Topic starter
01/07/2009 8:30 pm
Greetings From New Orleans ,
Its been more than a few years now that a famous comedian , Jeff Foxworthy coined the term and made famous the expression , " You Just May Be A Redneck , If...." . Well , after being more than just suteily reminded by a few friends , and one in particular that often posts on this web page , that I just may be a Huck Finn . Well , how would someone define what is being a
Huck Finn ? Well , after careful consideration and in my humble opinion ,
You just may be a Huck Finn if :
You run away from home , school & friends to work on a steamboat for minum wages and substandard living conditions !
You ride the boats anchor while its underway !
You ride the paddlewheel's pitman arm while the boat is underway !
You have an intimate encounter with a female crew member on the roof of the boat's pilot house while going through the New Orleans harbor !
You acidently miss the boat in Memhis with " friends " while the boat is underway !
You have sandbar parties in the middle of the night while hopfully the boat is not underway !
You order pizzas to be delivered to the pilot house crew while passing through the Baton Rouge harbor , while the boat is underway !
You have the entire group of maids appear in the pilot house , while the boat is underway !
You close down the Natchez , Under The Hill Bar and get a free pass out of the Natchez jail !
You make a visit to Nellies , while in Natchez !
You become close friends with the anchor on the Mississippi Queen due to the fact that you drop it on almost watch !
You sleep six inches under a steam line in the forward hole !
You sleep out on the boat's stage at night because there is no a/c for the crew !
You smell a peculiar oder eminating from the forward hole !!
You tell the African American , night watchman to take the headline out in the dark of night and not to worry about the snakes because they can't see him of his color !
You drop a piece of line on the above mentioned African American night watchman after he refuses to take out the headline for unknow reasons !
You chase the same above mentioned African American night watchman through the Orleans Room on a motorcycle !
You scare the passengers out of the Mark Twain Saloon but dawning Haloween masks and looking through the windows of the same Mark Twain Saloon !
You pilot the Str. Delta Queen , south bound through the Bayou Goula Towhead , at night , in shut oout fog !
You tell Green Deckhands and even First Assistant Engineers to go for such needed items as ; the Portable Bulkhead Stretcher , One Hundred Feet of Chow Line , or The key To The Lock , or A Bucket Of Steam !!
So if you or for that matter anyone yo know falls into these perameters ; YOU JUST MAY BE A HUCK FINN !!
02/07/2009 2:27 am
I've had some later day members of the crew tell me that they never could have done the crazy things we did back in the day. Unless one was there, they could never understand.
02/07/2009 6:00 pm
You might be a Huck Finn
Yep I concur, only category I fell in to , was I ran away one day in Cincinnati, when the DQ was docked at the public landing back in 1981, and asked for a job. Very happy to have been a part of the history,and still to this day, can smell the diesel gel at times, even up here in San Francisco.
I do miss the boats.
Kim
02/07/2009 7:14 pm
Good for you, Kim, for having to courage to run away from home on a steamboat. I was 17 when I did so, myself, on the Steamer AVALON-- 50 years ago this past month. I am also guilty of several of those Huck Finn qualifiers of Cap'n Ted's, and a few more that I will not confess to in public.
Topic starter
03/07/2009 12:00 pm
Another " Huck Finn " Qualifier !
You just might be a Huck Finn if :
Your in a grocery store and you tell oncoming cart traffic , " See You On The One Whistle " !
Shipyard Sam;17607 wrote: Good for you, Kim, for having to courage to run away from home on a steamboat. I was 17 when I did so, myself, on the Steamer AVALON-- 50 years ago this past month. I am also guilty of several of those Huck Finn qualifiers of Cap'n Ted's, and a few more that I will not confess to in public.
03/07/2009 3:16 pm
Huck Finn
You may be a Huck Finn if ...While eating dinner you use the salt and pepper shakers and the butter dish, the rectangler one, to illistrate a manuever used as you tell one of your "River (sea) Tales".
Do you know the difference between a "river tale" and a "fairy tale"???? If you have to ask..... well you never told a river!
Ted Davisson;17611 wrote: You just might be a Huck Finn if :
Your in a grocery store and you tell oncoming cart traffic , " See You On The One Whistle " !
03/07/2009 10:16 pm
you might be a................if you blow a long and three shorts when backing the car out of your driveway each morning much to the confussion of your neighbors and any opposing traffic.
03/07/2009 11:48 pm
Or after getting off the steamboat for a few days and your mother slips into your bedroom to see if you are resting well, and you leap up and scream, "What the h*ll do you want?", scarying that very same thing out of her. Only old-time steamboaters will understand this.
08/07/2009 10:05 pm
Finn If ... You buck under the pressure of being "sivilized" (Todays term is Politically Correct) because it seems to work or have advantages for everyone else but somehow you end up being left out of the fun or benefits.
Topic starter
09/07/2009 3:53 am
You Just Might Be A Huck Finn If .............................
You just might be a Huck FInn if , you have more river related friends than do with civilians !!
Fred Carmichael;17671 wrote: Finn If ... You buck under the pressure of being "sivilized" (Todays term is Politically Correct) because it seems to work or have advantages for everyone else but somehow you end up being left out of the fun or benefits.
Topic starter
09/07/2009 10:31 pm
You just might be a Huck Finn if.............................
You just might be a Huck Finn if , you don't know what a caliiope is and could care less when its played !! Especially when it wakes up Captain Wagner and you know there will be H_ _ L to pay !!
Ted Davisson;17673 wrote: You just might be a Huck FInn if , you have more river related friends than do with civilians !!
