My Okinawa Adventure

Welcome to 2011

2011-01-02T11:42:00.001+09:00

Well, I barely updated my blog during 2010 even though A LOT happened this past year. I just got kind of bored with my blog and didn't use it. Now its 2011 and time to put this thing to work.

Wow...Almost a year since my last post...LOL

2010-12-04T22:16:00.003+09:00

Well it has been a long time since I last posted to my blog...Almost a year to be exact. A lot has happened in the last year. Some good, some bad.

On the good side of things at work, I have been promoted to LPO of the Command Color Guard. For those of you who don't know what LPO means, it basically means I am in charge and the Color Guard is my responsibility. I finished all my qualifications here as a Navy Police Officer and obtained the position of Watch Commander. This however will be short lived as I will be transferring to the Security Training Department in January.

I have now lost my train of thought and only a couple other things I can think of are...I obtained my Associate in Arts Degree and also have taken up playing the keyboard...This is why I need to blog more often

Spirit of Christmas

2009-12-16T20:19:00.001+09:00

So today I go into work as usual when my buddy called me over to his van. He hands me an unwrapped Japanese Toy Police Car that has light up lights and siren, and says Merry Christmas. I am touched by the gesture but at that time had nothing to gift back...So as I walk to my car, I think to myself, what can I buy in return for him for Christmas...I don't have a lot of money to spare for Xmas this year, but I still feel obligated to give him a gift in return, even if it is something small.

It seems like another boring day on the pier standing watch when around early afternoon I receive a call. My buddy calls me and wants to know if my crew and I could cover his watch on Monday after our three day weekend so he could go do a volunteer project, I think nothing of it and agree that we can take care of him. My biggest thing with my unit is, we never say no to a shipmate who asks for help.

After working out the details, he asks me for another favor. This month we are pulling duty on the 25th, 26th, and 27th. With the holiday stand down, all sections are at minimal manning and have just enough people to cover each post. His father is going to be in town and he wants to spend the holiday's with him. He asks if we can again cover for him, for at least half a day each of the three days. He then tells me that can be my Christmas gift to him. We work out the details, and I agree it will be done. What he doesn't know though, is that I am going to go one step further...He will have all of Christmas day off to spend with his father, his wife, and his daughter.

It is interesting to read everyone's Facebook Posts, and posts on other sites about how much they spent on Christmas, what they bought, and who they bought for, how much shopping they did, how crazy it was trying to shop, finding the perfect gift, etc, and all the usual talk that comes along with Christmas. People tend to forget, that you can give a non material gift to someone through a gesture of goodwill and lending a helping hand, and to that person (ie my buddy) that is worth more than any material gift.

Lets not forget what the spirit of Christmas is really about.

Passed but not advanced....Nothing to be mad or upset about either

2009-12-02T21:21:00.002+09:00

Well the results for the MA1 exam just came out today. It turns out that due to quota's, only 13 MA2's were advanced to MA1 Navy Wide...Now here is a brief summary of how I did.

Your Final Multiple: 200.16

Minimum Multiple Req'd: 215.29

YOUR OVERALL PERCENTILE WAS 98. YOU SCORED HIGHER THAN 98 PERCENT OF THE CANDIDATES IN YOUR RATE WHO TOOK THIS EXAM

SUBJECT CANDIDATE PASSED THE EXAMINATION FOR MA1, BUT DUE TO QUOTA LIMITATIONS CANNOT BE ADVANCED TO THE NEXT HIGHER PAY GRADE

Normally people get upset when they don't make it to the next higher paygrade...Am I kicking myself? Maybe a little bit...And now I know where my weak areas are that I need to study. But there is an upside to this story:

Last exam results:

Your Final Multiple: 190.5

Minimum Multiple Req'd: 205.03

YOUR OVERALL PERCENTILE WAS 89. YOU SCORED HIGHER THAN 89 PERCENT OF THE CANDIDATES IN YOUR RATE WHO TOOK THIS EXAM

SUBJECT CANDIDATE PASSED THE EXAMINATION FOR MA1, BUT DUE TO QUOTA LIMITATIONS CANNOT BE ADVANCED TO THE NEXT HIGHER PAY GRADE

My score increased by 10 and my percentile increased 9%.

That is something to be proud of and I am going to pin my profile sheet in front of me on my desk and make it a point to study my weak areas and next time I will not only make MA1 off the spring exam but I will also do it and graduate college at the same time.

More of the M60 Machine gun

2009-10-27T00:57:00.005+09:00

Since I have been going in nightly and cleaning this damn thing, I figured I would post more pics of my favorite gun :) The M60 Medium Machine Gun (source Wikipedia)

Eddie Manned

Harbor Boat Mounted

Humvee Mounted

Somewhat useful at night LOL

Mounted with Ammo ready to go (sort of)

I love you Grandma Weiler.

2009-10-08T02:59:00.006+09:00

Well I was getting ready for work today when a message came through on the computer from my dad...It turns out that my Grandma Weiler was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure, and that it is terminal...Meaning she isn't going to be with us very much longer...The doctors are sending her home to hospice. I tried to hold it in but when I tried to tell Lori, all I could do was cry...As I sit here and write this, I am doing my best to hold back the tears.

Just last August we went home for Lori's 10 year Reunion and took an entire month to visit family. While we were in town we went and visited my grandmother at her house for dinner. On the way there we turned a two hour car trip into a four hour car by trusting a GPS. We had to keep constantly calling my grandma to find our way but we finally managed to get there.

I helped my aunt with a couple things while grandma got dinner started. Then we got back to the house and my aunt started helping with dinner while Lori and I hung around the kitchen. It was nice to just sit there and chat and make jokes. For my grandma's age she is sharp as a tack when it comes to witty humor and jokes.

Dinner was pretty much the same; chatting, and bantering. Afterwards, we all settled in the living room. Lori and Aunt Cathy carried on their own little conversation while grandma and I watched the news. Afterwards the Seahawks game was coming on, but the channel was changed to a cooking show. Guess grandma wasn't a football or Seahawks fan LOL. The cooking show turned out to be much more entertaining.

The sun started to set and Lori and I decided rather than get lost around Clear Lake and Yelm in the dark, it was time to head home while we could still find our way out. We bid farewell to my grandma and my aunt and made plans to visit again next time we were in town. As we were backing out of the driveway my grandma waved to us and then stood there. As we got the car straightened out on the road we waved one last time and then headed off.

I look back on this memory and all the other memories I have shared with my family, and have learned that life is very short. You never know or wonder, when you see someone that if thats the last time you will see them.

I close this entry with this: Make time to spend time with family, loved ones, and friends. Cherish each and every moment, because you just never know when or if you will see each other again.

Off Roading...

2009-10-05T00:27:00.003+09:00

So today for whatever reason, I decide to come into work early and log some hours driving the humvee around base. The off going section supervisor is fully qualifed to take people out and drive along with them and sign off the hours logs.

After getting to base and hanging out for a bit, the off going sup. and one of his guys come rumbling up in the humvee. His guy and I switch out and we are on our way. One key thing about a humvee...NO AIR CONDITIONER!!! So I start driving off, and its just like a car only bigger and wider. We get going and I am told that he has areas on the base that make for some nice courses and push the humvee (and driver) to the limits (keeping safety in mind though)...We will see...I am also told to do exactly what he says when he says otherwise I could end up wrecking the humvee and injuring both of us....This should be fun....

I start driving and am told to head towards Army Hill. As we come up around a corner I am instructed to take it off the road and down a hill...Now at the top of the slope it doesn't look so bad...Then you start down and you think you are going to hit nose first at the bottom...it isn't until you are almost all the way down that your front wheels catch and you level out...Here comes the fun part...Getting back up...

I am told to straighten out as much as possible and crawl it back up the hill...Well I don't get it quite straight and my upward decent is stalled and I slide sideways back down...Ok straighten out a little more I am told and try again...As we start up, I go from looking at the hill to looking at the sky...I am thinking HOLY SHIT we are gonna FLIP this bitch over...But the humvee is designed to climb hills up to 60 degrees and traverse 40 degree inclines. The front wheels catch pavement, and we are now back on the road...

We head to the next obstacle which is pretty much identicle except now its the beach with more room, and less steeper slope, and now with POURING RAIN...This time I make it up with ease and a little more confidence and we press on...

