Growing Pains

This is going to be a rather humbling post. There isn't much I'm going to share that is "good" news. It was a rough week for this Sconnie Sailor, and I have to be fair in relaying the news. I've never taken a journalism class, but I would bet that being fair and honest is part of the trade's ethos. A picture does not kick off this post to remind me just how bad of a week it was. At the end of the story though, as I'm sure I'll reiterate, this was a growing pain that I'm going to learn from.

I think I set a new command record by being written up twice in one day on two separate occasions. A write up in the navy is called a "councelling chit." Both stories end up my fault, but in my opinion honest mistakes. Both stories though pissed off the wrong person, and I need take my licks to learn from my mistake no matter how honest it is/was.

So there I was, standing Thursday duty. Standing duty consists of staying at the clinic overnight in case there is an emergency call, and we can be close to jumping in the action. It was my first night as the EVOC driver, aka ambulance driver. Up until this day I have never had to respond to an emergency phone call. On Friday's the clinic doesn't open until 0830 because the command has PT from 0645-0745. On any other day the duty crew is woken up at 0600, but on Friday's, because the clinic opens up so late, sometimes we are allowed to sleep till 0700. So 0600 rolls around and I haven't heard anything over the intercom yet, and no one has come to get me yet. I'm not going to get up earlier than I have to, and just stand around more than I have to, and I think that is typical for anyone. That's why I stayed in bed and kept one ear open to be woken up. O700 comes and my alarm goes off to get up. As I'm sitting up in bed wiping sleep from my eyes there is a call over the intercom, and I quote, "Duty crew to the back desk." In my mind I thought that was the code to get up. So I put on my pants, blouse them, and I'm ambling down the hallway when someone comes running down the hallway coming to get me. "Rastall! Let's go, there's a call!" When I get to the back desk the ambulance was already running ready to go (my job). Though I haven't signed anything yet, that'll be for tomorrow, I'm certain my write-up will be that I took too long to respond to a call.

To piggyback off that, there was my first emergency call. A chief-selectee had suspected heat stroke at Nimitz Park, our PT field/track. Luckily it wasn't heat stroke, but later diagnoised as heat synecope. I haven't heard of it either. It was scary, but a learning experience. There was plenty that could have been done better, but we loaded him up and went. On my first day on the job too! Grumblegrumble.

This next story gets a little more complex, and there is a lot of military/navy jargon, but I'll try to break it down Barney-style. Before I go any further, I must explain what a chief is. A chief petty officer (CPO, or LCPO if they are in your chain of command which stands for "leading chief petty officer") is simply called "Chief." The chief's mess is the world's biggest, most closely knit fraternity in the world. It is known that chief's run the navy. In our 11 general orders for standing sentry there is an unspoken 12 general order, "the chief is never late, he is only detained." There are 3 levels of chiefs: chief, senior chief, master chief (e7-e9). I have been noted to say I'd rather be a chief than an officer. Just by achieving the rank of a chief grants you automatic respect, and the chief is in a league of their own. Robert De Niro in "Men of Honor" was a chief. Having said this, a chief has to earn this rank more than any other rank in my opinion in the navy. They are the essence in what a leader is. A good chief will mentor and lead his juniors even though it would take an act of Congress to demote a chief. Reaching chief is like reaching tenure in the navy.

My LCPO will be just called Chief in this story. I learned a valuable lesson in this story: no matter what I'm about to do, I must always ask myself this one question before moving forward with it, "does Chief know about it?" If not, then it isn't a very good idea. The bottom line to this story was I was the bus driver and I ran my chief over. Now, Chief Bennett to me is a good chief. He is very knowledgable, experienced, a human being, and has played this game for almost 19 years. He could say that he was apart of the "old navy." He has been a mentor to many people, and I'm self-proclaiming that I'm his next project, but not before a little hiccup or two.

Earlier this week, Wednesday to be exact, we had a long talk after working hours, like 1 1/2 hours of his time. We talked about about all ends of the spectrum. It was a invigorating talk, and I found the motivation to not want to beg him to quit EMT class. We also talked about my tuition assistance (TA), and how part of it was denied. Chief had talked to the OIC (Officer-in-Charge aka Commanding Officer of the clinic) already about it and passed what she said onto me. Okay, so it was a good talk, and I left.

This is Thursday now. All e4-e5 have an OIC call. That's when the OIC comes and talks to us separately from the rest of the command, and where we can field our questions to her. So enroute to the meeting I check my mailbox and my TA chit is in it with a note saying (paraphrase), "LT (my department head) reccommends I talk to the OIC about what part of my chit was denied." Wondering if something came up from my talk with chief or what, after the OIC call I popped in her office and asked her about the TA. She essentially told me the same thing Chief did, and obviously so. When she answered my question, I left, not thinking anything about what I just did wrong. I got a note from my Department Head, a commisioned officer, recommending I talk to the OIC about something. Since I didn't think it was a big deal to ask her a quick question, I did what I did, and left.

Not so. There is a right way and a wrong way of doing what I did. I was supposed to route a chit through my chain of command informing them that I wished to speak to the OIC. The irony about this though is I didn't wish to speak to her, I was recommended by someone higher in my chain of command to. Because I didn't route that chit to talk to the OIC, I left my chain in the dark, most importantely my chief. That's why he got so upset with me on Friday when the OIC asked him if he knew that I talked to her. For this, I recieved a counelling chit.

My day from Hell didn't end there. This next part is really "bad," but overdue and needed if I get rational, but still embarrassing. So Chief was councelling me. Not yelling, but letting me know I fudged up real good. He seemingly reiterated everything over and over. In my head all I could think about was this would not have happened if my LT didn't recommend I talk to her. After the 5th time of telling me the same thing, I finally burst out just that. I was pissed, it was a burst in anger. Wrong idea. This changed Chief's gears and asked me if I had anger managment issues (because a good military-bearing sailor does not yell at his chief). Because of my history, I admitted to him that I did.

Chief noticed from our talks and how I just acted towards him that something deep inside me was bothering me. The truth is that he's right. Anyone who follows this blog knows it. I try to vent it by explaining to the world in this blog just what is up, what's going on inside my head. Chief asked me if I wanted to go to counceling, and I agreed that I should. Later that day he made an appointment for me, and met me at the councellor's office. Like I said, he is a good chief and he is looking out for me, but it's such shitty terms that it had to come down to this. The councellor was essentially a meet'n'greet. Trying to feel each other out. She wants me to do 3 things before our next meeting Thursday: get more sleep, schedule a depression/anxiety screening (I made it for Monday), and keep a more frequent journal of my feelings. In that journal I have to write the situation, grade my feelings on the situation, and what I did about it. I'm not looking foward to this since I'm always thinking, the wheels are always turning.

I understand that this is an extremely long post, but you guys should know what's happening. What bothers me the most is all people know about what happened was "I talked back to Chief." Many of those who I've talked to about it really don't know "the whole story." I signed a release to the councellor saying that my chain of command is granted access to what is discussed at my meetings. I figure the more they know about I am the better, and the councellor can be a good translator for what I'm unable to say about myself. This wraps up why my Friday was so bad, especially if you got a facebook post from me suggesting something bad happened.

