LGH VS USCGC SPENCER and the winner is...

My job hasn't really changed! This hit me the other day when I was working with Chief Mack down in JP5 (who seriously looks like this guy plus always having a dip in). We were fixing a leak on the diesel fuel pump and needed a different size washer. I ran back to the shop and brought back a variety of sizes, as many good nurses have taught me ;-). A few minutes later he asks for a bigger monkey wrench, so I scampered back to the shop and he just smiled when he saw what I came back with. "No...bigger." (don't even think about it sha...it's way too easy!). I had to go to three different departments and it probably took me about 15 minutes until I came back with the three foot wrench he was thinking of. It's like having to run to the main OR for stuff! Which is when I realized that a lot of things haven't changed as much as I thought they would.
I still wear a uniform...it's just a different blue. My boots still get dirty...it's just oil and grease instead of blood. Instead of swearing at the screw when its stripped...it's a bolt. Instead of Main OR VS the OC...it's engineering VS deckies (yes we even have different lounges and "designated" tables on the mess deck). Our engineering officer hasn't set foot in the engine room since I reported in, kind of like duh duh dee duh duh BC. And that warped sense of humor that everyone said you had to have to work in the OR, well it's definitely here too!
For so many things being so similar...why does it feel so different?

toto, we're not in kansas anymore...

If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would be living in a city like Boston I probably would have said something like, "HA never...did you bump your head." Now, here I am. Back then life was a lot different. My weekends consisted of fishing, drinking around bonfires, off-roading, and playing basketball. Not until all the milking and feeding down at Johnny's was finished of course!

I don't know if its just because Boston is soo different from Red Lion, or if it's just the rush of the new job and the excitement that it is presenting. The city is like a high, and I love it :-)

 Things I love about Boston so far :

• 
  
  There is coffee, or beer, on every block
• 
  
  A random merry-go-round on the street corner (no pink ponies though ;-)
• 
  
  Most of the side streets are still brick
• 
  
  There is always a festival or show going on. Last weekend it was ahts (most normal people would say arts) festival, and yes I even watched the Boston Ballet. It was actually incredible!
• 
  
  When I sat in the park with my coffee and bagel on Sunday morning there was a man playing hymns on the sax
• 
  
  There is always something to be a part of. On 9/11 I helped at a tent that was set up downtown to make care packages for the troops overseas. I also got to do a walk for SPCA that I randomly came across in the park.
• 
  
  Sitting on Long Wharf watching the sail boats and the outside seal display at the aquarium, yes usually with coffee.
• 
  
  Running on the trail that follows the Boston harbor

It is truly amazing to me that in the midst of busy city with a million things going on at once... there is still a way to relax and find peace.

 

take one...

I have recently embarked on a new adventure in my life. As you may know I am a big fan of excitement and anything that gets my adrenaline pumping, and I feel that my new career will not disappoint in any way. On September 3, 2010 I graduated from basic training for the United States Coast Guard. Without a doubt it has been the most challenging and rewarding thing I have ever done. I will report to my first unit, the CGC Spencer based out of Boston, on Friday and begin the next chapter of my life. As I serve aboard the Spencer I am sure to encounter things I never imagined. Per the advice of a great friend, I have decided to start this blog to record in a small way some of the many amazing events I am about to observe. I have never been much for writing, I'm surprised you made it this far, and think it will prove to be much more accurate, and bearable, if I share my encounters via another method.