from Annabelle's Chowder House

This will truly be a short one, since one beer and 2 hours of internet later these people will probably expect me to buy something else soon.

Fishing has picked up considerably over the last couple weeks, though each day continues to be fraught with misadventure. In fact, Jim informed me during our last opener that I have the distinction of being "the dumbest cocksucker I've ever met." Humbling, yet I can't help smiling even as I write those words. Over the past two days we caught 70,000 pounds of fish, which works out to be a pretty healthy share for each crew member. Combine that with our other good days to date, and the hope that we'll get a couple more, and the season is slowly winding down in a halfway-decent fashion.

We woke up this morning and spent several hours repairing the net, re-sealing the hatch, working on the winch, and changing oil filters. Ass-chewings received during fishing days notwithstanding, I feel more integrated into this crew than ever, and am proud of the time that I've spent here. The other day Jim looked me in the eye and said, "Aaron, I'm gonna tell ya, you're a good crew member." In a way, that's worth more to me than any accolade I ever received at Stanford.

Only a couple weeks now. I'm looking forward to seeing some familiar faces again.

Love,
Aaron