Chapter 5 - I R Now a Nuke

Hooray! We have made it past Halloween, had a great Thanksgiving family feast, the leftover turkey is almost gone and NOW we can move on and enjoy the Christmas season! The stores have pretty much cleared their shelves of the scary stuff and the turkey stuff leaving only the Christmas stuff -- so it must be time to get out there and be merry, merry, merry. Ho - Ho - Ho.

Since we are planning to point Winne south the day after Christmas we are a bit ahead of our normal schedule around here. The Christmas tree is already up, the few outside light decorations are up, and we have even gathered a few gifts. We hope to see the NJ Evringhams arrive to share the holiday with us so that ought to be a fun time as well.

Today marks day 27 and a Wake-Up and we have started to get things in order to be ready for travel. Prescriptions to gather, doctor visits to accomplish, start locating the "stuff" that needs to be loaded into Winne ... the normal routine. The plan is to bring Winne over to the house sometime the week before we leave to accomplish the loading.  

Our travel plans remain the same as they were .... Get south to Tennessee as quickly as possible, watch the ball drop in Crossville, TN, get to San Antonio, TX hopefully in time to catch the holiday light display along the Riverwalk, goof off a bit around the Hill Country of Texas for a couple of weeks, travel back east to the Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, AL around the 21st of January, watch the Patriots beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl and enjoy the Mardis Gras festivities in Lower Alabama, travel to central Florida for about a month, and then meander our way home arriving around the 1st of April. I suspect the plan will be adjusted along the way -- except for that Patriots beating the Eagles part!

meanwhile ...

Chapter 5 - Finally Made It - I R Now a Nuke

Peggy and I didn't participate in the race to Idaho Falls that day - which was probably a mistake. Instead, we drove to Sacramento and spent several days visiting with her mom, dad, and sisters. We had loaded all our possessions into our 1964 Malibu SS complete with U-Haul rented car top carrier. Every bit of space in that car and carrier was loaded except for the front bucket seats which were reserved for us. We finally pulled in to Idaho Falls late one night several days behind the rest of my class.

Only a small percentage of my classmates were married. While at NPS most of the class lived in the nearby barracks and us married guys lived off-base. At Prototype in Idaho Falls there was no "base" as such and everybody had to find a place to live off-base. This was great for the local economy of Idaho Falls as every basement, 2 story garage, trailer, and the few apartment complexes were easy to rent out to us sailors that showed up every 3 months to start our training. Easy for them - but hard for us that showed up several days behind the rest. Upon arriving in Idaho Falls we immediately started looking for a place to stay. It didn't take long to figure out that there wasn't much available and what was available in our affordability range (CHEAP) wasn't what you would call "nice." After looking for several days and with time running out before my training was supposed to start we settled for a trailer, about 5 miles west of town in a small trailer park. Our new home was about 8 feet wide and maybe 30 feet long. I know our motorhome is bigger than that trailer was. The trailer had a combination living room/kitchen with a small couch, a dining table, and a couple of chairs at the table. As you walked "aft" through the hallway you passed through the bathroom - shower on the left - toilet on the right. Two more steps ... fall down ... and you are in bed. Very cozy and $65 a month. What a deal! As it turned out I wouldn't be spending much time there while awake anyway. It was a good thing Peggy had a few friends to talk to and a sense of humor!

Prototype training was a very non-Navy-like experience, First of all you are located in the Idaho desert. Not a naval ship for hundreds of miles - not even a military facility nearby with a commissary. They did have a navy doctor in town but that was about it for support services. Our work location was about 60 miles west of town on the National Reactor Testing Station (NRTS) (Presently named the Idaho National Laboratory) and the only way for students to get there was by bus. The buses were special purpose buses that picked up folks at several stops around town and then made the trip out to the NRTS. The buses ran on a schedule all day long, every day, 365 days a year (except during a couple of blizzards I remember) and the trip took about 1.5 to 2 hours each way depending on where you caught the bus. We wore our work clothes (demin shirt/pants with ballcap) while at work. We were allowed to wear them at the bus stop, but weren't supposed to wear them anywhere else visibly in town. Dress uniforms were never worn. 