The swim season is over. Our banquet was also on Friday. I was delegated the chief speaker. Why I don't know since it was made clear to the other coaches I'm not very good at talking to people. Also I am officially the head coach of the larger swim team of the two that attended. Overall I got good reviews though which was good. Next on the volunteer docket is soccer. I'll be the head coach of one of the 7-8 year old teams. The head coach for the other team? You guessed it, Chief Bennett. I haven't played soccer since I was 7 or 8, but how hard could it be? I look back to what I had to do, and I think I can repeat it. More to come on this later.

I officially get my car on Tuesday. I'm pretty jazzed up about that. Not much else to say about that.

Also, I'm now a certified SCUBA diver. In the basic course I got I'm certified to dive up to 60 feet. Today when we went out I got a little too much sea water in my mouth and eyes to enjoy myself, and my mask was a little too tight. Saturday was really fun though. It is something I'll be doing more later down the road. The guy in blue beneath this is Dr. Margraf, the Lieutentant I work out with in the mornings. He doesn't like being here about as much as I do, and diving is one of his releases. He has already told me that him and I will go out if only to get away from the stresses working at the clinic bring.

This post must come to an end. I've decided that I want to put a more honest effort into my EMT class, and I went out and got a haircut today. I also ironed my uniform. Chief stroked my ego hard enough to let me find the motivation needed to pass the class. I also need to shine my boots, and study tonight before I get up for PT with Dr. Margraf. This past week was a week where all things came to a head. Not everything is resolved, but a lot of things are brought to light about me to those responsible for leading me, and I'm thankful for that. My spirit was hurt on Friday, but it was not destroyed. I'm taking what happened as a learning experience and moving on with it.

My impreza does 185

This is it folks! My newest and first Japanese car. You are looking at a 1995 Subaru Impreza. Of course it's an automatic, but the air conditioning works which is really handy now that the rainy season is over. It gets really hot here really early in the mornings these days. Definately don't mind waking up just a little earlier to beat the heat on days I have to PT. Last week was the first day of summer I believe we had what's called a "black flag." The kinder gentler navy has developed a colored advisory flag system to let the base know on the weather. When certain flags are flown we are allowed to do different activities. The hottest is a black flag which means that we are not allowed to PT outside. From what I hear, it can reach black flag by morning colors (0800). No joke, I never thought it was possible to drink this much water, even in boot camp when 12 canteens a day was the standard.

Back to my car though. I bought it from another corpsmen for $800. Before I go any further keep in mind that driving and space are premium in Japan. To be able to drive, we must have insurance. Unlike the states though where we can make montly payments, we must pay one lump sum once a year. Because of my age and rank, I had to pay an additional $800, but now I don't have to worry about it until early August 2010. Also, we have yearly inspection/tax/fee to drive. This is called the JCI. It depends on what the size of the car is. A hummer is more expensive than a Geo Metro. JCI revolves around emission output, engine size, saftey requirements (ie tires, leaks, rust, fluid levels, brakes, etc). This is also paid in one lump sum once a year, but my JCI is good until Feb 2010. I'll be looking to pay an additional $800 to be deemed as "street legal" in not so many words. The guy who I'm buying it from is looking to buy a sportier car which is why he is getting rid of this one. I don't technically drive my car yet, but by the end of August I should be. There has been no money exchanges yet because of this little hiccup. Owning a car here is very reminesient of high school. It is a gauge of status here, especially with lower ranking sailors. A car gives me options of mobility, where I choose to live off base is now greatly expanded, too. I've talked to many people and they say that tank of gas usually goes about 2 weeks. How I love cheap, light, efficient Japanese cars.

Our swim season is now over. Throughout the entire year I only took two pictures! I hope this shows you just how fast the season went. The 3 girls on the right was our 3 top swimmers who swam for the entire season. There was one boy, but he was so flaky we didn't know which practice and/or meet he was actually going to show up at for one reason or another. The black boy is Vinson. In my opinion he deserves most-improved this season. The first practice I met him and felt bad that I actually allowed him to join the team. He couldn't swim, kick, anything. In other words he was beyond bad, he was downright horrible. We stuck with him though, and his attitude could not have been better. Vinson took everything we threw at him, and he progressed unlike any swimmer I've ever met. In his last race when he won his heat, tears started to come to my eyes cause I was that proud of his journey. It's kids like him that make this job so worth it.

In retrospect to the season it was a success. I will paste my letter I sent to all the parents to help give a more thorough background:

Hello everyone! I just wanted to shoot an email out to all the parents to thank them for such a great season. I was an honor to help your kids grow as not only swimmers, but hopefully into better people. On behalf of the coaching staff, we would like to foremost acknowledge that letting your child be able to swim would not have been possible without your support. If I was a young swimmer, I would tell my parents, "thank you" everyday for giving me the gift of being able to learn, compete, and grow in the pool.

The season had it's ups and downs as any sports season does. Families take vacations, coaches seemingly have too much on their minds, etc. In the end though we are calling the season a success. Every swimmer improved their strokes, times, and seeminly love of the sport. Personally, that is the greatest gift of a coach, to teach/mentor another with something you love, and their desire to learn it too.

Kristoph and myself hope to see everyone who can make it to our last meet this Friday at the indoor pool at 1800 (please be on pool deck by 1720). Some have already moved to their next command, some have chosen take part in other opportunities, but either way your participation at any point throughtout the year made our season as special as it was. ...

Well, the coaching staff had to go out and celebrate (of course). So Kris, the Hario coach/pool aquatics director, and myself decided to hit up a couple of bars. Kris is the guy sitting next to me,

John is the aquatics director, the bearded guy who looks like Scott Moiser is cool cat named Matt (he works with John, and he met up with us), and the girl is bartender we picked up at a previous bar. Anyways, by the end of the night, I was wrecked. Lots of fun though running with those cats. The next day wasn't so fun as I began my first day of scuba diving classes.

I suppose we can talk about scuba now. Sadly I don't have any pictures, but you aren't missing much. All we did this weekend was dive around in the outdoor pool. Next weekend we'll actually go out on a boat to see what's at the bottom of the ocean. I did manage to get rather crispy since I was obviously too cool to wear sunscreen. Scuba diving so far is lots of fun. Something about being able to breath under water is so fascinating to me. With Kris being a navy diver, and the doctor who I work out with, Lt Margraf, being the one who reccomended the class in the first place, I have two automatic options of people to dive with when this class is over. Plus there are 3 people in the class who I've never met before so that just expands my networking on this base, and you know I'm all about that.

If I could disenroll from this EMT class, I would. It's not hard, it's tricky. In class we go over maybe 25% of the stuff we are quizzed on. On the surface it is a corps school review, but the possible answers of situations we are tested on are so close! Plus, it is the best answer given. That means there could be 4 right answers, but which on is the BEST. Also, there could be 4 answers given, and I'm thinking "no way I would do any of these procedures," but which answer would hurt the patient the least. In the end we are not training how we fight. What I mean by that is I would to see that 25% be quadrupoled. All the answers are apparentely in the book, but why do we have class if we don't go over any of it? Shouldn't we just show up on testing days? Plus there is a certain 2nd class I semi-resent. They are 22 (like me later this month), and especially after hanging out with Kris, a spec war sailor, the way we handle military bearing is so jacked in my head. I suppose this is just incentive to get that stand-out evaluation, dominate the advancement exam, and pick up 2nd class too.

