Bilge 28 Jun 2005 09:38 pm
Dribble for the Bilge
I just thought I would offer some quirky observations. A rambling, if you will, of stuff.
I thought I would do a search on AOL for “Poop Deck”, just to see if my blog showed up in my life time. AOL search brought up 5,121 pages. At 15 links per page. That is 76,815 links if my Radio Shack calculator is working correctly.
I looked at the top 25 pages, and my blog didn’t show up. So I didn’t make the top twenty-five.
Then, I Googled Poop Deck,
I got 263,000 results. I looked at the top 25 pages at 9 or 10 per page and still nothing. That’s okay. My self esteem is well in tacked.. or tacted or whatever.
I was told by my administrator that, for some reason, my blog is getting some hits/traffic from beyond my world as I perceive it.
I asked the administrator if there was a way that we could set a counter or something to give me an idea of what the traffic was. I know he is busy and maybe someday we can do something about that.
But for now, if you read my stuff, let me know by giving a comment, even it you just say hi!
I would like to know where you are from generally speaking at least.
Okay, enough of that. Let’s talk about my perusing the term “Poop Deck”.
Yes it is at the rear of a ship. Also called the “Fantail.” Oddly enough, most of the links, not all, but many, seemed to have a humorous reference. One said, “how can you not smile when you say Poop Deck?… Poop Deck, Poop Deck Poop Deck!”
Well I have to admit…it is a “grinner” at the least.
“Fantail.” Now there is a term that, for anyone with any kind of active imagination, can visualize all kindsa things…well maybe a bit more focused than “all”.
You have to wonder, and don’t waste a lot of time doing it, what the heck sailors were thinking when they came up with the varied names for the a.. of the ship?! A.. = Aft, for those in Chanute. 
And while I am on this “rear end” reference kick.. what is the first thing you think of when you hear the term “anal retentive?” Yeah me too. I am a BUTT man. What can I say? Well how about the legs….okay…enough…
But… no pun intended, notice the lack of the second “t”, even though, as I understand it, anal retentive means, basically, “too damn picky about shit that is irrelevant in the bigger issue!” And it probably is not an issue at all in most cases. It also indicates that the person is not flexible or is insecure. Or both.
Life is not long enough to enjoy our personal idiosyncrasies. We all have them. But we have to stop staring at the pavement in front of us as we go through this life we are given and look a little further down the road more, and even look up and around and see the sky and landscape we are living through each day. A kind of “stop or at least slow down some and smell the roses or at my age, smell the coffee perking!
Some things are a given and have to be done in just a certain way. We have to breath oxygen. We have to eat and shelter ourselves from the elements.
When hooking up a battery on a boat or a car, the positive lead must be hooked up to the positive post and the negative to the negative of the battery or all hell will break loose!
But, if you have always put the toilet paper roll on the holder with the lead off the back of the roll and someone does it so the paper comes off the top and front, or if you squeeze the toothpaste tube in the middle and the other wants it squeezed from the bottom up… or if you expect the laundry to be done and folded or hung up and put away by every Sunday night before nine o’clock….? let it go! There are more important things in life!
We all have “baggage”. I don’t care how old we are. It is a fact of life. The way it is. Let it go!
And for goodness sake don’t expect anyone else to carry it for you! Chances are, you can leave those bags at the terminal, and walk away from them and live a happier, dare I say, a more joyous life without them? I think so. I know so because I am doing it a little better each day.
I like the song the Eagles wrote when they got back together. The title is “Get Over It!”
The best line is, “I’d like to find your inner child and kick it’s little ass! Get over it!”
Yes you will find me often reflecting on my past! You might also notice, in doing so, that I have recalled the good times. The good and bad times have made me who I am today. But it is the good moments I recall that helped me through the not so good. And there were and are some times that I didn’t like because they forced me to face myself. But, that was good too.
As for my “inner child”, I find his faults, address them and when necessary, kick his/my ass.
But, the fun part and the achievements of my inner child, I praise and lift up and enjoy and share.
