Can't Help a Good Thing

For once in a long time I have started to be alright with my position in life. Yes it's not where I "want" to be metaphorically  but emotionally, things are well. I have some stability right now, something I haven't had, something I have been seeking. My recent job placement has required a bit of a routine. Be that as it may. I am lucky to have a job, and one that I don't entirely resent. My company allowed me to shift departments recently, the work is more demanding, I get more hours. But all is well on the Homefront.
Sometimes in life, things just happen for an un-forseen reason. Lately my world has taken an unexpected turn for the better, Early in November I met someone very special. I can honestly say I never expected to be so committed and so loved after such a rough few years of relationship roller-coasters. Even for a while there, I was starting to resent women all together. But one special person changed all that for me. I hope I can comment further in the months, (maybe even years) to come, that this relationship is a really strong one. I can feel it. After all we survived a trip to the Bayou.

When you're squid runs out of ink Buy a laptop.

Gainfully unemployed once again. Surprise... not really. I have sunk deep in to a lazy slump the last few weeks. Honestly I haven't put fourth much effort to find a job. I have just been dividing my time amongst few of my closer friends, along with another recent addiction to PC games. I can truthfully say, it feels good to just say "piss on work," and yet the time will come very soon when I will want to start saving for something.

So the whole last relationship episode of my life is done and gone with the wind, quite literally. My Biking excursion has re tuned my persona to something a bit more selfish and suiting. My attitude has reverted to something a bit more familiar, maybe i'm an asshole now. Be that as it may, I can't keep being all bent up about a girl. It will happen again, hopefully not for a while. Depression is a real serious issue. And for me its better to bite it straight in the ass and let the world cure it with all of its natural beauty and sense of adventure, intertwined with a lot of exercise. When you are just trying to survive, everything else seems to fall short of being even remotely important.

Keep in mind, its still a little crazy to bike 600+ miles on a single speed bicycle, but it is possible. People have done it coast to coast, i'm just not that wealthy, and I don't have a support vehicle like most of them.

So if the big D is giving you one of those roller coaster rides from hell. Jump off and give it hell back. Make that demon work for you not against you.

Do something CRAZY not dangerous.

Wisconsin Rapids to Omaha
somewhere around 650mi
1 month
1 Bicycle
1 Man
1 Mission
1 Speed
No Brains

Mr. Single Speed

December through Now.

December I was working with Ozzie on the American Star for three different jobs. This boat opened me up to the fact that a Lead Tender doesn't have to be breathing down your neck to get the job done. If your confident enough to do things without being told, just do them. I was 2nd man for one hitch and it felt good to be working my way up the chain of command. I earned white hat status on this crew. December was a verycold month, in the low 30's with a humid wind is a very bad combination.

New Years day night I was headed to the atlantic barge (above) in location Eugene Island 266 to salvage a blown over platform. Little did I know we were about to stay up for 32hours straight. Left the shop via crew van at around 1245 am, got to the barge in Port Arthur, TX around 4 am. It was a 30 hr. tow from a tug boat to location, 4 hours to set up anchors. During the 30 hr. tow to location we had to scrub every inch of the sat system. DDC, HRC, TL, & the Bell. Get everything ready for a month of diving, and get the rotation going for the SAT betty.

My rotation lasted two weeks, we were also down on weather for 5 days of it. The Atlantic was a lazy-mans paradise most of the time, the only things we had to strain on was getting the sonar back on deck and figure-8ing the jet hose. Other than that the Atlantic was a cake walk.

Currently I am working on the pacific barge. (Above) One of CalDive's Biggest vessels. I have never see a 300 ton shackle before, they are just massive. Rated for 600,000 lbs, using 4 of them to lift the top package of a platform rated for 2,400,000 lbs. Some massive rigging. Luckily I am part of the dive crew so I don't do a whole lot of rigging. We have to use a small crane just to move the rigging around on deck, these slings and shackles are not liftable by human hands. The Pacific's crane is rated for 850 tons, 1,700,000 lbs, just massive. This thing is like a 50-60 story building. Great learning experience out here.

I am on shift writing this, we are currently down on weather for the entirety of the week due to hight seas swing our massive crane around. I should remain on this barge for around 3 weeks. I might even have a chance of going to the Bahamas job if I stay on after these 3 - 4 jobs.