Sigh* That is a good segway into my next point. It is becoming very obvious to me that I am NEVER happy being just where I am. I'm always just looking at the next thing to move on to. All through boot camp I couldn't wait for corps school, all through corps school I wanted to go to pharm tech school, and all through pharm tech school I wanted to be out in the fleet. Now that I'm in the fleet I'm not happy with what I'm doing. My name has come up in "the most angry at the clinic" conversations. My morale stays high because I realize that everything I do is leading up to what I want to ultimately do. I just know that this isn't it. I have a hard time taking a step back and simply enjoy the view. "Patience" and "Understanding" are tattooed on my arms, and they are even more critical to accept during these times in my life.

Some really good mail came rolling in this week. One was from a boy in college, Matt. He mailed me a miniture packer flag. I carried that with me the entire day. It's now hanging on my wall. I was super surprised to get a care package from him, but I'm taking it and I'm very grateful for his consideration. The Blum family also mailed me a slew of letters. All four of them wrote something. Their replies will be mailed on Monday. Thank you everyone who has ever mailed me everything. Not sure if there is anything better which can brighten my day.

I'll tell you something that chaps my ass though. Tomorrow will be 14 days since I put in my chit to get my overnight liberty card. Usually a chit shouldn't take more than 72 hours. Picking up what I'm putting down? My command is epic failing me. Nothing stings more when you jump all the holes you're asked to and come up short. It's not that I'm out late and partying it up whenver I can, but it's that freedom of at least having that choice. I'm a grown ass man who isn't fresh out of corps school, or a better point high school. This isn't my first picnic living away from home. What's the point of having policies if they're not followed? Who can I complain to? My LPO knows how I feel, and she does her best to help me understand, but things still aren't adding up in my head. On top of this, I need a blue card to put in my chit to move off base. That ball can't start rolling until it has been approved. My command's ineptness is losing me money. Needless to say I will be at our OIC's (Officer-in-charge) Call this week. UGH!! I'm sure they're behind closed doors calling me PB. That's short for Pillow-biter.

That's about it for now I think. Morale is high, but I'm frustrated. Someone suggested I stop my facebook countdown until the end of my first enlistment, but I think if I had to post anything, there wouldn't be anything more fitting.

Being awesome is just a consequence of being me

Honestly I was going to have a sweeter post title than what I had, but I forgot what the person who told me it said. In past posts I said something to the effect of how I should write some of the more clever things that are said throughout the week down.

Can you read what Laughlin's shirt says? It reads, "an awkward morning beats a boring night." I think that was a self-motto a couple of years ago in Green Bay, but I just smile at it remembering the crazy times those days carried. Which brings me to an interesting thought. I'm still very young, I realize this, but it is amazing to me being able to look back and see all that I've done so far. In a way that's why I write down what I've done. Many years from now, those after me may want to know what boot camp was like, or what I thought of Japan. Time is flying by which is good. I want the rest of my life to begin ASAP.

Though I remember mentioning last week that nothing much was planned for this week, I was partially wrong. First of all, I submitted my tuition assistance chit to my chain of command. Each fiscal year, every sailor at our command is allowed $4,500 dollars in tuition assistance (TA). I went for broke, I'm taking 16 credits between 31 Aug and 24 January. That's a $3,200 bill the navy will pay for college. TA is different from the GI Bill. As most of you know, I'm not eligible to take the GI Bill until I reenlist for 36 months AFTER my initial 5 years are up because I took the loan repayment program to pay for all my federal college loans. If I can secure a bachalors degree before my first enlistment is up, and that's the way it's looking, I'm going to have to look long and hard about reenlisting to secure the GI Bill. Then again, if I do the EOD thing like I'm currently penciling in, then I will stay in longer.

Wow, I'm getting off track and started to write a constant stream of consiousness. My point to the above paragraph is the navy is paying a lot of money I would have had to find as a civilian I don't have to just to pay for college. If I put in enough time and if I become eligible for the GI Bill, then that's a helluva lot more money for college when I get out. Do I want to spend all that time in the military though if I already have a college degree and there's a job market for my intended major (political science)? Or do I stick it out so I can land my masters in public admin too? I suppose I'll be asking myself a lot of hard questions in 1,303 days when my first enlistment is up. Too much depends on where I am in my naval career. What rank I am, what's my job, where I'm stationed, am I in a relationship, health of my family, etc.

I'm going to be SO busy through the holidays. For the entire month of August I'm taking the EMT-basic class. The more watch-standing qualifications I have the happier the command is with me the more leverage I have in requesting certain things. Plus EMT class gets me out of the pharmacy which is always nice. Starting in September I'll begin going back to college (intro to sociology, a class I earned a D in at UWGB so I have retake and intro to psychology. You bet I'll be talking to Neuman more). Also in September I'm going to begin the process in moving off base. I get paid a lot more money once I live off base. More freedoms too and more responsibility which I am thriving on.

On top of this, I will be buying a car. Hopefully by the end of August. I remembering last year I wanted to give myself a birthday/Christmas gift to myself with a car. When I found out I was coming here I threw that thought out the door, but it's now looking like a reality. Rumor has it another corpsmen is selling his car for $800. That would be bank. This way if anyone comes to visit I can be there in my car to pick them up at the airport, and when I get my own place they'll have a place to stay. This is a continuous work in progress, but the busier I am the better.

I had an interesting conversation with an old friend back home regarding me and being as busy as possible. I told her I want to be as busy as possible because a) I have nothing better to do while I'm over here and b) it keeps my mind off of the things that are bothering me back in the states. The whole wishing I could be there with everyone, but not being able to theme primarily. Also seemingly getting the middle finger from those who I wanted to be closer to. This isn't just subject to one particular person.

Back to why I'm going to be busy. Next weekend I'll have a basic scuba diving class. It cost $300 so it better be good. I'm taking it because it will be a good scale to see just how comfortable I am below water. You know, for future career plans. I'm looking forward to it, and hopefully I'll land a couple of good pictures.

Also, in a deal I struck with my LPO to be able to take all these classes for college, I have to "give back" to the command. That means I agreed to get on a schedule to complete a bunch of "required" corpsmen courses and basic military knowledge courses. Though they aren't technically required, my LPO wants to see them done, and if I want to get what I want (in this case an abnormally high number of classes covered by TA) I need to make her happy by getting these courses done.

On top of all of this I plan to still continue coaching on a volunteer basis. I'm trying to max out my volunteering so when I leave here the organization who I volunteer for, MWR, will put in a letter to recommend me for the outstanding volunteer ribbon. You could say I'm a whore for eye candy. That's the ribbons and awards we wear on our chests. This dates to right before I was leaving for Japan when my mother asked me if I'll come back with more than just the two ribbons I was currently wearing on my chest.

