The first two weeks back from camp have been going a bit too well. My future roommates and I decided on August 6th on what apartment we wanted. August 8th we passed the credit check and August 14th we submitted our signed lease. We all start moving in August 31st.
The moment when my roommates seemed set on the apartment, August 6th, I decided to start looking for a full-time job. On the way to brunch I found myself in the middle of a movie set so I decide to talk up a production assistant to see how he likes his job, how much he get's paid, how does he start off and a bunch of other questions. Finally I tell him, "Hey man, I should probably get going, I don't want to get you in trouble" and then he say's, "Oh yea, but you should definitely apply and make sure to drop my name. My dad is sort of the boss." The moment I get home I immediately look up the company and compare his name with the presidents, so it seemed like it checks out. I finally submitted my resume on August 14th after having a few friends take a look at my resume (Thank you Joanna and Stephen!). I'm also still researching and looking up companies. Below you can check out my resume and let me know what you think. (I took out my address, phone number, and e-mail under my name. I also took out my references as well for their privacy and my own)
What's also been on my mind is the passing of Robin Williams and why it's affecting me. Most of the time when celebrities pass I always think, "that's too bad" but there is no real reason for me to mourn them. I didn't know them personally so why should I? Even though that fact stayed true with Robin Williams, he had something more. From when I was little Robin Williams was in all my favorite movies and his demeanor projected the fact that he knew people and especially children. He wasn't afraid to do what was necessary to make people smile. Maybe that's why I have no shame acting like a goof ball.
Growing up at family parties you would always find me shy in the corner with my brother doing nothing. When I was in high school I started to notice the same thing occur at our family parties but with other kids. I would always take it upon myself to play with all the kids and get them acquainted and then get on with greeting guests. You could say I liked to get the ball rolling so everyone would have a great time. I bring that same enthusiasm when I work at the Art Zone.
Another thing that struck me about Robin Williams is something I learned from acting classes. What helps me get into "character" is using instances out of my own life and choosing someone that I know to "speak the lines to". If you look back at some of the heart felt speeches Robin has spoken, they seem so real. Since he was dealing with depression I can't help but think that it helped him get into character. I just can't get over the fact that someone who makes so many people happy could be that depressed and it hurts to know that. Once again I don't know Mr. Williams personally so I don't know what he was going through, I only know what the media tells me. I wish I could have met him myself.
This blog I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking and after this week I'll be back to my consistent 1 blog a week! July 7th I started my drive back to Los Angeles and made my return to Denver, CO. I end up crashing at my friend Dennis' place.
Nessi made it to 100,000 miles!
The morning of July 8th I drove out to Copper Mountain to meet up with more friends then made my way out to Salt Lake City to stay with my cousin Peter. I take a detour through the mountains on the 9 to the 40 for a more scenic route. I had no phone reception on the entire drive so luckily I had no car trouble along the way.
People here are still bitter from the 96-97 and 97-98 seasons... awesome
I end up leaving Salt Lake City on July 11th because I wanted to explore the city more. I really liked what I saw of Salt Lake City. I can actually see myself living there. On the way to LA I take a detour to drive on the 12. It's supposed to be one of the most scenic drives in the United States. It didn't disappoint. (Video will come later)
July 11th I arrive back in LA just until Sunday morning. Saturday July 12th I attend Joanna's Birthday bar crawl scavenger hunt. It was obviously a good time. The first bar we went to had a refrigerator door as it's front door for crying out loud!
July 13th I return to camp as a counselor for my second year. The first two weeks were rough. It was hard getting anything done just because of how long it took to get all the kids' attention. Luckily I took a weekend to play at HatsHopsHucks as a stress reliever. It was a terrific weekend of great ultimate, great food, and great friends.
My 3rd and final week of camp turned out to be the best I've ever had. This week we also had a group fly in from Japan so it was awesome talking to them about anime and manga. On top of that all the boy's in my cabin LISTENED! That allowed us to get a lot of activities in. Take a look at some of the projects we did below and some pictures of the group!
