OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it
be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page. Jiffy (also jiff)
noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.
So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.
Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas
Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!
Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!
Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra
Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!
คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next”
ข้างบนนี้
Вы говорите по-русски? NJET PROBLEMA! Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!
E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.
Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.“The postings on this site are my own and don't represent Maersk Group's position, strategies or opinions. All views are my own”
No longer any need to use the Internet Explorer or run the Internet Explorer rendering engine. I gave up IE after the introduction of Internet Explorer 11
Page is tested in Fire Fox, Chrome and Safari. Looks like it works OK in all browsers, except the sounds in Safari.
Of course, browsing www.aladdin.st in Safari on an iPad is a different story, nothing looks as it should
Page is tested in Fire Fox, Chrome and Safari. Looks like it works OK in all browsers, except the sounds in Safari.Of course, browsing www.aladdin.st in Safari on an iPad is a different story, nothing looks as it should
Wednesday 23 rd of October 2013 and I was dead tired when my alarm went off twenty minutes past 7. First time since I came on board and well, I had a difficult time falling asleep yesterday evening. Even though I had my lemon flavoured magnesium “FIZZ” drink and all the vitamins I didn't felt any better. My hot shower did a wee bit to alleviate my drowsiness.
But I was full of vim when I stepped in to my office at 8 o'clock.We have plenty of important jobs to be carried out on deck today. But we took the time for our good morning routines before the crew left for deck. Our Cadet stayed behind as I had a few
calculation tasks for him to complete. Our 2nd Officer joined us when he had had his breakfast and he brought his TOPS training.He asked me if I could do the TOPS training with him when I joined the ship and we have done training for one and a half months and as he is signing off in Singapore we will have to make the report.
It has been great to have him on board and I really appreciated all the help from him. Russian crew and I were under the impression that they were all useless. But then on Richard Maersk, one of the best 2nd
Officers I have ever been working with, and he was Russian.On top of that we got a Russian Chief Engineer on board and he was one of the best Chief Engineers I have been working with. And I thought that this must be a “ONE AND ONLY” experience. So I was surprised to come on board Roy Maersk.
2nd Officer and 2nd Engineer from Russia and it was very good crew. And now we got a new Chief Engineer from Russia in Japan. Surprised again, a very nice guy and he are helping out and giving pointers. I can always ask him for help and it has been very fun to work with him.
I don't know why I have had bad feelings towards Russians, of course, I have been working with some of them. And I have been in the Soviet Union and I grew up during the cold war era. But now I know better and Richard and Roy Maersk have been an experience for life and my xenophobia
against Russians are gone.We were going to have a fire drill in the afternoon but the rain was pouring down and we postponed the drill until tomorrow. Our crew could continue chipping and Pump Man continued with the steam valves on deck.
We have had severe thunder storms since yesterday and I have been afraid at times. Not because of the thunder, but the banging have made me wonder what’s going on deck.
- Are they destroying deck with a sledge hammer?
Well, the day came to an end and I had 30 minutes of kick arse constitutional around the superstructure. After lunch there was an
annoying drizzle and some cargo calculation waiting for me so I could not relax and enjoy my constitutional. But it was nice in the evening and no rain.We chose tonight's after dinner movie after the movie yesterday. Pusher, and this is originally a Danish movie, very good. Of course, Pusher 2 and 3 turned out to be crap. But this seems to be a English movie and we will watch it at 8 o'clock when our Cadet is coming down from the bridge.
So there might be time to Learn Thai with Mod and the Alif Silpachai videos between dinner and movie. I know for sure that there will be time for at least one episode of Seinfeld. And honestly, Seinfeld are more fun than the Thai videos with Mod and Alif Silpachai. They are not bad, but Seinfeld are more fun.
