Bloggin' from the C.V.

I just had my hair cut by a fellow named Bill who used to do the same for W.A.C. Bennet. Bill was a young apprentice barber at the Empress Hotel back then, and later ran a shop at the Town and Country mall. This is the first time I've been shorn in Comox -- since we moved, I had been waiting for chances to get it done while back in Victoria during visits. But I don't think there'll be too many of those for a while.

It's been a busy day here in Comox:

- bought a watch at Zellers, essential equipment for a ferry worker. I haven't worn one since grade school, and it feels funny to have it on. The same went for the wedding ring, but I got used to that quickly enough.
- topped up my tank with two A&W brekky sandwiches. Did not sit with the chatty regulars who have their morning coffee there, but I aspire to do so when I have gray hair like them.
- picked up a Star Trek paperback, inspired to do so by the new Trek movie. I have been a Trek nerd for as long as I recall, used to read the books as a kid, loved the new flick so I thought I'd check out what the new books are like. I may have been tricked into a Deep Space Nine story by the flashy cover photo, but I'm only ten pages in, we'll see.
- got that haircut, and to quote Duke Nukem, "Daaaaaamn, I'm lookin good!"
- hit the library to do a long overdue blog entry, but still intend to avoid my long overdue late fees.

Things are very exciting these days for us on the island. It's almost the end of the school year for Bethany -- as I type, she is trying to stay awake through a marathon year-end staff meeting. I believe they are discussing plans for next year, which won't concern her too much. But if I know my wife, she's still offering input and trying to keep things loose in that tense environment. When this week is through, so too will be her career as a public educator, and we're both very excited about moving on to the next chapter. I have been an awe-struck spectator of her teaching efforts since we first met, and without a doubt the system is losing an irreplaceable asset. But now she'll have more time to focus on the home front, and she greatly deserves that peace and tranquility. Happy Retirement Sweetie Babes!

I'm in the midst of six consecutive days of training aboard the Denman ferry, learning what's what, who's who, and all that. The crew I've been shadowing have been awesome in helping me get the routines down. I should be through all the necessary training by early July, and ready to take shifts when/if the phone rings. Being low on the totem pole, I really have no idea when I'll work or how often. The calls will mostly come on short notice, as in, "We need you aboard in 15 minutes!" So this is why visits to Victoria, and anywhere else, will be difficult to justify. It will be this way for a while, years in fact. But if I can tough out that time, it will pay off in the long run.

My duties as deckhand are pretty basic -- including parking the cars as they come aboard, guiding them off, and just being generally friendly and smiling. Also, patrolling the passenger lounges and the car deck during the 10 minute crossing. I've been spending some time on the bridge to learn about keeping watch, which is a duty that will come once my sea time builds up. Much of my training has been focused on safety stuff, equipment, emergency procedures -- the company really hammers that home. The job itself is pretty easy, and a route like ours is all about repetition of the routines and getting through the watch without incident.

All employees get free travel on all ships in the fleet, including a vehicle -- so by gaining that benefit, we're already shedding the single biggest financial barrier of living on Denman. Cost of a round trip for the two of us was about $25, now it's less than five bucks.

More news as it becomes available. Tally ho!