Length: 140 feet Crew: 33 Hold Capacity: 280 metric tons
Where to begin... where to begin?! If you've spoken to me you probably know it was a tough 2.5 months (March 31 - June 10th). First I'll describe my work and then I'll get into the real story. SHORT SUMMARY OF MY WORK RESPONSIBILITIES: I was a processor on the boat; meaning that I was always downstairs in the factory and the only time I would go on deck would be during my pee breaks. Yes, I peed off the side of the boat and it was glorious. It was an assembly line in the factory. Once we caught the fish, the deck hands put as much as they could into our live tanks; while the remaining fish would sit on our deck until we needed to refill. From there the fish are taken onto a belt to be sorted and unwanted fish are thrown away, back into the ocean.
Fish Kept:
Yellow Fin Sole
Rock Sole
Flat Head Sole
Rex Sole
Alaska Plaice
Pacific Cod
Pollock
Arrowtooth Flounder
Greenland Turbot
Once they leave our live tanks they are taken to the head cutter and then gutted (depending on the fish we would have people gutting them after the head cutter). From there they are sorted/separated into sizes where they are packed into 50 lb. trays and once fully packed they are thrown onto a belt to another individual who takes them into a freezer (full freezer = 100+ of the 50 lb. trays and it takes a 3 hour wait until the fish are done freezing). There are 5 freezers so we empty a freezer approximately every 45 minutes. On the boat we called these "freezer breaks". When we empty the freezer we place the cases back onto the the belt where it's taken to someone who takes the frozen block of fish from the tray, bag it up, and then they are thrown down into the freezer hold. When emptying a freezer most of the focus is toward unloading a freezer so we have to work quickly because if we don't then the longer we keep new fish from coming into the factory. This applied to every job on the "assembly line". For example, If the head cutters aren't fast enough the packers have no fish to pack thus slowing down the freezer breaks because they have no fish to put into the freezers and so on. So the job was extremely fast paced and you were always trying to move as fast as you could or we would get behind. I mostly worked at packing and helping with the freezer breaks but I got to do it all.
Top bunk is mine.
My typical work schedule: 11PM wake up and eat 12AM start shift 4AM 10 minute food break/ pee break 8AM 30 minute breakfast 12PM 10 minute food break/ pee break 4PM or 4:30PM (depending if we are behind) go eat shower and sleep REPEAT To the right is where I slept, all the way on the top. It was only 2.5 feet from my bed to the ceiling so whenever I woke up I had to watch my head. The factory is always working so while we go to sleep another shift comes on. We have 2 shifts staggered working at all times and 3 shifts in total working on the boat. Everyone coming onto the boat signs a 69 day agreement to stay on the boat. If you were to break that agreement you would have to pay for everything they've provided to get you there (e.i. flights, room and board, and food so whatever money you earned from working minus ≈$2000). STORY TIME:
On March 30th myself and four other men, all having fishing experience not including myself, flew from Seattle to Anchorage, AK then from there we took off to Dutch Harbor, AK in a 30-36 passenger plane. For those plane enthusiasts at home, it was a Saab 340. The plane was puny with the propellers so loud that you couldn't hear yourself think and it was required that you wear ear plugs. The flight had magnificent sights of snow peaked mountains and frozen waters. Once we landed in Dutch Harbor we had a good nights sleep and a warm meal before boarding the boat the next morning.
March 31st we boarded the Rebecca-Irene and waited patiently for the rest of the crew to finish their offload. The crew consisted of a wide range of nationalities such as African, Mexican, Taiwanese and Samoan men. Most of the crew were from those countries and only 5 Americans out of a 30 person crew. All these guys we're HUGE and I was definitely the smallest guy working downstairs. During the offload I helped Juan, the cook, with dishes since I had time to spare. Then out of no where a bald eagle flew into our galley. From wall to stove and straight into the television. The magnificent bird was flying in a manic path for several minutes until it was led out by one of my crew mates. If you don't believe me check out the video:
The moment we started steaming from Dutch Harbor is when I began to feel it, seasickness. I ran to the bathroom as quickly as possible and arrived at a sink just in time to regurgitate what I had for lunch earlier that day. Oh but don't worry because once was not enough. I took a few minutes of break and continued with another upchuck of old food. Oh happy day. One of my goal's for this job was to not vomit more than three times and there I was dry heaving after my second time in barely a few hours.
