Rachel’s Reflections

Today is my brother Jeff’s birthday.   Today he is the big 3-0.  (Three-oh)  Welcome to the club, Jeff!  Now I’m not the only one (of us siblings).  How does it feel to be 30?  Do you still feel it is the new 20?  Or do you feel older, say in your bones?  Slowing down any?  Or still young and fit and strong?  Did any rockclimbing with Betsy lately?

Happy Birthday!  Hope it’s a great one.

To remind you of your childhood:  “…And many more on Channel 4/ And Scooby-doo on Channel 2….”  Remember that?

Happy Birthday with love,

From your sister,

Rachel

Warning: strlen() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given in /var/www/html/wp-content/themes/techozoic-fluid/archive.php on line 60

I’ve been thinking about this lately.  This is something I’ve thought about off and on for a long time (thinking about stuff is one of my hobbies).  And recently Betsy’s post about patriotism has provided fodder for this thought topic as has some religious observations I’ve made since coming here and musings about the devotional duties of Christians.  This last to whit, around here it’s considered normal to believe in God.  And if you want to talk about God that’s ok too.  But don’t mention Jesus. That is offensive.  And yet the essence of Christianity is Jesus.  And so to deny Jesus would be to stop being a Christian.

And so I’ve been thinking about this.

First, a definition.  Click on the link to go to my source for this.  Second, some questions, and third some observations.

de·vo·tion

1. profound dedication; consecration.
2. earnest attachment to a cause, person, etc.
3. an assignment or appropriation to any purpose, cause, etc.: the devotion of one’s wealth and time to scientific advancement.
4. Often, devotions. Ecclesiastical. religious observance or worship; a form of prayer or worship for special use.

Etymology:

c.1225, from O.Fr. devocion, from L. devotionem, noun of action from devovere “dedicate by a vow,” from de- “down, away” + vovere “to vow,” from votum “vow” (see vow). In ancient L., “act of consecrating by a vow,” also “loyalty, fealty, allegiance;” in Church L., “devotion to God, piety.” This was the original sense in Eng.; the etymological sense, including secular situations, returned 16c. via It. and Fr. Devote is from 1586, from L. devotus, pp. of devovere. Devotee is from 1645, perhaps on model of assignee.

The definitions I’m concerned with are definitions 1 and 2, although 3 and 4 are definitely a part of 1 and 2.

Some questions:

• Is devotion a good thing?
• Is it appropriate to be devoted to a thing or entity or idea?
• Is it ever wrong?
• To what extent should a person be devoted?
• What if the person or cause you’re devoted to almost gets you killed?  What then?  Do you stay devoted or do you quit or change loyalties?
• If you do stay devoted are you stupid or a fool?
• Or is that a really honorable thing?
• Should you only be devoted to someone if they deserve it or earn it?
• What if they don’t?
• What if the person or cause you’re devoted to betrays you?  What then?
• So should you value devotion and loyalty more than your reputation, more than your very self?
• If you were to hear of someone with that kind of strong loyalty/devotion how would you think of this person?  A dupe?  Or someone of strong principles?

These are just some questions to get started.  I’m sure I could think of more if I tried.

The above can be summarized in these main two:

• What or who should you give your devotion to?
• To what extent?  I.e., when is the cost too great?  At what point do you quit or change loyalties?  When is it too much?  Never?

There are many kinds of devotion:

• Devotion to family.  The devotion of mothers to their offspring is legendary, as is the devotion of husbands to wives or men to their sweethearts.
• Devotion to one’s people.  This is ethnic devotion and also cultural devotion.  It can be as broad as being devoted to the human race (the species) or as narrow as being devoted to a small sub-ethnic group.  Unfortunately wars have often been fought over conflicting devotions of this type.
• Devotion to country.  This is called patriotism.  In extreme form it is called nationalism. (My country right or wrong.)  Note: this can be the same as the above mentioned type but is not necessarily so.
• Devotion to a political leader.  This would be the “king” part of “fighting for king and country.”  This is a feudal idea but still exists to this day–loyalty to party bosses, loyalty to a dictator, etc.
• Devotion to a religion or deity.  This is called piety or zeal.  Devotees are often called zealots.  Sometimes they can also be called fanatics or extremists.  This of course would be an extreme in-your-face-and-down-your-throat form of this kind of devotion.
• Devotion to a religious leader.  This is over and above and perhaps even separate from the devotion to the religion the man represents.  One’s devotion is to an actual person rather than an idea or creed.
• Devotion to an idea or beliefs.  This is called ideology.
• Devotion to a cause.  This is a practical application of a person’s beliefs.  These can be philanthropists, “crusaders” (as in “save the whales”), the military (as in the cause of defending freedom), or even terrorists.
• Devotion to a symbol.  This is very similar to the devotion to an idea or devotion to a cause, but in this case the symbol stands in for the idea or cause and can have a broad meaning and significance.  Examples would include devotion to the flag or devotion to the Constitution (the latter is required in the oaths taken by all members of the military).  Both are symbols for patriotism, but the latter encompasses more than just that.  It also includes the devotion to an idea (rule of law, representative government, democracy, etc.) and devotion to a cause (keeping our form of government intact and defending freedom).
• Devotion to a friend.  This is devotion born out of love for another.  There are many stories told of soldiers’ fierce devotion to their comrades and even dying for them.  It has been said that soldiers don’t die for freedom or any other idea or creed–they die for the buddy next to them in the trench.  Even to this day, that saying is true.  This is a very powerful and strong kind of devotion.

