So I did some training with the Sonar guys on my own. Our recently honored STG1 "Truxtun Sailor of the Year" (congrats!) suggested this to me while I was trying to get online for something or other before "Sea & Anchor" got going (pulling away from the pier and getting underway). I used to be assigned to Line 4, but ever since we left Mayport, my name was nowhere to be found. Not bad timing actually... the weather took a drastic change from calm and cool to very windy and stormy in a matter of a couple hours.
After breakfast on Tuesday, we had to get all the unsorted trash out as soon as possible. I had the wardroom and chief's mess bags and time was running out. Even though the wind was whipping and the rain (or sleet, maybe?) was very cold, I went all the way down the pier and back with no coat (or warm article of clothing of any kind). I held the flap of the collar of my blouse up over one ear to stop it from getting stung from the cold and the wet. Tricky to do with two big bags of trash. By the time I got back to the ship I looked like the object of a Man Overboard drill. I nearly felt like it too.
There were spots on my undergarments that weren't wet... but other than that, I was dripping. Changed into some refreshingly dry clothes and coveralls forward in my berthing (I needed to switch from NWUs anyway :) then stuck my dripping things into the drier in the self-serve laundry back aft.
This first day was neat because I was able to eat all my own food... had bacon, cheese eggs & toast at home before coming, and brought my leftover lasagna for lunch and my leftover Olive Garden for dinner. :) I also worked lunch and dinner in the scullery again. The other guy took care of the Chiefs... it's as if I needed a break from the routine with my old routine. We also had a Captain's Call in one of the helo hangers that afternoon where the CO rewarded some people and told us all he knows about the ship's schedule.
As I was saying, I did some training with Sonar. Did some signoffs on my qual for working the fatho-meter, and other auxiliaries... then STG1 suggested I join the Divo (our officer), Senior and a couple other techs working on a torpedo countermeasures check early the next day. Although very tired, I enjoyed doing something with my division again. And besides that, since I lost sleep, the mess MA let me skip working breakfast... which was very nice. Had to clean up all the Chief's dishes afterwords though... the other guy was keeled over, feeling sea sick. Thankfully, I haven't had any problems with that beyond feeling a little queezy before taking a pill.Took one each day, just to be safe.
That morning (the second day) was taken up with a GQ drill. Dong, Dong, Dong... General Quarters. All hands to General Quarters! I went to Sonar 1 again, and this time I felt more confident in saying what I should over the Sonar net. I stayed awake just fine (can't say so much for the last practice in Norfolk - yikes!) and thought of how fortunate I was to have sleep the night before. Lunch was crazy, because it was right after the drill and the whole ship was hungry! I was serving Chiefs hamburgers from the grill before I ate myself. During clean up from lunch, there was a Toxic Gas drill which included the mess decks. My role was to get the heck out of the way. Retreated to Sonar for a little Facebook. :)
Maybe I spoke too soon about my rest... during Heat Stress, Eye Protection and Ear Protection trainings by powerpoint after dinner, I could barely keep awake even with one of the new seaman poking me in the arm every so often. LOL
Finally remembered my now-dry NWUs Wednesday night and put them away neatly in my rack. I was at a loss when I tried to get into my sweats right after that though... I finally remembered I had uncharacteristically left them out that morning. Checked the table over in the corner, and thank God, they were there instead of being thrown out. Nothing except an exact list of articles can be left out... I thought to look there since I saw a new posting of the berthing rules in one of the stalls in the head just before.
Thursday, there was an UNREP, or underway replenishment, where we come alongside some sort of supply ship and take on fuel or stores. I wasn't a part of it, so I'm not sure what went on. I worked on getting a chit printed out for Special Liberty on Thanksgiving, but Chief ultimately shot it down. Lunch was crazy again... I was doing three things at once... taking care of the Chiefs, plating up more desserts, and keeping the cups and utensils filled on the mess decks. We were spread out a little too thin, and I even caught myself being short with someone.
Chief had me scrub the floor under the stainless steel counters in the Chief's mess and my little corner of the galley. She had a meeting with all the cooks about the schedule and about qualifications while I was scrubbing away with some steel wool (there were some tough spots) and all of a sudden I felt like Cinderella.
Coolest thing happened though... I got my Lay Leader approval from the CO! (via Admin) So I went up to the bridge at night to ask permission of the OOD to give the Evening Prayer. He gave it, of course, so at 2155 (tattoo, just before taps) I read a prayer I typed out the hour or so before over the 1MC (PA system).
Today we pulled in during lunch hours, so lunch was three hours long in order for all the people to get a chance to eat. After lunch all the FSAs were pulled aside to get the 30+ bags of trash up two ladders from the trash room and onto the pier (and then down the pier). And when I got back, the Chief's mess line still needed to be cleaned up... and a pile of dishes needed cleaning. Soon after that though, I was let go. Whew!
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