Key West

I’m out in Key West for a couple of weeks of training, well my unit is training and I’m providing whatever medical coverage they need and perhaps fishing when I get a chance. This is my first time to the Keys and on first impression, it reminds me of Guam, white buildings, palm trees everywhere and the humidly. Medically, so far, all I’ve had to take care of are sunburns and some other minor ailments. It feels like I’ve fallen into some strange time warp were everyone is running around in flip flops and get off at 3. Not us but the rest of the island.

Downtown is sort of a cleaner mini Bourbon St, except there are a lot more string bikini’s and bikers both on bikes and motorcycles. Key West might be the best designed bicycle city I’ve ever been in, just about every rode has a bike path besides it, often abnormally huge bike paths so people can ride side by side. Sitting down on the side of Duval St. It was strange seeing mini parades of bikes with people in costume riding by playing music. Some odd ducks out here not that I mind, there are days when I’m sort of one. Everyone seemed laid back, it must be the heat telling the lizard part of the brain that it was alright to hang out and chill on that rock over there. Like Bourbon St, there were come clear lines where the gay and straight bars are, not that the customers were paying attention to such lines. Overall, I give this place top notches for places to people watch.

The military bases are scattered to the winds, one base is the airfield, another has the clinic, one the exchange and another, the billeting office, I couldn’t imagine trying to be stationed here without a car. Our unit has duty vans that run on a loose schedule with phone numbers posted of the drivers but it’s still not that easy getting around.

Much of my off work time has been taken up with fishing, something that I don’t get to do much in Lemoore since I spend much of my weekends hanging out with the wife and she’s definitely not the hunter/gather type. While she likes exploring, she likes to leave the wildlife where they’re supposed to be, in the wild. Myself, I grew up poor and my mom took us fishing every weekend and if I would have thought about it, would have realized that fishing was another source of food for the family. I just enjoyed doing it. Send me to a place with water and lots of fish, I’ll find a way to put a pole in the water.

Last weekend, I got myself and some of my fellow sailors on a liberty program. The military partially sponsors single sailors and geographical bachelors E-6 to go out have fun, for a nominal fee, if you meet those criteria, you can get out on a trip. I saw on a calendar that there was a deep sea fishing trip going out last weekend for 20 bucks, I passed the word, gathered the names, money and arranged transportation and off we went. At the end of the day, I was worn out. Good times.

After eating fish at least once a day for the past week and a half, I would have never thought it possible but I might be reaching the limit of how much fish I can handle. In closing, I’m looking forward to seeing my wife’s florescent locks and breathing dry air, I’m looking forward to showing this off to my wife someday soon.

El Centro

One thing about medical, when business is slow, it means everyone is doing alright. I’m currently in El Centro this week and having a hard time finding gainful employment which is good but hate feeling like a slacker. El Centro is much like the base I was in Iraq would feel like if it had potable water and cable TV or how it would look like in a decade from now. Otherwise the countryside looks the same, there’s the same feeling of dryness in the air and deserts that stretch out into the horizon. My new unit, VFA-125, trains Marine and Navy pilots on how to fly the F/A-18 C’s and D’s, there’s also another squadron on my base that trains pilots to fly the E’s and F’s. El Centro is one of the check marks in the students syllabus and medical tags along these little detachment to make sure everyone is doing alright, taking care of sick call, first aid or part of the human factors investigation team if there is any sort of mishap.

This is actually my first time out here El Centro, I‘ve seen the sign numerous times driving Yuma, a place I‘m familiar with being with the Marines. I would have to say the housing here is worlds better then Yuma. WiFi in the rooms, cable TV, DVD player, all of the comforts of home. My ride out here wasn’t so nice though, I put in NAS El Centro into my GPS and ended out in a place in called Campesinos Unidos Region Ix Carmen Pe Nas in Brawley, 20 miles out of my way, lost in the middle of the desert on the far side of midnight. So I went to a connivance store and asked how to get to the Navy base and drove for another half hour and pulled into Naval Air Field, not Naval Air Station El Centro. At least I didn’t end up in Mexico.

I’m heading out to a Bar-b-q this afternoon and tomorrow, back to Lemoore.

29 Palms

I’m off in another land, another desert but this time with less internet access. I have a Sprint wireless card and Sprint seems to be the only carrier that works out here at Camp Wilson (a camp located in the middle of 29 Palms) even so, the service is really spotty. A common sight to see out here are small clumps of people that at first glance look to be smoking but when get closer and see that they’re all talking on cell phones and waving them in the air to try twisting that last little electron out of the ether. These little gatherings are hotspots that Sprint receives service even so, still not strong enough service for my broadband card. Hopefully I’ll be able to drive over to the main side of the base and log on and post this.

One thing about the Marines that doesn’t change much is Camp Wilson. It’s like going back to the 50’s, living in can shaped structures (quonset huts), cots, multiple sleeping bags in the winter and a sheet in the summer. Nights are cold and his place has never seen climate control, just layer on more clothes at night and take them off in the day. It’s difficult to dress to cover all of the bases because the wide temperature fluctuations.

Changes? The exchange is a little bit bigger and has the largest selection of beef jerky I have ever seen, in all seriousness, I think beef jerky takes up a 5th of the store. And someone thought it would be funny to have an ice cream truck drive by with music playing, I'll post pictures later. The only improvements on being here instead of Iraq is that you can drink a beer at the warriors club and in general the people out the front gate don't want to shoot you. Sleeping conditions are generally a little bit better forward, they're trying to keep us happy out there, 29 Palms was built to get us ready for whatever they could throw at us. Some things never change.

