked to have gone to Leith at least I had a few weeks at home with Debbie and the little ones which is far better than any port visit.

 

I do feel I have achieved a few things this trip, even though much of the time has been spent alongside.  We finally got little William Christened and a great day was had by all. I still can’t believe he slept through the whole service though, he didn’t even stir when the vicar poured water over his head. Mind you he did wake up when the wine started flowing. 

 

I managed to cycle 50 miles in one day (the day before I was admitted to hospital with Gall Stones) which was a great achievement for me and I think that over the course of the last 5 months I have managed to rack up about 600 miles on the bike. I just hope I can keep my levels of fitness up over the winter months so that I can achieve my aim next year of cycling 200 miles in two days.

 

Finally I also made it to XO if only for a week when I was transferred to another ship. It was a great experience and I feel that I proved to myself that I am capable of doing the XO role.  As I like to say “Self realisation is the first step to enlightenment.”

 

Anyway 5 days to go, and then it is home to Debbie and the little ones, I am really looking forward to seeing them as I haven’t seen them since the christening, although I must admit I am not looking forward to nappy duty as I am quite slow when it comes to changing nappies and little William always manages to escape when I am half way through. The joys of fatherhood I suppose. Well I wonder what the next few months will bring?

 

Mankind's Final Century?

Is this the final century of mankind? If not the final century almost certainly the beginning of the end. How long can the earth go on supporting an exploding population whilst the politicians turn a blind eye. You only have to look around to see that we are on the edge of destruction. World population is doubling at an ever increasing rate and yet resources are dwindling, how will we support ourselves in twenty to thirty years?

There is so much we take for granted, and assume that emerging technologies such as solar power, wind power etc will save us. However all these sources rely on petroleum products, whether it is in the materials to produce the solar panels and wind turbines or the transport of them. I hate to say it but I really think we are going to live through some very interesting times and I really think that in the next 30-40 years the human race will make decisions that will either ultimately destroy us or allow us to continue in much smaller numbers. I do worry what the future holds for my little Elizabeth and William.

I think we should all learn from Easter Island as what happened there is a good analogy of what may happen to us. They were an isolated society who were advanced for their time. They were capable of great feats of engineering, moving stone heads of 70tons across the island and erecting them. However when their natural resources (mainly wood) ran out they descended into anarchy. Now if one translates the island into modern thinking, the island would be the Earth. The tribes on the island would be the nations of the world and the trees would be the equivalent to our oil. When the island was discovered by Europeans the few remaining islanders came out in canoes and the first thing they wanted was wood to build canoes with. We are not going to get rescued by some alien race, we are it and we have to deal with the problem we are creating.

Maybe I worry too much and I should say sod the future live for the present but then where would that leave Elizabeth and William. I wonder if I am alone in thinking that the end is nigh or whether we all know it is coming and we just turn a collective blind eye to it.

Not Long To Go

Things are finally busy and I only have three weeks left until I escape on leave.  It is good to get back to sea though rather than being tied up alongside; it is just ashame that it has been so rough as it is a little uncomfortable getting thrown around.

 

I had a good start to the month though as I was transferred to another ship and had a temporary promotion to Executive Officer for a week.  It was a great experience and helped me build my confidence for the future. Although I am pleased I transferred back when I did as I think some rather irate Marines were about to rejoin the ship.  They had been away for the weekend and left all their kit neatly layed out on the tank deck ready for Monday, however as we were expecting rough weather over the weekend I had the lads secure it all so we scooped it all up on a couple of pallets and threw a cargo net across it.

 

The transfers to and from the ship were fun.  I got picked up by the marines in one of their big ribs; it was quite an exhilarating trip out to the ship doing 30-40kts across Falmouth bay in choppy seas.  I thought I was going to end up with whiplash or get thrown out the boat.  The trip back between ships was much more pleasurable though as they sent a Lynx to pick me up and I had a nice flight across the rolling hills of Devon.  It was nice transferring and getting taken from door to door so to speak as I didn’t have to worry about anything.

 

Well I came back and had little time to get my feet under the table with a backlog of a weeks work to catch up and the ship had already embarked our flight.  However because of the weather during the first few days much of the flying was curtailed.

 

Well not long to go now, I have started righting my end of term report and will start compiling my handover notes in the next few days and then home in December to Debbie and the two little ones

 

 

 

So That Was October

October was a strange month and quite frustrating.  The first two weeks were spent undergoing a maintenance package so operationally we had little to do.  As always I had lot of planning to do for next years programme and liaising with the squadrons for Novembers programme kept me busy.  For the first two weeks I put a lot of effort into planning for our involvement in staff college sea days.  I know it was going to be a horrid week but we would have been busy which is always good.  Anyway surprise, surprise we broke down and ended up swing around an anchor for 12 days waiting for a dry dock.

 

As we broke down our plans for having little William christened in Portsmouth were scuppered but we managed to have it re-organised for Falmouth. Only problem was we got stuck at anchor so we had to postpone it a further week.  Thankfully we finally got into Falmouth and the christening went ahead.  I had been quite worried how it was going to go as the little monster was screaming his head off an hour before the service and we couldn’t get him to settle. Thankfully he calmed down before the service and then managed to sleep all the way through, even when the Chaplin poured water over his head.  It really was a great day and it was lovely having the little ones and Debbie onboard for a few days. Both Elizabeth and William have such great little characters it does make it hard to go away but I have to earn a living I suppose.

