ITCHY FACE

Last week was the last week of Operation Caterpillar and we all are so glad. My upper lip is driving me crazy. I can see it, I can feel it when talk, breath, eat, etc. It just needs to go. I will have pictures this week of the competition and winners. I don’t think anyone is planning to keep them.

The week also was a huge amount of one step forward and two steps back. Seems like everything we did to make progress was immediately turned around and we ended up at square one. The projects are progressing nicely, but we are seeing a drop in work and I spend tons of time making sure there are plans for continued work. The projects are out there, but it is so difficult to work through the approval process and get materials. Add on that everyone loves to change their mind and it just difficult. We also have been preparing for the Regimental Commodore’s visit. He is my Commanding Officer’s boss so we have to make sure things are squared away for him.

One really nice thing was this past Saturday. We had a Sport’s Day to celebrate the Navy’s birthday and it was so much fun. The day consisted of a round robin tournament in Soccer, Volleyball, and Ultimate Frisbee. The Staff is so small we raced around for three straight hours in all three sports. It ended with a cook-out and an afternoon off. The old Executive Officer (and my old roommate) was passing through town on the way to Iraq so we got to hang out with him for the afternoon and enjoy dinner together.

Below is one picture of us at sports day. The guy with the cheese was attempting to eat an entire block of cheese for $50. He made it halfway through and had to give up. It was not the highest quality cheese to start with so I could understand how he felt.

Heading to Djibouti tomorrow for the week. I will be there for a couple days and then down to the Seychelles and on to Bahrain. I will be able to see my oldest Navy friend, Erik Karlson, when I am in Bahrain. He is the Public Works Officer there on a one year tour. The week should be good and hopefully I will have some good stories and pictures next week.

Last picture is the Operations Staff. The girl on the left is our Admin Assistant. She is Culinary Specialist Second Class (CS2) Ramierez. The guy on the left is Senior Chief Ruffin. He is my Operations Chief. The tall guy is LT Mike Wainwright from last week, and then me.