Whoa!

Living on a ship is definitely a new experience for me. I would recommend that if you've EVER gotten just a little woozy from being in a moving vehicle for an extended period of time that you prepare yourself by taking some anti-motion discomfort medication before you board a vessel of the U.S. Navy. Even a "big deck" like the USS Essex (LHD-2) can churn your innards just as well as the next ship. I'm just glad that we're actually in fairly calm waters right now. I'd hate to think what this would feel like if we were in some serious weather. The sleeping part isn't so bad. In fact, it's kind of nice. I managed to snag one of the top level bunks which means I don't have a ceiling 2 feet over my head. This means I can actually turn over in the middle of the night without banging my head, or knees, or some other body part on the the rack above me. What's the down side? Well, I have to perform gravity-defying feats to get into bed and if I were to ever fall out... it's about a six foot drop (assuming I miss the bunks on either side) and I would land on a very hard deck (or "floor" for you land-lubbers out there). That's not something I would like to experience.

When we first got to the pier, I was part of the embarkation team. That is an experience I'd just as soon not repeat. It was a serious mental and physical drain for about a week, and this comes right at the beginning of the new fiscal year as well. Anyway, we got through it and got just about everything on board in a timely and efficient manner. There were two boxes left on the pier, but they weren't on my manifest, so I am not responsible for that. The first couple of days out of port, I was sick. Very sick. In fact, I slept most of the time away and spent the rest in the head (bathroom). Then I found my way to the pharmacy where they freely hand out these little pink pills. Feeling woozy? No problem. Sign this log book and chew these two little pills and we'll see you tomorrow, Shipmate.

(As far as I can tell, "Shipmate" is the Navy equivalent to "Devil Dog.")

So now I feel better, but I still can't really get much done. We can't seem to get transportation coordinated between ships. I'm focusing on the guys who are here with me now to get them hooked up and I'll let the higher-ups worry about getting me around to the other Marines. I guess that's about it for now. My wife has some exciting news, but I'll leave that up to her if she wants to tell or not.