Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The Internet Gods Have Abandonded Me!

What would life be like for writers if we had to go back to doing research at libraries? Don't get me wrong - libraries are wonderful, but it's so nice to be able to find out in a matter of seconds what year Mission Santa Barbara was built and who was on the throne of England at that same time(This question made sense when I thought teh missions were built 50 years before they were) instead of schlepping down the the library, spending an hour finding the two books I need, and then scanning the contents to get the tiny piece of info I want.

But despite my mad search skills, the Internet has failed me. I can not find out what the daily duties of a deck hand on a riverboat barge are. Nor can I find what the various parts of a barge are called. I found job listings for deck hands, but the were short on details. (I did find out they tend to work 28 days on/ 14 off, and the
pay is kind of lousy considering how dangerous and physical it is) So please, if you've ever worked on a barge on the Mississippi, email me. I have questions. So many questions. The person who can answer them will be conferred god status for at least a week.

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