Dive school is going by a lot quicker than I ever expected it to, almost too easy as far as dealing with time away from home. Of course difficult situations are always easier to deal with when you have friends from your home unit in your class, you’re not in the middle of nowhere like most Coast Guard bases, and most importantly… not in Bahrain or floating in the Persian Gulf. While dive school hasn’t been difficult for my physically so much, it has been mentally. Having to deal with my knee injury, not always running with the class is upsetting to me, feeling like I’m the gimp (in a non-sexual Pulp Fiction way of thinking please). Dealing with not being as good at diving as I’d expect is a huge blow to my ego. Now I know I’m a complete novice, and have never dove in my life, but it’s difficult for me to accept that I’m not at least halfway decent at something. The diving in fast paced, you’re usually getting yelled at to go faster, and more often than not paired up with a junior officer who isn’t the greatest at diving either because we’re all new at this. This problem of setting my personal expectations higher than I can reach has been a burden I’ve carried throughout my entire life, I’m my own worst critic. Not to go on about it, but I’m trying to put everything in context, I know I’m new at this, and I know I’ll get a lot better.

130 foot chamber dive

We have our open ocean SCUBA dives next week, deep sea as they say and I’m really excited for that. The biggest thing that looms over the class is the advanced physics test which will happen right before Christmas break. From there we get in to hard hat diving, which is a really exciting thing for me personally.

Speaking of Christmas, I will be home from the 19th of December to the 3rd of January in San Diego, and Chino for the holiday.

I’m currently in Mobile, Alabama on a four day weekend for Thanksgiving. Once again my friend Dallas has offered up his hospitality, for which I’m very grateful.

It feels like I have an infinite more to write about, but can’t seem to pin point where to start. Seeing that today is Thanksgiving, here’s my list of what I’m grateful for.

1. All the support and kind words from my friends and family in regards to getting through dive school from my initial choice to pursue this job up until now.

2. Servicemen and women working today all over the world, thank you for standing the watch.

3. A sunny albeit cold Alabama day

4. ‘Heat’ on Blu-ray

5. Turkey, stuffing, pie, and beer, my favorite Thanksgiving consumables for being so delicious

6. The simple, yet taken for grated ability to call my friends to talk to them

7. Having a job that I enjoy most of the time, keeps me traveling, meeting exciting new people, and produces one hell of a photo album.

8. Having the skills and money to be able to afford and enjoy my two favorite activities… surfing and motorcycle riding.

I apologize for the lack of blogging… it’s been a bit saturated the last three weeks. I’ve made it that far in dive school and only managed to suffer an ITB strain which does not feel good by the way. So with the help of my friends and their advice, The Stick, your average ice pack, and Tiger Balm, I’m feeling like I can actually manage a short run… or fin.

I’ve been passing all my tests with a 93% or above (granted we’ve only had two) but they are all very lengthy and in depth. I’ve also been sitting out as far as PT goes the last 8 days or so due to my knee. The second time I attempted my bay swim (a 1,000 yards in alligator bayou as they call it) I smoked the 22 min time limit in 19 mins and 48 seconds. So I’ve passed all there is to pass so far until… ENTER POOL WEEK! Yes folks. the most dreaded time of dive school aside from advanced physics! We had day one this last Friday and we were all breathing compressed gas the deepest depth of… TWELVE FEET HOOYAH! So we did that whole thing practicing pulling our tanks over our head, cutting off our air, rising to the service exhaling so as not to burst our lungs, diving back down, fixing our gear and all that. It’s pretty damn exciting, this is what I’ve always wanted. Next week we get into “hits” which range from getting physically rocked to your air getting secured, mask ripped off, regulator taken away and tied into a knot, spun a few times, and then as you hold your breath, solving all those issues. Needless to say it’s going to be interesting. I’m waiting for more people to quit, I’m kind of disappointed more haven’t, we’ve only lost three.

