Working hard, that's the Marine Corps way. We've got big troop lifts of Korean Marines for the next couple of days, and that's going to kick us hard. American Marine infantrymen are bad about abusing the safety gear. But at least we can yell at them in English and they'll understand. The Koreans may take better care as they feel like guests, but we have more trouble explaining what they need to do to care for it.

Then, the Quality Assurance shop realized that they hadn't done any audits for a while. As a CD/QAR, I work for them too, not just my shop. I got tossed the Maintenance Control/Maintenance Admin audit, which is the longest and most difficult one. No, I'm not exaggerating there, it's 27 pages long, 20 questions per page, and each question requires reading some cryptic manuals and looking over paperwork that I've never encountered before. So that's consuming many hours, and I have to get it done by Friday.

Then there's the cruise book, essentially the yearbook for the MEU. I've got 41 pages to fill. That's not "we", that's "me", because this was dropped on my lap and I've got basically no support. It's looking like I'm going to have to take all the shop photos, too. No worries though- I've got to get it all done by the end of the week.

Some of the guys wonder why I'm getting out, because I'm not visibly bitter like a lot of people counting the days until their enlistment ends. I'm not bitter- I love the Corps, and I'm proud of my accomplishments. But there are two ways to be a Marine- cruise by, or charge hard. I'm not good at maintaining a low visibility to cruise, but the charging is just wearing me out. But part of that's the MEU. If we hadn't "volunteered" to extend, I'd've probably signed reenlistment papers by now.

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For the first part of the float it was just rotorheads on the flight deck. Quite pleasant, really. But good things don't last forever, and the Harriers of VMA-214 joined us. The maintainers flew in C-130s down to Korea, then we met them in Pohang.

Last year the weather was so bad that the ship couldn't dock, so they sent we rotorary types ashore on LCUs. It was cold, wet, and unpleasant. But the ship's captain apparently liked how it worked out, because this year we didn't even try to go pierside, they just shuttled all the Harrier guys onboard with a couple of LCACs. That's a six-of-one, half-dozen-of-another comparison: the LCUs are slower, but the LCACs are wetter.

Just to add insult, when the got on the ship, the well deck drain mechanism was broken, so they had to wade off the LCACs into hip-deep water with all their gear. Very very cold hip-deep water. Those guys were not happy when we met them.

Then they complained about their night. The C-130s delivered them the day before, and they'd spent the night in sleeping bags inside a hanger. Oh, the horror. Fixed-wing guys are pampered because they need runways and stuff. They got not sympathy from us. Our last time in Korea, we were in drafty tents on the ground. A concrete floor in a hanger is not ideal, but it beats rocks and tree roots. Plus they had no cold drafts, and a furnace to heat the room! Bunch of pansies. Why, back in my day...

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I'm back working the night shift. Yay! It's blue LED flashlights up on the flight deck time again. It has advantages though, mostly in that there are fewer annoying people to bother me.

With the wonders of modern transit, a week ago we were basking in the Philippine sun. Now we're in Korea in the winter, and damn is it cold. While I normally like cold weather, I do hate fiddly dextrous work that requires me to take off my gloves as the wind howls.

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Today is the US Marine Corps's birthday. I don't have anything deep to say, so this'll be short. I think it a fine tradition that we keep a day in mind to remember all our brothers and sisters in arms, past and present, wherever they are.

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We've had email access, but the boat's not allowing us web access while we're at anchorage. So I apologize for the delay in blog posting.

Hong Kong is cool. It's like New York City 2.0. Like NYC, money is in the air (plus smog). Skyscrapers crowd the sky, taxis prowl in prides seeking their pedestrian prey, double-decker busses roam about seemingly at random, trolleys tootle along. Crowds rumble across street crossings at the whim of flashing green signs. There were even a few scramble crossings to add excitement.

But I said it was NYC 2.0, remember? Hong Kong is clean (except for the smog). There was no more litter than on a military base. In three days, we saw one graffiti, and I was so surprised that I took a photo of it. While everyone hurried everywhere, there was none of the outright rudeness I expect in NYC. Of course, this is China, not Japan, so people weren't what I'd call polite. But I saw no yelling, cursing, or shoving.

The boat was anchored in the middle of the harbor, so getting ashore required a thirty-five minute ride on a small boat. (Capacity about 30 passengers.) The water shuttles put in at Fenwick Pier, a small complex dedicated to the Anglo-American naval community. They gave out free maps, advice, and a terrificly handy instruction booklet.