Once we started catching fish I luckily only had 4 hours left of my 16.5 hour shift. The entire shift I was gutting and fish would come at a seemingly insane speed of 2-3 fish per SECOND; YES, per second. After my short shift I was exhausted leaving me with next to no confidence; I reeked of fish and cigarettes where I could barely eat due to my seasickness so I went to bed weak, nauseous, and starving.
What I wake up to every morning...
When I awoke I come to find that one of my crew mates that came aboard the same time as I decided to quit not even half way through his shift. He explained that the work was “too hard”. What was I to think? A man with 2 years of fishing experience quitting barely into his first shift and there I was with no fishing experience on the verge to go into my second shift. I continued that trip (1 week at sea) seasick and fatigued waist up. I would go to sleep with my hands and arms numb from the days work and worse when I woke up. It would take about 1-2 hours of work to shake off the numbness. That first week was the worse week of my life and it wasn't because of what was stated above but how isolated I felt. All but one person talked to me on the boat and encouraged me that first week. 16.5 a day for one week almost no one spoke to me. I was alone feeling this pain alone driving me to the brink of insanity.
Sleep for my first weeks seemed to go by in seconds and terrific dream's, so wonderful that they left me depressed the moment I woke up because of the realization of where I actually was. Nightmares would follow and not just nightmares but the most traumatic nightmares I've come to know. One dream that settled at the back of my mind was one where I was a translucent body watching over my family. I watched my parents die in that dream and I awoke sobbing choking on my own tears. In a nutshell, that was the variety of dreams I had my first week.
Lau
The first time we docked on land Lau, the crew mate that was my biggest supporter that encouraged me with reckless abandonment from the beginning to end, allowed me to borrow his cell phone to call home. I was reluctant to call but Lau insisted that I call because he said hearing a familiar voice can go a long way, and he was right. The moment I heard my parents voices I started weeping like a little toddler, relieved that his parents were well. They seemingly had no idea and assumed that I was having a grand old time. At that moment I thought it would be best to keep it that way because worrying my parents was the last thing I wanted to do. The conversation was short but meant the world to me. After I had gotten off the phone, crying was out of my control. I found myself running to a bathroom stall to hide my weeping from my crew mates but I couldn't have been more relieved. I sat in that stall crying for at least 10 minutes. Past that dreadful week, I had more and more coworkers speaking to me. The longer I lasted the more respect I earned. I even had crew mates encouraging me to eat to gain more “power”. I once let fatigue get to me and that ended with my right index finger getting smashed between a 50 lb. case and a metal pole during a freezer break. That finger became a quick reminder to shut out fatigue.
Most asked question's in this order:
Are you married?
Do you have a girlfriend?
Are you gay?
Key phrases:
EYYYYY!!
WHAT DA FAAHHHHHCK?
No good!
You need to eat so you get power
Rico
The boat had many characters as you can imagine. I didn't get along with everyone right away and some I never got along with but we were able to tolerate each other's existence. One guy would start a statement with “Amigo” whenever I did something wrong and to help me relax I just thought of this scene:
There was another guy who I can best describe as a Taiwanese Santa Claus who was jolly to me and seemingly had a personal vendetta with everyone else. I found out later that that's how he jokes around with the rest of the crew and the reason why he didn't act that way with me was because I was new. It really was a hilarious site to behold. Another guy would find any opportunity to scare the living hell out of me whenever I slipped into a day dream, which happened a lot. Maybe everyone was a little crazy on the boat seeing that a good number of guys had felony charges against them.
April 21st: I'm starting to grow these lumps on my arms. My coworkers tell me they're called "biceps", I just hope it's treatable.
