on my way to hawaii

12/11/04…excerpts from a letter to Kady:

The Navy does a special meal once a month for everyone who had a birthday that month and they all get cake. It's usually steak and "lobster"…tonight it was popcorn shrimp. I got the grisly looking steak and it was completely uncooked. Now, I like my steak raw…but not uncooked, especially not for breakfast. It looked like it had been frozen when they threw it on the grill. Gross. I slept okay, but woke up sore.

So. The SSGT (staff seargent) in charge of the shop decided we all need to PT as a shop. He's leading day crew in typical USMC group excercises (ugh) but night crew, thankfully, is on our own. So the SGT in charge of nights decided we would all go to the gym at like 5 am. This after a full night of work. I was so tired already. By five, we're usually done for the night so we can catch breakfast and clean up the shop before the day starts. Oh, and it turns out that the gym is reserved for Gunnies and above from 4:30 to 6:30….it's a wonder they didn't kick us out. Anyway, that's why I was so tired and slept for like ten hours.

I want to work out while I'm here, and I don't have enough free time to do it on my own, so working out at work is perfect. I just don't want to do it last thing in the morning. Evening or after midnight would be perfect because that would give me energy to get through the rest of the night. Plus, working out and then going straight to sleep makes your muscles tighten up and ache all the next day (night).

This 12 on 12 off is B.S. anyway. We come in between 6:30 6:45 and stay until past 7:30 the next morning…so I don't get back to the rack until almost eight usually. After sleeping eight hours, I have two hours of personal time to include showering, shaving and anything else I need to get done, like eating. It's not going to get any better when we hit the dirt and actually have real missions to do.

For now, I can always buy little things I need on the boat. It may be a bigger issue when I'm in country and there may not be a store anywhere to buy razors and such.

I had to get another tuberculosis test shot today. They stick you in the arm and inject something that makes a bubble under your skin. Then you have to come back two days later and have them look at it to see if you've been exposed to TB. I got mine read today and they think either I've been exposed or the doc that stuck me messed up and went too deep. I doubt that I have it, but if they think I do then I have to start a nine month cycle of medication that prevents me from drinking entirely. Wow. Wouldn't that suck?

I'm also scheduled to get my small pox immunization soon. Probably after Hawaii. That's the wicked shot that leaves a permanent scar on your arm. I mean, they give you small pox fercrisakes! That's the one that I was worried about getting around you because it's so volitile