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.