These are just ten kinds I could think of.  There may be more.  They tend to fall into two categories based on the object of devotion: either to a thing or to a person.  And within each kind are different levels of devotion–all the way from giving the object some time and effort and emotional energy to giving one’s whole life in service and to actually dying for it.  It’s a wide range.  I think we can all identify categories where we feel a certain devotion to a thing or person and can identify to what level we feel that devotion.  And that may or may not involve being willing to die for something or someone.  And that may or may not be appropriate.  I think also whether the devotion is “good” or “bad” depends on the object of that devotion.  Someone devoted to a “Jack the Ripper” is very different than someone devoted to seeing that his daughter has the best in life.  Although that last kind of devotion could also be bad depending on how that person went about doing it.

You notice I haven’t really answered any of the questions I raised.  I did not do so on purpose.  For one thing this post is already really long.  Answering them would take a lot longer–it’s really outside the scope of this blog post (you could actually write a book on this subject, and I’m sure people have before).  And another thing, I don’t have all the answers.  As I mentioned before, thinking is a hobby of mine, and I’ll be exploring this subject in my mind and thinking of what the answers might be–along with all the other things I think about.  One way I’ll be exploring it is through fiction.  I really like that medium for examining the human condition.

I posted this because I’m interested in what you have to say.  How might you answer these questions?  What do you think about this subject?  I’m very interested to know.  Sometimes other people’s perspectives can help you think more clearly about your own, or even reveal faulty thinking and get you to change your mind.  So if you’d like to dialogue with me on this, please leave a comment.  Or send an email.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Warning: strlen() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given in /var/www/html/wp-content/themes/techozoic-fluid/archive.php on line 60

That’s the name of a music CD I’ve been listening to.  I picked it up on one of our trips to Disney World last year.  The subtitle (or at least text at the bottom of the CD case) is “Unique Musical Creations Based on Disney Songs.”

I really like this CD.  No, that is not true.  I LOVE this CD!  I’ve listened to it over and over.  Well, I like Mannheim Steamroller and I like Disney, so how can I not like this, right?  My two favorite songs on here are “When You Wish Upon a Star” and “Chim Chim Cher-ee.”

“When You Wish Upon a Star” starts out with the melody to “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” and then at some point without you being aware of just when or how it seamlessly transitions into “When You Wish Upon a Star” and then at the end it returns to “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”  Ok, for someone like me who is almost musically illiterate I am not aware of how or when they make the transition.  Some of you music aficionados and geniuses out there may listen to it once and have it all figured out.

And the other one, “Chim Chim Cher-ee” just makes me smile.  I don’t know why really.  It’s the first one on the album.  At first it doesn’t sound Disney at all and then you start hearing the unmistakable sounds of the “Chim Chim Cher-ee” song from Mary Poppins.  This song makes me want to waltz.  When I realized last night that I was smiling and liking this music I wished Jeremy were here so he could share it with me.  There are some things that are better when shared with others.  This CD is one of them.

Too bad I can’t let you listen to it.

Warning: strlen() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given in /var/www/html/wp-content/themes/techozoic-fluid/archive.php on line 60

Friday night at church the conversation turned to glasses and I mentioned I needed to visit an optician (where you buy glasses).  The pastor, Majdi, who is a doctor, volunteered to take me to the shop he deals with.  I accepted.  So the next day, Saturday, he and his wife, Margo, and his son Mark took me to the shop.

