Third Week Down

Oh my gosh!! Where did the week go? I can't believe its been a whole week since I shared any thoughts! I wonder if that's a sign I don't have many??? Hmmm, another question for another day......
We have had so many captains and pilots come and go in the past week I need a scorecard. Right now we have one pilot and two captains, one is riding as an observer. Let me start with him. He has been on the river for 49 years and has a story to tell for everyday of every year!!! He sparred with Mohammad Ali, he was fired from 5 jobs by the time he was 21 because his father started the unions in Illinois, his wife of 48 years was once a fashion model, etc. etc. etc. We have mandatory safety meetings on Sunday afternoon. Yesterday's was about safely boarding a vessel. After the video, Deron asked if there was any questions. He started telling stories about how he had pulled 6 1/2 bodies out of the water (don't ask) and kids throwing pumpkins off bridges at the wheelhouse. The Mate and Chief finally got up and walked out after 15 minutes. Oh yeah, and he called the Chief "Baby" constantly, tore him up!!!! lol (Have I mentioned the Chief is about 6'3" and weighs about 250?) But he has a good heart. He loves taking pictures with his digital camera. He made everyone's picture doing their job and printed them out and gave to us. He also had a picture of our boat, don't know why, but he gave all of us a copy of that as well. He left at lunch time today to to Pittsburgh. There was a small celebration. The other captain said he almost threw him off the wheel house this morning!!!
And that brings us to Mark, the other captain. Pretty blunt, smokes like a chimney and cusses a blue streak. He is from Wisconsin originally and tells it like he sees it. I like him cause he let me call in my own grocery order and told Teno to mind his own business on the deck and I could take care of the galley!!! Woop, woop!!! Course Teno didn't speak to me for 2 days, but I lived through it fine and his panties are out of a wad now! He is staying with us for a while longer but is going to the back watch as pilot.
NOTE OF EXPLANATION: Captains work from 5 am to 11 am and 5 pm to 11 pm (Front watch). Pilots work from 11 am to 5 pm and 11pm to 5 am (back watch) Lauren tells me I don't always explain myself well.

The pilot we have now, Tommy, is getting off tomorrow. He is from Paducah and just got back from 3 weeks in Hawaii. I think I may have signed on for the wrong position with Ingram!! He is hilarious and has been fun to ride with. He is normally a captain on the Tennessee River and is going back there. The guy coming on will be the new captain. His nickname is Rabbit and he is from Corinth!!! I am anxious to meet him. The other captains say he is a neat freak, smokes 4 packs of cigarettes a day (can't see those going together) and won't eat anything hardly unless it is deep fried. Oh yeah, and he tells the cook what to prepare on what day. I guess that will take the guess work out for me!

They tell me we are going back to St. Louis where we will tie up. The Chief and Mate will stay with this boat until crew change day, April 27. The rest of us will go to the Robin something to stay until our crew change day. We are going there because that is Rabbit's regular boat. It has been in repairs because it hit a bridge last week and knocked the radar off the top of the wheelhouse and broke all the windows out of the wheelhouse. And no, he wasn't driving at the time.... I asked already!! So not only do I have to go to someone else's galley, I have a picky captain!! But he is from my neck of the woods, so I don't have to make crazy stuff like cod stew or sweetmeat pie, both of which are in the Ingram cookbook I found onboard... blah!! I made Dijon Chicken tonight and it was a big hit. Recipe follows.

We also have a new deckhand named Matt, who came to us when the Robin hit the bridge. He is a really sweet kid from Illinois. He has been giving the downlow on his captain.

Well other than all that its been a slow week. I really don't have amusing stories to tell, so I'll simply end by saying this is the last week!!!!

Till later.......

Dijon Chicken

6 boneless chicken breasts
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup brown spicy mustard
Seasoned bread crumbs
Melted butter

• Cover a cookie sheet with foil and spray with Pam.
• Combine sour cream and mustard.
• Dip chicken in mixture, then in bread crumbs coating well.
• Place on cookie sheet and drizzle with melted butter.
• Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until juices run clear.
• (I turn the oven up to 400 and cook another 10 minutes to brown.)

