User Name

[Perianne]

What does your user name mean, or why did you choose it?

Perianne

I was named after an almost mythical uncle who died during WWII, Pierre. My given name was Pierrette Anne, but my mother always called me "Peri". Here we pronounce it like "Perry", but it is not pronounced that way in my native Finnish. In America only my mother spoke it in the Finnish way.

Though it is not my legal name, everyone calls me "Peri".

My beloved husband (RIP) combined the "Peri" and my middle name "Anne" to form Perianne.

[Bilgerat]

I was an Engineer in the Coast Guard.

Thus the moniker, Bilgerat

[Perianne]

I was an Engineer in the Coast Guard.

Thus the moniker, Bilgerat

I actually thought of you when I started this thread, @Bilgerat.

Excuse me for my ignorance, sir, but what does being an engineer in the Coast Guard have to do with "Bilgerat"?

[Perianne]

I actually thought of you when I started this thread, @Bilgerat.

Excuse me for my ignorance, sir, but what does being an engineer in the Coast Guard have to do with "Bilgerat"?

Oh....I looked it up.

Bilge Rat

, Definition: A rat that lives in the worst place on the ship, namely, the bilge. The bilge is the lowest level of the ship and is loaded with ballast and often foul smelling water and muck. Thus, a bilge rat is a stinking, muck covered rat.

That is funny. I hope you didn't have to work in a foul-smelling place. That would be horrible.

Actually, a lot of my job involves foul smells, too.

[Bilgerat]

Oh....I looked it up.

[B]
That is funny. I hope you didn't have to work in a foul-smelling place. That would be horrible.

Actually, a lot of my job involves foul smells, too.

I'm certain if you asked Ellessar, he would indeed tell you that the Engineering spaces are foul smelling

The bilges in a Military Vessel do indeed have water in them. Pump shafts and the main propulsion shafts use water for lubrication, which finds it's way into the bilge.

And as much as we try, oil (both lubrication and fuel) leak from equipment, which also finds it's way into the bilge.

So every so often we do a bilge crawl. We get the rags, tools and large chunks of crap out of the bilge so we can do a water wash and pump out.

So it's not as foul as all that (lol)

[Perianne]

I'm certain if you asked Ellessar, he would indeed tell you that the Engineering spaces are foul smelling

The bilges in a Military Vessel do indeed have water in them. Pump shafts and the main propulsion shafts use water for lubrication, which finds it's way into the bilge.

And as much as we try, oil (both lubrication and fuel) leak from equipment, which also finds it's way into the bilge.

So every so often we do a bilge crawl. We get the rags, tools and large chunks of crap out of the bilge so we can do a water wash and pump out.

So it's not as foul as all that (lol)

And I imagine if there are lots of men working down there there is probably a lot of tooting going on, too. So, I understand.

[Noir]

Back when I was but a teenager needed a short distinguishable nickname for online gaming, Noir was the first thing to come to mind, have used it since.

[jimnyc]

Back when I was but a teenager needed a short distinguishable nickname for online gaming, Noir was the first thing to come to mind, have used it since.

Pronounce it? Nwar?

Min is easy, it's my name!! And the nyc is where I was working when I started using it.

[Perianne]

Min is easy, it's my name!! And the nyc is where I was working when I started using it.

I thought it was short for JimnyCricket.

[jimnyc]

I thought it was short for JimnyCricket.

I hate crickets anymore. I used to buy them by the thousands for all of my lizards. Some got away over time and now every now and again I find these MASSIVE crickets down in my basement!

[Elessar]

I'm certain if you asked Ellessar, he would indeed tell you that the Engineering spaces are foul smelling

The bilges in a Military Vessel do indeed have water in them. Pump shafts and the main propulsion shafts use water for lubrication, which finds it's way into the bilge.

And as much as we try, oil (both lubrication and fuel) leak from equipment, which also finds it's way into the bilge.

So every so often we do a bilge crawl. We get the rags, tools and large chunks of crap out of the bilge so we can do a water wash and pump out.

So it's not as foul as all that (lol)

What is so funny is that we deckies (Boatswain's Mates) also call them Snipes.

It is a loyal rivalry because I know without my Snipe (Engineer), our ship
or small boat might not run too well, if at all. And without me, there might be a rough
time getting that ship or boat back safely because of our navigation and handling skills.

[Elessar]

Mine comes from J.R.R. Tolkien's several works. Lord of The Rings, and The Silmarillion.

I'll try to attach a short quote or two.

Aragorn II, son of Arathorn is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He is one of the mainprotagonists of The Lord of the Rings. Aragorn was a Ranger of the North, first introduced with the name Strider atBree, as the Hobbits continued to call him throughout The Lord of the Rings. He was eventually discovered to be the heir of Isildur and rightful claimant to the thrones of Arnor and Gondor. He was also a confidant of Gandalf and an integral part of the quest to destroy the One Ring and defeat the Dark Lord Sauron.
He led the Fellowship of the Ring following the loss of Gandalf in the Mines of Moria while fighting the Balrog of Morgoth. When the Fellowship was broken, he tracked the hobbits Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took with the help of Legolas the elf and Gimli the dwarf to Fangorn Forest and fought in the battle at Helm's Deep and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. After defeating Sauron's forces in Gondor he led an army of Gondor and Rohan against the Black Gate of Mordor to distract Sauron's attention so that Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee would have a chance to destroy the One Ring.
At the end of The Lord of the Rings, he was crowned King Elessar Telcontar ("Elfstone Strider") of Gondor. He married Elrond's daughter, Arwen, and assumed the Sceptre of Annúminas as King of Arnor, uniting the two kingdoms for the first time since the reign of Isildur.

The Elessar, translated as Elfstone in Westron, also known as Stone of Eärendil, was one, or possibly two, fabulous green gem(s) whose legends of creation are conflicting and complex.
The Elessar was green as the leaves but had the light of the Sun trapped within it; it was marveled by the Noldor, and those who looked through it were said to see the withered or aged as whole and young again. It was even claimed to grant some power of healing to its wearer.

Whew! That was long!

[Bilgerat]

What is so funny is that we deckies (Boatswain's Mates) also call them Snipes.

It is a loyal rivalry because I know without my Snipe (Engineer), our ship
or small boat might not run too well, if at all. And without me, there might be a rough
time getting that ship or boat back safely because of our navigation and handling skills.

I have to add here, while stationed on Nantucket several of us Snipes qualified as Coxswains

NONE of the Bosn's qualified as Engineers

So the long and the short was that the Snipes could leave without the Bosn's, but THEY had to have one of us to go out

[Perianne]

I like these stories.

[Bilgerat]

I like these stories.

There's a LOT of good natured "guff" tween the Deckies and the Snipes.

On my first ship, the Deckies put up a decompression table and a can with fuel oil soaked rags on the ladder to the bridge. They wanted to "protect" us snipes

So we would ensure that we had a man standing by on the bottom of the fiddly ladder, so that a deckie was overcome by the heat and fumes they'd be cared for.