shiver me timbers. yarr, i have no timbers.
figured a post would not be out of line.
i'm in scotland (again), once again looking around and trying to figure out what the heck that bartender just said (post facto, i figure out that he said, "just a pint. is that all, then", but he said it in only 3 syllables). i've gotten out to glasgow a time or two, and each time i've discovered that it's a town that bears more exploration. saw stirling and edinburgh, as well--pictures are forthcoming on the usual website.
i owe an apology to the country, by the way. not all scottish women look like john elway--only the ones in helensburgh. it's worth noting, though, that both norway and scotland have way more fat people that i'd been led to believe a european country would field. scotland, especially--i think it's the ridiculous amounts of fried food they have here. just one more way that scotland is the South of the UK.
oh yeah, i also went to norway. hi swendy!
so i bought some cds in glasgow and have now discovered (to my delight and surprise) that i can put them onto my ipod using only my laptop, some chewing gum, a rubber band and a paper clip. to be totally honest, the gum is for chewing and the latter two items are for shooting paperclips at unsuspecting shipmates. i just added them in to make the process sound more macguyver. one of the cds is a collection of irish pub songs--i have been pleasantly surprised to find that people here actually sing in pubs. sure, they tend to be football hooligan songs, but those are entertaining, if nerve inducing (part of the brief they gave us when we first came to this port was not to wear blue or green jerseys, lest we be assaulted by celtic or ranger fans). the beer here is not generally great (a whole island obsessed with lager ?!), but there are a few gems that shine through. and the whisky. oh, the whisky. i don't know what i'll drink when i get back to the states.
hmm. more to the point. i don't know if my last post talked about me staying on this boat for 6 months vice 3, but that's the way it's turned out. hopefully i'll get my quals finished on this deployment; if i do, it's all been totally worth it. the fact that i've stayed for the extra time has only increased the speculation that i'll end up staying on the rickover to travel north to portsmouth (new hampshire) for the decommissioning. i protest that i want to see hawai'i before this is over--if it doesn't happen i'll know that some malevolent force is actively preventing me from seeing hawai'i, and i'll have to plan my next attempt more carefully.
sub life is pretty bad. it's been better recently--we've been suffering from a technical trouble beyond the scope of the ship's force. still, the lack of sleep being constantly informed of our continuing inadequacies wears something fierce. you take your joy where you can find it, but it seems that something will always come up.
yesterday i totally failed to hit it off with an attractive clerk at a climbing goods store. it irks me even more because of her smile and the fact that she initiated conversation ("oh, do you climb?"). it's extremely bothersome, because if i can't turn that into a conversation (for the love of god! i was in a climbing goods store! buying a climbing magazine!), then i clearly am meant to die alone.
well, the clock reminds me that i've got work tomorrow. leave a comment or drop an email if you want anything scottish. i've some license (licence?) to travel, so i can probably lay hands on anything reasonable. ciao, e-friends
jr
i'm in scotland (again), once again looking around and trying to figure out what the heck that bartender just said (post facto, i figure out that he said, "just a pint. is that all, then", but he said it in only 3 syllables). i've gotten out to glasgow a time or two, and each time i've discovered that it's a town that bears more exploration. saw stirling and edinburgh, as well--pictures are forthcoming on the usual website.
i owe an apology to the country, by the way. not all scottish women look like john elway--only the ones in helensburgh. it's worth noting, though, that both norway and scotland have way more fat people that i'd been led to believe a european country would field. scotland, especially--i think it's the ridiculous amounts of fried food they have here. just one more way that scotland is the South of the UK.
oh yeah, i also went to norway. hi swendy!
so i bought some cds in glasgow and have now discovered (to my delight and surprise) that i can put them onto my ipod using only my laptop, some chewing gum, a rubber band and a paper clip. to be totally honest, the gum is for chewing and the latter two items are for shooting paperclips at unsuspecting shipmates. i just added them in to make the process sound more macguyver. one of the cds is a collection of irish pub songs--i have been pleasantly surprised to find that people here actually sing in pubs. sure, they tend to be football hooligan songs, but those are entertaining, if nerve inducing (part of the brief they gave us when we first came to this port was not to wear blue or green jerseys, lest we be assaulted by celtic or ranger fans). the beer here is not generally great (a whole island obsessed with lager ?!), but there are a few gems that shine through. and the whisky. oh, the whisky. i don't know what i'll drink when i get back to the states.
hmm. more to the point. i don't know if my last post talked about me staying on this boat for 6 months vice 3, but that's the way it's turned out. hopefully i'll get my quals finished on this deployment; if i do, it's all been totally worth it. the fact that i've stayed for the extra time has only increased the speculation that i'll end up staying on the rickover to travel north to portsmouth (new hampshire) for the decommissioning. i protest that i want to see hawai'i before this is over--if it doesn't happen i'll know that some malevolent force is actively preventing me from seeing hawai'i, and i'll have to plan my next attempt more carefully.
sub life is pretty bad. it's been better recently--we've been suffering from a technical trouble beyond the scope of the ship's force. still, the lack of sleep being constantly informed of our continuing inadequacies wears something fierce. you take your joy where you can find it, but it seems that something will always come up.
yesterday i totally failed to hit it off with an attractive clerk at a climbing goods store. it irks me even more because of her smile and the fact that she initiated conversation ("oh, do you climb?"). it's extremely bothersome, because if i can't turn that into a conversation (for the love of god! i was in a climbing goods store! buying a climbing magazine!), then i clearly am meant to die alone.
well, the clock reminds me that i've got work tomorrow. leave a comment or drop an email if you want anything scottish. i've some license (licence?) to travel, so i can probably lay hands on anything reasonable. ciao, e-friends
jr