After 18 years I am now officially back to the rank that I left the military in. It was Air Force Captain at that time and as of Friday, I am a Naval Lieutenant. I feels good. The past 3 years have been some of the most stressful (work related) that I have ever been through. That being said, the bigger the success, the harder the work to get there. The relief that I now feel is impossible to truly describe.
Focus now is on the house/yard. Lucy (our Golden Retriever puppy) is a digger and has commenced destruction on the back yard. We also put up a chain link fence with the help of some great friends. However, Lucy has already managed to dig her way under some areas to escape. We have some left over sections of chain link and are trying to double up some areas to prevent her from going under them. It is a 2 person job and with both Cynthia and I working and the sun going down earlier and earlier, it has proven to be a challenge to get it done. She is working today, but only until 2pm, so the plan is to get as much done as we can when she gets home. I have also emptied an entire bag of grass seed on the main digging areas as they are now nothing but dirt. Hopefully, the seed will take soon. We really need to get back to being able to just open the back door and let Lucy out without having to take her on her leash or tied up.
I have lost a fair bit of weight over the past 3 years, but most of that has been when I have been at sea. It was accomplished due to a couple of factors all occurring at the same time. Stress is the first factor. Being mentally stressed most of the time burns a lot more calories than one might think. When you are at sea in the Navy, you are always "on" mentally; whether you are on watch or not. This is due to the fact that you are always in uniform and need to be ready to respond to any emergency at any time. The second factor would be a messed up sleep schedule. Due to the fact that my watch schedule was never consistent, my sleep schedule was also never consistent. One day, I could be on watch from midnight to 4am, and the next day 8pm to midnight and then 4am to 8am. The third factor was an eating habit. Don't get me wrong, the cooks on the ship do a good job and I have absolutely no complaints about the food. For me, I would only eat enough to get me to the next meal and that is it. I would also avoid dessert (known in the navy as duff). To do this, I would utilize "urge management". I would walk up to the dessert tray, take a look at it and then imagine that it sat out for a whole week. Very quickly, I would not want to eat any of it. A very useful and effective tool.
The problem that I am facing now is that since I am not sailing and the majority of my stress is over, I need to ensure that I get into an effective work out schedule. I am finding this extremely challenging with the way my days seem to dissappear. I know very well that any reason not to be working out is simply an excuse and that I have to put other stuff secondary to working out. Knowing it and doing it are two entirely different things. I know that once I start and stick to it for at least a month, then I will have created a habit that will simply be in place. I am going to start small and work up from there. My main focus will be core (for my growing belly) and upper body as that has always been my weaker area.
I feel that I put too much on my plate at one time, then get very little accomplished and am unhappy because of it. I want to blog here more as I know it will help to get my thoughts out of my head and written down. I have taken some books out of the library that I want to read so that I can blog effectively and with some level of excitement. I want to cook more as I have found that I really enjoy it. I need to work with Cynthia on a number of things; our budget being the biggest. I have a new laptop with Windows 7; which I have never used before and want to learn as much as I can about it (books from library again). Helping more with keeping the house tidy and clean. I always feel better after I clean the house.
Another thing that has plagued me that I want to figure out is music on iTunes. I want to be effective on getting songs and getting them into the correct folders in iTunes without having to do a bunch of moving, copying and what seems to be excessive work. Internet research is good for this, but I need to find the time and know that in reality it is a very low priority.
Anyway, I am going to stop right here before this gets so long that no one would read it. Besides, I need to keep some stuff to type next time.
Halloween decorating and pumpkin carving tonight!!
I hope everyone has a fantastic day!!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Nothing fancy yet
Been a busy weekend. Nice to have the house clean though. Had a fun time with "games night" with Julia and the girls last night. Grateful that Jena could join us as well.
Big grocery shop this morning, but got all our Halloween candy and our pumpkins as well, so that is good. Now to make sure that the boxes stay closed until Halloween.
