Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Today is the Day!!
Hey folks! Sorry I never finished my stories, but I got really busy these last few days preparing for Wilson's homecoming. His ship pulls in this afternoon and I am counting down the hours. Thank you all so much for everything you've done for me these last 10 weeks. I couldn't have done it without you! I love you!!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Funny Story!
Hey y'all! So Wilson sent me a really long email with a couple of great stories. You ready??
Wilson was going to pull the ship into Algeria last week. The Algerians had given them a map with the depths in their harbor and the ship had passed onto Algeria their "draft" (how deep the ship sits in the water). With this info, the Algerians had told the ship to pull next to this one pier bow-first. As they are headed there, the Algerian "pilot" (read: navigator?) gets "this sick look" on his face and says, This no work. After working through the language barrier, Wilson finds out that the map they had given the ship showed the wrong depths and if they had kept going they would've run aground. Running aground is a HUGE deal!! Anyways, after looking at the info again, they figured out that they needed to pull into another pier, stern-first. They had "tugs" to help with this process, but the tugs couldn't hook up w/ the ship. So basically, Wilson had to back up, pull this huge long ship into a tiny cove and turn it around on a dime, without the use of tugs. Then, he had to back the ship up next to this pier. All with the Captain looking over his shoulder. He said that "I did it, but I shook for 2 hours afterward!" Once it was over though, everyone slapped him on the back and told him that that port had been the hardest one to pull into this whole deployment. The email made it sound like he wanted to collapse after it was all over!
There's another funny story, but it's getting late. I guess you are just going to have to wait!! ;-)
Wilson was going to pull the ship into Algeria last week. The Algerians had given them a map with the depths in their harbor and the ship had passed onto Algeria their "draft" (how deep the ship sits in the water). With this info, the Algerians had told the ship to pull next to this one pier bow-first. As they are headed there, the Algerian "pilot" (read: navigator?) gets "this sick look" on his face and says, This no work. After working through the language barrier, Wilson finds out that the map they had given the ship showed the wrong depths and if they had kept going they would've run aground. Running aground is a HUGE deal!! Anyways, after looking at the info again, they figured out that they needed to pull into another pier, stern-first. They had "tugs" to help with this process, but the tugs couldn't hook up w/ the ship. So basically, Wilson had to back up, pull this huge long ship into a tiny cove and turn it around on a dime, without the use of tugs. Then, he had to back the ship up next to this pier. All with the Captain looking over his shoulder. He said that "I did it, but I shook for 2 hours afterward!" Once it was over though, everyone slapped him on the back and told him that that port had been the hardest one to pull into this whole deployment. The email made it sound like he wanted to collapse after it was all over!
There's another funny story, but it's getting late. I guess you are just going to have to wait!! ;-)
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Work Day #2
Work was much better today!! Things went really well and I'm feeling pretty good about it. Just wanted to let y'all know!! =)
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
First day at work!
Hello all! Just an update about life here. My first real day at work was today. It was....Well, actually it was a bit of a disaster! I don't want to bore you with the details, but lots of things added up together to turn my 12-hour shift into a 14-hour one. After just one day, I've already got a pretty long list of system failures at this facility. Please pray for God to reveal His wisdom. I am really not sure what to do at this point. Right now, He's saying, "Wait and see. You will know." Haha, I can be pretty dumb sometimes though! My prayer is that I will know the answers when I see them, and that I won't be afraid to follow down the path He has for me.
Anyway, that was vague and confusing, so on to more upbeat themes. As I said previously, Wilson's ship is on its way home. They are 2 time zones closer already and moving this way quickly. He actually pulled the ship into port recently. He was nervous, but excited that he was able to do it. I also found out a little more about his job on the ship. Well, he actually has 2 right now: OI and CICO. CICO is Combat Information Communications Officer. He basically keeps tabs on the activity of other ships and such around them and helps get that info to the right people. This means that sometimes he gets awakened in the middle of the night, which bugs his wife considerably. He'll give away the CICO job sometime around January when a new person comes in. His other job is OI, Operations Information officer. In this capacity, he helps with personnel scheduling as well as the scheduling of drills and tests that take place at sea. He really enjoys the OI stuff and is excited that this is the job he will keep. I like it too because he knows a lot about what's going on! He really likes his boss, co-workers, and sailors and is having a great time. The countdown marches on, only a couple of weeks left now!! YAY!!
I am making good friends here as well. My church is wonderful and so are the Navy spouses clubs. Such a great resource and encouragement! Thank you all for your prayers and support. God is so faithful!
I am going to bed. It's been a crazy day!! Love y'all!
Anyway, that was vague and confusing, so on to more upbeat themes. As I said previously, Wilson's ship is on its way home. They are 2 time zones closer already and moving this way quickly. He actually pulled the ship into port recently. He was nervous, but excited that he was able to do it. I also found out a little more about his job on the ship. Well, he actually has 2 right now: OI and CICO. CICO is Combat Information Communications Officer. He basically keeps tabs on the activity of other ships and such around them and helps get that info to the right people. This means that sometimes he gets awakened in the middle of the night, which bugs his wife considerably. He'll give away the CICO job sometime around January when a new person comes in. His other job is OI, Operations Information officer. In this capacity, he helps with personnel scheduling as well as the scheduling of drills and tests that take place at sea. He really enjoys the OI stuff and is excited that this is the job he will keep. I like it too because he knows a lot about what's going on! He really likes his boss, co-workers, and sailors and is having a great time. The countdown marches on, only a couple of weeks left now!! YAY!!
I am making good friends here as well. My church is wonderful and so are the Navy spouses clubs. Such a great resource and encouragement! Thank you all for your prayers and support. God is so faithful!
I am going to bed. It's been a crazy day!! Love y'all!
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