12/07/2009 1:53 pm
You just might be a Huck Finn if...............
... if you find an old wooden door floating inside the mouth of creek along a much larger river and you grab a long wooden sapling, climb aboard though your weight causes to door to sink 2 or 3 inches underwater, and you pole the door out into the current of the river and have the instinct to stay calm, and not panic, until the door drops below the creek bar and into dead water where you can pole back to shore- and it is in the middle of winter with patches of snow on the ground and ice chunks bobbing in the water.
... if your dad usually calls you "Huck" instead of the name you were given at birth.
... if your summer days are spent swimming in your favorite river, and your idea of a yacht is an ancient blue log that slowly meanders by on its long journey to the sea, and you and your pals climb aboard for a ride, and when the crawly-critters that call the interior of the log home start biting and become too painful a nuisance, you roll the log over and wash the bugs overboard until other batches invite several repeat performances of the log roll until camp is far upstream and the blue log is abandoned to continue on to the Gulf of Mexico- some 1500 miles downstream-- as you walk the riverbank back to camp, beneath the tall cottonwoods and silver maples, believing you are the happiest kid around.
Topic starter
13/07/2009 11:58 am
You just might be a Huck Finn if..............................
You just might be a Huck Finn if you tie and fly ladies under garmets to the top of the DQ's king post in the middle of the night !
Shipyard Sam;17690 wrote: ... if you find an old wooden door floating inside the mouth of creek along a much larger river and you grab a long wooden sapling, climb aboard though your weight causes to door to sink 2 or 3 inches underwater, and you pole the door out into the current of the river and have the instinct to stay calm, and not panic, until the door drops below the creek bar and into dead water where you can pole back to shore- and it is in the middle of winter with patches of snow on the ground and ice chunks bobbing in the water.
... if your dad usually calls you "Huck" instead of the name you were given at birth.
... if your summer days are spent swimming in your favorite river, and your idea of a yacht is an ancient blue log that slowly meanders by on its long journey to the sea, and you and your pals climb aboard for a ride, and when the crawly-critters that call the interior of the log home start biting and become too painful a nuisance, you roll the log over and wash the bugs overboard until other batches invite several repeat performances of the log roll until camp is far upstream and the blue log is abandoned to continue on to the Gulf of Mexico- some 1500 miles downstream-- as you walk back to camp, beneath the tall cottonwoods and silver maples on the riverbank, believing you are the happiest kid around.
Topic starter
14/07/2009 4:21 pm
You just might be a Huck FInn if..............................
You just might be a Huck Finn if , you sit in the DQ's pilot house , during your off watch hours , just to hear the stories from the old Pilots and of their past experiences and adventures and wish you had been there with them !
Ted Davisson;17700 wrote: You just might be a Huck Finn if you tie and fly ladies under garmets to the top of the DQ's king post in the middle of the night !
Topic starter
14/07/2009 6:37 pm
You just might be a Huck FInn if..............................
You just might be a Huck Finn if , you get into a friendly wrestling match with Greg Menke on the bow of the DQ as passengers are boarding and Capt. Wagner and Capt. Howard Tate are shooting craps on the life preserver benches !! Imagine that happening today ?? Not likely !!
Ted Davisson;17725 wrote: You just might be a Huck Finn if , you sit in the DQ's pilot house , during your off watch hours , just to hear the stories from the old Pilots and of their past experiences and adventures and wish you had been there with them !
Topic starter
15/07/2009 3:07 am
You just might be a Huck Finn if ..............................
You just might be a Huck Finn if you paint in large red letters on large rocks , BFR and tell inquireing passengers that the F stands for Big FINE Rock (wink wink ) !
Ted Davisson;17728 wrote: You just might be a Huck Finn if , you get into a friendly wrestling match with Greg Menke on the bow of the DQ as passengers are boarding and Capt. Wagner and Capt. Howard Tate are shooting craps on the life preserver benches !! Imagine that happening today ?? Not likely !!
17/07/2009 3:12 pm
LoL you might just be a Huck finn if Capt. Rip Ware has ever said to you " Son, how much do you usually pay for a haircut?"
17/07/2009 3:15 pm
Oh and yes I've done all those Capt. Ted listed except the woman on the pilot house(although I did fetch the corkscrew) and steer down through Bayou Goula. And Kim its great to see you I remember you well.
17/07/2009 3:31 pm
Ok now ya'll got me going. this one is for Fred C. how about when your ship comes in, you are at the airport.
You might be a HF if.....you wake up in the morning and the first thing you wonder is are you tied up or underway.....or if you know the exact time and distance between locks on the UMR. ....if you can make bumpers blindfolded. ....if you listened to Bubba Chin play his sax outside the fireroom. .... if while dozing on the PH couch around 3am on a dark nite and Capt. Ware bellows out " Quarter less thyreeeee"
17/07/2009 4:48 pm
OUCH!!!! I coulda been somebody, I coulda been a contender, if I'd just stayed offa the dock. Thanks buddy for undoing years and years of therapy. :-).
17/07/2009 4:52 pm
You do remember that then. Remember the little plaque I gave you? you were coming and I was going. just one of those little scenes that stays in the back of your mind over the years.
17/07/2009 4:57 pm
Oh and hey Fred I wonder how many Alumni we have from the Memphis Mate Master and Pilot school. Remember going to the Docs house to get our physicals for Licensing. 10 days of Ice in downtown Memphis in Jan. 1979
17/07/2009 5:02 pm
I had a head injury and memory is fuzzy, besides the statutes of limitations is past for most of those things