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Hey, surprise! I got another piece of Monkey mail last night! Yay! This one was a little bit longer and less scattered. Here is most of it, edited for context, names, etc:"I really cant even remember how many days i have been underway now, i know it hasnt been more than a few, but with the 18 hour business i kinda get thrown off. Yesterday i thought it was monday all day long and didnt realize it until i saw that they were serving dinner for breakfast. They of course were actually serving dinner - I just got confused.
Been working on quals, quals and more quals. I was going over some quals with [Sailor Joe] and [Sailor Bob] knocked my note book out of my hand. Like "FRESHMAN" style. It was kinda funny. So I just laughed at it, like "roger that...". Then I waited a little while and pulled out a pink Jolly Rancher (you might remember that he likes anything that is pink). So I gave it to him and let him unwrap it about half way and then slapped it out of his hand. Everybody laughed. Sweet vengance!
... [Sailor Bill] and [Sailor Bob] are trying to pick on me and it kinda shows, the great thing about it is that with my personality - I get mad that they would try to do that and that anger gets tunneled into tenacity. It looks like I will actually be qualified before [Sailor Bill] - THAT WOULD BE EPIC!!!!
oooooooh. Anyways! Im so close to the end of my qualifications - getting a little more antsy in some ways and a little less in others. Learning a lot.... I get compliments still fom a few A-gangers that i know my shit really well which makes me happy.
So, there isnt really much other than that. Been kinda the same thing over and over again, Quals quals quals!
And speaking of which i gotta get to a meeting so i can probably get another signature on my air block."
You all are long overdue for an update. Most of the gremlins from the last post have been taken care of. Turns out T-mobile owes him money. The verizon thing is going to be a little more difficult but he obviously can't deal with it until he gets back. There hasn't been anything I can talk about in Navy biz because for the last two weeks it's been 'ok, we're leaving. No, now we're not leaving. Yes, now we are again. No, we moved it' etc. So finally, Thursday morning they left, bright and early. ...and I didn't get to say good bye. I had practice 'till late, then I had a going away party to go to. There was a small window between me getting out of practice and him having to go on watch. And we misaligned and missed it. So no goodbyes. :( And, he wasn't able to tell me when he'll be back. I kind of know, but I have no firm date. The last time I saw him he didn't remember the date, and once he knew he couldn't tell me because he can't tell me over the phone. So... we'll all just have to wait. Yesterday I got my first piece of Monkey mail. The first ones seem to always be short. He sounds tired but determined. Here's a piece of his email:"i have been working on qualifying a different watch that they need me to stand. Kind of excited about it. I need to get it done so bad though! Ships quals have gotten a little harder actually, just hit a bit of a road block. But im told that its because im "nuking" it. I just like to actually know what im talking about. But i still have to make up for some check-outs that were a little too easy. So between that and the watch, and sleeping which i dont think im gonna do for the rest of this under way - i have a plan - i have been well worked."
You can tell how tired he is by how he's typing. And I'm not quite sure what he's saying there at the end. He goes on to say that the only thing that's really stressing him out is one guy who's got a bit of an unwarranted power trip. I've met this guy. B is probably not exaggerating.So, now we wait. I'm super proud of him, and can not wait for him to get home! I will of course be keeping you all updated as things transpire.
Gah! We just start to get everything all sorted out and the gremlins come out to play! As I'm opening his mail last night, I find a bill from Verizon for almost $300! Then two collection notices for that account. He calls to find out what's going on and it turns out it's from an account he canceled months ago but they have apparently still been billing him for. Verizon says they can't do anything about it because it's gone to collections, and collections says they can't do anything because all they do is collect money. This should be fun... There is also a mysterious $68 credit or bill from a T-Mobile account he hasn't had for a very long time. We can't figure out which one it is. Seems to be a credit, so he has to call get and that figured out too. And, he got a ticket for running a toll booth. He knew that one was coming, though. He forgot to move over to the right lanes at Tacoma Narrows and accidentally bypassed that paystation. The only problem is it's really overdue now. We should really go get his mail more often.This wouldn't all be so bad except the collections thing is going to mess up his credit that we've been working to rebuild, and he doesn't have a lot of time to fix it before he goes underway again. And he doesn't really have any time during the days to deal with it. It's really all just really annoying. A lot of annoying, all at once. And on a side note, we haven't seen each other for over two weeks now. :( I guess we've been spoiled. We used to make it about two months before we started getting all pathetic about it when he was on the east coast. :/ That's all. Just new stresses. Had to vent. Nothing else to really talk about right now. Most everything going on on the boat we can't talk about, and since he hasn't been home we haven't had any adventures.
