Sunday Duty, Saturday Duty, and Everything Between

That was Sunday, August 25th, and Saturday, August 31st. Both times I had the first watch as Petty Officer, and I had to announce lots of things over the 1MC, even though the first began with holiday routine, and the second, today, was the first day of a holiday weekend. I very much enjoyed getting a five-hour watch out of the way before my feet started hurting too bad or the sun started beating down too hard.

Monday was a rigmarole. Our entire division, E-5 and below, were sent to medical in the morning to get blood-work done to begin the process of getting approved for a Dome Dive... entering the Sonar Dome under higher than normal air pressure to conduct maintenance. When I got over to medical, they said there was no order in the system for me to have my blood drawn. When I came back to the ship, I found that this was because my name was not in the Truxtun's system yet! I suppose it never got done when I checked in... and I've had no reason to go to medical during the last year... but gosh! So I went back to medical to get registered with Tricare Norfolk, then called the ship so they could put in the order. While I was waiting, I managed to get an over-due dental cleaning appointment for September, then had my blood drawn. At first the technician couldn't find my vein, but then a more proficient tech used a smaller needle and found her way in. Thank goodness! It was 1030 by the time I got back! All I remember from the rest of the day was running around a lot and being called every which way for the division.

It was Tuesday when I worked on an Open Purchase order that had been neglected, then I helped someone with a tag-out for a maintenance check, and finally got the Open Purchase routed before I had to be on the mess decks for a special Navigation Brief for a 20-minute underway. We were switching piers, and only two piers over. I was the fathometer operator, watching and recording our depth as we were pulled by tugs. When we pulled in, I was one of the first ones off since I had an appointment to pick up some test equipment for a maintenance check that needed to get done as soon as possible. And I was able to finish that evening! Yay! Scratch one more little thing to do off my list.

Wednesday, another sonar tech and I went to the plastics company we had used to open purchase a new screen for some equipment of ours. It needed re-cutting, and so I showed them the measurements and arranged for it to get done. We got a couple errands done on the way back, then I stopped off at the ministry center on base to sign up for the next Lay Leader training, since my one-year mark is almost here (it's a yearly training). Then we stopped at Servmart (government supplies) across from the piers to get some quotes on a few things I needed to order. It was lunchtime when we got back, and we didn't have much else going on. There was a quick Safety Committee meeting that had to do with the next day's inspection.

Thursday morning the inspectors arrived, but I didn't have my walk-through until the afternoon. I was allowed to go over to Servmart and figure out how to order more logbooks, and I also had a long back and forth email conversation with supply folks about ordering more bathythermographs. Later on, we tried working on open jobs, and jobs that hadn't been written yet. Also found out that there's a job-writing class every Friday on base... that would have been good to know a few months ago...! So the week after next, I'll try to get into one. My first e-Leave request needed re-routing since my duty section watch-bill coordinator changed. But it didn't take long for it to get approved! I also picked up the TP and brownies from the cleaning gear locker for berthing... and some brownies for Sonar as well. It's amazing to me why the duty sections don't care enough about getting TP (female berthing was out again!) when the locker is open. It's a necessity for everyone!

Friday, we had some FWWD (freshwater wash-down), but I only worked with sponges on the flight deck. I also stayed later than everyone else to meet with our soldering guy to install the part I bought last week... and while I was waiting for him, I got the last of my Open Purchase forms filled out and ready for after the weekend. It's mammoth, but it will take care of the division for quite a while.