Well now...

Seems access to Blogger is spotty at best. I'll have to continue to work on that.

Well, I sort of have my stuff squared away. I still have a few items to find a home for but all in all, I'm doing pretty good on my time line, especially with the hours I've been putting in. When you're underway every hour is a working hour so anytime you can get a moment to yourself you had better put it to good use. I don't think I've seen my laptop for two days now due to being so busy but it will all smooth out soon.

I have time this evening to get together with Jed and Bill and play a little guitar. They're both pretty darn good and I feel like I just picked up playing but I have a good time whenever we play, not to mention I increase my skill level playing with these two. I started playing guitar (self-taught) way back in 1990. I bought a POS guitar out of a pawn shop, borrowed a "how-to" book from my buddy Raymond, and stumbled through it all on my first Navy deployment. My influences were Jimmy Buffett, The Eagles, The Beatles, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, etc... Heck, if Jimmy Buffett can make a living off of three chords...

The biggest reason to learn guitar was to have something to do to waste away the hours while I was underway.

The biggest reason WHY I learned to play was my Dad.

This is a man who can hear a song once, and figure out how to play it. Personally, my favorite guitar player of all time. Anyway, he learned to play in his early teens and fell in love with the music. His school didn't offer guitar as a music choice so he would skip classes to go home and work on his playing. He eventually moved to Florida and became a carpenter, but he still plays today, better than he ever did.

So I've been playing off and on for 18 years but never had the drive like my Dad. I never learned how to pick or solo and am content with being able to strum a song. Jed and I've been working on Redemption Song, a wonderful song by Bob Marley, very easy to play, once you know the chords. I never would've figured it out on my own. On the other hand, I showed Jed how to play Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi so I figure it's an even trade. We haven't been able to get together and play since beginning of July so I wonder what they have in store for me tonight...

Can I get on Blogger please?

Wow! Never did I think I wouldn't be able to make a blog post when I decided to put my thoughts on this thing.

I spent the past 2 weeks moving all my "stuff" over to the USS George Washington from USS Kitty Hawk. We arrived San Diego on the 7th (8th? 9th?) for the big move. It's not news that USS Kitty Hawk came back to the States to de-commission after 47 years of honorable service. She was homeported in Yokosuka, Japan for 10 years as the Navy's only forward deployed aircraft carrier and is being replaced by USS George Washington. That means I had to move my stuff.

You would think being a Sailor, and leaving family and friends all the time, that I would have this down to a science by now. All the movies and stories show/tell the story of a Sailor walking aboard his ship for deployment with a seabag on his shoulder, all his worldly possessions in that bag, everything he will need while he's gone. Such is not the case.

All said and done I made 4 trips between the two ships, carrying my uniforms, my "going out in town" clothes, my DVDs, my movies, my XBOX, my books, my mountain bike, my guitar, and all the other stupid crap I won't need for the next couple of weeks while we transit back to Japan.

My Dad, long ago, called me a "gimmick-man." What he meant was I like my "stuff." I have so much crap, even after 2 Navy moves and the tons of "things" that I've tossed in the trash, things I thought I should keep around because "I might use it someday." And even after moving to Japan and living in my small home I have still accrued more junk that I will throw away in preparation for the move back to the States next year.

But to the point of the post...

It took several days to get ourselves set up with computer access and e-mail but those techs worked their asses off and to make the transition as seamless as possible. It took us all of 4 days to get transferred over and get our operation up and running. What a surprise for me to know I now had a regular computer all to myself, not sharing with 8 other guys. Unlimited internet access at my fingertips! Anytime of day or night! My first thought was "I have to make a Blog post about this!"

What do you mean Blogger is blocked out? Are you kidding me?

That's right. Blogger was blocked aboard my new ship! I immediately e-mailed our IT guys and asked about it. They replied they will look into it. And now I have Blogger access once again! I don't know what they did but I'm not going to ask about it again. I have access, I got what I wanted, I ain't gonna mess it up!

I guess I should've made a post before leaving the Kitty...

RIMPAC...

I spent the entire month of July off the coast of Hawaii, and a little bit of it actually in Hawaii, participating in RIMPAC, or Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2008 if you like the long version. It is the longest, most involved exercise I have ever had the privilege of being a part. It is amazing you can bring together so many ships, subs, and aircraft together from so many different countries and have them work together as a team, to accomplish a single goal.

On the flip side, it's a lot of work. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't be where I am today if I wasn't a hard-working, motivated, type-A personality, goal driven, mission accomplishment-oriented type of guy, but after this past month, if you told me I never had to participate in another RIMPAC Exercise ever again, it would be too soon for me.

I was heavily involved in behind the scenes issues, so heavily I almost missed out on some hard-earned liberty time. I was ready to get away from it all and called the Navy Lodge to see if they had a room available, really a shot in the dark since every BQ and hotel room was taken due to all the military personnel in town. As luck would have it, and this never happens to me, they just had a cancellation and there was a room. I immediately booked it for two nights and arrived around 8pm. And wouldn't you know it, the Navy Lodge is located on Ford Island, where you can visit the Arizona Memorial.

The big thing for me was just getting away from the ship. I was just plain worn out and didn't want to be around anyone. So I get checked in to the Lodge and find out the cable is out. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise as my mind was free for other things. I brought my laptop with me and hooked up to the internet and spent some quality time with my son on WoW and talking to him in Ventrilo. That's where part of my problem was because my wife called me shortly thereafter and I was so involved with the game and my son I was pretty much ignoring her. I think she's upset with me because she didn't call me back. I tried to call her but couldn't get through. At first I thought I was dialing wrong but it turned out that wasn't the case. I just couldn't get a line into Japan. So I had to call her later from a reliable phone. Needless to say, I'm going to call her everyday for a couple of days to make up for it.

I've been working the night shift while underway so it was easy for me to stay up all night and well into late morning. I saw the sun come up and decided to take a walk around the island. I can't put into words the beauty of the place. The best part of all, I forgot my camera...