I went there to get my glasses adjusted.  This would be the glasses made for me in San Diego to replace the ones I broke when I was holding the 9mm too close to my face and the “kick” of the weapon slammed into my glasses cracking them.  It gave me a “black eye” but no serious or permanent damage.  But I’ve been wearing those glasses ever since.

Well, I did get those glasses adjusted, but they talked me into buying new ones too.  Not that that was hard–it’s been awhile since I had civilian glasses, and I did want some and besides it’s good to have more than one pair (at least if you’re in the military).   They wanted me to try these frames that were made of titanium.  They’re supposed to be stronger than regular metal frames, but they are way bendier.  These are also of the frameless style–only earpieces and a nosepiece–no metal around the lenses.  I was unsure that my huge, thick glasses could stand a style like that, but they convinced me otherwise.  So I picked out one of those kind of frames.  They helped me do so too–it helps having someone who can actually see tell you if it looks good or not.  And it turns out they have better taste than I do.  That’s not unusual; most people do.  (I have no fashion sense whatsoever.)

So then I thought about getting prescription sunglasses, but to get the polarized kind, which is the kind I wanted, it would have been almost $700.00.  That was too much money; I did not get prescription sunglasses.  And they wouldn’t have even been high index either.  But that’s the way it goes when you’re blind.  The more blind you are, the more expensive glasses are.  More on that later.

After this the lady helping us took me into the back room for a quickie eye exam to see if my prescription had changed.  Everything was the same as I’m very familiar with except the eye chart.  Instead of a variety of letters it had only one: C, in a variety of configurations.  She asked me which way it was facing, so I told her where the opening in the C was–up, down, etc.  After talking with a guy I work with yesterday, I think the next time I go get an eye exam I’m not going to guess when I can’t see them clearly.  I’ll just tell them it’s too blurry.  He says that’s the only way to get a stronger prescription where you can see clearly.  He may have a point.  I do seem to consistently get prescriptions where I can just barely see.  I guess you have to lie to them to get what you need.

But anyway the lady said my astigmatism had improved slightly.  This sounded weird to me, but the doctor assured me that it could happen and is not uncommon as people age.  He said my visual acuity would never improve though.  I’d rather figured that.  No surprise there. 

Having several days to think about it, I think maybe the lady’s right.  The glasses I have now seem to distort the world in subtle ways.  The world seems farther away and offcenter or perhaps slightly at an angle.  It’s a little difficult to read the computer screen unless I’m pretty close (or I make the text bigger).  The letters seem to jump around a little, except that they’re still too.  It’s like part of them is blurry and part is clear.  It’s hard to explain.  It’s hard to see them, but yet I can see them.  Maybe I should have lied on the eye exam.  Maybe that is the key. 

So after that it was time to finalize the order and pay up.  So I thought.  It was actually time to negotiate the price.  This involved Majdi talking to this salesman in Arabic (only an occasional word did I understand) with occasional translated-to-English questions for me.  The first price, after having a discount (something I gathered Majdi was entitled to either because he is a regular customer or because he is a doctor) applied was 185BD.  For your information, BD means Bahraini dinar and is the currency here.  I will be quoting more prices in dinar.  You can convert to dollars very easily: just multiply the amount in dinar by 2.66.  Your computer has a calculator even if you don’t.  Your cell phone has a calculator too. 

After I did the math on a calculator provided by the store, I thought this was too much money.  After all, it’s close to $500.  Once before I’d paid $400 for glasses.  I knew my glasses would be expensive, but I hadn’t wanted to pay more than $400 for them.

Majdi agreed with me and began negotiating again, telling the guy he needed another discount.  I listened as best I could with interest.  I didn’t know it would be possible to give another discount–after all, weren’t computer sales systems “locked in”–the salesperson had to charge what was programmed into the machine, right?  Well…apparently in Bahrain, not right.