Time off from all the crazy and yelling is as good as solid gold. Ryan and I drove nearly 50 miles today to some place south of Panama City to a reseraunt/bar for margaritas and beer. After successfully negotiating that place we drove back and found Pappy’s which was a great place with 21 beers on tap… thankfully not all domestic shit beer. We spent a good amount of time there, picked up our Army friend Will and played a game of putt putt which Ryan ended up winning. The rest is history…

Nothing else very new to report besides the fact that I miss the hell outta you know who.

I’m finding that as dive school draws nearer that my temper and anxiety level continues to grow. I do this sometimes. Somethings just happen to get on my mind that are a very big deal to me and I start acting weird, I drive myself crazy sometimes. I’m nervous for change, already sick of getting yelled at and getting the crap beat out of my physically. I want school to be over as soon as it can, for no other reason to be qualified and finally pull some weight around where I work. I’ve said it again and again that it’s so hard to transition for aaaaa whole lot of responsibility in Bahrain as a Gunnersmate running my own shop and being one of the senior boarding officers onboard…. my plate was full and I loved it. I like being busy, I like being productive, and I despise sitting still in any capacity. Get my ass to Florida, away from my “work” where I continue to prove useless on a daily basis, get my qualified, and get me on every single deployment to Seattle, San Fran, Hawaii, Alaska, aaaaaanywhere, I’m in. 11 days and I’ll have a packed truck on my way to Florida for 4 months.

I haven’t spoken to Patricia in what seems like a long time, which a long time for me when it comes to ladies =’s about 3 to 4 weeks.

I bought myself a Walden “fish” 6′4″ surfboard the other day with the desire to move faster down a wave, be more manuverable, and eventually advance into. Advance into it I will, I took it out yesterday with my friend D. Boles and got my ass and ego handed to me. I feel pretty comfortable with my longboard skill set, as in I can ride knee to waist highs pretty well, but the shorter and lighter board is a tooootally different beast. So I have a lot to work into, but the fish is coming with me to dive school to surf some frigid cold, windy, and choppy Gulf surf when it kicks up on rare occasion.

I’ve gotten in contact with a friend that I met through my dad. I camped with John DLC since I was a kid, and he’s always been a really great guy that I’ve looked up to. In fact in 2003 I had the option on my plate to get a job at the Big Grand Hotel and work as a valet, where I’ve been told that they basically live off tips. I was all about parking rich people’s nice cars, working for Disney, and making that money. John DLC offered to hold me up in Long Beach and surf with him all summer, which of course sounded extremely appetizing. As some of you may or may not know, that fell through, and by some crazy occurence I ended up in the U.S. Coast Guard, and now 6ish years later, I’m surfing. It’s quite great to get back in contact with him now that I surf and we talk about this and that, and me attempting to get him to head with the gang on Saturday to Church’s.

The only thing that makes me sad about leaving California is the surfing experience during the winter season, and that’s really it. I can’t wait to get to Florida and get this thing started, bring it on, I’m just tired of all this waiting crap. I can’t wait for December when I get to see Patricia in either Arizona or North Carolina… whichever parent she decides to spend the holidays with. I can’t wait to plan an amazing post dive school trip. I’m very excited to take Patricia out surfing for the first time when we’re both back in California. I can’t wait for the feeling when I get that second class diver MKV hardhat pin stuck on my dress uniform, get back to SD and do work!

I’m proud to say that all the things I said when I was floating on a 110 foot white hunk of crap in the Persian Gulf (with amazingly well maintained weapons) I have lived up to. I told myself that I’d buy a motorcycle and ride with my Dad all around California. Well I’ve completed my drivers course (see last blog) and just today he rode back halfway with me through Cleveland National Forest which was a great ride and very fun to ride with a guy I really admire. There will certainly be trips when I get back from dive school. I said that I’d learn how to surf, and well I’ve not only done that, but I’m completely enthralled in the whole thing. I smile every time I have my board slung under my arm and the ocean wraps itself around my feet, I only smile more when I manage to be granted a nice little ride from mother nature. It sounds cheesy to those who have never surfed, but I assure you it’s changed my life. In fact I take that back, I assure no one nuthin’ about that. I’m keeping that feeling for me, I certainly do not have to prove to anybody how sacred surfing is to me.

