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| Geco Snapper at Shipyard; New Orleans, Louisiana 04.2008 |
After the girls had left and I had begun to get serious with Adrian it was time to head on my next project the Geco Snapper. Adrian and I discussed that we both wanted to remain dating each other despite my time away from shore. The office asked me if I did not mind working with two gentlemen colleagues; of course, it did not matter to me bring the project on! Shortly after I gave them the “go ahead,” I was swept off to New Orleans, Louisiana to meet with the crew members. When I had arrived at the Radisson Hotel my lead Dustin and his side kick Buddy was brightly smiling when they first saw me. Slightly confused, I asked them what they were so cheerful about. They both responded, “We are staying in the hotel an extra night due to our boat not being ready to leave dock yet.” Not a bad start to a project! Nonetheless, I needed a mini-holiday after the girls spent their spring break 2008 with me in Florida – “Defining “True” Friendship; Blended to Perfection: Spring Break 2008.”
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| Geco Snapper at Shipyard Bow Close-up; New Orleans, Louisiana 04.2008 |
While we were staying at the hotel we were greeted by Dustin’s offshore friends; the boys, Austin and Travis, who both worked for our company and were flown in for a project the next morning. Along with us, the boys were getting ready to head offshore for a few weeks on their project. My highlight that night was when Dustin put on, “Jeff Dunham: A Spark of Insanity.” My friends will tell you that there are two things I absolutely positively hate (yes, I know this is a very strong word) – clowns and puppets! Jeff Dunham’s show is a clear representation on how one can skillfully mimic puppets by the art of ventriloquism. What is ventriloquism you may ask? According to Jeff Dunham himself, he emphasized that, “ventriloquism is defined as the art of producing tones and words without any motion of the mouth.” If you are interested in becoming a ventriloquist, his best advice to you would be to practice and work on dexterity. My favorite line of Jeff Dunham’s show was in the main introduction when he used a skit for his opener. I will never forget this statement, because I almost fell off the bed while mid bite into my pizza! Jeff Dunham chuckled, “the only difference between your kids and mine are that their Barbie dolls actually spoke back to them!” I absolutely love that line – if you are interested in learning about “The Suitcase Posse” aka Walter (a grumpy old man), Achmed the Dead Terrorist, Melvin the Superhero, Peanut (a purple woozle), and Jose (a jalapeño on a stick), check out his site “Jeff Dunham.” So maybe not all puppets are bad! ;)
Right after the show had finished we had received word that our boat would be ready to go in the early morning. In other words, we had to get up at 5am and transport via van to the shipyard where the Geco Snapper currently waited for us. Needless to say, we had it an early morning! The following morning we had checked out and ventured onto the bus that drove us 2 hours to get to the dock! Finally we had arrived and discovered that we were staying in dock for a few more days due to technical problems on the boat. Nevertheless, we stayed onboard and were very familiar with the crew by the time we arrived at the project site! And so began my 5 week rotation offshore, or so I thought!
