The Relax

After four days in Singapore it is surprisingly not that hard to get back into the swing of things. I really enjoyed my time in Singapore, but I think that it had very little to do with the actual city. In fact I know that it had nothing to do with the city. Singapore did not have much of a culture. The city itself was a large mix of cultures and the area I stayed in seemed very Americanized. I think there is definitely an American culture, but if I were going somewhere to experience American culture, where better than America. The other American cities that I have been to are much more enjoyable.

One cultural thing that I did notice was the relationship between males and females. The females are extremely timid. Knowing my personality I absolutely can’t stand this. There was one point on a subway where I accidentally stepped on a girl’s foot so I apologized. She said nothing and looked the other way. It was clearly a cultural thing, but I really can’t stand people that are overly timid. It felt insulting to me. If I take the time to apologize to you for an accident, just turn and say, “no worries.” I’m not going to hit on you just because you talked to me. (Over reacting? Maybe. But I still don’t like that part of the culture).

For most of my time in Singapore I just relaxed. I ate good food, I spent time by the pool, and I drank. (I tried a Singapore Sling. If you don’t care for sweet things, this drink isn’t for you.) Going back to what I originally said, these things are the reasons that I really enjoyed my time in Singapore. After so much routine onboard the ship is was nice to not have plans. I spent a good amount of money, but I had fun doing what I was doing and going where I was going.

The first night I went out to a bar at the top of our hotel called the New Asia Bar. The drinks were expensive, but they had American Music and considering that I like to dance, that worked for me. It was a fun night, not too much drinking, but the great part is when you are a bit drunk you sleep like a champ. I slept until 12:30 the next day which was such a change from my previous schedule.

The next day I spent by the pool, having drinks and eating food poolside. I fell asleep a couple of times which was also nice. The swimsuits in foreign countries look ridiculous. To see grown men wearing what looked like a female one piece, but with short shorts attached to the bottom is a sight to see. It looked like something you would wrestle in, but then it had sleeves also. It felt like a Mr. Magoo cartoon at the beach.

That night we had our hail-and-farewell (for those of you that don’t know it’s when we say goodbye to people leaving, and welcoming those that are new onboard). We started drinking there and you could tell early on that it was going to be a long night. I went to a few bars and ended up at a bar with a live band. My friend, Nisa, ended up on stage with the band, doin’ her rock out thing. We all danced and because there weren’t many people in the bar, and the group I was with were the only ones dancing, we ended up getting to pick the songs that we wanted to hear (assuming that the band knew them). At this point things get a bit hazy. From what I am told we decided to leave and as we began to walk back to the hotel we walked by a bar playing music. I, apparently, turned, looked, and immediately headed into the bar. I vaguely remember a lot of Asians singing and dancing on the stage (which I later found out was some sort of professional karaoke bar).

Late into the morning we went back to the hotel. Nisa and I needed to go back to the ship for duty. We got back to the hotel and I needed to go get my stuff (this was around 5am). Well I guess for some reason I thought it would be a good idea to get a quick nap in. I fell asleep and I randomly woke up at 6:20 am. I grabbed all my stuff, got in a cab and flew back to the ship. I made it back to the ship in time to find that countless people had tried to wake me up to no avail. I made it back in time and then proceeded to sleep the day away. Sounds like a good first port.

Here are some pictures from the trip:

Things have been busy back on the ship. I have been doing a lot of work to prep for the Arabian Gulf. It feels like the closer we get the more important the work that I do is, which in turn makes me busier. Still things are good. Keeping busy makes the time go by quickly and that makes me that much closer to San Diego.

We have crossed the equator and our crossing the line ceremony is coming up. I have stuck my head out a bit too far and I think some people will be gunning for me. I actually have already gotten a subpoena from “Davy Jones” himself and I will be getting “special attention” from the Royal Court. I think that all the parts that come up to the ceremony are part of what makes the day so fun.

Sorry that it has been a while since I have answered some of your questions on the blog or have emailed. I will make sure to answer them when I get the time. I will make sure to write after the WOG ceremony (WOG is the name for the people that haven’t crossed the line, Shellback for those that have). I am going to see if someone will take my camera and follow me around and take pictures, so I will fill you all in after it happens.

I hope all is going well on the other side of the earth. Love you.

Air Conditioning

So, here on the open ocean it is about 80 degrees in my stateroom. It makes for lots of sweating and luckily most of my job takes place in Combat, an area that is kept at a comfortable 50 degrees. We have air conditioning, but with my stateroom having three of four bulkheads receiving direct sunlight, the air doesn’t cool very well. It’s not too bad and somewhat reminds me of those hot nights, long ago during plebe summer (you know what I am talking about all you fellow Academies and Chris).

