Mike Lief Talks Life Aboard
“… which reminded Anne of the early days when she too had been ignorant,
and she too had been accused of supposing sailors to be living on board
without anything to eat, or any cook to dress it if there were,
or any servant to wait, or any knife and fork to use.”
–Jane Austen, Persuasion
Mike was one of the “servants to wait,” and his ship, the USS Blueback, once used in filming The Hunt for Red October, is now moored (docked? anchored?) in the Willamette River for tourists at OMSI, the science museum just over the hills in Portland proper. I haven’t been through it yet, mostly because The Bean is a bit too young. But I plan on it soon. I’ll take an extra look into the source of Mike’s duty troubles, the supply closet:
A narrow, L-shaped compartment, it was about 5-and-a-half feet tall inside, with rail-lined shelves along the bulkheads. And it was packed, floor to ceiling – er, deck to overhead – with cans, crates and boxes. I’d start pulling stuff out, burrowing my way in, looking for everything on the list [of ingredients for all the day’s meals]. It’d take hours, and inevitably I’d find myself stuck at some point, contorted in the aft-most corner, sweating and cursing as I tried to free myself, unable to find the freakin’ “corn, creamed.”
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Wow! I can’t say I’ve ever made the connection between my life and Jane Austen; somewhere, my ex-girlfriend (PhD thesis: women’s literature in the 19th Century) is choking on her coffee.
The best word choice is “moored,” although the others are okay. And Bean or no, you really should take a tour of the old B-Girl. If you haven’t seen this post yet, you can get a preview of the living “quarters” the junior guys had aboard the sub.
Comment by Mike Lief — March 14, 2007 @ 7:57 pm
We’ll probably do that this summer. We’ve got an OMSI membership this year so we go more often. I do remember seeing that post–I love the shot down the hatch.
I’m laughing over your ex-girlfriend’s thesis. Synergy, or something.
Comment by Anwyn — March 14, 2007 @ 10:06 pm
PS, creamed corn is yummy stuff if done properly and served over bacon and biscuits. :)
Comment by Anwyn — March 15, 2007 @ 12:16 am