Long time no comment
A ton has happened since my last entry. Frankly I've been so down I've had no motivation to write or share since my last entry, and didn't want to make a ton of 'fake' entries that didn't reflect what has been going on in my mind (completely different than what's been going on in my life).
I do promise to catch up eventually. I had to keep a written journal from Aug 15 to Sep 15, so I have alot of material to transcribe over, most of which isn't time sensitive. It isn't very emotionally engaged either, so don't expect any gems once I type them in - most of it is leadership observations & reminiscing.
* Recent event highlights, starting w/ the most recent then proceeding mostly backwards but skipping around some as things come to me:
One of my guys tried to kill himself by swallowing a bottle of Tylenol & half a bottle of Motrin after having a really bad day. He's still alive (thank G-d), but he's obviously headed out of the Navy. /sigh
One of my other guys is in treatment for alcohol abuse. Hopefully he finishes treatment in time before our next underway.
Work is frantically hectic (just put that down to every day of the last two months) and stressful.
I've been promoted to Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy.
My parents, lovely wife, and all the children were able to see my anchors pinned on at the promotion ceremony which was held while I was out to sea, which was THE highlight of 2006 for me. Mom & Dad flew out 6,000 miles w/ basically 48hrs notice to spend 15 minutes w/ me. Wow. I'm still amazed.
Immediately after the ceremony, we turned the boat around & headed back out for more at sea operations while my family went back to shore on a small boat used for personnel transfers.
I made it through the whole CPO Transition period largely intact.
I did pull one of the major muscles in my upper back during the last underway, but Flexoril, Naproxin, and Motrin helped the recovery & I'm pretty much 'back' in business.
I'm suffering from horrible insomnia lately and can't seem to sleep for more than 3 hours at a clip.
I should be seeing new written orders for another submarine sometime soon (I hope). I won't be leaving this boat as soon as I would have liked, but I will 99% sure be transferring before 2007. All indications are that I'll remain homeported out of Pearl Harbor, so the family won't have to move.
More info later. I'm off to NOT sleep in my bed for 3 hours until I have to get up again for work.
I do promise to catch up eventually. I had to keep a written journal from Aug 15 to Sep 15, so I have alot of material to transcribe over, most of which isn't time sensitive. It isn't very emotionally engaged either, so don't expect any gems once I type them in - most of it is leadership observations & reminiscing.
* Recent event highlights, starting w/ the most recent then proceeding mostly backwards but skipping around some as things come to me:
One of my guys tried to kill himself by swallowing a bottle of Tylenol & half a bottle of Motrin after having a really bad day. He's still alive (thank G-d), but he's obviously headed out of the Navy. /sigh
One of my other guys is in treatment for alcohol abuse. Hopefully he finishes treatment in time before our next underway.
Work is frantically hectic (just put that down to every day of the last two months) and stressful.
I've been promoted to Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy.
My parents, lovely wife, and all the children were able to see my anchors pinned on at the promotion ceremony which was held while I was out to sea, which was THE highlight of 2006 for me. Mom & Dad flew out 6,000 miles w/ basically 48hrs notice to spend 15 minutes w/ me. Wow. I'm still amazed.
Immediately after the ceremony, we turned the boat around & headed back out for more at sea operations while my family went back to shore on a small boat used for personnel transfers.
I made it through the whole CPO Transition period largely intact.
I did pull one of the major muscles in my upper back during the last underway, but Flexoril, Naproxin, and Motrin helped the recovery & I'm pretty much 'back' in business.
I'm suffering from horrible insomnia lately and can't seem to sleep for more than 3 hours at a clip.
I should be seeing new written orders for another submarine sometime soon (I hope). I won't be leaving this boat as soon as I would have liked, but I will 99% sure be transferring before 2007. All indications are that I'll remain homeported out of Pearl Harbor, so the family won't have to move.
More info later. I'm off to NOT sleep in my bed for 3 hours until I have to get up again for work.