After hauling ass up Army Road, we drive to the next test...The hill traverse...We take the humvee down a REALLY narrow dirt road and come to a nice incline/slope. I am told to put my humvee sideways on it and traverse it until told to straighten out. As I start my traverse, I ask my trainer "are we gonna roll?" the next few phrases are pretty much OMG OMG OMG until I straightend out and off the slope, the trainer laughing the whole time. Ok task accomplished...

We head down the hill and through the campgrounds...I am told next to drive over the curb and hit the beach...When I get on the beach I am told to throttle it and keep going (otherwise we'd get stuck) HELL YES!!! Time to haul ass across the beach. Now the tides and wash have created semi little berms which I just fly over like they are nothing...I am actually using the humvee for its intended purpose and LOVING every minute of it.

Next we head to a rock wall which with my renew'd confidence in the humvee and my adrenaline pumping, I make very short work of climbing, then its a quick hop over the curb (they don't stand a chance) and back to HQ to park the beast.

After a couple attempts I get it backed in and parked and when we get out, we notice all the sand stuck to the bottom front of the humvee and all up in the tires.

HA HA HA MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!

Tip-A-Cop

2009-10-03T00:53:00.004+09:00

Ok so it is the time of year where all the cops on the island are working on raising money for the Special Olympics. Tonight we held a Tip-A-Cop Fundraiser at MCB Camp Foster Macaroni Grill. Our job as it was explained was to bus tables for "tips"

I was thinking "WTF have I gotten myself into" We would be doing dirty work like that...GROSS!!! Well there is a silver lining behind every cloud...Mine came as a we need a greeter at the front to greet customers as they come in...CHA CHING!!! To the front I would go...Until...Wait we need someone with the KSO T-shirt...Damn fired before I started...GAY!!! Fool me twice...

Well then the real silver lining came and I was assigned to work behind the bar...No really I was just suppose to bus and reset the three tables in my section as needed and clean glasses for the bartender...Ok not so bad...But...It was waaaayyyy more then I expected.

We started getting busy and the bartender shows me how to work the little soda gun...So the next thing I know I am up to making drinks. I could only make non-alcoholic due to several laws, statues, liabilites, and just the idea that it would be bad for a sailor of all people to dispense alcohol LOL...But I could serve them as they were made along with virgin drinks I made.

As the hours passed we got even more busy, and I yelled to the bartender to throw me her tablet so I could start taking orders...Next thing I know, I am actually waiting the tables in my section and calling out drink and food orders to the bar like Gordon Ramsey (minus the theatrics) greeting people as they sit down (required for our tips for KSO) getting drink orders, making drinks, calling out orders, tracking orders, washing glasses...Suddenly I was doing it ALL!!! and quite well I might add :)

I was asked several times throughout the night if I had previous waitstaff/server/bartender experience. The only thing I use to do was work at Taco Hell for 6 months prior to joining the Navy...After that I did a brief stint working as a Food Service Attendant on the mess decks for three weeks before I put on E-4...

So really I had no "real" experience doing what I was doing. I was told I did my job tonight like a pro and that I was a natural. A couple times the bartenders just sat back and let me go. I know I wasn't in charge by any means but they said I sure took charge of the bar and kicked some serious ass :) Hell I was even offered a part time job working there several times as well LOL

The Hoopty Bites the Dust

2009-09-21T14:43:00.006+09:00

Ok so last Wednesday I had to go into work on my day off for a gun shoot qualification. Heading my usual route, I had crested a hill and was starting down to the seawall. In front of me was a car stopped on the side of the road, and there was also oncoming traffic so I could not safely pass. I stopped about a car length and a half behind the car. Unfortunately for me the car behind me didn't stop and slammed right into the rear of my car.

Up close shot of the damage

Side view of my car

Full frame shot

The car of the guy who hit me

Neighbors

2009-09-12T20:53:00.003+09:00

So about a week ago we arrived back here from Seattle after a 4 week vacation. While we were gone we had our next-door neighbors taking care of our cats for us. Pretty simple task, make sure they had food, water, scoop the box/change the litter, and pay them a little bit of attention.

We didn't get a chance to iron out the details as far as compensation and what not, but I had offered to maybe have them over for dinner once we got back in and got settled. We got back about a week ago, and I got the keys to the house and thanked my neighbors for their help.

While I was there I extended an invitation to have them over for dinner my next weekend off. They said we would talk about it later and with that I headed home. Last Thur. I walked over and re-extended the invitation but was told they might be busy Sat. so I offered up Sunday. She said they would get back to us.

Come today I hadn't heard from them so I caught up with them as they were coming in and for the 3rd time extended my invitation for dinner. My neighbor said he wanted to talk about that so after he helped his wife get stuff in the house he came back out.

He told me that while we were gone he noticed our house wasn't very clean and that it was very unkempt. He also said that they don't care how we live and had no problem helping us out with the cats and the yard, but wasn't comfortable with having him and his family come over to our house for dinner...Taken back by his comments I really didn't have anything else to say, so I just went back inside.

It was pretty simple, take care of the cats...Didn't realize our neighbors were going to come over and judge our house and us based on what their standards of clean are...So what if my house isn't spic and span, I DO clean it, and really clean it if we are expecting company...I am not going to deep clean it daily, and I certainly as hell am NOT going to clean it top to bottom RIGHT before I go on vacation.

Understand this...We have two cats, they do use the litter box, they do kick litter everywhere, they do have a tendency to barf wherever whenever. They also shed, animals DO THAT!!! so to sit there and judge us and our house, you can GFY!!! I will never EVER EVER EVER extend another invitation to your snobby asses...BTW FUCK YOU AND THE HORSE YOU RODE IN ON.

8 years ago...

2009-09-11T01:11:00.004+09:00

Well another night passes here at work and I am working as Dispatcher/Desk Sergeant. Today I am a Master At Arms 2nd Class stationed in Okinawa Japan.

8 years ago I was an Aviation Electronics Technician Airman stationed aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) I still remember the vivid details of the day which would changed the lives of everyone.

We were on our way to the Persian Gulf to support Operation Southern Watch. I remember waking up for work (I worked nights) There was an odd silence about the berthing...Usually there is laughter and banter and the tv blaring the evening movie...But not that day.

I got dressed and walked around the corner to see my fellow sailors huddled around the tv watching the news. There was a breaking story that a plane had crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. I had some time before I had to report to work so intrigued by the breaking news, I found a seat and quietly joined the group.

We sat there and watched for a bit...What we saw next could only be described as something you see in Hollywood. We all watched in horror as another plane smashed directly into the South Tower of the WTC...America was under attack.

Less than a month later (Oct 7th 2001) America would launch a massive campaign (Operation Enduring Freedom) in Afghanistan determined to find Osama Bin Laden and those responsible for the attacks on the United States.

I remember Sept 11th and will never forget.

Ikei Island

2009-07-29T00:25:00.007+09:00

Today Lori and I went out picture taking again...We had planned on heading north along the island but since I had to go to the base to take care of something we decided on somewhere closer. It just so happens that Ikei Island is right between where I work and where we live so we made a trip there :)

ZOMG WHERE'S MAH FEETZ!!!

The Beach of course

Surfs Up DUDE!!!

Even bigger Mondo waves

Love the view of the beaches :)

And of course the view straight off the edge of the cliff

And of course we can't forget the local wildlife

ZOMG Hermit Crabs

ZOMG a Snail

ZOMG Fishys

And lastly HOLY SHIT A GIANT SPIDER!!!

And of course we have signs that well I think we understood LOL

Fire breathing red snake?

Danger???

Awww c'mon you knew this one was coming, I never pass up the opportunity to take a pic of the flora :)

M60 Gun Shoot 7/14/09

2009-07-18T16:59:00.002+09:00

M-60 Medium Machine Gun

Our mobile shooting platform

Belts of 7.62 X 39 Ball Ammunition

Loading the gun

GET SOME!!!!!

HSB 108, I am in command

2009-06-16T16:03:00.002+09:00

(HSB 108 28ft Dauntless Class SeaArk)

Ok so today I was originally assigned to AWASE Main Gate/White Beach Patrol, to facilitate my patrolman board that I was suppose to take at 0900 upon my return from AWASE. Well things change as usual and we are down one person. I am reassigned to the boat for the day along with another one of the guys, and was told I would take my patrolman board when we returned from escort duty.

Our day starts off with meeting the off going crew on the pier for turnover and what not...We get down to the boat and go through our report, and everything is on track to get underway...There is just one hitch, I am the primary coxswain this time.

