Holds, Before & After the Holidays

The first day, Thurs. December 15th, all was confusion. At least a dozen of us were slapped onto the Liberty Hall working party... which usually only has 3 or 4 people at most. So they had a bunch of us head over to the basketball court to help find and load gift bags into people's cars, who came to pick them up. This was also over-manned, except for when the folks from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan came to pick up hundreds of theirs. While we were helping load folding tables onto a truck (don't ask) I knocked my shin on the trailer hitch... that left a nasty six-inch bruise that stayed with me through stand-down.

Friday, I was assigned to OS1 Bragg's working party in Bldg. 52. All we had to do was clean the lobby, and escort the construction workers who were sanding the stairways. I only did the latter, and we were let off at 1040 by Master Chief. But not before Senior Chief came by and gave us, who were escorts, a blue Christmas ball ornament with the command's logo printed on it. I was all smiles on my way to admin to check out!

Tuesday, January 3... back to work. I was able to turn in my name change chit again, while I returned my leave authorization before 0730 muster. And I did the very same thing as on Dec. 16th in Bldg. 52... we cleaned the lobby, then I escorted the construction guys, now working on a different staircase... for a couple hours. Went home at lunch, tried to change my name at Navy Fed, and had a quick lunch at Panera. Got back a little bit late, but did more escorting. Then after PT muster at 1430, I did some running across the street at Liberty Station as well as 30 pushups.

Wednesday, I wised up! Stopped by McDonald's for a cup of fast oatmeal to start. I arranged with the POIC's of the working party to get a rotation going for escorting. I conveniently did the first two hours, then posted for the day (returning for the 1230 muster). I went home and put my room back together and had a snack. After muster, I went and saw my mentor about the command patches I heard were for sale. She didn't have them, but we had a long talk about everything: my class coming up, the likelihood and timing of orders, the possibility of becoming an officer. Found out she's been trying herself for some time... and that she's going to Afghanistan on her next orders. She told me about the new Oceanography officer field, and there might be someone on base who could answer questions about it! How neat would that be?!

And more good news: they finally retired the Bldg 52 watch! Yay! Duty sections have moved down to 8 sections today, instead of 10, but that makes it easier to keep track of. If you have duty on Monday, you know your next Duty is on the next Tuesday.

I took off after the PT muster, because I wasn't feeling like working out with just getting my period that day. And there was a new girl named Liz at the muster who talked about how she wished she could go shopping, since she just arrived from boot camp last weekend and how she just got Phase III (for being old, like me). So I took her out to Target and Payless Shoes to outfit herself and for a burger, fries and a shake at In & Out as a welcome. Had a great little time together.

So I loved Wednesday... it was almost like a miracle... I did whatever I wanted, practically! :)

Today, just had an oatmeal bar from Christmas for breakfast. Did more of the same, except it was more just hanging out and being bored. Helped clean the lobby, but then the CO came in so we were told to get out of the way. Went to the galley for lunch with Hibbard, Trimpe & Addesso... and set up a duty-swap with Hibbard for next month. Big plans afoot! We've got MLK Day off on the 16th, as well as President's Day on February 20th. Did a little bit of a workout before the PT muster, then took off right afterwords, giving a friend a ride home.

Just one more day of Holds, then it's off to class for 5 months, starting Monday! Gosh.