And Sunday Rolls Around Again

Friday, April 9
Today is Cal's 28th birthday. Happy birthday, son. I mailed him a card from the dock office, hope he got it. Deron made it back about 10:30, just in time to eat fish!! He was full of stories about his adventure. He said he didn't know why they needed him cause he was oncall watch and slept for 3 days!! lol

We got our new captain. He is from Northport, Alabama, a suburb on Tuscaloosa, and has four years left to retirement. He is a lay minister and will be here until next Tuesday. He is leaving to go on a mission trip to El Salvador to build a church. He has absolutely no profanity on his boat and it has been sorta funny watching the crew watch themselves. A couple of times I thought the Mate was gonna pop a valve!!

The pilot that took Myle's place is really quiet. His name is Danny and he is from Dover, TN. He just kinda eases in and out so I haven't had the opportunity to grill him yet!! :)

Well, we just found out we are losing Justin. The call came at 5:00 and said for him to be ready in 45 minutes. He is going to the Upper Mississippi cause they need someone with lock experience. He is spending his time installing a shelf for me for the pantry that sent the Mate into a tailspin!!! Bless him, he said he started it and he was gonna finish it.

We are still sitting in St. Louis doing fleet inspections. Deron said he heard that if the water goes down to 25 feet we will make a tow and go!! It is at 30 feet now but it keeps raining upriver. :(

Well finally at 7 they got here to get Justin. He probably won't be back this trip,hopefully he'll be back when we crew up again.

Saturday, April 10

Well the Coast Guard came onboard today to check our ID's with a new toy they have. It scans your fingerprint to make sure it matches your TWIC card. You have to have a TWIC card (Transportation Worker Identification Creditial card) to work in any type of transportation. They fingerprint you and take your picture and do a pretty thorough background check. All this came about after 911. The Chief was hoping they would their yearly inspection and get it over with but they were just checking id's.

The Chief did the grilling today and all I had to do was the side dishes!! We all sat out by the grill and drank tea and I listened as the guys swapped tales about other boats they've been on. Have I said today that I love my job?

Justin called the Second Mate and said that he didn't get to his boat until 5 am. They had to go 240 miles into Iowa somewhere and the van kept overheating and breaking down. He said it was nothing but fields and he was beginning to get a little concerned until they topped a levee and finally saw the river!!! He is not a happy camper.

Sunday, April 11

Oh me oh my!!! I got to sleep until 8 am this morning. I woke up earlier and looked at my clock it said 5:12. I thought, "Oh, no. My alarm didn't go off and they didn't wake me up!!!" THEN I remembered it was Sunday and I rolled right back over. Love my crew!!!!!

Got that chicken fried. I made Rice and Mushroom Casserole (recipe follows), Candied Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, White Beans and Pistachio Salad to go with it. I also made homemade rolls. The Captain said he like to eat light on Wednesday and Saturday but he made up for it today. I been cooking a Top Round roast in the crock pot since last night to have Italian Beef Sandwiches for supper. We gonna eat a little lighter tonight.

Gonna get to talk to at least one grand on Skype today. I miss my family more on Sunday than any other time. I'm gonna close this out for now so I can get to the talking to the grandbaby part!!! Till later.....

Rice and Mushroom Casserole

1 stick butter, melted
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery, (1stalk)
1 8 oz. can sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 14 oz can beef broth plus enough water to make 2 cups liquid
1 cup instant minute rice

• Saute onion and celery in butter till translucent.
• Add mushroom and garlic. Cook a couple minutes longer.
• Spray 2 quart casserole with Pam.
• Pour in onion mixture and combine remaining ingredients and stir.
• Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
• Stir with fork to fluff and serve.

Second Week Out

Monday - April 5

I love my crew!!! They told me today that on Sunday I get to sleep in!! WooHoo!! As long as I am up in time to fry chicken. I'll probably be so excited I won't be able to sleep! We are still tied up so I am using the time to organize and clean the pantry. I got it all done except for two shelves last week so those two are really bugging me. It is a large room off the galley with counter space, three freezers, and a potato bin. We keep sugar, plain and self-rising flour and corn meal in 5 gallon bucket like containers.