A normal work day while in a training status consisted of a 2 hour bus ride to the work site, a "normal" 8 hour work day, a mandatory 4 hour study period, and then the 2 hour ride home. Total about 16 hours. Except for the first few weeks receiving classroom training on systems specific to our assigned Prototype, we worked a rotating shift schedule. 7 days of dayshift (0800-1600), 1 day off, 7 days of midshift (0000-0800), 2 days off, 7 days of swingshift (1600-2400), 5 days off. Then do it all over again. We all looked forward to the 5 off! The good news was that once we achieved qualification status which was sort of self paced - the 4 hour study period was no longer required. Yippee - only a 12 hour day! But not yet - I still needed to achieve qualification. So you can see why that small trailer didn't bother me much - I slept there - that's about it,

The Nuclear Reactors Facility (NRF) consisted of 3 Naval Nuclear Propulsion Prototypes sited on a small portion of the 900 square mile NRTS. The oldest of these Prototypes was named S1W (Submarine - Core Design 1 - Westinghouse). This reactor plant was built as a "prototype" of the power plant that was to be used in the nations first Nuclear Powered Submarine - The USS Nautilus SSN 571. S1W achieved initial criticality in 1953. After proving the technology would work, the plant was used to train the crew for the Nautilus and thousands of us baby nukes thereafter until it was shut down permanently in 1989. The NRF also consisted of A1W - (a 2 reactor prototype for 1/4 of the propulsion of the first Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier USS Enterprise CVN 65 - and S5G another submarine prototype using quiet propulsion technology for the USS Narwhal SSN 671. All three of these prototypes (and 3 more at the time in NY/CT) were used to initially qualify us baby nukes. I was assigned to S1W.

We spent the first several weeks in mostly classroom training learning the systems and controls of the S1W plant. We had some limited access to the actual plant to try and see if we could find the equipment we were learning about but they were pretty busy qualifying the class in front of us. It seems there was always 2 classes around - one "in-hull" under instruction with the Staff Instructors and one doing the initial classroom phase. As usual, we had to pass one to move on to the other. Staff Instructors came in two kinds. Some of the Staff had already spent some time at sea operating a nuclear submarine (or surface nuclear ship in the case of A1W) and had come to the prototype as a Staff Instructor for their shore duty rotation. Some others were "Staff Pickups" - chosen from previous classes of baby nukes to stay on as instructors after they finished their qualification. Staff Pickups served 2 years at the Prototype and then joined the fleet.

And that was my new motivation. Two more years of shore duty before heading out on my next assignment sounded like a pretty good way to start a family. Only a handful of each class of students were asked to remain on as a Staff Instructor and only the top students had a chance. 

Having completed classroom training we moved in-hull, we received our "Qual Cards," and immediately we were introduced to "Point Count." A Qual Card is not really a card but a rather thick book with a thousand plus "checkouts" and "practical factors" that needed to be completed prior to being ready to receive your Oral Board - the final step to being qualified. Each item had to be signed by a Staff Instructor after having demonstrated proficiency and each item was worth "x" points. Each student was on their own to prepare for and obtain these checkouts but at the end of each work week a certain number of points were required. Fall behind Point Count and life would get even more difficult. There were bunks on site for those students who needed even more study time.

Once in-hull I got a fast start on my Qual Card and was soon noted to be a "Hot Runner." The Staff on my particular Crew took great pride in having the first person qualified be from their crew - and thus I became the Chosen One. Being the Chosen One wasn't all good. My unofficial expected weekly point count was probably double everyone else's. Hard work yes - but this was the path to being selected to stay on as a Staff Instructor. So I did it. I got all the checkouts, stood all the training watches, demonstrated proficiency on all the practical factors and several weeks later my Qual Card was all signed off. But then I had to face the dreaded Oral Board. The Oral Board was the final test before Qualification and was conducted by Staff Instructors from another crew, not the ones that selected me be to be the Chosen One. The Oral Board was conducted by 1 Officer, Civilian Supervisor, or Staff Senior Petty Officer who had achieved Engineering Officer of the Watch (EOOW) Qualification, 1 qualified In-Rate Staff Petty Officer (Machinist Mate in my case) , and 1 other qualified Cross-Rate Staff Petty Officer. The board members were free to ask questions about anything I was supposed to have learned during my qualification process. Anything on that Qual Card was fair game. 

I only remember three things about that board. 

After answering all kinds of questions with great confidence - I remember being asked to draw and explain the Geiger-Mueller Gas Amplification Curve.

I remember tap dancing.

I remember they told me I had passed.

I had accomplished my goal to be the first one qualified at S1W in my class. As it turned out I was the first one qualified in my class at any of the Idaho Prototypes. Yippee - only 12 hour days now!

I was also now able to stand a few watches by myself. There I was - 21 years old now and qualified to operate equipment on a real Naval Nuclear Propulsion Plant! Best news of all ... I was asked to stay on as a Staff Instructor! Peggy was happy, I was happy, and maybe now we could move on from that trailer!