We had a mock PRT (Personal Readiness Test) on Friday. It's push-ups and sit-ups in 2:00 and a 1 1/2 mile timed run. Well, in my group who did it, I scored the highest in sit-ups (98) and push-ups (80) and finished third in the run (11:58). You can land the push-ups and put out on the sit-ups, but if you don't stick the run, everything you did was in vain, and that's what happend to me. I was looking to run a 10:45, so I was very disappointed/embarrassed. I contribute 3 reasons why I flopped on the run. 1) it was abnormally hot when we ran. I usually PT at 0430-0645, but we didn't start the PRT until 0715. I was sweating balls out there and it was getting to me. Plus I couldn't sleep the night before since I was too excited though I was hydrated enough. 2) I did a poor job in getting the blood back from my arms to my legs for the run. After the push-ups we have 10 minutes to start the run. When I started the run though it felt like my legs were still cinder blocks. Needless to say I was facing adversity from the get-go. 3) We run on a track. I wanted to split a 3:50 my first lap, but when we ran past the starting line we were splitting a 4:05. That played mind games with me and really got in my head. We will have another run in a month, but if we don't agree to start the PRT earlier in the morning when it's still cooler I will push to swim the PRT instead.

A Chili's resteraunt opened on base this week, and Darryl came with me on Saturday night. I had a gin martini and a tall boy draft of MGD and I was feeling too buzzed to have another drink. I'm becoming too much of a softy. The food wasn't too bad, and I think this was the third time I unknowningly ordered the triple fajita meal. The last two times was in Chicago. Seemingly a little pricey, but that is probably because it's the first resteraunt on base that serves actual food. It's funny because two corpsmen are the new bartenders and I had to chuckle to myself watching them. They seemed lost behind the bar: looking at drink recipie cards, pouring shots out of jiggers, and just looking uncomfortable all over. Made me wish I was back there owning the bar how I thought I did at Victoria's in Green Bay.

The week looks open for possibilities. I have EMT class every day, I'm going to start pounding more pavement and putting on the milage in my running routine, and follow-up on buying that car. Oh, on Monday, I was on pool deck on practice when Chief Clay came by. He was on our relay team and I networked with him well I thought. We were talking about my career development board and how my chief essentially ignored me when I told him I wanted to cross-rate to EOD. He asked me who he was and I told him. Apparentely they served on the USS Essex together when my chief was a 1st class petty officer. He told me that he'll talk to him for me. So I wonder how that conversation turned out.

Morale is high. I have tons on my mind, and I often lose myself in thought thinking about near everything. LOL I guess it's noticable to other people too because someone called me on it. Maybe I'm seemingly grumpy a lot of the time because people disrupt me in my train of thought.

Patrick Swayze is hitting another guy!

Hello everyone, and welcome back! For all you first timers, get ready for the life and times of a Sconnie Sailor and his experiences in the land of the rising sun. As a disclaimer I am the worst proof-reader I know, and that's one more reason why a girlfriend would be nice, but those are hard to come by these days. Featured up above are four sailors at a Japanese resteraunt. The fellow in the white is Ice, and we were here for him because of two reasons. The first being a)celebrating his house-warming party and b) it was his 24th birthday. For one reason or another I was the only one not to drink this night. Hope that makes Mom proud.

As an additional side bar, I'll give you an update on my top 25 itunes playlist. Why? Because this is my blog, and because I can. Who knows, someone out there may want to know what I'm listening to to these days:

1. First Time/Lifehouse played 59
2. Hold Me Up/Live played 56
3. Closer to the Heart/Rush played 50
4. Stolen/Dashboard Confessional played 49
5. Big Casino/Jimmy Eat World played 49
6. Everything/Lifehouse played 49
7. Shake It/Metro Station playe 47
8. Lasting Impressions/Starting Line played 46
9. Life in Technicolor/Coldplay played 43
10. Let it Happen/Jimmy Eat World played 41
11. You and Me/Lifehouse played 40
12. Por ti Vorlae/Andrea Bocelli played 39
13. Wonderwall/Ryan Adams played 37
14. I'm Yours/Jason Mraz played 36
15. Emo Song/Starting Line played 36
16. Shattered/OAR played 35
17. Wonderwall/Oasis played 35
18. Come on Get Higher/Matt Nathonson played 34
19. Work/Jimmy Eat World played 32
20. Fix You/Coldplay played 31
21. Lucky/Jason Mraz played 31
22. The Adventure-Final/Angels and Airwaves played 28
23. King Without a Crown (Live)/Matisyahu played 28
24. Rooftops/Lostprophets played 27
25. Viva la Vida/Coldplay played 26

There you have it folks. That is what I'm listening to more than anything. Really I'm not sure why I did that, I certainly have enough to discuss, but in case you are looking for something to download that I would indirectly reccomend. Each song tells a different story as I suppose most do for people, and since this blog is all about telling my story I figure it is fitting.

I only worked for two days in the pharmacy this week. Wednesday through Friday I was in navy PRIDE class. When I arrived I realized it was a class to strength communication and leadership for junior sailors. I found it to be interesting and helpful. Plus it got me out of work so I won't complain there. Life petty officer indoc and initial command indoc this class was great for networking. I now have a couple of people from the ships who are ported here, and there was an EOD in the class as well. Needless to say that he and I had some great conversations. There really isn't much to elaborate on this class though I fear.

Also, on Friday was my Career Development Board. My Senior Enlisted Advisor (SEL, or the CMC of the command), my LPO (HM1 Martinez), another chief (my LCPO had something to attend to so this chief stood in his stead), and my work center supervisor (HM2 Dinh). I thought the board was a success and failure. A success because I mentioned a lot of stuff to the command that is on my agenda. I told them many of my goals, thoughts on the command, and projected I planned to take. It was a failure I felt because I came in a little unprepared and I felt what I thought was more important fell on deaf ears.

For example in the success category, I told them I wanted to complete my associates degree. I know I have enough credits to get one with my earned credits as a civilian and all my training command classes. The problem is that I did not tell them was I wasn't happy with the degrees offered to me from schools that would give an associates without any residency class requirements. For the immediate future it looks good, yes, to say I have a degree. It gives me extra points for sailor of the year boards, evaluations, and added points for the advancement exam. It is bad to accept one of these degrees in the long run because it could be worthless to me for future career plans as a civilian. At the end of the conversation, I need to go back to the navy college office by the end of the week and figure out what is the cheapest and fastest way to earn an associates degree. Also, as I talked about in an earlier blog, the fee is outstanding to get a degree without taking residency classes.

I thought the board was a failure for two reasons primarily. For one I walked into the board room under prepared. Instead of giving them a most updated goal sheet, I gave them my goal sheet that I wrote when I first got the command in early May. It has since been outdated, and needed revision. Knowing what I know now, I really don't need to learn "Bella's Lullabye" on the piano. I got some really weird looks. I also wrote that I wanted to read a little every day and write a letter at least once a week. Those standing in front of me obviously didn't care about personal goals, and I suppose they shouldn't since this was a career board. Secondly, what really chapped my behind the most was when I told them I didn't like my job as a pharmacy tech and how I was thinking about cross-rating to special warfare. They seemed to totally ignore me on this. At least I brought it up to them and it is now documented, and my chain of command now officially knows.