With each new week the work became more tolerable; the numbness in my arms and hands became a normal feeling with the help of Rico. Rico pushed me to get faster, stronger, and more efficient. As for my dreams, instead of having traumatic ones they just turned into dreams about me working. The only thing that got tougher was listening to mariachi music. I'm sorry if it offends someone BUT COME ON! They played only mariachi music for my first two weeks before someone decided to start playing different music, thank god. Some of the songs made me literally laugh out loud. For example:
When these came on I couldn't help myself from laughing or from singing. Keep in mind that these are from playlists from guys on the boat. These are manly men and then "Let it Go" comes on?!? You have to admit that's hilarious stuff. I tribute a lot of my best work to Michael Jackson. Whenever his songs came on I just got fired up.
I also started taking my breaks out on the deck to get some fresh air and just look out into the ocean. One night I remember the water was so calm there wasn't a ripple in sight and a full moon that left a trail of light from the horizon to the back of our boat, I was mesmerized by the sight. As summer approached daylight would last longer and longer so during breaks I would be able to see the horizon or even mountains in the distance. It was a nice reminder of how small we really are.
Tua
As the halfway mark of my contract approached coworkers warned me of the new foreman that would board our ship. There was even a rumor that he threw a guy off a bridge for no particular reason and I wasn't ready to find out if it was true or not but Tua sounded uncompromising, stubborn and blunt. According to the current foreman, Mau, I was going to have a rough time if I didn't pick-up the pace. At the same time he knew that I was working my ass off, and he let me know that, but I had to continue to get better. On top of that our boat was planning to not dock on land for an entire month, meaning no rest. Instead of offloading on land we would offload onto another boat as seen below.
Mau
The first time I met Tua he took me to the side to talk to me personally and told me, “I heard you're slow as hell but I want to see that PINOY POWER, SO LET'S GO!” The man spoke in yell and I couldn't be anymore intimidated. I found out that Tua actually liked me. He loved my effort and he seemed to watch over me the remainder of my contract. He was probably my biggest supporter behind Lau and I couldn't thank him enough for the impact he had on me.
Nicknames:
Pacquiáo
Pino
Ron (There used to be a guy that worked on the boat years ago named Ron Macatangay. They said I looked like him so I'm pretty sure he's my evil twin)
The month long trip turned out to be my best work and it went by in a flash. By the end, everyone on the boat seemed happy including myself and especially the guys going home once we docked. We were all working harder for each other. During freezer breaks guys were talking trash and racing between the guys filling and emptying freezers to the guys breaking cases,wrapping and throwing down fish into the freezer hold. It was the first time work was actually becoming fun. I only took part in two of the races and they were awesome.
Rain gear
My last trip was probably the easiest and slowest of them all. The only worry on this trip was the potential delay we would have at Dutch Harbor, AK due to a volcano stalling all the flights back to Anchorage, AK but fortunately we didn't have to wait long to get back. Once we got back to the office in Seattle they asked me if I would come back for another contract and I politely said, “I don't know, I'll probably take a break... forever.” Don't worry it got a laugh.
I've never done anything this hard in my life and I'm proud of myself for pushing through and finishing what I started. I just hope that the money I raised will help me be more successful following my dreams come August when I make my return to Los Angeles.
June 4th: while peeing off the deck I witness something amazing. An orca jumps out of the water. Then I realize that I'm peeing on an Orca. I instantly feel terrible but still amazed at the same time. This is not that time....
Before 162 lbs After 6/18/14 148 lbs
Injuries sustained on the boat: Week 1: My finger got caught in between a 50lb. case of fish and a hard place. (It's growing off as we speak.) Week 1-4: Strained back, middle finger nails started to tear off from gutting fish Week 4-now: sprained wrists and thumbs *Only vomited twice on the trip! The first day would be my first and last time I did.
