Last night we celebrated the new year. Celebrated isn’t quite the word for it. More like ‘acknowledged’. There was no countdown, there was no gathering, nothing. It just quietly came and went.

I put in my application for volunteering. I have been informed that there is no need for any more photographers, so that is out of the question. If I do get to go, I’m going to see if I can borrow someone on board’s compact digital camera so I can take pictures. Again, that’s if I do get to go - there’s always the chance that there will be no need for my help.

Yesterday when asked if any of us would be volunteering, all but two people volunteered. Then last night when they gave out the applications for volunteering, only me and one other person actually applied. The others have had a change of heart, which disappoints me. I understand why, but it still disappoints me.

I was brushing my teeth this morning and my friend was telling me that the helos finally got to survey the area and were seeing bodies in the tops of trees that no one had seen before. That was pretty startling to hear.

I have 3 friends that work at medical, and all 3 are going on the first flight out to help out. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers that they stay safe and are able to do something to help.

I put in my application for volunteering for humanitarian aid today. I don’t have many skills for building things, but I put down child care and photojournalism as my skills. My boss has already talked to the public affairs officer and put my name out to him as someone to take along for the journalism aspect of it. What an opportunity that would be. It’s made me think a lot about possibly being there and seeing all of this and not really *doing* anything to help. But I know that journalism is an important part of this type of thing, and I hope that I can go and help document the story.

Someone in my office has strongly discouraged us from volunteering to go out and help because of the prevalence of diseases there. There is cholera, malaria, dysentery, among other serious diseases. He really thinks it’s a bad idea for us to go out and help because of this, and while I appreciate his sudden concern for our well-being, I think that it is a pretty crappy way to think - if everyone thought that way, what would happen? No one would help. Medical is immunizing people who are going out against the diseases, so we’re actually pretty safe from it all as long as you take the medications correctly.

I will be sure to update this if anything changes. I can’t give any information on our specific location or when we’ll be anywhere, but I’m sure if you all keep watching the news, you’ll see information on our whereabouts.

Since it’s being discussed by the president on television, I’m finally safe to say that we’re being re-directed to support the humanitarian aid efforts for the disaster in southeast Asia.

From what I have seen, most people have a overwhelming desire to assist in any way possible. However, I don’t believe there will be much we can do. It’s more the big-picture type of help that the carrier offers - water production, supplies, and medical assistance.

There is a high likelihood that there will be a lot of media onboard in the upcoming weeks, so keep your eye out for that kind of news coverage.

Wish us luck, particularly those that will be going out to actually assist with those people affected by the tsunamis as disease is likely to be a big issue. Let’s hope we can make a difference in the area and help out those who need our help the most right now.

Lastly, I wanted to remind everyone reading this that email, internet and telephones are intermittent. If you email me and don’t get a reply, please have patience and know that it is out of my hands.

It’s a good night…listening to guitar and singing along. Nights like this don’t happen often but they sure are fun.

Studied about the reactors today. That was a lot of information, but I actually understand some of it now. My brain hurts, and I’m starting to feel like my brain is maxed out from everything I’m learning and I still have a long ways to go.

Time to run off to bed…

Last night I went for a late-night walkthrough on the bridge (the bridge is way up high where they do all the steering/controlling/etc.) with the conning officer (the guy who is in charge of steering the ship). He took me through EVERYTHING up there and really gave me a lot of great information. He even showed me how to land aircraft for flight ops! I got to see where they energize lights, where the lights are, how to blow the horn, how to determine our location when navigating around land, how to identify other ships, and then…he let me drive the ship! There I was…at the helm, steering the USS Abraham Lincoln…that’s a scary thought, but I did well and we’re still floating today, so that’s good!

I’ve got some people willing to teach me nuclear stuff and engineering stuff and combat stuff, and those are my 3 weakest topics right now. I dread having to learn it, but when I’m actually there looking at the stuff, it’s so interesting that it’s becoming fun.

On a food note…I’ve given up on most meals; the line is too long and too hot to stand in so now I’m eating grapefruit and a pastry for breakfast, and a tuna sandwich for another meal. The one consistently good part is dessert: today it was warm peach cobbler and it was sooooooo good.

Our internet has been down for about a week now, so sorry for not updating it sooner!