Stef is home from sailing just for the weekend before he heads off on a 3 month deployment. He and Sandra are coming over for supper. I just made my favorite dessert for the first time (Cherry cheesecake - made with dream whip). It is always good to visit with them.
So with that all said, I did not get into my library books to learn more about how to properly blog. That's ok, though; as the good thing about libraries is that you have the books for a couple of weeks.
The back yard really needs work, but with the amount of rain that we have been getting over the past week, it has been pretty much impossible to get out there to do any work.
I really hope that my promotion comes in this week. It would have been nice for Cynthia to be there when I get it; but at this stage, I just feel like "give it to me so that I can start getting my better pay"
I am also on the hunt for a good app for my iphone what will sync properly with my microsoft outlook from my laptop. No luck yet. The search will continue.
Going to pick my sweetie up from work, take Lucy for a walk and then get ready to start putting supper together. |Zesty chicken tortilla bake. It is always a hit and we have not had it in quite a while, so I am looking forward to it.
I really need to organize my thoughts better for blogging, that is for sure. This reads like a scatter brain. Stay tuned as I get better at this, it will be worth it (he says hopefully).
Big grocery shop this morning, but got all our Halloween candy and our pumpkins as well, so that is good. Now to make sure that the boxes stay closed until Halloween.
Stef is home from sailing just for the weekend before he heads off on a 3 month deployment. He and Sandra are coming over for supper. I just made my favorite dessert for the first time (Cherry cheesecake - made with dream whip). It is always good to visit with them.
So with that all said, I did not get into my library books to learn more about how to properly blog. That's ok, though; as the good thing about libraries is that you have the books for a couple of weeks.
The back yard really needs work, but with the amount of rain that we have been getting over the past week, it has been pretty much impossible to get out there to do any work.
I really hope that my promotion comes in this week. It would have been nice for Cynthia to be there when I get it; but at this stage, I just feel like "give it to me so that I can start getting my better pay"
I am also on the hunt for a good app for my iphone what will sync properly with my microsoft outlook from my laptop. No luck yet. The search will continue.
Going to pick my sweetie up from work, take Lucy for a walk and then get ready to start putting supper together. |Zesty chicken tortilla bake. It is always a hit and we have not had it in quite a while, so I am looking forward to it.
I really need to organize my thoughts better for blogging, that is for sure. This reads like a scatter brain. Stay tuned as I get better at this, it will be worth it (he says hopefully).
Saturday, October 20, 2012
How to blog effectively?
OK, so one of my issues (maybe a bit of OCD) is that when I decide that I want to learn a little bit more about something; I tend to go a bit overboard. By that, I mean that I will put 20 books on hold at the library on that subject instead of just one or two.
I have decided that blogging (but doing it more like a journal) might be therapeutic for me. At the same time, I want to make it interesting enough that some people may want to stop by and read a bit. I do have some books out from the library and am going to go through them for some ideas. I don't have the time to spend making it all snazzy all the time, but I will post some pics now and then at least.
One quick example is below. This is the "group photo" from RIMPAC 2012. There were 44 ships and 8 submarines from 23 countries. I had the privilege to actually be the Officer of the Watch for this photo (meaning that I was the one actually driving the ship). HMCS Algonquin is the 5th ship down on the farthest left hand side of the photo.
As far as work goes right now; there really is nothing to talk about. I am just helping out where they need me.
It does feel like there is way too much to do at home and not nearly enough time to do it (I know, you are thinking, "then why are you wasting time blogging?")
The attempt is to get our Calendar's synched up between Cynthia and myself. We are working on that, but I think that we still have a little ways to go to get it right. I also have a need to write stuff down in a list, and without that I tend to become unfocused very quickly; so that is the next thing on the list.
Cynthia is working today until 2. Joel has swimming lessons in an hour and then he and I are going to clean the house for Julia and the girls to come over for games night. It is always good for laughter when we have games night.
I am going to pause now, read for 1/2 hour on Google Blogger, then take Joel to his swimming lesson. Let's see if I can make this blog interesting without spending a ton of time on it like some sort of obsession.
