And so it begins

So it has begun...

D E P L O Y M E N T

Day 1.

Blessings,

Award

Greetings,


Here's Harry receiving his AirForce Achievement Medal.

It may seem strange for a Navy guy to recieve an Airforce medal... in Greece, Harry was the Chaplain for a few Airforce folks at a base in Northern Greece.

Congrats Harry!


Blessings,

It's All Here

Greetings,

The second and final shipment from Greece has arrived. 

Needless to say ... after the last debacle I am a little apprehensive about opening these boxes.

Another four crates stuffed to the max with our junk....

Just when I thought the house might be somewhat livable... another shipment of boxes adds to the already mounting piles....

Supposedly, it's all here...

No more shipments.  No more boxes.

Hopefully, it's all here. 

I need Mary Poppins again.  I need her to pull a few bookcases, a master closet unit, bathroom vanities, electric garage door opener and a few more things out of her never-ending bag. 


Blessings,

No Words

Greetings,

I cannot find the right adjectives for how extremely mad / upset / frustrated I am right now. 



Now that I have a kitchen that is almost finished.... I have started unpacking kitchen items. 

The boxes from Atlanta (that were in storage for over 2 years) are amazingly all intact.


However, when I began unwrapping the items from Greece....

and happened across this box.  As you can see from the outside... it's a little smashed

I was apprehensive to see what was inside....

well, it was bad....

and another....

and another...

and some more broken dishes...

and some more...

and it kept getting worse....

3 giant platters ....

all in pieces...

thousands of pieces...

and some more...

after I finished unpacking... there were slivers of ceramic and porcelain everywhere

I was at a loss for words...


until finally....




I just started crying. 


There is not a single set of anything left. 

Crate and Barrel destroyed.

Pottery Barn shattered. 

Even the Villeroy & Boch smashed to smithereens...



And  weirdly I am a person who has to have all things "matchy".  Even though only half are unusable... to me the entire set is worthless.

I don't even know what else to say.  It may seem trivial to get so upset over broken dishes....it's just this constant state of disarray.

And...

This place is not Atlanta.

It's not Greece.

I am not sure I even like this place...

Some days... I just wish things could go back to normal.


Blessings,

And their off...or out

Greetings,

After much hoop-lah, many bags of supplies, and a way too early wake up call...  Harry and the Carter Hall are off on work ups.

Photographs  are prohibited on base... so I waited until they passed by later that day to snap a shot. 

Okay, now for the short countdown until they return.... what to do with my time?



Blessings,

Navy Work-ups

Greetings,

You may have noticed the new look and the additional title "Out to Sea"... well that's what's in store for us....


Harry and the Carter Hall

Work ups are the spent prior to cruise in a variety of shorter under-way periods training and evaluating the contingent of ships that makes up the task force. Before the Chief of Naval Operations turns a battle group loose on the high seas, every player in that team has been tasked and tested to the highest standards.

Work ups are on the horizon...


Blessings,

Do the Math

Harry is bottom line kindof guy. He fixates on the numbers.


So I am doing the same (although Harry's usually involves money).


Navy life will include multiple PCS (permanent change of station) relocations.

• About 8 or 9 times throughout ones career.

• On average we will move every 2 – 3 years.

• International moves average 3.


PCS’ing average time for domestic (CONUS meaning conterminous United States, that is, the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia) move household goods:

• Pack out typically 1.5 weeks in advance

• 1 month shipping time

• 1.5 weeks settle in at new duty station



PSC’ing average time for international (OCONUS meaning outside conterminous United States) move household goods:

• Pack out 1 month in advance

• Live 2 months without household goods

• When leaving pack out 1 month in advance

• Receive household goods 2 months after arrival



These numbers can alter depending if you want to pack out early or later, but these are my averages.  Actually... I have an entre house in Altanta that I have not seen for 2 years (it's in storage)... so that ups the numbers too.

So I deduce that…


Of the 9 moves 6 will be domestic / 3 international

• 6  X  1.75 months transit time  =  10.5 months

• 3  X  6 months transit time  =  18 months

• Total time  =  28.5 months


That means … out of a typical 20 year career, 9 moves with 3 OCONUS or international


I will be without my household goods for approximately:


2 years         1 month    and     1 week.


Or in true Harry style...


10%  of his career.


Splendid!


Blessings,

Bowling Alley Good-byes

Greetings,

Tonight... we had the Ward Room good-byes.  Must of the time it's at a stuffy restaurant, but Harry asked if we could have our good-bye at the bowling alley.  (Hence his red shoes)

Not sure what the going price for a Souda Bay plaque goes for on eBay?

Never allow a preacher access to undivided attention!  His first words were, "Since I have not seen you guys in Chapel lately....."

Not sure what I was doing.... but the XO asked for the ladies in the back to keep it down.... thankfully, that is his wife beside me.

Must act right.... some one has a camera!

It is sad to leave.  And the more good-byes we say... the sadder it gets. 

Well, there are a few I do not mind, but on the whole... it's pretty rough!

Blessings,

It's really Real now

Greetings,

T - minus 1 week and a wake up. 

It's Moving Day.

As the Greek movers roll up in their trucks... I realize that we are really going to leave this place!

Let the games begin...

 

My absolute favorite mover.... he played the violin from Israel, the xylophone from Thailand. 

Everything gets wrapped.... EVERYTHING!

After an hour or so... some guy comes in and says, "No pictures!"  And he puts his hand in front of the camera. 

Let me think about this ....

my house

my stuff

my camera?

What is the problem here... is he doing something he does not want me to photo?

The hallways are too narrow... so the boxes and furniture and the second and third floor... get tossed / lowered from the balcony.

Harry's was a great help... he pretty much stayed right here the entire time. 

Ah, it's all gone.  Boxed up.  Crated up.  And ready to ship off.

I hope it makes it to Virginia safe and sound and in one piece.

Blessings,

Honey We're Home..

Greetings,

Well we are back in trying to get into our Souda Bay routine again.

We had such a magical trip (magical means: made every flight, luggage made it, and first class)... it is only typically for something to go wrong somewhere.

For starters:

The house is a mess... the house cleaner spent several hours trying to put our house back together!

But the Chapel is the kicker... it flooded last week.

And sopping wet carpet remained in place for over 9 days.  Not sure why... but it's been total chaos...

Not only does a puddle emerge around your shoe when you step on it, but it STINKS!  It reeks of mildewed wet carpet.  The Chapel and along the hallways of the building are disgusting!

Here are the contents of  Chapel... now in the Fellowship Hall area.

Harry's office is not so bad... other than he has gone Catholic (check out his new robes)

The other Chaplain's office has gone minimalist... (until the new carpet arrives and is in place).

And the kids room is now just a storage / junk room for everything else.

And the bathroom is the new confessional...

Check out the toilet just behind the cross...

It's nice to be home... we were hoping for an easy transitional out of here.  Oh well.

Good times at Souda Bay!


Blessings,