Monday, November 23, 2009

Gotta love the weekends

ok after a few day break, im back.

So this weekend was a fun one, we pulled galley duty friday after lunch through sunday. We as a group our accomplishing our tasks very well and our inspections on the galley and in our barracks went well but i can definetley tell some people are totally getting tired of each other. (who wouldnt when you get up at 4 and you dont stop working until 9:45 that night?) haha

I think we as a group have a while yet untill we hit that "wall" where we have a big melt down and then everyone pulls together again. but i totally can feel the warning signs. I think this 17 days of galle duty will bring it out, hopefuly sooner then later because the sooner as we get our problems out the faster can get over it.

WE did have a stroke of freeking luck though, the night commandant aka the guy who does our night inspections is on a 10 day vacation. Which means piney point is on a 10 day vacaction. Our night inspections are done by other cadets. Granted those cadets got the right to inspect us by brown nosing, but they still will be a lot easier to deal with.

Ok so the run down for this week, today the chief bosun (brown noser) decided that we should prime and paint our barracks so were working on that for the next 2 nights. Infact we finished for today and it smells soo rediculous in there right now. haha. Our first class, vessel familiarization is finishing up and we'll get our coastguard test for it friday. If we fail it, we get one shot to retake it and if we fail that, we fly home. So after that for thanks giving it sounds like well be working the galley even thought its not our duty, the new guys get the worst jobs all the time. (only 3 more weeks till the new bottom guys on the scrotum poll arrive.) not that im counting it down or anything.

Tonight i have watch from 12-2 on the 6th floor which is good because that's 2 hours of uninterrupted study time. The lack of sleep is totally hurting all of us though. Working and studying with 4-6 1/2 hours of sleep of night is pretty tough. What i hear from the third phasers is that when you get on a ship, its a cake walk compared to what we do on a regular basis. So thats somthing to positive about.

Also, I heard from one of the instructors last friday he knew a guy who was an AB unlimited sailor that was making 10,800 a month working on a tugboat for Crowley maritime going from jacksonville to puerto rico and back. Doing 28 days on 28 days off and making that kind of money would be pretty sweet. It actually wouldnt be hard at all to reach that point either, just a couple years work.

Any ways, thats enough for now, ill post again as soon as possible

Sunday, November 15, 2009

I have internet!

Ok I was able to get a 3g card and now i have internet at the paul center. So after a week off lets get down to business.

First off, this place is amazing (if your a worker). If your lazy, you wont make it through the program. The basic way it works is Piney point takes a new class every month of unlicensed apprentices. Over the next 11 months they stick about 45,000 dollars in each and every person in education, room, and board at no cost or obligation to the sailor. While the economy for shipping has slowed down some, it has faired stronger and better then many more industrties out there and they still garuntee jobs upon graduation. I believe it too, this vocational school is the best of its kind in the world. They take average civillians, and mold them into disiplined sailors. We all had our head shaved the first night, We have uniforms we all wear, we sleep in a barracks that gets inspected twice a day and it has to be perfect, i mean perfect. Like the end sheets of our beds must be folded at a 45 degree angle. O yea, and we march every where we go too. Thats just the basics too, our daily routines our demanding.

We have to get up at 5:30 in the morning if were lucky and depending on what phase your in, and we start our days by eating chow then fallng in for call off. Then we march to our classes and learn, at night we clean our barracks and get inspected by the night commandant. All the other UA's (unlicensed apprentices) have warned us about this guy. He inspects rooms at night and he is like an ex marine drill sargaent. He basically is paid to make our lives harder. And when we mess up, we get detail, (cleaning is detail).

Now that im in phase one, on the weekends i get up at 4 to work the galley untill about 8:45 at night, with 2 one hour breaks in between. Theres inspections for galley cleaning too. haha. It never ends with inspections.

haha i forgot about watch too. We have watch duty's here at piney point going on all night. I have 2 watch dutys this week at this point (the schedule changes all the time), Both at 2-4 am which is so convienent. Not. haha, but its just part of the program.

Oyea privlages are another thing. Our barracks is located on the 5th floor, we have elevators, but we dont have privelages. We wont have the privelage of using the elevator untill a month from now. Also, we cant watch the television in the mess hall,( we have to face away from it) We cant go anywear with out everyone else in the group coming. So for example, if a guy in your barracks has to smoke, down the 5 floors and out to the dock for him to light up, all of us. Theres rec rooms a work out facility and more but I wont get privelages for any of that for another month.

Right now I'm in hell month, which is actually 5 weeks where we dont get any days off or the ability to sleep in. after the first month are lives get easier untill some one messes up and we lose the privelages. (that happens alot)

So if your wondering while i actually like this place its because Job placement is garunteed and pay if fantastic. Plus i get to go all over the world for free while im at the school. Everything is totally worth it, and i reccomend it to anyone except for the fact that they are no longer accepting applications due to a huge flood of people wanting to be here for obvious reasons.

Anyways, my break is over, ill blog again soon with some pictures.

Monday, November 9, 2009

D-Day

Ok, the big day is here. Today in about 3 hours I will be entering my academy and starting my new life for the next 7 1/2 months or so. Have to say i woke up this morning a little bit more anxious then usual. I feel good about today though, even though my head is spinning a little bit more than usual. haha. Im gonna keep the blog post short today, got to relax myself by doing some last minute checks. Ill post asap once at the school.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

T-minus 15 hours

Well, its already here. Tomorow I fly out for Maryland and spend the weekend with my Aunt and Uncle in Leonardton, which is 20 minutes away from Piney Point. Monday morning is fall in day and I'll meet the other people that I'm going to live with for the next 3 months.

Today has been an interesting day. I went over to my old high school and said my good byes to my teachers and old classmates. I bought a new camera so I'll be able to take some pictures of the Maryland/Academy once i get there. Oh, and of course take pictures along my travels. All of which will end up on this blog to keep you guys interested.

Im still feeling really good about this whole trip. Im very excited about moving to a new place and im itching for some adventure. I couldnt tell you what the next few days will bring, but I have to imagine they'll be interesting. Wish me luck at the airport. I might need it. :)