Going Down Slow

It looks like things are gonna be rather slow around the Det this week. I don't have any classes, so I'm forced to go after the final blow to NKO. NKO has been the bane of my existence since reporting here in San Diego. The lovely acronym stands for Navy Knowledge Online and it consists of several online courses that are supposed to "train" you. Some of the courses are interesting, such as "Duties of an Armed Sentry," but most of them are common sense and it's really just a bunch of clickity clicks to get to the next slide and get a passing score on the test at the end. The command, however, has demanded that we go through it. In fact, they're crazy mad about us getting it done. I don't really get it. Since I'm a lowly seaman, I'm tasked to do more courses, 57 in fact. So far, I'm done with 49 or so. It'd help if the programs don't crash and force me to login again and again...ug.

The slow time allows me to keep up on the latest musical stylings the kids are listening to these days. No, not the "Panic! at the Disco" or "Fallout Boy" kids. I'm talking about the indie yuppie kids out there. Go ahead, raise your hand, you know who you are. C'mon, I'm not the only one, am I? Bullocks! The sad thing is that once you get hooked reading all those music blogs, it's hard to kick the habit. By the way, I haven't completely dismissed Pitchfork yet, so I guess I'm not a full blown indie yup. That day will come eventually. I honestly can't explain why I'm so obsessed. I guess you start wondering if you're missing out on the next Arcade Fire's or Shin's out there. You get hungry. Some of the music isn't that good, but when you do find a great song or, better yet, a great album it's all the sweeter. And then, when you find out about their side projects, forget about it. Of course, you can get burnt out from it. When that happens I just kick back into older established bands that you can never get enough of, such as the Wilcos, Dylans, Beatles, Radioheads, Denison Witmers, Spiritualizedses, Pinbacks, Explosions in the Skies, and French Kicks, etc., only until that stomach starts a-rumblin' for more.

Some songs of note that I've been spinning regularly are:

Midlake - Roscoe I can't help but think of the M*A*S*H theme, "Suicide Is Painless" in the first two measures of the song. It quickly moves on from there with a Fleetwood Mac-esque warmth and driving rhythm. Midlake is, however, a lot more interesting than Fleetwood. It's something I can't really pinpoint, it's just keeps you intriqued through and through.

Golden Smog - 5-22-02 Not what I expected coming from an ongoing side project of former Jayhawk members, the drummer from Soul Asylum, Jeff Tweedy from Wilco, and others most notably known for an american roots rock or, dare I say, alt-country sound. Instead, this song can easily be one of the catchiest songs of the summer. Infectataious!

Ratatat - Wildcat If there was a commercial for Sex Panther Cologne, this would definitely be the soundtrack! 60% of the time, it works everytime

Miami, Connection to BIW? and more

I decided to take it easy tonight and relax. Maybe finish my book. In my random surfing of the tubes, however, I came across a few interesting things surrounding my ship and those who are building it. The Miami Herald has ran an article about the commissioning. It gives a little more light on the actual event, just how busy miami's gonna be in february, and some of the activities they have in line for the crew. I, for one, can't wait to share the city with a bunch of lawyers and celebrate the birth of the ship by sticking me with a needle pulling stuff out. *shudder*

Being the information junkie that I am, I was on Bath Iron Work's site seeing if I could dig up some more information on the ship. Didn't really find anything, but in the July newsletter I was surprised to see a 25 year service anniversary of one William Parmenter. If my last name was smith or thomas, it wouldn't be such a shock to me. It's not every day that you have the privledge of running into a parmentar or parmenter or parmentier (it's all the same). Another interesting thing about the parmenters is that the entire lineage is traced back to Gloustershire, England before John came over in the 18th century to settle in Massachusetts. In any case, if I have the opportunity, I think I'm gonna pay a visit to D43 in Bath to see what cuz is up to.

In other news, I think my roomate is some sort of ninja monkey. The guy is hardly ever here and when he is - it's only for 10 minutes at a time and then a cloud of smoke appears and he's gone. Also, you should see his supply of bananas. The dude is loaded. I wouldn't be surprised if he bought out the commissary's stock...for the week. Besides that, he's just an all around weird guy.

Sunstoned

Tonight will be the first time in a very long time that I will get sunstoned. Thanks be to Joe, for introducing me to the concept, and Angel, who reminded me that I haven't gotten sunstoned in awhile. Besides thats how we got to know each other, except for the time I wacked her in the head w/ a lazertag gun or backed into her driver side door. My bad. Who parks right behind a driveway anyway?...In any case, I raise my hand for the credit in a hit and run. Just don't tell the navy! Regardless, she was there when I "hit" that women in my blind spot once again w/ my mom's minivan in front of German's Villa after coming from Lakeview Baptist. I don't know if I ever thanked you for that. So, Thank You.

