I'm Back!!!

This is my coaches gift for the soccer season. I think it is a pretty cool deal. It's hard to see from that angle this angle, but it is a matted picture of the season. We finished the season 4-1. I was very proud of the kids. I would like to say that it was because of the coaching, but I think that would be a stretch. I did have parents come up to me and say that they will be requesting me for their child's next sport. I blushed for sure. Because of my TAD to Diego Garcia I have to not coach flag football this year which sort of sucks because next to swimming season I was looking forward to football the most. Oh well, such is life, right? I'll be getting back around the time basketball season starts up.

Achieving goals are so fun! Two weeks ago I had my official PRT. MY goal was outstanding-high around the board. In order to do this, I had to knock out 1 more sit-up than I've ever done before, and drop 15 seconds in my swim compared to the last time I was time in the swim. Well, I pulled through. 105 sit-ups, 87 push-ups, and 6:19 450m swim. That put me in the highest, most fit bracket percentile in the navy. It feels good knowing that I went from FEP to outstanding-high in one PRT cycle, and it's quite an accomplishment. I also have improved my pull-ups to 12. Not sure on the run though, I'm hesitant to run under a clock as of now. I'm building up my cardio now, but time will tell.

The picture to the left is Laughlin's last day in Japan. The tripod was able to catch one last picture before he took off on the bus to the airport. Ice looks like a Japanese guy himself, and I look like I'm a little baggy in the chest myself. If I remember I had just finished running with Dr. Margraf and swimming 2,000 meters this Friday morning. This was taken the morning of the navy ball. That was a headache in a half. I thought I had duty the next day, but as it turned out I was supposed to have duty the day of the ball. Not wanting to tell my date this till the last minute I scrambled to find a replacement. This story ends with lots of drama, me having to return many favors once I get back from Diego Garcia, and me able to make it. Good luck Laughlin, it's a small navy, I'm sure we will see each other again down the road.

Here we are, later this day getting ready to go to the navy ball. My date, Genell. She looked really good I thought. There is nothing to be read too deep into this arrangement. She needed a date so she could wear a dress instead of going in uniform. I'm not sure why she picked me, but we had a good time. The food was great, company was plenty, drinks were cheaper, and my uniform wasn't as snug as the last time I had to wear it!

I really wish I didn't miss a week because my stories would have been so much more detailed! Pictured above is where the ball took place. Altogether I think there was something like 650 people I heard who attended. Sadly though, there was only 4 corpsmen, 2 doctors, and 1 dentist who represented the clinic. We could have liked to see larger numbers, but it also nice being a part of a naval function and not worry about folks from the clinic looking over my shoulder, etc. Genell said that she was surprised about how much of a gentleman I was, but I was okay with it. Just practice for something "real."

Well, I officially emailed my detailer to tell him that I wanted to change my NEC from pharmacy tech to dive med tech. He has yet to reply to me, but I made my intentions very clear that I have no desire to complete my contract as a pharm tech, and any way I could expedite my obligated service as a pharm tech I would be okay with it. This email is important because I essentially declared what I want to do with the rest of my navy career. Though I would still be a corpsmen, I would be in the dive locker, and attached to dive commands. I'll still be special warfare and if I can be assigned to a operational command I could still do other cool shit like jump out of airplanes and run around with SEALs.

My apartment is starting to really come together. I wish I had updated pictures. Maybe once I get my kitchen table and desk for the office I'll expose where I live to the world. One thing about a queen size bed for the first time in 18 months is I didn't realize how lonely nights can be sometimes. I end up spooning with my pillow almost every night :( Overall I love blu-ray, my bathroom is really small for me, and I'm kicking myself for not learning more Japanese while living in the barracks. When I run into little kids in the elevator and they know more English than I know Japanese, it's a little embarrassing. Maybe I'll put that on my to do list.

My Diego Garcia trip is being pushed farther and farther back. The first time was because of the typhoon warning which is completely and obviously understandable. The second time it was pushed back was because "it was too expensive." Now I'm planning on leaving on Saturday the 24th. It should take 3 days to travel the needed 800 miles. First I'm going to take the train from Sasebo to Yokosuka and spend the night up there. Then on the 25th I will fly out of Tokyo to Singapore where I'll spend the night there. On Monday the 26th I'll fly from Singapore to Diego Garcia. Right now I'm planning on staying in Diego for 30 days, and when I come home it'll be the same flight schedule as getting there. For all you math motivators, yes, I will be in Singapore for Thanksgiving 2009. I think that is pretty cool seeing how I remember the year we lived on Emmers Drive in Appleton and we had chicken fingers for Thanksgiving dinner. How my life has changed and where I have gone since my humble beginnings. If I become a dive med tech (DMT) it'll get even more crazy!

