Last Full Day On The Nimitz

Look at me commandeering the USS Nimitz!

Oh, I had better look where I am going.

The Captain's chair

View from the control tower.

View from vulture's row.

Looking straight up from vulture's row.

Navy guys playing dodge ball.

Today was Sunday and that means Sunday brunch.  I watched as the officer ward room staff prepared the brunch for the admiral and the ship captain.  A chef and an assistant carried out a hunk of meat so large it took both of them to carry it.  A huge bone protruded out of the end of the 60 pound mountain of meat.  I think it was too big to be a sheep or a goat.  It might have been pig or veal.  Even to the nose of a 20+ year vegetarian, this meat smelled good.  After both guys hefted it out of the pan and onto a serving plate, they arranged cheese cloth to cover the bone and lamps to make the meat look as appetizing as possible.  We cleared out of the dining room so the leadership could enjoy their Sunday brunch in peace.  Later that day I saw the admiral and the captain walking around with their tigers.  I went on a tour of the nuclear power section of the ship.  We didn't get to walk down to actually see the two nuclear reactors that power the ship's propulsion, the ship's energy needs, the steam for the catapults, and the desalination plant.  We did get to go to a nuclear classroom near one of the reactors.  They explained how the two reactors work and how they are prepared to handle any attack on the ship.  The presentation was good and the speaker had a lot of enthusiasm.  But some of his jargon was above my head.  I am sure I missed quite a bit of his content on the physics of nuclear power.  After that I went on a tour of the admiral's bridge, the flight bridge, and Vultures row.  I had already been to vulture's row where I can look over a railing and see the entire flight deck.  To get to the admiral's bridge we took 8 ladders up from the hangar bay.  It's a good thing I've been working out on the stairmaster because I kept up pretty well. The man behind me starting coughing after the first two ladders and I thought he was going to cough up a lung by the time we got there. I had a picture taken of me behind the ship steering wheel.  Looks good but we were on auto control.  We were actually just west of San Francisco and heading north at the time.  Sometimes the tour guide gets the staff who work in the area to talk.  The boatswain's mate, one of the most traditional jobs in the Navy, was a young woman (possibly still a teen) who was very competent in her job but unable to describe what she does for us.  One older woman tiger kept prompting her to show some confidence and tell us more and I could see that her prompts were making things worse.  Some people just don't know when to quit. After that tour I sat with the group in the hangar bay and watched a few minutes of dodge ball. The audience had to pay attention or they might get struck in the head by a stray ball. One of the players was, I knew, a former Navy football player.  He could really whip the ball and dodge the ball.  To begin a match four balls are placed on the center line and the players dash to grab them from the end zone.  With our wild seas today it was impossible to keep four balls from rolling away immediately so a couple sailors held them until the last minute and the sea decided which team got the balls.  Our ship was rolling and pitching quite a bit today and it was impossible to walk a straight line.  I saw lots of people with tiny tan dots behind their ears.  I learned those were prescription scopalamine patches.  I am lucky because I don't get seasick.  I don't mind walking like a drunken sailor and I think the rocking helps me sleep better.  The only time I get a little nervous about the rocking is when I'm about to go down a ladder and don't have my hands on the rail yet and the ship pitches to the side.  Yesterday when I went to a department muster I stood behind a group of 100 sailors standing at attention. They stayed at attention while the department ribbons and awards were handed out which took ten to fifteen minutes. At attention it was obvious that the sailors were leaning to the right, ahead, to the left, and then behind; just like me.  Our dinner was delicious.  Lobster tails and steak were available as well as potatoes, rice, bread, fruit, cakes, pies, pasta, salad bar, broccoli and corn.  Normally if the sailors are served lobster tail and steak bad news follows.  This time bad news did not follow and the great meal was show for the tigers. I know I am lucky to be the tiger of an officer.  The line for dinner for the enlisted sailors and their tigers snaked up the ladder and all the way across the hangar bay.  I imagine they had at least an hour to wait in line for a meal.  While I can relax in the wardroom on cushy chairs, the enlisted tigers relax on folding chairs in front of a big tv screen in the hangar bay.  I have it pretty nice.  Actually I am amazed how nice it is for me.  I've been welcomed, showered with gifts, given nice quarters and tremendous food, and all the tours I've wanted to take.  Plus people help me out whenever I get lost which has been quite a few times now.  By the time I figure my way around this ship it will be time for me to disembark.  I am so lucky to be able to take this tiger tour.  I peeked out the hangar bay door on my way to bed last night.  I could not see the moon but I could see it shining across the sea.  And I saw one star on the horizon.  As I went to sleep we were rocking as badly as we have ever been.  We were warned that a high pressure area off shore would make the water choppy.  I hear that we should enter the bay toward Everett around 2:30 in the morning and then the pitching and rolling will decrease.  When I wake up we won't be rocking and rolling anymore.