nautical phrases please

Early this morning I read an excellent article in the July twenty second issue of The New Yorker about voyaging aboard a replica of Cook's ship The Endeavour. After reading it, I doubt that I could do such a voyage. It sounds vaguely interesting, but the longest that I've ever been at sea was on the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki back in June. There weren't any storms or rough seas. In fact all that I ever felt was a slight pulsing from the water here and there.

Having lived in Wisconsin all of my life, the ocean is not something that is a part of my life. Even with Lake Michigan I cant say that I've ever had much of a desire to spend that much time out on open water. In my mind the fear of drowning is more powerful than the promise of adventure. Plus images from Moby Dick or Twenty Thousand Leagues never seem to be that far from my thoughts either.

I imagine that most people adapt after a time to life at sea, but I still have my doubts about me getting used to it. As the author put it, we as a whole are a soft people compared to what are ancestors did in their day to day lives. Sailing today might require certain levels of strength and skill, but the standards are so much better than a couple of centuries ago. Cook and his crew endured things on that ship that I have problems imaging let alone trying to do myself.

Continuing with the sea theme in The Royal Road to Romance, Halliburton is making his way across the Indian Ocean as a member of the crew of the Gold Shell, an American oil tanker hauling gasoline as cargo. The man continues to surprise me and I have to wonder if people like him still exist today. They probably do, they just don't move in the same circles that I do in life.

On a different book front, I was surprised to learn that Irvine Welsh has written a sequel to Trainspotting. It seems we'll get to see the lads ten years after the first book ended. I've never read the book, but I love the film and would almost prefer to leave Sick Boy, Renton and the rest left where I last saw them. The ending made sense to me. Of course I don't have to read the book and keep my mental image intact.

...

Morning news flash. My boss shit on me again. He denied what he said yesterday and my hours may get changed to something that I'll loathe if I don't choose a lesser evil. Surprise. In the midst of our current not spoken aloud but still exists depression I work for the company that cares. Sigh. At least I'm not overweight and middle aged with no hope of a future. Oh, I just described my boss.

...

I know that I am sounding more and more bitter again, but I still need to vent from time to time. I try to change things, but so often I feel as though I am going in slow motion with idiots running into me every so often. Does that make sense?

...

Hours have passed since I wrote the last paragraph and I feel more calm now than I did then.

Very seldom if ever has work made me happy in the past, but I didn't realize that it could make me feel worse than it has in the past. Maybe I am taking this to the extreme, but at the same time my boss has to be one of the most deceptive or weak willed people that I have met in years. His actions cause so much havoc at my job and there is very little that I can do to change that power structure. If I could change it without leaving the company, I would do so in an instant.

The longer that I stay at my job, the more insane I feel.

 
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