Working Man Blues

Let me tell you, working from 05:00am-9:00pm at night is ridiculous...especially when you are suppose to get off work at 6:30pm. Most days I'm pretty cheerful at work, I take small pleasure in the little things but when one of our chief's is on duty we might as well prepare for the worst. You can try and play his game but there is no beating it. Chief always wins. If we clean every item on his list, he'll just pull something else out of nowhere to hit us to make us all stay later. Chief wins every time.

On the nights that he is on duty, gym plans are canceled. Meeting up with friends is out of the question, and GQ is at 0430 the next morning so you might as well, just hit your rack early. I don't care what time you go to bed, 0350am will always be hard to wake up to. I don't even think this time should be an option on the alarm clock, but somehow that is what is required of me. 03:50. Ughh.

Anyways, last night Chief was on duty. Sure enough, he brought his trusty flashlight with him and inspected under the tables, in between grooves, nooks, crannies, anything he could possibly think of ...high and low. By the end of the night, we were crawling on the deck, reaching behind tables with a pincher and rag that hadn't been cleaned since the ship was built...21 years ago. I crawled behind the drink machines, God knows how I even fit back there!

Anyways, most days work isn't too terribly bad. I work with some pretty cool individuals and find myself laughing constantly. Everyone brings something different to the table.  I, myself, do not bring anything until I have my morning coffee. Lately, lifting tables down has been waking me up, before the coffee has.

One day during cleaning stations, our supply officer (suppo) dropped by to ensure that the scullery was being cleaned efficiently. Here's how the conversation went.

Suppo: How are you guys doing today? Having a good day so far?
All of us: Doing well sir. Not bad sir, etc, etc.
(Officer turns to Dean)
Suppo: Do you work in the scullery?
Dean: I'm trash, sir
(Giant pause...)
(Small chuckles of laughter...) 
 
Dean: Uhh...I do the trash, sir.
(The supply officer leaves and we all laugh.)


Lifting all these tables and treys of cups will hopefully build my upper body strength. When I get out of the Navy, I could be a professional "swabber" if I wanted to. (Navy lingo: Mops are called swabs. The mop bucket is a Cadillac)  I could also be a professional painter. After serving four years in the Navy, my uncle never painted another room in his life. I now know why.

I wipe down tables over and over again. After breakfast, lunch and dinner. The only thing that makes this better is the squirt bottle that I rigged filled with soap and hot water. Give anyone a water gun and somehow shit gets better. This brings me to scenario #2: The other day, B-smith and I were wiping down tables in bay 3 using the squirt bottle and rag. I would wipe down the table with the rag as B-smith shot the table with soapy water from as far away as possible by still getting the table wet. An officer comes over...
Officer: Why are you squirting that table with water?
B-smith: It's dirty, sir
Officer: Who is wiping it off?
 B-smith: (Looks in my direction) She is, sir
Officer: Quit horse playing. Get closer to the table and be quiet. We're taking a test in here.
B-smith: Yes, sir

Haha, oh, the trouble we cause! I've learned a thing or two about sweeping and swabbing as well.

Problem #1: I absolutely hate it when the galley serves peas! Those things just roll for miles. I'll be sweeping everything into a pile with a push broom and all of a sudden that pea will just take off, and roll. In my head I'm like, "Oh, crap, that pea just rolled like 20 feet away" And then I'll proceed to sweep it back towards the pile. Except, the problem is, I miss the pile. It rolls beyond the pile, just like mini golf. I'll wind up sweeping in circles like 6 times just watching it roll. By the end of it, I'm so fed up with the pea I just pick the dang thing up and go throw it out.

#2: I take great delight in sweeping  up grapes. Similar to peas, grapes roll too, but I have mastered this problem. I squish them with my boot ever so slightly. Like crunching a bug, I anticipate the splatter of "grape guts" on the deck. Yesterday, I got so into my task, B-smith was sweeping the grapes to me just so I could step on them.

#3: I have a love hate relationship with blueberries and raspberries. They stain the deck and require extra force when swabbing, but if they are out on the line, I eat them in mass quantities. I'm talking a ridiculous intake. Nonetheless, I hate swabbing up the blueberry and raspberry stains.

"Well, that's all for now. DG's out"