Chapter 4 -- Mikee Finds Motivation

My six months at Nuclear Power School was to be another new experience. In addition to the normal issues associated with being newlyweds, Peggy had to learn the complexities of being a Navy wife living on about $350 a month and I had to figure out how to balance a busy work life with a home life. Fortunately - we figured out quickly that the only way to make it through would be as partners. This partnership worked well then and it still works for us today.

We had rented a small, somewhat furnished apartment in an older section of downtown Vallejo. One small bedroom with an even smaller kitchen, a decent sized living room and a huge (to us anyway) bathroom. Actually it's a good thing it wasn't too much bigger as we didn't have much to put in it anyway! Peggy was learning how to get me through the periodic uniform inspections while I was busy completing my courses in reactor physics, chemistry, advanced mathematics, reactor plant systems, radiological health physics, thermodynamics, and electrical machines and power distribution.

I went to school 8-10 hours per day - 5 days a week. Most of the time was spent listening to lectures and studying from Navy Reactor Plant Manuals. In order to successfully complete this school you had to keep up with the pace of the instruction, pass all the periodic exams, and if you made it to the end - you had to face and pass the dreaded end of program Comprehensive Exam. If you fell behind you spent your evenings catching up. The pace of instruction was set and continued with new subjects coming every day. If you fell too far behind and/or couldn't keep up with the pace you were disenrolled, and were reassigned back to the conventional fleet. If you didn't pass the Comprehensive Exam you were similarly disenrolled and reassigned. If you misbehaved or otherwise "demonstated unreliability" - disenrolled and reassigned. There were opportunities to catch up but it wasn't easy and there were not many second chances.  The Comprehensive Exam covered all subjects taught in the last 6 months and was an all day affair.

Just to make it more of a challenge - almost all of the manuals used and any notes you took were "Classified Material" and as such - were not allowed to leave the school building. Even if you weren't assigned extra study time because of poor grades - if you wanted to prep for the major exams you ended up back at school in the evenings.

It's not a stretch to say that successfully completing Nuclear Power School was like earning a BS in Engineering ... in 6 months. I do not recall our actual attrition rate at Nuclear Power School but I think it was 20 - 30 percent.

With all this hassle why would a 20 year old who wasn't motivated  9 months ago in college put up with it? For me, it was because it was a challenge, because it was hard, and because it was a means to an end.

As I recall I finished in the top 10 or so in my class. I had found my motivation. I wanted to be a Nuke.

Or maybe I still didn't like the option of that Ammunition Ship for the next 5 years!

I'm guessing - but I figure about a hundred of us graduated from Nuclear Power School Class 70-04 at Mare Island in late April of 1971. But we still weren't "Nukes." To gain that distinction we would have to survive the next test. Qualify as an operator on a real nuclear propulsion plant at one of the Navy's land based "Prototypes." For most of us that day it would mean travel to Idaho Falls, Idaho - a trip of about 800 miles over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, through the desert in Nevada, and into southern Idaho not far from Yellowstone National Park.

So here's the picture ... Early in the morning at Mare Island in Vallejo, CA, 100 vehicles loaded for travel, 100 20-something year old Wannabe Nukes with orders in hand, and someone says "GO."

I wouldn't have wanted to be out for a leisurely drive on Interstate 80 that day!

Chapter 3 - "A" School and Peggy Joins the Navy Too

After several days back home it was time to don those dress whites, grab my seabag, and board another plane, this time heading east. Back in those days folks dressed up in their Sunday best when flying and we sailors were required to travel in our dress uniform when traveling "under orders." 

This would be my first trip "back east." Up to this point in my life going back east meant traveling anywhere east of Reno, NV. The flight on that Boeing 707 was quite the experience. I'm sure I looked like a "Boot" with my new Fireman stripes on my uniform and my barely grown out boot camp buzz cut under my dixie cup white hat but I didn't care. I was out on a new adventure. Life was even better when the Stewardess (that's what they called those pretty young women in the flight cabin in those days) asked if I would like a drink. Well sure, why not? I didn't have much experience ordering a cocktail but I figured I might as well give it a shot! The fellow in front of me had ordered a scotch so I thought I would give that a try and the Stewardess didn't flinch when I asked for one. I didn't really care for the scotch but after after the second or third it was time to prepare for landing in Chicago.

I was able to find my way to the arrival area to claim my seabag and then managed to locate the military desk where I learned that the bus to the Naval Training Center in North Chicago was to arrive in a few hours. I recall going outside to get some fresh air while I was waiting and then it hit me. Humidity! Apparently I wasn't in sunny dry California anymore! A rain shower had just ended and there was steam rising from the asphalt! It didn't take long before I was back inside enjoying the air conditioned USO lounge!

