8th Floor Scientist

Glomar Challenger

The scientific drilling program I work for started out in San Diego back in the 1968 as the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). The drill ship was the Glomar Challenger.  In 1985 the program was renamed the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) and was moved to Texas A and M University (TAMU) at College Station, with a new drill ship named the "JOIDES Resolution" or the "JR" for short.. In 2003 the program was renewed at Texas A and M and renamed the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) partly due to the inclusion of a riser drill ship, "Chikyu", operated by the Japanese government. At that time a complete re-fit of the JR was completed that rebuilt the laboratory and living spaces.

JOIDES Resolution (JR)

During ODP days the JR had a floor that was called the 8th level, even though there were only seven. You might think this is some kind of superstition, kind of like not having a 13th floor in buildings, or maybe an ode to the psychedelic pioneer Roky Erickson and his "13th Floor Elevators" only it's the "8th Floor Scientists." But no. in way back times, there was a temporary van welded to the roof of the sixth level. This would be expanded into a complete floor. The designers thinking they were creating a whole new level numbered it 8th even thought the temp building and thus the expansion, was the 7th. Engineering drawing actually labeled it the Lab Stack 8th level. To make things even more confusing the 8th level housed the downhole measurements lab (DHML). On the JR we have downhole tools that measure insitu temperature, pressure and take water samples. Downhole being the top level meant everyone had to go up to downhole. As I said before, st the beginning of IODP the ship labs went through a complete change. At that point downhole moved down a level and the operations office moved up to the top level. Now I don't even know if that makes it 6, 7 or 8 levels and it really doesn't matter. What matters is, I'm used to going up to downhole. Many times I run out the door of the ops office, up the stairs to downhole and then find myself on the roof. I usually stay up there a while and look at the stars, just so no one knows how screwed up I am.

IODP is strictly scientific in nature and we actually go to great lengths to make certain we do not drill where there may be hydrocarbons (oil and gas). Past achievements include finding evidence in deep earth core samples of changes to the Earth's magnetic poles, evidence supporting the theory of plate tectonics and evidence supporting the theory of an asteroid collision with Earth which would eventually destroy the dinosaurs.  That's only a part of "ODP's Greatest Hits."

Now the program is up for renewal in 2013 and they are looking for a new name. Some want to drop drilling from any new name to distance the program from oil drilling. I'm sure the BP fiasco has something to do with it. We need oil, and we need domestic drilling, even offshore, at least until alternative energy sources before practical. The industry needs to learn from BP's mistakes, but move forward. While my program has nothing to do with that industry, other than sharing some of the same tools, I do support the drilling industry. I have a lot of friends in the oil field and lets not forget there was a great loss of life and livelihood from the BP accident. Having said that, this offshore drilling moratorium is like throwing the baby out with the bath water. It is putting even more people out of work, hurting the economy even more and putting even more dependence on foreign oil which damages our national security. But I'm getting way off subject, so let me put my soap box back under the work bench and get back to my point, if there is one.

Even though there has been a lot learned about the environment and natural history, there are those uninformed that think we are going to drill a hole in the bottom of the ocean, letting all the water out, draining the seas or some other craziness. Some think we're disturbing the marine life, hurting "mother ocean" as one bar room crazy called it. For one thing, we monitor the area for marine mammals and stop operations that may be harmful to them, if  they enter that area. Come on now. The program is run and operated by a bunch of scientists that tend to be liberal and pretty damned tree-huggerish. They want to learn more about the earth and environment, not hurt it.  So I guess that's one reason they want the name changed to emphasize the program's scientific accomplishments.

Many suggestions have been offered for the new name. I like " Center for Ocean Research, Deep Earth Science (CORES)" or "Deep Earth Exploration Program (DEEP)", but I like having a pronounceable acronym for when I have to answer the telephone. One suggestion for a new name that I heard  was, "Sub-sea Exploration Project (SEx Project)". While it's catchy, I'm not sure how the connotations would effect the program, particularly when dealing with drilling equipment suppliers. The best idea may be just to add Scientific to ODP and be done with it. DSDP, ODP, IODP, SODP ? Call me when the scientists get it figured out. I'll be on the roof looking at stars.