We cruised restraunts and explored the subway system. That in of itself was a challenge. We were required to be in liberty teams of four, which is kind of insulting in a safe city like HK. So my team had Ose and I as comfortable in cities, but LCpl Drews is a total Texas hick and Sgt R is used to Southern California sprawl. So those two were kind of intimidated an unhappy. Just getting them into the subway was a challenge- the only other subway those guys had been in was in Australia.

The most interesting sight was the Big Budda. It's a 37-meter tall bronze outdoor Buddha statue. Getting there required a half-hour subway ride to the end of the line. Then a fifty-minute bus ride over some hair-raising roads. We're talking one lane except at the switchbacks, sheer dropoff past the guardrail, and a slope of one part in eight, according to the warning signs. Our poor bus must have the clutch replaced on a monthly schedule.

Once we got to the monastary, there was a mighty staircase to climb to the Buddha himself. When we got to the top, it was magnificient. The national forest land spread out below, the giant Buddha towering overhead, the breeze blowing. Then I had to put on my professor hat and explain the religion to my compatriots. You can make a Marine live in the orient, but you can't make him learn the culture if he doesn't want to.

So. We dined on spaghetti, on dim sum, on noodles, on sushi, on Starbucks, on Krispy Creme, and at the Hard Rock Cafe. We admired the skyline at night and cursed the smog in the day. We bought books and Ose got a local girl's phone number even though it was our last night. Hong Kong is truly a world-class city, and three days was not enough to scratch the surface (especially when chained to two reluctant non-urban explorers.) I'd like to spend a month here. Of course, I'd also need a lot of money, because Hong Kong was crazy expensive, and I got to sleep for free on the ship.

Also, I got sick for the third day. Painfully sore throat, low fever, post-nasal drip. Just yucky. I refused to let that stop me, but I'm certain that I'll be paying the price for the next few days. In fact, as I write this I'm waiting for our all-hands muster at midnight. I'd really rather be in bed. Working tomorrow is going to be unpleasant.

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Hong Kong at last! We finished with the storm as the sun was rising, then we had to hose down all the aircraft with fresh water, as they were covered with sea salt. The decks were gritty with salt crystals everywhere. I thought about collecting some to cook with later, then I remembered how many petroleum products our helos drip onto the decks. So, perhaps not.

After I post this, I'll be getting on a liberty ferry to go ashore in one of the world's great cities. We have to take little ferries because we're at anchor, instead of pierside like normal. I'm told that the ship is too tall to make it under the harbor bridge unless we spent way too much time disassembling the radar antennas. I'm suspicious that it also may be a question of money- the bigger the port, the more expensive the pier space. And Hong Kong is one of the biggest ports in the world.

The sun is already going down, so I don't think we'll do much sightseeing today. More likely we'll eat dinner then the others will get hammered. Tomorrow I'll try to steer the guys towards some of the city tourist spots: at a minimum, I want to take the tram to the top of Victoria Peak to look over the city, and I want to see a temple with the Tian Tan Buddha that's supposed to be around here somewhere.

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The storm hit hard in the wee hours of the morning. I was sleeping so comfortably, rocking back and forth... until I woke up and remembered that I was on a top rack, and didn't have a safety strap. Then I slept a little nervously until my alarm did it's thing. I hopped down the seven feet to the floor and discovered that said floor was moving vigourously. I held on to the counter while brushing my teeth, nicked myself a few times shaving, and used the grab bar in the shower. No worries.

Off to breakfast, except I decided I wasn't quite feeling like it. I got to work and the place looked like a funeral home without the nice decor. We'd tied everything down before going home from work last night, so everything was in it's place. But Cpl Ose was looking green, LCpl C_ was curled up on the floor, and Sgt R_ was looking a little unwell. SSgt K_ was nowhere to be seen. LCpl A_ was whistling and enjoying the ride, while I felt uncomfortable but functional. Normally Ose is the only one in the shop with motion sickness, but we were bouncing up and down and side to side in a truly reprehensible manner.

After a few minutes of discussion and diagnosis, we decided that the sickies should get the hell out before we had to clean up the floor. So Ose, R_, and C_ all went back to the rack. SSgt K_ showed up fifteen minutes later, looking unhappy. He helped me sort the NVG lockers for a half hour, then had to give up and go back to the rack himself. The shop belonged to the healthy: myself and LCpl A_.

I set him on doing a vest inspection, and I headed topside to see the horizon, which has a salutory effect on seasickness. The flight deck, weather decks, and catwalks were all secured due to high winds and high seas, as the all-hands annunciator reminded us every half hour. So I went to Flight Deck Control, which has a nice bay window. I said "hi" to the Integrity Watchers; Integrity Watch is a three man post that checks the aircraft chains any time that we're not in flight quarters. Normally it's just annoying, as during calm seas the chains aren't going anywhere. In rought weather like now, it becomes very important.