The last week at home was relaxing and well deserved. Caught up on The Walking Dead from episode 1, I got to see another side of TAbel, Kotecki is single again, Shane is still bald, Serena still looks weird with facial hair to me, I saw Katie drunk, Kerry still gives me a hard time for good reason, Teleport is a grown-up, Steeeve is researching houses, Reynolds has lent me an "inspiring" book about living on a whale ship, and my family is still fun-sized.
Yesterday I flew into Seattle, WA and was shown the best hospitality I've ever experienced. Levi skipped out early from work to pick me up from the airport, brought me to the famous Pike Place (including the gum wall, the salmon toss, and the first Starbucks EVER), the Fremont Troll, and the boat house from Sleepless In Seattle. He did all of this without hesitation. I had no idea what I was doing and Levi seemingly had all of this planned out, I couldn't have asked for a better host. Now I sit at a library writing this blog.
Tomorrow I have to go see my employer and then I'll probably end up camping at the airport until my flight Saturday morning to Alaska. While I'm on the boat I hope to post every week but who know's how the internet is set up on the boat. They told me I'll at least have gmail and I might get internet reception whenever we dock at Dutch Harbor. I doubt I'll be able to post anymore of my blogs on my facebook and possibly I won't be able to post anymore blogs but I hope I'm wrong. I've packed a few books to keep me occupied during down time and I hope to be writing in my notebook whenever an idea pops into my head. PLEASE feel free to comment on this post and future posts, it's always nice knowing that people read what I write. AWESOME HOSTS CONTINUED...(3/29/14) I now sit at the airport in Seattle because I find out at the meeting, I had Friday that we would be leaving Sunday morning instead of Saturday. After the meeting I put out some other messages to Fridays on Facebook to have me find a place to stay at last night. Fortunately to some great friends they found me a place to stay at Scott and Julie's (thanks Licious! And to Kwok, Alex, Chuck and anyone else that looked for a place for me to stay!) . Once again terrific hosts! They gave me a bed to sleep in, offered to pick me up wherever I was, gave me beer/food, cooked for me, drive me to te airport(just now) and let me play the xbox 1. Yea, I'm flippin' spoiled. My flight leaves at 6am and I had to be at the airport at 4am so I figured it would be best to sleep over.
Don Macatangay
F/T REBECCA IRENE
c/o North Pacific Fuel
P.O. Box 920088
Dutch Harbor, AK 99692
(LETTERS AND POSTCARDS WOULD DEFINITELY BRING A SMILE TO MY FACE!... OR EVEN A FLASH DRIVE CONTAINING THE SERIES FINALE OF HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER!!!!!)
So driving through the Great Plains was fun... But seriously, it really wasn't that bad. I just took two gas breaks and two other mini stops to take pictures with state signs in the 15 hour drive to get back to Illinios. If you look below i'm straddling the boundaries of Colorado and Nebraska... so I'm in two places at once. I got back into Palatine, Illinois by 11pm Wednesday night. I have learned 2 things:
-Truck drivers do not honk their horns when you signal them or I was giving them the wrong hand-signal
-Don't trust Pandora on a cross-country road trip.
During one of my breaks I got a call from Seattle to start tomorrow, Saturday, but I chose to take the extra week at home to spend time with the family and reset my batteries before I head to the boat. Yesterday, I bought my ticket to Seattle for Wednesday morning and then I'll fly from Seattle to Dutch Harbor Alaska Friday morning.
Don Macatangay
F/T REBECCA IRENE
c/o North Pacific Fuel
P.O. Box 920088
Dutch Harbor, AK 99692
I will be aboard the F/T REBECCA IRENE (pictured above) and it operates largely in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands area. If you send me anything expect it to be delayed but it'll get to me as long as you provide the address above. Feel free to send me postcards and/or letter's at most!
On the boat my blog writing might come to a halt it sounds but hopefully I can work something out where I can try to post once a week still. I definitely will be able to e-mail people though!
In case of emergencies, call the office for assistance in contacting me. The telephone number of Iquique U.S., LLC office is 206-286-1661.
Next time on Don Macatangay and the Road to Sinehan: Today I stop shaving for 3 months... notice the fading goggle tan...
