2 Feb 2010 Aced the test

Took the test this morning and aced it. I'm still not done yet. There is a hands on driving portion I have to take in 2 days. I wish there was a accelerated course for folks that have experience. On the other hand it never hurts to brush up on the basics. You always think you know eveerything until somebody shows you a different way to do it. For anybody on the way in you can download the study guide and get a head start before you come down. The test is pretty easy if you are ok with a map and can recognize most flags used in the Navy. Went and picked up some tackle today. Talked with one of the locals and he said to use wire leaders instead of mono. You can catch some fish here that have a pretty good set of choppers so to keep the breakoffs to a minimum wire is the way to go. Still haven't picked up a rod yet. That Penn slammer I was eyeballing disappeared so I have to wait now. Should have went with my first mind...

31 Jan 2010

Day two was much better than the first. I got up when the light shined through the window (which was too late for breakfast). The galley (DFAC for us Army folks),from what I was told is the 2nd best in the world. I won’t say yes or no to that statement being true because I only ate dinner there. My other two meals I stuck with places I know very well. Can’t go wrong with Subway and Mickey Ds. I whipped out my little strip map bestowed upon me by my Navy amigo from the day prior. I did a little dead reckoning with my handy watch compass and figured out that I probably could leave the compass and go with terrain association. So I plotted a beeline to the NEX (Navy Exchange) and gave it a walk thru. I then realized that I did not feel up to hauling bags around all day so I strolled to the Dive shop. I was very disappointed to find out that the only fishing equipment the dive shop has is a spear gun. I don’t think I’ll mess with that just yet. The Marina looked pretty far away on my map so I decided to try the bus. Since I wanted to familiarize myself with GTMO I took the bus headed in the opposite direction from the dive shop so I would get a little tour in. When I got to the Marina I saw some nice skiffs and pontoons. I walked in and asked the guy what I needed to do to get rollin in one of em. He said “ye gwat te go tu der Liberr und git de stud gide” . I guess there is a test to take before I can get my license. Of course I whipped out my TX, NC, and SC license and he said “dat no guut ere”. So I planned a trip to the library later. You would be amazed to find how many Jamaicans are here at GTMO. I thought I would be seeing Cuban people everywhere and I would need to brush up on my spanglish to communicate. I guess I’ll have to learn Jamaican which I think is just a broken dialect of English. After snapping a few pics I had a seat on a bench and broke my brand spanking new camera with the humongous LCD screen by sitting on it. Now I see why it was on sale. Large LCD screens don’t take much abuse before they crack. All of the functions are viewed on the screen and I guess Kodak didn’t think you needed a viewfinder on a camera with such a huge screen. Now I’m stuck with it though. I figured out it still works I just can’t see what I’m shooting though. So if my pics look a little off center that is why. I just point and take a whole crap load of shots and hope one turns out right. I looked down the hill from the marina and figured it wasn’t that far from my room after all. A little walking never hurt anybody. Good thing it’s mostly downhill though. I’ll be riding the bus coming the other way because I think it will be a little different on the way back. Going down the hill I saw the Iguana crossing sign. I was wondering where they were. I hadn’t seen one yet. But on my stroll I discovered I just hadn’t been looking hard enough. They are actually everywhere. Being that they are green they tend to blend in with the grass but when you walk by and see the grass hop up and run you probably just spooked an Iguana. I heard they are pretty darn tasty fried or grilled but I don’t think I’ll experiment here due to the 10K fine for anyone that harasses or kills an Iguana. That would make one expensive meal. My day ended with me finally going to the NEX and picking up some running shoes since I left mine at home (duh). I have not worked up the will to run around yet but now I know that I can if I so decided (which is really the important thing). I also spotted a nice Penn baitcasting levelwind rod and reel combo. I was worried about the NEX not having real rods and only the usual stuff but I guess at a place like this you sell what sells the most. I didn’t see one Zebco 808 which is my rod of choice at the chain stores. It’s cheap sturdy and gets the job done. Just not for a very long time. I wanted to buy it on the spot but I’ll pace myself. Now I need to focus on finding a “real” fishing partner. That would have to be someone just as nutty as me when it comes to fishing. The kind of person whose only concern when coming to GTMO was how long it would take to get on the water. Well it looks like the Grammys are on and I see Beyonce wigglin around on the stage so I gotta end this one so I can glue my eyeballs to the TV for awhile.

30 Jan 2010

My 1st day in Cuba was pretty hectic. I’ll just say you should make it priority number 1 make sure somebody knows that you are coming. You just might end up feeling a little orphaned in a foreign country if not. Good thing I have an extra loud voice and most people can hear me complaining all the way down halls. I just happened to meet a Navy good Samaritan at the terminal who conveniently had a truck, because 3 duffel bags full of the heavy @ss gear is pretty hard to drag down a mountain and swim across a channel with , which is just what I would have had to do if he had not shown up. I had a warm and fuzzy feeling about things once I got the low down from him about all of the cool things that Gtmo has to offer. I’ll try to take them one by one as I experience them so we can all get the GTMO experience at the same time. I don’t any shots because I was too busy trying not to end up spending the night in the jungle to take pics.