I said I’d spend time with my family and I’m doing that more than I have in the last 6 years, which is also good. As my Mom said this weekend, “It’s so nice to have you come down and just talk.” and I agree! A pretty damn good start at reinvention I’d say. By doing all of the above my life has become so entirely simplistic and joyful. I’m completely happy with surfing and not being understood by my friends on how great it makes me feel. I’m content with being a self proclaimed bore and nerd, I’ve accepted myself for the most part at the age of twenty six… it feels good. I can only hope the transition of being with Patricia when she gets back stateside goes well and that things work out as well as I can imagine, where she too is just as satisfied as I am living simply, being spontaneous, simple pleasures, earning a beach tan from surfing at least every weekend, and not letting anything keep us from being down, bored, or upset.

Overlooking Lake Elsinore

Well it feels like ages since I actually blogged, and truth be told I really don’t have much of a desire to drum something up. People have been asking me how things are going and I really don’t have much to say. I surf, I ride my XR 650L and I’m working up a trip with my dad, I attend and host a lot of BBQs, drink with friends, workout, and go to work…. ok I play a little World of Warcraft too. My life is pretty damn stress free, and rarely filled with boredom and anything as stagnant and depressing as living in Seattle was for me. All good things.

Dive school as all readers and close friends know, is a go. To further the interesting circumstances of how I’ve got this far I’ll be going to school with not only guys I work with at the locker, but a few more I know. John H. whom I served with on the USCGC Baranof in the Persian Gulf last year with and Chris H. who was a diver and MLE/FP team member with me in Seattle fresh from making Coast Guard recruits as hard as they can get at boot camp in Cape May, New Jersey. With all that the Coast Guard will be “rollin’ deep” into a mostly Army and Navy dive school. It’s great to know I’ll have good friends in the class that will without a doubt up all of our performances, I can’t wait.

I went to update my ribbon bar to prep my uniform when I report to dive school in Panama City, but eyeballed it. I came back missing four earned ribbons, but still managed to spend an astounding 35 dollars on fancy colored cloth. Damn the man.

In accordance with new military regulations all motorcycle riders who intend on riding on base must complete a motorcycle safety course. I was pretty excited to attend, as it’s kind of a perishable skill, riding safely at least. The course was put on by the California Motorcyclist Safety Program (www.ca-msp.org) for basic riding course or (BRC). The CMSP puts on other course from advanced skills to dirtbike courses, which I’m also interested in. Of course it costs money, but for the military it was free, and it MAY get some money knocked off your insurance. Anywho, the course was very informative and I was able to break off the rust and remember how to handle a motorcycle, which was a lot of fun. The instructors were very good, had a lot of experience, and made the class fun, which is saying a lot from someone who probably has undiagnosed ADD and did it over the weekend. If you’re in the military and ride ask your supervisor or another rider with a military sticker on their motorcycle, the course is well worth it. And for all your dumbasses riding your sportsbike at 95mph on the freeway with a white t-shirt, shorts, shoes, and a helmet with stupid mohawks on it…. I hope you crash and die in a fiery wreck.

and lets get it clear that anytime and everytime I say I’m “great considering”, “pretty much great”, “nearly perfect”, “close to content” etc. It will forever be that way until my reunion with Patricia in December.

I read some periodical about “facts about being a man”, I think it was in either Maxim or Outside… I don’t know. Some sort of nonsense about whatever a man’s man should do, own, acquire and whatnot. Most of it was bullshit, but I did like the fact that in this article they said that you should be fiercely loyal to at least one brand of product. For me it’s Nixon, who makes amazing watches, which thanks to Matt, I’m addicted to collecting and obviously wearing. Lately I’ve really enjoyed boardshorts, shirts, and other designs from RVCA. I bought a shirt today as I strolled about Pacific Beach in sunny San Diego. Pleased with the fitting of the shirt and the design I thought to myself, self, lets go buy some more RVCA product online! So as I just did so literally 3 minutes ago, picked out some styles and clothing that really appealed to me, then I actually payed attention to the price… which was extremely ridiculous. 70 fucking dollars for a simple hoodie? I can understand (probably not) if the hoodie is designed quite fancy with sequins and glitter??? I don’t know, but when it’s four simple letters in a red box on the left breast… what the fuck are we doing here? Does it keep me warmer? Does it get me extra pussy that I’m not really interested in anyway? Does it sprout a goddamn rocket launcher backpack and lets me soar in the sky with magical flying elephants? I like anybody else who thinks fairly rationally, thinks probably not, and that’s a damn shame. So dear RVCA, listen, I love your product, but that stuff is horribly overpriced. So now what? Now you have to be asked for during Christmas and birthdays, and sadly my birthday just passed, so maybe next year. You make me sad guys.