 

Well came sailing day the wind got up so the ship got stuck in dry dock, however I did manage to get some sea time as one of our other ship’s was in the Bay and was loosing it’s XO for a few days so I was asked to transfer. Although I knew I would have to return to a pile of work I jumped at the chance as it meant a promotion, if only for a few days.  I had quite a hairy joining as I had a lift from some RM chaps in a fast black boat; it was quite exhilarating at first but once we got out into the bay the ride was quite jarring.  I thought I would get to the ship suffering from whiplash and incapable of doing the job. Thankfully that wasn’t the case and it was a fun boat ride.  At least I had been on the ship before so things were familiar and having to Dock up and down on the LSDA’s is reasonably straight forward. Well only another two days of being Executive Officer and then it is back to my other ship for my final month before leave. At least the transfer back should be a bit smoother and I will be getting a lift door to door as our embarked flight are coming to pick me up so I get a ride in a helicopter, it’s all good fun.

 

Well only a month left and then I will be home and on leave for a couple of months. It will be good to get home and see Debbie and the little ones.  After almost five months I am sure Debbie will need a rest as it can’t be easy looking after the little ones day in day out.

 

As always I have started drawing up a jobs list for when I am on leave as there is always so much maintenance to do around the house. I just never seem to get on top of it. This leave though I am determined to get it cracked and get the jobs ticked off.

 

Well so that was October, I wonder what November will bring.

 

Are We Insignificant

We can get so focused on the here and now and yet we are here for such a short period of time. But in the here and now things change so rapidly, just think of what has happened in the last hundred years. Man has learnt powered flight and made it to the moon. He has developed amazing cures and drugs such as penicillin. Yet at the same time we have developed weapons with the ability of wiping out our entire race.

Yet I still ask are we insignificant, I have looked at the last hundred years and what has been achieved. Yet Boxgrove man first walked the rolling hills of Britain 500,000 years ago. I know he wasn't quite what we would call a modern human as he was a homo heidelbergensis but he was a sort of ancestor. Even if we think of Homo Sapiens the group we belong to, we have been around a awfully long time as it seems we had inventiveness and hunting skills some 50,000 years ago.

All that history and we only really focus on the last 2000 years, if that. We have so little understanding of the past and yet should we study the past to learn from previous mistakes so as to secure a bright future for our little ones?

Are We Doomed?

Are we doomed as a civilisation? I know it seems a strange question but it has been playing on my mind recently.  We all know that we live on a world of finite resources with an expanding population, but technology will surely protect us. 

 

Over the weekend I watched an interesting programme called ‘Doomsday 2210’ in which they theorised on what will happen over the coming decades. The programme first looked at ancient cultures such as the Mayans and others where great civilisations disappeared almost overnight due to changes in climate etc.  The programme also looked at Rome where the continual expansion of the empire provided the resources to expand further, however when they got to a certain size they more or less imploded.

 

Many parallels can be drawn today as climates change and population expands we face water, food and resource shortages around the world.  One just has to look at the water behind the Hoover dam to see how much lower the water level is now compared to twenty years ago and that thousands still die of starvation around the world.

 

One scary fact is that whereas when the ancient civilisations collapsed it tended to be a very localised collapse, today it would be world wide. You only have to look at what happened during the recent banking crisis to see that we are all connected and in many ways what happens to one happens to all.  Another example of this was seen over the summer with the droughts in Russia affecting world Grain prices.

 

We are literally at a crossroads it seems; we can either ignore what is happening around us, hope for the best and face a total collapse of civilisation as we know it in the next few decades. Or we can embrace new technologies, discard fossil fuels and adjust planetary life styles so that civilisation may continue to flourish.

 

 

'Still your eyes are on the ground'

Dante wrote “Heaven wheels above you, displaying to you her eternal glories, and still your eyes are on the ground.” I have pondered over this for the past few days and it has had an impact.  It is so easy nowadays to get bogged down with all that is around us.

 

We have:

 

24 Hour news that in reality has about 15 minutes of news which it repeats 96 times over the course of a 24 hour period.

 

The majority of programmes on TV are reality TV with no plot and tend to be voyeurism at its worse showing us people that are generally rude, ignorant and have probably never done a good days work in their life, in other words they have scrounged of the state and us tax payers have supported them.

 

Computer games, internet etc are taking away peoples ability to interact with each other.

 

I won’t even go on about Global Terrorism, War, Famine, Fossil fuels running out and Economic power centres shifting etc

 

All in all what have little Beth and William got to look forward to as they grow up.

 

However back to where I started, “Heaven wheels above you, displaying to you her eternal glories, and still your eyes are on the ground.” As I say it is so easy to get bogged down without realising it and as Dante implies we just need to look up once in a while.

 

Standing out on the bridge wing just now I forced myself to take a step back and look up.  It is a gorgeous evening, mild with wonderful clear skies.  The full moon has left a silver road across the velvety darkness of the sea, leading to the horizon.  The stars are shining and although the sound of the water passing the ships hull is noisy it is still peaceful. It is amazing how five minutes of tranquillity makes the world seem an altogether different place.  I think that there are many of us in the western world that easily forget how lucky we are. We don’t have to deal with famine, floods, war, disease, as people in Africa, Asia and the Middle East do. I think we should be thankful for what we have and always seek to improve the lives of those around us, whilst appreciating what is all around us, a wonderful if sorely abused world.

