Why do all the safety videos that we watch show people wearing 80s clothes and 80s hairstyles? It gives me the impression that safety education hasn't changed much since tank tops, waist-high-oversize-jeans and jean jackets were in vogue for women. However, there is some comfort in watching old videos. It made me think that perhaps the worst days were over. We went through the disaster that was the Titanic of 1912 and the sad story that was Piper Alpha of 1988. Suddenly there was an image of a man who had lost his head [literally] by walking at the back of a helicopter. The class was aghast with horror but, I kept reminding myself that this was an old video. No one does those things anymore. I couldn't help thinking that I was glad the worst was over. Even events like Macondo of 2010 are becoming folklore, like the stories we tell children to get them to behave well when they attempt to stray from the straight and narrow. I spoke too soon.
Capitan Francisco decided to go down a rabbit hole for a few minutes to give us more recent examples. He spoke of men who woke up in the middle of the night to find that their platform was on fire. He told us how some of these men panicked and forgot all their training. They woke up and their first thought was to run and jump into water that was at least one thousand metres deep, in hurricane season [olympic pools are 5 to 6 metres deep]. They jumped into the water as they were, without life jackets or even bothering to cover up. Apparently, the temperature of burning oil and gas can get as high as 800 degC under explosive conditions. Several boats were called to try and put out the fire. Most of the crew was saved, thankfully. But who wants to live through an explosion. This happened 6 months ago.
There was another story of a young lad of 23 who was very keen to start his shift. It was a dark and stormy night. The wind was tossing the workers' boat to and fro, but they wanted to work. They knew that the money was monumental for the survival of their families. We use a device called a basket. [Se llama la viuda en español porque las innumerables mujeres que han perdido sus esposos a la misma.] Unfortunately, the lad got onto the basket in the wrong place and manner. We watched as the basket lifted him and his colleagues up and then watched as he hit his back on a railing and fell, back first, into the water. He is alive, but barely able to move. This was also a few months ago. We have the video courtesy of the new habit that people have of recording everything on their smart phones.
I have been cured of my worries about sharing living quarters with strange men. Thus, before this information was available to me, my biggest concern was what to do during my periods as the only female on board. Now, I have images of men diving into flaming, steaming water. Or perhaps I will be famous as someone shares a video of my demise on YouTube.
There's a little dog across the street that reminds me of my Tita. He/she has the same white coat with brown spots and about the same size as she was the last time I saw her. He/she tends to play in the sand, just like my little one. It's a construction site, so there is a lot of sand to play with. That is Tita's favourite game, to dig her way into a sand pile. We tried to cover the pile with tires and discovered that we just increased her joy by giving her an obstacle to overcome. She kept trying to dig her way underneath the tire, with the hope of emerging victoriously from the other end. Sadly, for her, we needed the sand for construction, so I covered the patches with burnt mud bricks. We never got to the end of the game. There's a little sand left in the corner of the compound. Maybe I'll let her play in that when I get back. That is her final frontier. :)
I hear her bark every time I call home. She sounds like she's talking to me, like she knows I can hear her. Walker says she's just being playful and looking for attention. He says I spoilt her by cuddling her and letting sit with me in the kitchen and living room. But who else would sit quietly with me while I cooked or did the ironing? Zeus is a nuisance and Hero is cuteness but he is not quite potty trained yet. Tita curls quietly at my feet and taps at the door when she needs to go out.
I miss Papi and my little ones.
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