Kyle’s Blog

I’m back in Bahrain for the time being, and thankfully it’s actually for a substantial amount of time. There’s quite a few things I’d like to do while I’m actually inport here, but between the heat, and the worklist looming over my head, I’m not doing much of anything. It’s a curse, I can’t relax when I know there’s work to be done… it drives me crazy. Speaking of worklists, I can’t wait until it’s knocked out so I can start applying myself to studying my first class petty officer material (E-6). On one hand I’m really in no rush to take twice the responsibility I already have, but the money would be really really nice. By the time I leave here my truck should be paid off and that would mean I would have no outstanding bills/debt. With that financial freedom I’d be able to actually afford a place by myself, which would be awesome.

Not straying too far from work issues I’ve been poking my nose around finding out information about the Coast Guard’s DOG command, dive units, and other opportunities. Turns out Coasties can now solicit to begin training with UDT/SEALs, and providing they survive the training, they will be a full fledged SEAL and jump right into a detachment for a timeframe of 5 to 7 years. While that news is interesting, it doesn’t really appeal to me, the dive community does however. A shipmate on board is interested in the dive program as well and wrote the senior enlisted Coast Guard rep at the dive school in Florida. Turns out that the two dive lockers on the east and west coast are full, and the only way that aspiring divers/mudpups will be brought into the fold is if they can lay claim to one of the very few duty stations that support divers. It turns out those fore mentioned units are all buoy tenders, buoy tenders that do not support a Gunnersmate to my knowledge. So the next step is finding out if a unit, if any available at my time of transfer from the middle east:

A: Support a diver detachment
B: Support a Gunnersmate billet
C: If the unit I go to will actually send me to dive school

… things are looking grim for my biggest goal in the Coast Guard.

I did unwind a bit yesterday, had only 3 beers, a good dinner, and went to see ‘The Dark Knight’. I will say this, Heath Ledger made that movie, no two ways about it. From seeing “the joker” in comics, to the Adam West Batman days this is who I see the Joker as. Ledger completely fills the roll of The Joker, from the lip smackings and the unkept clothing and hair… perfect. The rest of the movie would have been sub par if it hadn’t been for Ledger’s performance, no doubt about it.

Looking further into my New Zealand adventure, I’ve sorted out most of the details. (Ideally) I will fly into Queenstown meeting Ashley there. We’ll rent a car and drive down to Te Anau, store most of our gear with the exception of our packs and depart on a 4 to 5 day journey on the Kepler Track. Spending that amount of time humping a challenging track littered with caves, lake views, and an alpine crossing, I’ll be sure to have my camera properly charged. From there I’m wanting to play the rest of the trip by ear mostly. I would like to do some sea kayaking, but I haven’t really committed to doing the proper research on that avenue. I’ve started buying a few things here and there from my shoes to pricing out other gear. My pro deal with the North Face sure comes in handy, or should I say may come in handy if they ever restock the items I’d like to purchase. There’s nothing like getting a damn near 300 dollar pack for wholesale. As much as I’d like to have my new gear ready to go months in advance, it would be extremely foolish to buy the pack and other gear that I can get for so much cheaper with a pro deal as opposed to regular online shopping.

I’m withering away into a scrawny punk kid with the help of all this heat. It was a warm 105 degrees at 9am this morning, which is wonderful to wake up to and get hit with. Trying to fit in a workout underway after boardings, regular departmental work, and other duties is like pretending all junior officers know what the hell they’re doing… a daunting task indeed. While my chest is deliciously sore from yesterday I’m having trouble convincing myself to go today, it can, it must, it will be done!