Moll Flanders

This is exactly the kind of book I’m in no mood to read but sadly have to for M.A.

Berth

Tomorrow will be first port call and berthing under my command. Am a bit nervous.

Resumed

We’ve resumed our passage. Tonight we might have some 5 to 6m waves but it should be okay by tomorrow morning. We’re getting some long swell upto 5 m in height but the length is making the pitching smooth. The routeing service says that we might get such waves again on the last day. Overall i think i made the right decision of  stopping and then i restarted on the right time too.

The Line of Beauty

This novel is not all gay romance that I was talking about. It’s all about AIDS. Nick is really a loner inside. His relationships are mostly driven by lust or a wish to be accepted with the elite ruling class of Britain. The sad part is that while he feels disconnected with his real family and he will never really be accepted by his adopted family.
I could really not understand why the author chose the political background or then why he chose AIDS. From the looks of it, that should have been an either/ or kind of decision. Maybe it all comes together in the third part of the book. The book at best seems to be a comedy of manners only that it is a tragedy. Although i was super absorbed in it while i was reading it but the fact that i could just stop reading abruptly says something. Have I become so used to psychological analysis of  characters by the writers that can’t relate to this, for a want of better word, superficial characterisation. The characterising at best are reactive in their actions. Why does Nick love Toby or Wani? Lust. Why is he with the Feddens? Toby initially and then he’s used to living luxuriously after the Oxford experience.

Feb 27, 2015, 06:38 am
I have nothing exactly interesting to read but i have no desire to read about people dying lonely deaths.

Decision

It was a totally difficult decision to make. But finally i came to it thinking about it  unemotionally. So  here we are drifting West of Gibraltar. Tomorrow i need to make another decision whether it’s too soon to resume sailing towards the destination.
The evening before last I was trying to convince the  Chief Engineer to drop speed so that we might reach drifting point late and continue moving heading in the right direction relative to the swell for i was afraid we would roll badly one we stopped and were lying with sea to beam but he said he was at the minimum he could. We were doing 9 kts when i wanted about 3 at max. I tried to convince him again after dinner explaining the gravity of the situation once we stop and have no control over violent rolling. He was stubborn as a bull. His argument was that we will have to run two blowers continuously and  one of them is not good and might stopand then we’ll be in real trouble. I had meanwhile been told by chief officer that 2nd engineer had tried to convince chief engineer that since we already ran the engine with two blowers on continuously for 7 days when engine had broken down before Mauritius, he still had not budged putting the blame on 2nd engineer instead saying that “you had told me that it will be trouble if we stop”. When i told the old man the same thing without quoting the 2nd he said he can not run like that at all. I then told him to keep the engine room manned so that they can at least keep reducing continuously as much as possible. He then let his real thing slip out that he can’t ask 2nd engineer to work since he has been working whole day. I said why will 2/E work whole night, he will do only his watch which has only 1 hour remaining. You have other engineers to keep watch too. He said it is useless, he would ask 2/E to check around 9 and that will be it. Now my fuse really blew. I said that he was  the most uncooperative person i had ever sailed with. He can keep sitting in his cabin without any responsibility. I then stormed out of his cabin after shouting all this at the top of my voice. I then went to the bridge to discuss further plan  of  action with the chief officer. In the mean time the old man came up as is usual for him after receiving shouting from me. He said he’ll try to reduce as much as possible and keep monitoring. I suddenly had an idea. I said in that case keep the engine room manned even if you are not reducing. That is the worst thing for him. He doesn’t like to work after 3. And after 5 it is too much for him. He only agreed to let the motormen keep watch and report to him if it was possible to reduce anymore. I did gnashed my teeth but ended the discussion there. Later I went to the Engine Control Room and explained the whole problem to 2/E with weather maps and all. I told him to instruct the motormen to keep a close tab. 2nd confessed that he had tried to convince Chief to slow down but he wouldn’t agree. “Anyways,” I told him “do your best.”
Next morning at 7.20 I called him and 2/E to the bridge and told them we would stop after breakfast at 8. We had done 9kts through the night and were much further than I desired. I also told him to give me all the details in writing about the trouble with the blowers as I was going to report to head office that the condition was absolutely unsafe. The chief flinched a bit and asked 2/E for reassurance “we have trouble with the blowers right?” 2nd only nodded his head in affirmative.
This morning at breakfast when Chief enquired if there was any news from Super (he hadn’t sent any message for past week). I said “No, but I’m going to call him today.”
He paused uneasily for some time, “For some particular business?”
“Yes” was all i offered him.
I was secretly enjoying that this guy was afraid that I’m going to report about his whole non cooperation thing to office but i didn’t offer any more explanation and left it at that .

Today

I have temporarily stopped reading ‘The Line of Beauty’. The main theme of the book is AIDS, i had completely forgotten about that . Now that it made the first appearance,  i just had to take a peak at the end, I didn’t want to read a sad book when there’s no one to hug here. Well my worst fears came true so I am not going to resume reading till I’m out of the ship. Or I might read it here but only if we are on a long voyage and I have a second book to get out of the depression this one will cause me.
We have stopped the engine today and are drifting West of Gibraltar. We got the weather routeing advice that 7m high waves are expected. Whether to stop or slow down or run away, all these options they left on me. It was an exhausting decision to make. I asked the Chief Engineer to slow the engine down as much as possible but he was not ready. One of the lamer excuses he made was that his guys had been working the whole day. I got really pissed with him.

Happy

It’s really nice to realize what makes one  happy. Like my choice in reading ha ha ha declared in the last post. I have noticed that my love handles are reducing a bit ever since i stopped drinking coke. It’s been 3 days since i had snickers too. The picture I’ve posted below is embarrassing, yes, but i do need to share this in order to reach a stage where I’m not going to be embarrassed about my body. Once a week therefore I’m going to post a picture of progress my body is making. I am satisfied only with my calf muscles right now. The torso especially needs lot of work. So cover your eyes if you must, here goes:

Smell

I don’t know what my piss smells like now a days but i hate it. It’s probably the spices which the cooky uses. That’s the problem with our food – pee and sweat smell horrible. I wonder if using natural spices, i mean home made, unprocessed, would help. In any case it’s high time i went detoxing.

If a news report calls Twitter ‘the  social micro – blogging site’ I’ll unsubscribe it immediately.

Oxford

Most of the highbrow authors one reads have been educated at Oxford or Cambridge. The quality of education reflects in their books. The interests of the characters they create are a reflection of their own. I might read hundreds of books but i still won’t be actively discussing Latin or even Dryden or even referring to in the passing with my peers with even a faint hope of them understanding. This is the difference in the quality of education. This is what i want to strive to achieve at our little school. Let children have clubs and interests which will easily allow them to enter such institutions and not feel left out. Let Arts students read the complete list of books that Cambridge University site says a student wanting to pursue English Literature should have read prior seeking admission in the College. Let there be Science Clubs where children actually build.
I think I’ll have to review the whole syllabus.