Speaking of college classes though. I've done my homework, and I know what I want to take. All together there are 5 classes and a lab. The nice thing is the classes are split between different dates. The first set of classes start on 31 August and end 8 November. Then I'll be taking Intro to Sociology and Intro to Psycology. The next set of classes start 9 November and end 24 January. Then I'll be taking Intro to computer-based systems, Contemporary moral issues, concepts of biology, and the concepts of biology lab (which is only 1 credit, but need to take with the class). All together is 16 credits for my first semester back, and they are all needed for my political science major. It will be an interesting conversation with my LPO to be allowed to take this many classes. Needless to say I will be plenty busy. This is on top of volunteering coaching throughout the year, PT-ing in the mornings, and keeping up on my required courses for corpsmen stuff.

As I told the board, I have nothing better to do than to apply myself. I have no family here, no wife, no kids, nobody to worry about with myself except numero uno. I also told the board because of this I would be the first to volunteer for an IA (individual augmentee) deployment. Heck, if I'm going to be in Japan, I'm going to keep as busy as I can to keep my mind off of the things that are bothering me in the states.

We had a swim meet on Friday. Only one more meet the 7th of August, and the season is over. Unlike Seymour, I will be happy the season is over. Too many of these kids should still be in swim lessons or we need to practice more than two days a week. Next up is I believe soccer or football, or both. Either way I plan to continuously volunteer coaching while I'm here. It's great to write down for boards and brag sheets, and as much as I complain about it, it is fulfilling to give back.

So I rented "Roadhouse" which is what my post title is suggesting. I've heard a lot about it, and heard more than one Patrick Swayze joke (even before his pancreas issues arose). I was curious. Though I thought it was entertaining, I did feel it got too ridiculous towards the end. I also rented "Pan's Labyrinth." It was nominated for about a million awards, but only walked out with 3. To expand on that, I tried watching it once in college, but everytime I popped it in it was late in the night and I could never finish it. Also went to go see "The Hangover" for a second time, and it was funnier this time around than the first!

This weekend I spent WAY too much time on facebook. I was really digging deep when I found my oldest/first bestfriend, Gavin. He looks like he is doing okay. I also added Butler. I remember him as being really tall for the class, but nowadays he appeared to have stopped growing around 6th grade. He isn't very tall anymore. That isn't the only people who I added, but the highlights. I also sent a message to this cat naned Travis Nickel. In my message I told him that all I remember about him was he was idolized because he could throw a football really far at recess. He was cool with that. It's weird how a lot of skinny people from back in the day are now fat and a lot of fat people are now skinny. Oh, I convinced a good friend from VA, Tamara, to get a facebook. We instant messaged each other way too late into the night last night. She is in Okinowa right now with her little boy, Ezra. We had a great talk just catching up and talking how old friends do.

Not much on tap for the rest of the week. I have to knock out some navy college stuff, but that is pretty much the highlight of my week. I will have been at the command for 90 days tomorrow, and I have jumped through all the hoops to get a overnight liberty blue card. Add payday on Friday, and you'll have a recipe for a good weekend! Translation, I'll be in the barracks watching movies and sitting on facebook. I jest, but seriously. No, the other swim coach, Kris, the diver, wants to hang out now that I don't have to worry about curfew. He also suggested that at the end of the season we split a bottle of something to celebrate. Him and I are getting a long very well, and that is fine with me.

One last shout-out because I said I would. At dinner on Friday night, or Ice's celebratory parties, I bought him some shots. This is one reason why I'm not telling anyone my birthday just because I don't want to take these shots. A Japanese shot is essentially in a tumbler, and it's 3 fingers high of straight booze. The first shot was of brandy (my nod to the motherland) and the second not more than 5 minutes later was of whiskey. That one took him a little longer to put down. Maybe 20 minutes later I could tell that he was starting to feel it, and this is why: a) his volume control was out of control. Remember that I wasn't drinking. b) we were talking about Japan's self-defense department, and America is still here because (my quote) "we won the war and we can be." Then without missing a beat Ice turns to his girlfriend, a Japanese national, points to her and yells, "yeah! we fucking kicked the shit out of you!" If anyone else could understand English they were looking at us with their jaws dropped. That was time to ask for the check and head back to base.

Morale is high and future looks bright. Time is flying by which is better than the alternative I feel.

Dorthy Mantooth is a saint!

On a lighter note, this picture is a blast from the past. It was taken my first year at UWGB when I was still swimming, and at one of the apex's of personal fitness (as you can tell, maybe). We were in Sarasota, Florida on the annual winter training trip. The guy in the picture with me is Dan, the self-proclaimed "meaniest person in the world." A little side-bar, I doubt I have ran into a more natural fit, well rounded, disciplined, athlete as him. Brad from high school is also on this list, but that is another story for a different time. Anyways, I think he threw wet sand at me, and I tried to chase him down the beach, but he eluded me. The picture was my reaction of how I felt. It was edited by a Seymour club swimmer, and thought it was cute/funny enough to post.

The title is the post is a reference to the mini-war going on between my current roommate. There is a dry-erase board outside of our room in the barracks, and we have a runny competition of who can make the best insults. The other day he said something about my mother, and that was my rebuttal. For those of you who do not know who "Dorthy Mantooth" is, she is the mother of Vince Vaughn's character in the movie "Anchor Man." At the end of the story, the picture and post title is a nod at 3 or 4 people.

Jeepers, the motherland is falling apart! My boy Aaron asked me to call him for something urgent. When I did, he told me his brother was busted big time (again) for drug-related issues. I think he was selling or something. Either way he was pretty tore up about it. Brokeback is a traditionalist like myself and very family oriented. We both share the desire to get our little brothers out of the "slump" they're in, but feel helpless to do so since the predictament they're in rest solely on their own shoulders. I think my own brother is on the way back up. He is living back home, got his haircut, shaved his beard, and has job interviews. Whether he likes it or not, acting like a responsible adult should lead him in the right direction of maturing.

The other depressing news I heard is my other friend, Joel. Now Joel holds a special place in my heart since he is labeled as my first "drinking partner." LOL, there were some nights at GB we got into some real mischief. For example we called one of our professor's office at 3am asking him some stupid question about some random paper that was due months down the road. Well, we ended up calling the wrong professor, in fact the department head of my intended major. The next day I'm in class (hung-over), and my professor asks me if I had a good night. It was awkward, but funny. Back to Joel, I shot him my first email since being over here. I've recenty been thinking about him, and felt guilty I haven't kept in better touch. He wrote back telling me that he broke up with his fiance last night, but the plot thickens. There was a domestic dispute, and story ends with her placed under arrest and spending the night in Brown County Jail. I'm the first person to admit I suck at empathy. After hearing all this bad news I just don't know what to say except to play Devil's advocate and arguing with them and saying something to the affect of they're a girl.