At least I’ll be home by Christmas hanging out with the lovely bride and son, for now, I’ll just try keeping my guys healthy and concentrate on making it home safely.

Two Weeks Back

It was around 8 Monday night when we got off the plane, I came back in a smaller group of 25 people who weren’t part of the greater bulk of Marines who filled the rest of the flight going back to the states so when we hit the ground, the rest of them were making a formation while we milled around for a second then broke for the crowd. My wife was standing out of the gaggle like a pink jewel and we flew into each other’s arms and I can honestly say, that was one of the happiest moments of my life because for a time I thought it would never reach that moment again. The past deeds had been washed away and all that remained from that forge of the fire was our love for each other.

We stated at the Old Town Inn for 89 dollars a night which was really a great deal considering Comic Con was about to go on. (Sorry to all of you romantics, this is also going to be a post about good deals in San Diego for the Military). No, we didn’t have tickets to the Con which I was mildly disappointed about but I wasn’t sure if I was going to be back in time, next year we’re going to dress the occasion.

Tuesday we went out apartment shopping, I had in mind this gettoish apartment complex close to base because the bride wasn’t going to be living down here because she’s going to grad school up north but managers never showed up which ended up being a blessing. We went from place to place no one had a place available till we got to the one I’m in now. I opened the door to the office and there was a big bookshelf filled with books and I know, this is it.

We sat down and talked to the manager and she just had an opening which she was saving for someone else but she broke her leg and the apartment was on the second floor. I took it, not only was it cheaper, larger and had a nice deck but was the only apartment complex in the area that let you have dogs (for when Gatsby visits). It also has some of the better tropical landscaping that I’ve seen in San Diego. Nothing could go wrong this week, I'm home.

After getting the apartment, we went to the local ITT office (Information, Tickets and Travel) and see what they had to offer, we picked up some first run movie tickets at 8.50 a pop, saving 2 dollars a ticket, Hornblower Cruise normally 25 dollars was another 8. One Zoo ticket for Heather 26.50 and I was in free with Military ID. That afternoon we went to see Hellboy II and the next morning was off to the zoo. We took the sky ride to rear of the park and zigzagged our way back towards the gate. Not a bad way to spend the day, let me tell you, it’s a lot of walking.

I went back to work on Friday to take care of some post deployment paperwork and get online to print a Heroes Salute pass. Military families can get one free family pass annually to SeaWorld with ID. Actually there are several places that are free from there, SeaWorld is just the closest for me, you’ll have to check the site.

Saturday we met up there with my other son Alec from Prescott (my hometown, Alec is not my real son but Collin and him do look remarkably alike and I claim him most of the time), his mom Lynnae (whom I’ve known most of my life) sister Karma and stepdad Alex . Good times, I’m glad Lynnae and the bride got to finally meet.

On Sunday we went on the 2 hour Hornblower cruise around the bay. Saw the seals over by Point Loma to the south side of 32nd Street, probably one of the best 8 bucks I ever spent, if you’re local, don’t miss it.

Stepping back into the LPO position Monday was a definite shift, I had done a switch-a-roo with the guy going out, new faces, new issues, new bosses, a lot to take in all at once. One issue at a time and don’t let any one thing take all of the focus. Lovely NMCI had messed up my computer access so I was a work computer for most of the week which gave me time to tackle the problems that needed face and foot time (normally the things I handle after the computer time) and it seemed to work. Took a lot of notes and got a pass down ready for the guy taking my place when I go on leave 9 days later.

Even though I got back in July, while we’re deployed forward we earn “combat leave”, we’re tax free when we’re out there and earning 2.5 days a leave a month and that leave you earn there is considered tax free. If you take it the same month you come back, it’s just a waste because you are tax free that month anyways.

Back to work, I think I got most of the fires put out and my replacement up to speed on everything that’s going on but in reality? He probably had a better handle on the issues then I did because he’s been here the entire year and I just fell off the turnip truck.

Now, I have came up for and going to be heading out to Arizona in the mornin to see the family, next week I should be a proud owner of a 2008 Ford Fusion and minus one or two of my other vehicles. I don’t try collecting cars, they just appear like magic. It’s late and I have to drive all day tomorrow and don’t look forward to paying for gas. Peace out till I get back to the internets.

P.S. We'll be hitting the Blog Expo in Las Vegas, have the room paid for and our seats reserved.

Changes in attitudes, changes in latitudes

Most of my Navy career, even though I was I charge of most of the medical departments I was at, I was usually following some kind of direction from the chain, there was always a higher echelon to fall on. There were tough times but usually the guy making the calls was somewhere above me. Most of my mentality was spent going with the flow but now I feel like a rock in the middle of the stream. The water is hitting me and I’m trying to wrestle it in to a smooth flow so the ripples don’t show on the surface.

There just seems to be awfully lot of water coming down that creek this week. I’ve discovered the higher you get, the more choices you have to make for those around you and most of those answers don’t seem to be the ones that you can just reply with a yes or no. I’m making it but I’m earning that raise.

Other news, I’m moving out of my place this weekend and getting ready for a small deployment to sandy desert city for 3 weeks of pre-deployment type training and in one day in the not too distant future, you’ll be reading the words that I have typed from the other side of the world.