This is my first visit to Steem after being introduced to it by Lizelle who is my Brother in Laws sister and already a Steemian. Steem came up in discussion about Crypto currencies at a recent family function and sounded like something that I would like to participate in.
The story behind the name Pappa Chief follows below and will incorporate a lot of information about me and my history that would typically be listed separately.
First the "Chief" part of the name. I have a 40 year career in Shipping - mainly ships agency - in South Africa which has included a lot of time in Durban Harbour, a lot of travel, working with many different nationalities, and a little time on board vessels. The handling of vessels and cargo in Ports involves many different organisations and a slang language all of its own down on the wharfside and on board vessels in port. Besides the Captain of the vessel who has overall responsibility for everything that happens with his vessel, the Chief Officer is the man in charge of all cargo operations and especially in the old days - before containers - one would constantly hear someone calling "Chief" or saying you will need to check with the "Chief". Everything revolved around the Chief Officer who was simply referred to as Chief. This led to shore based people like the stevedores, ships agents (me), surveyors and so on, that interacted with the vessels, often referring to each other as Chief in their work and social interactions.
One day my youngish family at the time, joined a working friends family for a camping weekend during which my friend and I constantly called and referred to each other as Chief. My teenage kids were fascinated by this and the other slang shipping terms that we used for everyday expressions like "let the gunners put the tents up". "Gunners" originally being a military term but then also used for the stevedore labourers at the time and simply extended within our circle of friends and colleagues to include any group of labourers. After our camping weekend our wider family and circle of friends were all told the story about this 'new language' they had learnt on our camping weekend and I ended up being called Chief by most of our family and friends, which has stuck for about fifteen years now. It was also an easy way out for some of my newly found younger friends who felt they should perhaps call me uncle but were uncomfortable doing so even after I told them just to call me Paul.
The Pappa bit is a shorter story. Five years ago (2012) my daughter gave berth to the best Grandson in the world. As he was learning to talk, the word Grandpa came out as Pappa instead. Then the problem came with two Pappas and never knowing which was being referred to which prompted my daughter to refer to me as Pappa Chief when talking to her son and this has now also stuck with my Grandson who is now 5 years old. Incidentally, the other Grandpa became known as Pappa Tomato because he always gave Little Chief tomatoes which he really enjoyed as a baby.
"Little Chief" you now ask. Well I have a habit of making up a new name for most of those who are near and dear to me and yes, you guessed it, grandson Grayson promptly became "Little Chief".
So, what that has not told you about me, is that I am a 1957 model, born in Ladysmith in South Africa, finished schooling at Grosvenor Boys High school on the Bluff in Durban, completed two years National Service with the Engineers Corps in the SADF, before starting work in the shipping field. I married my school sweetheart in 1980 (will be 38 year anniversary this year) and we were blessed with a girl and boy in 1982 & 1985. We were especially blessed when they both grew up to be responsible & trouble free adults. Both holding down good long term employment and never in trouble with drugs, or alcohol, or such like problems which are rife in the youth of today.
Yes, we do have a good family and we are living a pleasant life. The glue that held us together and deserves most of the credit for the way our children turned out is my wife whom I have loved dearly since the first time I saw her when we were both 15 years old. Maybe a story for another post in the future.
What would I like to do on Steem? My wish is to share mainly my career experiences and history with those who are interested. Particularly my experiences and knowledge about Shipping related matters, travel, and interacting with different nationalities and cultures.
I have also been trading Crypto currencies for about two months and am keen to learn more about this subject and to hopefully make some money out of it whilst avoiding any bubble burst that might happen in the future. So I will be following this subject on Steem quite closely as well.
All the best to all Steemers for 2018
Paul