The Things I've Seen

I'm really not sure what this company does but it worries me.

Checking In

Been working sixteen hour days on the Celebrity Mercury transformation into Mein Schiff 2 here in Bremerhaven, Germany.  I wouldn't say good times exactly. . . a bit dry for my normal habits if you know what I mean.  However, we've gotten a good start and a veritable metric ton of work done every day so I guess job satisfaction will have to be my current drug.  May get a few hours off this weekend. . . wishful thinking is just that.

2011. . . For Now

I'm trying out TripIt to keep better track of my travels but I think without a Pro Account it is pretty generic and has a few quirks. Prime example is that the automatically generated calendar below shows my trip from Turku to Copenhagen on January thirtieth but fails to show the second leg of that trip which will take me to Bremen where I actually have work to do. Not that I wouldn't mind working in Copenhagen but. . . well, I guess I am "stuck" there for eight hours so maybe the program assumes I'll be staying.

My work in Copenhagen will have to consist of working at the bars for a few hours.

Space!

Via: OnlineSchools.org

Still Don't Know Finnish

For some reason I haven't felt like writing anything while I've been here in Turku. It's been about seven weeks and I've had a lot more fun, taken more days off and visited more places than I did last year in ten weeks total. I should at least post some pictures on flickr or snapfish or somewhere! Lazy, that's what I am. Lazy homo sapien. That would be my rap name. . . if I were a rapper.

Good friend visited for two weeks in August and we had good times in Helsinki, Stockholm and Turku. Took the overnight ferry to Stockholm and that is definitely a different experience. Sort of a mini-cruise. It was nice to be in Stockholm again since I already know my way around. Hard city to get lost in anyway cause you get a little wet if you go too far in any single direction. I had aspirations of getting to Tallin before the end (only a two hour drive to Helsinki and a two hour ferry to Tallin) but things are about to ramp up on the Allure so that's probably not going to happen.

BUT the weather is still relatively warm here. Gets above 50 degrees every day but we've had some seriously heavy rainstorms. I'll take it though cause when the cold snap comes (and stays) is will rarely get above 40-45 degrees during the day. But the warehouse we've got this year will be a helluva lot better than the tent we had last year. I've decided tents should only be used for camping, not warehousing.

But for now it's time to find some grub and think about whether I should brave the outside world tonight. The Irish Bar nearly did me in last night so it might be a good night for a sauna and a good book. Need to enjoy my last few weekends of relative sanity and that rare feeling that I don't have a ton of work that I should be getting done. Heck, maybe I won't even come into the warehouse tomorrow. . . sounds magical to me.

Perhaps there will be pictures and stories soon. . . never can tell.

Back in Turku

Seems like a short time ago that I left Finland after working on the Oasis but here I am 9 months later to see the birth of the Allure of the Seas. Manny things are the same as last year with a few key exceptions. I've got an apartment this year (hilariously located in what is essentially a retirement community). There's a store in the bottom of the building, a basketball court across the stree and it's only five blocks to walk downtown. Got a car as usual (Volkswagon Touran diesel) which don't go too fast but ain't too shabby neither.



However, the largest change this year is that the shipyard allowed us to take over one of their huge module halls as a warehouse. This is where they build gigantic steel sections of the ships and then open the roof and lift the pieces straight out with a six-hundred-ton crane that stradles this building and the dry dock next door where they put the ships together. It's a ton of room but we're gonna fill it with every little thing needed to get the ship up and running. We're talking about everything from the linens to the forks to slot machines and surf boards for the flow riders. Roughly three-hundred and fifty ocean containers from all over the world and another four dozen trucks from within the European Union is what it will take to get the ship stocked and ready to sail to Fort Lauderdale for passengers. But I'm boring you so back to life.

The apartment, for what it's worth.




Yes, that wood door leads to the two person sauna off the bathroom. Good action.


The warehouse. We're gonna fill it, I swear.


The main square in Turku which has a fair almost every day of summer. Never has a square been in more dire need of a fountain or sumthin!


Well, I could write a whole lot more but it's Saturday and I've stuck myself in the warehouse all day so I need to get out of the shipyard and look for some fun. I really need to get ahead so I can take the next two weekends off when a friend from SF visits. Yup, time to get out of here. If I get to Helsinki and Stockholm (or Tallin) like I plan to I'll try to get some pictures up on Flickr. Good times.

Working In Finland Again

Apparently it's that time of year again, where I travel to Finland for three months and try to kill myself with work and occasional play.  Going to be working on the Allure of the Seas this year which is the sister ship to the Oasis which we did last year.  It looks to be a much different job this year for quite a few reasons.  First of all I've got an apartment that I'll share with one of the guys who works for me.  Last year I stayed about seven weeks in a hotel with only a mini-fridge for amenities and then moved onto the ship for the last month, though the ship wasn't anywhere near completed.  The apartment is supposed to be nice too with a pool, gym, internet and a sauna in my unit (before you get shocked you should know that it's pretty standard for apartments to have a sauna in each unit). 

 

Aside from the apartment, which should be a good time (I actually packed my new dartboard in one of my bags), I can also look forward to the fact that this year I know the shipyard, understand the process, am familiar with the town and have a few friends there that I met last year (no, I don't have a Finnish girl waiting for me).  So, while I may have new work challenges this year (mainly running a fully functional warehouse for the 350+ ocean containers and 30-40 EU trucks that will come in) I think it's safe to say that I'm looking forward to quite a few things.  I realise (spelled thusly since I'm sitting at Heathrow typing this) that I haven't posted here for a long time and as usual I'm not making any grand promises about posting more often.  For one thing I find it much harder to get motivated when I'm going somewhere that I've been before.  The pictures just don't seem as interesting.  Maybe I'll have to focus more on people pics for a change of pace.

 

Well, I'm headed to Finland now and with a little luck will be thoroughly exhausted but having a beer by Sunday night on the river in Turku.  Seems there's a big festival of some type and the weather is gorgeous (if maybe too hot) in Finland. . . . so couple that with a bunch of Finns on holiday and a sunset late in the evening and we've got a recipe for a good times disaster.  I doubt I'll last more than 2 beers before I'm sleeping sitting up at the table.  Guess I should do a little more work since the company is paying for this connection. . . and UK connections ain't cheap.  That's all I got.  (Well, that and droopy eyes.)

 

Kippis!