The "honeymoon" week is over now and we are sorta settling in to a routine. OMG I don't have to get up at 3 am anymore. The boys said since they don't eat much breakfast I can get up at 4 and still have bacon and sausage and biscuits ready for sandwiches by 5. Have I said I love my crew???? I'm gonna make them omelets tomorrow just to say thanks. Now those they will eat! lol

We will be getting another interim captain tomorrow. I hate to see Ray go. He has been very easy going and easy to please with meals.



We did get sad news. Deron is being taken off our boat and put on the Omar which is going to Paducah for repairs. He really didn't want to go. But they called and 30 minutes later he was gone. Tyrone says maybe he will be back or if the water doesn't go down we may all be going to other boats! Boo!

Tuesday - April 6

Well Teno tells me I need to go ahead an order groceries since we are tied up close to the Boat Store cause MAYBE we are going to be able to get behind a tow and move sometime this week. Got the pantry finished so I can actually tell what I got. Now if I only had the vegetable freezer done I would be in high cotton!!

Made Chicken Rotel for lunch today and they ate it up. It is the same one we made at Outtatown.

New captain pretty straight laced. Myles, the Pilot, told me at lunch he is leaving tomorrow or Thursday. He has been loads of fun and I hate to see him go. It has been pretty quite without the Big Boy here.

Chief smoked ribs and a tenderloin today for lunch so I had an easy day of it. I sent Deron a picture on Facebook and told him I had a whole slab left over since he was gone. He didn't reply! lol

Thursday, April 8
Pretty quiet. Teno had a little comeapart cause I moved some stuff in the galley. I decided it was better to choose my battles but surprisingly it made the other guys madder than it did me!! Myles came by before he left and told me to stand up to him. He said he and the rest of the crew had a little wheelhouse meeting and decided to let it be known that the galley was my domain. Told him it wasn't necessary, that the cook was to be a peacemaker not an instigator!! He told if he said anything else just say, "I appreciate all the help and I'll be right out to help you check all the rigging and make sure they are where they are suppose to be!" lol But he's been on here a long time and I don't want to disrespect his authority. It will all sift out .... or I'll throw him overboard!!

Got the groceries put away and great news!! Our wayward boy, Deron is coming back tomorrow. They just needed him to help get the Omar back to Paducah to the shipyard.

Chief told me he talked to the guy in charge of Engineer training classes and told him I would be excellent to cook for the classes cause I wanted to do some trip work. Trip work is when you work past your scheduled 28 days. You get paid double time for that plus earn extra days in case something happens and you need to be off. It would be good if I could do a couple of trip weeks everytime. Got to save up that tuition money.

We had tacos for lunch since the groceries were coming during lunch sometime. And I made Poppy Seed Chicken for supper, another Outtatown staple. Recipe follows. The next three days are prearranged-Fish Friday, Steak Saturday and Chicken Sunday!! No guesswork there! :)

Poppy Seed Chicken

5 chicken breasts, cooked beboned and diced
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 8 ounce container of sour cream
1 sleeve Ritz crackers
1 stick butter, melted

• Spray 13 x 9 casserole with Pam
• Layer chicken in casserole
• Combine soups and sour cream in small bowl.
• Spread over chicken.
• Crush crackers and mix with melted butter.
• Spread over soup mixture.
• Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Well I'm gonna call it an evening cause even though 4 am comes early, it ain't nearly as early as 3 am!!!!!!

Good night my friends. Till later...............

Easter Sunday

Well I have to say that this is has been a down sorta day!! This is the first holiday I've been away from home and knowing that they are together without me is not a happy time. The guys have been super nice!! They loved the tablecloth and napkins. In fact, they wouldn't use the napkins they left them on the table all day!! And the baskets were a tremendous hit I think. Sean and Justin took pictures and sent home!! LOL I made pancakes this morning and while they weren't as pretty as Marty's, they seemed to hit the spot!!

Fried chicken went off without a hitch except those were the biggest chicken breasts I have ever seen! They had to weigh a pound apiece. I could only fit two in the fryer at a time. But we had mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, green beans and lima beans along with cornbread with the chicken. I fried two chickens plus eight legs and they ate it all but one breast!! And for dessert we had banana pudding. Epic win!!

