TedSki.jump-gate.com

No Update? - Mar 8, 2003 12:58:01

Wow, I said I was going to update more and more, and I haven't come through. Well, put yourself out to sea, not too much to talk about every few days or so. Same blue water, same white ship. The weather is weird. Its been like maximum eighty degrees here. One would think the middle of the desert would be hot, and don't get me wrong, its supposed to be. This is some freak weather I hear. I'm not doing too much complaining... :)

I just got finished watching the Band of Brothers HBO Series. Holy shit! What a series! Probably one of the best series I've seen in a long time. Absolutely addictive. I would lose sleep at night just to watch one more episode. I'd recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

If I didn't have my laptop with DVD player, I'd be lost. Sometimes all there is to do is watch DVD's. And thank god for my buddies who actually own DVD's :) I am horrible at buying them, I just rent them... can't do that out here.

Other than that, nothings new. I would love to tell you guys more, but I don't know what you're interested in. Don't be afraid to ask some questions about our mission and what we've been up to and what its like. It won't hurt to ask, if I can answer, I will, if not, I'll make up some cool story :)

Mail has been super frequent. We have 3 mail days per week. They drop us all kinds of mail by helo, its sweet!!! So, if you want to send a care package, go ahead :) I don't think I could beg any louder :)

Miss you all, and hope to hear from you soon!!!

"Morale Night" - Mar 8, 2003 12:45:56

One would imagine when the cooks would get time off onboard a ship being that we eat every day. Well, to fix that, every saturday night, one of the departments on board hosts dinner. We call this evening "Morale Night". Well, as you all know, I've been jonesing to get some cooking in since we left homeport. Tonight was our night. Chez Ted was in effect!!!

We made steaks with a dry rub consisting of a lot of cumin and pepper and spice. We also did some black pepper teryaki chicken. I did some sauteed mushrooms in marsala to go over the steaks. We also did some fresh steamed broccoli with a nice cheese sauce. Not too gourmet, but it was probably the best meal since we got underway.

Cooking for over 200 people in 3 hours is no joke. Even with 10 of us cooking, it still took to the last possible minute. People raved about our meal though. Its great when you can please nearly 90% of your audience. So overall, dinner was a success.

Babbling on - Feb 20, 2003 11:53:18

Well, I said I'd keep up on updating, so here I am, two days in a row. What's new here? A whole lot of nothing... no really tho we've done a few things that the civilian would find cool. Today we had a fly by by an F-14 Tomcat today. The thing flew by our bridge at about 300 yards away. You could hear it all the way in the engine room. That was probably the most exciting thing I've seen in awhile.

We did some search and rescue drills and some engine room fire drills today, so those are pretty much so routine they're boring. However, I guess they might come in handy one day :).

On our way over here, we were refueling every 3 days or so with naval supply ships. Fueling at sea is a pretty interesting evolution we do. You cruise at about 15 knots and hook up about 180 feet off their beam. We pass over some lines and a peice of cable between the two ships. They take tension on the cable and send a hose assembly down that supplies fuel through an 8 inch hose at about 100 psi. Its pretty dangerous and interesting at the same time. While we're doing this, there are about 15 helos in the air supplying the different ships gathered in the area.

Its pretty nuts, about 6 navy ships, and about 15 helos up with pallets, sometimes two, hanging from below flying around. They don't joke when they say a floating city. We have some really cool pictures here, and I wish I could send them just yet. However, my system administrator there hasn't been checking his email or something. I hope he helps out soon. I'm dieing to share these pics with you guys.

Well... that's it for now... I hope you guys are well... keep the emails coming and tell everyone I said hello.

Care Packages - Feb 20, 2003 11:22:16

I have received quite a few packages in the past few weeks, but have not had a chance to recognize anyone for sending them.

To my friends who have sent care packages: Thank you so much. Getting a care package from you guys means a lot. The assorted candy and food and magazines are much appreciated. They may seem trivial to some, however, I can't stop by the local 7-11 and pick up the newest mag or some "Spaghetti O's". My shipmates especially appreciate the goods. Its like a pig feeding when I'm opening them up... everyone wants something. To be specific thanks chiknpad and allen. I really do appreciate them probably more than you realize. Thanks again.