I gently back the boat off the pier and take her underway and out of the boat basin. So far so good...We get out on the water and I commence my usual area sweep which consists of checking the waterside areas of the ships, then we take station in a central area where we can react and engage any and all threats.

The morning goes on and my partner/gunner is sound asleep in his seat, I put on my I-pod, and every so often do a security sweep of the area as we wait for the tugs to show up to take the ships out to sea.

The tugs arrive sometime around 8am and my partner suits up to go do his inspection...New task, I have to nose up to the tug (never done it before) and drop my partner off, then nose back up and pick him up...I make my approach and as I nose up, I cut my throttles to gently bring my boat up to the tug, Now at this point I have to judge when to reverse my throttles so that I don't impact/bump the tug but at the same time not dump my partner into the water between the two vessels. Well I judged a little too late and bumped into the tug (at least they had bumpers) Then break off to wait for my partner to be ready to be picked up. The pickup this time was much easier, I got my partner and managed to not bump the tug this time YAY ME!!!
Once our tug inspections are done, it is a matter of waiting for the ship to get underway so we can commence to our escort...It is usually routine in nature and nothing ever happens...That was until today...

As the ship is being pulled out, a fishing boat crosses into our area...Time for interdiction...First time at the wheel and in command of our boat and I am chasing...Our goal is to keep him away from the ship. I bring my boat abreast with his starboard side and we start signalling him to change course...It took some doing but we forced him to alter his course and leave the area...Ok he is gone...Easy day...

Well we make contact with our ship and commence to escort...Off our starboard side we notice a fast moving boat heading perpendicular to where we are and on a possible collision course with the ship we were escorting...FLASHING LIGHTS ON, rock and roll...We head out to meet the contact and to verify intent...Well as we get closer he is in no way shape or form moving...I decide to hit the siren...Scared the shit out of my partner but at the same time got this boats attention and he decided to alter course and leave.

After that I am shaking from the adrenaline rush of what has happened so I have partner take the helm, I am done for the day, time to take a break. I take over gunner duties and as we are getting ready for another escort...damn more speedboats...WTF is wrong with people today??? My partner moves to intercept and I take my M-4 and step out on deck, that didn't take much to get them to think twice

We finally finish our last escort and head back to moor in the boat basin...Our old lines have been replaced with heavier (probably due to typhoon season) mooring lines. We go to pull into the boat basin and I jump to the pier to tie the bow line...Well one thing leads to another and we bump the port ops boat (oops)...Thankfully we only knicked paint of their engine guard (glad they had that) We get the boat tied, report finished and call for pickup

Another happy day on the water

Pics from a day of Harbor Security

2009-05-30T20:46:00.000+09:00

Sunrise Over White Beach Naval Station

Me shootin deuces

My Controls: GPS, Compass, Monitor,
Radar, RPM Guages, Trim Indicator, Wheel, Dual Throttles

My view from the Coxswain's Seat

S.O.G. Sealpup knife along with my new assault gloves
(B-day presents)

Half Empty? Half Full....Hmm 2/3's work

2009-05-22T19:06:00.003+09:00

So today I was out on the boat all day doing escort and then harbor security for a vessel that pulled into port at work. It is getting towards the end of our shift and we get a call from our dispatch.

Dispatch: "108" (Our call sign) "White Beach" (Their call sign)
Me: Go
Dispatch: What is your fuel status?
Me: Standby

At this point my partner goes to check our fuel...Then asks me what is halfway between 3/4 and 1/2...We both decide that it is 2/3 and snicker because we know that when we call dispatch they won't figure this one out.

Me: "White Beach" "108"
Dispatch: Send it
Me: Be advised both tanks read 2/3's full

*Long Pause* *Wait* *Wait* *Wait*

My partner and I both sit there and laugh because we know dispatch is trying to figure this out...

Me: "White Beach" "108" Did you copy my last?
Dispatch: Is that above or below 3/4's

My Partner and I laugh even harder

Me (Straight Face): "White Beach" "108"
Dispatch: Send it.
Me: Be advised 2/3's is halfway between 3/4 and 1/2

*Background laughter* HSB (1) Dispatch (0)

Dispatch: "108" "White Beach"
Me: Go
Dispatch: Return to boat basin for refuel

Me (Off Radio): Damn it
Partner: I figured they were going to make us refuel

Dispatch (10 for the win) because they are in a nice Air Conditioned Office HSB (Pwn'd) because we spent the rest of our shift in the boat basin fueling our boat by hand using 5 gallon gas cans because the pump on the boat truck is broke...GAY!!!!!

Defense Department regrets to inform you....

2009-05-11T19:52:00.003+09:00

Ok so today I was suppose to start my physical security class. I arrived at 0600 as instructed to find out that along with my other classmates we were going to be used as watch standers for a drill that they had planned for that morning...Um yeah the reasoning of using a bunch of people for a drill rather than the actual watch standers was beyond me. Ok hell why not roll with it.

After spending a whole three hours of doing nothing we get our gear and roll out to the gate. Once the real world vehicles were cleared we relieved the armed watches with us and our equipped toy guns and took up post...

It wasn't long before one of the MA1's came wandering in to the gate looking ever so obvious I mean a raincoat when it was sunny and blazing hot, (fully zipped) and green pants...Hmm red flag anyone? Mind you he gets 50ft within the perimeter fence before he is stopped and challenged....Thats not good...The only one thinking at this point is our overwatch and he shoulders his M-16 and takes aim at this "suspicious person"

During the verbal altercation that insued, I got an uneasy feeling and dropped my hand to my gun...Well our "suspicious person" decides he is going to leave, at this point out of nowhere comes another sentry weapon out, my partner yells for the person to halt and which point he starts reaching in the jacket. I draw down on the person as does the other sentry and my partner makes a move to secure the guy's arm...

The next thing we know there is a loud bang, cloud of orange smoke and now my partner and the suspect look like what can only be described as a couple human cheetos as they are covered in orange dust...

We are told the three of us plus the civilian guard that was nearby are all dead...Great killed by the cheeto bomber

Never give up, never quit

2009-04-22T21:35:00.004+09:00

So the time has come as it does every 6 months for every command in the Navy to run their semi-annual PRT's (Physical Readiness Tests) which consists of Sit and Reach, Sit-ups, Push-ups, and choice of 1.5mi run/walk, 12min on the bike, or 12min on the eliptical...The bike and the elliptical you have to burn a certain amount of calories which equates to a run time if you were to do the 1.5mi run.

Yesterday our section gets together after work and we commence to do our PRT...I was able to do 44 sit-ups (probationary but automatic Mando PT), 50 push-ups (Passed), and I ran my run in 14:40 seconds (FAILED!!!)...I didn't walk any portion of the run, but my run just wasn't good enough...

Now a lot is riding on this PRT other than just not getting put on Mandatory PT...As it stands there is a position open with NCIS for an E-5 however, seeing as how my PRT scores sucked I saw my chances of that job slip away...Fortunately we had a bad day clause for our PRT and were allowed to run it again as long as its by next Thursday...I decided that I would give it another shot this morning and was given the option to do the bike instead of run.

I showed up at 0630 at the gym and proceeded to start my PRT all over again...This time, I blew it away 50 sit-ups (Passed) 51 Push-ups (Passed), and burned 135 Calories on the bike in 12min which equated to a 12:45 run time (Passed) and the hopes of going NCIS are back on the table.

I am now beatdown, tired, and sore but my PRT is done with and I will be hitting the gym starting Monday.

Katsuren Castle Photo Shoot

2009-04-19T18:47:00.006+09:00

Today we revisted Katsuren Castle with a friend of ours who was more than happy to throw on a wedding dress despite the sun and let us do some model pics for her. Thank you Megan :)

This one kind of reminded me of LOTR

And of course what shoot would be complete without pictures of the local flowers and creatures

I haz a flower

I can haz? NOOOO IZ MAH FLOWERZ NO CAN HAZ!!!

Haze Gray and Underway

2009-04-08T17:27:00.005+09:00

Due to personality conflicts with my Flight Chief and other problems, my 6 month stint with the Air Force was cut short at 2 months. I was sent back to my command where I fell back into place quite easily.

Today I got a chance to be the Asst. Coxswain/Gunner on HSB 107 and spend my 8 hour shift doing Harbor Security. Finally I WAS TRULY HOME!!!

