What's everyone up to right now?

[c172]

Trying to create a fake profile in ChristianMingle.com

[Esquilax]

Just found out Luckie survived her surgery, which is... well, let's just say I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, with the specter of that hanging overhead for the following day.

Also, I have new clients. That's pleasant.

[emjay]

Huh?

I'm sorry about my little rant (and overreaction) but I never expect anything to be easy where it comes to Amazon sharing the marketplace with anyone else. Just don't really trust them in that regard so it was a bit of bias on my part that made me jump to those conclusions. Just by the fact that, for instance, they don't have (or when I looked they didn't) NowTV available on their Fire devices. I don't have any desire to use NowTV - I've already decided against that - but it was the principle of it that they appear to be trying to lock out their competitors so that put me right off a Fire device. I just expect that sort of thing from Amazon so finding Amazon on the Roku (which apparently has only just happened, within the last few days, after years not being available on it), my first thought really was 'what's the catch?' and I thought that was it, but guess not.

We've had Amazon available on our Roku since we got it well over a year ago. But, I won't use their service because of the premiums they put on shows and movies that are already included in the (usually lower) base prices elsewhere.

I think I read that, as with most things, the UK got it later than the US, so if you're American that might explain why you've had access to it for over a year. To be honest, I can't really see much benefit to buying anything from Amazon Video either because a) the prices are so high and you get less for your money than you would with a DVD (i.e. no special features that I can see), b) the prices don't take into account box sets... so you can by a series cheaper than the individual episodes, but not a whole programme box set... so for instance at the moment you can buy the seven series of Star Trek TNG for £39.99 each on Amazon Video... so roughly £280 for the whole lot OR you can buy a DVD Box Set of the whole lot for £44.99... and that includes special features. So, no contest really, but it's a real shame... it could've been so much better (and fairer)

[The Valkyrie]

Just found out Luckie survived her surgery, which is... well, let's just say I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, with the specter of that hanging overhead for the following day.

Also, I have new clients. That's pleasant.

Give her our best.

[Alex K]

Just found out Luckie survived her surgery, which is... well, let's just say I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, with the specter of that hanging overhead for the following day.

Jebus, I didn't know it was that bad! I can barely imagine what you must have gone through. Good luck and all the best for the next days and weeks, tell her Hi from me too if you have the time.

[Joods]

Rushing to find a mannequin that has a decent length of hair left so I can do my practicals today.

[LadyForCamus]

That sounds really cool.  Do you work on or near the water?  Like, is it a hands on job with the ships and crew?  Or are you mostly conducting business from an office?

I do board the vessels for certain formalities but my job is not 'hands on' in the sense that I'm rolling up my sleeves and working side-by-side with the crews. Much of the job is office based. Think of it this way: The agent is the locus of communication between all the parties involved in a voyage -- the ship owners, the charterers, the cargo shippers and receivers, the stevedores, as well as the various companies that provide provisions, supplies, fuel, etc. to the vessels. We help coordinate things with Customs and the Coast Guard, help set up deliveries to the ships, keep everyone updated on what is happening with the ships on a day-to-day basis, and are on call for when the shit hits the fan.

An example of a problem that can occur came last year when a vessel coming here from China to discharge minerals had an explosion in its number 2 hold somewhere in the Pacific. Rather than stop the ship at Panama for repairs, the principals decided to press on to Baton Rouge to discharge the cargo. When the vessel arrived, USCG, Customs, Homeland Security, the stevedoring company, and who knows who else had a collective freak-out. There were numerous delays in discharging the cargo due to gas levels building up in the affected hold and a number of fires that kept breaking out. A port call that normally would have taken about ten days stretched to 60 days, while all of these parties tried to figure out a plan to safely discharge that hold. Normally the statement-of-facts I would have submitted to the Captain for approval and to send to all involved parties would have been 15-20 pages. This one was 42 pages. The Captain who originally arrived with the ship had a fairly public (email) nervous breakdown, which resulted in his speedy discharge and return home, and he was replaced with some poor bastard who had just started his family vacation in China and was recalled to immediate duty.

I felt especially bad for the crew of that ship, since Chinese crews usually don't have U.S. Visas and so cannot go ashore. These guys spent two months close enough to shore to hit a baseball to it without ever getting to touch ground, much less make the usual seamen's pilgrimage to WalMart. They were all pretty frazzled by the time the ship was ready to leave.

That actually sounds like a pretty fun job! And seems like you are far enough away from danger that it can be interesting but not scary as shit, haha! I'm thinking pirates and Captain Phillips, ofc. [emoji13]

[LadyForCamus]

Just found out Luckie survived her surgery, which is... well, let's just say I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, with the specter of that hanging overhead for the following day.

Also, I have new clients. That's pleasant.

Wow, I had no idea her life was in danger! [emoji45] I'm so glad everything went okay.

[Gemini]

I'm hating a character on Stranger Things.

He is a fucking asshole. And this is a fucking good show.

[account_inactive]

Just being Bella.