Saturday, June 21, 2008

We're Moving - Update

Okay, yes, we moved; however, there is a little snafu with the domain name stuff...so in the meantime re-bookmark here and update your readers!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Moving to WordPress

Yup,

I'm going to take that plunge and move over to wordpress. If you have any tips, idea's, how to, and any suggestions to get my mind working on it, let me know. I can't wait to see what works out...

thestoutsonline.com

See you there!

Monday, June 2, 2008

I'm Back!

So, I'm back! YES! It was the most awesome thing to see my family waiting for me back at the unit whe we got there. To hear the fire truck lead us up the ramp and hear the siren and lights going was awesome. Stephanie and Ryan were so beautiful! I can't believe how amazing they are...I'll blog more about my homecoming later.

Well, catching up on things and only have 212 posts to read on my reader. Wow...

It's so nice to be in my house!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

In Thailand!

Well, we're here in Thailand starting to head east! it is a great feeling. I'm sitting at an American Sports Bar that is very classy and relaxing. Kris is the manager and when he was in the Navy he was my bosses (sp) boss back in the day. I think you can check them out at http://www.moorebar.com.th or something like that. Sorry, i'm blogging using my phone so I can't hyperlink it normally.

the count down has begun to our return. I can't wait! Alex is going to join me for a few days right before we get home so you'll get a full report frm the two of us when we get back.

Not much else going on. Advancement (promotion) results are possibly coming out mid month. We'll see what happens there. Keep your fingers crossed.

well, that's all for now. See you all soon!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Places I've Been



create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide



create your own personalized map of the USA
or write about it on the open travel guide

What to do?

So,

I've had a lot of time to think lately and unfortulantly not enough time to talk to my wife or family. Thankfully I've been able to call them recently but due to the time difference and cost of the call, I never really feel like I've been able to talk to anyone. Sure, Stephie talks about Ryan and I listen intently and I laugh, cry, feel proud, etc. It's just not the same.

I was getting off track. So, what do I want to do in life? Do you remember elementary school? I remember in 5th grade, we were asked to write down what we wanted to do in life and what the world would be like in ten years. I remember thinking, "I want to marry Allyson Sawyer..." I had a huge crush on her in 5th and 6th grade. We went to different schools later and of course I was always too scared to even talk to her. Good thing, cuz I love my wife! Anyway...I wrote that cars would be flying and I would be old. Ha ha...

I sit here and remember when Mr. Vangelder would say that we could be the President of the United States, or an astronaut. I wish I could remember what I was thinking? I think President crossed my mind, but I was just a kid.

I have roughly 3.75 years left on my current contract with the Navy. I will have 11 years in the Navy at that point and only 9 left till I could retire. There are some nice benni's to retiring from the Military. I'll only be 40, lifetime Medical/Dental Insurance, lifetime Commissary and Exchange benefits, lifetime access to MWR Resorts around the world and Military Flights for free. Is that something I really want to hang in another 9 years for? I'd have 9 more years of having to pass a physical fitness test twice a year, I'd have to work people who I possibly just cant stand, be a professional babysitter, be a professional janitor, have to deploy several more times an possibly a year at a time, miss more of my families life.

So, do the benni's out weight the costs? I mean, I can understand the physical fitness test, I just hate running. Well, I'm a slow runner thanks to my knees and the fact I'm out of shape. When I get on the Elliptical I can run up to 4.75 miles now, but I wouldn't say I really enjoy doing it that much. Also, I'm pretty slow. I can't run a 1.5 mile in less then 13 minutes. Yeah, people think they can walk it that fast, I can't. Push-ups and sit-ups who cares? I always do well.

What about politics? Could I be the President some day? I don't know. I feel that I'm too independent on issues. This whole thing going on right now sometimes just angers me. I like some of the plans of the Democrats, and I like some of the Republican plans. I'm registered non-partisan before someone gets on my band wagon. The think I like about Republican's is I feel much safer at home. Democrats can save some money. Then everything is situational and not really one particular person's legacy or fault. I don't know. Maybe local? Could I do that? Then I remember how my parents being in a newspaper industry always told me never to draw attention to myself. It's better to be known as a quiet, cool, collected, well mannored, humbled person. If I entered into pollitics, the private life would be gone.

I've always wanted to work on boats! ALWAYS! I love boats! Sail, power, outboard, inboard, cruising, racing, you name it. I want my own sailboat and eventually power boat some day. I'd love to have a Melges 24 to start, and maybe someday move on to a J-Boat. Anyway, should I get my liscense and be a day captain or something? I could do that. I thought in Middle School that being a captain of a San Francisco Ferry might be fun.

What about the church? Service? I like to serve? I love God, I love worship, I love Jesus and the Bible. Is it really cut out for me? I'm a sinner just like anyone else in this world. Could I clean up my act and come around? I don't know. It has crossed my mind though. I don't know if I could really be a pastor, but staff or a leader might fit. I don't know.