 

Anyway that is enough of my rant for the time being and now a little dit on what has happened since I last wrote. I think the last Blog entry was just after Debbie and the two little ones came onboard. As always things have been busy and I have been crap at keeping my Blog up to date so here goes.  After a few more days on the south coast we headed up to the waters around Scotland again for some trials, during which I ended up doing watches for a few days.  It wasn’t too bad and I soon got back into the swing of things remembering all the old routines after all it is a few years since I last did a watch. Anyway it wasn’t to bad bobbing in around the Islands as at least it helped us shelter from the 60kt winds.

 

I did manage to get ashore once while we were up there and had a wonderful bike ride along the side of a Loch. After the initial hills the road ran nice and level right along the waters edge which was wonderful and peaceful.  It was just ashame I didn’t get ashore until gone 5 as there wasn’t much daylight left and I had no light fitted.

 

Anyway we are now back down south and I am looking forward to Friday as I am actually going to have a proper 72 this trip, makes a change, so I will get to go home and spend the weekend with Debbie and the little ones.

 

 

Four in a Cabin

We had a good week at sea the other week. I had rejoined the ship after my sick leave in Leith, unfortunately missing the port visit. I had spent some time in Leith a couple of years ago and had had a good time. We sailed to head around the other coast for an exercise, however our play mate broke down so we ended up just doing internal exercises and advancing our ETA. Advancing the ETA was good though as it meant Debbie and the little ones could come down to the ship early.

It is a shame we got in on the third as I missed Beth's second Birthday by a day. Debbie said that everyone had a nice day and little Beth really enjoyed opening her pressies.

Debbie had kept a few pressies back so she could open them onboard. One was a Teddy with a little screen displaying uploaded pictures. She really liked it and it means that when I am away she can go to bed with a little picture of me. The other was a key board which she took to immediately. It had a little microphone so she can sing a long to her tunes. It was noisy enough in the bar and not to welcome at 0645 in the morning. Luckily my neighbour was wearing earplugs so I don't think the noise woke him.

It was quite cosy in the cabin with four of us. The first night was awful as Beth and William had a really restless night. The second night was a bit better but uncomfortable as I was sleeping on the deck in a sleeping bag.

Meals were fun onboard but on Saturday we had a walk into town and took the wee ones for a Chinese.

Beth soon took charge and ordered the food after throwing her coke everywhere. It was great to have real food rather than ship food. Little William even tried the chopsticks.

He gave them up as a bad idea and just tucked in to the meal with his little hands.

After the meal William was even good enough to volunteer as duty driver,

I only hope that in 18 years time he is as willing to be duty driver.

Anyway only another day in port and then back to the sea for the weekend. We haven't got much sea time over the next Month or so but at least most of November will be at sea and then it will be December and time to go home.

Where's the land gone

Well this is novel; I am no longer attached to the shore, the first time since February when I transferred to the George, which was strapped alongside Scotland. Since then a lot has happened in some ways and very little in others and I am even missing a few body parts, well a gall bladder and associated stones.  I am not complaining though as it is good to shed the bonds of the land once more.  I do miss Debbie and the little ones though, I know I have lots of pictures of them and we will be in phone range some of the time but I still miss them. I can’t really complain though as we will only be at sea for a week and they will come to see me when I get back to the south coast.

 

I had been hoping for a clear night so I could go out and look at the stars, as you can’t beat the night sky at sea. There are no real background lights so you get a most wonderful night sky just like Dark blue velvet sprinkled with handfuls of silver dust. Unfortunately the 4-8 managed to find a huge rain cloud and the ship has had a fresh water wash down.  Having a week at sea though I am sure we will have at least one clear night where I can sit out under the stars.

 

It has been quite a busy week all in all, after a quiet weekend I had my Medical on Tuesday at HMS Drake. Well it saved me forking out £80 and then having to claim it back as Drake does it for free.  They are definitely more thorough as well, as there were tests they did during the medical that I have never done in 19years.  I am pleased to say I was given a clean bill of health and a two year ENG1.  After the medical we had a nice wander around Plymouth and got little Elizabeth’s Birthday presents.

 

Then came the horrible train journey when I had to wave good bye at the station.  As I got on the train I heard Beth start to cry which made it even harder, but we are going to have to get used to it.  The journey itself, although 8 hours wasn’t to bad. As I had gone for a specific train with the booking cell it seemed that the cheapest ticket was first class so free coffee during the journey and thankfully Debbie had packed a few cans of apple juice for me.

 

It was strange coming back to the same ship but it has helped with the settling in, as always lots of emails to trawl through but at least we have already had the planning meeting as that helps me get things into my sawdust storage device. It is not going to be much of a trip as we have very little in our programme but at least I will have Williams Christening to look forward too and we will be on the south coast quite a bit so I should get to see Debbie and the little ones.

 

Teething

It has not been much of a week, William is still teething so we are having very restless nights. Although saying that he is getting more mobile and it is so cute how he stands up in his cot to greet us in the mornings.