So, on the plan of the day for tomorrow I am listed as FSA of the Month for July. I found that out at the end of the day. I was kinda happy with it. The cooks like me - this is a good thing, i will have them make pizza for the members of my final board! Muahahaha!My captain was relieved of command today, not due to the problems with our crew, but for health reasons. It is more than a small shame. I hadn't been under his command very long but I had a great deal of respect for him. I felt a bit of hooyah when we all stood up at attention for him in crews mess after it was announced. Normally you stand at attention because you are ordered to. But you could tell in the way that we all stood tall and sharp that every man in that room stood not out of tradition, but out of respect. That means something to me. Former CO of USS Henry M Jackson - I salute you, sir.Other than that... I didn't have the greatest day. I was given some really hard lookups ona qualification last night so i only got 2 hours of sleep before having to go to work again, and i slept on the boat so i legitimately worked for 36 of the last 38 hours. Not so hooyah. On the plus side, now having been given the rather difficult to find look-ups - i knot the system i was learning rather well.We were always told in boot camp; "Some days you will love it, some days - you'll hate it." I guess that goes with anything. But it looks like this is going to be yet another working weekend - BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.Anyhoozle, can't wait to talk to my Ducky tonight, though it wont be for long. I love and miss her so so so much!
Today he FINALLY gets to start doing his job! He's out of the kitchen, to the dismay of the CS's. Now he gets to start kicking butt on what he was trained to do. Yea! I haven't talked to him at all today so I don't know how it's going. I know, at the very least, he is busy. Not one text from him since 4 this morning.That's all, just a quick update.Not getting to see him this weekend has shot my miss-o-meter up to critical... I need a Monkey fix stat!
Muahaha, So I am on shore for a little while still. Cant go into what happened here. But it always seems like its a funny thing that brings me back to port early.Still doing dishes. Blah. Its alright I suppose. New set of people that are just not as cool as the old people, im the most senior one.We just had a fire drill in my barracks, not sure why. But it was perfect timing because my helicopter had just finished charging, so i flew it out over the crowd as we were gathered. flew it right in front of one guys face too cause he annoys me! It was great! Awesome anniversary gift!Ducky and I had a great last couple days together. I enjoy her company so much. I throw little love fits when i see her on the computer screen - this happens on a regular basis. I can't believe a whole year has gone by since we got married. I know that isnt that long really, but its a mile stone that i am proud of. I am amazed that we haven't even really been 'together' during the past year and yet we are still going strong, and getting along better than most couples.... almost all couples that i see. Its amazing that we fit as well as we do, the way we handle each other. I didnt even know i could love and respect a person this much. I have never smiled so much as in the past year, my face muscles could rival a rabid bull! Every little thing she does still makes me laugh, and warms my heart just because what she does is so 'her'. I love her SO!So here's to a year, a year apart - but a year that has brought me closer to anyone than i have ever been. I am even more honored today, than i was the day we were wed - to be with my Ducky. She truly is the warmth in my heart, the fire in my soul that pushes me through the day.And on that note - I really do mean it! I frequently ask myself; "Would i put my name on this work, the name that my wife bares with me?" Its a strange and wonderful thing, I think.Super sleepy right now so i cant go into the wonderful affairs of the boat. Lets just say that i am more of a 'dig-it' than i thought. I cant stand these little weenies that come to the boat thinking they wouldn't have to work, and complaining that they are treated poorly when they clearly are not...I shall squish them.Sleepy time - soooo tired!
He left in the wee hours this morning for his second adventure. I made it up there this weekend to spend on last day with him. I was supposed to get there around 4 on Friday but got stuck in horrible traffic from an accident in Centrailia. I got there about 6:30 - 7.
I don't have stickers for my car to get on base yet because my registration for my car still has my old last name on it. It's a pain to change it when you're still making payments on it, and we plan to have it paid off in a few months so I figured I'd just wait since I'm not up there very often. Usually, i just get a temporary pass at the gate no problem but for whatever reason it confused the guy this time. As i was pulling up, the guy at the gate was kind of eyeballing my car, looking at my windshield where my stickers would be. I put my id out the window for him and just looked at me and asked if he could help me. I gestured with my id to take it. Which he did, then he looked at me oddly and said "you don't have stickers." I said, "No, i don't have stickers, i usually just get a temporary pass." "Oh, you need a temporary pass?" "Yes." "Ok, here's your pass, it goes on your dash" "Yes, thank you."... maybe he was new? Usually, i don't have to ask, they just hand me one when they see my ID but no stickers. I seem to have confused this guy.So Saturday we spent the morning at the NEX getting last minute things he needed for the underway. One of these items being a sturdy metal waterbottle with a hook for a carabeiner. (You'll understand this if you've been following previous posts) Then we did some laundry and he got to play with the helicopter toy i got him. He was having so much fun! :D Later we went for a drive to see what we could find to do. We found a little town and walked around. They had a small museum, but it closed at 5, and it was just then 5. But, we found a kayak shop that does sunset tours. We're going to go back there for that some time. The rest of the night we just hung out and watched a movie in his barracks. Then i headed home. Got back about 1:30 this morning. It was a good weekend. I can't wait for him to get back. Miss him already.This underway is pretty short. I obviously can't give a return date on here, but I'm sure he will make calls when he gets back. He'll be back for a little bit then back out again. He seems to be doing really well, is kicking butt, and making a good impression. He's been super busy so he hasn't had time to share stories on the blog. But, in general they all revolve around him doing an awesome job and getting some cool props. I'm so proud of him. If I get Monkey mail i will pass it along. Until then, it's late and I've got to get to bed. Night all.