(HSB 108, same as the boat I was on today)

(A View from where I was sitting in the cockpit)

Shuri Castle

2009-03-08T23:19:00.009+09:00

Shuri Palace (Recontructed)

Today Lori and I decided to go out exploring as we usually do on at least one of my days off. Today was a planned trip to Nagasuku Castle (seized and destroyed by Amawari of Katsuren Castle) or so we thought...Little did we know that we were going to end up at Shuri Castle instead which was home to the King of the Ryukyus in the 10th century. It is a huge touristy type place but also a place of significant Okinawan History....Unfortunately for Amawari of Katsuren the king brought an end to his reign after his failed attempt to take Shuri Castle...There was no next time for Amawari...But anyways LOL here are some pics from today

Entrance to the Castle Park

A very sacred tomb just inside the entrance to the park

Steps leading up into the main courtyard

Castle Walls of the lower level just inside the Castle Entrance

Entrance to some kind of garden or shrine (Main Courtyard)

More Castle Wall...Thought this was a neat perspective

The Garden behind the east wing of the palace

Another neat perspective shot

Throne Room

More Perspective

And of course stairs leading down to the bottom of the castle and the exit...It wasn't Nagasuku Castle as we had intended to go to but it turned out to be a fun and worthwhile trip.

Katsuren Castle Part 2

2009-03-02T21:27:00.004+09:00

More pics from Katsuren Castle

More pics to follow when blogger isn't uploading as slow.....

Update 3/8/09 (Finally Blogger is co-operating here are some new pics)

Old meets new...

Going down?

The quest for the holy grail....As told by Lori

2009-03-02T21:15:00.002+09:00

Eddie ended up having quite the adventure today. We were checking out Katsuren Castle...

When suddenly, thunder roared and the sky opened up and...could it be?

Indeed it was.

Ceiling Cat appeared:

And Ceiling Cat did say unto Eddie, "Eddie! (For that's what Eddie goes by, is "Eddie") I command you to go forth on a quest, for it is my bidding as Ceiling Cat." And Eddie did say, "What is thy bidding, Ceiling Kitteh?"

And the image of Ceiling Cat did vanish, replaced by this, the object of Eddie's quest:

THE HOLY GRAIL.

Which turned out to be conveniently located in Katsuren Castle, which totally rocked, because we were getting low on gas and didn't feel like driving anywhere anyway.

So Eddie, being the brave knight that he is, stormed the castle to fulfill his quest for Ceiling Cat...

But the walls were high, and he couldn't quite get over them without a boost...

"Um, a little help here?"
But help did not come, because I was too busy taking pictures and laughing.

Eddie struggled in vain to get over the walls, but it wasn't to be.

And then the French showed up and taunted him...

Enraged by their taunting (and their accents), Eddie devised a plan. He would build a large, wooden rabbit, which he would deploy much the way the Trojan Horse was deployed during the War of 1812 when the Eskimos beat the Steelers at the Alamo and walked away with the Stanley Cup.

And so he did toil, and he did build it, and I went to lunch because it was boring as hell to watch him build it. But when I returned, the Trojan Rabbit was ready, and Eddie deployed it...

And the keepers of the castle took the bait and took the bunny into the castle, at which point Eddie discovered the fatal flaw in his plan.

He was supposed to be IN the bunny.

It's probably just as well that he wasn't, though, because the keepers of the castle were short on storage space and did discard the bunny...

Eddie, being either wholly devoted to Ceiling Cat or just stubborn as all hell, refused to be discouraged. If the Trojan Bunny did not persuade them to hand over the Grail, then he would once again storm the castle himself and take it.

This time, he discovered the stairs, and no longer needed to try to climb the walls, and so he infiltrated the castle...
But...the Grail was still not to be his...because his uninvited entrance went over about as well as his Trojan Bunny...

Next time, Eddie. Next time.

Katsuren Castle

2009-03-02T20:52:00.008+09:00

Today Lori and I finally got out and headed to Katsuren Castle which is a castle here on Okinawa that overlooks the Pacific Ocean...Here are some pics from our adventure...But first you must read the story of my quest for as it is told by Lori...See above post...Now on to the pictures

A brief history lesson on the castle...What it doesn't tell you is that Amawari succeeded the previous lord by throwing him over the side of the castle walls...Hmm Overthrow taken quite literally

The Castle as it once was...And now below how it stands

A picture of the Palace and where it once stood

The ruins of a once important palace

A history lesson of the lost palace

A layout of the the castle site illustrating where we are on the uppermost level

A still very sacred shrine

Wide angle shot of the upper most level as it stands today

Uppermost level history lesson

Bad Boys Bad Boys....

2009-02-17T19:58:00.004+09:00

Well a couple days ago I managed to apprehend my first suspect...Basically it was suppose to be a normal day at the gate checking IDs for the next 12 hours and what not...

At around 0638 we got a BOLO (Be On the LookOut) from Marine Corps Airstation Futenma for a service member who was involved in a hit and run accident...Our orders: Stop and take into custody...Sure out of all the bases with all the gates on the island, what are the odds he would show up at our gate...Pretty slim to none considering we had a BOLO the day prior and the guy was picked up at a base a little further up the road from us.

Well it is getting to be around lunch time and we have the information on our suspect in the backs of our minds and we are carrying about our day checking IDs and what not. As I am coming out of the guard house my partner appears with an ID card for me to look at...It belongs to our suspect...HOLY SHIT now things get REAL.

Now we had gone over scenarios for this earlier in the morning just in case he came through the gate...He is here now what? Can't block him in with traffic, time to calmly pull him to the side then quickly and decisively take control and get our suspect into custody.

I very calmly ask our suspect to pull over just behind the guard house...After that I basically went into auto pilot and my partner and I took up tactical positions on the vehicle...I very calmly ask him to turn off the car, step out and face away from the sound of my voice...I quickly get a "what?" from the suspect (he is off guard) my tone becomes louder and suddenly everything I learned now kicks in:

"STEP OUT OF THE CAR
FACE AWAY FROM THE SOUND OF MY VOICE
ARMS OUT PALMS TOWARDS ME, THUMBS DOWN
SPREAD YOUR FEET
NOW PLACE YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACK
INTERLOCK YOUR FINGERS
BEND AT THE WAIST
NOW DON'T MOVE"

I have my partner cover me while I move in to cuff him, and like that the situation is over our suspect is in custody and we call our patrol to come get him. My partner and I excited over a job well done and even more so when we get a phone call from our flight chief congratulating us both for our actions.

A day out Snorkeling

2009-02-12T19:53:00.004+09:00

Today was the first day actually spent out in the waters of Okinawa...I had a friend of mine visiting from Yoron Island so we decided to hit the local reefs and see what we could find.

We met up at Kadena Marina which has a beach and a swim at own risk area so we decided to get out there and see if we could swim the lagoon and get to the reef edge...Turns out that I am not as strong of a swimmer as I use to be and AS soon as the water got deep I panicked and swam my ass back to the shallows. My friend is seasoned at snorkeling and spear fishing and what not so he was understanding that I was a NOOB...Funny the water use to be like a 2nd home to me. After seeing very few fish and getting annoyed with how clear the water was not we decided to pack it up and leave...I had a listing of the top dive/snorkel spots for the island so we decided to pick one off the list and give it a go...

We decided to go to Sunabe Seawall it was rated a 1 on the scale as far as difficulty and was boasted to be one of the best dive spots on the island...After getting in the water and getting our gear on, we swam out over the reef and it was soooo amazing what we saw, there were crabs, Angelfish, Starfish, Clams, and various shellfish, and colorful corals...Hell even saw something that looked like a sea snake but was an eel. Hell we even swam through harmless little Jellyfish which now I almost feel sorry for because I probably murdered quite a few swiping them out of my way LOL

The more I swam around the more comfortable I got, and eventually just kind of layed in the water and floated along with the current and watched the fish eat and if you laid still in one place they would actually come closer and check you out.

So on a coolness scale Sunabe Seawall A+ and will revisit again...Too bad I only got pictures from above the water LOL

It doesn't look like much but there is a whole different world out there under the water

Feel like an idiot

2009-02-12T00:41:00.002+09:00

Ok so as it stands out of the last two work cycles with the AF I have seen a decent rotation in my schedule and was pretty ok with standing gates and what not until I found out something very interesting today and now something else that was happening at the gates makes perfect sense.

