SCUBA Cert

For the last week I cut 4 hours out of my night and went to a SCUBA class. I then preceeded to cut 14 hours out of my weekend to go diving at La Jolla Shores. Where did those 34 hours go? Well, towards a lil plastic card with the the letters NAUI inscribed on it and the reassurance of the general public that I can go 60 feet under the water's surface. yay! Here I come Miami, Cozumel, Puerta Vierda, and Catalina Island. I shall conquer each of you to the depth of 60 feet!

Diving is actually a blast. Off of La Jolla Shores there is a ecological reserve and at about 50-60 feet there is an underwater canyon with a bunch of marine life. On the 5 dives I went on this weekend, a couple sharks, a halibut, a bat ray, a school of sheephead, and Mr. Crabs said, "Wuddup". Maybe it was the air I was exhaling, but I'll stick with the idea of a hearty exchange of the wave of a hand or a fin or a pincher. It's fun playing with the crabs, but after awhile they get a bit crabby, especially if you purge your regulator at them...

Quick Update...

Now that we are still alive and kicking, I just wanted to give a quick update to what I'm up to. Last Friday I graduated from another school (with honors no less). This week I decided to take a SCUBA class, so I'll be able to check out ports above and below the water in the upcoming years. I took the PRT (physical readiness test) this morning at 0600 and did alright on it (i still need to work on those sit-ups and push-ups). I really don't think the lack of PTing for the length of this past school and volunteering at Petco Park concessions the night before helped me out that much. The good thing is that it's over and I don't have to worry about it for another 6 months.

Next week, I'll be helping to proctor the PRT for the rest of the command and probably (hopefully!) spend the remainder of each day bunkered up in a secured building, so I can get some studying in for the advancement exam coming up in the third week in September. As it turns out, the exam date is a day or two before I transit over to Maine. Wow! My luck is on a roll!

Farewell Blues

Well, tomorrow is the return of the 12th imam. I, along with the majority of Americans out there really have no idea what that means, but word around the campfire is that it's a fairly important date in the muslim calendar. According to Bernard Lewis, this means the end is nigh...The news centers all around the globe are eating it up so it must be true, right? riiiight.

In any case, I would feel awfully bad about things if the world did end and i didn't at least say goodbye, so here it goes...You guys were the bestest people I ever met. Life was a blast! I will see you all in another lifetime when we are all cats. Speaking of animals, does anyone have any word on dolphins mysteriously missing?

On another similar note, look who jumped on the blog bandwagon...Is there a picture of that guy without a jacket on?

Oh! Great White City

Lately, I've been thinking about the past. A year ago I was taking the CTA into downtown everyday to work at the ADA and everyday was it's own adventure. Hell, just riding the CTA is it's own adventure. I would be another blank face is the endless sea of other 20-somethings in their oxfords and ties carrying a messenger bag with a lone thin wire flowing and splitting upwards to either ear. As many times as I walked from the Chicago station to the ADA, I never got sick of the walk. Sure I would walk like I was in a hurry and scoff at tourists to get out of the way, but on the inside I was playing the hypocrite.

It's really amazing how you can look back and see how good things were. Don't get me wrong, I've made the decisions necessary to be where I want to be. It's just that I met so many great people in the course of a year in Chicago. Most are probably a little disappointed, because I've been a little less than quick in responding to emails. I'm sorry guys, I'll get to them soon. Anyway, those few months I spent at the ADA felt like I actually belonged there. I felt like I was apart of the Council on Annual Sessions family. They were so gracious when I left to enlist in the navy. Each person made their own stop by my little cubicle to wish me luck and at the end they just kept giving me farewell gifts. Who does that for a temp?

It wasn't just at the ADA where I met some great people. Most I met through friends and others I met by the sheer repetitive routine of the day. Either way, I wish I could've spent more time with everyone. Caught more movies in the park, picnics, gone out for more drinks or more shows. I do miss the city and everyone in it. Unfortunately, all I can do is try to make it back as soon as I can. Rest assured, those in town will know the coming of parm.

"Come and show me another city with lifted head singing
so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning."
Carl Sandberg said that....

On another note, I know I haven't really posted in awhile. I don't really have an excuse, except that nothing interesting has been goin' on. I'm in class learning "squirly" stuff the rest of the week, so I can't imagine much else happening or anything happening that I talk about...

Long Haul

San Diego must like me (er, US, sorry goose). Looks like Martz and I are staying for the long haul. It wouldn't surprise me if we are the last sailors from the Gridley here at the DDG precom detachment. We originally were supposed to dip outta here very early next month along with the rest of the crew and be all settled into the Maine autumn for the transfer of custody of the ship from Bath Iron Works to the U.S. Navy. Instead, we'll probably be chillin' on pacific beach. Why, you ask? School silly, what else do precoms do? I'm estatic that it's not a damage control school, but a school actually focused on my job. yay! ^_^

This weekend is also Street Scene here in 'tha daygo.' It's all weekend long nestled in the concrete valley of the Qualcom PARKing lot. Sunday seems to be the day I would go, even though i would miss the likes of Wolfmother and, well, Wolfmother on Saturday. Sunday, we got Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, Tapes 'n Tapes, Editors, Donavon Frankenreiter, The Shins, and The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs. Not too shabby, but I probably won't even go to that with admission at the gate being 70-odd. Just think, this time last year I paid some poor girl from Rogers Park less than market for a day pass at lollapalooza. At least every band that day was decent and it was in beautiful Grant Park, not a parking lot. Yea I can't justify der streetscene. It's a good thing I'm not the only one who feels victimized by the blowage.

Speaking of Chicago, I miss you. More on that later. Till then, enjoy some great indie snobbery presented by Aziz and Andy.

A gold star for whoever can figure out how I feel about learning signal flags