I’m generally not a very grumpy person, but today was Evil Saturday vs. Karyn and Evil Saturday won.  It all started yesterday when I started to feel like I was coming down with something.  By last night, I knew it was over, so anticipating that, I made sure things were going to be quiet today - I flipped the switch on the power strip that controls the video games and upstairs TV, I changed the passwords on the computer so the kids couldn’t get on and be fighting over “who gets a turn”.

Let me back up for a moment and explain a strange phenomenon:  My kids do not like to wake up in the morning for school.  They drag butt, particularly Anja, and need a LOT of prodding to get moving.  But!  on the weekends?  They’re up before 7am.  I do not understand this, at all.

So anyway, I made some banana bread today to cheer myself up, nice and crusty and good.  I thought that would improve my mood, but alas, Evil Saturday had already sunk its claws into me.  A kind request of Anja to take a shower turned into yelling and forced naptime (for her) which led to a defeated naptime (for me) which apparently did everything for her mood but nothing for mine.

And then there was The Drama of the 10 Year Old, which irritates the crap out of me.

I had wanted to get out today to run some errands but instead I spent the day in the house, grumpy all day.  I am looking forward to this day being over.  The banana bread is gone, and I am done.

The morning of your Chief’s exam is generally not the morning to oversleep.

Fortunately, I was able to be dressed and on the mess decks in 8 minutes and although I was the last person in line, I was able to take my test.

And with that, let the games begin!  Please please pleeeease let me get a ticket to the ball!

Good news!  We had water today!

Bad news?  Not a drop of it was hot.  Or even lukewarm.

O privacy, how much I miss thee.

I am in a relatively small berthing (sleeping area).  Our section of berthing has “only” 24 racks - broken up into 4 sections and divided into stacks of 3 racks.  Getting up is fun - most of us get up at generally the same time so there are a lot of people moving in a very small space, all of whom are disoriented from the sleep and haven’t had their morning coffee yet.  And female.

Besides our berthing, we share with two other departments and they have similar compartments with about the same number of racks.  The space is one long space broken up with “knee knockers” (kind of elevated doorways) and curtains dividing each department’s berthing from the next.  In the middle one is the one bathroom.  The one bathroom with the 6 toilets and the 5 sinks (only 3 of which function) and the 4 showers.

So let’s do the math: about 75 people, and 4 showers.  Not only those 75 people but the other thousand-something people waking up about the same thing.   All things considered, things run surprisingly smoothly most mornings; outside of the occasional line for the shower or the knocked head trying to comb my hair.  This morning, however, I was not so lucky. 

I try to be conservative with my water, so I turn the water pressure down and I turn off the water when I’m washing.  This morning I put on a thick coat of conditioner on my hair and lathered up; when I turned the water back on to rinse, the pressure was very low, so I tried fiddling with the shower head.  As I fiddled, it only seemed to make it worse.  My panic increased as the water decreased, until it was coming out in little drips, and then stopped altogether.  I stood there for a few minutes, waiting, turning the water off and then on, off and then on, as the conditioner slimed down my back.

Finally I got out and checked the water in the sinks but alas, they too were dry.  Resigned, I toweled off the soap and started combing my hair with a fine toothed comb to try and comb out some of the conditioner.  And just as I opened the door to go out of the bathroom, the water started up again.

I just know there was some mechanic somewhere cackling to himself as this all played out.

http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=50486

The mood today was positively electric as we made final preparations for getting underway.  I can’t describe the feeling of seeing our giant ship inch away from her home for the last 9 months.  We are finally back out to sea, and it is exciting.

Also, a little bit nauseating, and definitely exhausting.

I’m very excited to report that after 5 months of being here and having to deal with That Awful Commute, we are finally ready to unleash this big girl and get back underway.  I’m grateful to have missed the first 4 months because 5 months of being here has been way too much already. 

We’ve finally gotten the last of the concussion-inducing pipes out from the overheads and no longer have to wear hard hats everywhere.  It is going to be very exciting to feel us start moving again, although that will be short lived as the Oregon coast is keeping rough seas up for a while.  Needless to say, I’ve already got Dramamine in my drawer.

It’s been interesting adjusting to life here.  I was here that one time 5 years ago but I have grown so much since then and I’m in a very different position now than I was then.  I’m truly enjoying the challenges, but they definitely are challenges.  The people here unfortunately have been unequivocally negative.  From the day I stepped on board, I’ve heard things like, “Welcome to hell!” or “You’re going to hate it here.”  All that has done for me is strengthen my resolve to stay positive, and so far it’s working fairly well. 

For example, I tell myself my rack is “quaint” instead of “claustrophobic”.  The food is free, so I really can’t complain much about that.  The job is always interesting, with such stirring topics as “Can one wear kilts off the ship.”  The stories on an aircraft carrier abound, like the guy, Sailor A, whose illegal phone (we’re strictly prohibited from having cameras on the ship while we’re in the yards) got stolen, but he reported it anyway, and then Sailor B saw Sailor C with the phone so he took it from Sailor C to give it to Sailor A, but it turned out that it really was Sailor C’s phone, so basically, everyone’s screwed.

I’ve gotten to know a lot of people already and it’s nice feeling like I have a place here, which makes things nice.  I’m having fun knocking my head, slamming my fingers, and getting mysterious bruises again, and I’m learning new things every day at work, whether it’s work related, leadership related, or history related from my history geek division officer.  It’s fun, and I’m glad I came here - bring on the dramamine!

Happy New Year from the Sigs!  I will certainly try to be better at posting next year!