An Update on Michael

Okay, well here's the latest that he has told me:

They were in Sasebo and left there, went to Okinawa and picked up a bunch of Marines. The day they picked them up, there were so many sea bags in the chow hall, they could barely get to the food. They have now left Okinawa and are out at sea somewhere.

He says he requested a job in the pump room, because there is a lot of down time there. He is planning on doing some college courses, so he knew he'd have plenty of time to study there. A typical day for him is as follows:

He wakes up, gets dressed, shaves, and heads to the Pump Room. He then runs some bottles containing samples of fuel to get tested for water and sediment. Then back to the pump room, where he sleeps, reads and jokes around with the other guys and then sleeps some more before heading off to lunch. After lunch he runs more samples, and then can sleep or read until dinner. After dinner, he has to run more samples to be tested, then more down time. When he gets off work, he does his email, or just hangs out with the guys. He also says that during the day at work, at random times, he has to turn a valve to allow fuel through a pipe, and then turns it off again.

Sounds like a really crazy exciting job, right? He says it's not exactly what he had hoped his navy career would be like, but the money's good, he can get his education, and he's excited to visit some other countries.

He has met a few guys from the church, but they are still waiting for permission to use the chapel, so they just meet in the galley and have a lesson. There are very few members on board right now.

Here's how he described a few of the guys he's friends with:

Erskine - tall, asks a lot of questions
McPherson - short, funny without trying, speaks German
Joe Felmett - nerdy, picks up Jap girls like they are easy

The latest is that right now, Mike is doing indoc (indoctrination). It's a 3 day class where he gets out of work and they talk about things around the ship. He says he just tries to stay awake. He told this story:

Today (the first day), some kid that thought he was being helpful actually hurt himself instead. He decided to tell the XO (Executive Officer - second in command to the commanding officer) that his right shirt pocket was unbuttoned. This embarassed the supervisor. He got yelled at and then had to write a 4 page essay/speech/apology to the class and to her. It took him about an hour and a half. He says this guys job is to read all of the outgoing e-mail to make sure there are no secrets going out. Mike thought it was funny that he would probably have to read this particular email about himself and be even more embarassed.

So, that's the latest from Mike. If you would like to mail him letters, let me know and I'll get you his address.


His email is:
cortesem@lhd2.navy.mil.

I'm sure he would love some news from home.