Today I stopped by Camp Shields and got into a conversation with one of my fellow MA's about working with the AF and what not since he just left there...Apparently we SHOULD NOT be standing gates especially as E-5's...It turns out that the AF puts their E-5's on the gate as a punishment only but for the most part they do patrol and other duties, gates are suppose to be junior personnel only...So if I am not in trouble why are they putting us Navy E-5's on the gate...Will be something I have to bring up to the flight chief...

I knew something was up when I was getting strange looks from people when they came through the gate, it is pretty well known that E-5's only stand gate if they have gotten in trouble so I am sure now there are A LOT of people who think I am a total dirt bag that was in trouble and that's why I was on the gate...talk about embarrassment, like I said that would explain some of the strange looks, especially from the Navy guys that came through the gate...

God I feel like an idiot now...

Night Photography

2009-02-11T23:04:00.004+09:00

Ok so tonight I decided to put down the computer and lay off playing mobsters on myspace for a bit...After I did that I had NO idea what to do to kill time...I just happen to step outside and see a beautiful moonrise off in the distance....So what do I do I get my camera and start taking pics, then decide to get out of the city and go down to the seawall and take more pics...So here are my 5 best pics :)

The Moon :)

A picnic table at White Beach...

The Street outside our house

I just liked the clarity of this picture

Lost in the Muns....

2009-02-08T19:27:00.002+09:00

So today I finally got my wish of going on patrol...It wasn't as a police unit on base as I had hoped but....I got to go be patrol over on the Ammo side of the base where they keep all the stuff that goes or could have the potential to go BOOM!!!

My day started with getting my cruiser...Oh yeah a real patrol car sweeeeet!!! Not so sweet LOL the FM radio didn't work so neither did my IPOD LOL. I just listened to the radio traffic on base while they ran a drill....

That in itself was comical:

1"exercise exercise we have a code... exercise exercise"
2"exercise exercise are you sure it isn't a code ...(a) exercise exercise"
1"exercise exercise no I am sure it is a ... exercise exercise"
2"exercise exercise what scenario are we running exercise exercise"
1"exercise exercise we are running ... exercise exercise"
2"exercise exercise then it should be code ...a exercise exercise"
1"exercise exercise no it is code ... exercise exercise"
2"exercise exercise read the top of your page exercise exercise"
1"exercise exercise it is a code ... exercise exercise"
2"exercise exercise it says ...a at the top of your page exercise exercise"
1"exercise exercise we are running ... (frustration) brief me after exercise exercise"

So besides listening to the flight chief and the on scene commander snipe at each other via radio for the drill the held what else did Eddie do today....

Basically my job was to drive around and check buildings off of a list they gave me....I think there were close to 100 maybe give or take...This gave me a chance to get lost and find my way around and I managed to find ALL the buildings on my list...Now with that said it is Sunday here, so there is NOBODY around....I can go as fast as I want, stop sign....I didn't see any stop signs...must have been going fast zipping from building to bunker and so forth. The patrol cars we have don't have supped up police packages in them but damn they can HAUL ASS!!! LOL

Speaking of hauling ass I got called back to the station around lunch to calibrate my speedometer...Hmm worked just fine in the muns....wasn't going to tell them that LMAO...so I got to tear up and down the street in my patrol car with my lights going so they could make sure my speedometer was calibrated...If they ONLY knew LMAO

People keep saying the muns is haunted and creepy shit happens there...For me I was thinking I was fairly safe in daylight...NOT!!! There were certain buildings and areas my radio would do weird shit like cut out or I would hear a voice that was NOT Kadena station...then at one building I got out of my cruiser and my radio made a weird noise then I had this overwhelming urge to leave as if I was going to be mobbed...YIKES!!! So what did Eddie do? He got in his cruiser and HAULED ASS as fast as he could out of there...

LOL what a day

1st Day working with the AF

2009-02-02T19:42:00.002+09:00

Day One: The Pit
(Vehicle inspections from 6am to 6pm)

1. Got to stand post with a couple squared away airman who bought me lunch and were a blast to stand watch with, we passed 12 hours just bantering and getting to know each other...That and inspecting the non-stop flow of vehicles.

2. First thing in the morning, found 3 vehicles with empty beer cans...f*cking drunks LOL

3. Had some airman at the gate flip me attitude when I confronted him about not standing out at the gate and checking ID's...Quick phone call to the desk had him standing outside checking ID's at parade rest the rest of shift, which was still 7-8 hours left...Never piss me off first thing in the morning...LOL, and he had to do training this morning about respect and airman responsibilities.

4. HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: two trucks rolled up and one driver was looking around all weird...Well he gets out of the truck and starts yelling at the driver of the other truck next to him...The other driver is just staring at him smiling...we get them separated so that we can do our job, and the driver that was getting yelled at walked over, said something and then slapped the guy right square on the ASS...we were speechless and then trying to contain our laughter so as to not escalade the situation...It was hysterical

The downsides to my job:

Up every morning at 3am
Get ready for work at 3:30am
Leave around 4am
Report in by 4:45am
Guardmount at 5:15am
Post up at 6am
Spend most of day on my feet (literally)
Relieved around 6pm
Get back and de-armed by 6:30pm
Home at 7pm
In bed by 9pm but 10pm at the very latest
Essentially having only really 2-3 hours/day during the 4 day work week to divide up between; Lori, college, and relaxing

Lather, rinse, repeat for the next 6 months...Hooah?

Home Alone for two weeks

2009-01-30T19:32:00.003+09:00

So Lori is back in Seattle to pick up our kittehs and visit with her family. Today is my first real day home alone...

Burnt myself on my George Foreman grill when attempting to make dinner, settled for cold pizza left over from lunch, chips, string cheese, Tangerine, and a Redbull, is not going so good...The funny thing was I just came home from the comissary earlier with enough food to last most if not all of two weeks LOL

Beaches of Okinawa

2009-01-29T19:19:00.000+09:00

Last weekend Lori and I took off around the island, no real particular place in general, just different beaches for her to get sand to take home. Here are the pics.

Taken at Henza Lagoon at low tide...It is part
of the seawall, but looks like an ancient road

A cute little hermit crab made an apperance

I tried to catch this guy, but he was too fast
and decided to try and fight back...LOL

Sea Anenome Yes the water is that clear

Too cute to pass up, Petting zoo at Cape Zampa

Waves crashing over the rocks at Cape Zampa

To give you an idea of the wave height, we are
about 30ft up on a ryukyu limestone cliff

Blue Waters, LOVE IT!!!

Light House Cape Zampa

Blue Skies and Blue Waters

2009-01-18T20:42:00.020+09:00

Since we had a nice day today, Lori and I did the usual head out and adventure and found a couple beaches tucked away and worth exploring, so here are some pics from today.

First off we have Kid Koopa Castle...

Then we went to a beach tucked away off the hwy....

A view of the water looking out from a cove...

Met a little Birdie, he was FAST !!!!

And found some rather squishy little critter, unsure what it was....

On our way we decided to stop at a Road Park, and snap some pics....

Put that in perspective LMAO....

Reminder the water is THAT blue

Then we found ourselves at Emerald Beach and you will see why it is called that...

Fishyflage

An Artistic Flower Shot

Then there was my battle with the Gigantic Cone Snail....
Caught on camera by Lori...

Oto Coastline

2009-01-12T17:34:00.005+09:00

Random Pics 1/11/09

2009-01-12T00:05:00.009+09:00

Here are some pics from yesterday's adventures

A hermit crab saying WASSSUP

A Cone Snail...Looks neat but very Poisonous if stung (Correction that is NOT a poisonous cone snail, just an unassuming local snail

Haz new booties to protect feet from said snails

A very pretty blue flower

A pretty purple flower

A dog doing an impression of a Shisha Dog Rawrrr!!!

Even cloudy days are nice

The obligatory Palm Tree

Blogger is being a PITA tonight so I will post more pics in the morning

Another day of adventures Pt. 2 (Cape Hedo)

2009-01-05T20:48:00.006+09:00

After finding our way off the mountain, we decided to go to Cape Hedo which is the northern most point of Okinawa where the East China Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. Here are the pics from that one.

A View of each side of the cliffs over the Pacific side

A view looking down...even on a bad day the water is THAT CLEAR!

And the water THAT BLUE!!!