Little Elizabeth is her usual cheerful self and she seems to have forgiven us for putting her beloved Teddy in the washing machine the other week.

She has even started saying Teddies rather than just Teddy, well there are two of them. I did get in trouble yesterday though as I forgot to get teddy out of the car when we came back from the shops.

The little ones do play wonderfully together though and they already seem very fond of each other, I got some wonderful pictures of them earlier.

It hasn't been much of a week though, we got quite a bit of weeding done at the beginning of the week but Tuesday morning Debbie woke up and couldn't move her fingers so our GP told us to go to A&E. Why can't I escape from hospitals this year. Anyway it seems that Debbie has swollen tendons so she has to rest them for a few days and then hopefully all will be right as rain. It was just lucky I was home as she would have found it hard to cope if I had been away.

Well I think I am definitely over my Op now, medical next week and then straight back to sea and a full nights sleep. I have started trying to get myself fit again after four weeks of Cbeebies. I fired up the Wii Fit yesterday and had a go on that and today Debbie watched the little ones whilst I cycled to Stibb and Back, it was only two miles so I have a bit to go before I can get back up to the 50mile distances I was doing before the Op. It was good to get out on the bike again as I have missed my regular bike rides. I am going to have to try and go swimming regularly again next time I am home as well. Last year I managed to do 100 lengths but I think I would struggle to do 50 at the moment. With the more stringent fitness standards that the RFA are phasing in from Jan I am determined to get fit so I don't come a cropper and anyway I still want to do the Devon coast to Coast next year and one day I will do Lands end to John O Groats.

Back on my feet, well sort of

After another few days of having to watch CBeebies I finally cracked and said sod the bed rest. I had, had enough of those groovy moves on Show Me Show Me and decided to go out and do some gardening. Debbie and I actually managed to get quite a bit done, we de-weeded large areas and I managed to mow the back lawn where the grass was half a foot high. I must admit though that after mowing the lawn I did feel a bit wobbily and my inside hurt a bit where my gall bladder used to be. Maybe it will take a bit longer than a week and a half for my insides to mend. It was good to get outside and do some hard graft though.

After a few days of grafting out in the garden we decided to have an easy day today so we had a day out in Bideford. We had a wonder around the farmers market and then took the little ones to the play ground. Little Elizabeth really enjoyed herself on the swings, squealing her headoff which was quite funny and made a nice change from earlier in the week when we had to wash her teddy. She is very attached to teddy (two of them), he goes everywhere with her so as you can imagine he gets grubby. Anyway Debbie thought it was about time for Teddy to have a bath so stuck him in the washing machien. We then had twenty minutes of crying from Beth whilst we waited for the cycle to finish, we couldn't even console her with chocolate.

As for the little boy he is definitely teething so needless to say he is sleeping even worse than usual and getting Debbie and I up every two hours. Saying that he gives us such wonderful smiles so that more than makes up for the lack of sleep. He can now also pull himself up so in the mornings we go into his room and he is standing up in his cot smiling away, which is quite cute. I think that by the time I come home next he will probably be walking.

Recovery is Dull

It is now a week since my Op and the dressings were finally removed today to reveal the four little holes in my tummy. I will finally be allowed a shower tomorrow which will be wonderful. I know they say it is major surgery but it has all been a bit surreal. The day after the surgery I walked out of the hospital and felt OK, well sort of. The five hour journey back to Devon was a little uncomfortable but bearable thanks to the pain killers.

Debbie has been great making sure that I get rested and looking after me, although she is probably getting a bit frustrated as I hate sitting still and doing nothing. It doesn't help that little William doesn't sleep that well so Debbie is doing all the night feeds because the nurses say I am not to lift anything for a while. I must admit I do tire easily at the moment and am still uncomfortable but the outside is almost all healed up now so the inside must be almost there as well. I just want to get up and do things but I am worried about doing damage where I can't see it.

At least I have my next appointment sorted out, I have my medical on the 24th and all being well travel up to the ship on the 25th. I will be going back to the one I just left which is good as it should be easier to settle in. Also we had been planning to have little William christened onboard. When I fell ill we thought the christening would go out the window but thankfully all should go to plan.

Well hopefully over the next couple of days I will be able to get back on my feet properly and give Debbie a hand before I go back to sea. At least with all thats gone on we won't loose our holiday again as the office have been really understanding and they are sending me back for a shorter appointment so that I can pay off on the 3 Dec for our holiday on the 6 Dec.

What a week

Things have been strange since I last did my Blog. The week started OK My Mum came down Saturday and we had a lovely Pub Lunch at the Royal Oak near Hayling Island, well recommended if anyone is down that way. It was great to see her as the last time had been May when she came down to Devon. Then Sunday after a nice roast beef lunch onboard I went for a bike ride to work off lunch. I set myself the target of 50miles which I achieved but it was all on the flat. I think it can be harder on the flat doing a long distance as it is constant peddling and although you don't have the exertion of going up hill you don't get the joy of coming down hill at 30 with no pedaling.

