Well since my last post, the ships got underway for a Group Sail...let me tell you, there is NOTHING better than being underway on a Navy vessel and not having a division to worry about or a watch to stand! We treat it like a regular work day, which is fabulous!
It's been really busy here! Not work busy really, I turned over my job today so it's officially mine now. I have a Duty Officer board tomorrow afternoon to qualify me to be the officer on duty. Duty days here aren't bad though, you can leave the ship and stuff, you just need the ship cell phone and radio. Every Friday the Commodore tries to get everyone to play golf with him at 4pm. I went last week, and boy did I suck, but by the last hole I wasn't quite so bad. (Thanks Dad for taking me golfing when I was little!) So I'll probably go to the range and hit balls to practice. The Commodore is going on leave for a while, so maybe I'll be better by the time he gets back. Actually most of the guys suck and they hit the first three holes and just drink their way through the course! It's only 9 holes, and they really aren't too bad...at least there aren't any gators like back home!
Of the guys my age that I work with there are three. If you're new to my blogs, you'll learn that I nickname people, because most of them don't know I'm writing all this and posting it online. One is Ice Cream (who LOVES the stuff!), he leaves in a month, and it's his job I just took. The second is Burn Notice (or BN, because I think he looks like a shorter better built version of the main character in the show Burn Notice) who is the Material Officer for the ships out here, and the third is our Suppo, an Ens, named well...I actually never call him by his name! So we'll just keep calling him Suppo! I like everyone actually, thank GOD!
But the only problem is that they're all guys...so they don't think to mention to me that every time I take a boat launch from the ship (which is anchored in the lagoon) to the shore that I should bring at least one change of clothes! It's so hot here and humid that just being outside for 10 min will drench your shirt clean through! They all just go swimming in their shorts which are made to dry super fast...my clothes...are not. Needless to say I looked very much like a drowned rat those first days. And last week we all went sailing in a race! Ice Cream and BN are good sailors so Suppo and I were the line pullers for each of them. It was really fun actually. Maybe I'll actually learn how to sail while I'm here.
I've also, knock on wood, not really gotten burned here! I got a little from sailing, but considering how long I'm outside in this heat (my god this heat) it's amazing. Those UV Sun Sense bracelets that I bought are the greatest invention! I'm super aware of putting on sunscreen so, so far so good!
I also have a Chief who works for me, GMC / Twitch. He's a twitchy wiry hyperactive guy. A little strange, but so far so good (and aren't we all anyways?). We ran the gun range yesterday...Oh boy! It's a 30min drive to the range, it's in the middle of nowhere near the end of the island. There were no benches, tables, cover at all! Our Doc ( a civilian contracted medical officer) and I made a tent out of ponchos string and the two vans we brought with us. We went out there at 8am and I didn't get back on the ship until 10pm! We brought coolers of water, but we all still got pretty dehydrated.
Ice Cream and BN came out halfway through the day and we took an hour around lunch and drove farther into the woods to the Plantation. There used to be a coconut plantation here a long time ago and now it's sort of like Spanish Point just not really restored. The photo to the left is me at the far right during Heritage Holidays at Spanish Point in middle school!
The plantation is very creepy but cool to see all the houses and buildings and the stove falling apart in the kitchen! There are lots of rats though. (Actually rats are the biggest wildlife problem on the island. They ask everyone to try and run them over and kill them if we can...creepy. They are NOT nice rats.) We walked around a little while and then went back to the gun shoot. This is a website that talks about the plantation...it's very interesting and has some good photos! http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/tara.html You still technically have to get permission to go to the plantation, but we snuck back there, the BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territory) Police never come back there.
I sucked at my 9mm qual...really badly, I'm super embarrassed, but GMC just says that means he'll give me a 9mm and a box of ammo every time we go out there so I can get better! Ironically, near the end of the day when I was at my worst and shaking like mad I nearly shot Expert with the M16! It made up for doing so badly earlier. We put everything away by 9 and the other Jo's and GMC went with me and we got some pizza, we were falling asleep in the chairs! (at least I was)Haha. I got back, showered, and passed out! Thank goodness work doesn't really start until 8am, so I got some great sleep. And after the whole day out there I have no sunburn!!
Today I'm studying for my board and going to the bank to be approved as a signer as the recreational funds custodian. What a joke, we only have a few hundred dollars! Haha, actually, everything on the island is ridiculously cheap! I had a BLT, fries and an iced tea at a restaurant on base last week, my bill was $3! The food here isn't bad actually, there are 4 or 5 places to go and eat plus I can eat on the ship, which isn' bad at all either! Although today I had soup...and I spilled it on my hand and now have some very minor 2nd degree burns on my pinkie and ring finger...ouch.
