Wasn't Insane as Much as I Thought to Be!

I don’t know how many drafts I wrote for this blog. I haven’t updated it since August of last year. Nevertheless the hits seem to have doubled since so it appears that there is some interest. However, I’ve had one horrible writer’s block and if my deleted drafts were ever put on paper, I could never guess how high the discarded stack would be. For me, reading books and writing anything is therapeutic to lowering my inherited hypertension. But the family life would take a hit as my better half is opposite and views my therapy of reading and writing one big bore!

My original intent was to have this blog to be a “day in the life” journal of a sailor at sea. Though many people had an impression that I lived a Jacques Cousteau type of life because of my occupation, the praise rests with genuine scientists and technicians who do the diving, deploying of buoys and the deck crews that work long nights manning nets for fisheries projects. This blog lightheartedly started off as an antithesis of Cousteau, though I grew up watching him. He and his divers showed the beauty of the oceans while no one really detailed on how he got there. I was interested back then at what was “behind the camera” instead of taking what was shown at face value. 

Nevertheless, who wants to sit back and read about numerous reboots of computers after it crashed or climbing a satellite antenna tower and replacing a component vital to its mechanical movements? People are inundated with occupational related tasks flooding the airwaves. After eight to ten hours a day at work and in my case seven days a week while sailing, am I in the mood to watch someone else’s bad day? If that is the case, rather than “reality television” we are back to the soap opera world of feeling better because those fictional characters on daytime TV have it worse than you. Unfortunately movies and television only exposes the characters it presents on screen via verbally and physically. And how much of so-called reality TV is choreographed? Unlike written media, which discloses inner personal feelings that are difficult to communicate orally or portrayed by the finest actors. Have you ever watched a movie or TV show and wondered why the characters did what they did? If you have five people watching the same show or movie and ask about that situation, you would have five different answers. Written materials can express a character’s feelings and describe emotions.

Politics and regulations play into my writings as well. There was a time when my employer started cracking down on those who wrote exposes on Facebook or any other social media. As usual, any written materials for public consumption had to go through public affairs office. Some writings they wanted to review and I completely understand where there would be concern. Controversial topics of varying opinions such as Climate Change would be something I would not write about. First of all, I am not a scientist and no way would I want my writing be representative of my employer despite of disclaimers of such. And there is no malice on my part. I sailed with a prominent scientist years ago that was an expert on that particular topic. Whenever we were in another country, it was unfortunate that he could not be treated to something virtuous such as an informal dinner by the hosts. Because he is better known in other countries for his expertise, he would be asked about climate characteristics and he was reluctant to have it used for policy or economic agenda.

But I learned much from my exposure to social media. I recall Wolf Blitzer’s comment on CNN about covering the first Gulf War in 1991. He indicated that a DoD official told him that he was the face of the war that Americans back home saw. His reporting can sway public opinion, as he was the conduit for information from the war front to the home front. That is what I do not want this blog to be. Just because I work for NOAA and share with others what I saw and experience does not make me an expert on any particular topic. However, when reading some of the thoughtless comments on social media, it does get tempting and I do at times jump in to refute what I view as intentional misinformation or hoping that the other person will be open minded. Unfortunately with overdose of misinformation that is not the case.

So as added remedy to cope with everyday life, I’ll go back to reading more books and writing. I will never do this as a profession because the fun will disappear and then it will turn out to be just “another job.”