Anyway things all went pear shaped come Sunday night, I went to bed at about 2300 and a few minutes later the pain started. It was even worse than back in January and no amount of Paracetamol or walking around would shift it. Someone has likened the pain of gall stones to the pain ladies go through giving birth which helps me appreciate even more what Debbie went through when the little ones arrived. Anyway I just couldn't shift the pain and by then I had broken out in a fever which didn't help. So come about 0600 I gave up trying to go to sleep and went up to the bridge to crack on with work and try to take my mind off things. It helped a little and the pain eased off. Well as the Doc had just come back offleave I popped down to see him for pain killers and told him my symptoms and he reckoned I might have an infection so he sent me up the QA. I must have been a great first patient after his leave. Anyway up to the QA I went and after a few tests they confirmed that may Gall Bladder was infected due to the stones, told me they would whip it out and stuck me on a drip with antibiotics. Unfortunately as I am on the C list it is a bit hit and miss with having the OP. So Tuesday I was nil by mouth until just gone 1600 when they decided that it wouldn't get done, same on Wednesday and then today I almost got down but they just ran out of time. Hopefully I will get done tomorrow but it will be nil by mouth from midnight again and then hopefully if I get done tomorrow I will be out by Saturday with five little keyholes in me from the surgery.

It's not all bad though as Debbie came down to my Mums Tuesday so I got to see Debbie, Beth and William on Tuesday and Debbie and Beth came back down yesterday. It was really good to see them, especially as I didn't think I would see them until at least September. When they got here Tuesday little Beth's face lit up and she ran towards me for a big cuddle and William gave me some really big smiles. I had nice a cuddle from Debbie as well even though she had had a journey from hell with William crying most of the way.

Everyone has been so understanding on the ship, especially Dave who dropped me off on Monday and then took time out Monday night to come and see me with the customary bowl of grapes. Then Tuesday Dave and Mark came down and I did the handover from the hospital bed which was a bit surreal. It was just ashame as I had just started to get my self settled, I was over the joining blues and was looking forward to getting to sea, and dare I say it Navy Days.

With three to four weeks recovery it doesn't look like I will be back before September which means Christmas onboard a ship but at least I will be home for our Wedding anniversary. Hopefully I will be back on my feet and we will be able to get a babysitter so Debbie and I can have a trip out by ourselves. Hopefully a few days after the Op I should be able to help Debbie with the night feeds or the early mornings so she can catch up on her sleep. As long as the little blighters don't jump up and down on my stomach I should be fine but I have a feeling they will try.

Well lets just hope they cut me open tomorrow so I can get back down to Devon and recover and help Debbie with the little ones before I go back to sea. I wonder what I will have to write about in my next blog.

Two Weeks In

It has been another busy week at my end and at Debbie's end. Little William seems to be getting worse with his sleeping habits so poor Debbie is getting little sleep. I got a little upset when I was home as everyone said 'It's all right for you, you can have a break when you go back to work'. In some ways this is true, as at least I get a full nights sleep and can escape occasionally. Whereas Debbie gets broken sleep and has no escape. I really hope little William starts to sleep better soon so that Debbie can get some sleep.

Well work is as stressful as ever but I am getting good at having a duel personality due to the gapped billets. I tend to do Ops in the morning from 6 to 12 and Navs in the afternoon from 1 - 6/7. The main thing is that things are really busy so time is going by quite quickly. Before we know it, it will be October and Little William will have his Christening on board. I really hope it goes as well as the one we had for Beth.

After a stressful week it was nice to see my Mum earlier, we met up at the Royal Oak which was a good ride from the ship, nice and flat so I managed to do 10 miles in about 40 minutes. Needless to say I had good suction for my first pint of cider. Anyway we had a good chinwag and a nice lunch, the Royal Oak in Havant / Hayling Island is well recommended.

Well just trying to work out what to do tomorrow, I know I will have to spend some time with the dreaded WECDIS, I am slowly getting used to it but it can be so frustrating at times. I tried to get some PI information from it during the week for my note book and managed to crash the system a number of times. Whats even more frustrating was I put in a route to check a distance and it threw a wobbly, for some reason the first leg, which was a mile long registered on the machine as 320 miles long. At times it can be good but part of me still misses paper charts. Gone are the days from a couple of years ago that you could pull out a chart that had the name of the chap that had drawn it in the 1800s.

I do miss home, Debbie and the little ones. At least when we are alongside I get to skype home so I get to see them all. Little Elizabeth always gives me a big smile and a wave when she sees me. She is getting good at playing peek a boo as well which is cute. Little William is usually crawling around the floor when I call. I am looking forward to getting home again, I know it won't be for a while but I can't wait all the same.

One Week In

Well back at sea, well alongside and it seems a while since I last did my blog. It has been a hard first week as I really have missed Debbie and the little ones.

I did have a good leave though, a month longer than I thought, but it still went to quickly. Little ones are really hard work and it surprising how quickly you become immune to being covered in baby puke from dawn to dusk. At least whilst I was home I got to see William start crawling. He is getting quite fast now.

During my last couple of weeks at home me and William even had a blokes night out down the pub, which was nice. However I couldn't persuade him to give me a game of pool as he was more interested in sitting on the bar pulling at the beer mats and oogling my pint of Rattlers. Mind you I am crap at pool so he would have probably beaten me anyway.

Little Elizabeth was her usual cheery self and she now has a craving for hats and Teddies. Wherever we went we had to make sure all three went with us.

The only thing is she has two teddies that are the same size as her and she tends to drop them so they get run over by the push chair.

