Just one of the few toasting occasions in the British Royal Navy as instructed by our friend Surg Lt Laura during one of our many student presentations for SWMDO. The rest are as follows:
Evening Toast
Sunday ............... Absent friends.
Monday ...............Our ships at sea.
Tuesday .............. Our men.
Wednesday ..........Ourselves (as no one else is likely to concern themselves with our welfare).
Thursday ............. A bloody war or a sickly season.
Friday ..................A willing foe and sea room.
Saturday ............. Sweethearts and wives (may they never meet).
SWMDO stands for Surface Warfare Medical Department Officer. It’s the course we complete to qualify to stand boards and earn our Surface Warfare pin…the shiny bling we get to put on our uniform. Since we’ve gotten back on the ship since Singapore we’ve had class everyday from 0800-2000. Breaks are included for chow and working out but we’re only 4 days in and my butt and brain are starting to hurt. This part of the course is called SWMI…basically an indoc of the medical/supply and non-SWO (surface warfare officer) side of shipboard life. We’ve finally completed the Damage Control aspect of the course. We had our final test right before Singapore. Unfortunately I failed the first time…so I had to take it again after 4 days off the ship. I blame it on the lack of sleep :-P Second time, I passed with flying colors but not sure I could take it today and do as well. They’ve tried to make earning this pin easier by bringing us the information (instead of making us go around the ship and learn about it) but I think it’s harder because it’s just a lot of facts to memorize instead of learning hands-on.
Other things consuming our time are our wonderful drills. We frequently hear the alarm for a “Man Overboard” drill…everyone reports immediately to their work area to muster and be accounted for. Other drills include the “Fire” drill which calls us to report to our workstation and convert our uniform to battle dress…pants tucked in to socks, shirt buttoned all the way up, sleeves down and covers on…looks HOT! Haha Most of the time this drill turns into an “Abandon ship” drill. For the nurses this means preparing to evacuate any patients on board and take them up to the life boats. For the rest of the crew it means standing on the hot, disorganized mess of a flight deck while everyone takes muster and turns it into the bridge.
Last night I actually had 30min to take part in a “corn hole” tournament. Yes ladies and gentleman it was a completely legit, regulated version of cornhole. Regulation boards were separated by a rope which kept them at equidistant lengths. Sadly I didn’t practice much so I only lasted one round…but next time!! The prize is usually a gift certificate to the ship’s store or such.
As we prepare to “Cross the Line” on Saturday we’ve been working on skits, songs and sea tales to entertain the Shellbacks during the talent show. Crossing the line is a ceremony which takes place when the ship crosses the equator. A shellback is someone who has already gone through this ceremony. The rest of us are known as “dirty pollywogs”. As a pollywog we have to memorize lots of songs and wear a t-shirt designed by our shellbacks. Hopefully I will get a picture of mine before it gets destroyed during the ceremony. Unfortunately we’re not allowed to keep them…that might be a good thing as mine is already covered in Tabasco and I can’t imagine what else will be thrown at it on Saturday.
The other time issue with the ship is we keep crossing time zones. Going to Singapore it was great. Every 2-3days underway we’d gain an hour…extra hour of sleep!! Now we’re headed back East from Jakarta, Indonesia and we’re starting to lose hours. Blah. It makes it really hard to keep track of what time it is in the States too. Phone calls are always an issue because we only have 1 phone and usually it’s being used after working hours. The only good time is during night shift (which won’t start back up until next week) or very early in the morning…which takes a lot of motivation because 1) it’s early 2) it’s far away from my bunk 3) it’s early.
I have been able to keep up with my spin class. It’s an afternoon class now so it has to be shorter than 45min, usually about 30min(so everyone has time to go get chow). It’s fun though! I got a few new CDs in my packages so I have new material for class. Thanks Jess and Christina!! Most of the classes are full…about 20 people. One of the other nurses offers it on the days opposite of me so potentially everyone can go every day.
For the most part everyday really is groundhog day. I’ve gotten in such a routine here it just all blends. Getting to see Aaron in Singapore and going on liberty really broke up that routine. Kind of made me sad though because when I was in my routine I didn’t think about how long I had left. Even though I’m more than halfway there, breaking up the routine made me think about *all* the days I have left. *sigh* I think I’m not the only one though…there is a general “global depression” on the boat as they call it. It really helped when I got back on the ship I had packages waiting!! They had bubbles, stickers, snacks and pictures in them. The pictures were the best idea and the worst idea ever! Best because it made me smile and glad to see my friends so happy. Even more tangible than facebook pictures too because they were sent to me (Thanks Stacie and Dave)!!! Worse because I miss everyone. I think I’ve reached the point that returning is close enough to start making plans. All I can think of is everything I want to do…wine tour in Temecula, camping on the beach, jeep trails in Julian, a beer at The Field…
Pictures and more to come soon!
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