To be completely honest I was never very up-to-date when it came to current events and general knowledge growing up. When asked in a general knowledge quiz at school “where am I… I have visited Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Bond Street” I was confident I was in the Monopoly board. Well, I wasn’t wrong now was I? I was never very interested in the news, it made me sad, depressed and doubt the humanity of people, so why should I cloud my sunny disposition, all-smiles approach to life with death statistics, war torn nations and the never ending food fight they call politics. I am in no way trying to promote what some may call my “Ignorance” while I call it my “Choice”.
Being without a permanent job and only one channel on T.V, which happens to be the news, I feel that I am currently a ‘Stu-in-the-loop’. All day I have watched Syrians be gunned down, die of starvation, injuries and perish while the world debates whether or not to go in and Intervene in order to protect and save the people, I mean oil, no I mean people. Now I don’t care how hard ass you are that’s some pretty depressing sh*t. Luckily while those reporters take a break they switch over to children dying of starvation in Sudan, the Greeks rioting instead of trying to dig their way out of their current crisis and even your run of the mill woman selling genetically engineered designer babies.
DEPRESSED MUCH?????
Since I’m a South African my Facebook is rotting with images of the horrors of Rhino horn killings. As mortifying as they are I do think the world should keep seeing what certain Nations would do for a hard on (No names mentioned but keep hanging in there with those chopsticks guys). It’s not just on my home soil that I’m disgusted by what people will do for greed. If someone would be so kind as to enlighten me on how whaling is still going on after all these years, how is that an actual industry and to what end will we stop killing?
I tend to lean to the positive when it comes to all human beings but when your on the verge of completely wiping out the worlds rhino’s, depleting the whale population amongst other atrocities to animals that we overlook due to GREED, don’t you think enough is enough!
So I now need a job more than ever to try avoid the news, this occupational hazard is haunting my dreams and I’m running out of tears.
Since Wednesday when the Kony 2012 campaign was launched I have not slept a wink. Yes I see the caution lights going off, the debate on if its good or bad and the typical “oh my god” American video but I cant help but think that if someone has gotten away with this many crimes against humanity then why shouldn’t we shine the spot light on him. They say media controls the world, and if there isn’t enough benefit for countries to intervene like in Syria, Iran, Egypt, Tunisia, trust me I could go on, then maybe we should. Your average Jo (and Stu in this case) could maybe not make a direct impact but at the very least a ripple.
I know this isn’t my usual yarn about the joys of life, laughter and rose filled stories but as much as one tries to be a good human being, do what you can where you can, trying not to add to the greed, the ignorance and the disgrace that we see everyday on TV, Facebook, You Tube and almost everywhere you turn, maybe we need reminding. This is more of a “use it, don’t use it” in whatever way that may be scenario, however little however large, the world is an angry place currently and if I can try add even a smirk to its face then it’s a good day.
As Stu (or a yachty) I find myself on the
move quite a bit and luggage has had to become far more than just a ‘bag’ to
me, its one of the more constant things in my life, its part of me. To break it
down, for the last three years I have been confined by a general 23kilogram
restriction thanks to all you airlines out there. Unfortunately, not all
airlines give you in exchange for a mammoth stop over to entice your spending
urges in their duty free in Dubai; for a whopping and much appreciated 30 kilograms per person. Dear Emirates head honcho, for this
mere product placement I will accept flying miles in exchange, thank you. And
I used up every inch of my bag to fit in just about everything I own.
In
the left corner, weighing in at a whopping 28kilo’s of bulky, red duffel bag,
with ALL her worldly possessions, we
have (Drum roll please) … STU.
Just yesterday I watched a boat down the
quay go up in smoke! Yip, somebody’s billion-dollar toy destroyed. Which got me
thinking about the course I did before I started taking on the persona “Stu”. In
order to work at sea we have to go through a course on fire safety and fire
rescue, as fires on yachts and boats in general are quite common – case and
point. The course itself was an absolute blast, no wonder fire fighters are
voluntary (ok maybe that was a little harsh). But it really was an interesting, and not much about sitting in a class room interests me. But this course had me hooked, from fighting the blazes to the
search and rescue in a smoke filled tanker, making my way blind folded through
a foam filled tank and the 'top descend' into a boiling hot room. You name it, firefighter Stu I Am - hear me roar. Now in theory the term “make a plan
and remain calm” is at present vague to me, especially while watching gusts of
black smoke bellow out of the bridge doors on this boat across the way.
I know my synergy is all a bit up in the
air, but hold on for one more minute – here’s the link:
In
the right corner, weighing in at over 1036 tons, carrying over 151000 litres of
combustible fuel amongst many other highly flammables, we have … The Boat!
We are taught that in the ‘unlikely’ event
of a fire (unlikely…I just watched one), relax, plan your next move and remain
calm (Calm…Pah-lease). While I watched the fire fighting team plan for what
seemed like half an hour before going in when at this stage things were getting
extremely out of control and with thousands of dollars crumbling in seconds. I got
thinking, worrying actually, not about my safety – hell if there is a fire
onboard while in port, I’m outta there! No questions asked, no holds barred,
hand it over to the fire department and ask them kindly to put protective
booties over their boots as the floors have just been vacuumed, and I wash my
hands of it.
Now for potential employers, please don’t
feel like I’m not fully committed to your vessel, I am, truly, but when it
comes to fighting the actual ‘out of control’ fire in port, when the perfectly
capable volunteers from the fire department are itching for a bit action, then
I’M OUT.At sea sure, ill put on
my fire fighting pose and boundary cool the sh*t out of it, I'll even play some
montage music for the whole ordeal.
It got me worried about my things, my
dresses, my shoes, my make up, my jewelry, sure, all these things I would miss,
but to lose my photos would be a catastrophe. So I backed them up on a hard
drive, but that’s in my carry-on bag under my bed – pointless. So perhaps while
the fire team deal with the fire issues, I'll be on the search and rescue team,
finding the valuables like passports, photos and camera’s (to take photo’s of
the fire).
I know I sound a bit paranoid but if we
look at the maritime industry at present, things aren’t looking too good for it as a whole. The container ship that hit a rock in New Zealand, the cruise ship
that ran aground and capsized in Italy, the Super Yacht that sank off the coast
of Greece a week or two ago, the other “Costa” cruise ship that had a fire in
the engine room and was left powerless (would hate to work for that company
right now) and now this boat across the way from us. I feel like boats all around
the world are giving quite drastic tributes to the Titanic for its 100th
anniversary coming up in April.
Whatever it is, pack your water wings.
I don’t think life could get any more
exciting. Don’t ever say I don’t live on the edge…
Fire fighting Stu…taking the sea’s less
travelled!