The only shame about my leave was that Debbie didn't really get much of a break if any as little William woke us up virtually every night, so we were both knackered most of the time. Ontop of which every time we got ready to go out he would throw up on us and then giggle.

Anyway the day finally came and I had to come back to work and as always I joined a ship where there was two people doing the Navigators and Ops jobs and then they both paid off so as always I am doing both. It's not to bad though as we are alongside for a bit so I have time to get my feet under the table and get my head around everything before we sail. Once again stuck on the coast so no foreign port visits, well unless you class Scotland as a foreign country, after all it is North of the North. I do however have something to look forward to part way through as we are going to get William christened onboard (all being well). It will be nice to do it on here as this is the ship where I first met Debbie (although we didn't start going out until after we had left the ship.)

I always hate the first couple of weeks onboard as I get really home sick and spend it worrying about staying on top of the job and worrying how Debbie is and how she is coping with two little ones. At least being on the coast I can Skype home and get to see all three of them.

Thankfully Debbie persuaded me to bring my bike back with me so I do have an escape from the ship and after all the exercise bike in the gym can get a bit dull. Last weekend I did quite well as I cycled to Chichester and back, a total of 42miles and then the next day I did a further 20. My next challenge is to do over 50miles in one day, which down here should not be that hard as there are no real hills.

Well I suppose I have wittered on enough for one day, so until next time bye, bye.

Tarka Trail

It has been a pleasent few days, the weather has been absolutely glorious. I just can’t believe how quickly the week has gone by. We have been out for a few long walks with Brenin this week down the Tarka trail.

It is always pleasent having a stroll down the Tarka trail and Brenin really enjoys a good walk. Mind you I felt that I owed him a decent walk after I found little Beth trying to use him as a pony earlier in the week.

The little boy has been giving us lots of smiles which has been good. We have been into the doctors a couple of times with him as he keeps throwing up. We have now changed his milk and got a prescription so cross fingers he will grow out of it. The main thing is that he is putting on weight and smiling. Only problem is that sometimes when he cries the only way I can get him to quieten down is to sing 'Row Row Row Your Boat' and I am crap at singing.

Good Week

A couple of years ago our village shop and post office closed down. At the time I was a little upset as it had been so convenient when we needed to post anything. However we now have a mobile post office that visits the village and it parks opposite the pub. The only problem with this is that it is only there for an hour each day. It is not all bad though as the hour is twelve till one, hence when we have to go to the post office all four of us go and take a detour on the way home. So early in the week we all went up the post office to post a letter at twelve and wobbled home at two after a lovely lunch at the Green Dragon. It was my first pint of Rattler since I had been home and it was lovely.

It has been a good week, the weather has been glorious and I have managed to spend quite a bit of time outside. Little Elizabeth has really enjoyed running around in the garden and the little man has given us lots of smiles. Usually he smiles and giggles at us after he throws up all over us, I can’t wait for him to get a bit older and get out of the throwing up stage.

The time does seem to be flying by; I really can’t believe a week has gone by since Easter. Where does the time go? I just wish it would go by a little slower as I never manage to get anything done.

The other day I braved the supermarket with the two little ones by myself. The little man was in his harness and little Beth was helping with the trolley. She has mastered the art of pushing it in a straight line; she is just not very good at turning. She has a novel way of stopping with the trolley as well; she just keeps going until she hits another shopper.

As Debbie went to do a car boot today I was left home alone with the little ones. As it was Sunday I thought I would take them both to Church. Beth was really good and was quiet for the whole service. Little William slept for the first half and then woke up during the sermon. I managed to get the bottle in his mouth before he started crying. It was a good service but stressful with the two little ones so it was hard to find time for reflection but I managed it.

It has been a good week and I am starting to feel a little more relaxed (probably the frothy coffee with a hint of malt). The little ones have brought lots of smiles and little Beth has learnt a new phrase today; she keeps saying ‘Oh Dear’. The little man is happy in himself although he throws up after every feed, I know the doctors have told us not to worry but it is hard. I wasn’t happy earlier though, when he had an exploding nappy of poo all over Daddies knee, little blighter.

I even had a bit of me time this week as I went out for a short bike ride. I didn’t go very far but it was liberating to get out on the bicycle. Hopefully the dry weather will stay with us for a bit so I can get out again.

I wander what next week will bring.

Busy Week

After a busy week things seem to be settling down. The week started badly on Monday as Debbie called to say little William was going back into hospital, partly so they could monitor him and partly as Debbie was struggling to cope. This was the final straw so the ship let me pay off early so I could get home to help Debbie. Well after a long train journey (leaving the ship at 1500 and getting home at 0200 isn’t fun) I got into the hospital the next morning (not before having to fork out £230 for new brakes on the car). Debbie was draped over Williams’s cot fast asleep and William was giggling. We sat around all day until the consultant came round and discharged us. Hopefully we won’t be going back until Williams follow up appointment in May.

At least Debbie and William are now back home and I am home so I can help look after everyone and get some stuff done around the house. If only that was all that had happened this week, but as always nothing every goes right. As I payed off early I will be going back at the end of May, unfortunately the holiday we booked last year is at the end of June so that is a write off. I had been looking forward to the holiday, maybe next leave. I will just have to make sure we have some nice days out; hopefully the weather will let us have a picnic.
News on the shore posting came through this week as well. I fluffed the interview and didn’t get the posting. I am upset about it but had expected it as the questions are always difficult. However things happen for a reason and I don’t think this was the post for me.