Vacuum Toilets Suck

This probably isn't the best way to start my new blog from sea, I guess particularly since this expedition is might near over, but I have to say that these vacuum toilets really suck. Actually a lot of times they don't suck when you need them to and that's pretty crappy. Other times they suck all night long while you're trying to sleep and occasionally they do a reverse suck and spit water out the lid. I think the idea behind these contraptions is to reduce the use of water. When the JOIDES Resolution was refitted, designers decided on a vacuum toilet system to reduce waste water space, allowing for more room for other things, like two man rooms instead of four man rooms. In the olden days many of the rooms were fitted with two bunk beds. That meant you would end up sharing the room with one other in your off time, provided the other two worked opposite 12 hour shifts. Not all that bad, but then each four man room shared a bathroom with another four man room. The good part was that the toilets actually used to work about 99% of the time. All in all, I like the layout a lot better these days, it's nice to have a little privacy  and the engineering staff have really worked hard to improve the toilet system. I guess sometimes you just get a dud and this expedition was my turn.

There are other issues in the bathrooms, but I think those have been addressed. During my first expedition after the refit, the shower heads were installed at a fixed angle that was far to high for a non-basketball player. To get the top of my hair wet, I'd have to go face up against the opposite wall. To me this seemed like a very vulnerable position to be in, especially in the shower. I didn't like it much. Not to mention the fact that if I were to turn my head, the high pressure water would spray right into my ear canal and I  couldn't hear out of that ear for a few days. It's a small shower stall, with only a plastic-like curtain to keep the water inside. The hot water creates upward drafts of air that rotate around the bathroom, sucking the plastic shower up against me. Pushing the curtain away lets the water spray all over the bath room. At least, if some of the water hits the toilet, and the toilet starts to fills up , it will quit making that sucking sound. The other day I had just gotten soap lathered up in my hair, when I reached to adjust the shower nozzle, but accidentally knocked it out of its holder. I fell to the ground and started spinning around the floor of the shower stall spraying everything in the bath room, while I tried to find it with soap in my eyes and a shower curtain stuck to my ass, while the vacuum toilet air leak, whistled. The whistling isn't so bad anymore though, since my ear is full of water.

 

The Phoenix

Like the mythical fire bird, the Phoenix, I rise, reborn from the ashes to become greater than before. 

I write this at sea aboard the research ship, JOIDES Resolution. I hope to get to more life at sea type posting, but I thought I would catch you up to speed on my life since I last posted from sea. I'm already half way through this expedition and this is my first post, so I apologize. I'll try to do better. I guess you get what you pay for.

A lot has happened since I last blogged from sea; divorce,death, birth, marriage and even threats of a tell all book, as if I were some former steroid using athlete with a gambling problem and a host of other addictions. I have done a lot of stupid things in my time, but no real drugs or dog fights and only an occasional small bet on a football game or poker night at the neighbors house. Still a lot of bad and a lot of good and quite a bit of bad that lead to good things, happened to me and around me in little over a years time since writing about working at sea. I don't mean to sound pious, quoting scripture, but I know it helps to pull me back to center, when I get off kilter, if I read a little from the good book. In the end  this verse helped me through a lot of the crap I would go through:

"... we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." -- Romans 8:28

 I've stumbled and staggered and strayed often from the path, but I will continue to at least try to find my way back. I may be rough around the edges and I may like to hang out in questionable establishments with sometimes questionable people. I often lose my temper, and I generally know when I'm wrong, though it takes me some time, sometimes to admit it to myself. I'm not a hypocrite, I just fall short like everyone else. I am a believer in Jesus Christ. I don't know that I could have made it through these hard times without believing and it turned out much better than I could have imagined in the end.