+++++++++++++++
Thursday 24 th
of October 2013
and the crew was waiting for me when I stepped in to my office at
8 o'clock. Sunshine and they could
continue with the painting on deck.I had 3 guys to take out the old refrigerator and a chair from 2nd Engineer's cabin to the garbage. And our Agent in Singapore wanted pictures of the stuff we were going to bring ashore, so I took a few and sent to him by e-mail.
We have sunshine and we will hold the drills we cancelled yesterday due to rain after the coffee break. Fire under the fo'c's'le and I had a smoke diving team going in to extinguish the fire. I
reported the fire as extinguished and the crew relaxed.The crew walked around on the fo'c's'le thinking the drill had come to an end. The
were securing the fire hoses and equipment while picking their noses thinking it was soon time to go inside relaxing in the AC. Yes, the sun was shining and it was very very
hot on deck and I could see on their faces that they were looking forward to get inside.- FIRE!!!
I started to scream that we had smoke coming from the paint shop. I reported the fire to the bridge on the walkie talkie.
- We have smoke coming out from the paint shop. I will send in smoke diving TEAM #2!
We continued the boundary cooling while TEAM #2 attacked the fire and when we were ready we
demonstrated how to use the fixed CO2 extinguisher system for the paint shop.- OK, we're ready!
- FINALLY!! YIIPEEE!
- Let's go in to my office!
We held a bomb search drill in my office before we did the MOB and life boat muster. And when we were ready I took the MOB crew to the MOB boat davit and we operated the thing in powerless mode. We were ready just in time for lunch.
Pusher, the yesterday's after dinner movie turned out to be a real “Botte napp” as we say in Sweden. A real sleeping pill and I total waste of time. I would have been much better off to time to Learn Thai with Mod and the Alif Silpachai videos. So I really hope we can get a better movie tonight
+++++++++++++++
Friday 25 th
of October 2013
and I can't say that I was looking forward to something today, but I swung myself out of bed when my alarm went off. Alemon flavoured magnesium “FIZZ” drink
and a hot shower later and I was full of vim. I was in a good mood even
though our Cook's black bread was finished when I came for breakfast. Well, it was a wee disappointment, but it was a beautiful morning outside the mess room and the sea looked like a windmill pond.I went to investigate and our Cook was busy
baking more black bread, but it will not be available until lunch. Something to look forward to. Well, I took 2 slices of our black bread. Viking, we know this Danish black bread as Skovmand
(Lumber Jack) but here they are obviously selling it
as Viking. But it is exactly the same bread.
I dropped 2 slices in the toaster and they were soon popping out much more exciting than when I dropped
them in the toaster. Yes, Skovmand (Viking) is much more exciting after a few minutes in the toaster.I added some excitement to the
Viking bread with some cheese and I had a pot of tea to go with this small wonder full of vitamins and other healthy stuff. And I was in a good mood stepping in to my office at 8 o'clock. The crew was waiting for me in the office.
- Ass holes and Motherfoockers!- GOOD MORNING BOSS!
It was a gorgeous morning, excellent weather for painting on deck.
- THE SHIP IS RED LIKE A FOX! GET YOUR SORRY BEHINDS OUT ON DECK AND START PAINTING!!
- OK, BOSS!!They were leaving my office
- WHOA WHOA! Don't forget our good morning group hug routines!
We had several hugs before I was satisfied with the picture and the crew dashed off to deck to start the chipping and painting.
Our Pump Man continued with the valves on our steam pipes and the Deck Cadet
went to the gym to put the last hand on the new ceiling they had put up.When the crew were gone I turned on the music and I put up the feet on my desk. Time to relax a wee bit. I WISH! I had to check our ISPS equipment that I had started with
yesterday. I sent e-mail to the company so we can get razor wire and other stuff delivered
to us in Singapore in case we go to a pirate area after we leave Singapore.We only know that we will arrive tomorrow night and we will take stores and discharging slop. When SHELL take over the ship on Monday we will take bunker and we will see where we will go. Still no voyage orders. So this will be exciting, especially to get my new tea cups. One of our Cadets and one of
our 2nd Officers will sign off in Singapore and the 2nd officer have to complete his TOPS before leaving.He is almost done with the TOPS. We have planned for an emergency steering drill after our safety meeting at 11 o'clock. So I had our 2nd Officer to plan and coordinate this drill
for today.One of the last tasks in his TOPS training. When we were in my cabin he took the opportunity to refresh himself with our ISPS binder. It was plenty paper work but we managed to finish just in time for the coffee break.
