In Memoriam

Reticent in tongue,

But vociferous, 

man's heart,

Today they live on.

Three cheers for Memorial Day.

Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist

A friend of mine studied for 2 weeks and spent one extra week in shipboard walk-throughs to prepare for his enlisted surface warfare specialist (ESWS) qualification.  Obtaining the qualification takes a passing score of 80% or higher on a (at this command) 100-question test, and passing an oral board administered by various shipboard personnel.  After one unsuccessful test attempt I helped him study for a few days and my friend then managed to pass with an 83% and achieved satisfactory results on his board as well.  He is now allowed to wear the designator pin for ESWS on his working and dress uniforms as proof of this achievement.

Am I proud of my shipmate?  Certainly.  But a selfish humor within me caused me to call the validity of his ESWS pin upon examining the actual test he took and after speaking with him in some detail about his oral board.  He said 7 different people showed up, asked him 5 questions each, and that was it.  The test was also full of simple short answer questions and, barring the fact that it was 100 questions, looked pretty easy.  When I remember the time I spent preparing for my ESWS test (200 questions) and my oral board(s), my real exception to their ESWS program comes to light.

For us on active duty, it was difficult.  Very difficult, very long, and unforgiving.  You begin by learning to a great extent the inner workings of every aspect of all ship functions, such as engineering, supply, personnel, aviation, navigation, operations, combat systems, and so on.  You do this by standing Under Instruction (UI) watchstations and getting them to sign off a qualification book to prove you have assimmilated the requisite knowledge to the appropriate level.  Then once you feel you are ready, you turn in your book, which is then verified, and you are allowed to be proctored the aforementioned test.  After the test, you go through 3 oral boards, and the failure of even one board nullifies your test score, and you have to retest, meaning you had to select a different test out of the 10 randomized versions.  The first board was usually scheduled for 2.5 hours.  The second, or "murder board", was not only scheduled for 3 hours and usually ran longer (mine was 4.5) but was sat by only senior officers and enlisted as well (Senior/Master Chiefs, the XO and CO of the ship, and various departmental Commanders [Papa Raynor] and Lieutenant Commanders).  The third usually lasted less than 2 hours.  To describe the amount of time it took me to feel prepared to test and board with confidence, I would use the word tremendous.  2 hours a night studying, standing different watches twice a week around the ship, and getting a stack of papers about 2 inches thick signed off by the watchstanders I was with.  All that and more was my preparation for what ended up to be about, oh, let's say, about 7 months.

7 months.

Debasement?

Possibly.

Congratulations, nonetheless, are due to IT2 (SW) Sitzman upon the occasion of successfully completing the requirements to be designated an enlisted surface warfare specialist, and tomorrow, with the ship's crew as audience at Captain's Call, it will certainly be my personal pleasure to present him with his letter of designation and inaugurally pin the emblem on his chest.

Machinist's Mate, 

Second Class, 

Surface Warfare, 

Donny R. Hathorn.

MM2(SW) Hathorn

Annual Training for FY '09

The amount of anti-depressant advertisements they show on TV here is amazing.  It has been sunny for the weekend, and the rain is supposed to resume on Monday.  It's a change from Ft. Collins, but I'll be glad to be home.  It'll still be a week this Tuesday, but I can make it.

You know, one day I was at the Air Force base for Drill Weekend, talking to this guy who plays basketball:

And I told this fella that we (in Colorado) needed him to step his game up if we were to go anywhere in this years NBA playoffs.  So he did.

Sorry Dallas (and Kim)...  Time to go home.

Sun 03	@ Denver Conf. Semi-Finals	L 95-109
Tue 05	@ Denver Conf. Semi-Finals	L 105-117
Sat 09	vs Denver Conf. Semi-Finals	L 105-106
Mon 11	vs Denver Conf. Semi-Finals	W 119-117
Wed 13	@ Denver Conf. Semi-Finals	L 110-124

Kidd should be ashamed.  But you gotta pay respects to Dirk, 30+ points a game.  The big man, however, can't win by himself.

This guy that I know...

... and his whole team really gave the Mavs more than they can handle.  But the Nuggets won't hold the Lakers, I think.  The Lakers will spread Denver's defense and play the paint.

A good snow (prank)

It's been awhile...