What’s new, what’s new…first, I can’t imagine being here permanently. It’s just like high school all over again. I don’t know what to think about it all…everyone has to comment on everything (the current issue is my hair: apparently it is out of regulations and is “faddish” even though I’ve had the same style, more or less, for the past 5 years. I’d think that a “fad” would not be a “fad” after 5+ years, but who am I to say…), everyone has to make everything their business, everyone jumps to conclusions and has to bring up those issues with other people. It’s driving me batty.

The other main thing going on right now, and I have to keep this short since the internet is still very prone to going out on me, is my Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS) qualification I’m going for. I got a lot of stuff waived so I can get it, and I’m under a big time pressure to get it done quickly. The requirement is that you must be ship’s company (which I’m not), be on board for a minimum of a year before being eligible to work on the qual (which I haven’t been) and then you get 18 months to be qualified (but I’m only on board for less than 4 months total).

So this ESWS is a huge amount of stress. First you get two books that you have to take around the ship. You talk to other people who have the qualification and they explain things and as they explain it they give you a signature. There are hundreds of signatures you need to get. Once you get all your signatures, you take a written test. It’s only 50 questions, but it could be anything at all pertaining to the ship or Naval history, and it’s not multiple choice, it’s short answer. So there’s no luck involved like there was on my advancement exam!! And that’s not even the hard part. Once you’re done with your test, you start doing walk-throughs, which is where you go through each department and get more hands-on training. This is in preparation for the board. For your board, you get a pre-”murder” board, a murder board, and your final board. In order to get to your final board, you have to pass the murder board. The board is where they ask you random questions about EVERYTHING on the ship: How do we classify our reactors? How many .50 cal mounts are there? Where are they? How many rounds can it shoot in 2 minutes? What is our primary surface search radar? What is its range? What is the significance of the Battle of the Coral Sea? What is the difference between IEM-1 and IEM-2? What is the purpose of a Phone and Distance Line?

I have a stack of flash cards about 6″ high that I go through with all these questions, and yet even with this, this isn’t enough to pass the board.

So every night, I study with my study buddy, study in my rack when I go to sleep, ask questions all day long when I run into people who would know about these things, visit places on the ship to find out more about the ship. And this is on top of my regular job, which just went in a new direction with the advent of our LPO leaving to work temporarily on other ships. I’m now the assistant LPO, which doesn’t make much sense since I’m not actually permanently working here.

I can’t wait to go home and sleep in my big bed and wake up with little fingers up my nose, and eat dinner on my wooden table with real plates and glasses, not have to wear these giant steel toed boots (although they ARE mighty shiny, I do have to say…as I study, I shine my boots and answer questions, so they are gleaming now)…

The best thing - we’re past the halfway point of coming home!

I swear, when you’re on a ship, the most exciting thing you hear is “Mail call, mail call”! That means MAIL’S HERE. We won’t be getting mail for another 9 or 10 days or so so it’s especially exciting to get a mail call at a time like this.

Well, yesterday I finally got my mail card and could pick up mail. We had a whole stack of packages - 6 total - 4 of which were for me! Talk about excitement!!

Since I’ve been here, I have to say, I have gotten some of the coolest mail ever. I got a package from home with underwear and t-shirts after all my blog-griping about laundry, as well as books, batteries, a newspaper, and GODIVA!! I got a package from an extremely thoughtful person who sent me a teeny tiny scrapbook with pictures of the kids that is worth more than all the money in the world right now. I got a package from some really caring friends whose care brought tears to my eyes - a Christmas tree, lights, ornaments, tinsel, even a star for the top. I got a care package from a military organization with all sorts of good stuff in it from edibles to dental floss to magazines. And yesterday, I got Bob the Bunny, who is travelling around the world with the military. Everywhere he stops, he gets his picture taken with whomever he is with and at the end it’s sent back to a student in Illinois who will chart out where in the world he’s gone and learn more about geography (and the military!)

AND…of course, 4 days after leaving Hawaii, I finally got the swimming suit I ordered a month before we pulled in so I would have it in time to go swimming. Now isn’t that just my luck!! At least now I have a swimsuit to go swimming in Hong Kong in the winter in…..yeahhhhh…

And on one last note, the billet (job spot) for Keflavik has re-opened! Keep your fingers very tightly crossed that they give it to me…we really, really want to get back to Iceland for my next duty station.