As I am now home I took the opportunity to see the GP after my turn last trip. I had a really bad pain in my side back in January so the Med Tech knocked me out for the day. Since then things have been grumbling and uncomfortable. Anyway when I paid off the Med Tech gave me a letter for the GP; he read it and then told me that it is likely I have Gall Stones. He has booked me in for a scan in May. Supposedly if it is stones they will send me for an Op to have the Gall bladder removed. I am a tad worried about it but it should all tie in with my leaves as the Scan is just before I go back and then if I do have to have it out it is about a four to six month waiting list.
Anyway someone please tell me that nothing else can go wrong this year. We are only a quarter of the way in and so far it has been a horrible year. What with all the worry over William and Debbie’s Dad. Now with my Gall Bladder and loosing the holiday, can it get any worse? I suppose things can’t get any worse and as my sister in law told me the other day, ‘Don’t worry, when you hit rock bottom there is only one way you can go, sideways.’

Well Easter Sunday today so I am going to have a lazy day, once Debbie is awake I will get myself dressed and have a wonder out to the garage to tinker with my bicycle and have a general tidy up in there. Now I am home I am looking forward to getting out on the bicycle and having a few rides. It is a wonderful time of year for it as it is not too warm and the sounds of birdsong are lovely this time of year. I know I feel down at the moment but when I look around it doesn’t take me long to realise that I am a lot luckier than many in the world. I just have to learn to stop worrying I think.

One Month To Go

Only a month to go until I go on leave to help Debbie with the two little ones. It has been a horrible trip; I thought when it started back in January that it was going to be a really good trip. Being FOST tanker based on the south coast would mean I would get to see Debbie and the little ones regularly. However after three weeks it went downhill and I have been worried sick for the last seven weeks. After William fell ill and spent the week in hospital I was transferred to a ship up in Scotland as it was alongside. However this did come in handy when my Father in law had a heart attack as it meant I could get home to give support to Debbie. During this time we still had the worry of what was happening with William, so not an easy time.

Things are getting a little better now though as William finally had his appointment in Bristol and they have told us that it is just a gland in his lung that is swollen. Supposedly this is nothing to worry about and it is not as serious as we first thought. This makes it a little easier but I still worry.

It will be good to get home at the end of April though as I know Debbie really needs a break. I can still remember how hard it was to cope when Elizabeth was a couple of weeks old and Debbie went away for a week, leaving me and Beth home alone for a week. I coped, but found things very hard. Debbie however has Beth and William to cope with and me away for months so there is no let up for her. I know it all comes down to getting into routines but it can’t be easy and I think it is amazing how she does cope with it all. I think that if I was home alone with the two little ones for this amount of time I would probably end up in a straight jacket, two pencils up my nose going wibble and humming the tune to ‘In The Night Garden’. I do think, however, that Iggle Piggle is very irresponsible falling asleep on watch.

I am starting to wonder what the future holds as I had the interview for the shore posting today. I am not sure how the interview went as I always find it hard to give specific examples of things they ask for. It didn’t help that I miss calculated how long it would take to walk to Whale Island and it didn’t help that the venue changed. I did get there in time (just by about three minutes). However as it had been mild, I had walked fast and I was nervous, as soon sat down in front of the board I broke out in an incontrollable sweat. I dread to think what sort of first impression this made. I think I have about a 50/50 chance of getting the post. If I do get it I think to start with I will find it daunting as there will be a steep learning curve but I know that once my feet are under the table I will be capable. Being on the Maritime Battle Staff will be challenging but a great opportunity to further myself. As with any job it is all about what you put in to it and I think it will be such a refreshing change to be doing something different. I will just have to keep my fingers crossed and focus on putting 110% in if I am lucky enough to be given the opportunity to do the job. Additionally I think it will be really nice to see things through from the embryonic planning stages to completion as it is a two year posting.

A week ago if you asked me what I had to look forward to I would have said Armageddon, now if you ask me I would say 23 Apr when I should be going home. I am really looking forward to my leave as I really miss Debbie and the little ones. Skype is OK but it will be really good to be back home with them. We have a holiday booked in June which I am really looking forward to. It is going to be our first holiday since we had the little ones so I know it won’t be easy but it is going to be great. No where exotic just the UK but it will be a chance to leave all our worries behind for a week and see somewhere new.

I am going to have my work cut out during my leave as I need to make sure Debbie has a proper break and I have a lot of work to do outside in the Garden. Hopefully however all the work should keep me active and help me loose more weight as I would like to shed another couple of stone. I hate to say it I am going to be abit selfish though as I really want to go off camping for a couple of days, firstly as I have a tent that I haven’t used yet and secondly as I am getting old I want to rediscover my lost youth, meditate or something weird like that.

Well I suppose that is enough of my ramblings for the time being, plus I really need a wee wee before I get on the plane back up to Scotland.

Can Things Get Any Worse

It has been another horrible week, I sometimes wonder if things will get worse or if, hopefully, my luck is going to change. I had been looking forward to a nice weekend home with Debbie over Mothers Day weekend. The weekend then got shorter as I was invited to an interview for a shore post in Portsmouth. As it happened though I didn’t make it to Portsmouth.