For dinner we had chicken Alfredo, glazed carrots, salad and garlic bread. I'm thinking about including recipes in my blog as well. What about that idea?

It has been a pretty calm day. I did my laundry and cleaned out the closet in my room. I found four blankets and six sets of sheets. I kept three sets of sheets and two blankets and Teno took care of the rest. They say the river is dropping so we may actually get to move from here this week. Miles told me at dinner that he is suppose to crew change back to his boat on Tuesday so I guess he won't be staying with us. :(

I think its about time for a shower and bed cause...... let's say it all together......

3 am comes really early!!! :P

I'm On A Boat

Well its 8 am on Tuesday morning and I'm sitting on the van waiting on the rest of my crew so that we can drive to St. Louis, which is where MY boat, the Eileen Bigalow is tied up. It will be a complete crew change, so I'll get the chance to get to know everyone as we make the 2 and half hour drive. The regular captain, Eddie Murphy, (don't say it) is on another boat so we may have a couple of different ones for a while. I don't know our regular pilot, but he isn't on board either. The captain and pilot on now are leaving in the morning and we will be getting new ones. All these guys have been together for about four years on the E. Bigalow. They haven't been all together since she has been tied up so they were anxious to get back "home" and check it out. There is the Chief Sean, Mate Teno, Leadman Tyrone, and deckhands Justin (Judd), DeRon (Big Baby) and Gary.

We finally made it to St. Louis about 11:30 but had to wait on the tug to bring the crew we were replacing over and take us to the boat. It is laid out a little differently from my training boat but I have a big galley and pantry. The only thing I'm concerned about is the sleeping quarters are on the other side of the Engine Room, which could make for some noise when we are moving!! Right now we are on barge patrol, cause the river is so high that they aren't moving many barges. We move around checking the twenty or so tows they have built making sure they are secure. But for the most part we are sitting still. The cook left us a baked ham and some veggies for lunch.
I put my bags in my room and went to work in the galley. The cook I'm replacing isn't the regular cook. She had gotten some groceries, but there isn't much meat to choose from. Luckily the Chief and Leadman like to grill. We are going to grill porkchops tomorrow and smoke a butt on Thursday. That will get us to the weekend, Fish Friday, Steak Saturday and Chicken Sunday.
I finally got to my room and got unpacked about 8:30. It's been a long day so I'm hitting the hay and 3 AM comes early!!!!! I love my job but I hate 3 am.

Wednesday afternoon:

These guys aren't breakfast eaters either. So I made Breakfast sandwiches and wrapped them up. When I came back after my morning "rest", they were all gone. But they made up for it at lunch!! We grilled porkchops. I brought along some of the rub we used at Outtatown and they ate them up. I have a two butts marinating in the frig for lunch tomorrow. We are gonna put it on after dinner tonight. I made Cases's cookies and they were eating them faster than I could take them off the pan.

We still haven't moved anywhere, so I'll tell you more about my crew. I'm sure as time goes on I will be able to add details.