Pictures of the landscape, gotta love old lava flows

A little snackbar where I ate Yakitori and Lori got hooked on SOBA Noodles

Another day of adventures Pt. 1 (Kunigami Forest Park)

2009-01-05T20:24:00.010+09:00

Yesterday Lori and I went out venturing again...This time we had a sense of where we wanted to go so we headed out originally to see Hishi Falls...Well on our way there, the road started going up a mountain and suddenly the signs were no longer in English so we had NO idea where we were much less how to get back down, but amidst our bumbling we stumbled upon Kunigami Forest Park.

There is a road in there somewhere

Shishi Dog on Guard

Dunno what it says but I guess we ain't in Kansas anymore Toto

Making a descent down some stairs...I hated the climb back up....

More trail to follow

Now which way???

Could be interesting....

A Banyan Tree over water...Very Cool

At this point now my artistic side starts showing so...

Close up of a pretty flower :)

And of course another...I couldn't pass up

Last but not least a pic of one of the local creatures

A GIANT SPIDER!!!

Happy New Years...

2009-01-01T03:11:00.003+09:00

Well today officially marks the start of 2009 for us here in Japan. I am just getting home from a night of DUI checks at Camp Shields brought to you by CFAO Security. Now grant it I can't complain that I had half the day off...Though it was the 1st half of the day, so the 2nd half was spend manning a gate at said base from 4pm to 8pm, followed by DUI Checks from 11pm to 3am...Of course we were told we HAD to be there by 10pm (WTF for I dunno). So after shift since I was relieved off watch LATE, I barely have time to get some food and get back to base to start our DUI checks

We kick off the night checking cars in and outbound and continue till about 3am, after that we were debriefing and downloading....More like downloading and BS'ing but hey it was fun...Our attention is grabbed by a car coming through the gate that after passing the ID checker, hits one of our cones...The driver is pulled over and we are thinking there goes our night because he blew positive for alcohol on the breathalyzer...A 2nd and 3rd test were negative so we let him and his belligerant wife/GF/passenger/whatever go, and then pack up our stuff and leave.

Now I am home decompressing from shift wondering what the new year will bring....

Gushikawa Castle Pt. 2

2008-12-28T22:13:00.005+09:00

Entrance to the path below the castle

ooooh this should be fun

So yeah we climbed down

And found caves

And lots of jagged Basalt...I am not walking on that LOL

Gushikawa Castle Ruins

2008-12-28T22:10:00.001+09:00

Here is a brief history dowloaded off the BBC Website:

"Gushikawa Castle was built for the chieftain of Gushikami in the mid-14th century. It stands on a cliff that is 50 meters high. The castle has two enclosures and a natural cave called sufuchimi, which leads to the sea. Some pieces of celadon from the 13th and 14th centuries were found in the castle ruins pointing to the possibility of Okinawa having had trade relations with Southeast Asian countries. The site is considered as an important Okinawan cultural asset."

Here are the pics from the castle:

What use to be the entrance to the castle

Remnants of the Castle Walls

Another pic of the walls, FASCINATING!!!

A pic from the castle overlooking the sea.

Beach Park

2008-12-28T22:05:00.004+09:00

Here are the pics from the beach park somewhere near Naha Airport LOL....

The Beach

Have to get ur feet wet sometimes

Hmm...contemplating my next photo

Lori looking for her next one...

Dunno who this couple was, but they made for a cute natural photo

Gate Sentry Qualified

2008-12-24T10:22:00.002+09:00

Well yesterday I didn't get a chance to write before bed due to my immersion in playing my PS3 so I figure I would write this morning after a nice morning of gun powder, cordite, and Red Bull...In case you are wondering what the hell that means, I got up this morning and went to the range at the base and since they finally got a corpsman for medical standby, I was able to shoot :) Nothing like that smell first thing in the morning...

So yesterday I go into work, and finally take my Gate Sentry Qualification Board. The board consisted of my now THREE watch commanders and my new FTO. I basically sat there while they did a round robin of questions from the PQS book...I did fairly well and only missed 4 questions, so they qualified me, and it wasn't nearly as hard as I had anticipated.

I was assigned to go stand gate sentry with another guy from my shift, but he had his armorer board so I was sent to one of the posts alone for the first time since I got here in October...

Pretty much nothing to it...Take one of our EV's and drive to the post and sit there for 4 hours until the next watch comes, RTB and turn in the EV and go home.

This particular post had I known I was going ahead of time, I would have taken my laptop and watched a movie to keep myself entertained, but I get there and all I have is my Reader's Digest, the SOP binder, and some papers to file in my binder...I managed to keep myself busy till the next watch came so it wasn't so bad, just boring LOL.

Out and About....

2008-12-21T20:34:00.006+09:00

After grocery shopping today, we decided that we would again hop in the car with our cameras and take off on an adventure around the island...This time around we decided just to drive on the side roads and of course doing so we got lost...THAT WAS THE POINT. So here are some pics from today's adventures

First off who would have thunk we
would see a Parrot just loungin outside a hotel?

Moon Beach....SO AWESOME!!!! This Island
Has nice beaches EVERYWHERE!!!

Now I dunno Japanese, but I thinks I can
figure this one out...UNLIKE SOMEONE!!!

A view from a hilltop overlooking one of the many
cities spread out throughout Okinawa...

I know Okinawa USE to be a Volcanic Island EONS
ago, but who would have thunk I would get to see an
old Lava Flow like this up close.

Then of course Lori taking something I said
the wrong way and the look on her face LMAO

Lori the RTARD

And a pic of the local wildlife...Crab People...

Pics from Work...

2008-12-16T22:59:00.010+09:00

Ok since I am bored and have nothing to write about here are some pics from work...Enjoy

Me getting ready to go Boating...

HSB 108 coming alongside

Rollin in the Humvee

Hee hee hee don't mess with this cop!!!

PICS FROM OKUMA TRIP!!!

2008-12-15T14:30:00.005+09:00

Here they are pics from our trip to Okuma Resort for our 6 year anniversary

YES THAT MEANS YOU!!!!!!!!! IS OUR BEACH NO CAN HAZ

OUR PRIVATE CABIN W/GOLF CART

OUR CHARIOT CART

LOVED THE WAVES OVER THE ROCKS!!!

OUR PRIVATE BEACH...KEEP OUT!!!

SUNBEAM

DOIN WHAT WE DO BEST

6 Years....Happy Anniversary

2008-12-14T01:50:00.003+09:00

So it has been 6 years now since Lori and I were married...Where does the time go? After reading her blog she pretty much summed it up in her blog...Traveling together, Military separations, following our dreams, doing fun stuff together.

Here it is 6 years later (Sorta) and tomorrow we will be leaving to a private cabin at the Okuma Resort on the Northwest end of the island to celebrate our six years of adventures. Pretty nice to end up on a tropical island between the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean where every day is like summer. We have a private cabin, on a private beach, and to add on top of that, a private golf cart...which will give Lori a chance to finally drive. There is also recreational watercraft, fine dining, and most importantly, due to my days off falling on Sunday and Monday and the fact that our cabin is isolated, we are not as likely to run into obnoxious little brats while we soak up the sun and try to enjoy ourselves.

Tomorrow is definitely going to rock.

GIANT BUGS!!!!

2008-12-13T09:14:00.003+09:00

So yesterday at Camp Shields, my partner and I were walking over to the Shoppette to get some sodas and something to eat. Suddenly he jumped back and said "OH HELL NO!" I looked down to see what had freaked him out and saw this giant praying mantis...It had to have been roughly 6inches long and was quite the fast, stubborn, and defensive thing...So we proceeded to annoy it by taking pictures.

A Shot looking dead on at it

A shot of it getting ready to attack the camera LOL

Rollin Code 3....

2008-12-10T22:20:00.002+09:00

Ok so today was the usual day at Camp Shield's Post. Go into work, arm up, run RADAR most of the day, then check ID's for the last 2-3 hours of shift and then go home...Well today started going as planned up until right before it was time to leave...

We were sitting in our office when we heard sirens...Not unusual for Okinawa considering drivers always running into each other (nother story for nother time) This time, the sirens were getting louder and closer, then next thing we know we see a fire truck appear at our gate...Lights, Sirens the whole 9 yards.

Before he can make it through the gate, the adrenaline kicks in and I am running across the street to my Tonka Truck (Patrol Vehicle) and in doing so manage to drop my radio. I pick my radio up and hop in my truck and hit my lights, code lights, and start backing out of my parking spot....Damn I knew I should've backed in earlier. The truck roars by me as I am backing out and getting turned around.