That's it for now. I'll write back when I can. Not sure when that'll be. Not having Internet in my apartment makes it trickier to handle these things. Morale is high.

it's like sand paper

This week has flown by me so fast! So much has happened, and it's hard for me to know just where to start. Here goes everyone, enjoy.

As for the post title, I'm back to completely buzzing my head. The barber is taking too long recently, but my need to have short hair is still present. You may have remembered me with shorter hair, a simple buzz cut. That was then, when I would use a 1/8" guard to cut it with. These days I'm looking like a BUD/S canidate. No guard, just clean off. When I got out of the shower I was drying my head, and it felt like fine sand paper. Hence, my post. I'm going to run with this style until given a better reason otherwise, aka a girl! Just kidding, but seriously. I know this isn't the most faddish cut, so when I'm getting ready to get back into the game I may grow it out a little bit more.

You may be asking yourself just what that picture is above. Well, that is where the navy is sending me for the next 30 days or so. The place is called Diego Garcia. "DG" is a satellite clinic of Yokuska Naval Hospital, like Sasebo, but it is way out in n0-mans-land. Pictured below is where Diego Garcia is on the globe:

I found this news out on Monday. My LCPO came up to me and just told me that I was being deployed. The truth is though that this isn't a deployment. It is temporary duty, or TAD. The pharmacy tech there is going on leave, and they need a cover while they are gone. This is where I step in. Hopefully, if the stars align correctly I will be extended there, but the odds of that are unlikely. It doesn't stop me from keeping the faith though!

This is what I know about Diego Garcia: It is 7 degrees south of the equator, the highest elevation is only 22 feet above sea level. Technically the island is considered an atoll, a geographic odessy of sorts. It's about 1,000 miles south of the Indian southern coast, and is one of the 22 emergency landing zones for the space shuttle. The chiefs in the clinic are very envious of me that I'm getting this opportunity, and they all ask me if I golf. I tell them that I'm going to start. HM1 Martinez says that there is 2 things to do there: 1) scuba dive and 2) PT. Sounds like a place to be! Anywhere but Sasebo is fine, but it'll help if I get a sliver of paradise in the process.

Oh, from what I hear I'll be spending a night or two in Singapore enroute to Diego Garcia. I'm not going to complain. It is 800 miles east of Sasebo, and 3 time zones away. The only thing I'll be a little mad about is knowing that I'm even FARTHER away from home! Not sure how the whole weekly blog post thing will work out, but I'll figure it out. I leave this coming Wednesday.

So in my last post I mentioned I looked at an apartment, and I posted a few pictures. Because of the TAD came about, I had to expedite my decision, and I ended up choosing that place. I liked it to begin with, but I simply didn't have time to look at another place if I wanted to start getting paid for off-base housing while I was gone. I had to think smartly. Today was move in day for the big furniture. I don't have pictures yet because I want to hold off on it until I'm all moved in, but I'm very excited about my situation. I'm just glad I'm in a financially stable situation. Buying things isn't cheap, but I can afford it. You may disagree when you look at what I bought, but you'll learn to like it as much as me!

Tuesday is my official PRT. Again because of the TAD things had to be moved up ahead of schedule, and this was no different. I'll be taking it a week ahead of everyone else. I just hope I perform to my standards! I'm looking to score an outstanding-high in all 3 categories, the push-up, sit-up, and cardio (which I'll swim 450m instead of run 1 1/2 miles). Pictured above is the standard navy PT uniform. Kind of cheesy I know!

That is about it for me I think. Some pretty big stuff. I scored a 'B' in my sociology mid-term quiz. I'm kinda stoked about that. Today I took my psychology mid-term quiz. Grades will be out later this week on that. I'm very busy with moving and work and preparing to leave. I wasn't given much notice, but that is okay, I'll certainly deal with it!

Obviously morale is high, and next time you hear from me I'll be in Diego Garcia! If I can't post pictures for some reason I will save them and post them once I get back! Everyone is telling me this is more like a vacation/leave that I don't have to be charged for. Life is good.