Ship's Greetings

MC3 Berumen and her boyfriend, AC3 Dalton, are exchanging gifts in the TV control room.  Like me, Dalton has to work today and is stuck on the ship.  I briefly entertained the thought of taking leave and traveling to the east coast to visit family and friends, but with plane tickets starting at $800, it's just too expensive.  

My dad called last night to see how I was doing on Christmas Eve.  I'm actually doing fine.  As an only child raised to be independent, I maintain a strong relationship with my family, but can also handle being on my own during holidays.

I wish I could say the same for everyone else here. There's definitely some sad faces today.  But we've got a job to do and no doubt the Nimitz Sailors will handle business like the professionals they are.

Happy Holidays America.

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Hot seat

MC3 Cotter (left) is undergoing a spot check, administered by Master Chief Burds.  For this particular check, Cotter must demonstrate knowledge of proper float coat (life jacket) maintenance. This is an important skill, as you wouldn't want to end up in the water with a float coat that doesn't inflate.

As you can see in the photo, Cotter is not enjoying being under the steel gaze of an ex-marine.

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It sucks!

MC3 Jandik cleans a filthy air duct while MC3 Berumen bravely assists.

This is the stuff you don't see on recruitment ads.

But it's part of our job.  All of you prospective MCs out there, be prepared to get your hands dirty.  This air duct belongs to us.  No we didn't buy it at Home Depot.  Every department "owns" spaces.  For the MCs up in the TV studio, we own the studio, the control room, and the p-ways that connect them.  This means not-so-glamorous maintenance on said spaces from time to time.

Think about how gross your own home/apartment's air ducts get.

Jandik, who was recently promoted to petty officer 3rd class, climbed into this disgusting task as soon as he heard it needed to be done.  His vacuum sucked all sorts of caked on dirt, dust, and grime for about 30 minutes until... we all breathed a sigh of relief.  Literally.

Notice he's wearing a firefighting mask to protect him from all the nasty stuff he's churning up.

Biggest pool EVER

110926-N-IR734-080

Before the Nimitz pulled out of the dry dock, every department gathered for a photo in front of the propellers.  It took all day, and several MCs rotated the duty.  The photographer is standing on a crane.  This motley crew is the Media department, and I'm back row second from left.  Freaking cool right?


Seconds after this shot was taken, the dry dock flooded and we all ran for our lives.  Naaah!