(no subject)
Once again a long while has passed since my last update. Don't worry though, its okay now, long lapses in presence are EB tradition. Its a trick i do, where i create this little shadow in my head then conceal myself in it, unfortunately existential shadows seem to be much stickier than the simple lack of light real life ones... Takes a bit longer to get out of them.
My Senior chief sat down with me a couple days ago for a special evaluation, since I was taking the advancment exam... It went well, typical you're a great work with room to improve(not much different than corporate bullshit). The good news is I got a 4.0 eval(Slawson will know a bit more about what that means) which will give me a great chance at making the cut to Second Class Petty Officer.
While I was there Senior Chief(who I will from now on only refer to as Senior) asked me why I wasn't participating on the ship's basketball or softball team. You look like an athletic guy, he said, you should play. I think he sensed my hesitation in answering because he quickly added before I could reply, don't you like sports?(this last question had the whole 'aren't you a man?" type of undertone) Why yes, I said, I just don't like the other people on this ship. Luckily, Senior is avery understanding person, and a sci-fi nerd at heart, so since I am his current star technician, he allows me to be super anti-social and mostly just leaves me to my own devices. As long as I get the workcenter's work done, without him telling me to, I'm allowed to be a ghost. And ectoplasmic I am!
For the first time in my life, I deeply regret a choice I made. Not the whole, joining the navy(actually I think that it has been a wonderful choice and will be a great benefit to me when I get out in four and a half years) but chosing Hawaii as my duty station was definately a big mistake. Of course, there really is no way I could have known it before making the choice. I can't stand Hawaii for most of the same reasons I never liked anywhere in small town America... accept since it is actually an Island all those small townisms are horribly magnified. The whole tourist attitude makes almost everhwere downtown completley incompatable with myself. China town is better... but on a very small scale.
I do love the beaches though, and the warmth, but I hate the rain. It doesn't rain here like Michigan. Michigan rains are good, cleansing rains. The kind of rains that made holing up in the Carpet Ship or Chaos House with a good book or a movie and a bunch of the tribe so much fun. Here in hawaii, the rains are like summer colds... just wet and cold enough to be annoying but otherwise insubstantial, not enough water falls to wash anything away so it just makes the pier wet and foul smelling, and all the stupid locals slow down to 10 miles an hour (they were only going twenty-five by the way, and the speed limit was fifty).
The only repose i have here is a local game/comic ship. Luckily there are some great hobbiests as well as some devout Neil Gaiman fans... both of which I get along with. The downside is that I rarely have time to spend with them since I'm billetted to the most active ship on the pier. Luckily Obama's policies are changing that. All the pointless underways that we did to make the Captain look good are going away since Obama said "No, Mr. SECNAV(Secretary of the Navy) you have to be smart with money too." By the way... this should piss all you economists off(it sure pissed me off) The christmas before last the ships spent $15,000 on christmas lights... (Granted it wasn't taxpayer money, it was money generated from junk sold at the ship store... but still a huge waste if you ask me.) It's a FUCKING WARSHIP... we need to be READY to go to WAR at anytime... but no... I spend three days zip tying $15,000 worth of Christmas lights to the Dam CIWS and VLS Launchers. IS THAT FUCKING OPERATIONAL READINESS???? Aparently Saint Nick had a lot to do with naval holiday strategems.
Peace out bitches.
I miss you all an incredible amount... and even though you may not hear from me often... know that you all are constantly in my thoughts. I'm somewhere on the ocean... doing all I can to make the world safer for my friends. And that is the thought that keeps me motivated.
My Senior chief sat down with me a couple days ago for a special evaluation, since I was taking the advancment exam... It went well, typical you're a great work with room to improve(not much different than corporate bullshit). The good news is I got a 4.0 eval(Slawson will know a bit more about what that means) which will give me a great chance at making the cut to Second Class Petty Officer.
While I was there Senior Chief(who I will from now on only refer to as Senior) asked me why I wasn't participating on the ship's basketball or softball team. You look like an athletic guy, he said, you should play. I think he sensed my hesitation in answering because he quickly added before I could reply, don't you like sports?(this last question had the whole 'aren't you a man?" type of undertone) Why yes, I said, I just don't like the other people on this ship. Luckily, Senior is avery understanding person, and a sci-fi nerd at heart, so since I am his current star technician, he allows me to be super anti-social and mostly just leaves me to my own devices. As long as I get the workcenter's work done, without him telling me to, I'm allowed to be a ghost. And ectoplasmic I am!
For the first time in my life, I deeply regret a choice I made. Not the whole, joining the navy(actually I think that it has been a wonderful choice and will be a great benefit to me when I get out in four and a half years) but chosing Hawaii as my duty station was definately a big mistake. Of course, there really is no way I could have known it before making the choice. I can't stand Hawaii for most of the same reasons I never liked anywhere in small town America... accept since it is actually an Island all those small townisms are horribly magnified. The whole tourist attitude makes almost everhwere downtown completley incompatable with myself. China town is better... but on a very small scale.
I do love the beaches though, and the warmth, but I hate the rain. It doesn't rain here like Michigan. Michigan rains are good, cleansing rains. The kind of rains that made holing up in the Carpet Ship or Chaos House with a good book or a movie and a bunch of the tribe so much fun. Here in hawaii, the rains are like summer colds... just wet and cold enough to be annoying but otherwise insubstantial, not enough water falls to wash anything away so it just makes the pier wet and foul smelling, and all the stupid locals slow down to 10 miles an hour (they were only going twenty-five by the way, and the speed limit was fifty).
The only repose i have here is a local game/comic ship. Luckily there are some great hobbiests as well as some devout Neil Gaiman fans... both of which I get along with. The downside is that I rarely have time to spend with them since I'm billetted to the most active ship on the pier. Luckily Obama's policies are changing that. All the pointless underways that we did to make the Captain look good are going away since Obama said "No, Mr. SECNAV(Secretary of the Navy) you have to be smart with money too." By the way... this should piss all you economists off(it sure pissed me off) The christmas before last the ships spent $15,000 on christmas lights... (Granted it wasn't taxpayer money, it was money generated from junk sold at the ship store... but still a huge waste if you ask me.) It's a FUCKING WARSHIP... we need to be READY to go to WAR at anytime... but no... I spend three days zip tying $15,000 worth of Christmas lights to the Dam CIWS and VLS Launchers. IS THAT FUCKING OPERATIONAL READINESS???? Aparently Saint Nick had a lot to do with naval holiday strategems.
Peace out bitches.
I miss you all an incredible amount... and even though you may not hear from me often... know that you all are constantly in my thoughts. I'm somewhere on the ocean... doing all I can to make the world safer for my friends. And that is the thought that keeps me motivated.