Roger up Sconniesailor, you're not in Sasebo anymore

So here I am, in sitting in my hotel room in Yokosuka, Japan. It is about 700 miles north of Sasebo, and a stone throw away from Tokyo. You may ask what the Hell I'm doing here, and I may tell you "good question." I was sent here to cover in the capacity of a pharmacy technician over here at the big house. Naval Hospital Yokosuka is the parent command here in Japan, and it is the largest US hospital in Japan. Naval Branch Health Clinic Sasebo is a satellite clinic of Yokosuka. Our commanding officer is here, and so is the Director of Branch Clinics. So are the master chiefs, you can't forget about them.

Working here is no joke. It's super busy up here. I deal with more patients in an hour and fill more prescriptions in that time than I did at a full day's work back in Sasebo. I don't sit down unless I'm at the front window bringing patients on the computer. There is no chiving here, and I only check my email when I'm leaving work. When I do check my email, it's when I am released from work, and I am in no mood to be at the pharmacy any longer, so I forward all my emails to my hotmail account and reply in my hotel room. In Sasebo the window closes at 1600 and we go home...not the case here. The earliest that I go home is 1640! On Friday we didn't get to go home till 1700. That warrants a definite grumblegrumble right there.

On top of that I am required to attend command PT. It isn't too big of a deal except that I really don't like command PT the way it is. It's on Mondays instead of Fridays, but the pharmacy opens up at the same usual time. In Sasebo the pharmacy opens 1 1/2 hours later than normal. Needless to say the tempo is high here, and it's all the time.

On Friday though the Surgeon General of the Navy, Vice Admiral Adam Fitzgerald, came to visit. I saw him once at Great Lakes when he visited Corps School. He looks good, like he lost some weight. I did have a question for him during the admiral's call, but I ultimately decided against it. There was a lot of brass in that room, and I didn't want to appear dumber than he had the ability of making me look. Either way it got me a hour out of work. The ability to skate in this place is almost nonexistent, and that's not cool.

I still keep in touch with Sasebo though. Well, mostly just HM2 Oldenburg. We talk a couple times a day on the phone, and send emails here and there. I also talk to Icenhour, Kristoph, and a few other people on skype.

Come to think about it, I do a lot of more writing now that I'm here. I knock out emails like they are a joke. Because of my self-proclaimed policy of not cheating one on a good story they tend to be long. That's why Danielle, if you're reading this, you won't be reading anything you don't already know ;)

John Benningfield is up here, and that is great. It's always nice to see old friends. Last night he took me out, and I got royally drunk. Another clue that I'm not in Sasebo, a credit card was stolen and I had to cancel it after I saw a $1,100 charge! The company was some Japanese name, but that didn't matter. I had a good time, but not that expensive of one! I did wake up to find my wallet empty of all the yen I had inside. It was a lot of fun, but I felt like hammered shit all day today. Just paying for my sins of a good time. Thee is the Wade Hayes song, "too much fun," and I think there actually is such a thing.

I have another friend up here who I know from my time in Diego Garcia. Her name is Sarah, and as it turns out, it may just be a cursed name! We hung out every day this week having dinner together (she was recently stationed on the USS Blue Ridge, a flag ship). She was only in Yoko for 10 days before me, but I've been in Japan for 13 months longer than her. Anyway, she met up with John and I last night, I did something stupid in the midst of being drunk (imagine that), and we aren't talking anymore. It's okay, I'm moving on.

Somehow I found a website that all of the season 6 House episodes, so I was rocking through that. I watched all 21 episodes, so it will be interesting as to what I will do now with my free time. Maybe I will actually start running. I'm thinking about it.

What else is there? Took the bullet train to get up here, and that was awesome. It was the quietest, smoothest mode of travel I've ever had. I can say too I've traveled faster landspeed than anyone I know! Lots of goodbye parties too. Had dinner with HM1 Martinez and her family two days before I left. They will be back in the states before I return. Icenhour will staying at my home for the 10 or so days before he goes back to the states. Normally people stay at the navy lodge before they rotate back to the states, but because I won't be home during that time I agreed to just let him stay at my house. That meant I got to give my apartment intense cleaning before I left. It's okay, I really don't mind. He will be in Japan for one more night the day I get back. It's going to be a hungover day the following morning I can sense it already.

Meh, I still have to iron my uniform. Since I have so much free time in my evenings now I can probably get back on a once a week posting cycle again. In the meantime, I am here and morale is stable. Either way this is a new experience for me, and I'm trying to seize every opportunity that becomes available.