"Hey, did we mention..."

 I had my fingers crossed that we were going to make our 2359 Thursday night crew change. 

“Hey, did we mention that the berth you are going to won’t be available until later than you planned?”

And so started the first kinks in our well laid out, well thought out plan.

“Hey, did we mention that the product you want to pump off is too hot for the terminal to accept?”

More delays. But then... hope

“Hey, did we mention we can pump this stuff off faster than we thought we could?”

The barge guys step up to the plate. We’re back on schedule.

“Hey, did we mention there is supposed to be fog tonight?”

Run slow for reduced visibility (aka fog). Curses!

“Hey, did we mention that the river level is up and you can make really good time running with the current?”

Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead! Back on track.

“Hey, did we mention that the customer wants you to run slow to conserve fuel?”

Nooooooooo!

“Hey, did we mention the winds and the weather offshore will be in your favor the entire trip across the Gulf?”

ETA here we come!

“Hey, did we mention that there is no launch service available to run the crew offshore?”

So instead of arriving at our destination exactly when we said we would, we have to run 3 more hours to get to a different destination, so that we can get to a location where a launch boat is available.

“Hey did we mention that someone told the launch boat that it was going to take 5 hours to get to the secondary destination instead of just 3 hours?”

So even though we are already 3 ½ hours late, we are now going to have to wait for another hour and a half until the launch boat is available.

“Hey, did we mention the launch boat is only certified to run 6 people at a time?”

Now we have to leave at least one guy behind, and the launch boat is forced to make two round trips, in order to change out the entire crew.

“Hey, did we mention that there is a security zone around a passing ship?”

Of course, this means that if the launch boat encroaches too closely, or passes too fast, the U.S. Coast Guard will turn your boat into Swiss cheese.

“Hey, did we mention you are now six hours late and your flight leaves in one hour?”

Too bad we still have an hour and a half drive ahead of us just to get to the airport.

“Hey, did we mention that you have to go to both airports in Houston?”

Airports that happen to be on completely different ends of the city and are at least an hour apart.

“Hey, did we mention that there is a snow and ice storm on the whole entire Eastern seaboard?”

So even if your flights don’t get delayed, at least you get to drive home in an ice/snow storm.

Well, we did our part.

We made our ETA and arrived just when we thought we would.

Too bad everything else blew up in our face. 

Hey, did I mention that is the exact reason why I write this blog?