Two of my most favorite things, Lego and Star Wars, so what could be better than combining them? Since my wife has a vinyl and Cricut obsession I figure why not use this power for good. So now I have the coolest Lego box anywhere.
For those of you who remember and enjoy the Where's Waldo books, I have one for you. My awesome and beautiful wife got me tickets to the greatest rock band ever (Ash is yelling in the background 'Kansas', which it's not, sorry Kansas fan) U2. Between Lenny Kravitz and U2, unbeknownst to me, they took a picture of the crowd. Using a 500 megapixel camera, that's right I said 500! Woowee, i need to get me one of those, but i digress. If you have a lot of free time on your hand and want to see the happy looks on 70,000 faces try and find me in the crowd (click the picture).
If you need a hint I'm in section 335, row M, seat 16.
Its true I spent one night in Bangkok, yes the one in Thailand, but I get ahead of myself.
It all started in typical fashion by that I mean that planes and dates changed at least four times. Even when I got on the plane to leave I wasn't completely convinced that it had all settled out. At least I knew that I wasn't going to be alone, there were a few others on the same plane as me, so we could commiserate together. Finally the plane took off and I was heading across the Pacific to Osaka Japan. I know you're thinking wow you've been going to Japan a lot lately. It's true I have, but that was not our final destination, just a transfer point along the way. As a side note: Did you know that Osaka airport was built on a manmade island that is sinking into the harbor at a rate of about 1"/year. Not really relevant, just thought it was interesting. Also for those who don't know being the engineering nerd that I am, while most people are watching the in-flight movie I am watching the flight info channel, you know the one that tells you that you're flying at 39000', the outside air temp is -63 deg F and that you have a head wind of 221 mph. When I saw that we had a huge head wind I had to look out the window and see if we were still moving forward. Yes we were, just slower. So as a result we got into Osaka later than anticipated. Not that this was a problem because I had a 4-1/2 hour layover till the flight to Guam left. Bah! But at least the long leg of travel was done, just a short 3-1/2 flight left. All was going well until the Project Engineer rounded us all up for some late breaking news. It went something like this "You know how we were going to get a nice easy day in Guam before heading out to the Ship? Ya that's not going to happen, we are flying out the Ship tomorrow morning (which at this point was basically today)." Yeah! Who would want to sit around on a tropical island and have a leisurely day anyway.
So to put in all in perspective (all times are Pacific), I left my house at 9:00 am, my first flight left at 12:45 pm, arrived in Osaka 12:15 am left Osaka at 4:45 am, landed in Guam at 8:25 am and to the hotel at 9:15 am so 24 hours of travel and waiting time.
After a short nap of about 4 hours it was time to get up, get going and meet up with the other members of our group. Who really needs sleep anyway? So we all met up at the Sheraton to await transportation to Anderson Air Force Base (AFB). The base was about a half an hour north of town and getting all 26 of us to the right place and the same time would have been difficult so the project leader arranged vans to get us all there. As we were waiting for our van to show up an airman came with a truck so we loaded up our bags in the truck and sent them on ahead to get stored in the plane. After waiting for what seemed like forever our van arrived and we were on our way to AFB and then to the Ship. After a brief safety lecture and donning the appropriate gear it was on to the plane. A C-2 COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) flight is nothing if not completely different then your normal airline flight. There is no in-flight movie, beverage service, or even rest rooms, if you have to go too bad should have thought of than before you got onboard. There are also only 2 windows, which are about 6" in diameter and not very helpful unless you happen to be really lucky and get that seat ( I wasn't, just in case you were wondering). So strapped in with 24 of my new best friends, backwards, it was time to take off. Luckily it was only going to be about a 45 min flight out to the carrier. No worries I've done this before, flying is no problem. The flight was smooth until we had to start circling to wait our turn to land. Three times we went around, not nice smooth turns either, hard and sharp. Not having any sort of visual clues really messes with your equilibrium, not knowing which way was which, or that a turn was coming, just wham, turn. It wasn't too bad, kind of thrilling actually, until the last turn, where we turned and dropped all at the same time. I made it through, but a few of the others had to use the bags provided if you know what I mean. Then it was time to get on the deck, full speed to stopped in like 2 seconds. What a rush. I've now been catapulted and caught on a carrier. I have to say the launch is definitely more exciting, but both are totally awesome!
Now for the real work.... Blah blah.....confidential....national security and all the stuff.....boring! Needless to say that Aircraft Carriers are big steel rat mazes with no windows, very easy to get turned around and lost for sure. Being in the South Pacific it was hot. From the time I arrived in Guam to the time I got back to Seattle I was sweaty. Yuck. It was hot in the spaces I was working in as well. One thermometer said 105, with 90-100% humidity. I know some of you are thinking that's not really that bad its like that where I live all summer. True, but that was just the ambient air temperature, now add a large piece of equipment that is 400 deg and radiating heat that you have to be right next to. Luckily it was not all work, there was time to watch flight ops, once again I am my fathers son and love the sights, smells and sounds of airplanes. The ship also had a ‘steel beach party' while we were onboard. This is where they set up bbqs and basketball hoops and have a party on the flight deck. It was fun to take a break for a while and enjoy the cruise. After nine days onboard it was finally time to disembark.
We got off the ship in Laem Chabang Thailand. Then we had to make our way south to Pattaya Beach. It was there that we had arranged transportation to get us up to Bangkok. After a quick walk on the beach it was time to head north.
