MRE's and a Northwest reverie

Ahh, just had a MRE lunch of black bean and rice burrito, pound cake and pineapple, and peanut butter and crackers…I wasn’t hungry, the only reason I ate is because it was an MRE and the DFAC wasn’t crowded.
Sadly, the reason we had MRE’s is because the contracted DFAC employees were in mourning for the Pakistanis that were killed.  They worked for the same outfit and I think they may have even worked at the Palace.  The pic of one of them with General K I think was taken here t the 4th of July party.
This morning I’ve tracked people down for signatures to take accountability for their property.  I’ve also talked with the contracting office about various matters.  They nicely told my office to get out of the pistol business – it’s a Ft Bliss – KBR issue that they don’t want JASG Loggies stirring up anymore.  I think it’s the fact that Air Force and Navy culture are all about producing results and resolving situations and Army culture is to continue stirring simmering pots indefinitely because of all their bloated regulations.
Sometimes when I’ve had enough of this bloat I retreat into memories of places I’ve been.  The last couple of days I’ve thought about Victoria, British Columbia.
            I’ve made two port visits there – one in April of 2001 and the other in October 2002.  Though they were both enjoyable its this second one that I think about the most.  I love fall and fall in the Northwest is unbeatable.
The Queen was in town during that port visit and the beautiful garden city was decked out in its finest with hanging baskets and banners.  The first night I had duty which turned eventful when a Hawaiian sailor in my division smashed the plate glass window of a downtown jewelery shop.  “Mr. P I looked at it and just felt rage, but then I felt better.”  He was a really good guy and bought me some beers when we pulled into Oahu.
The second day Ca. and I walked from the ship into downtown.  We stopped for coffee then walked to the jewelry shop to see how the window looked.  I’d called the husbanding agent as soon as I got the phone call from the police and he got to work right away – the new window was so clean you could hardly tell it was there.  I said hello to the owners inside who just smiled and said thanks for checking in.
            Me, Ca., Joh., and D. spent the day walking around the different shops.  I found a used bookstore and bought the Karma Sutra and a book about the lives of various American statesmen, and a book about torture thru the centuries – that one was actually interesting.  Afterwards we had fish and chips and played pool at this great little pub across the street from the harbor.  The afternoon sunlight always hits that place to give a lovely glow and burn your eyes just enough so that you know you’re alive.
            We walked back to the ship to rest up for the evening.  I changed clothes and went for a run down thru the park that looks out over the Straight of Juan de Fuca.  I love running parks like that on sunny afternoon, stopping to pet people’s dogs, watching people wind surf and fly kites.  A really awesome place.
            Of course that night was spent downtown at the Sticky Wicket and other places doing the things Sailors do.  The next day I went to the National Geographic museum and saw a horrible IMAX about Jane Goodall’s vicious chimps.  The whole time I knew I should have gone to see the one about the Shackleton expedition.
            Later that day or maybe the next me and some friends I was hanging with saw the queen.  She came out of that fancy hotel down on the harbor and waved a few times then got into a gold Ford and passed within 60 feet of me.  From there we went to places I won’t tell about but it was a fun evening.  I met a girl who was a seargent in the Canadian armed forces.  Short blonde hair and green eyes…she was beautiful – long and lithe..
            I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Victoria.  A couple of weeks later we got underway for a workup exercise in SOCAL but got delayed by a storm off the Washington and Oregon coast.  While we sat in the Straight one afternoon, a bunch of us were out on the fantail because there was nothing going on.  I enjoyed the fall air and smell of the Douglas firs.  While we stood around on the fantail a pod of orca’s swam up to the ship.  There must have been 12 or fifteen of them.  That’s what I like about the Northwest and Victoria has the most NW feel to it of any town I’ve ever been in.  I can go there anytime I want – just put on Blues Traveller’s “Canadian Rose” and I’ll be the ugly American in that friendly, clean little town any day.