I hit the siren and horn and am off to catch up...Now on C/S there is a hill that goes up into housing, so I have to play catch up and then struggle to keep up...Then of course I lose sight of the fire truck...I know how do you lose sight of something that big and red with lights and siren right? Out of the corner of my eye I catch his code lights and finally catch up behind him.

We wind our way through housing until we make it to where the call came from. I get the info from the call and check to see if I am needed and then head back down to the station. I got back as the other shift was arriving so it was time to download and go home, the adrenaline didn't wear off till about an hour later when I had gotten home and started to relax.

Bored....Time for a change of job pace

2008-12-09T22:44:00.003+09:00

So today at work I was assigned to Tengen Pier with another one of my fellow patrolman. Tengen Pier is only manned when a ship is in port and basically we sit out there staring at the water in a Humvee mounted with an M-60 Medium Machine Gun.\

I spend five of my eight hours in the back of the humvee reading the book "Dreamland" which is a fictious book about Black Projects and Area 51. Then the last two hours were spent sitting in the guard shack at the front of the pier to check ID's of personnel going to the ship...Whooo hoo. Our relief finally came and then we took off back to the station.

I get back and am hit up by one of my watch commanders about going to "flightline" Funny my partner and I had been discussing that earlier in the day...Basically I am sent temporary assigned to the Air Force 18th Security Forces and I work Law Enforcement with them...HOLY SHIT SIGN ME UP :) hell I will go for a year not just 6 months :)

I am finally going to get my wish at doing actual law enforcement...Not that I don't mind the easy job I have now, I am bored and restless (yeah I know "ALREADY???") and doing law enforcement is what I signed up for so now I will get my chance....Just a matter of when.

Okinawa Pictures

2008-12-07T18:43:00.006+09:00

FINALLY PICTURES!!!!

Sunset over the South China Sea

GECKOS GECKOS EVERYWHERE!!!!

MANTA RAYS!!!...
One of the few places in the world that you can see them
In and out of Captivity

SEA TURTLES!!!

DOLPHINS!!!

Gorgeous Lagoon on Henza Island

US Naval Facility White Beach....Where I work,
Rough Life right?

Burial Tombs (Ancient and Modern) can be found ALL over the island,
very sacred place for the Japanese.

Creepy Caves litter the island as well, used by
Okinawans and Japanese soldiers during WWII
some are said to be haunted

Tonka Trucks....

2008-12-04T22:20:00.005+09:00

Since I got here I have been hesitant about driving any of our emergency vehicles given the fact that we don't have standard police cruisers but rather Mazda Titans that look like old Tonka Truck toys. They are big, bulky, and noisy and diesels. So when doing patrol, I would either:

A. Pull the "I am not EVOC qualified and cannot drive.
B. I would check out a pickup truck w/no light bar.

Today circumstances dictated that I HAD to drive one to deliver a weapon to our watchstanders to take to a pier because we had a ship coming in at the last minute. I grabbed the key and off I went.

Started the truck, put it in drive and found it rather odd that this truck actually drove like a standard car...Not to mention it had ALL the cool gadgets and widgets you find in a civilian Police Cruiser, so yeah it was fully loaded :) and a lot of fun to drive. The only thing that sucked was when I checked it out, I was in a hurry and didn't check the gas, so I had to make a stop on another base to get gas and then drive it all the way back to the precinct, and drop it and the gun off before I could go home, so I got home later than I had planned, but what can you do?

Me with my Tonka Truck

PULL OVER!!!

2008-12-04T01:09:00.003+09:00

Today I was assigned to stand post at Camp Shields which is a Navy Seabee base here on Okinawa. Normally the watch consists of 8 hours of boredom doing nothing but helping our Japanese Security and watching the gate from the comfort of our guard shack...Oh and the occasional helping check ID's...Some people would kill for a job like that...Me I find it BORING!!!

I was told that one of the guys knows how to operate the RADAR Gun...UH OH, Eddie is about to find a new toy to play with and a way to kill the day's boredom. Once my partners shows me how to setup and run the gun, I am off...

I set up in front of the front guard shack and start clocking cars coming in, tee hee hee this is FUN!!! I don't get any speeders because we already have a RADAR telling them their speed, and of course I am in front of them with my RADAR gun. So I switch from there to the adjacent parking spaces where I nab my first speeder of the day...Gotta love the loudspeaker (PULL OVER) 36kph in a 15kph zone. With the help of my Japanese counterpart I issue a ticket and send him on his way, then I get another car...Soon I discover that I am not getting people on the inbound lane...However on the outbound I noticed people tend to accelerate rather quickly in what is still 15kph...I move to a better intercept point and its game on...

Sure enough I start getting them one by one coming out, this time I have to be quick on the gun and the PA, I issue a couple more tickets and several warnings...I finally found something I like to do (Run RADAR not write tickets) So this went on for about 4 hours and I managed to piss off a couple drivers, one crumpled his ticket and threw it on the floor and one I am sure her daughter thinks I am just this awful guy because mommy said "I wouldn't let her turn the car back on." (Standard procedure is to have the driver turn off the car, remove the keys from the ignition and then place them on the dash)

That was pretty much it for my day, hopefully I will get more practice working RADAR and doing more traffic enforcement.

A Helping Hand...

2008-11-28T21:54:00.001+09:00

So today I was on my way to work, and I was in a line of cars waiting at an intersection. I see the light up ahead is a red light. The van in front of our line for some reason only known to that driver decides to go through the light anyway I see a car out of nowhere (which has the right of way) coming from the left on the cross street. Now it appeared they were just going to miss each other...

At that point things kind of slowed down and I watched as the two vehicles impacted with a loud bang and then a screeching stop. Our light goes green and people start moving. I get to the intersection and pull off to render assistance, as others just pass completely oblivious to what had just happened.

I go to the van first and am assured by the driver and passengers that they are ok. I then go to the little white car and find that its driver is not so lucky. At first it didn't appear as if she was moving, but once we got the car door open she was coming to. I ask her if she is ok and tell her that I know first aid and will help her. Don't think she understood.

I climb into the backseat and do the best I can to stabilize her neck until the paramedics arrive. Fortunately some of the bystanders understood english and told her to quit moving. The medics were on scene within minutes and started tending to the woman.

I stand around and wait for the JP's (Japanese Police) as I am thanked by several Okinawans for stopping to help. The JP's arrive and with a brief struggle of the language barrier and then the help of an interpreter (via phone) I am able to give them my side of the story and then head off to work.

I am kind of taken back by the whole thing in what I saw, there was maybe one other person who stopped briefly to help but everyone else kept on driving....I am not sure if it is a cultural thing or what but it just left me kind of puzzled.

Thoughts on Sushi

2008-11-12T10:51:00.000+09:00

Ok, so I have been here for just over two weeks, and since I have gotten here I have had the opportunity to try various sushi dishes made fresh and served at the comissary on Kadena AFB. Now I must say, before I got here, I was hesitant about eating sushi because well some of it is actually Sashimi (Raw Fish) so I decided that I would start off kind of small and go from there. The first sushi I tried here was a cream cheese and some kind of sea creature or imatation thereof, and it was actually pretty good. I decided to get a little bolder and try sashimi, well unfortunately the first time around I bought it and ate part of it but didn't finish the rest so I ended up tossing it in the trash. Today I got to the comissary and decided to buy a couple different dishes, one was Summer rolls (wasn't all that great) and the other was sashimi...Now I didn't read exactly what was in it (would spoil the surprise) but I must say it was unlike anything I had ever tasted before, so I scarfed it down pretty quick and LOVED it.

First Adventure

2008-11-07T12:49:00.000+09:00

Ok after today's boring ass boat drills, I finally got out and drove, no particular intention or direction, just get in my car and go...The first place I ended up was at the end of a dirt road where there was a trail and on my right was a coral beach and on my left was some creepy cave...

I chose to take the path to the beach. Finding it fairly secluded I broke out my camera and started taking pics of hermit crabs and shells and the city across the water where I had driven from...Out of nowhere this local appears and with a little bit of trying to understand each other he told me about a beach around the corner I could wade out to...Lets see I have my snorkel gear, and my camera gear...Ah hell with it, I started to walk and got around the corner finding that the coral is too slippery and I wasn't going to risk my camera or gear so I went back to the beach.