What about teaching? I guess I can tell you more about that after I transfer to be an instructor. We'll see. What about continuing in the electronic field? Maybe as a business owner and part time tech vs. a worker bee. I don't know...I'll have to see. In High School I wanted to be a Sound & Lighting Production Company. Maybe...Hmmm

Well, I don't know where I was going to end this with. I had a plan, then I was distracted by software updates and google. I don't know, I just want to come home to my wife and talk to her about it. I've got plenty of time...

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Life Church from Half A World Away

I'm glad I got to see these guys today!


Had Tea and Stew

So I ate at The Dome which seems like a nice little coffee shop. Come to find out they are in several places. Not too bad...

Bahrain x 4

Do I really need to say more?

Friday, February 15, 2008

Deployment + 30 Days


Well,

The Captain of the ship put out yesterday morning that the senior leadership (meaning Admirals and people that way out rank him) have recommended a 30 day extension for the ship that I'm on. It's not approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff yet, but it's pretty much a 99% chance that it will happen.

The bad: I'll be home 30 days later.
The Good: Maybe I'll be able to make more money. Tom may be more able to do the Tiger Cruise.
The Maybe: Once they start extending, they sometimes keep on adding time...

Please pray that this isn't going to get anymore prolonged. It would be real nice if they said no...Oh well, it's part of the job.

Bahrain x 3


Yeah, we're here again. Today sucks weather wise. Thankfully this will be a rather short visit. I have duty tomorrow. Going to a birthday party tonight at Trader Vic's...

In the mean time, I'm just sitting here with my buddy Chris and cruising the net. Woo hoo!

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Happy Day!!!!


This made my day so much better!

Steve Gray @ The Desert Dome

So,

I say so a lot. Just noticed that. Anyway, on base at the Desert Dome there is the Steve Gray Band which will be out here for two months. A mix of artists from a recording drummer, Steve Gray obviously, experienced lead guitarist. They do covers and some originals of everything from Rock, Rap to Country. I didn't get to stay and listen much, but they seemed pretty good. The Dome set them up with a Allen & Heath GL3300. That's funny since we (Life Church) just sold a GL3200. Anyway, it wasn't their board (The Bands) so they were at a slight disadvantage. On top of this their sound guy was actually their Roadie and Manager. More of a light guy then anything.

So anyway, I chit chatted with themfor a little bit (the area is kind of dead right now) and looked over the equipment for a bit. Looks like they started out with good intentions. When I came back later after they had started, the sliders were all maxed out, meters were barely moving and everything but the bass guitar sounded good. I was thinking about offering my help, but I thought that might be a little bit rude especially since that's what those guys do for a living.

Anyway, I would say check Steve Gray Band out. They looked like a pretty good band and the did sound good for what I did hear.

My Addictions - INTERNET

So,

Here I am in Bahrain again. I had duty on Tuesday, so I rushed off the ship as soon as I could to go to the exchange and get on the internet. Stephanie is up at my parents house and I wanted to get on either iChat or Yahoo Instant Messenger and SEE my family. Well, apparently Batelco who I guess is the primary and possibly only internet provider for at leasts Manama, which is where I am, was having internet problems. We walked everywhere! Finally around noon my time someone had come back from the mall, where I am now, saying they even went out here trying to get on. NOTHING...So I was very dissapointed that I didn't get to see my family yesterday.

Today I brought ye ole lappie along just in case it worked. We got here at the mall about 6:15'ish and I didn't want to get my hopes up. So I went and browsed for a moment. Took a pit stop at the Sony store, then walked over to Starbucks. Expecting to not get anything, I sat down and reluctantly pulled out my laptop. Sure enough, it works!! So now I'm waiting to see if Stephanie will wake up and talk to me. I don't have a ton of time, but I'll work with it.

Can you believe how important the internet is to me now? Wow...

Thursday, January 3, 2008

In Bahrain - still


So, the american dollar doesn't go very far here. For every Bahraini Dinar, it's $2.64'ish. When taking a five minute taxi cab ride, we've been able to barter down to 4 BD. Small electronics are super expensive here. Also, PS3 games go for well over $100 American.

Alas I sit at Starbucks again. This time with James and Rachel. We're going to see National Treasure Two in about an hour. I'l hang out here in the meantime.

One thing that is kind of irking me is that I tried to comment on Alex's and Billy's Blog. For some reason, I can't leave comments on the Wordpress blogs. :-( <--Makes me sad.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

I'm in Bahrain - Happy New Year!

So..Here I am, sitting at Starbucks of all places drinking the water. Hey Karl, I agree it's pretty good. I never have liked coffee, but I just wanted to get on the internet and this seem to be the best place. At least according to my friends HT1 Lee and Grant who are addicted to World of Warcraft. I just wanted to blog, get updates, and check my e-mail.

So here are some pictures from Saipan, followed by our oh so joyous Christmas Day Det Photo...

So, as you can tell we were really happy. I don't have any pics of me since those were just off of my camera. The ones that are of me are back on the ship.

Well, other then that, I'm going to say bye for now and do some updates. I will update you more later!

-Chris

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