Photos

Ok, lets see if I can keep a connection long enough to upload some new pics from around home. Was a fun day to walk around, low clouds, a light brisk wind. Snow adds a sound insulating blanket to the town, great for meditating and contemplating. Of course, with all this cloud cover keeps winters mild, it reduces the amounts of Northern Lights we see, which are particularly active late fall to early spring.

There's been quite a bit of snow fall this winter, although not nearly as bad as last winter, which i was fortunate enough to miss the piling up of 26'. It's always fun to kick back and relax in the mornings with a cup of coffee looking out the bay windows watching the little chicadees feed at the many different feeds in the yard.

These next few shots are from the boat harbor. In the last few years it's become increasingly popular, low rates, a lot of natural protection and the town has a friendly reputation. One of my favorite past times when i visit home is to stroll along the piers and check out the boats. Many are old and familar, like old friends. I remember a great deal of people by what boat they own.

New Year!

Ok, I'm still alive and kicking.

I'm home, on forced leave from work, a simple technicality that lead to a SNAFU, typical governmet agency. HR sends me on leave and then they list the reason I'm on leave in my file as something totally different then why I was really sent on it.

I'm not sweating it, although they're kind of pissed that I haven't told 'em what I'm doing, hell, I didn't want to be on leave to begin with so they're just going to have to deal with it. Not only that, all the times I've put in for time off and was denied, I'm making up for it now.

I'm glad to be off the ship, nothing but drama. Not only that but the Navy was trying to enforce it's rules it set forth for it's regular sailors on us CIVMARS (civilian mariners). Not hard to tell that they were created to keep the 18 year old kids that have never been on their own before in line, which tends to be insulting to those of us who are mature and those who have kids that are of that age to begin with.

The Gulf was almost pure torture, having to stand outside for 4 to 8 hours at a whack without air conditioning, on a steel deck, wearing dark blue pants and long sleeve shirt and steel toed leather boots, let's just say it would have been drier to have taken a shower not to mention cleaner. We spent even less time in port since the carrier battle group we were attached to was part of the "surge" that took place over the summer and was running extremely high tempo ops. Myself and one of the other UNREP helmsman was almost left behind one afternoon when the powers that be decided they were going to change our departure time at 10 am when we'd left the ship at 9 am. Only thing that kept us from spending the next three days on shore was the delay in getting a harbor pilot.

Getting spoiled traveling first class, been coast to coast a few times since october and I have nothing really to spend my money on.

There's been a lot of deep contemplations I'd ponder standing watch at 4 am in the pitch black of the bridge wings, but everytime I've gone to write 'em done the thought has passed from my mind.

I'll probably be posting some new pics over the next few posts, nothing special, to me anyways, just shots of home that caught my eye.