Just finished the "Shellback" test - I made it!

Four hours of yelling, screaming, crazy songs, exercise nazis, blowing dirty water out of tie down holes on the flight deck, crawling through oatmeal, oranges, drinking special juice blindfolded, hose spraying, gatorade swimming and a whole lot more - welcome to the Navy. This is a rite of passage for people crossing the equator on a navy vessel. It was used as a test for shipmates to make sure you had what it takes. Now the Navy has toned it down, way down. They don't even swear at you anymore (although there were a few slips...) and of course, no picture taking at all. You even had to sign a waiver form to participate.

So you will have to trust me on this one, it was fun! Except maybe waking up at 5:00am and eating green eggs and ham without be able to use utensils. I will take a picture of the shirt I made and that will prove it!

Steel beach is tonight (casual dress and cook out). Looks like the cook out will happen in the mess hall because of high winds on the flight deck. I will take some pics and movies and send them off.

Gotta run and grab some chow.

Enjoy!

Movie clips from the USNS Mercy...

From the boat:


In the Boat:

Here are the pics (fingers crossed)...

Front of the ship

Side of ship with gangway to port. Six stories of converted oil tanker.

Actually these are kept warm in Singapore. Maybe they don't dig the cold coffee!

Layover in Japan.

Snack food we had in Japan (at least I had one).

Waiting in Singapore airport. No ride and we spent the night - bummer.

Downtown Singapore.

Cross walk signs or aliens are on the loose?

Some pics from the start...

Starting to post some pics. I needed to clear stuff with the Navy first and now try to manage the blinding slow speed here on the ship. I am also exhausted and can barely stay awake as the computer churns out the goodness. It is 9:50pm here and I was up at 5:15am.

Enjoy the pics!

PC woes...

Hey there.

Just a morning update. I have been attempting to load up some pics and videos on the lounge PC's but can't seem to get them to work (did I mention I hate PC's?). Spent the last thirty minutes and need to go to plan "b" - find my USB jump drive that is locked away in the hospital admin closet. The closet only one person has a key for on the ship....

I am off to breakfast and then to catch the morning sunrise. the sun seems to rise late and go down early. We cross the equator today and they have some kind of initiation ritual for people who have not crossed on a Navy ship before - sounds fun! (tatoo's and hazing here we come). After you cross on a Navy ship (and perform the "deeds") you are called a "shellback." Anybody have any background info on that? We are also working on fire drills and man over board drills today.

I am also thinking about getting my haircut in the barber shop! What do you think? What some video of me getting my head shaved by a Navy hairstylist?

Let me know what you think - cast your vote and we will see if John gets the chair!

Will work out the posting bugs and have something later today.

Enjoy!

The ship is on the road...

Of course the ship is in the water, but you get the idea. We left port today at 2:00pm and have made our way through the Singapore straights. The good news is that I am in the NGO internet lounge and I have just set-up my locker, which means I have access to my computer for pictures and videos - a brave new world is about to begin! The connection is really slow, but I think I can manage. So get ready for some images and video clips. The down side is once we reach East Timor life will get very busy and not sure how much posting I will be able to do.

So we are on the high seas and begining to settle into the slight rocking of the boat. Last night was a trip into Sinapore for some sightseeing and dinner. I was able to grap a shower (stinky john) and get into some clean clothes.

I will let the pictures do the talking pretty soon, so get ready.

Also, drop me a comment if you are following along. Would love to know who is watching!

Eye Eye Maity (somebidy help me with spelling :-)

Enjoy!

Stuck in Singapore...

Well we just did the airport hostel (yes singapore has everything!). This place has to be my favorite airport. Not really a hostel, but we did manage to get a 4 hour napping slot (darkened room with your own couch like area) and a shower (private of course - rated the best shower I have ever had!) and internet for a bout $41. Well worth it...

So we arrived in Singapore at midnight and never had our ride show up. Around 3:30am we bagged it and tried the hotel airport (did I say Singapore has everything?), it was around $200 a night, so we opted for the "lounge" hotel.

Still can't upload any stills as I am at an internet terminal with no access to ports. Good news is we find out (or checked emails) and we do have a satellite phone number for someone on board the ship. In about two minutes I will try to give them a buzz and hopefully someone from the Navy will swing by.

36 hours traveling and I haven't touched the real world yet. Funny how we look at life through the exterior, eyes see and we judge and understand based on that. Wouldn't life be awful if all we knew of other countries and people was from visiting their airports?

Gotta get to boat...

Enjoy!