No lie, this post is taking way too long to complete, but I'm so easily side-tracked. I have friends skyping me, I drift away in facebookland, or I have to do this that or the other. I started this post at 1:00pm and it is not 9:10pm. UGH.

As most people know, I'm a planner, a traditionalist, a loyalist, a hopeless romantic, the list goes on. One thing I like is the ability to fall into a routine. Sundays have pretty much been the same since coming to Japan. A couple things have to happen. First, I get a haircut. Second I post a blog. Third is I wash my sheets. Fourth, I always think I'm going to get a chance to do some writing (but traditionally never really do). I clean the barracks with my roommate, and I always shower at night because of my clean sheets. I never shave on the weekends. I like to polish my shoes and/or my boots, and get an iron on the uniform. This is every Sunday. That brings comfort to me. Last of all, throughout the whole day I'm mentally scheduling my week especially what I'm doing out of working hours. Rarely do I write things down, except if I'm making a list of things to buy. It's a nasty habit of mine to forget to buy things, but I'm pretty good at not buying things that were never on the list. Excuse that double negative.

Moving on to more interesting issues. This past Thursday I was on duty. My leading chief petty officer (LCPO) was the chief of the day (COD) strangely enough. My leading petty officer (LPO, remember how the military is all about following a chain of command) had to talk to LCPO (Chief Bennett) about some stuff, and volunteered to ask him a favor for me since she was going to already be talking to him. My issue had to do with being excused to go to the navy college office and sit on a presentation regarding financial aid and the new GI Bill. The point is in this story the chain of command is directly to the COD, and not an issue to the LCPO. Tracking so far? So I had to go up to his office and talk to my chief behind a closed door. Chief petty officers are the coolest, most badass job in the navy I think, and I'm easiliy intimidated by the anchor (their insigna). I'll call an officer by their first name if I can, but a chief will ALWAYS be addressed as chief. So I'm up there asking for this simple favor and I'm visibly nervous. He asked my why I was nervous and I told him because I respected his rank so much, and yada yada. What we talked about next is the real reason why I'm telling this story.

Chief Bennett heard through the grapevine that I'm lacking focus at my job. That I seemingly want to do everything except excel as a pharmacy technician. How my goals are to make sailor of the year, go back to college, concentrate on coaching, etc. He told me to work on being a better pharmacy tech and the rest will take care of itself. That is the thing though. At my career development board later this week or early next week I'm going to tell them that not only is the NEC of pharmacy tech isn't for me, but I'm having doubts that being a corpsmen at all is in question. The medical field is something I have decided is something I will not pursue once I separate from the navy. This said, I see my life as put on hold while I'm serving my time in the navy. It kills me, I wish that wasn't the case, how I could embrace what I'm doing and just roll with the punches. The time spent in the navy is precious, and I want to be able to say I've done things I'll never able get to do ever again. At my board I will tell them at the earliest convience I'm interested in joining navy special warfare. Right now I'm looking at EOD and diving. The officer I PT with, Dr. Margraf, a former army ranger, has his jump school air wings. I asked him what jumping out of airplanes is like, and he told me go find out for myself. That was so badass. As long as I've been in the navy I've been captivated by special warfare, and it has always interested me except I never felt able because of the physical demands. With morning PT going so well, and I am noticing changes, the doors of opportunity are opening real wide for me again. I need to add about 10 more pull-ups to my count already, and knock off about 1:30 in my mile and a half time, and I'm at qualifying scores. I have the intelligence to do it. The only things holding me back is my contract obligation to serve as a pharmacy tech since the navy paid for my 'c' school to learn the job. I'm thinking about getting PT about 20 minutes earlier to workout just that much more.

Went and saw Pubic Enemies tonight. It's that new Johnny Depp movie about John Dillinger. Pretty good, but I didn't like the cinematography. I also watched the Legend of Bagger Vance last night. Not my favorite sports movie, but I do like Robert Redford directed movies. It's essentially about a golfer with PTSD. I also rented Bobby, and I'll watch it when I'm done here shining my boots.

This week I'll be going to navy PRIDE class. It's an alcohol awareness class and course to help instill pride in serving with the navy. Whatever, I need it to obtain my overnight liberty card.

We had a swim meet on Friday. Within the last 36 hours before the meet started, we had 4 kids drop-out of the meet for one reason or another. That really jagged the line-up. Kris and I were pulling our hair out and a little embarrassed at the turn-out, but that's just the way she goes. He and I are starting to think we put more stock into this than is really necessary. It's hard to be motivated when those above us seemingly aren't on the same page. At least in Seymour we had an athletic director who was gung-ho supportive. We were told that the swim team from a neighboring base wants to come down and compete in September. The thing is they swim year round. We currently just swim 2 days a week for 1 1/2 hours a day. This isn't enough time in the pool to be competitive. We a) need to be swimming at least 4 days a week for 2 hours a day and b) have to send out invitations to join this special team for the meet because frankly, a lot of my kids aren't ready to swim at the needed level to be that competitive. I refuse to be embarrassed in front of another base team with kids who should still be in swim lessons.

Speaking of Kris, things are going great. He has never seen the new Terminator movie, so I went with him. Afterwards we sat outside in the parking lot for an extra hour just talking about this and that. It was pretty cool. And to think at one time I was hesitant about having another coach assigned to me who I never met before. Did I mention before I was in the same boot camp class with his younger brother? Small navy. Kris is a huge assest to the team, and a liasion to meeting new people. I look forward to getting my overnight liberty card so I can go out and party with him without worrying about being back on base before midnight. We also frequently talk on MSN Messenger too talking about this and that. We get along great, and he reminds me a lot of people who I like to be with, primarily John in VA. Someone who I can just shoot the shit with and neither one of us running out of stories. It's awesome.

I'm on a tight budget, but things are going well and according to plan. Morale is high and I like the way things are going. One of the best parts of my week is being able to catch my mother on her way to work. I used to that in VA, and it's our little time together. Wish they were on skype more when I'm around, but that's just the way she goes. Oh, if you are planning on changing your address, please let me know. A letter takes 10 days to get to the midwest, and the worst thing is to find out you've moved on facebook the day after I sent you a letter. This only chaps my ass and suggests that you never wanted me to know you were moving in the first place. Then again, I'm not a mind reader.

Almost forgot a title I was so excited to start writing

This post is a shout-out to the guy who is in the picture with me, Joe Laughlin. I just heard earlier this week that he is leaving in October to continue on with his naval career. His orders are up and time to move onto the next command. Rumor has it he'll be going to FMSS (Field Medicine Service School) and learn field medicine so he can go run around with the marines. It's what he wants, and I give him props though it's not what I'd want to do. Out of FMSS I'm not sure where he is going to do. He wants to hit up a 'C' school like what I did, but not pharmacy. What is the motto we give to departing shipmates, Far skies and following seas? Laughlin will be missed, but that's just the way she goes in this business.