Never loose sight of the child in you. It is okay to play once in a while. It is healthy even!
The past is in the past. We choose what we want to bring with us and keep in our heart and mind and soul.
In the words of the Knight in the Indiana Jones movie, “The Last Crusade”, he cautioned, “Choose Wisely.”
Always choose wisely as best you can. And if you are not sure what that is…don’t choose. Pray, seek guidance in someone or something you trust. Trust yourself and your intuition. Gut instinct. We all seek advice and never use it or seldom do. We most often know the answer to our own questions.
It may not be the answer you want, but your “baggage” is in your hands. Drop it or carry it but don’t ask or expect anyone else on this earth to pick it up. Jesus did that and let Him have it.
As for the graphic of the Titanic at the top of my blog…it might be appropriate…
She is going into a nose dive to the bottom. Everyone who is left on board is struggling back to the aft/fantail/poop deck of the ship and that is the last to go down. The Poop Deck is out of the top of the frame… We can’t see the “End.” There were survivors of that event. Miracles, fate or determination? None of the survivors knew for sure in that moment. They did what they could as best they could. And some we call “Hero” did what was right. “do unto others…”
I ask myself, am I doing the best I can with the life I have now? My answer has never been yes… But my attitude is, I am trying to do my best. I want too. And I don’t mind getting a little guidance/rebuke along the way. I’m not as “Anal” in that regard! I do listen. I hope ya’ll will give that a chance too.
Listen. Shhh, hush… Listen and be open to the inner wisdom you know is right.
In the movie, “Animal House” it was said, “Knowledge is good!” Knowledge is good, but “Wisdom” knows what to do with it!
I do like the toilet paper to come off the top and front of the roll and squeeze the toothpaste tube from the bottom. Just for the record!
But, I really don’t care now. Just as long as I can still brush my teeth and wipe my aft!
on 07 Jul 2005 at 1:38 am 1.Administrator said …
In recognition of the importance of feedback, I’ve tried to leave responses to nearly every post. Blogs have an eternal sense to them, however, our egos feel better when we receive responses that indicate a sincere listening to the topic at hand.
I’ve added said stat counter and I’ll e-mail you the way you can go and look at them.
As for the introspective portion of your post, I often wonder what suddenly initiates an advice driven moment. Often, the rambling failures and tribulations of friends and family give all the needed rise necessary to wane so far into life paradigms, but I’ve noticed this blog phenomenon where it seems to suddenly assert itself. As if preventing damage before it’s caused.
Any thoughts?
on 07 Jul 2005 at 7:20 am 2.bob said …
There have been many sermons, for example, that I have walked away from and wondered what the heck was he/she talking about? Others seemed to be written for me at that particular time. I suspect many of the posts that fling advice out there in general terms does the same for those who read them. And only speak to a few if any. What motivates them, I would suspect, are personal observations of the daily life they live or the flow of news they expose themselves to via the internet or cable and network news and other media.
As I understand blogging, it is editorial compositions for the purpose of expressing personal opinions and observations and commentary on things that have or do affect thier lives or the life of those around them near and far.
Often, a real life experience becomes the stimulus for the analogy or creation of or reminder of a life lesson. If it can be helpful to others, and an outlet to share it is at hand, it should be express when the opportunity presents itself I believe, or the reason and purpose of the experience might be lost.
Journaling, on the other hand, is,in my mind, a documentation of the flow of thoughts as they come to mind. Often “rambling” emotions or feelings put into words, sometimes for the purpose of just getting it out of the head or heart.
If or when someone strays into rambling about life paradigms they either truly care about something beyond themselves or just like to hear themselves talk and expect us to be impressed by them.
Others just probably had too much to drink and won’t shut up!
on 23 Oct 2005 at 5:10 pm 3.Scott G. said …
Just stumbled across your site. Thought I would say hi like you requested in one of your posts. I’m from Michigan and ran across your blog on Google somewhere near the top when I added “reason” to the query.
Have a good one!