The guy didn’t want to give another discount of course, so he started showing me from his, for lack of a better word, catalogues the prices of everything.  Frames: 45BD.  I knew they’d be expensive.  After doing the math, I thought that was probably what such frames would cost in the States.  Lenses: High Index: 133BD.  This surprised me.  Yes I know high index is the most expensive frames there are; but I didn’t think they’d be this much. (For those who don’t know, high index is the top of a continuum of how to get greater curvature of a lens while making it light and thin.  Glass lenses are at the bottom–heaviest and thickest.  Then you have plastic lenses.  Then you have polycarbonate lenses (“featherweights” is a trade name of this kind of lens).  There may be another kind in there, but next, or at least the top is High index.  Since they’re so expensive, it’s not recommended to get them unless your eyes are really bad like mine.  For me it’s not an option–I need this kind.  Polycarbonate just wouldn’t do it for me.  Those kind would be too thick and heavy.  Jeremy, whose eyesight is around 20/400 has polycarbonate lenses.  My eyesight is more like 20/3000–in other words, such measurements are meaningless at my vision level–lack thereof.)  Then there were two coatings, that are optional for a lot of people, but due to my unique (and lack of) vision are not optional for me.  These are anti-scratch and anti-reflective coating.  Anti-scratch is important because it’s easy to get scratches when you’re wearing your glasses daily all day long and scratches are very hard to see around or through.  They make a big blurry spot that will never go away.  Not good.  And anti-glare is important because it’s hard to see through glare.  And when your field of vision is already small glare just makes it smaller.   (The extreme curvature of the lens required for me to be able to see also creates a “fishbowl effect.”  I have to look out the center of my glasses to have clarity; looking out to the side gives a distorted picture, like looking through the side of a fishbowl or through 100 year old glass.  It’s also why I tend to bump into people or things.  Either I truly didn’t see you or I thought you were farther away than you were.  Reminds you of the notice on the side mirror of your car–objects may be closer than they appear–yes, the effect is rather like that–welcome to my world.)  So the anti-scratch coating (which is a diamond coating–how cool is that?) was 25BD.  He didn’t tell me how much the other coating was.  So the final price was at least 203BD. 

But Majdi did talk him down again.  He tried to get him to take 175BD, but the guy wouldn’t have it.  They finally agreed on 178BD and asked me if I agreed.  Tired of the negotiations and resigned to paying more than $400, I agreed.  So, my glasses, while not $500 exactly are almost $475.  That’s still a lot of money.

I might try contacts again.  I’ve tried them twice so far, with no luck.  But Majdi talked the guy into giving me a trial pair and the guy did keep my prescription, so we’ll see when I go back Saturday to pick up the glasses.  The last time I tried contacts they were always blurry and the doctor said that was the best she could do.  I’d have to live with it.  And I did–by going back to wearing glasses.  Majdi explained that contacts aren’t always available in all prescriptions, so they give you what is closest.  If you need -2.75 for example and they only have -2.50 or -3.00, they’ll give you -2.50.  But technology improves all the time, and so he and the guy behind the counter thought they could get me my prescription.  We’ll see.

Don’t say what so many people are starting to say to me: “Why don’t you get surgery?”  I get tired of answering this question, so I’ll answer it only once:  I can’t have surgery.  The doctor said I’m not a good candidate.  I guess they’d have to shave off too much of my cornea.  Ugh.  I wouldn’t want to have flat eyeballs!  So, no, my eyes are too bad for surgery.

On the other side, if I’d been born in an earlier century, before they had the optics technology they have now, I’d have been a blind girl.  Maybe I would have been taught braille, sent to a blind school, used a white stick, the whole works.  That is if I were lucky.  If schooling wasn’t available, I may have been taken care of by my family all my life, never to marry or have my own house or anything like that.  That’s also if I were lucky.  If my family were too poor or unwilling to take care of me, I would have had the fate of all handicapped people–either go to a poor/workhouse which were like prisons, but with really poor living conditions (life expectancy–very low) or become a begger on the streets (life expectancy–also very low).  So you see, I do have it good.  At least in this century I do have a chance to see, even if it’s imperfectly (after being corrected) and expensive, and I have a chance to live a normal life.  So I really don’t have anything to complain about, even when I do get tired of being chained to glasses.  They are my eyes, no doubt about it.  I really do have four eyes–the removable two that work and the two in my head that are cosmetic and that don’t work.  So go ahead, call me four eyes–it’s true. 

Warning: strlen() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given in /var/www/html/wp-content/themes/techozoic-fluid/archive.php on line 60

Jeremy is hard at work on his ship studying and completing PQSs for ESWS qualification.  What that means is he has a spiral book called Personnel Qualification Standard which has in it a bunch of topics on what he’s trying to qualify for and a bunch of signature lines for someone to sign once he’s demonstrated he knows that topic.  What he’s trying to qualify for is Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist.  By the way, ESWS is pronounced “ees-swas.”  He was able to complete the damage control (just what it sounds like–fighting fires, keeping the ship from flooding, that sort of thing–every sailor has to learn this) portion on his last ship and now, if he has time he will work on the ship specific portion.  It all depends on how long he is on this ship, which he doesn’t know yet.  If he is able to work on the book and get it all signed off, then he has to study for the test.  After he takes and passes the test, then he has to study for the board.  This is where he and anyone else who’s also “taking ESWS board” goes into a room that has a bunch of chiefs, which is a scary thing.  Chiefs are E-7 and above and are senior enlisted members and are subject area experts in their field.  Their purpose in the board is to ask the sailor a bunch of questions, hard questions, and decide who gets qualified and who, in their opinion, isn’t ready yet.  So if he passes the board, then he is considered surface warfare qualified, and is presented with a certificate and a pin. 

