Still no word on when I can test for my license. Still says “READY TO BE EVALUATED” on the Coast Guard site. Could be tomorrow…. could be next month… or the month after that.
In the meantime, my traveling continues. I have had a great week in San Francisco. What a difference from LA. JB visited while I house sat JH’s house in Oakland. Got some biking in, some hiking in and some great eats. Chez Penisse, Farina and all the regular great hole in the walls. God I love this town. The market for mariners doesn’t seem very hot. Met with a local captain and got the idea that I am better off working up North as I am doing, and visit SF.
Got down to the White Holly for a brief visit. They are doing some cool work with sharks. I may have to skip LoveFest and crew for Captain Vince. Giving up VIP tix to do so…. but man…. sharks.
And then we get to the DOH. I confused my flights and thought I was sposed to fly out at 0900. No. 0600. Damn. Learned an important lesson. On the phone - US Airways wanted $1200 to fix things. In person at the airport, I was able to get tickets out tomorrow. No charge. The gist is that the people on the phone are data entry, and have no discretion. They can only do what the machines tell them. Which by the speed they work at are probably TRS-80’s strung together with barb wire. No complaint to the people. They can only do what they are set up for. But the guys at the counter at the airport can make it go. But, the policy is that you have to do it within 2 hours. They were kind because it was obvious I tried, and the person on the phone put in a note on my reservation that said so. So, next time I miss a flight, it’s straight to the ticket counter with me. Off to North Carolina tomorrow morning!