• Ray is our trip pilot. He is really laid back, been out here a long time. Looks to be in early fifties maybe, married. All his kids are grown and gone. I wish we could keep him but the guys really would like to have Eddie back. He is getting close to retirement though and if they tie us up again to replace the engines with bigger ones he probably won't be back.
• Pilot Miles is a long tall drink of water!! lol He is a good ole boy from Florence, AL. He is divorced and has a daughter that is a freshman at UNA and a 15 year old son. He says his girlfriend wants a baby so he's probably about to start over again. The Chief says that Miles may be our regular pilot cause he is training for the Lower Mississippi.
• Sean is the Chief Engineer and is the friend of the Chief, Randall, that I trained with. Super nice guy-35, married with an 8 year old and 3 month old. He lives in Fancy Farms, Kentucky.
• Teno is the Mate and man oh man, he is a worker!! He is a 5'3" ball of energy and is constantly cleaning something. He takes great pride in the boat and his job. He has been very nice so far. He is really conscience of the rules and we've done a different drill everyday after lunch. He's missing a couple of front teeth so he has a little lisp. I think he is a Italian Cajun!! He told me today that he has been married for two years but she is in prison!! I didn't ask for what.
• Tyrone is the Lead Man and he is really quiet. I know he is from near Mobile and is married, but he doesn't volunteer a lot of information. He told me if the boat tied up that they were taking me with them!! Supreme compliment for a tug boater to a cook! lol
• The three mates are a trip, Justin, DeRon and Gary. Justin and DeRon are good friends on land and live near each other near Birmingham. Justin is the baby of the group at 23 and always has something going. He helped me with some cleaning. I told him he didn't have to, but he says their job is to take care of the cook so she can take care of them. Love that!!
• Deron is a big (300 lb) teddy bear. I think he is 26. He is always planning his next big thing. He was late the first morning and then we had to turn around and go get his computer out of his truck. He is the resident computer and Internet guru. We are now FB friends!
• Then there is Gary, an over the hill hippie type that wears Harley Davidson do-rags and has a ponytail and sorta scraggly beard. He's on backwatch so he has my coffee made every morning when I get to the galley. That makes him AOK in my book. But bless him, the others give him a hard time, cause he's been everywhere, done everything, seen every sight and has a story to tell about it. This morning he told a story bout his girlfriend , but this afternoon, he talked about his wife. One of the guys asked him when he got married since we've been on the boat all week. He said she was his common law wife cause in Illinois it was five years. One of the other guys reminded him that they've only been together for 2 years. Like I said, Bless him.

Thursday:

We placed our grocery order and they said it would be tomorrow before we got it. I hope it is before lunch cause the former cook only left about 7 fillets in the freezer. I am going to strip them and have frog legs and Garlic Shrimp to fill out the menu just in case. Teno calls in the order. That makes me a little nervous, cause I would like to talk to the supplier and make sure they know what I want!!! I know, control freak.

Still tied up. Teno and the guys have been cleaning the stacks and decks constantly because of the disel build up. Since we are just idling mostly the engines don't get cleaned out and the smoke is black. The Pilot, Miles, says he is going to roll the engines (rev them to clean them out. Sorta like blowing the soot out of a car engine.)

Friday night:

Spent the day cleaning and rearranging the pantry. Groceries didn't get here until after 5 pm. At least, it wasn't midnight. I have the steaks marinating for tomorrow and they are massive ribeyes. They have to be 2 inches thick!!! Luckily no one wants theirs well done. I have marinated some chicken breasts like we did at Outtatown and we gonna grill them up as well.

It is official. The crew says I get to stay. I did a Shrimp Boil for dinner with corn and potatoes. DeRon made a picture and put it on FB. He said he wanted folks to know back home how he good he was eating. Justin says he can't mention me anymore to his girlfriend cause he bragged on my cooking too much and made her mad!! Haha

They tell me if I can grill a steak and fry chicken I can write my own ticket!! Hot damn, its nice to be appreciated!!

Saturday afternoon:

Holy crap!!! Miles cleaned out the engines about 2:00 am this morning!!! I thought the boat was coming apart and they forgot to come get me. My windows rattled (pretty scary), my bed was vibrating (not so scary) and I thought the engines were coming through the wall (amazingly scary)!!!! Told him this morning that we would be checking the smoke detector outside his room tonight about 8:30 pm!!!! Everyone thought it was quite funny but me! Teno says that's what it will sound like all the time when we are going upriver. Told them I was moving from the ghetto on the first deck to Upper East side on the second deck!! They told me I could, but I would have to give up my big room and new TV they ordered me. Sean just put speakers in for me in my ceiling. So I guess I'll suck it up and try to sleep. We lived at the end of the runway of Memphis International Airport in Southaven and I got use to that!!!

Steaks were a hit! Sean grilled for me today. We also cooked hamburgers, BBQ'd some bologna, and some hotdogs along with the steak and chicken. They can choose when they want their steaks so I have to cook three tonight. I'm going to peel the leftover shrimp and heat it up in some garlic butter, also. This afternoon I have made some Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and Cherry Cobbler.

I have to go get my Easter baskets for the crew ready for tomorrow. I just did little ones since they are all away from home for Easter. I asked them if they wanted something besides fried chicken since it was Easter and the vote was NO. I brought a tablecloth and Easter napkins to set the table cause after all they are just big kids!!!

Till later..........