* Deep breath

I’m in refusal to believe that summer is over as I sit here and sweat in 90 degree weather. Hey hey hey! This is San Diego, home of the perma mid 70’s weather during the summer! I don’t need any of this desert nonsense! Speaking of summer, when in California, do as the Californians do… surf of course! I have been a California resident for my entire existence, however all of my 20s have been spent away from my homeland in Alaska, Virginia, Washington, North Carolina, Bahrain and so on. I promised myself as I left the desert wasteland of Bahrain that I’d begin to reinvent myself and with the help of surfing (one of the things I promised myself I’d do) it’s working out quite nicely. So thanks to Greg Mo, I’ve currently been infected happily with the surfing bug. Despite icing my shoulder from two days of straight surfing, I’m very happy. For anybody who surfs or has yet to surf… it’s a great release, and for all my fellow novices (barneys) even if you’re eating it on just about every wave, you’re still floating in the ocean on a board in the sun, and that is very very nice.

It’s slightly upsetting/bittersweet situation is the fact that two of my good friends are moving very soon. Steven to New York and Darren to Seattle. So many times I have to remind myself that I’m knocking on the door of thirty years of age and that things are of course, bound to change. I remember that I have a lover in Bahrain, friends in Georgia, Washington, Oregon, hell even Namibia. As much as friends move and go off on their own adventures to find themselves or like me do some reinventing, it’s refreshing… it’s fascinating to witness. Like I say… I always enjoy getting older.

Top 5 things right now:

1. Surfing/ regaining my Californian tan after 6 years of being away

2. Dexter season 3

3. Getting a good blog in

4. A very relaxing birthday yesterday/ Getting older

5. Having money to save thanks to Matt and Anne’s generosity

Oh… I nearly forgot to mention that the Coast Guard liaison over in Panama City NDSTC (Navy Diving Salvage Training Center) visited the unit today while I was on leave and said that I’m officially on the list to attend Second Class Diver school in October.

Sacred. I enjoy rising early, usually being woke up by the sounds of a old black dog and young kid running around the house. That sounds loud and annoying, but it’s really never bothered me. I roll over and pick up my laptop and see if I get a chance to Facebook chat with Patricia, no luck this morning. Checking the surf report makes me sad, but I’ll admit that I like rising slow and wasn’t really looking forward to driving to the beach feeling a tad groggy. Surfing is inevitable on Sunday as little Matt has surfing lessons in San Elijo, and I’ll be sure to attend. The Allman Brothers Band helps me get on my feet and make my way to the kitchen where I always feel slightly lazy as everyone is up before me. Yogurt with granola mixed is delicious, and as today is such a special day (the celebration of my birth, the actual being on the 25th) I pick my Star Trek coffee mug, fill it to the brim with coffee, and watch the steam slowly rise from the top of Spok’s head for a few moments.

Yes friends the weekend has arrived, and for the most part, all is well.

Blown away about how today went, goodness gracious.

Work was work. After doing ‘Linda’ I believe it was yesterday (a crossfit workout, not my mistress as my friend would say) I could barely walk… damn deadlifts. Anyway the morning started with a bit of serenity with a swim in La Jolla cove amongst Garibaldi fish and a ton of sea weed and kelp which was tiring considering the extensive shoulder workout the day before. Breakfast burritos in Pacific Beach, kinda bummed out that surfing never happened due to poor surf report. Chest still hurts, and I’ve been referred to physical therapy, first appointment is a day before my birthday on the 25th. Despite my injury it still looks like I’m the top candidate for dive school, I honesty don’t know why or who they would send ahead of me… so that’s really good.