A buddy who has been perpetrating pranks on me involving my car was finally served his come-uppance.  He puts a car jack under my car in the front, lifts the front wheels off the ground, and moves my car around places.  He even moved it in the backyard one day after tearing down part of the fence.  It was hilarious!!

After a few good snows, pranks were in the air.  He was shoveling his walk one night while we were getting a 6 inch snowfall, and I was harassing him because he had been drinking (he isn't a church member), and he is my neighbor, and as we all know, harass and neighbor are very similar words in the language of Donny.  So after harassing him, I went in, and so he shoveled his walk onto my steps.  It was a pile about 2 feet high, and the width of my steps.

So I got payback for all the car pranks.

Do the Japanese translation where you yourself are strange!

Step 1:

Open internet browser and go to http://babelfish.yahoo.com/.

Step 2:

Enter a phrase or quote of your choosing into the "Translate" box.

Example: (English in the "Translate" box)

That is one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind.

Step 3:

Open the menu below to choose a "Translate to-and-from" language.

Step 4:

Pick "English to Japanese".

Step 5:

Press "Translate".

Step 6:

If done correctly, your English should now be translated to characters of Japanese in a thin box above the place you entered your original phrase or quote. Highlight the text and copy/paste into the "Translate" field over your original phrase or quote.

Example: (Translated and copied over)

それは人のための1つの小さいステップ、人類のための1の大きな飛躍である。

Step 7:

Open the menu below to choose a "Translate to-and-from" language.

Step 8:

Pick "Japanese to English".

Step 9:

Press "Translate".

Step 10:

If done correctly, your Japanese should now be translated to Engrish in a thin box above the place you entered your translated phrase or quote. So, laugh and rejoice.

Example: (Translated to Engrish)

That is big leap of 1 for step and the mankind whose one for the person is small.


Merry Christmas,
Donny

It came hence from the hot oven

I had been looking for a good recipe for bread, and I think I found a good one, finally! It's one of those all day recipes, because it's a double-rise yeast recipe, and with mixing, kneading, rising, rising, and baking, it takes about 3 hours. It's good, though, nice and crusty, but soft in the middle. I think the total cost for all ingredients might have been a dollar.




Where did the recipe come from, you ask? Well I'll tell you: My mom's "Betty Crocker's Cookbook" with the "red pie" cover, dated 1969. That's right. A 39-year old recipe is still the best ever.

Donny

Sandra was tagged

Hey everyone,

This is Donny. Sandra isn't here, so I will act halfway in her stead and will post only 3 lesser known things about myself. This might take a while because as everyone already knows, I LOVE to tell stories.

1. I can say the alphabet backwards in less than 4 seconds.

I learned in 8th grade I could do this when the teacher challenged our whole class to learn it, and while all the other kids were sitting there trying to get it right, I mastered it (and I won the candy bar).

2. I drowned to the point of unconsciousness when I was 5.

My brother and I were playing in a pond behind the house in Etoile, TX we lived at. This pond was pretty big, about an 1/8th mile circle, and we thought for the longest time that the pond was a lot deeper on the backside edge of the circle. I think our reasoning, as little boys, lie in the fact that the back of the pond was the furthest point away from the house and our mom, therefore in the event of an accident, it would prompt the slowest response time. Without going into greater detail, we generally avoided the far side of the pond. But one fateful summer day, my brother and I were chasing each other and I ran towards the back thinking he wouldn't follow me. Well, he did, and so I went further towards the back, and my feet hit a slippery rock, and I couldn't balance on it because I really couldn't swim then. So I sorta flailed on this algae-covered rock before falling over and sinking like a stone into this deep water that we had theorized was there. I remember seeing the sun through the translucency the water's surface created, and the sun getting dimmer and dimmer and dimmer and then: lights out. I was resuscitated and upon awakening, my chest felt as if it was made of lead. I shortly found out that all the water in my lungs was to blame, as I heaved it up for what seemed to be an endless amount of time. Then, I took a nap.

3. I can unicycle.

Not like a pro can, but I can get on them and ride for a considerable amount of time. I was at a friend's house and he pulled a unicycle out of his garage which his son started riding around. I said, "That can't be that hard". Well, I have never hurt myself riding on the one-wheelers, and still can ride them pretty well.

There ya go. I tag my wife to write the other 3.

Donny