Management meeting after the coffee break and then we will go straight to the safety meeting at 11 o'clock.
We went down to the steering ear compartment after the safety meeting and I told the guys that we needed a group hug to “PEP” our 2nd officer. Well, one thing is for sure, it was not like our “Good morning PEP” meetings and the group hug turned out to be something half assed.
We had to start the drill with a what turned out to be a “half ass” group hug to pep our 2nd Officer
He is not wasting any time and he is taking the command right on
Here we go! Action from the first second
All the participants had a chance to try the steering
Half ass group hug or not, the drill turned out to be very good. 2nd Officer demonstrated to switch over to local control of the steering engine and all crew got a chance to test the emergency steering from the steering engine.
I was the last one to test the emergency steering under 2nd Officers command and when everything was back to normal steering from the bridge it was 10 minutes before lunch time. The crew was hungry after all the excitements and they were just about to dash off.
- WHOA WHOA!
- What now?
- Well, we have to say thank you to Farbror Igor
- THANK YOU FARBROR IGOR! They screamed
They were just about to dash off for lunch for the second time.
- I think he deserves a hug!
Took a few of them group hugs before I was satisfied with the picture and we went for lunch.
Thank you Farbror Igor
The first picture wasn't much to save. So we had to do it...
... Again
Our hero was hungry as well and I was having plenty of salad with some chicken. And of course a
pot of tea. And I was very happy to see our Mess Man bringing in fresh and crispy black bread for me.Yeah, this Cook and Mess Man is maybe the best kitchen team I have been working with in Maersk.
Excellent bread and salad and I feel like a million after,hmm, how long have my diet bet been in effect by now? I think it is 2 weeks on Monday.
And the only thing I have been eating except my allowance is 1 ONE small piece of candy. The “Best looking guy in town
'13”
diet have turned out to be nothing less than a success. I don't know if I have
manage to lose anything but some of the hair remaining on top of my head. But I feel great. And I would feel even better if I can get started with my Thai book, soon....I almost choke on my black bread at dinner. 2nd Engineer was drinking tea, first time I see him drink tea. So now it is me, Chef Engineer and the 2nd Engineer.
I was the only one drinking tea before and they looked at me like I was something the cat had dragged inside. But then our Chief Engineer
started and today our 2nd Engineer was drinking tea like there was no tomorrow.Well, when we left the mess room we asked our Mess Man to have two pots of tea at the table for the meals in the future. Hell, if it continues like this everyone will soon drink tea and we won't have enough pots for the tea. Well, anyway, I didn't had time to Learn Thai with Mod and the Alif Silpachai videos before it was time to kick off our after dinner movie.
And our Cadet had picked out 6 movies for us and our 2nd Engineer chose the movie for tonight. And of course, we checked the back of the DVD container, all movies marked with 5:1 was saved for when we get our new home theatre system on board in Singapore.
+++++++++++++++
Saturday 26 th
of October 2013
and I woke up at 9 thirty. No “Good morning PEP”
meeting or group hug today. The crew will start work after lunch to avoid the rest hours to get red early tomorrow
morning. We expect stores and provision around 01:00. Yes, tea cups, home theatres and snus etc. Plus of course, a few cubic metres of provision and a container with stores from Denmark.The container arrived to Singapore a few days back with one of Maersk's container ships. So it will be a long night and the crew need to get rested.