Prayer Chain - Sunstoned

Ixnay ARSay

It's official. No SAR for me until (possibly) the ship gets to San Diego. That wasn't necessarily the case going into work today. Yesterday, I got word from my first class who is up in Maine. Today, another first class, who initially put the word in and got SAR cleared for me, found out and said that my Chief (also in Maine) already cleared it. Good to go! Parm's back in the game, right? Not exactly. My instincts were right on why my LPO was reluctant for me to try collateral duty. We are undermanned with the number of people in my rate, therefore 5 sailors have to do the work of 6. I understood that and accepted it. No problem, I won't do SAR. Then I was hearing that the ship really needs SAR swimmers and that it does not affect normal operations while at sea. Only time it does is when someone jumps ship (ours or another ship) and at that point everyone works to get the straggler. So, does that mean I'm still on? I'm getting a bit confused here. Wait for it...Wait for it...no. They decided not to let me do SAR this time around for the above reason plus: PRT scores aren't fabulous (good, well Good High, not Excellent or Outstanding), the only current certified SAR swimmer is leaving for Maine on 1 AUG and wouldn't be there to help me train, and, finally, they don't want to risk an order modification for me to stay here for SAR school with the possibility of me failing out. Ok, sure. The school is tough, but, like most things, it's all mental. If I went, I could do it. Maybe have a month of intense training to prepare, but I could do it.

Before coming into the navy, I was a bit pessimistic. I would come up with reasons or excuses why things are unpleasant often times making the situation worse. Since going enlisted, my mind reversed itself. I've been coming up positive reasons why things are done a certain way or decisions that are made. This time will be no different. I have come to realize that it's....ok. I will still be working out, but I won't have to worry about killing myself. Besides, I'll get out of here in a month, see the ship, and start to get to know her. I might even start doing some work. (Did I just say that?) It may sound crazy, but I'm really looking forward to Maine. Perhaps it's because I will be one step closer to being at sea and that's what sailors do.

Not The Best of Days

With how this day went it would not have surprised me to see such a cloud in the sky this morning. First of all, I woke up about a half an hour later than I wanted to and started to freak out that I was going to be late to quarters. Being late is unheard of in the navy. It reminds me of two letters that the chain of command can throw at you making you feel more like a shitbag. UA. Unauthorized absence. So with the time of quarters drilled into my head at 0600 and waking up at 0545, I was definitely freaking out. I get there and there is hardly anyone there. Yeah, that's another thing, trying to predict the time schedule of the khakis is like guessing which "lady of the night" doesn't have a disease in Thailand. The khakis can be early and ready to go one day and take their dear time the next, but that doesn't matter to blue shirt.

To make matters worse, as soon as I walked into the Det (detachment = the command's office) I noticed in my unnecessary hurried state, I forgot to shave. Another death knell in the navy, since we are a defined, professional branch of the military. Not to mention, the boatswain mate senior chief, who is pushing people for SAR, is my department chief and has an eagle eye for such things. Now, I was left there to weigh the options. The anti-hedonistic calculus, if you will. Which will look worse: a) not being at quarters or b) showing up for quarters with shitbag stamped on my head in the form of 1/16 inch stubble around my face. If you chose the former, you are correct. I enlightened my 2nd class petty officer of the situation and he saw where I was coming from and covered me.

Strike 3 for the day came moments before a DC tour of DDG 85, the USS McCampbell. My LPO (leading petty officer) here in San Diego notified me that my LPO on my ship (the first class petty officer of my rate) said I was not to do SAR. They have plans for me elsewhere and I'm needed to do otherthings. Usually, I would be elated at the thought of being needed. A feeling that I don't get very often. This time, however, was different. I didn't know how to feel. What did they need me for? Since when was the fire of motivation doused at the beginning stages of life in the navy? Does this mean that I don't have to focus on my breathing anymore? I'm playing one messed up mental game of tetter-totter on how to feel about this. RELIEF, frustration. FRUSTRATION, relief. The truth of the matter is that it doesn't matter. I'm an E-3 and have no say. Whatsoever.

No Turning Back Now

Today I made a move that will be hard to reverse. The only option is to stay motivated and think to myself "pain is only temporary" - I have committed to become a SAR swimmer (thanks for the support, benny). I was leaning towards SAR and, to be frankly honest, it will be harder than VBSS. A lot harder. With VBSS, the thing that trips most people up is the jacob's ladder, which is a rope ladder w/ solid rungs. After you master that, it's all tactics and dealing with smelly people. SAR, on the other hand, is much more physical and, as i found out today, I have to basically re-learn how to do the freestyle stroke - not Mr. Longfellow's motor boat. The PC (pool conditioning) will consist of 45 minutes straight of no resty on the wally. After each sprint, you touch the wall and then go out a few feet and tread until the next sprint. I am in shape, but not that in shape. This next month I will be going to the pool everyday to prepare myself for the actual school. The ship is really pushing for people to do SAR, since there is only one certified SAR and they want four. If I get the secondary slot, I will get a lil extra cash and bullet on my eval, but what I will walk away with is the "Holy shit! I just did that." I'm sure everyone will hear more about this in future. Until then, here is the chicky in the baskey.

this goes out to steph who i met two weeks from today and will probably not see again, but it was fun night at Ori and Karen's wedding. As Martz would say - she is good people.