Friday should be interesting! The Royal Wedding is a national holiday for the Brits on the Island so they're having a big outdoor party and festival! I hope I get to see it! I remember when Princess Dianna got divorced I think, and they played the wedding on tv and my Mom made me stay up for a little while to see her wedding dress! It's random the things I remember!
Well that's all for now! I'll keep updating, I love hearing from all of you!
I'll leave you with a picture of one of the hundreds of totally secluded beaches out here! It's like a movie!
It's been really busy here! Not work busy really, I turned over my job today so it's officially mine now. I have a Duty Officer board tomorrow afternoon to qualify me to be the officer on duty. Duty days here aren't bad though, you can leave the ship and stuff, you just need the ship cell phone and radio. Every Friday the Commodore tries to get everyone to play golf with him at 4pm. I went last week, and boy did I suck, but by the last hole I wasn't quite so bad. (Thanks Dad for taking me golfing when I was little!) So I'll probably go to the range and hit balls to practice. The Commodore is going on leave for a while, so maybe I'll be better by the time he gets back. Actually most of the guys suck and they hit the first three holes and just drink their way through the course! It's only 9 holes, and they really aren't too bad...at least there aren't any gators like back home!
Of the guys my age that I work with there are three. If you're new to my blogs, you'll learn that I nickname people, because most of them don't know I'm writing all this and posting it online. One is Ice Cream (who LOVES the stuff!), he leaves in a month, and it's his job I just took. The second is Burn Notice (or BN, because I think he looks like a shorter better built version of the main character in the show Burn Notice) who is the Material Officer for the ships out here, and the third is our Suppo, an Ens, named well...I actually never call him by his name! So we'll just keep calling him Suppo! I like everyone actually, thank GOD!
But the only problem is that they're all guys...so they don't think to mention to me that every time I take a boat launch from the ship (which is anchored in the lagoon) to the shore that I should bring at least one change of clothes! It's so hot here and humid that just being outside for 10 min will drench your shirt clean through! They all just go swimming in their shorts which are made to dry super fast...my clothes...are not. Needless to say I looked very much like a drowned rat those first days. And last week we all went sailing in a race! Ice Cream and BN are good sailors so Suppo and I were the line pullers for each of them. It was really fun actually. Maybe I'll actually learn how to sail while I'm here.
I've also, knock on wood, not really gotten burned here! I got a little from sailing, but considering how long I'm outside in this heat (my god this heat) it's amazing. Those UV Sun Sense bracelets that I bought are the greatest invention! I'm super aware of putting on sunscreen so, so far so good!
I also have a Chief who works for me, GMC / Twitch. He's a twitchy wiry hyperactive guy. A little strange, but so far so good (and aren't we all anyways?). We ran the gun range yesterday...Oh boy! It's a 30min drive to the range, it's in the middle of nowhere near the end of the island. There were no benches, tables, cover at all! Our Doc ( a civilian contracted medical officer) and I made a tent out of ponchos string and the two vans we brought with us. We went out there at 8am and I didn't get back on the ship until 10pm! We brought coolers of water, but we all still got pretty dehydrated.
Ice Cream and BN came out halfway through the day and we took an hour around lunch and drove farther into the woods to the Plantation. There used to be a coconut plantation here a long time ago and now it's sort of like Spanish Point just not really restored. The photo to the left is me at the far right during Heritage Holidays at Spanish Point in middle school!I sucked at my 9mm qual...really badly, I'm super embarrassed, but GMC just says that means he'll give me a 9mm and a box of ammo every time we go out there so I can get better! Ironically, near the end of the day when I was at my worst and shaking like mad I nearly shot Expert with the M16! It made up for doing so badly earlier. We put everything away by 9 and the other Jo's and GMC went with me and we got some pizza, we were falling asleep in the chairs! (at least I was)Haha. I got back, showered, and passed out! Thank goodness work doesn't really start until 8am, so I got some great sleep. And after the whole day out there I have no sunburn!!
Today I'm studying for my board and going to the bank to be approved as a signer as the recreational funds custodian. What a joke, we only have a few hundred dollars! Haha, actually, everything on the island is ridiculously cheap! I had a BLT, fries and an iced tea at a restaurant on base last week, my bill was $3! The food here isn't bad actually, there are 4 or 5 places to go and eat plus I can eat on the ship, which isn' bad at all either! Although today I had soup...and I spilled it on my hand and now have some very minor 2nd degree burns on my pinkie and ring finger...ouch.
Friday should be interesting! The Royal Wedding is a national holiday for the Brits on the Island so they're having a big outdoor party and festival! I hope I get to see it! I remember when Princess Dianna got divorced I think, and they played the wedding on tv and my Mom made me stay up for a little while to see her wedding dress! It's random the things I remember!
Well that's all for now! I'll keep updating, I love hearing from all of you!
I'll leave you with a picture of one of the hundreds of totally secluded beaches out here! It's like a movie!
