Happy Turkey Day!

Well, here we are, on Thanksgiving Eve. My 2nd Thanksgiving in a row spent on deployment, albeit this one on a bit of a bigger ship. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving at all and I keep reminding myself that it’s tomorrow. I’m not sure why I feel the need to keep reminding myself though, other than to depress me, really. Nothing special going on tomorrow, it’s a “fly day” which means regular work day. I guess even the insurgents in Afghanistan don’t stop for Thanksgiving so nor do we. I think there is a special Thanksgiving church service, and the 2 spinning classes are 2 hours (vice one) in case you eat too much processed turkey and fake, powdered mashed potatoes, you can sweat off the extra calories. We only take Friday’s off from flying. Not that any of it really matters to me since 1) I have nothing to do with flying and 2) we don’t have any morning meetings (all of our staff/work meetings are in the afternoon) so I guess technically I could sleep in forever any day, but since I’m not on the watchbill, I get up at 0600 and work normal work day lengths. Sometimes I stop mid-afternoon to work out before dinner, sometimes I work up to dinner and then work-out after dinner. Either way, I feel like I should put in a decent 8-9 hour work day/day since I am not supporting the watch rotation. I feel bad too, because my nature as a SWO is to be on the watchbill, but now I am making it a point to spend 2-3 hours there in the afternoon depending on our meeting schedule to at least start learning the ropes & getting assimilated into the mission.

So, since my last lame-o lunch that I had, things have been going better. I am working on lurking around the office at times when I know people might be eating so I can hopefully leech onto their lunch group. Also, I discovered Wardroom III, the downstairs, more “formal” Wardroom which I originally shied away from because they all made it seem like it was more stuffy and uptight. Actually, I could see how if you had group of cool-dude pilot friends, you would prepare the laid-back social climate of Wardroom I/II but for the rest of us traditional SWOs, Wardroom III is the one for me. It is where mostly “ship’s company” (aka- people assigned to the USS NIMITZ vice the Air Wing or Flag or DESRON Staff) eats and so it is more SWOs. Anyways, I’ve had 2 lunches and 2 dinners there and have met a lot more people. I have been eating usually with one of our SUBOPS (submarine operations guys) and our AirOps (the guy who had my job while I was on ABOT, call sign “T-Rex”, yes, like the dinosaur, because he has short arms. No seriously, like REALLY short arms. He does a mean T-Rex impression. It’s hilarious). Our AirOps, being a pilot (“Green suit”) seems to know everyone and thus I have met some more people. Not met as in “oh my gosh, my new BFF, let’s hang out in Dubai”, but at least enough to remember their name/face and say hello if I saw them in passing. Maybe even I might ask to join them at a meal if I were to brave Wardroom III alone.

Hmmm so what else. Other than learning my job (which, I love. Being a Staff Training Officer is the PERFECT job for me; the only thing I don’t like is the fact that I never got a real turnover from the guy who had my job last, he left in July before they deployed, so I don’t really have a great handle on things. Luckily, I’m picking up the best I can). I am not as much into the standing watch thing, but that’s to be expected, I never really like standing watch.

Other than that, I’m just trying not to get lost. I only really know one way to go anywhere, which means it is probably taking me a lot longer to go anywhere than necessary. I still haven’t seen sunlight since last Thursday when I checked onboard.

My favorite thing about the Nimitz is the exercise facilities. So they’re not actually that great or nice (actually ABOT was probably better b/c at least you could run and not just on the treadmill). There is a room called the “gerbil gym”- I think because it is a long room flanked with 30+ treadmills literally RIGHT up against each other so we all look like a bunch of gerbils running side by side and not getting anywhere. There are also 2 gyms with just weights but it gives off that “prison-yard aura” (except inside, not outside). There is a “Khaki Gym” way back aft on the level that I live on, it’s about as big as a small hotel gym- one elliptical, 2 treadmills, a bike and a few weight machines, it’s pretty small and usually all full.

There is also a small room with 12 cycling bikes; there is a cycling class twice a day three days a week. The instructor is our “Fit Boss”, a civilian, who is in charge of everything related to fitness. She’s really great and has a lot of enthusiasm. I took the cycling class and did 24.5 miles in an hour- it was a great class! Today I took my first yoga class, which is offered twice a week in the evenings. It is all the way forward on the ship, 2 decks below the flight deck, in this big room where the anchor chains are. Deck Division just did a lot of painting in there so it reeked of paint, which was kinda gross. It was a very good class though, highly recommended to this girl I sat next to at dinner who is a pilot but is doing a tour as a part of the Nimitz’s ship’s company. There were a little over 30 people in the class, probably ¾ girls, but definitely enough guys that you wouldn’t feel awkward if you were a guy taking it (I mentioned this to one of our SubOps who has now decided the way to meet girls on the Nimitz is to go to yoga). A lot of women officers too, probably about ½ and ½ which is a good ratio, considering there are much fewer female officers than enlisted. Obviously, yoga’s not exactly the most talkative environments to meet people, but I feel like after awhile I will start to recognize people. I took the class this evening after 2 miles on the treadmill in the “gerbil gym” and what fun it was! I only wish I hadn’t flown out here so I could have brought my own yoga mat!


The most interesting part? 15 minutes into the class they started a new launch cycle and we were right under the flight deck on the last part of the ship that the jets are on before they leave the edge of the ship. Nothing messes up your breathing mid-downward dog than the roaring sound of a jet-engine sounding like it is exploding right in your ears as the ground beneath you shakes. THAT will definitely take some time getting used to!

Well, that’s all for now, folks. Off to bed. I’m just hoping tomorrow flies by (ok, for the sake of everyone at home enjoying real turkey and mashed potatoes with their families, I hope it doesn’t fly by) but I’m just ready to push through another holiday and keep on rolling.) I am going to lay off the facebook because seeing people’s messages about going home and being with family is too hard to hear about (but everyone reading, I am thoroughly looking forward to hearing about your Thanksgiving- and pictures too please!!!!)

My goal is after Thanksgiving, whenever I get a chance to mosey outside and maybe get some pics of the planes, to burn them to a CD to post. Sorry that it is more difficult for me to post as frequently, but my goal is every other day, at least for the first few weeks while this is all new and fun! Thanks for continuing to follow throughout the holiday season & I look forward to hearing from everyone :)