To my family(including the Bolks) who sends: The books and candy and magazines that you sent were and are extremely useful. I always get underway with no books on hand and wish by the first week that I had bought some. Donna hooked me up with a great Vince Flynn novel which is very similar to Tom Clancy novels. It was an awesome read. I had trouble putting it down at night to get some sleep. I am now into the book my momma dukes gave me, another suspense novel by John Grisham. It should be interesting.

Of course, you can keep them coming, especially since we're in theater now and the excitement of world travel is on pause. The things you have been sending are all permitted. The only non recommended or prohibited items would be any hazardous materials, and any perishable food. I have pretty much halted all intake of junk lately, so "real" food is recommended. However, the candy is great for bribery and light munching while in port calls.

One final thanks to all friends and family that have sent care packages. My shipmates are also in great thanks, since some have no family and rely on us that do. Thanks again.

Vaccinations - Feb 19, 2003 12:07:17

Wow... I feel like a damn pin cushion.

So far, I've received every "normal" vaccination before we sailed. Now, we have received Anthrax vaccines rounds one, two, and three. In addition, we recently received the Smallpox Vaccine.

The anthrax vaccine was no big deal. You get stuck, and it burns like hell locally for about 5 minutes. I mean burns... like you just got a shot of lemon juice or maybe worse. Then, you get this hard spot and its extremely sore for the first few days. No big deal, just lets you know its there. You get a shot every 2 weeks, in opposing arms... so right when your left arm finishes being sore, your right arm starts. Oh well...

Then comes hell... or what they call the Smallpox Vaccine. Check this thing out at http://www.cdc.gov. This shit is nasty. First, they stick you with this pitchfork looking needle. Three pricks if you are a first timer, fifteen if you've been vaccinated before. Then comes the good part... a blister will form within the next 4 days that holds the "vaccinia virus" - the virus they use to vaccinate. You can't touch it or let your towel touch it or anything. If you do, you can spread that virus to other parts of your body which results in some hideous looking sores and rashes and inflammations. So, you spend the whole day being aware of what you scratch and where. Its really tough to keep track of when you share a bathroom with 15 other people. The corpsmen have been pretty helpful in providing us with bandaids to keep the sore covered and biohazard bags in the bathroom for disposal.

Current Events - Feb 19, 2003 11:55:05

Well, I'm sure some of you have seen my ship in the news. We had a news crew onboard for a few days, which was quite interesting. From what I understand, we were all over CNN, Fox News Network, and MSNBC along with Yahoo! News and a few other web based news sites.

Right now, we are in the Northern Arabian Gulf conducting enforcement of UN sanctions imposed on Iraq. We are basically boarding ship in- and outbound Iraq for illegal cargo such as weapons and oil. We are very successful lately and are having a good time. The weather is good, the Persian Gulf is like a huge lake... I wonder if they even know what heavy seas are here.

Update - Feb 19, 2003 11:48:27

I have been absolutely horrible at updating this site. I apologize to all of you that keep tabs on it. I promise to get better about it now. What's new? Let me see... I have been to the ports of Pearl Harbor, HI, Singapore, and Manama, Bahrain since my last post.

Hawaii is something else. The transit in past the USS Arizona monument was pretty sobering. The somberness of the area there is unbelievable. So, we moored up and it was time to have fun, starting with Waikiki. The beach there is all imported sand, nothing special. Pretty touristy stuff, shops, etc. The second day there, I went snorkeling for the first time in my life. That was pretty nuts... beautiful fish and eels and some sea turtles followed by a hike up the volcanic rocks.

The cleanliness was breathtaking in Singapore. You could almost eat off the streets. Here, due to the strict laws, I just took a friend out to dinner and enjoyed a walk on the town. Some good food, and a bottle of wine, and a nice walk around town and I was set. I did some shopping but also had to work one of the days.

Last Friday, we pulled into Manama Bahrain (an island country off the coast of Saudi Arabia). There is a "Naval Support Activity" there that is pretty much an allied forces naval base run by, who else, the United States. I hung around on base due to the 1800 curfew the first night. The second day, I took in some sights around town, went to see some camels and did some shopping. The arab culture is very interesting.

Thats pretty much enough to catch everyone up...