There are two enlisted (IWE, "Eee-Wee") and one officer (IWO, "Eee-Woah") on post at any given time. But one of the IWE was, shall we say, not at his best. Additionally, there was a female Marine from one of the S-shops (squadron admin section, that is) that wanted to go out and take some photos. So the IWO asked me nicely to go outside and supervise the junior yet healty IWE and keep an eye on the S-shop LCpl. I like the officer that was standing IWO, and I was feeling much better, so I agreed.

Man, it was unpleasant out there. We were earning our danger pay. (Except the S-shop female, who doesn't get danger pay, because she's not supposed to work on the flight deck, let alone hang out there during a gale.) One of the CH-53's had a blade tiedown rope that had popped off, so someone had to secure it. The other IWE volunteered, but he weighs only 120 lbs soaking wet, which we conveniently enough were from all the seawater coming over the scuppers. I know I'm a good climber and a good swimmer if it came to it. So I climbed up on a helo the size of a city bus in winds of 50 knots gusting to 70 knots. Whee!

The only other interesting part was checking the aircraft near the bow, which was where the action was. I vetoed clipping our float coat retaining lines to each other, on the grounds that if we both went over, no one would be left to call the alarm. I was discounting the S-shop Marine, as I didn't let her get all the way forward anyway. My IWE and I checked the chains by crawling along the nonskid decking, and holding on when water came over. The wind actually increased our safety, as it was coming across the starboard bow, which was also where the aircraft were parked closest to the edge; so the wind was blowing us towards the center of the ship.

The chain check was quite necessary, too. With the wind gusts and water action, the chains slowly vibrate loose. We had to tighten quite a few of them. At the end of our productive patrol, no one had gone overboard and all the birds were securely where they were supposed to be, so I told the IWO that once was enough, and he'd need to find another sucker for the next patrol. I went back to my shop and the IWO didn't call me after an hour, so either he did it himself or he found someone else to help out. After my glasses dried off I had to wash them in a sink to get all the crusted salt off the lenses.

The rest of the day I've spent working on the cruise book, which has a deadline racing towards me like the Shinkasen in a tunnel. Fun fun! I don't even want to go home to berthing, because instead of the normal "gym locker" odor, today it's more like "Roman vomitorium". Not my day to clean up down there, thank Poseidon!

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Well hello, all! It's been quite a while since I last posted. I do apologize for that, but it's all the boat's fault. Normally our shop computer is up and working within a day of our arrival; as I write this, it's been over a week and we're still stuck in the paper age. It's quite annoying. I'm writing this on my personal laptop, with the assumption that I'll be able to transfer it online at some point in the future. That point being in the past now that you're reading this, barring some unexpected quantum tunneling.

So, let's see, a recap of the last week or so. I came to Essex flying on one of the helos. Someone from my shop always has to fly on to escort the night vision goggles, which are crazy expensive and also a national security asset. So I got to ride herd on six boxes of delicate electronics, replacement value just over $1.5 million. It's important to not drop any over the side, yes?

The flyon was crazy early in the morning, we were launching as the sun rose. Most annoying, as I'd been up all night loading software onto my new laptop. Windows Vista is just as terrible as reports had it, incidentally. I am strongly considering buying a copy of Windows XP when I get back to shore, and replacing Vista. That's right, it's so bad I'm considering spending almost a hundred dollars just for the privaledge of using a previous version.

Anyway, I flew on to Essex. I've flown many times before, and so I decided not to bother keeping my camera close to hand. So naturally I saw a terrific shot, as we flew low over a LCAC, with the rising sun turning the LCAC's plume of spray into a ruddy curtain. I can't show you it, but I know it looked cool.

We landed, secured the aircraft, and the ship ported to take on all the gear and people that didn't fit in the helos. Plus fuel, ammunition, food, and other necessities of sea voyaging. That took two days, then we were off to the Philippines! Half the unit had gone there two weeks ago and had been conducting joint training with the Philippine military. We arrived after two days sail and loaded them all onboard. Then we took three days of shore liberty in Subic Bay, once the largest American naval base in a foreign country. We gave it back to the Philippines a decade or so ago, and it's fallen on hard times since. It's now a "economic zone" with less goverment interference than much of the rest of the country, plus better security. Still, they're always happy to see the Fleet pull in and spend a few million in hard currency into the local economy.

The cliche is that sailors (and Marines) in port are looking for wine, women, and song. We found all three, of course. I even managed to get the rest of my liberty "reenforced fire team" exposed to a little culture- the Ologopo City Youth Choir was raising funds for a trip to the 2007 Southeast Asia Choral Competition, so we all bought tickets and watched one of their concerts. The singers looked to be aged 12-18 or so, and were quite decent. The program was Christmas music, and I already knew many of the arrangements from my days on the risers. Ah, memories. At any rate, they weren't bad, but I'd put my old High School concert choir up against them any day.

