Week 1 - Day 4

Daily Log Entry | SN Cleveland

BEQ#: 832-R219

THU - 23MAR17

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I've still not figured out my night rhythm, now that I have some degree of freedom with regard to my schedule I keep finding things to keep me up past taps (2200), usually all the way up to 0100. With reveille at 0500 that hasn't supplied me with much to run on.

This morning NTI was a saving grace, with a small nudge after I'd missed the 1MC call for rev I was up and packing what I'd left out when I'd gone to bed. The morning routine went as expected, and I was down in the Yamens office for new arrival in UOD by 0545. This time I had a plan for food as the lack of breakfast has been catching up to me since the departure from the RTC schedule when we were released from the Porter for indoc muster I pushed myself over to the USS New Jersey (BEQ# 838) and got myself the bare minimum of a "bag nasty". In my case a Capri sun, plain bagel and peanut-butter, which was a significant improvement over spending $1.00 - 1.50 at the indoc hanger vending machines every hour.

0630, march out, 0700 indoc muster, and the various lessons of the day punctuated by breaks. Investment, savings, & TSP (Thrift Savings Plan) then a break, Financial Planning for Deployment and Government Planning and another break. BM2 had to go to an evaluation so we had another instructor QM1 come in for this class and his dry sense of humor and frank tone was refreshing albeit provocative. He was actively compared to voice actor Patrick Warburton in tone and timbre. BM2 was back with us for Food Literacy (Nutrition) followed by a break. The subject before lunch was Reproductive Health, basically high-school sex ed focused on avoiding accidental pregnancy. It was interesting to see both of the reasons for my situation listed (Thought they couldn't get pregnant, and failure to properly use birth control) as common factors but with the assumption that such things were happening to 18 - 20 year olds fresh into the military as oppose to 28 - 30 year olds. These course don't reveal all that much new information but they do make me more and more comfortable with who I've chosen to be though they do make me want to take the reigns in hand a little more moving into my 30's. Reproductive health was punctuated by lunch, an awkward transition from a description of the menstrual cycle to food.

I opted to forgo pasta and got a burger at "On Deck" the American themed line in the western section of the chow hall. Then it was back to indoc to finish reproductive health which was primarily navy endorsements for every type of birth control you can imagine and 2 - 8 minute informational shorts on each one and the effectiveness of each. After another break we had our last day of Bystander Intervention, this time focused on sexual harassment and assault. I continue to be amazed at how thin a line these things tend to be as it's not necessarily the action that defines harassment and assault but rather how it's received. As being misunderstood is one of my least favorite realities it's likely that I'll need to largely move exceptionally slowly with regards to what most of my friends would call the tiger part of my personality to avoid trouble. A shame, but I'll need outlets as well, time will tell how that develops.

We marched back from indoc around 1400, upon return to the 800's BEQ's there was initially confusion as each barracks was mustering for Chief's call which had ended up canceling several recreational events (a 5k run and some volunteer work) and postponing lib. Over the course of 1400 - 1500 confusion reigned as the chiefs call was cancelled, then muster for it was called, then it was cancelled again. This cycle repeated for several iterations to the point where I just remained in my compartment waiting for something definitive to come over the 1MC. After lib was dropped I got my second room inspect with FC1 Spooner and then accidently passed out on the floor due to my continued lack of sleep.

Around 1830 I woke back up disoriented and confused, asked Booker some nonsensical questions as I wasn't aware of the time and stumbled out to the quarterdeck to handle some of the personal needs of the night. The galley closes at 1830 so I was on my own for my meal, that meant the NEX. I was treated to a beautiful display of Illinois thunderstorms on the horizon and 15 minutes later Panda had taken care of all food need before the rain began to fall. I finished my shopping for snacks and various items to complete my computer set-up and took a shuttle back to the BEQ before setting into the evening routine of shadowing watches, the "new arrival" muster at 2145 and making this log entry for those of you who insist on feeling informed back home. We did find out that 10 of the 11 ET's who came onto the Porter last Friday were given the "Class up" status which means we should start the ATT indoc on Monday however we were also placed in the Monday firefighting qual so there is currently confusion about which will actually end up happening.

The night ahead promises to keep me up again, I plan to shadow 1 - 2 more watches. Likely my final BDO and my final POOW shadows and then take care of settling more of my to-do list and making the digital versions of them.

Tomorrow will be the last day of indoc and then the start of weekend liberty, which I will use some of to catch up on sleep. It's also Duty Section 4's duty day which means I will be on the ship instead of going out which should give me time to finish any remaining shadows if I can stay awake.

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DAILY LOG ENTRY END