Denison Witmer - I Would Call You Now

What to do?

So I was all ready to say how I explored my inner-geek today by going to Comic Con here in San Diego. I could foresee myself posting pics of seth green, that other robot chicken creator, and me giving the thumbs up, people dressed in various stages of anakin/vader (which of those buttons calls your mom to pick you up?), as well as other monstrosities. I'm sorry to say that no geekdom was had. Apparently, the entire city of San Diego wanted to do the same. The line was massive. It wrapped around the entire convention center a couple times and then went down the marina path all the way to Seaport Village. So what was there to do? It was around noon and I already made my way downtown and that says something when you don't have a car! Instead of saturday being geek day, I shifted gears and made it field trip day. I visited my childhood and went to the zoo. A choice made by the sheer fact that I get in free with my military id. I walked around and explored. The San Diego Zoo, by the way, is very nice, but I spent most of my time with the orangs. Sure, they are always fun to watch, but I'm intrigued by who is watching who. It has to be a great show from the other side of the glass and the orangs watch like they know this already.

After walking around the zoo and Balboa Park, I decided to check out a dive bar that I've heard about. I must say, Little Italy is one hellava nice place. Expensive, but nice. Nestled in the middle of recently built, million-dollar condos is The Waterfront. Back in the day, this place was the spot for all the tuna fisherman who wanted breakfast at the crack ass of dawn and a few beers when they came back in. Since then, it's turned into a tavern slash hipster bar with all the rich kids moving into town, but it still maintains that old spirit and dive bar status. It has a dude in yellow foul weather gear on the roof for jimminey sake! That is frickin' sweet, which reminds me of something....

Our ship is going to need some SAR swimmers and a VBSS team. I want to do one of them, but I don't know which. SAR is search and rescue, so if someone goes overboard I go play fetch from a RHIB (boat) or a helo. I also get some extra money by doing that. VBSS stands for visit, board, search, and seizure, aka the ship's boarding team. A bunch of guys play special forces boarding a commerical vessel, check the ship's manifest, and look for naughty stuff. Both have their dangers, but they also have their kickass-ness about them. In the very least, it'll make life a little more interesting once and awhile. Leave a comment and tell me what you think I should do....

ok i couldn't resist...here's something that ties in geek, childhood, and robot chicken.

Crack It Open

The wedges have been sledged and the pin knocked out; this lady is ready to roll. I've thought about doing this for some time. Some ideas have floated through my mind on what I wanted to focus on for this thing and I'm pretty sure those ideas were my reasons for procrastination. When I did start one in the past, it failed quite miserably. So, no holds bard on this one, folks! Actually, I decided to start one up on the request of a couple people who wanted to know what I'm up to in the navy.

For those who don't know, I joined the navy for "something to do." For the people who really know, they know thats a lie. Well, not entirely, ok maybe a fib. I joined to become an officer. I have college under my belt. The job market licks bullocks in my field. Why not be comissioned as a Naval Officer? The navy apparently thought otherwise and I, surprisingly, didn't mind. Against the advice of two people very influential people, I enlisted. Don't get me wrong, I will become an officer, oh yes, it will happen. Until then, however, I will just play it cool as a blue shirt and worry about such things as cleaning, standing watches, NKO, making petty officer, anti-ship missles, and cleaning.

So far I've been in for almost nine months and survived such things as boot camp in the winter at Great Lakes, "A" school, and Corry High. Now, I'm stationed in San Diego on PCD Gridley (DDG 101). Why I chose to come to a pre-commissioned ship is beyond me. Maybe it was the thought of a brand new mattress in my rack (i'm serious) or not doing anything for a couple months and getting paid for it, I don't know. Anyway, when September rolls around I'll be heading to Bath, ME where the ship is actually located. Goodbye PCD Gridley, hello PCU Gridley. After a winter in Maine, we make our way to Miami and become USS Gridley. Eventually, we will come back to lovely San Diego and be in a fancy CSG. Seriously, I could talk to you for an hour and you will have no idea what I'm saying. The navy only made it worse.

I will end this inaugural post with a video of what the blue shirt navy is all about. (I have a feeling youtube may play a strong role on this thing...)