I decide I have had enough of the beach and then head up to the cave...There is another guy (different person) looking at the same thing. We kinda break the language barrier and neither of us can figure out what the cave is, other than there is a shrine in front of it...Old Burial tomb...perhaps...Well we look down into the mouth of the cave and he gestures me to go in...I shake my head and motion him first...We decide we are going to go together (Strength in numbers) we start to go in but realize neither has a light and it is PITCH BLACK (cue creepy horror music) and it got VERY COLD ok both of us are starting to get creeped out, so we decide it is best to go no further. We chat for a bit (best we could) and then part ways.

The next hour I find myself just driving down the hwy over a couple bridges making stops along the way taking pictures :) At one point I come to the end of a road where I have to execute a 50pt turn to turn around...HOLY SHIT!!! I go the other way and come to a beach where I took pictures of a bunch of crabs LOL

My last stop brought me back to base where I went to the beach and took pictures of the sunset...Finally got those pictures, it has been a hectic week and it was nice to get out today :)

Of course my adventure had started during the boat drills where I got to ride in the humvee and man the M60 Machine Gun :-P (See new pics) That was cooooool

Now I am in my room with a REALLY nasty sunburn and headache LOL but it was WORTH IT :)

I haz car will travel

2008-11-04T15:21:00.000+09:00

Ok, yesterday the plans to get the car I wanted went to hell so I had to come up with one that was a little more reasonable and within my price range...Today I picked up said car that I mentioned in my previous blog entry...Now I was a little dismayed to find out that this car cosmetically is UGLY as sin, but runs actually quite well and the A/C is FUCKING COLD (Definitely a good selling point)

I met up with the owner and was a little unsure where the bank was (needed the cabbage to pay for the car) so I had the guy drive us over to the bank...This would give me a feel for the car and a chance to feel and listen to it w/o getting distracted.

Turns out by the time we got there, the bank was closed...WTF FAIL!!! Ok so much for getting the total amount of cash needed out at once...So we head over to the ATM...It turns out that I am limited to a set amount that I can withdraw each day (DAMN IT!!!) so we finally settle on the max amount of cash and the rest as a check...Good to go payment taken care of...

We head over to USO to get the paperwork done and it turns out I need a copy of my orders, and also a Japanese letter of attorney (Don't ask) neither of which we had...FUCK!!!

Back to HQ for us...Well this time luck turns and fortunately the Legal Chief is there so we got that paper, and one of the guys that works in PSD was there so I was able to get a copy of my orders...Back to USO

Ok we get there and this time everything is in order...well on top of what I paid for the car, I had to shell out money for insurance and title transfer, now it has the option to be paid every 3, 6, or 12 months...I say to hell with it and buy a years worth of insurance...With that another fair amount of money is tacked on to what I have already paid out...But now I have a car and a new friend (the guy I bought the car from) We head over and drop him off at his home and bid farewell...

Now I am behind the wheel for the first time and have to find my way back to White Beach (where my barracks are) fortunately I have another shipmate with me and he reads off my right and left turns as we make our way back...We actually made it back w/o getting lost. Of course the whole trip back, I am scared shitless, it is rainy, the roads are slick, and it is getting dark, not to mention first time out actually driving more than a block from the base.

We made it back and I come to discover that making a turn into a parking spot is going to require some practice but hey its a start.

Speaking of driving, tomorrow and Wed, I get to learn how to drive and maneuver boats for my Harbor Security Class, hopefully it is nice out on the water tomorrow WHOO HOO :-)

First Week on the Island completed

2008-11-03T13:14:00.001+09:00

Well, here I am exactly a week later from the day I arrived on Okinawa. My check-in is complete with the exception of meeting the CMC, CSO, and CO tomorrow...Should be fun...They are the last three that I have to check in with.

On another twist of events it turns out I won't be able to get the SUV that I wanted so badly to drive around in for the next three years due to lack of fundage and the falling through of Plan A, B, and C...Talk about bad luck and timing...But I will be getting a car tomorrow so I won't have to wait till next weekend which would have been the case for the SUV...Now I can FINALLY get around the island YAY!!! Oh and the car gets better mileage LOL I promise pics will come once I get the cable to my camera (For those of you who have been asking)

So lets see what did I do today...Slept in late :) Kinda lounged around my room and then discovered in fact the pool across the street is in fact open, so I went and took a swim, I thinks thats where I will be spending A LOT of my time now until I get into base housing and Lori gets here, then we both will probably spend A LOT of time down here.

I am finding that despite being isolated from the rest of the world, White Beach seems to be a really nice and quiet place with very very few people, hell there was only one other person at the pool besides me. There is also a restaurant here called Naps and it is on a cliff overlooking the water below another cliff that has an even better view of the water and beach and also has cabins you can rent out...will have to look into that.

Well that is about it for updates, in other news I have completely tron'd out my computer so now it can surf the web, watch TV, watch DVD's make phone calls, and play games :) sweeeeeeet.

Venturing Out for the 1st time

2008-11-02T14:28:00.000+09:00

Ok so today was my first day off on the island...Wouldn't ya know it, I was BORED off my ass...Kinda sucks not having a car, but on the flip side I did get to test drive my soon to be car earlier this morning, didn't really take much getting use to driving on the left side of the road and I actually did pretty good (didn't kill anyone) Anyways after that, I decided to go on a little adventure and take a cab to Camp Foster (Marine Base) and pick up a couple things from the PX...

I called the Taxi service and cab came here and picked me up to take me to the base...As my luck would have it, my driver was new and trying very hard to learn English, it made for a fun conversation and ride to the PX because I am trying to learn Japanese as well...Both of us were doing terrible at the other's language but we also both got a good laugh out of it.

While heading to the base and talking with my driver, I got to take in the island. Everything from sugar canes to kids walking to the insane traffic, I think I am going to like it here...Though I could have done w/o paying the 36.00 cab fare (OUCH) but it was kind of worth it considering I got to where I needed to go and got to kind of experience a little bit of culture.

I got to the PX and paid my driver and said sayonara (no I am not kidding) then I headed into the PX...Talk about a crowd, I think I might have been safer in the cab LOL...I got what I needed and then left. Found the Scuba shop (glub glub glub....Glub glub glub LOL) found out that scuba certification is really cheap...Only about 252.00 and seven days of my time and I can get open water certified :) Will have to set some money aside for that :)

After enjoying an icecream cone at Baskin Robbins it was time for me to head back...This time the cabbie wasn't much for coversation and it cost me 39.00 to get back to base...Eh guess you can't win them all.

I get back to my room with my new little gadgets and low and behold the power of BLUETOOTH...I got my headset sync'd with my computer and by paying 10.00 on yahoo got 1000min of VoIP via yahoo IM...for those of you that don't know what that is, basically I can use my internet to make phone calls...The only drawback is if connection goes down bye bye phone call....But it is MUCH cheaper than vonage and no little gadgets required.

I also bought a TV adapter for my computer and am still tinkering with it to get it to work...so far I have one english channel...

So far I have: Cell Phone, Internet, TV (sorta), Way to call home (now), Car (SOON) and housing (SOON), Can't wait till Lori and the Kittehs get here then we can get settled and go on more adventures...YAY!!!

PS: Did I mention the spider that was bigger than my hand that I saw or the Gecko that damn near fell on my head LOL...So it begins LOL

Arrival

2008-10-29T08:51:00.000+09:00

I arrived here a couple days ago after a long and exhausting Trans-Pacific flight from Seattle...There wasn't a lot to see my first night here, because it was already dark by the time I got in, and of course not to mention late, so I crashed at the barracks and that was it for the night.

Yesterday and today have been filled with nothing but checking in with my new command, everyone here seems pretty cool and laid back. I have been taking in the sights riding back and forth from Kadena AFB. Our actual station is White Beach and our admin is at Kadena.

Once I am done with check in, I will be assigned to Section 2 which currently works days, which is from 5am-1pm, but I have to be there at 4am for Guard Mount. (YUCK) Not too worried, because I won't be in my section for at least 2 weeks after this week (love the check in process) We also only have 3 posts to stand as well, here, Camp Shields (Gate), and then Harbor Boat when ships are in. Also I am happy to find out that I can use my own gear that I bought when I was on my last ship, and anything else I buy later :) I hate issued gear, can never depend on it LOL

I will be getting a car soon, so then I can actually go out and take pictures of the countryside, which so far I have found A LOT of nice places to take pictures. The only restrictions on photography are here at White Beach and also on any of the other bases. I have my joint license test on Thur :) too

That is about it for now.