We were approaching Singapore and it was yet another glorious morning, well, almost
always is in Singapore Strait, except for the afternoon rain.We will pass Singapore and we will drop anchor at the OPL (Off Port Limit) anchorage around 5 o'clock in the afternoon. No news about the slop/ sludge barge. Would be nice to get him alongside at arrival so we are ready when the stores arrive.
Approaching Singapore from East
Our Chief Engineer had arranged for a pot of tea for the 10 o'clock coffee break and I had 1 (ONE) slice of black bread with the tea as breakfast. Yes, it is Saturday and I could have had
something else, but I'm looking forward to the V-shaped torso.We had two pots of tea on the table for lunch, and now I was the only one drinking tea. And I had to drink a lot of it s we had asked our Mess Man for “double” tea. And I was also surprised that I didn't “over eat” at lunch.
Some fish balls and fries, well, the Danish remoulade wasn't all that healthy. But anyway, just one plate. Or was it two?
We started to prepare for arrival after lunch and I was surprised that our ETA was changed from 18:00 to 14:00. And so were the Engineer as they had planned to
rest during the afternoon preparing them self for the stores during the night.It was around 16 thirty when we got a message saying that the barge for our slop and sludge would arrive at 18:00.
This was no good news as our Cadets were making Semlor in the kitchen. I was expecting to eat a whole bunch of Semlor at dinner and then go to bed, or go lay down in front of
the “after dinner” movie.But it was also very good news. Now we will complete the slop discharging today and I can sleep all day tomorrow. Otherwise there would have been a risk of the slop barge arriving tomorrow morning after us being up all night working with the stores. So it was both good and bad news.
More bad news, I came in to the kitchen and the Cadets were topping Semlorna with some red cream. I thought they were joking with some red colour in the whipped cream. But it was mixed with raspberry jam.
- What the
is this?- Semlor
I tasted one and it was quite good, but it was not a “Original” Semla and I was really relieved when it turned out that they had a tray of Semlor in the fridge.
They tried to convince me that the raspberry Semla was much better than the “Original” Semla
- This is better!
- No believe me, Semlor have been around for thousands of years and if it would have been better with raspberry jam in the whipped cream they would have discovered that a very long time ago.
Well, I didn't had time to try a second Semla as we had to do all the pre discharge tests before the slop barge arrived. I was off to deck, but I was looking forward to the
dinner and the Semla. Can I manage to stop after one Semla? I don't thinks so.Deck was ready for the slop barge just in time for dinner. I started with smoked salmon and potato salad. Just a wee bit as I wanted to have room for our Semlor. And after the tea fiasco at lunch our Mess Man had only put one pot of tea at my place at dinner, and now the Engineers started to ask for tea.
But by then I had have 4 Semlor and all the tea so there was nothing left. Yeah, 4 Semlor and I
wish I could have gone to bed. But the slop barge arrived and we went to discharge the slop.I rolled out on deck and this Saturday had been a very good day for my diet until I started with the Semlor, 5 all in all and I'm
looking forward to tomorrow when it is black bread ONLY.We completed the slop and paper work and it was almost 9 thirty when I was in the Cadets cabin. The “after dinner” movie was on, but at 9 o'clock so I went for a shower. When I came to the TV room our Cadets had prepared 3 plates with the red Semlor. But I was still full and I said no thanks. Always thinking about the diet. And I was really full so there would not have been any space even if I wanted an extra Semla. The movie? Yet another botte napp.
I was back in my cabin and now it was way past 11. I decided to try to get some sleep before the barge arrived with the stores, but I failed to fall asleep.
+++++++++++++++
Sunday 27 th
of October 2013
and I was at my desk when I heard them starting the provision crane
outside my window 1 o'clock in the morning.The ship chandler was in my office when I came down and my camera was on the pallet that was on the way on board when I got out on deck. Our Ship Chandler told me that I had to pay him 2863US and I went to get the money. And I suspected that there could be some problem with changes, we only had 100 dollar bills on board.