Best of all I talked to Patricia for an hour today as I left work. I received three calls from her with only static on the other end, saddened I though she was “pocket dialing” me. Thankfully on the third time around she leaves a voicemail, and just like she does…. persistant… calls back thank goodness. We talked for a blissful hour and damn, damn do I miss her. It’s so easy to be in like with her… so easy.

Feeling happy and fairly chipper after two Stoli 100 proof vodka and tonics with lime I called one of my best friends David G. up in Seattle. Damn to I miss him, one of those social classifications you call a “bromance”… yup. So we talked about his butchery expansion with his job, sad that he’s not hacking meat with a cleaver, but happy that the job is progressing and advancing his skills as a cook/jack of all trades culinary. Damn is he a good friend!  So we spoke about that and my Patricia and my dive school et all. Great friend I have…

So the significance of the 15 mins! It’s actually extremely dramatic, at least to me. Apparently my friend Nick V. got with a PA1 (public affairs specialist) basically a news/journalist for the Coast Guard wants to do a story on us “mudpups” trying out for dive school in a three part story. Basically the PA wants to film and take stills of our pre school training, at school, and after the fact as a full fledged diver. Where it will go I dunno… Coast Guard magazine… online somewhere I have no idea. This all got passed at a little dive locker only pow wow and I started laughing and said, ” Well…. I guess I’d better pass school!” The whole thing makes me super nervous, don’t really know what to think.

I’ve had to much to drink on a school night, watched two great movies (The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down and I Love You Man) thanks to Netflix, and I’m gonna go ahead hoping PT won’t be too bad tomorrow and excited for a weekend of BBQ, surfing, and at least one day of sleeping in.

Terrible, terrible, terrible punctuation and sentence structure I’m sure……… damn vodka.

A few things that are significant are to follow…

While I have managed to get better from a random respiratory illness It seems that since I arrived back home I’ve managed to over do it in the gym and have achieved a muscular or muscuskeletal (spelling?) injury by doing dips with a 45 lbs weight on. Since that foolish error in judgement I’ve felt like something has separated in my chest, and it does not only feel unpleasant, but hurts quite often and in various positions. So after about a month of not lifting chest, only doing pushups, being all around upset for being injured, and eating motrin like candy I’ve talked to my corpsman and got a medical appointment tomorrow. I’ll admit I’m pretty nervous considering my impending dive school, I just hope things work out in my favor for a change.

I surfed for the first time this weekend and had a good amount of fun. I met my friend Greg and his wife Allison halfway at “Churches” in/on/around Camp Pendleton. The waves were 3 to an occasional 4 and miraculously I managed to not only get up on three waves, but successfully ride one and it was very fun. It was comforting to be out there and finding out the best way to do this or that, position myself not only on the board, but by the swells. More often than not Greg would mention to do this or that and I’d already figured it out. It was more than comforting to have the whole thing come pretty easy and practical. So thanks to Greg and Allison’s little 2 hour introduction into surfing I will be going to shop where they sell used long boards to purchase my first “beater” board. Awesome!

I’m actually pretty excited for the birthday festivities planned for the 22nd. I never really get entirely too excited about my birthday, but for some reason I just have a good feeling about all of it.

In the realm of nerdom all those like myself who may or may not agree with the opinion that ‘Army of Two’ was great gameplay, but had storyline/dialogue that needed significant improvement… read on. Turns out that Elliot and Tyson are back in a new installment which appears to be not only powered by a new and beautiful graphic engine, but a bit less linear gameplay as well. Here’s the link…

http://www.armyoftwo.com/home.action?sssdmh=dm24.160595&sourceid=ea3835

I’m sure I’ll be watching it all week.

I need to snap more pictures of my life here in San Diego… I’m having a lot of fun.

Tower Bar Birthday

Come celebrate my 26th year of life at the Tower Bar in San Diego on Euclid and University.

8:30pm to QUEEEESTION MARK!

Facebook me for details, and call for those of you who do know my number.