thus ends Operation: D.C. Fun Weekend. it was a blast.
today i slept in. it was nice. then i checked out and drove up to the Potomic Historic Park. it was really cool. got a great panaramic of the Potomic River Falls and the basin. hiked a little bit to the dam and back. all in all a great way to spend the afternoon. got back to Norfolk around 6pm. went and saw Pirates 3. that was pretty good. and now im here.
back on the ship.
boo.

but i had a SIC Memorial Day weekend! it was well worth the cost of things.

next in line: Operation: Homecoming Of Best Friends!

oh ya.

visited the rest of the places on my list. and added some new things. went and saw the Watergate Hotel and the Howard Johnson's Moter Lodge (the hotel where the intel was gathered and processed). pretty cool. also visited the Navy Museum in the Washington Navy Yards. that was really cool too. they have a ton to see. also docked there is the USS Berry. you can actually go aboard and tour the ship! that was neat. everything is so small and cramped compaired to the Nash. fun times.

so now im relaxing, labeling all the pictures, and watching Forrest Gump.

another day.

visited and toured most everything on my list. it was quite an experience. lots of traffic, surprising one-way streets, and no parking anywhere. but i got some great pictures! i didnt get to go up into the Washington Monument though. they ran out of tickets for the day.
BUT they're on sale again tomarrow morning at 8:30. so thats where ill be.

im exhausted.

quite a day. i mainly just drove around the area. walked around downtown, ate at a really good pizzeria. walked some more.

tomarrow i am touring and visiting all the attractions i want to see. i got a big list put together; its going to be an all day event!

and now some sleep...

well as you may have guessed, im not at home.

instead im participating in Operation: D.C. FunWeekend.

thats right. i got a hotel room for three nights of Awesome Washington D.C.!

so far i think its going to be a blast. later tonight ima cruise around and get the area familiarized; find the good bars, the hip clubs, and the hot spot attractions.

my only real set-in-stone goal here is to go upinto the Washington Monument. last time i was there was many years ago, i was a little guy then. so its time to pay another visit!

the hotel is really nice so far. its got free wireless internet, a kitchenette, and is minutes within downtown and everything else!
score.

this day will go down in history as: "The Day It Rained SHIT."

first our chief worked our bones till way past normal working hours on the ship. all because he got mad we didnt sweep a small pile of dirt up. in turn that made me and a couple other guys miss the CD signing by +44.
dammit.

aaaand theres been a change in plans.

it seems my duty section leader cant find enough people, who arent doing anything on my duty day; to put on the watch bill, so I am left to pick up the slack. as what happened. so now i have two 4 hour watches tomarrow; 12pm-4pm, and 12am - 4am.
GAY.
im going to be WAAAY too tired to be driving 15 hours after that last watch, so that means Operation: Weekend Home Relaxation will be cancelled.
im freakin pissed!
i was really looking forward to seeing everyone. and now my dream has been crushed.

so now my 4 DAYS off will seemingly be wasted all beacause some bastard-ass-prick-watch-bill-cooridinator wants to be a dick. effing a man.
eff. ing. a.
i got to find something to do or somewhere to go. i am NOT spending my weekend in Norfuck...

so i finally got around to fixing my flat tire yesterday. had the spare on the truck for almost a month now, and since Operation: Weekend Home Relaxation is approaching fast, i figured it be a smart idea to get it done.
it was cheap too; just $20 at a Sears Service Center! i also got an estimate on new tires, since mine are needing a replacement. $750 for everything. not bad. i might have to go back sometime, they got some nice rims too!

anyway this morning was command PT. we played touch football with the IT's. i was drafted to their team, and we almost won, but the OS's scored right at the last second to tie it up. it was fun. wet grass and the sun blazing in your eyes; good times.

today +44 is doing a CD signing at Music Planet. so hopefully our chief will let us out at a reasonable time. the signing starts at 3:30.

oh get this!

i go to get gas cause i need it. and the price is:


...


$2 freakin 99 !!!!!!! WTF!! thats outrageous! thats insane! thats rediculous!

bastards.

bored today.

had duty yesterday. easy. no watch just duty driver.
watched a bunch of movies i bought the day before. hell of a time!

today i washed the truck. took a little trail blazing trip through a few mud holes some days back. it was nice out so i got to washing.

just relaxing now. Monday im going to put in the paperwork for leave in July. hopefully i can go. i need a vacation!

i bought new boots today.

i was at the NEX, and was looking at the Bates boots i usually buy. as i was scanning the stakes, my eyes ran across a stack of yellow and black boxes. they were boots. i walked closer to read the name, since i have never seen these types of boxes there in the past.

it said "Belleville ".

cool name.

i read further: "shoe manufacturing company"
neat-o

i go on: "founded in 1905"
cool year...

then this: "manufactured in Belleville, Illinois"

'holy crap!!' i said to myself. the big IL! freakin sweet!!
so i bought a pair, and man i must say, i am impressed!!

these might even be better than Bates!
score!


anyway, moral of the story is, Illinois is cool.

okay. so we FINALLY got underway on Friday. it went well. tested everything; seems to be working. we were supposed to stay out until today, but we got a message saying to come back to port sunday afternoon. bad storm was brewing. but we got today off! so thats cool.

looking to take leave in July. hopefully over the 4th of July weekend. if not,then definetly sometime while Steve is home. thats in the process.

our 1st class got picked up for an IA in Kuwait. 295 days. kindda sucks he's a good leader for the division. plus he has a family and everything he hardly gets to see anyway. but good luck to him!

nothing has been said about the Iraq IA...maybe ill get picked up. doubt it.

but who knows...

Steve called me Sunday!
i was on watch in the parking lot, but i picked up anyway.
hes doing good. still bored as hell. still doing what he has been for the better part of the time hes been over there. but hes anxious to come home. he will be on leave soon. he said he wants to hit up every fast food joint in town ha. and of course indulge in "koolaid". thats a given.
cant wait for him to come home!

okay, update time:

YARD UPDATE: we were supposed to get underway today; it was our last day in the yards. but go figure, some of the engineering equipment wasnt complete. so now it looks like thursday or friday. but even then most of the officers are speculating monday as our underway day. and only out for a few days at that. then back to Norfolk for another month of ship work.
busy busy.

NAVY UPDATE: the end of the year is looking like a deployment now, three or four monther. and rumors are around of extending our '08 cruise to an eight month cruise instead of the original six monther. oh boy! thatd be cool i think. lots of money just before i get out! not bad. theres still two IA's for Iraq in the air; whether any two people will be chosen to go no one knows. but it lingers...

HOME UPDATE: everyone seems to be doing fine. the parents bought a new Toyota Prius. cant wait to see it. David gets the Prizm now. cool deal. dad still working at Motorola. not sure what his newest project(s) are though. mom still at home. everyone getting closer to summer. kyle leaves for Louisiana for combat training in July. John and Christina are now in California where hes stationed. lucky. Joe is still at the security company. hes moving up; last i heard he was going for his handgun quals. got something like 10 or so people working under him now. still in his own apartment with Steph. and various friends and acquaintances coming in or leaving town. except me. im still in VA! hopefully ill take leave in July.

hopefully.