Later all
I have decided that blogging (but doing it more like a journal) might be therapeutic for me. At the same time, I want to make it interesting enough that some people may want to stop by and read a bit. I do have some books out from the library and am going to go through them for some ideas. I don't have the time to spend making it all snazzy all the time, but I will post some pics now and then at least.
One quick example is below. This is the "group photo" from RIMPAC 2012. There were 44 ships and 8 submarines from 23 countries. I had the privilege to actually be the Officer of the Watch for this photo (meaning that I was the one actually driving the ship). HMCS Algonquin is the 5th ship down on the farthest left hand side of the photo.
As far as work goes right now; there really is nothing to talk about. I am just helping out where they need me.
It does feel like there is way too much to do at home and not nearly enough time to do it (I know, you are thinking, "then why are you wasting time blogging?")
The attempt is to get our Calendar's synched up between Cynthia and myself. We are working on that, but I think that we still have a little ways to go to get it right. I also have a need to write stuff down in a list, and without that I tend to become unfocused very quickly; so that is the next thing on the list.
Cynthia is working today until 2. Joel has swimming lessons in an hour and then he and I are going to clean the house for Julia and the girls to come over for games night. It is always good for laughter when we have games night.
I am going to pause now, read for 1/2 hour on Google Blogger, then take Joel to his swimming lesson. Let's see if I can make this blog interesting without spending a ton of time on it like some sort of obsession.
Later all
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Back to Blogging
I had previously commented about not allowing cobwebs settle on my blog again. Epic fail!!
However, I have decided to get back to blogging and on a more regular basis. I am going to do some research on how to blog properly so that I can make it interesting and keep it up to date at the same time.
So....here is a quick update as to what has been happening in the life of this Navy Phoenix. MARS IV training was successfully completed on 4 March 2011. This included another intense academic phase, a simulator phase and a 6 week sea phase on the Orca Class training vessel where we had to successfully pass being assessed in navigation, Officer of the Watch Manoeuvres (4 of the ships all moving around each other in formations). I will be honest...it felt like I had reached the top of the mountain at this point. Little did I know, that it was only the tip of the iceberg.
I was posted to HMCS Algonquin and joined them on March 7 (no rest for the weary) and sailed for one week. My training continued over the next 18 months as I was continuously learning and getting better at my job as Officer of the Watch (OOW). I sailed on numerous Task Group Exercises, a North American Maritime Security Initiative exercise with the Americans and Mexicans, A deployment down south (looking to intercept drug smugglers) for which I have received the Operational Service Medal for, RIMPAC 2012 (for those who have seen Battleship; I actually sailed alongside the USS John Paul Jones). I have sailed with ships from USA, Mexico, Chili, Australia, Japan, North Korea and Russia. I have also now been to some interesting ports including San Francisco (my favorite US city), Panama, Manzanillo, Ensenada, San Diego and Pearl Harbour, Hawaii.
I received my official Bridge Watchkeeping certificate from the Captain in Feb 2012. The next step was to sit and pass a board which is chaired by a Capt(N) and other high ranking officers in which they ask you a ton of questions to test your knowledge on all aspects of the ship and ship handling as well as how to safely deal with other ships in the area and responding to emergencies. I have done a lot of job interviews in my past and no longer got nervous about them at all. This board is nothing like that at all. It was probably one of the most stressful and nerve-wracking thing I have ever done and will ever do (unless I go to sit a Command Board - which has still been undecided at this time).
I was scheduled to sit my board on 20 Sept 2012. So I studied and crammed and crammed and studied like mad. Sept 20th came and I went into sit my board. After almost an hour of being drilled, I was told that I passed the board and was now considered a Fully Qualified Naval Officer. Holy Crap! After almost 3 years of non-stop nose to the grindstone work and being away from my family for a lot of it, I have now come through the other end successfully.