Till later,

Ryan Wierzbicki A.K.A. "Wierzbic"

Some catch up stuff

December 6th 2010

So the last few months october and november I have been working on and off mostly just waiting for work. I was on the Sterling pony for 5 days, then I got crewed up on the CalDiver II for a while, I would say a good part of a month. The boat wasn't bad and I learned a bunch about how SAT systems work and how to take care of the divers in them. But being a SAT betty pretty much sucks. I was in the food industry, I'm not particularly fond of preparing food, unless its for me or people whom i've invited to entertain.

I also took a brief adventure back out west and then to Wisconsin for thanksgiving. During these times I had some questions on my mind I had to reflect on. Some fairly deep and pivotal considerations, to ponder. I have established the fact that I can not work in this field forever, considering all the risks and the physical toll it takes on the body. I will work this job as long as it takes to save up a considerable chunk of savings to fall back on for at least five years, I have devised several alternative plans.

September '10

September 17^th 2010

A couple days ago I was summoned by the powers to be. Offshore, to another adventure. The American Triumph is my new crew at the moment. It is quite a change from the Midnight Star. There are good and bad differences, but overall this crew is a lot more friendly. Even though I am a red-hat still, I’m not picked apart from the crew every moment to pick up someone else’s slack. I am here to work and work damn hard too. It is hard to keep a positive mental attitude when someone is barking orders during your make or break moments, like pulling up the sonar solo, with 300 feet of cable out and a modified steel frame on it, instead of an aluminum one.

Basically my point is, I have a great crew right now and would like to stick it out on this boat as long as they let me. So far this job we have been replacing anodes on an Apache platform. Rigging, tending, prepping, running chambers. Hopefully in a few days I may get a dive. But for now I’m very satisfied with my crew and my boat. It was an fairly easy day today, we made two dives on our way back to port during a quick stop. Took about 4 hours and then the rest of the day we were under way to port for a de-mobe and a re-supply, due to bad weather, another tropical storm kicking up high seas. Oh, so we pretty much just got back to port when I got off shift, and I’m sitting in the galley watching T.v. and a mattress comes through the door. I got a new mattress for my bunk today, pretty frick’n awesome!

End of August '10

August 27^th 2010 - 8/27/10

Today was pretty much awesome. No I didn’t get a dive, but half our day was spent sitting around waiting for weather and rough seas to blow over. We set an anchor a day prior and just hung around for a 20 hrs, for things to clear up. I am slowly growing my sea-legs. Even though we have a fairly large boat 211ft. It can still roll pretty heavy, about 15-20 ft in either direction. I bet it will look like I’m completely drunk when I get back on shore and try walk on flat ground.

Anyway I had 6 hours to fart around at the beginning of my shift, I filled out two Job Safety Analysis forms a.k.a. JSA’s. Then I started reading Catcher and the Rye, a book I purchased just for the occasion. I can’t sit on the computer every waking moment of my day. Reading is an essential to sanity. Likewise, so is music. Movies are just a bonus. Luckily I brought all three.

Anyway getting back on topic, I read for maybe 2 hours, then I fell asleep in a lawn chair on the bow with a slight cool breeze. Wow and that brings up a whole different topic. A slight COOL breeze. Unheard of sense I got down here. The entire month of August has passed, by just slaving away. I can hardly believe it, I worked the whole month away, 12 hr shifts back to back.

August 2010

Aug, 26^th 2010

Today wasn’t too bad, we got to take a break from diving ops, and hang out on the bow most of the night and day. Still we were working hard. Almost every time we set the hooks, aka anchors, fyi 4 of them. We have to survey with a Sonar device. This device is set up on a pyramid frame and is attached at the top, we drop it down from a snatch-block off the bow by the wheelhouse. It is controlled strictly by man-power, it is around the 100 or so pound range. When the current is ripping and the boat is rolling hard it feels like 2-300 lbs. especially when you bring it off bottom 100ft+. Today we did 14 of these so called “Mezotech Drops.” My hands are very sore, feel like leather, and ache, but life goes on. The compensation for my work is well worth the pain.

As I type this the boat is rolling hard, at times we’re getting 10 ft swells.

Today during the early morning hours around 7 or 8 am, we saw about 50 dolphins swimming off our bow. A little while later we saw them aft, on the starboard side, jumping about 6 feet out of the water. Just those little moments can make your day, brings you down to earth. As overwhelming as it can be sometimes, with all the testosterone floating around, everyone loves to see sea-life.