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.
posted by parm at 15:56
4 Comments:
Parm, what the hell are you doing?! Better get in bed early tonight to make sure you are up in time or you'll get your butt chewed out!
My computer is up and running--finally. And I've made my way to your space. FYI, I don't have a myspace, but I do have a blog. It's http://funacademiccomputer.spaces.msn.com/
Peace out!
Jamie
Sorry about the rough day. Not all khakis are bad. Maybe you're ship's LPO needs you to climb inside the missle turrets and clean them out, or you might be shot out of them in testing. So instead of being on the SAR team, you will be what they are looking for. I hope that the rest of the week turns out to be better. (When will you find out what your secret mission is?)
Ben
P.S. I'm an O-1 (i think i'll be an O-2 soon) either way I have no say either
all these ppl have blogs, what gives? Don't worry jamie, your linked and I'm making my way there soon...hopefully. I have a class at 0800, which means im pt'ing at 0500...
And what they're looking for is probably the person to clean those turrets out...or, in my case, those chaff launchers. There are only 2 seamen in my rate on the ship at the moment. If everything goes well in the fall, there will be 3 first classes and 2 third classes. We are down a 3rd class because she developed Fibromyalgia and is likely to get a medical discharge. So, that s most likely the reason for the SAR axe.
Ah, but as the ensign or JG you get the respect. Even if you are staff corps. :)
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