If you read my previous blog  "I don't Love the Ocean, I love the Coast",originally posted a little over a year ago, you know I work at sea from time to time for up to two months per stint. I ended that series of postings, sometime in the middle of the 60 days, somewhere near the equator in the South Pacific, probably at a point in the expedition, when I became depressed enough at being out there to not care about updates to the outside world. It's a big ship, but it gets smaller over time. People start to annoy you more than they do on shore where you can get away from them for a while. At the end of your shift you can't go home to the comfort of your loved ones, or the sanctity of your own home. The best you can do is try to find privacy in your small stateroom, while your roommate is out on shift. Levels can get on up there on the stress scale. The same scenery of open ocean and clouds everyday, at times I start to hope for a little bit of a storm just to see a change. Then again there is the rolling of the ship from side to side that makes sleeping difficult. Even if you do sleep through the night you may wake up feeling tired from instinctively attempting to keep yourself from rolling from your bunk. Towards the end of the expedition all the fresh fruit and vegetable are gone, and other food items are in short supply or not available. Just a few reasons why I might get a little cranky before the end of the 60 days and some of the reasons I long to get off this ship.Of course there is great rejoicing and celebration in town the first night in port at the end of an expedition and Hawaii was no different.

During the port call prior to leaving Hawaii, I had become quite comfortable at a place call the Irish Rose near Waikiki in Honolulu and of course that's right where I headed upon return. I proceeded to spend a good chunk of my sea pay, including buying "a round of Jagers for the boys at the bar." To say the least it was a long night out, early morning up and long flight home. Little did I know, that this was only the beginning of a long journey.

The next morning, before I could shake off the haze from the night before, my wife of 22 years told me that she had filed for divorce 5 days before.  I was devastated, caught completely off guard. My first instinct was to do anything to change her mind. I didn't want to tell our three teenagers what was happening, but there was no avoiding it in my emotional state. After one night home in my own bed, I was relegated to an air mattress on the living room floor. Another week would pass and I had my own room in the converted garage. All the while trying everything to stop this insanity.

When divorce is eminent, it ceases to be an emotional relationship and becomes strictly business. I am not a believer in divorce generally and spiritually I believe it is wrong except in rare cases. This is why I didn't see it as a business relationship at that point. I don't want to go into too many details, but lets just say I should have realized the divorce was going to happen and I should have taken precautions to protect myself and my family. Hiring my own lawyer would have been a good start. When I did come around to the fact that this marriage was really over, I changed bank accounts, found a place to live and a place to sleep. A good friend gave me a room, rent free, and I lived at Duddley's Draw on Northgate. Even with no rent, this arrangement took a toll on me financially and emotionally. But it pushed me more into my music, as well. I starting writing a lot more, started finding a lot more gigs to play and getting more serious about actually making money at this thing. But there was a big hole in my soul.

Something happened almost to the day of the date that my divorce was scheduled to be finalized. It made me wonder if this wasn't God's plan all along. I met Amy. She was nothing like what I was looking for and everything like I wanted and needed. This new relationship made me see how good a relationship could be. I had gotten used to a bad relationship, over the years like a frog in slowly heated water. I didn't realize I was boiling until it was too late.


It's taking time to heal old wounds and leave the past behind, but I couldn't be happier in my new life. Well maybe a winning lottery ticket, but I can live without that too as long as I have Amy. She is an incredible woman, incredible mother and an incredible wife. We got married in February at the "Bar at Hullabaloo" during one of my shows. We didn't tell anyone except the preacher, what was going to happen, and I have to say it was a great ceremony. I can't promise a marriage at all my shows, but it just goes to show you, you never know what you might miss at a Dean Ferrell show. I can tell you you'll never see me get married again, but just maybe at a live music venue near you, a renewal of vows for our anniversary.