I was playing WoW this morning when the barracks shook quite vigorously for a few seconds. While it's the third earthquake I've been in, this was the first one that was energetic enough to make me glad I was sitting down for it. Here's the AP News story.

Posted by: Boviate at 06:14 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 48 words, total size 1 kb.

Well, I saw the monitor today, the guy that assigns us to our next duty stations. As I declined to avail myself of his services, I am now on my way out the door. In another eight months or so, that is.

Posted by: Boviate at 08:40 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 45 words, total size 1 kb.

The world's most famous mime, Marcel Marceau, died. Pity, that. Mimes get little respect, but he was very very good at what he did.

Posted by: Boviate at 04:20 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 27 words, total size 1 kb.

Today, it was as if the years rolled back, and suddenly I was half my real age. Well, just a little over half my real age. I felt 16 again, to be precise.

That's because I was in Driver's Ed, and then took my liscencing exam. I passed too, hooray! So now I am the proud possessor of a piece of laminated paper that allows me to operate a personally owned vehicle in Japan.

The class was supposed to be an all-day affair, but there were only a few students today, and the instructor was a Motor T corporal that clearly had better htings to do (not that he was a bad teacher, mind you.) So instead of being done at 1700 like the schedule said, we were done at 1330.

A good Marine would have gone back to work. But I said "Hey, I'm right by the commisary!" and I went grocery shopping. Which was all well and good, until I bumped into one of the unit's warrent officers in the pasta aisle. Whoops. Well, he probably has no idea where I'm supposed to be. Then, coming back to my barracks with arms loaded full of groceries, I bumped into LCpl S from my shop, who had to leave work to change clothes and was about to go back to work. Sadly, he knew perfectly well where I was supposed to be.

But I called into work and said "I'm back, should I come to the shop?" and was told not to bother. So that was good. Although I know that there was plenty of stuff that I'm responsible for that the Magic Elves didn't come and do for me, so tomorrow I'll be behind. Ah well.

Posted by: Boviate at 06:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 292 words, total size 2 kb.

According to lots of news stories, the Loonie has reached pairity with the Greenback.

In related news, dogs and cats are living together, and the members of rec.arts.written.sf have developed definitions of "science fiction" and "fantasy" that everyone can agree on.

Posted by: Boviate at 07:22 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 42 words, total size 1 kb.

A few days ago the SgtMaj sent an email to the senior staff NCOs looking for someone to voluteer to do our section of the Cruise Book, which is a lot like a yearbook for a MEU. I was off at chow, but my Gunny volunteered me anyway.

While I can probably do a good job at it, I'm not thrilled at having yet another responsibility tossed on me. I have plenty of work to do already. But c'est la guerre, I suppose.

Posted by: Boviate at 11:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 86 words, total size 1 kb.

I need a new sign. The old one said "DANGER! Explosives work being done!"

That sign is fine, but I need a new one to tape to the bottom of it. That sign will say "So now is a bad time to ask me for help with your math class!"

Posted by: Boviate at 12:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 56 words, total size 1 kb.

There's another typhoon out there, but this one is passing a good 200 miles to the south and west of us. Which is close enough to get 50+ knot winds and strong rains. Last  night was the closest approach, and all the squadrons on the flightline stuffed all their aircraft back into the hangars for protection from the strong winds.

All the squadrons except ours, of course. We flew anyway last night. One of our aircraft suffered about $10,000 damage from the winds, from trying to fold the tail. The relevant aircraft manual specifically forbids folding in high winds, but oh well. This is a problem that's getting quite frustrating- we're getting pushed to hard, and mistakes get made, and stuff gets broken, and people get hurt. We need to pass off the MEU and stand down to a lower ops tempo for a few months.

Plus, we're way short on personnel. Priority goes to Iraq-bound units, so we're substantially below our manning goals, and that hurts us too, because the people we have work hours that are too long.

Posted by: Boviate at 07:51 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 183 words, total size 1 kb.

So, storm's over, so we troop off to work all Saturday. By "All Saturday" I do mean "All Saturday"- I put in 13 hours. I came home to find my roommate (who works at the base medical clinic) had taped a sign to the door that said "Roommate missing, presumed dead. Now accepting applications for new roommate."

At about hour ten of the long, long day, the CO had an all-hands formation where he proudly announced that he had personally prevailed upon the MEU CO to extend the squadon's attachment to the MEU. Normally we'd be on the MEU for 12 months. We were scheduled for 18, but now it's going to be a full two years, ending next summer. The CO seemed genuinly surprised at the reaction- he was looking for sounds of happiness and all he got was crickets chirping. He said "Can I get an 'Oorah!'?" and all he got was a couple of sarcastic ones from the junior officers. He then tried to justify it- "We all joined the Marine Corps to see the world" kind of stuff. Except we've been seeing the world for over a year, with six more months in front of us, and a lot of the guys would like to see their wives and children too. And "The boat's not so bad!" may be true for him- he rates a two-room suite. Me, I live with 350 other people in a volume comparable to the house I grew up in.

So morale had been low, and has now be kneecapped. The barracks mood tonight is like a funeral. And not a swinging Lousiana funeral. We're all tired from all the long days and no weekends and shipboard life, and now we're getting six more months? And we were volunteered to do it? Not good.

The off-tone formation makes me wonder about the Sergeant Major. He's a good one, so I thought. But the SgtMaj's biggest responsibility is to keep the CO in touch with what the enlisted are thinking. So did the SgtMaj not know how we all felt about staying with the MEU longer, or did he not tell the CO? Or did he tell the CO and get ignored?

Posted by: Boviate at 07:18 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 372 words, total size 2 kb.

It got kind of pleasant outside while the eye of the storm was overhead. Now we're back to wind and rain. I can't stay up and enjoy it, because I'm probably going to have to go to work tomorrow. My happiness is boundless.

Posted by: Boviate at 08:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 47 words, total size 1 kb.