 

The pin is the important part.  You wear that with all your uniforms (working uniforms have a sewn-on version) and it lets everyone know you’re warfare qualified and is rather a status symbol.  Plus, new Navy policy is that all E-5s and above have to be warfare qualified. 

I’m working on my EEXWS (pronounced EXW), that is, Enlisted Expeditionary Warfare Specialist.  I have two spiral books to complete (general and specific to my command).  After I get both signed off, I study for and take a test and then study for and pass a board.  The procedure is very much the same.  The pin looks different, though.

The EXW pin is a new one.  In fact, the whole idea of expeditionary warfare as such in the Navy is a post 9-11 one.  My command, whose job is to protect high-value assets around the globe (but for us, specifically here in the Middle East) was formed post 9-11.  The idea is mobile groups of sailors who can act like soldiers and go anywhere they’re needed to do the mission they need to do.  We protect the supply train while it is on the water (in big ships–not an actual train, of course).  It’s as simple as that.

Most of the people involved in expeditionary warfare are the MAs and GMs that I work with (Master-at-arms (formerly the Navy’s “policemen”) and Gunner’s Mates–they take care of weapons–important job) and Seabees (construction ratings–they go into hostile places (like Iraq) and build things–basically the idea of a hammer in one hand and a gun in the other).  So far there’s only been 1 OS (Operations Specialist–my rate–knowing the operational environment of the ship–using radar and other systems to constantly moniter the area around the ship to include other ships, aircraft, and even submarines–very interesting–you always know exactly where you are and what’s going on around you) who has gotten the pin.  And that is OS1 Marcus Green, who used to be at my command and who was my boss for a month before his replacement came.  I was at his pinning ceremony.  So what this means is, there’s room for other OSs to become EXW qualified.  And it also means that NO female OSs have gotten their EXW pin.  So, do you think I could be the first one?  Maybe.  There is another female OS here–OS1 Smith, my boss.  She’s studying for EXW too.  We’ll just have to wait and see, right?  But either way, it’d be cool to have it.  When I go to my next command no other OS will have it.  Chances are they won’t have heard of it, since it’s so new, so they’ll be asking me, “What’s that pin?”  And I’ll tell them.  But then they’ll probably start bugging me to get my surface pin, since that’s the important one for OSs.  Oh, well….  At least I’ll have one.

But I’ll have to earn it first of course.  At least now that we’ve started having formal training it will be easier.  Having somebody explain something, even lecture you, is easier to learn from than trying to get the information from reading a document or powerpoint. 

In other news I lost my ID card yesterday and had to get a new one.  My old one was starting to fall apart, so I needed a new one anyway.  But there were issues with taking my picture due to my glasses glaring.  The one I ended up with was fine but then in making it the machine turned it a sickly yellow-green.  So it looks like I have some terminal disease.  And I had to tip my head down in order to keep my glasses from glaring so I look like I have a weird expression on my face too.  So my picture is rather on the ghastly side.  Why “official photo” machines mangle photos is a question I cannot answer.  But it is well known that driver’s license and other ID photos always look bad.  You’re probably telling me, “Just look at mine,” right?  At least yours doesn’t look like you’ve caught the Plague.  Or something worse.  My only comfort is that there are others with bad photos too….  Misery does love company after all. 

Warning: strlen() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given in /var/www/html/wp-content/themes/techozoic-fluid/archive.php on line 60

Today is Jeremy’s and my anniversary.  Happy anniversary to us!  We got married in 2006, so we have been married for two years now.  And we have lived together for all of 5 months out of those 24.  Woohoo!  Awesome, huh?  Did you know that’s almost 21%?  (For those of you who like math and statistics, which at this time is a statistically significant portion of my readers.)  So that means, technically, we’ve spent more than 1/5 of our married time together.  Awesome, right?  We’re really racking up the time! 

And as Jeremy says, 2 down, 48 more to go.  Or rather his uncle said that; he just repeats it.

