The difference a year makes.

Last year in May. I was working on a ship.

The ship was on anti piracy patrol of Somalia before heading out to the far East.

Pros:

30 deg C and blue seas.

Earning Oodles of Money.

Cons:

No smoking inside. Only a small area at the aft end of the ship to smoke.

H & S going mad. If you work for the government they take it to the nth degree.

Every 4th day being duty engineer for 24 hours. At the beck and call of a computerised monitoring system.

An alcohol limit that would have Don Shenker cheering from the touchline.

An Engine room temperature of 40 deg C.

Gunnery practice. That's the smoking deck out of bounds.

Training. Have you ever tried to explain to the average sailor why a fire drill is a good thing?

Frigates that want fuel at 0600. Can't they wait till after breakfast?

Frigates that want fuel at 2100. Can't they wait till tommorrow.

No mobile phone signal.

No access to the internet.

This year in may. I'm retired.

Pros:

Smoke where I want.

Drink what I want, when I want.

My rules.

Not a ship in sight.

Cons:

Less money. Enough for my simple needs though.

The weather.

The Wife.