LostDonkey

Eval Season

Work evaluations are always such a joy to have. It's a cut throat, nasty
time of year for even the most seasoned veterans. In fact I have noticed
the more seasoned you are, the more cut throat it becomes. I am a relative baby in the Navy and I can't help but be amused watching
people lose their minds over their evals. E-6's from one end of the ship
to the other end freaking out over whether they are a Promotable, Must
Promote or Early Promote! Make no mistake it is a nerve wracking time
for most people and careers can be adversely affected by what gets put
in the eval but it's not the end of the world and if you really step
back and look at the system and the people in charge of it you see it
really is broke and sort of a crazy way to promote in the Navy.

I know that I deserve to be an Early Promote Sailor but I also know
there are politics involved to the Nth degree and our rankings are
generally decided by a bunch of guys who missed out on a fraternity in
college and are trying to relive that experience now. As most things,
it's a big popularity contest and if they don't like you, then your
pretty well hosed. It is a sham and a pathetic way to choose the future
leaders of the Navy and it's one of the main reasons why the leadership
is so FUBAR in this organization right now. I don't get spun up during
eval season, per se, but I do not like the system. It is broke and as
long as the Navy continues to operate this way, it will never get fixed.

Halfway

This weekend we hit the halfway point of this deployment. I actually
can't believe it's here already. That is not to say it has been easy, it
has been anything but.

As usual most of the challenges start in the division and with the chain
of command. I have certainly struggled adjusting to our new Chief and 
every time I think I have things figured out and am working on the right 
path he finds a way to slap me right back down. We had a nice heart
to heart tonight and he told me that for all the great things that I am
doing he says it is overshadowed by my attitude in the division. In a
nutshell I told him that I am unhappy where things currently are in my
life and that unhappiness is coming from my dissatisfaction with my job.
I am tired of working in a place that celebrates mediocrity, working
with people that are substandard and having the goalposts constantly
moved. I want to work in a place that makes me better and work with
people that challenge me (in a positive way) and I am in a completely
opposite place right now. It starts at the top and filters its way all
the way down to the E-1 in my shop. He said he knows all this and that I
have a job to do and will just have to suck it up which I agreed with
but told him that nothing he can say or do will quell my frustration and
dissatisfaction of working here.

We are going through a time of change right now on the ship. We are
getting a new Command Master Chief (THANK GOD!) and the Executive
Officer will be moving up to take command of the ship in the next couple
months. Most people are pretty happy about that as well. I still have
almost a year left here and it is going to be a daily struggle to get
through it. I really don't know what my future in the Navy is going to
be. I just know the present is not what I want it to be. Here is hoping
the second half of this deployment goes better then the first half.

Unwinnable

Pros and Cons (Bonus: Con #1)

I think my new blogging mission when it comes to this job is going to be compiling a list of things I like about the Navy and should use as a reason to stay in and the things that I hate, despise, loathe about the Navy and should use as a reason to get out. It will be interesting to see which list (not even going to be close) comes out on top.

First Con is being a highly trained, incredibly dedicated….garbage man. Now I don’t mean just somebody who has to clean up after themselves and other people but I literally mean dumpster diving. Here is a prime example from this week. If you seriously care about the ocean you may want to stop reading this right now. It is the policy of the Navy, in general, that we dump our trash overboard while out to sea. It’s like a Fire Sale, everything goes (except Plastics.) I suppose it is relatively “green” and a widely utilized and accepted practice but I still wish we didn’t have to do it for a number of reasons (e.g. I drink the same water we are dumping into.)

Read the rest of this post »

Rant & Rave

Two of my favorite things to do. It’s another deployment so I actually have time to dust off this old blog and start to work out some of my frustrations with this ship and the Navy in general. Actually I have been working some of it out by actually working out (for real) using the “Spartacus workout” (http://www.menshealth.com/spartacus/workouts/) Now mind you, I have never even seen the show that this is supposedly based on and never met a Spartan but I can tell you that I felt like I had been beaten up by a Spartan the day after I did my first workout. Truthfully, I like the workout and I feel good after doing it and I feel myself getting stronger.

They say that on a Navy deployment people go in one of two ways, get in the best shape of their life or become even huger, fatter slobs then they already are. I am hoping to avoid the latter. I started the deployment 7 weeks ago at about 184-ish libbys and my post workout weigh in yesterday was 165.5 libbys. NOTICE: This is not a reflection of the workout per se but more about eating less of this amazing and delicious navy chow and drinking no beer for months on end. The first thing my Chief asked me was if I was sick. Thanks for the encouragement. Which leads me to my next point. I fucking hate this place. I thought last deployment was bad but I didn’t realize how bad it could be. Worst possible schedule, terrible CO, terrible chain of command. There is absolutely no redeeming qualities to this place. I like the Navy and I like (a very select few) people, but the people in charge of this place are forcing me out. It’s regrettable seeing as I just made E-6 and will finally start getting paid this month but I need to work for a real company that knows how to treat people and this ain’t it.

More ranting and raving to follow

San Diego

Heading to San Diego tomorrow night for school. It's going to be great to get off the ship for a while and enjoy one of my favorite cities. I just hope that everything works out in regard to my travel arrangements. Even with less that a day to go, most things are still up in the air. Typical for where I work.

Mosilife Episode 1

My first mix with my iPad

Mosilife_1.m4a

(download)

Click here to download:

Mosilife_1.m4a (40.45 MB)

Buildings come to life

Very Cool Visual Effects!

NYC Marathon from Above

Sent from my iPad

It's almost Tip-Off

Just ordered NBA League Pass Broadband Choice for the year since I will be here for most of the season. I got to choose 7 teams to follow and they are:

1) Orlando Magic (duh! GO MAGIC!!!!)
2) Miami Heat (Can't Deny the star power but still hate them)
3) Boston Celtics (Mostly just for Rajon Rondo)
4) Oklahoma City Thunder (Kevin Durant is redic)
5) Chicago Bulls (Derick Rose plus added Carlos Boozer)
6) Milwaukee Bucks (Just wanna see how crazy Brandon Jennings looks)
7) Dallas Mavericks (Mark Cuban is entertaining TV if nothing else)

I should get the Lakers and maybe the Clippers and Kings on local TV. Now they just need to get that iPad app out and I will be set. Tip off tomorrow. I am feeling FAN-TASTIC!

(download)

Click here to download:

Its_almost_Tip-Off.zip (7.21 MB)