Originally Jeremy said we would be married for 70 years.  After that (assuming we’re both still alive) we could decide whether we want to stay married or go marry someone else.  So on that math scale we are at 2 down and 68 more to go.  Jeremy never mentions this scale anymore, so I think he likes the 50 year scale better.  And 48 more to go does sound better than 68.  Whatever, right?

 Anyway, Happy Anniversary, Jeremy!  I love you!

 Jeremy called me through DSN from his ship today.  But I haven’t been feeling good as I’ve had migraines all weekend and I lost my ID card today.  But I’m glad he called.

(I’m actually writing this post Jan 14th and lying about what day I posted it as I forgot it was my anniversary that day.  As I mentioned, I was having a bad day.  I remembered the day before, and I remembered that morning, and I remembered the next day, very briefly, but really I had my anniversary when Jeremy came home for a visit, so this day was basically just another day.)

But anyway, I love you, Jeremy!  Thanks for calling!

Warning: strlen() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given in /var/www/html/wp-content/themes/techozoic-fluid/archive.php on line 60

The President of the United States of America visited the Kingdom of Bahrain!  Isn’t that way cool?  And I never even got to see him either.  That’s way NOT cool.

I’ve known about it for days, but I’ve delayes saying anything until it was over.  Yes, it’s public knowledge and has been in the papers for days, but I was still uncomfortable saying anything ahead of time.  I guess I’ve had too much OPSEC (operational security) pounded into my head.

He arrived Saturday.  There were Bahraini and American flags flying around the city.  Bahraini, American, Bahraini, American–several flagpoles in a row, alternating.  That was cool.  Bahraini flags are pretty common around here, but the only American flag is the one on base.  So it was nice to see the Stars and Stripes.

There were all kinds of cops and security people out on the streets too, at least the main road (for Jeremy–the one around the Pearl Roundabout).  I saw cops on horseback, the regular street cops (they wear white uniforms around here) and Bahraini special forces guys (completely in black, including their helmets) with cool-looking, short, and assuredly very lethal guns.  There was also a truck with an automatic rifle (i.e. machine gun) mounted in the bed.  It looked very much like the one we shot in San Diego.  May be the same model or similar model, I don’t know.  It was all very exciting, but no Presidential procession.

The next day, Sunday, he was to visit the base in the morning.  Everyone on base had been told not to come to work until 10:00.  I had to come in early around 8:00 due to some last minute order changes some of our guys had, that I had to take care of, and I decided to walk.  I was fairly sure it would be difficult, if not impossible to drive onto base.  I was right.  I’m glad I walked. 

I no sooner stepped out of my door (i.e. left the apartment building) than I saw the same security guys from the day before right out in front of my building!  (ok, so I don’t know if it was the same exact guys, but they were cops and special forces guys, ok?)  I do live close to the base, but I hadn’t really expected that.  Well, I walked to base along my usual route which did not take me near those guys but which does take me through about three empty lots and as I approached the base I noticed that the road which leads to the vehicle gate was blocked off with a big, black, SUV, official-looking truck.  More cops around it.  Glad I didn’t drive.  I walked up to the pedestrian gate, officially known as Pass and ID, and presented my ID and was passed through–to a bag check.  We don’t usually get bag checks–just once in awhile, but I was pretty certain today would be one.  I was right.  That’s why I left my pocketknife behind.  We’re allowed to have them, as long as the blade is three inches or less (yes, mine is legal), but I wasn’t taking any chances with any delays.

When I entered base the first thing I noticed was an ambulance parked outside medical.  “Duh” I thought.  “Of course.”  I wished I could have been one of the sailors that got to hear the President talk to them, but the room where that is done only holds a couple hundred people.  I didn’t get picked (or voluntold–take your pick).  I was going to go up on the roof around the time the President was to leave, but I didn’t make it.  The computer system I use to create and modify people’s orders was proving more intransigent than usual.  To say I was “wrestling” with it was just barely metaphorical.

So I missed the visit, but at least he made it here safely, visited here safely, and left safely.  And that’s what matters.  At least from Fifth Fleet in Bahrain’s point of view.  Still, it would have been a great “bragging rights” thing to tell the kids and grandkids someday (assuming of course I ever have any). 

What I really wanted to do was to see a Secret Service agent.  Oh well, maybe I’ll have a chance someday….  Don’t get me wrong–seeing an actual President–any President–would be way cool too.  Well at least I was just a couple hundred yards away from him.  Does that count for anything?

Warning: strlen() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given in /var/www/html/wp-content/themes/techozoic-fluid/archive.php on line 60