Things have been very routine and very mundane as far as work goes. I do what I need to do, and I study when I need to study and then I just get through the day doing things that I enjoy doing. Not much to talk about, really.
I got an email that said I may find my days to be not very exciting, but to some of you reading, you may find the average every day things “enthralling”. Enthralling might be an exaggeration, but here are some of the things that I look forward to while I am out here.
Mongolian Barbeque. Every so often, right after we get a new load of fresh fruits and vegetables, Mongolian Barbeque will show up on the menu. We get to go into the wardroom and pick out the vegetables that we want, the meat that we want, and the sauces that we want to mix it all up with and then the cooks stir-fry it all together and put it over rice. It always tastes great and I always skip lunch so that I am ready to eat a ton of this stuff. It isn’t a big thing, but it is something that I look forward to.
Sundays. On Sundays, as long as there isn’t anything that needs to get done, other than having to stand our six hour watch, everyone gets the day off. I always look forward to these days because I get the chance to catch up on sleep and some time to relax. I usually watch a movie and play some video games.
Those are a couple of the things that I look forward to and I will write about more of them as I think of them.
Things are starting to drag on out here. I am ready to head home, and I am looking forward to some of the little things that you forget that you enjoy so much. It has been a long time since I have gotten to go to sleep and wake up without an alarm clock. I miss the sun. I don’t get to spend nearly enough time out in the sun where I can get a tan. Whenever we pull into port it feels great to go hang out at a pool and have some drinks and get some sun.
For the most part things are good here. I miss you all and I will be back in 79 days.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
The Burj Lifestyle
One thing that I am glad that I did while I was in Dubai the first time was to stay at the Burj Al Arab. I think it was probably a once in a life time thing. Well it turns out that for the Mobile Bay, anyway, it was a once in a life time thing (at least a once in a deployment thing).
We pulled into Jebel Ali port, about a twenty minute cab ride from Dubai. I went out and had a good time, got some good food, had some fun in the sun at the bar, and then went out to a club because we all know that Dane Cook’s saying, “I just wanna dance” really kind of applies to me. I hung out with some of the new ensigns onboard. A picture of me and Thomas is below. We had a good time out at the club. It takes a bit of alcohol for the others to get into the whole dancing mood, but after a bit of time and some insistent urging, everybody ended up having a good time dancing.
We got a bit tired and headed back to the hotel a bit early. I got into sweats and relaxed a bit. One of the new Ensigns, John, was randomly saying things that would for some reason crack everybody up. Maybe the alcohol had something to do with it, but it made for some sides hurting.
I went to bed and when I got up I found out that the crew of the Mobile Bay had been recalled. It turns out that someone onboard got arrested, and the whole ship got called back. It really ruins a port visit when you gotta go back to the ship. So everyone got their stuff together and headed back to the ship.
During times of war, at certain ports, a bunch of American companies open small facilities right around where the Carrier pulls in. The entire strike group was restricted to this area, the Sandbox. The Sandbox has a Burger King, Subway, Popeye’s, and you can buy alcohol. The whole thing is actually really gross. I wish I had my camera there so I could show all of you what this was like.
Imagine a bunch of people outside in 90 degree weather, drunk, sweating, wearing wife beaters and talking about whatever it is they can think of. It is amazing the difference between what I did from one port visit to another. Stay at the only seven star hotel in the world versus a roped off area for people to get drunk and stupid.
Looks like Mobile Bay will not be going back to the United Arab of Emirates anytime soon. Ironic.
We pulled into Jebel Ali port, about a twenty minute cab ride from Dubai. I went out and had a good time, got some good food, had some fun in the sun at the bar, and then went out to a club because we all know that Dane Cook’s saying, “I just wanna dance” really kind of applies to me. I hung out with some of the new ensigns onboard. A picture of me and Thomas is below. We had a good time out at the club. It takes a bit of alcohol for the others to get into the whole dancing mood, but after a bit of time and some insistent urging, everybody ended up having a good time dancing.
We got a bit tired and headed back to the hotel a bit early. I got into sweats and relaxed a bit. One of the new Ensigns, John, was randomly saying things that would for some reason crack everybody up. Maybe the alcohol had something to do with it, but it made for some sides hurting.I went to bed and when I got up I found out that the crew of the Mobile Bay had been recalled. It turns out that someone onboard got arrested, and the whole ship got called back. It really ruins a port visit when you gotta go back to the ship. So everyone got their stuff together and headed back to the ship.
During times of war, at certain ports, a bunch of American companies open small facilities right around where the Carrier pulls in. The entire strike group was restricted to this area, the Sandbox. The Sandbox has a Burger King, Subway, Popeye’s, and you can buy alcohol. The whole thing is actually really gross. I wish I had my camera there so I could show all of you what this was like.
Imagine a bunch of people outside in 90 degree weather, drunk, sweating, wearing wife beaters and talking about whatever it is they can think of. It is amazing the difference between what I did from one port visit to another. Stay at the only seven star hotel in the world versus a roped off area for people to get drunk and stupid.
Looks like Mobile Bay will not be going back to the United Arab of Emirates anytime soon. Ironic.
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