Oh a quick response to Chris’ comment. Tell Teya I say, “Hi” and that I will be back soon enough and she can just save up all the fun for when I return. Also, she doesn’t mean to ignore you it’s just that without me… well yeah she means to ignore you.

Back to the fun. Today we are doing some operations with the carrier that put us directly in front of the carrier, about 1 mile (nautical mile that is) in front of her. Marty and I took a quick pic for all the readin’ folk out there:

The Navy at its finest. I know that the momma likes pics of the boy better when he smiles so this one is for the momma:
In all his glory Marty has an addition to the blog:

It just keeps getting hotter! We are so far south that if we go any farther it will actually get cooler. The mustache thing was fun and funny for a while by I think that the seven of us (or so) that still have ours are about ready to part ways with them.

I have had a good couple of days. I made my first phone calls, got a package in the mail, and have had a couple of great workouts. Oh, and as usual I just continue to dominate the entire Pacific Ocean with my watch team!

This is the third time that I have sailed in these waters. The first was during 9/11 when I was stationed on the USS Princeton. We stayed underway for over three months straight and played a big role in Operation Enduring Freedom. Luckily, we shouldn’t have to stay out that long this time without pulling in to some ports.

I only have a couple of months left on Mobile Bay and the pressure is on for me to finish a major engineering qualification called EOOW. That is pronounced “E-OWW”. Nothing fun about studying for it but I must finish it before the transfer.

That’s it for today… take care folks. –Marty

Thanks Martin. I am getting really excited for Singapore. I have a hotel for a couple of nights there that has a swim up bar, a casino and good food. I want to just relax some and spend some time out at the pool. People keep asking me what I am going to do in Singapore, but I don’t know yet. I think because so much of my days on the ship are scheduled hour by hour that I would much prefer to just be spontaneous. There is a night safari that everyone says is cool (especially drunk), but I don’t know if that’s something that I want to plan. I would rather just decide, “Hey! I wanna go tromp around buzzed and see animals!”

I got my fourth package from the rents yesterday. Thank you. The boxes are filled with good stuff. I could use some power bars. With me working out a lot I need something to eat right after working out (Vanilla Crisp, Banana, and Peanut Butter are the best flavors).

I miss y’all and I hope things are going well on your end. In the comments post some things that you all have been doing. Enough about me lets hear about all of you.

Dan’s Mustache

I haven’t been able to add to the blog in a while. It has gotten busy on the ship, or I have just been doing other things with my free time. The past week has been a lot of fun even though this is a deployment.

Now for the next Martin J. Blomberg installment:
Listen: Here’s what is going on.

1) So, we are adding a picture of our sweet ‘staches that we have been working so hard to grow. I can’t even begin to describe the amount of pride that I have in my mustache.

2.) I have been reading a great novel called ‘Voyage’ that a salty old friend of mine named Wayne let me borrow. Wayne is 72, lives in Tijuana, and has sailed to Hawaii twice… alone! The book is good.

3.) I am watching a show called “The Shield” and it is action packed. I start season three today. That’s right I am averaging one season per week. I am really looking forward to our next port of call.

4.) I have recently (at least relatively recently) advanced to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade and I have a celebration event planned called a “wetting down” The basic premise is that I have to put the difference in pay from my old pay grade to the new one up on the bar and everyone gets to help drink it. Should be fun.

5.) Did I mention that Mitch and I are growing mustaches? As you take a good look at this shot of me and Mitch I want you all to remember that these are the guys that the U.S. Government has deployed to defend her freedom across the globe. Those mustaches are as symbolic of that freedom as a bald eagle perched up on one of the crowns of old lady liberty. Take Care folks obviously… your in great hands.

So the mustache. I have been working on this bad boy for close to a month now and it shows. It’s hard for me to eat, because of how much hair hangs over my mouth from my upper lip. I have been waiting for someone to tell me that it is out of regulations and that I need to trim it back, but I think everyone is just amazed by it’s ferocity. Finally the time has come for all to see the greatness:

Alright so it’s one of the worst mustaches that anyone could ever grow. Give me a break, I grow facial hair in patches. What do you want me to do?

I have gotten a few care packages from the momma, and they have both been great. Some of the girlies that live a few doors down really like the rice crackers that were sent, and the bag is halfway done (they think that it is good for them because it says rice on it and there are peas in it). The garlic olive oil is great too. The CO wanted freshly baked bread, and what the CO wants the CO gets. It works for me, garlic olive oil on fresh baked bread is a rare delight on a deployment.