But I had no intention to pay until I had all my stuff in my office. I asked if my computer was on the same pallets as some other heavy stuff.
- No
- So no risk of my new lap top being crushed?
- No no!
My computer and tea cups were on the last pallet coming on board. Good, now it is only 50 cans of
snus missing. Our Ship Chandler and I was looking but we could not find the snus, but our Mess Man came running towards us.- There is a parcel for you in the kitchen.
Turned out to be my snus and I gave the Ship Chandler 2900US$. He had no change and it took me 30 minutes to arrange for the change. Now I have my tea cups and snus and I'm really looking forward to the next meal when I can try out my new tea cups.
And of course, we're looking forward to set up the now home theatre system in the TV room. But snus and the tea cups were the important stuff. The camera and computer was of course
nice to get even if it was a small lap top, 17,3 inch ONLY.We took ashore all the garbage when the provision and stores were on board and we were ready around 4 o'clock in the morning. Our 2nd officer and one of our Cadets are leaving us with the boat going back to Singapore where they will spend a day before the flight leaves.
We said bye bye and I returned to my cabin, of course there was a Singapore plug for my computer. But I was lucky and I found a European cord in our electric store.
Our 2nd Officer and Cadet leaving with the store barge
I was dead tired and it was impossible to fall asleep. 3 hours of sleep and I got out of bed quarter to 11. Soon time for lunch and we set up the home theatre system after lunch and we watched a movie, yet another turkey. Seems like we have been very unlucky with the movies the last few days
+++++++++++++++
Monday 28 th
of October 2013
and we were on the way to Singapore Western Petroleum Anchorage when my alarm went off. We had been on time charter for SHELL since 06:00. Now we were going to drop anchor to take bunker and to wait for a voyage order.- Hmm, time was very quick today so we must have been busy
But now I can't remember what we did. We worked with the cargo and ballast valves, we fixed the printer in my office and we secured all the stuff in the TV rooms. We also brought some of the
stores to their right places.We had a new 3rd Officer on board and I handed out safety clothing for him and our new Captain.
They completed the bunkering just in time for the coffee break. I was on a tour on deck with the new Captain and we discussed how to secure the ship if we pass through Pirate area. Time was quick and it was soon time for dinner.
And of course, as we're anchored in Singapore it started to rain so I could not take my evening constitutional
But that might give me more time to Learn Thai with Mod and the Alif Silpachai videos tonight.+++++++++++++++
Tuesday 29 th
of October 2013
and we were still anchored when I stepped in to my office at 8 o'clock. The sun was shining so we took the opportunity to get started with the painting
first thing. But as we haven't had any proper good morning routines for a while we had to have a good morning “PEP” group hug.I continued to study all our manuals regarding HIGH RISK and piracy area. I also made a risk assessment for rigging the razor wire. So time turned pretty quickly.
Our Cadet and I took charge over the after dinner movie. We have
had 2 days of really bad movies and I was surprised when we managed to find yet another Mark Wahlenberg movie. Well, when we see Mark's name on the DVD cover we know it is a good movie.+++++++++++++++
Wednesday 30 th
of October 2013
and we were still anchored in Singapore when I was drinking my lemon flavoured magnesium “FIZZ” drink at my desk in the morning. I had a hot shower and I was
in the mess room for my tea 10 minutes before 8 o'clock. I had 2 slices of black bread with cheese and a bucket of tea before I went to see the crew in my office.We had a very nice weather and we decided to launch our life boat and MOB boat.
