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.