As to wine, there was enough ethanol around to float PHIBRON 11. I was my group's "designated non-drinker", which is not a particular imposition for me. So I took photos of the general merriment and rode herd of the group, steering them like a gaggle of thirsty dogies.

We did have a somewhat funny incident. Our party of six stopped for dinner at a nice beachside restrant, and got a table under the stars. Well, clouds, really. Along with entrees we ordered five pitchers of margaritas, and a pitcher of pineapple juice. Mmmm, fresh pineapple juice. The alcohol arrived, and the party was getting merry, when another half-dozen people arrived and were seated at the table next to ours. I did a double take. It looked like... could that be... I whispered "Hey Ose, is that...", and Cpl Ose looked over and did a double take of his own. The frelling Commodore had decided to eat at the same restaunt, and was sitting next to us. That was somewhat of a party killer. I mean, I know the admiral in charge of Amphibious Squadron 11 has never met me, and that she was an ensign once, and that we were not forbidden from drinking. Still, her presence was a wee bit of a damper.

But then the real damper showed up. It started raining. Her party was moved inside immediatly! Yay! Before our not-particuluarly attentive waiter came back to offer us a dryer table, it had stopped raining, so we decided to stay outside and enjoy our narrow escape from the eyes of authority. Whew!

The rest of the night we did the beachside bar crawl. I had to break up a couple of incipient fights, but that's no big thing. The beggars were out in force, as were the hookers. The former pestered us, but the latter left us alone, as one of our group was clearly female. What was funny was that Cpl B, the female along with us, was actually foreign too. She's still a Russian citizen. And when she gets drunk, her English skills degrade. I was starting to worry about us having trouble getting her back on the boat- five guys bring back a female wearing clothing that pushed the civilian attire order, who doesn't seem to speak English? Her ID card got a very close inspection, but we got her back on board.

The second day we left for shore at noon, heading straight for an Olongopo restraunt that Ose and I had eaten at when we'd been in town almost a year ago. The place is named Kong's, and it's served interesting Chinese/Philippine food. Just like most Chinese restraunts in America serve Americanized Chinese food, this place serves Philippinized Chises food. It makes for facinating cuising. It's also the best place available in the very small section of town open to us.

We stopped by the Legion Hall, too. American Legion Hall #4, Phillipine District, Ologopo City. The old guys are always happy to see the currently serving, and we all sat around for an hour or two and told stories. Most of them were Vietnam era, but there was one WW2/Korea vet still there, and a few sailors that missed Vietnam but decided to retire out there. It's not a bad choice; most vets who retire in the US after 20 years get a new job, or else live frugally. The 20-year pension in US dollars goes a lot farther in the Philippines.

Then we met an old girlfriend of Ose's. He grew up in Los Angeles and dated a lot of Phillipino girls, so he was our Tagalog interpreter (although he dosn't know much in the way of polite conversation, if you catch my drift.) Via Myspace Ose knew a girl that had come back out here, so we met her at the club in the best hotel in Subic, where she works. We proceeded to party like it was 1999, except not really, because several of the partiers were still wearing short pants in 1999. Man that's depressing.

Partying in the best hotel in town meant it was the place all the officers were living it up, as well. I disapproved, as I'm a stickler for fraternization. It's bad for discipline to see what the officers were getting up to. Believe you me, some of them were up to quite a bit.

The final day of liberty dawned... except I was already in the head before dawn. Remember kids, don't drink the water, and that includes the ice! The other guys were fine, because ice inside a rum and coke gets nicely sterilized. Ice in the pineapple juice I'd been guzzling, on the other hand, contains all little beasties that had been living in the water before it was frozen. So I went down hard with food poisoning, and did nothing particularly interesting for the third day. I felt bad about letting down the group, because they had to grab some random stranger to complete their liberty fire team. But all I could do was live in the head until the medicine took hold, and then I went to bed.

Yesterday morning we pulled out, and it's back to work. We're sailing up to Hong Kong for another couple of days of liberty. But most of our inspections run on a calendar basis, so even if we're not doing much flying, they still pile up.

Plus, we're heading into a nice little storm. They're predicting 18 foot seas for tomorrow. That should be a nice ride! I feel bad for the guys one the smaller ships, though.

Holy criminy, it's 2330, and I need to get up at 0545. I went cold turkey at the beginning of the float and broke my caffeine addiction. I don't want to bring it back already, so it's bedtime.

UPDATE: I think I'll backdate this post to the time at which I wrote it.

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