Tuesday May 17, 2011

Thursday May 12: It has been a week since we landed back in the USA. We are almost back to normal. Jet lag is gone and today I performed at 75%. I have my AT back with a new tire and my Brooks saddle is finally broken in. I really enjoy biking.

Nancy attended another luncheon today. We had dinner at Great Lakes Shipping which is another indicator that we are back to normal.

Friday May 13: The grass is really long and I must cut it today. However, the weatherman says that the rain will start about 1200. I forego rowing today but perform everything else. I start cutting the grass about 1100. The temperature was in the 80s so I had to stop and get a drink every hour. I finished my yard work by 1530. The weatherman was wrong it did not rain. Speaking of rain we had record rainfall in April. I took a short nap. Nancy and I stayed home and had a light dinner.

Saturday May 14: The alarm goes off at 0630 and I sit up and immediately fall back down on the bed. After a minute or two I slowly sit up. My balance was shaky. It was raining today so I take the C2 and headed to the Omelet Shop for a bowl of oatmeal. My balance problem seems a little better but I am still wobbly. I figure that I was dehydrated so I bought a bottle of Gatorade. I worked a little around the house and when the rain let up about 1400 I took a 3 mile walk. I also went to Woodland Mall to the ATT store to get my contact list on the Verizon transferred to new ATT cell. The company switched our cell phones to ATT. I also stopped by Barnes and Noble to purchase a 50 state Road Atlas and a MI County Atlas. I used a gift card from the Scott Team.

We went out to dinner with Ed and Mary Namey. After dinner we came back to our house for dessert. Ed and I also had a sip of Springback scotch that I brought home from Campbeltown. It was very strong.

Sunday May 15: We headed to the MAC at 0730 and we both swam 45 minutes. It rained all day. I filled the Taurus up and gas was $4.15. Nancy did fix her world famous poached eggs for breakfast. I took my Sunday afternoon nap and then went back to the Mall to get Nancy's contact list transferred. After my mall visit I took a 3 mile walk.

May 15, 1961 was my first day at the Navy's Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI. My flight out of NY to RI was cancelled so I took the train and a bus. I arrived at 0400 and they called Reveille at 0500. We all had to assemble on the Parade Ground (Grinder) for roll call. We were assigned to a company. Mine was Mike Company. The day was filled with getting all the books for our classes and getting uniforms. Our rank was "Officer Candidate Seaman Apprentice". The pay was $80 per month. My civilian job had paid $510 per month. All day long we had drill instructors yelling at us. Our standard everyday uniform was to be a pair of denim bell bottoms with a denim shirt. We had to wear Navy issue boxer shorts, tee shirts and black socks. Our shoes were white tennis shoes. The cap (head cover) was the standard white Navy dixie cup. They measured us for our dress uniforms. The dress uniform was white bell bottoms with white blouse (Navy term) and the black scarf. We wore black shoes with the dress uniform.

Every cadet was given a haircut. The haircut took about 30 seconds. They ran a clipper over your head. The floor was covered with hair. I had the distinction of being the only person who did not need a haircut.

The wooden barracks were built during WW II. They had a large open area where rows of bunk beds were stacked. We each had a locker. The bathroom had rows of toilets and sinks. There was not a partition in either the sleeping room or bathroom. The barracks had over 100 cadets.

We were given instructions on how to dress. How to make our bed and hang our laundry bag at the end of the bunk (lap the string 13 times, no exception). And most important how to line up and march. It was a very busy day. I think everyone asked "what have I got myself into".

Monday May 16: Ms P got me up at 0500. I slowly got up and headed outside. I was worried because my balance was seriously impaired. I had to lean against the garage for support while Ms P did her bidness. I wobbled back upstairs and told Nancy something was wrong. Nancy drove me to emergency at Blodgett. They took all kinds of tests including a cat scan and ekg. The conclusion was that I had a serious infection in my sinus. I was given a prescription and told to take it easy for several days. I did take it easy. I worked on my blog and caught up on some reading. We had cereal for dinner and then watched some TV and read the GRP.

Tuesday May 17: Ms P got me up at 0500 and we headed outside. My balance was a little better than yesterday. At 0730 the sprinkler man stopped by and turned on our system. I then very slowly walked to the Kava House and read the WSJ and DFP. It is now 1520 and I will walk over to Gaslight Village to make a deposit. Nancy is fixing me a shrimp dish for dinner tonight. She has a neighborhood board meeting tonight. I will read the GRP and watch NCIS. Can you believe it, I am caught up on my blog?