We had another steel beach picnic this past Sunday and it was a rather fun one. One of the guys that sits at a certain watchstation in Combat called over to a pilot on the carrier and got him to give us a fly-by. Because this isn’t the civilian world the pilot got pretty close. It was really impressive. The pilot was a nice guy and didn’t go mach so we didn’t get our ears blown out.

More importantly people started dancing to some line type dancing music during the steel beach. One of the members of the crew tried to get me to come do the electric slide, but that is a bit slow for me and after your fourth go around it isn’t that fun. I told him that if he got someone to play “Crank that Soulja Boy” then I would get up in dance. Sure enough the next song was “Crank that Soulja Boy”. I got up and did the whole thing as I promised in front of the Captain, crew and a nice little video camera. The video is on the network here on the ship and I have been receiving some comments (good or bad, it’s hard to tell).

A lot of people have been leaving comments with questions about the Navy and what I would like in a care package. They are a bit hard to keep up with. I will continue to answer questions as I can, and I would post a list of things that are good for care packages, but that is tough to do because then I would get boxes with repeats (I think… if people love me). Instead I will try and send out some individual emails that have some ideas of stuff I would like. All that love in box form is really appreciated.

On to the questions.
These are a little more personnel questions, but still Navy related. I think that people will like the responses.

What is the best part of your day?
The best part of my day probably differs from day to day. I like working out, but if seas are too rough it’s hard to get a good lift in and running on a treadmill is near to impossible (sprinting then keeping yourself from hitting the front is not a good way to run). Blogging is also really enjoyable. It is a fun way for me to keep in touch with all of you and I always look forward to seeing the comments that people have posted. I think most consistently though, I enjoy my thirty minutes out on the aft missile deck just relaxing. Some days are hilarious, other days you just reflect. It is nice to have that break from a regular work day.

Any weird superstitions onboard?
Although there are some superstitions about shaving on UNREP days and other things of that sort, they aren’t that much fun. Something more enjoyable that I think you would all like to hear about is WOG day. I have no idea what WOG stands for, but I do know that if you have not crossed the equator you are still a WOG. If you have, then you are a shellback. When we cross the equator there is a tradition that all the WOGs are harassed by the Shellbacks. I have been told that it is a very messy, smelly, humiliating ordeal, but all in good fun. I have been told to watch out and to just try and get through it or I will have to start back at the beginning of the supposed “obstacle” course that is put up. I plan to make a little more fun out of it, and see how long I can last. Maybe causing some trouble (throwing gross things back at the people doing the damage will be fun). I am looking forward to the whole ordeal.

I do need to get going. I will send out some emails when I get a chance. Write again soon.

Dances with Wolves (Kevin Kostner mostly)

Sorry I haven’t been able to post recently. Things have been very busy at work the past few days, but it does really make time go by much more quickly. It has already been two weeks, and that means that I am one fourteenth done with deployment, I just need to do this 13 more times and I am home to warm sunny San Diego.

So I have told most of you all how the Navy likes to inflict pain upon the people that work oh so hard for it, with things such as pepper spray to the face. Now as tough as I am it’s not a big deal for me, but as you can imagine, for a normal person these things are pretty painful. Because the Mobile Bay is on its way to Singapore, certain precautions must be taken… Anthrax and Smallpox! I have been given two Anthrax shots now (people say they burn, but I don’t think its too bad, leaves a big red mark though) and they have infected a small area on my shoulder with Smallpox. The Smallpox has grown into a blister, popped and is starting to scab over, but they itch like you cannot believe.

As for Ryan and Dan who left a wonderful post on my last blog entry, sorry about not letting you know about the blog. I told Jon to tell you, I don’t know if he did, but you found it and now here you are, reading about wonderful old me.

We had an underway replenishment the other day and I got to run the entire show. I was up on the bridge-wings, over the hydra radios giving permission to start rigging, and begin fuel pressure. The ship was basically at my mercy. Here is a picture to show:


Now while you are all amazed at how powerful I am in the Navy, none of that is true. I was actually just up on the bridge while we were doing an UNREP and I mentioned that my parents would love a picture of this. The Commanding Officer had his camera, and told me to go up and take a picture. I walked up there and he called me back and gave me a radio, telling me to act like I was doing something important. Gotta love it rents… you gotta.

Thanks Dan and Ryan for the PS’s in the comments to the last blog entry. Good memories. Let me know when y’all are coming out to fly jets in San Diego. Also have you heard anything about Danny, and where he is headed, I am really curious.

I need to go now, because my ship is about to run an air defense exercise and I need to go pretend to blow up bad guys. I will write again soon. You can look forward to my mustache picture next time. Worst thing I have ever had on my face… it really is gross thanks Asian blood.