It is monsoon season in Thailand. The two hour ride was exciting, our driver didn't speak English and we didn't speak Thai. On top of that it was pouring rain for about half of the drive and people in believe that lane markers are more suggestions that rules. I'm glad I wasn't driving, but I'm also glad that I made it in one piece. The place we stayed was a super swanky 5-star hotel, didn;t really fit in there, especially after just getting of the ship. After a good meal and a few hours of sleep, my one night in Bangkok was over. The taxi from the hotel to the airport was a Mercedes. I could get used to that, I'm sure I could.. Then it was on the plane, a quick stop in Tokyo and then home. The flight home was cool, we left at 7:30 am and landed at 9:30 am, from half way around the world in only 2 hours, amazing! If only.
As far as I can figure, I've now been the farthest away from home in my family, 7439 miles, as the crow flies.
I know it has been over a year since I blogged. I’m not going to promise that I’ll be better, because that just doesn’t sound like me. Anyway…
For those of you who don’t know me, there are certain things that I don’t like or just downright despise, paying for parking is one of those things. But I get ahead of myself. So Friday night we went out with our friends Court and Brad. We were going over to Seattle for dinner and then to REI. Just those things alone would have made it an awesome day. Trying not to sour the evening with my distain I was all prepared to pay the $3 to park for dinner. When we got to McCormick & Schmick's for dinner the harbor lot was free after 4 pm. Score! So we had a great dinner and free parking and I knew it was only get better, because we were still going to REI. So with Karen (our GPS) leading the way we successfully navigated downtown Seattle and arrived at REI only to find that the parking garage there was free! What! 2 free parking experiences in one night, I thought I must have been dreaming. I was looking for a new pair of hiking boots at REI, but I came away empty handed. I guess I should have traded the universe one of the free parking experiences for a good pair of boots.
Downtown Yokosuka
The next day we packed up and boarded the Ship for a pleasure cruise, umm I mean for work. Even though we planned on working 12-14 hour days there was still going to be a bit of time for some fun.
Me on the Flight Deck before departure.
Being that I am my fathers son, the best part of the trip was hanging out on 'vultures row' and watching flight ops. I probably spent at least 10 hours just watching planes take off and land enjoying the sights and sounds associated with it all.
F-18 landing on the deck.
We got done with all of our testing early. And since the ship wasn't back at the pier yet, there are only a couple of ways to get off, either by helicopter or plane. So we got our names on the list for a COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) flight. Me and 20 of my new best friends got strapped into the C-2 for the ultimate thrill ride from zero to the end of the deck in 2 seconds. Woowee! what a ride! After being shot off the deck of an aircraft carrier commercial airline flights are pretty boring.
C-2 COD plane
After landing at Atsugi Naval Air Field we had a 1-1/2 hour bus ride up to Narita that went right through downtown Tokyo. I wish there were a couple more days to explore Japan just a bit more, but it was not to be on this trip.
Our last night was spent in Narita (right near the airport) at a pretty swanky hotel. Around the hotel was a really nice japanese garden (hee hee).
Ten days after it started I was back home again and very tired. Was an awesome experience, but would have been better if Ash could have been there as well.
I'll post some more specific accounts of life on and around the ship. Till then.
Sayounara!
A guy that was in my group at work had a sign on his cubical that read “Fight apathy, or don’t”. I always thought it was quite amusing, but as I sit here writing this at 4:30am, I feel a little apathetic. Yes once again I am on the sunset to sunrise schedule (1800-0600). That combined with the fact that there has been absolutely nothing happening and no reason for me to actually be here, but here I am waving the flag in support. It’s only supposed to be 2 more weeks and then hopefully the project will be done and we can head for home. Yeah!
In trying to fill the long quiet hours I’ve been reading talks from the last General Conference and the Church News. I came across this in a talk by President Boyd K. Packer given on November 16, 2008.
“I give you a strong caution. Be wary of the word tolerance. . . . We are not required to tolerate anything that leads to unhappiness. . . . Tolerance is often demanded but seldom returned. Beware of tolerance. It is a very unstable virtue."
Then after reading the talk from President Packer I read a talk from Elder M. Russell Ballard that was given on November 16, 2008 as well.
"It is the battle for the hearts and souls of Heavenly Father's spirit children, pitting us against Lucifer, the Great Deceiver, the father of lies," he said. "As it has always been, this battle is fought on the battleground of moral agency and free will. Regardless of the technology or the political environment of the time, it all still comes down to this: How are you going to choose to exercise your God-given agency? Are you going to choose to follow the Lord, or are you going to choose to follow Satan? It really isn't any more complicated than that. No matter how much we may try to justify or rationalize our choices, it still comes down to choosing good over evil."
Even if we don’t win every battle with the world, at least we can be on the right side.
It’s another day, or I should say night here in tropical San Diego. Working nights lately has not put me in a blogging mood, so I apologize. This last week I’ve been on the horrible 6pm to 6am shift. Yup, 12 hours sunset to sunrise. Working all night and sleeping for most of the day has put a damper on doing anything besides work. It’s all about work when you’re on TDY, but having free time is nice too. I really can’t complain too much I’ve had several weekends off and working normal swing shift (1430-2300) allows for activities in the morning.
On to a completely unrelated topic now. I read a couple of weeks ago that they published what the code names for our new First Family and Vice President’s Family (would they be the Second Family?) are going to be. Being the simple non-spy that I am, I would think that announcing to the world what your code name is kind of defeats the purpose of having said code name.
PS: If you haven’t stayed up till 2:30 in the morning recently, I wouldn’t recommend it. No good can ever come from being awake at this hour!