29 Jan 2010 Escape to Guantanamo Bay

Ever heard of the Movie "Harold and Kumar's escape from Guantanamo Bay? Well I never thought I would be fighting to get TO Guantanamo Bay. CRC is at best a horrible experience for all involved. Man that place is an equal opportunity employer for the non deployed, broke, and incompetent of the US Army. If idiocracy had a minority Ft Benning has utilized affirmative action to the utmost extent. I have to digress from my usual witty fishy banter for a moment to recognize the triumphant failures of common sense in this place. Of course I can't divulge any great military secrets, or share any classified info (my job's not that important anyway)but I can definitely take pause to reflect on my experience at the Conus Replacement Center. I don't even know where to start. Must be the effects from the PTSD I incurred while assigned to that place. Truth be told I've been in Iraq with mortars falling like rain but this experience has taken a toll on my nerves. I guess I'll start with the Cadre. It seems as if the job requirement is that you must have a combination of, or one significant area of expertise in the following areas: Overweightness, rudeness, ignorance, incompetency, lack of ever deploying, or all of the above. I don't fault the cadre because it seems as if the job may have been forced upon them as a cruel joke. Who else would assign individuals to a location where they would have to deal with retired and active senior officers, NCOs, DOD Civilians/Contractors on the way to deployments, (if you didn't know Senior Officers and Enlisted are quite critical of everything by design)when they obviously are seriously ill equipped for the job.
It's as if the assignment gods decided that since these people can't, won't or just have never deployed we are going to make them deploy by association. As a customer service subject matter expert myself I can attest to the facts that the odds are overwhelming against them to think that they will be able to handle that kind of mission. I even made new friends here. Anybody knows that suffering through hard times together brings people closer. I made four new BEST friends. We call ourselves the disgruntleds. I know if a few more hours would have passed there could have been a postal situation (we would have wrote home about our problems LOL. It may even be a training technique designed to reduce your nervousness about your upcoming deployment. I have never in my life met so many people that can't wait to go put themselves in harms way. I asked one of my fellow disgruntleds and he said "I'll go anywhere and do anything as long as I can escape this hell hole" (btw he's going to Afghanistan to fight the War on Terror. Most likely he'll be enduring extreme freezing conditions, firefights, IEDs, and a whole gammut of other unpleasant things.) I won't really get into the details of what happened but lets just say I'm always right. I'm not the type of person to say "I told you so" (I just let you know before we disagree). I could go on but I'm just glad I escaped...

24 Jan 2010 Survivng CRC

First I have to give a shout out to my peeps. I was just playing about only missin my boat. I miss my number 1 fishing partner (miss Olivia) and my future getthenet tech (Fatboy), and last but not least the Commanding General of all nonfishing activities (Misses). CRC is hurryupandwait at it's finest. I won't complain much though because I have definitely seen worse. The rooms aren't that bad. It's just 4 to a room and the mild scent of feet and Fritos wafts gently through the air. You hardly even notice. My only complaint was one of my roommates (whom I have yet to identify)turned the heat up to the hell setting. I had to break down and tell em "sh*t it's hot as f**k in here!" I guess everyone agreed because no one complained as I turned it down. I think it has been on the same setting the whole time and no one wanted to change it so we all just roasted in silence until my courageous intervention. I felt a great sense of accomplishment after vanquishing the heat monster. The next day was death by powerpoint until lunch time, after lunch they played an amateur video with shots of various people going through different stations set to an epic movie ballad. The music was so suspenseful and I awaited in awe for a great action sequence or explosion to take place but the screen only showed soldiers and contractors gripping and grinnin and going about there day in a exceedingly normal fashion. I never understand why people believe a video will be great if you replace the sound with music contradictory to the actions on the screen. Of course I had to make a little time for my addiction. I have tucked a few fishing magazines under my pillow for some late night fun. I can't wait...

20 Jan 2010 I miss her already

Well most folks would think I had a death in the family. I knew this time would come. I just was not ready to separate. Today has been the hardest yet. Sometimes I wonder is it worth it. This job is separating me from the love of my life. It's been hard watching her go off with another man. I sure hopes he takes care of her the way I did. She is awesome. I can hear her voice, that deep growl at the crack of dawn. We wake up the neighbors regularly with all the ruckus in the wee hours of the morn. I'll miss tucking her in and buckling down her covers on cold nights. The way she glowed in the morning sun. I would catch guys staring at her with envy in their eyes as we passed by thinking "where did he find her?" A lot of old guys would just wink with the tip of a hat and I'd know they wish they were young enough to be in my position. I'll be ok, I keep telling myself it's just a few months. Being absent will make the heart grow fonder. I sure hope that's true. All I have is these pictures to remind me of her beauty while I'm gone. Man I'll miss that boat...

10 Jan 2010 Planning

I told my folks I'd be leaving soon. I guess if you have to deploy this is the place to go. Seems like GTMO is a lovely place (outside the prison). I'll have to judge that for myself when I get there. I'm debating if I should bring my own fishin rod or get a new one at the local shop there. If the local PX/Sports store is anything like the ones here in the states there will be a limited selection of rods. I also don't know how quick the mail gets delivered over there so I better take care of this before I roll out. From what I've read everything comes in on a barge. So that is priority number one. I'll handle the small stuff like Power of Attorneys for the Misses and updating my last will and testament later. Old Fidel might get it in his head to knock me off. Gotta make sure that will is updated. I can't wait, I got visions of tarpon, snook, and barracuda swimming in my head. Maybe I'll even catch ole Jaws himself. GTMO here I come!