That brings me to an interesting sidebar. It's hard to have "best friends" in the navy since we are always moving on and doing other things. At least in college for the most part nobody is going anywhere for at least 4 years which in my opinion is certainly enough time to build a solid enough foundation for everlasting friendships. Maybe that'll change when I've been to a command for more than 6 months, but as of right now, that's just the way she goes. Don't worry boys, I don't need to be telling you all who is still my number one(s).

Interesting week to say the least. First of all I took a phone call from a lady who will be going on leave to Manitowoc, WI. She was fearful of the hayfever will really get to her, as if the motherland has worse allergies than Japan. Either way it was cool that in a way I found one of my own people here who understood my accent and didn't jest about it. That by the way is something Laughlin's West Virginian ass was very good at.

I got a lot done this week I felt, and I really set myself for the next month for sure. To begin with I strolled into the Navy College Office as I promised myself I would. Classes start in about a month, and I wanted to really give myself enough time to get my ducks in a row with getting all the paper work squared away. That's one thing about the navy, give yourself enough time for the paper work to go through. Anyways, I found out that with my civilian credits and credits earned at my slew of training commands that I have already earned my associates degree. That sounds pretty exciting right? I mean, I now am entitled to a piece of paper that says I know something a level higher than my high school diploma. The truth is though I won't actually be getting my associates, not from Excelsior College anyway. It is the only school that will give me a degree without a residency status, but the "graduation fee" is to the tune of $495. To me right now that is not worth it.

Instead I have chosen to go through University of Maryland University College. They have an office on base with a representative which communication much easier and less of a headache. Today I'm thinking I'm going to complete the Legal Studies Associates degree, minor in history for the undergrad, and major in political science. Down the road this same college has Public Administration as a master's program. Seems to me I'm finally mapping out the rest of my education. That makes me happy. Though I don't know right now just how many credits shy I am from finishing my undergrad with my already earned credits I will guess it is to the tune of 30-ish. My estimating brings me to right about the time I leave this command, and I will have my undergrad, and finally I won't feel like such a let failure. It's funny that my education is one of the most important tools to measure my success especially myself I compare myself to my friends. I mean, two of my best friends are registered nurses, one is a computer science major, Neuman is finishing his double major at GB still, Amy and Beyja is at grad school, Dearest is going to grad school, Carlee is at grad school to be a vet, and then there is me the college drop-out.

The other day after watch the watch billet coordinator asked me my thoughts on taking the EMT course. Of course I want to jump at that opportunity. Just one more qualification, right? It's a lot of responsibility, but I won't have to pull the 0300-0600 watch anymore, and I get a full night's sleep. I get to ride in the front of the ambulance on the way to chow instead of the back (it's the little things that matters) too. The course is 3 weeks long, and I have to submit a chit to my chain of command asking for permission. Just asking my department head he thought there shouldn't be a problem, but my LPO had a grimmace on her face when I brought it up. It would stretch the pharmacy a little thin, but it's in the name of helping the command as a whole if I successfully complete the course. The catch 22 is I haven't yet been at the command for 90 days and this is a class they generally like to give to sailors who have been around for a while becuase it is such a for lack of better word "prestigous" position. Time will tell on this one.

Also, I'm very close to completing everything I need to earn my overnight liberty card aka blue card. I need to take one 4 day class called Navy PRIDE. It is a class that talks about the dangers of drinking and taking pride in serving in the navy. Not a big deal, right? Well, with going out on the limb of asking off for 3 weeks to do the EMT class about a year ahead of schedule, I feel that requesting an extra 4 days on top of that is really pushing my luck. This class wouldn't be for the clinic though, but only my own selfish reasons. I need a blue card to be eligble to move out in town, and not worry about being back on base before midnight.

Since moving out in town was brought up, I can expand on that. I found out that I will be officially be paid as an e4 on Sept 16th which means it'll start showing up on my paystub the 1st of October. With everything going on, I might hold off until then assuming I don't get a roommate before that. I'm very close to paying off my laptop and I can really get cracking on paying off my private college loan (the federal loan is being taken care of in 3 annual payments with the loan repayment program). Also, I took out a private loan to pay off my Wells Fargo and UW Credit Union credit cards so I can centralize those payments with Navy Federal Credit Union. I could wait to take the Navy PRIDE class, but I just want to knock that out before my 90 days at the command is up. Not worrying about a curfew as a 21 year old petty officer would be nice.

As mentioned above, I went on the field trip needed to complete my blue card check off. Because it's summer I thought it would only be appropriate if I went to a baseball game. Let's not forget

it was Japan who won the World Baseball Classic. Needless to say, they take their baseball pretty seriously pretty seriously. All games are played in domes, and the teams are named after its sponsors rather than in America where teams are named after their home city or state. The place was packed, and I was reminded I was in Japan to the cramped seating. Prices for beer were fair ($6.50/16oz glass) and the beer was dispensed out of a CO2 tap. The picture of what I mean is on facebook. Though our team lost big time, the fans are nuts. Really cool experience.

Also this week, today actually I swam in my first swim meet since my days at Green Bay. The pool was short course meters (25 meter lenth pool), and the meet was an invite to the Japanese community club swim teams. As a swim coach for the MWR swimming program, I was invited to swim along with the other swim coach, Kris. Well, Kris is a navy diver I remind you, and he swam for the Bahama national swim team as a civilian, so he was a little more in shape than I was, but it either way we dominated most of the races. I took second in the 50m freestyle (27.3), and 3rd in the 50m butterfly (32. 0). We also were part of the 2nd placing 100 IM relay. The meet was totally legit, we earned medals and everything! Unfortunately, I forgot to put the charging battery back in my camera for the meet, so I don't have any personal pictures, but I will try to hunt a couple down from the meet. It just felt good to be back competing in the pool, but I still wouldn't trade it to coach full time.

Went and saw the new Transformers sequel. All I can say is slow motion + Megan Fox = saved the movie. I will not call this movie intelligent, thought out, but the suits got in a room and knocked out the fastests way to make the most money. No, I will not be seeing this movie again and it would be very hard to recommend seeing it. Go see it if you want to join in the conversation around the water cooler, but be prepared to be let down if you compare it to the first Transformers.

The picture above are a couple taken when I took the tour of the USS New Orleans. It is an amphibious ship that carries marines to here and there. In this case they were coming back from a 10 month deployment in Iraq. I couldn't get over just how big the ship was! Honestly it was my first time being on one which is sad since I am in the navy and all. I have a rule, and I don't care who disagrees with me, but marines are dumb. As a corpsmen it can kept as a golden rule that one is. Anyways, there was a table marines had to sign out at to leave ship and go ashore to go on liberty. On the table was a bucket full of lifestyle condoms to be passed out. Marines are dumb. Check out the facebook pics.

That's about it for now I think. I called Max this weekend and I asked him if he read the blog and said he didn't because "it was too long." 10 year old kids, I'll tell you. Our camoflouge uniform is now totally authorized to wear on days we have duty which is awesome, they look really sharp. Garcia and I are the only two cats at the command who have them so we get some interesting looks. I just tell people here that'll they'll get the same looks when they get back to states looking like prisoners in the current utility uniform. Morale is back on high and I'm coasting. Time is flying and I'm back to being awesome. I got my new haircut (once a week), PT is tomorrow morning, and I rented the movie "Fanboys" to watch while I'm shining my boots. Yeah, life is back to being good. I'll get to telling my idea for my new story in a later blog, just remind me about it.

