More pertinent for me, we had to move all our belongings onto a barge. That included four separate trips for my personal stuff, and then later on for all of the mess equipment (dishes, utensils, pots, pans, etc.). The first trip for me was moving my mattress, sheets, pad and pillows up the three, narrow, 12 ft. ladders on the ship, across the brow, down the steep stairs to the brow, down the pier a few hundred feet, up the gangway, down a ladder, through the barge, up a ladder and finally into the tiny, 30-man female berthing. My arms felt like jelly after this first trip. Thankfully, the other trips were only carrying my sea bag and backpack with uniforms and books and things.
My job during the great mess move over was to stay in the galley on the barge and clean the big equipment... a steamer and a couple huge, steel cauldrons (that were still hot from boiling the grime off of other equipment). Had to be careful not to burn my fingers and arms as I rubbed them down with a steel wool pad and soapy rag. CS2 (in charge of the cleaning) told me I was very good at it, and at one point he even told me to take a break, I was working so hard. Just listened to music the whole time, and that made it much easier.
Working in the Wardroom and the Mess Decks for the last two weeks has been an adventure of sorts. My first regular day... Monday morning the 13th (after getting underway) I showed up for breakfast in the Wardroom galley, opened the door to the sight of the other attendant throwing up into our big trashcan. I thought, "Oh, boy, this is going to be a fun day." Later on I took that trash down, and got some of that throw-up on my coveralls. Fabulous.
Here's the Wardroom and galley in Officer Country:
So I worked my tail off for the next two weeks, really without a break. There were a few perks though... I made my own breakfast most of the time... had eggs and oatmeal a lot. Also, GM3 put me in charge of doing the laundry (table cloths and napkins) every other day, so I've been able to do all my laundry as well. Every moment I wasn't setting up or serving a meal I was getting the linens done.
Our other responsibilities include washing the officer's laundry and sweeping the P-way by the Wardroom, and the two back aft by the other officer's staterooms, and keeping their heads stocked and clean (that always sounds funny to me... the officer's heads :) (for you landlubbers... their bathrooms). One night when we were conducting an in-depth field day, I was in charge of scrubbing out the CO's shower... a meeting got out while I was doing it, so I had to come to the door of the cabin and ask permission to continue when he came in. Recently I had to wash at least 7 or 8 pairs of coveralls. GM3 took care of the P-ways while I did the laundry, and I liked that very much. A chance to work alone and not have to sweep minuscule amounts of dust and change the toilet paper rolls. :)
It was last Saturday that was terrible. First full day underway, and I never had a chance to go topside... never saw the sun all day long. It was all day before I remembered what day of the week it was... but really just another work day. It was the day GM3 decided on the switch-off schedule between Gili and I... meaning I'd work on the Mess Decks. I had been under the impression I always worked upstairs, so it was a little jarring, and she wanted the laundry key back the next day because she didn't trust me to not forget to take care of it one day. The work was long and hot in the scullery when you clean up after 150+ people. The Mess Decks MA had yelled at me for eating before dinner out of turn... the CSs were a little late cooking the pizza, so the FSAs were sort of at a loss for when we were going to get to eat. And that evening at 8pm, when the division officers served up ice cream, I was turned away because I was in my Navy sweats and sweatshirt and not in coveralls (which I learned we're supposed to be in "all the time underway", which wasn't explained to me before). Couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks as I walked back forward to Sonar. I had changed out of my uniform and boots just an hour or so earlier to nap in my rack before it started. I was exhausted and sore all over. But in Sonar I was able to chat on Facebook with my husband, and one of the Sonar guys was up there and brought me back a scoop of cookies & cream. I was much calmer by the time I went to sleep, but still kept a Kleenex nearby for any stray tears. :)
The next day was so much better. I made a point to go outside at least twice... once in the morning (the deep, bright blue of the ocean took my breath away at the first glimpse), and again in the evening around 1900... the sun was just going behind some big clouds in the distance and all of a sudden a couple dolphins popped up right alongside, below me, swimming with the ship.
I've already described the Mayport barge ordeal at the top of the post. The day before getting underway for dry dock I was helping move some final things over to the barge in the dark hours of the early morning and once I didn't pay attention to where my feet were going as I stepped onto the brow of the ship. I fell down hard on the unforgiving metal on my right knee and left shin, and nearly burst into tears right there, it hurt so bad. I said something to medical after breakfast was over and was able to sit down for a while and ice them on the Mess Decks. That afternoon I and a couple others were let off early, and as I took my socks off, I opened up the wound on my shin. Had no idea I broke the skin, and medical soon patched it up. Unfortunately, it still makes it difficult getting into my top rack... I have to kneel on the mattress for a second at least when I get up there, and even that hurts.
The day we got underway for dry dock was a crazy long one. Breakfast was normal, along with Quarters on the Mess Decks right after it, although that was hurried, since the barge was getting underway before the ship. I spent roughly the entire day on the near-empty ship. Everything useful for living (food, bed, computers) had been moved over to the barge and was gone. A few of us walked over to the McDonald's nearby long before we had to leave, in order to have something different for lunch that we'd have for dinner (boxed dinner was the same as the one for lunch... sandwich, pear, water, chips). I had to be at Sea & Anchor (line-handler detail) from just after 1300, and wasn't let go until just after 1900. That was a lot of time... read a little in "Clear the Decks" ... a Navy captain's hilarious experiences from WWII and beyond. After waiting around for those 6 hours, I was able to wait the next 4 and-a-half where ever. The dry dock was rising out of the water and there was no way to get ashore for all that time. I will say this though, they had mid-rats (late dinner) and ice cream waiting for us on the barge when we all got back.
It has been a crazy couple weeks. I'm pretty confident that things will calm down now that we're all set up for where we're going to be for a while. At least I hope. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment