19 Nov 08

This is a first; I’m writing this update on an airplane at 30,000 feet, having just come off of my Engineer’s Exam and 4 days of leave in Washington, DC. I passed my exam last Thursday, and so I am now qualified as Engineer Officer. This is the second of the two major goals for a Submarine JO’s first sea tour, the first being qualification in submarines. Of course, now that I have that under my belt, I’m going to get that much more work to do once I get back to the boat!

Following my exam, I took some time off to visit with my Fiancé, Gwen. We were able to get a lot of stuff knocked out as far as planning for our wedding. It is now less than a year away, and I’m sure it will be here before I know it. We managed to get our engagement photos taken, our meal selections chosen, our invitations picked out, the tuxedoes picked out, our registry at Bed, Bath and Beyond set up, and, last but not least, met with the Catholic chaplain at Ft. Belvoir to see about him presiding over our vows. Whew!

Hard to believe that this Thursday is Thanksgiving…not only are the holidays here, they are already almost half over. As is customary, I’m preparing my wish lists for my Mom and Gwen, to help them navigate my labyrinthine collection of hobbies and tastes. And, as I mentioned last time, I’ve got a number of projects in the works for my family and friends with regards to Christmas gifts that have just about been wrapped up.  

In the mean time, I’m doing my usual rotating hobbies. I’ve got a lot of unpainted minis for 40k and BFG to attend to, and I’m also nibbling away at several video games. Hopefully, the boat won’t keep me so busy that I won’t have a chance to update the site, but as usual, no promises. Speaking of gaming, I’ve written a rant on the recent popularity of downloadable games, so be sure to check that out!

The Rise of the Downloadable Games

2 Nov 08

Daylight savings time has reared its ugly head once again, and now it is getting dark out here at around 5 in the afternoon. Ugh. Hard to believe that the holidays are already upon us once again. I've been diligently working on a couple of projects for both my parents for Christmas, so I'm already well on my way towards preparing for them! Of course, I can't talk about either here, at least not yet ;^).

As I mentioned during my last update, I recently had the great opportunity to fly down to San Francisco with my CO and our Chief of the Boat. We gave a presentation to the California Maritime Academy's ROTC unit, and then went to a dinner hosted by the San Francisco chapter of the Navy League. I got to meet some really interesting people on this trip, and got to see my ship's name sake city. I've always wanted to go, and I wish I had more time to spend there. I really hope that we get to make a port call there next year as the boat heads down to San Diego. It would be a great time!