What do I hate more, calculation(s) or wasabi?

Where to begin with this post? I feel like there is so much to touch on, but as I get writing, more and more will slip my mind. What I should do is keep notes as they come to my mind throughout the week. Witty one-liners or subject topics worthy to discuss on here.



Before all of the happens I want to bring up a comment to the post made last week. It was anonymous regarding my thoughts on the MCPON and his entourage. The comment was to the effect that the MCPON only has one photographer with him. This is different from my observation that there were many bodies all around him. What I do know is there was more than one person getting out of the van he was in, and more than just the photographer I have never seen before. To me, that makes everyone with MCPON part of his entourage.



After 6 months at a 'C' school to learn the pharmacy technician job, I realized just how much I didn't learn. I feel like they drive us through that school like cattle just so they can fill quotas. What really leads me to think this is when it comes to calculating correct dosages for infants. Because this is my blog I can pick and choose the less flattering situations I am dealing with, but this is important since this calculations deal is possibly a big reason why I working in the pharmacy stinks right now. Yes, I passed the math tests in school, but for some reason I'm really struggling now. Maybe it's because the way the information is presented to me, and I need it broken down Barney-style for me again to refresh, but I'm getting very frustrated. One day I forgot my camera at the pharmacy, and the pharmacist took this picture. On one hand it is funny because he is either Chinese or Vietamese (I can't really remember, but I think Chinese), and some of the things he says is a little funny. Case in point is the picture; even when writing he forgets to say his "s's." Also his "H" is way jacked up and I at times don't know what he is saying. The other hand though it is a little embarrassing. I'm supposed to be a certified pharmacy technician/3rd class petty officer, and I have the pharmacist, a commisioned officer, making comments about my deficiencies. Translation, I look like a real asshole. It does look like I lost some weight though in my military id though...





As for the other half of the title. I went to my first sushi bar yesterday. In Green Bay I liked going to the sushi place, but it was more upscale and rather pricey. Andy and went there before

big swim meets. In Japan I found out things are a little different. Seafood is SO readily available, but hence cheap. We walk into this place, Laughlin, Garcia, and myself, and it's almost like a buffet! Little plates of sushi are on a conveyor belt like the picture above. We sit at the bar and pick what we want to eat. There are 3 different colored plates which represent different prices. The cheapest plate is $1.10 and most expensive was $2.20 per plate. Tea and water is provided for free, but you are free to order a coke or beer if you want. It was strange, but cool at the same time. Maybe that's what Japanese people think of burger joints in the states since beef is so limited here. One thing though that I don't like about sushi is the wasabi that they put on the meat! I'm not a fan of hot foods and wasabi is horseradish on steroids. I probably looked like a real idiot trying to wipe as much of it off my sushi as I could, but I didn't care. I'm thinking about mailing some wasabi seeds to my old man. They eat them like peanuts around here; I'll pass on that.

My first 4th of July was uneventful. I spent most of my morning sleeping since I had watch the night before. Thankfully there were no calls on the eve of America's birthday. I got up and lounged around being lazy till I decided it was time to do something. We went to the soccer field on base where there were tents of games and food with a live band playing. It was cool. Funny story, I went to the beer tent to get a beer where I turned around and the commanding officer of the base is behind me with his two kids who I happen to coach. Though it was little awkward it was liberating since I am now legally able to drink at such functions. Because I am a coach and many of the kids were there, I really had to limit myself to how often I was at the beer tent though.

Speaking of swimming, things are going fine. We have our second meet on this Friday, supposedly. There are basketball camps going on at the same time, and swimming takes a back seat to the more "popular" sport meaning our meet might be moved to a different date. Though I'm not happy about being jagged around, I was told by the MWR athletic director that if I volunteer 2 sports a year for 2 1/2 years they will put in a letter for me to get my outstanding volunteer ribbon. I'm thinking I'll try to push if I volunteer for 3 sports a year, they put in the letter before I leave this command, which would make me really happy.

I can't really tell you how the fireworks here were. I was busy grinding it out playing poker. There is one guy who has beat me the last couple of times we've played, and it was my goal to finally best him. I fell a little short and we ended up cutting it short and I only lost $5 of the $40 I played with. He is beatable though, and I look forward nixing him next time we sit down. I just need to watch Rounders one more time. Thank you John for teaching me how to grind it out on my leather ass and busting him all night. John being my roommate in Virginia and during March madness all we would do is play heads-up poker during the games.

Maybe the brightest part of my week, I recieved a letter from Minnesota. It was my first since being here. I'm going to compare it to the US Constitution. It was full of promising words and important to me, but it also left possibly more questions than answers. Which leads me to my next complex, I truly don't know what I want anymore. I think I want this or that, but then something else comes along and I lean towards that. This isn't just reserved to relationships (though I am certain there is nothing here I'm interested in especially when I get possibly promising letters like the one I got), but this also means I don't know when it comes to my career. This is something I'm starting to get very frustrated with. In previous letters and conversations with people I used to gloat about how great the navy is with how there are so many avenues to travel down, and all I would do is pick one. The truth is the navy is a security net for me at the moment. I'm treading water, and that isn't what I imagined.

For the record, the movie Revolutionary Road sucked, and don't wasted your time. No, I have yet to see Transformers, and I'm excited for when it comes to the onbase theater.

Next month I should be allowed to move off base. There are stipulations though, or prequistites I must do before I'm allowed to do so. For starters I have to be at the command for at least 90 days. That will happen on July 27th. Second, I need to earn my off-base/overnight liberty card. There is a rubric of things I need to do in it, and among them is complete an MWR field-trip. There are 3 options I'm interested in for July. The first being a baseball game in Fukuoka on the 11th ($35), a tour of a cave on the 18th ($35), or a day tour of Nagasaki on the 25th ($15). A third requirement is gaining another watch-standing qualification. Later in the month there is a 3 day course on learning how to become the ambulance driver. Once those things are signed off for, taken the housing class, and had all the paper work routed through, I'll be allowed to look for a home off-base. The navy will pay for housing, a stipen for utilities, my cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA aka overseas pay) will then double. Essentially I'll be paid twice as much with half as many rules compared to living in the barracks. Hopefully I'll find something closer to base so I wouldn't have to buy a car (I have already earned a Japanese civilian driver's liscense).

This week I should be stopping into the Navy College Office to look into enrolling into courses. I want them to take a closer look into my earned credits as a civilian and navy schools and see what can be done for me. I could already have enough credits for an associates, but some courses might be juggled around. I'll let you know when I know.

I've already decided that whenever I get back to the states, I'm going to print, edit, and make my overseas blogs into a miniture book, much like what I did with boot camp. This is my story overseas, and I might want to look at this someday or share it with others. I'm such a whore for history.

When I started this entry I was feeling pretty down and cruddy, but writing this has lifted up my spirits some. Morale is still up but running a baseline.