I needed 2 ABs and our pump Man and the rest of the crew continued with the chipping and painting on deck. We were soon discovering a leaking pipe on the davit so we could not use the life boat davit. But we will still launch our MOB
boat and we will do it after the coffee break.I had sent an e-mail to our IT
department and they will check my computer in my cabin.There are some problem with the
printing and I need to update Microsoft Office to the 2010 edition and everything is done from the IT department ashore. I was ready quarter to 11 and I went to met the guys in my office for work permits and risk assessments.When all the paper work was done we went to launch our MOB boat. But first we had to take on life jackets and our Pump Man had to help the AB. But as soon as he had the life jacket on we launched the MOB boat. Everything worked as it should
and by the time the MOB boat was secured again it was time for lunch.Fish and some duck with salad and black bread for lunch and I felt like a million when I went on deck for my “after lunch” constitutional
It was almost 1 o'clock by the time
I came on deck, I had been delayed by paper work. But I made it to my track.Constitutional or bust!
But I got my 30 minutes and when I was back in my office our Chief
Engineer asked for the new welding aprons. I took my keys and we went down to the store to get him the aprons. And of course, I took a picture when he tested the heavy duty leather apron.I returned to my office and a cubic ton of filter masks and filter. I made an inventory and when I was ready I returned to the engine to look for our Chief Engineer. I wanted to ask him if we had received the striking tools for the bolts on our manifold.
I found him in the work shop and he was busy doing something with the turning lathe. We had not received
neither the tools nor the new valve. But our Chief Engineer asked us to take the measurements of the bolts and he would make the tools for us.They will deliver four new wires for our mast on the fo'c's'le during the afternoon.
At least according to rumours and a e-mail so I had our Pump Man and one of the ABs to start removing the wires. We used a sledgehammer and by the time it was dinner I had got so much exercise from using the sledgehammer that I decided to skip the evening constitutional. Well, by now there wasn't much time for my evening exercise anyway.
Removing wires from the mast on the fo'c's'le
Removing wires from the mast on the fo'c's'le
Seems like the last stores will be delivered around 11 o'clock tonight so there might be time to Learn Thai with Mod and the Alif Silpachai videos after the after dinner movie.
+++++++++++++++
Thursday 31 st
of October 2013
and I was half way in to the shower when my alarm went off at 7 twenty. I had been up, well, I had been awake for an hour. The lemon flavoured magnesium “FIZZ” drink and the vitamins taken. 2 slices of black bread with cheese together with 2nd Engineer,
Chief Engineer and Captain. So I was in a good mood stepping in to my office at 8 o'clock. The crew was waiting.- Ass holes and Motherfoockers!
- GOOD MORNING BOSS!
We received sand bags yesterday evening and we need to store them someplace until we're in a piracy area. But experience says that it will start to rain
in the afternoon. So we will paint until the rain starts and then we can take the sand bags. And I will have 2 of my top guns to continue with the wires in the forward mast. 2 wires remain to remove. And of course, a group hug
before all the commotion starts on deck.The wires were soon removed and the crew started to prepare the turnbuckles so we can put up the new wires.
And we managed to discharge almost our entire remaining garbage barge when they came along side. Only some cardboard remaining and I hope we can get rid of it tomorrow. Well, we had planned to take the sand bag after the 3 o'clock coffee in the afternoon and the rain started at 3 o'clock, perfect!
It is raining and our best guys are ready to take on the sand bags
One of our ABs had prepared wooden pallets for the sand 2 deck up. But before we started the
guys needed a group hug
to pep them for the hard work.They finished the work with the sand bags much quicker than anticipated so I threw in a few bonus tasks for them. But it was soon time for dinner and I was late, I got hold up by our Shipnet and time really turned quick.
Last day of October and soon time to swing over to the month of November and I really hope I can get started with my Thai books. Up until a few days ago I could blame it on lack of light in my bed. I don't want to get out of bed to turn off the light, but I got a bed lamp of our Pump Man a few days ago. And I was really expecting to start kick ass with my Thai book.
Now I have no excuses, but there are the after dinner movies and Seinfeld watch. And on top of that the Learn Thai with Mod and the Alif Silpachai videos. But I will try to shape up in November
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