Categories
culture politics Religion

Pure Resolve

Charlie Munger has two great quotes that I’ve been mulling over for several weeks: ‘It’s not greed that drives the world, but envy’. And ‘What good is envy? It’s the one sin you can’t have any fun at’. So, are we living in a world driven by humourless desire? Perhaps on Wall Street that is […]

Categories
culture Religion Shipping

Christmas Canoe

My hire car came early on Monday afternoon, and my flight to Edinburgh from Stansted on Tuesday was looking dicey due to the winter travel disruption around London. Only one thing for it. I finished my jobs in the shipyard and signed myself off the ship early. A quick eight-hour drive through the freezing fog […]

Categories
culture Shipping

On Manners & Management

I was told a few days before coming to this vessel that my main client had no work for me this month, as previously promised. The client doesn’t have enough business to keep their ‘on-the-books’ staff busy, let alone contractors. I’m self-employed, so this was to be expected at some point. Logical enough, as the […]

Categories
culture History

Remember All of Them

Remembrance Sunday is a tough one for me. I’m no fan of the modern concept of the Nation-State. As one who enjoys the freedom of the seas, I know how artificial national boundaries can be. The historic three-nautical mile limit offshore was conceived as belonging to the state, on the logic that the range of […]

Categories
culture discipline freedom History

Deutschland Immer Wieder

I drafted this article after I’d been in a metaphorical decompression chamber for about a week, since leaving that last ship. A little 25 Gross Ton workboat. I’d been on her for only a few days before that visit, so I didn’t know the guts of her well. This time I spent 21 days on […]

Categories
culture discipline freedom

Damage Control

It has been over a month since I posted. Apologies to loyal readers expecting their weekly tot. It has simply been too difficult to write recently. Has much happened this past month? FTX fraud and collapse? Uprisings in Iran and Communist China? The Dutch attempting to leave the WEF? Sunak and Hunt taking the supposedly […]