Bahrain x 4

Do I really need to say more?

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.

Late Work - The Norm

So, I had to work late Monday night. We had to hang the "lateral bag" on LC-08. This is something I typically do not end up doing since I have technical job. Unfortunately, it's one of those, "get it done before the morning" type of things. Well, since we didn't start on it till about 1630 (that's 4:30 pm for you civilians), it was a late night. So, hanging this several hundered pound, 44 foot wide piece of bag with ten guys isn't as easy as it sounds. So, here's the results of what happens when your fingers are in the wrong spot while using a pry bar:

Well, it doesn't hurt, too much! LOL, just got a nice little gouge. Only two of us bled last night. One guy stood up and knocked his head so good he "scalped" himself. He didn't bleed. You see, when we're doing this, we're underneath a 200,000 lb. craft sitting on blocks about 5' 6" high On top of all of that, it's hot, it's heavy, it's uncomfortable, etc.

Anyway, that's just how my Monday went. Since we finished at 2030 (that' s 8:30 pm) we were supposed to be able to get out of work about 0900 the next morning. Well, I left at 1430 (2:30 pm). Don't you love my job? Ha ha...