I was all ready to go home Thursday night when I got a phone call from Debbie, she was in tears and told me her Dad had been rushed into Hospital. I managed to get an earlier flight, so I could get home and support her. I also decided to re-arrange the interview as I needed to be home for Debbie. Frank is being kept in while they do tests but no visitors are allowed as they have a bug going around the hospital, hopefully he will be home in a few days.

Anyway on top of this Debbie and little Beth had to go to the Doctors on Friday as they both have nasty chest infections and are now on antibiotics as well as little William who is still on them and waiting for his appointment at Bristol.

It wasn’t all bad though as I got to spend the weekend with Debbie and the little ones. Little Beth is as funny as ever and still smiles at everything. Little William seemed happy enough; he gave us lots of smiles even though the antibiotics have given him the squits and a really nasty nappy rash.

As the weather has been this weekend we even got out in the garden. We were going to put Beth’s Wendy House up, however when we unpacked it all the fastenings were missing so I will have to ring up and get them sent through. We did down the beach today though, which was lovely. Beth really enjoyed running around the beach. I am now back onboard and counting the days until I pay off in April/May.

Still Alongside

It has been a hard week, not work wise but emotionally. As we are strapped alongside things onboard have been quiet tedious onboard. However I have found things very hard this week as William went back into hospital. He had had an x-ray in the week which showed things hadn’t got back to normal after his collapsed lung. I just wanted to go home and support Debbie but we decided that I would stay onboard until we knew more as if he was going to be in for a short period there was little I could do by going home. Anyway they sent him home last night which is good. The little chap still needs to go up to Bristol for more scans but I really hope that it is all cleared up by then.

On a separate note this week I did have a bit of good news. I have made it through the sift for a shore post. I probably only made it through because I was the only one that applied. If I do get the posting it is going to make a nice change to be in one place for two years.

Just roll on Thursday when I get to go home for the weekend. I am really looking forward to it as I haven’t seen Debbie and the little ones of a month now. It will also be the last time I see them before I pay off in May.

Well very little else to write today, or else I just can’t get in the right frame of mind at the moment. That is probably due to the apathy caused by being alongside.

One Week In......Again

One week in for the second time this trip. After all the upheaval of having to transfer I didn’t think I would settle in onboard but fortunately I was wrong I have settled in really quickly. Our immediate programme is pretty naff as the ship is alongside for a while. Nothing to look forward to but AMP, Lloyds and MCA surveys oh and finally an ISM audit. If that’s not bad enough I am stuck in Scotland miles from Debbie and the little ones. It is not all bad though, I have a reasonably comfortable cabin, we have transport to the local town and more importantly there is Strongbow onboard.

I really can’t complain though as although on my previous ship I was generally working 12 – 14 hrs everyday on here I am just going 8 – 5 which is much more civilised. In addition my work load is going to allow me to take 4 days local leave mid March so I will get home and see Debbie and the little ones. (A weekend off to change pooey nappies). Joking apart I am really looking forward to getting home for a few days as I know it will give Debbie a break and the ability for her to have a full night’s sleep. If I am really lucky I may even get a pint of the dreaded Rattler down the GD.

March is going to be pretty crap though, stuck alongside and to top it off guess what day we sail. Yep Easter Sunday which I think is wrong as it is Easter but it can’t be helped as we need to get somewhere. As I will be writing the programme for the ship though we will be making Thursday a Saturday and Friday a Brunch day so that should keep people happy. Then once we do get out to Sea I have a nice Thornton’s Easter egg with special Toffee to look forward to.

I know I have moaned quite a bit about the transfer and the programme but there is one glimmer of hope within it. April looks like fun as we will be doing a big exercise in home waters and then heading off across the pond so I will finally escape European waters. Well it had to happen eventually. I am actually really looking forward to a proper ocean passage for once and sunny weather. Once we get to where we are going I won’t be staying with the ship though as my time will be up so it will be a flight home and a nice summer leave. BBQ’s, gardening and hopefully a night on the moors, here I come...Why do we always end up wishing our lives away.

Feeling Happier

After the disruption of transferring and the hassle of a journey with heavy suitcases across Scotland with lots of changes (Bus, Ferry, Train, Taxi, Train with a change and finally car) I am now feeling happier. I have settled in onboard quicker than normal and there are a lot of familiar faces which always helps. In addition I have got a comfy sofa and chair in my cabin which makes life a lot more bearable.

The phone signal is good as well so I have fired up the Skype and seen Debbie and the little ones. Little Beth was really funny when we first got the Skype running, she smiled, said 'Ahh Teddy' and kissed the screen. Everything is 'Teddy' to her at the moment.

As we are alongside for a bit hopefully I will get to see Debbie and the little ones, one weekend. I really do miss them but at least we have all this modern technology so that we can keep in touch.

After having settled in onboard I have looked at the programme and I reckon I will be able to get quite a bit out of this trip. Also I should get a foreign port at the end which will be really good as I don't really relish being stuck on the coast all trip.

Anyway a quiet weekend of reading up on all the email trials and signals and cramming the programme into the grey matter. But it will be a nice change from having to get all the FOST stuff ready.