So what now? I have been removed from Algonquin so that they can make room for other junior officers who need the sea time and experience. I am temporarily "attached posted" back to Venture. I am helping with some new lesson plans and hope to get into the classroom to do some teaching.
Career wise, the next step is to select a specialty (or Director Level). This could be Navigator, Above Water Warfare, Underwater Warfare, Combat Information Systems, Information Management, Clearance Diver, or Deck Officer. I have decided to become an Information Management Director. My course for this is scheduled to start in February 2013.
That is all for today and should bring you up to speed. From here, the blogs will be a bit shorter, but more frequent.
However, I have decided to get back to blogging and on a more regular basis. I am going to do some research on how to blog properly so that I can make it interesting and keep it up to date at the same time.
So....here is a quick update as to what has been happening in the life of this Navy Phoenix. MARS IV training was successfully completed on 4 March 2011. This included another intense academic phase, a simulator phase and a 6 week sea phase on the Orca Class training vessel where we had to successfully pass being assessed in navigation, Officer of the Watch Manoeuvres (4 of the ships all moving around each other in formations). I will be honest...it felt like I had reached the top of the mountain at this point. Little did I know, that it was only the tip of the iceberg.
I was posted to HMCS Algonquin and joined them on March 7 (no rest for the weary) and sailed for one week. My training continued over the next 18 months as I was continuously learning and getting better at my job as Officer of the Watch (OOW). I sailed on numerous Task Group Exercises, a North American Maritime Security Initiative exercise with the Americans and Mexicans, A deployment down south (looking to intercept drug smugglers) for which I have received the Operational Service Medal for, RIMPAC 2012 (for those who have seen Battleship; I actually sailed alongside the USS John Paul Jones). I have sailed with ships from USA, Mexico, Chili, Australia, Japan, North Korea and Russia. I have also now been to some interesting ports including San Francisco (my favorite US city), Panama, Manzanillo, Ensenada, San Diego and Pearl Harbour, Hawaii.
I received my official Bridge Watchkeeping certificate from the Captain in Feb 2012. The next step was to sit and pass a board which is chaired by a Capt(N) and other high ranking officers in which they ask you a ton of questions to test your knowledge on all aspects of the ship and ship handling as well as how to safely deal with other ships in the area and responding to emergencies. I have done a lot of job interviews in my past and no longer got nervous about them at all. This board is nothing like that at all. It was probably one of the most stressful and nerve-wracking thing I have ever done and will ever do (unless I go to sit a Command Board - which has still been undecided at this time).
I was scheduled to sit my board on 20 Sept 2012. So I studied and crammed and crammed and studied like mad. Sept 20th came and I went into sit my board. After almost an hour of being drilled, I was told that I passed the board and was now considered a Fully Qualified Naval Officer. Holy Crap! After almost 3 years of non-stop nose to the grindstone work and being away from my family for a lot of it, I have now come through the other end successfully.
So what now? I have been removed from Algonquin so that they can make room for other junior officers who need the sea time and experience. I am temporarily "attached posted" back to Venture. I am helping with some new lesson plans and hope to get into the classroom to do some teaching.
Career wise, the next step is to select a specialty (or Director Level). This could be Navigator, Above Water Warfare, Underwater Warfare, Combat Information Systems, Information Management, Clearance Diver, or Deck Officer. I have decided to become an Information Management Director. My course for this is scheduled to start in February 2013.
That is all for today and should bring you up to speed. From here, the blogs will be a bit shorter, but more frequent.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The whole family is in Victoria!!!
Yay!!!! We are finished unpacking the boxes. Now to filter through the contents and place them along with setting up the rooms. I will write more when time becomes available. My next course starts Sept 13.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
MARS III is now finished!
I passed my run yesterday and am now finished MARS III!!!!!!!! That was definitely something that I would not want to repeat.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
1 down, 1 to go
Passed yesterday's run just fine. If I pass today's run, I will be done! Yay!! I will let you all know how it went.
Only 3 more sleeps for me and I will be heading back to be with my family. Double Yay!!
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