MWR, JOPA, and Tiger Cruise...

I went to bed last night at 1 and slept in til, get this… SEVEN! I did hit the snooze like 7 times and completely missed breakfast, but overall I’d say it was worth it. Apparently underway we have these “morning talk shows” over the 1MC that starts out with a song of the day and jokes and trivia and a current event/sports update, along with birthday announcements. Thank goodness, or else I definitely would have continued sleeping!!! Today started out alright with watch, I left to do some spotchecks and have our weekly meeting with the CO. Like I said, he is always asking me questions that I don’t know the answer to (and obviously aren’t expected to) but he ALWAYS finds me later and makes it a point to ask me if I’ve figured it out… luckily the guys in my division are rock stars and always teach me what I don’t know. Today during our meeting he was like “ENS Harris, do you have any questions?” and I was like “no, but I do have an answer for how many fire door breakers we have and where the breaker is located.” (which he asked me earlier) He seemed pleased after I answered correctly, and then he suggested that we take a field trip down to Aux 2 so I could show the breaker to all the new Ensigns and teach them about it. Overall, I would consider the evolution was considered a success.

As today was Wednesday, there were cheeseburgers for lunch and as always, they were extra greasy and delicious as usual. However, I pretend to make it healthy by only get one piece of cheese and not eating the bread. So far, the FSA has been really good about my “one a week rule”; that is, he is not allowed to serve me dessert but once a week. You can imagine how difficult this is as 1) I love desserts 2) they’re really good 3) we have them for lunch AND dinner and 4) sometimes the days suck so much that dessert is the only good thing. Today we decided that eating only two bites (Molly sized bites too, not the Dan sized one that equates to like half the cookie…) does not technically count as dessert. So I had two bites of banana cake and it was amazing.

After lunch things turned south (literally too, as we shall pass Havana, Cuba tomorrow), and this report that I had to have done by 1600 was being uncooperative to say the least. That is, the computer, the parts, and the people, and the information I needed were darn near impossible to track down. All of this in between 3 training/lessons while trying to locate a SIPR (the computer that is secured and considered “secret”; ie you can send messages and stuff that can’t slip out) computer. Long story short, but one of the 2nd tour divos seriously stepped up and basically did everything for me while I was in training. Luckily for me though, the nature of my job (ie; everything breaks all the time) will require me to write many many more of these reports.

That this JO (junior officer) stepped up to help me in my time of need is what we would call JOPA in action. JOPA stands for Junior Officer Protection Agency and it serves for JOs to help other JOs so that they don’t get in trouble or yelled at by the senior officers when a JO finds themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. Which, as a JO, is where we spend 90% of our time. Basically, looking out for each other and covering our backs which overall helps us as JOs.

Thankfully I got in a quick 20 minute workout on the elliptical, which may not sound that impressive but it’s about 89 degrees where the gym is so you sweat buckets. And I use the term “gym” loosely, as it is really a bunch of ellipticals and weights tied to the wall along the centerline passageway (the hall) where you generally feel as though you were in the way as the handles of the elliptical whip back and forth.

Hmmm ok a few more ramblings… I hope everyone is enjoying this blog, unfortunately I won’t be able to write SUCH long rambling emails as I will soon move to do my watches in CIC and then onto the bridge where there sadly, are no computers.
Right now, the ship’s MWR team (which stands for morale, welfare, and recreation; ironic enough because all 3 are generally low to the point of non-existence…) was doing another fundraiser. They like to sell things to us and turn the money around and use it for fun things; ie- snacks, fishing rods, fun stuff in ports, movies, etc. Today they were selling “no-shave chits”, which means that for $5 you can go until we pull into Curacao and not have to shave your face. You can imagine my excitement when I was told I didn’t have to shave my face…

…kidding! For girls, it’s what I like to call a “ponytail chit” which means you can wear your hair in a ponytail or messy bun. It’s great! No more pins and hairspray and pokey things into my head! This obviously does not sound exciting for most, but it definitely takes a few minutes out of my day from having to do my hair and also I don’t get a headache. Overall, a $5 well spent today!

The only other relatively exciting thing to report is that there is a possibility for us to have a “Tiger Cruise” upon our return in a few months. For those of you who may remember, ABC Family or the Disney Channel did a movie like 3 years ago called “Tiger Cruise” where a bunch of family/loved ones from the crew of a carrier were out to sea for a few days, 9/11 broke out and the carrier, along with a Hilary Duff-esque character who played an Admiral’s daughter, had to turn wind and head for Afghanistan to fight terrorists.

If that story does not ring a bell, then I apologize for wasting the last minute of your life.

However, the above storyline is EXACTLY what Aharon Laufer (dan’s brother) thinks my life in the Navy is going to be like. Except with less terrorist hunting and more pirates of the Caribbean type of action where we race around with our eye patches, seeking out Colombian drug lords with cocaine. Ok, yes that is what we do, but I’ve learned it’s a lot less glamorous than that. And we don’t wear eye patches.

Anyways, back to the Tiger Cruise. Basically, we let some of the crew members fly back early, and instead fly family members out to the ship for a few days. And since significant others/wives, etc, aren’t allowed for obvious reasons, Aharon is super psyched at the chance to be a passenger on our tiger cruise. There is a chance that we will be picking up “tigers” as they’re called, in Key West or Port Canaveral. Although we’ll only be underway for like a day, it is still a possibility. I can be bribed in care packages… cash payments… we can start the bidding whenever….

Just kidding! Anyways, keep checking back for updates about the possibility of a tiger cruise.

I suppose it is now time for me to get back to standing watch- 2 more hours left to what should be another 6 hours of sleep! Yesss! Expect I’m not too excited b/c I know it will all end soon. Til then, thanks for reading!