Several hours later I was on the old rattling US Navy Grey Bus heading for North Chicago about 30 miles north. It was late evening by this time and the temperature/humidity was still high and no, those buses weren't air conditioned! Ultimately I made it to the Naval Training Center, found the correct barracks for us Machinist Mates (MM) and Boiler Technicians (BT) -- also known as Snipes Castle. I was once again provided with a navy issue wool blanket and a couple of sheets and directed to my assigned living space. Snipes Castle consisted of 3 floors of open space berthing separated into cubicles by cinder block walls. Each cubical was designed to be occupied by 2 men. There must have been a huge need for MMs and BTs in those days because 6 men now occupied each cubicle. Three double deck bunks and six lockers around the outside of the cubicle with a small passageway in the middle. Home sweet home for the next 4 or so months.

I was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center to attend Machinist Mate "A" School. Before heading off to receive any type of "Nuclear" training us "Nukes" had to first be trained in our "Rate." The job of a Machinist Mate is probably not what you think. Although some MMs may operate tools used by a "machinist" the real job of a MM is to operate all the mechanical equipment found in a naval propulsion engine room. We were to learn all about steam turbines, reduction gears, valves, evaporators, pumps, and other such equipment needed to enable a ship to move through the water. I should also note here that these "A" schools were not just for us Nukes. In fact, most of the students at the schools had already been on some conventionally powered ship in the fleet and had earned the privilege of receiving this advanced training as a step in advancing their career. It was here that I learned not to think I was too "special" for being designated as a "Nuke." A couple of my cubemates were Nukes, but most were not.

"A" School was pretty easy for me. I had no real experience with any of the components I was learning about but I must have had an aptitude for mechanical things because I found the subjects interesting and fairly easy to learn. We spent our 8 hour workdays in class receiving lectures, we spent our off-hours studying, doing laundry, visiting the nearby Enlisted Men's club, and whatever else we could find to amuse ourselves. Now remember - I was still only 20 years old and the drinking age on our base and in Illinois was 21. Added to that fact was the threat that if you were caught drinking or otherwise getting in trouble you would be immediately dropped from the Nuclear Program and more than likely sent directly to the conventional fleet. It was not just a threat. I saw many designated nukes become "conventional" MMs either through misbehaving or by not keeping up academically. I didn't really know what a Nuke was yet but I still wanted to be one! 

If that weren't enough incentive to stay out of trouble (well - mostly) I had other plans. Peggy and I were engaged and had planned to be married as soon as I finished "A" School. I was pretty sure she wasn't going to be happy being married one day and waving goodbye the next! Neither was I.

So after 15 weeks of classroom training, 1 week of operating a land based oil fired propulsion plant, and lots of exams I successfully completed Machinist Mate "A" School. Us Nukes received another promotion in rank to Petty Officer 3rd class (E4) and were ready for our next duty station.

This was going to be the tricky part. My next step to becoming a Nuke was to complete the 6 month Naval Nuclear Power School (NPS). In those days there were two Nuclear Power Schools - 1 in Bainbridge, MD and the other in Mare Island, CA. These schools could only take a limited number of students into each class and there were 4 classes starting each year. Most Nukes finishing "A" school had to wait to start NPS for several months and were frequently assigned to a conventional ship while waiting. Your fate was up to some "detailer" at the Bureau of Personnel (BUPERS) in Washington, DC. About a month prior to my "A" School graduation date I received my preliminary orders. I was to be assigned duty aboard the USS Mt Katmai (AE-16) an ammunition ship built in 1945 and presently on station off the shores of Vietnam. This was not what I was hoping for! Peggy was not amused either!

But through some hand of fate or other divine intervention my orders were changed about 2 weeks before graduation day and I was assigned to report to Class 70-04 Naval Nuclear Power School, Mare Island, CA!

I had just enough time (barely) to fly home, get a marriage license, don my newly tailored boot camp issued dress blues (for the only time in my career), get married, one day honeymoon in San Francisco, find an apartment in Vallejo, CA and report for NPS.

Time in the Navy - a little under 7 months, Promotions - 2, and gained a wife. Life was still good but moving really fast!

Mikee the Sailor ... Chapter 2 - Mikee Survives Boot Camp

So there I was ... 19 years old, in the strange land of southern California, late at night, mustered with about a hundred other young men away from home and from all over the country getting indoctrination speeches from several officials telling us how we were about to be molded into one of America's finest - the NAVY Way! After a few hours of such speeches we were issued a sheet, a blanket, ordered to find a bunk in the nearby temporary housing barracks and ordered to get some sleep. The time was about 2 AM --- or 0200 as we were about to learn.

About 0400 I awoke to the sound of yelling and screaming and the sound of a night stick beating the inside of a metal trash can. Apparently we had gotten enough sleep and now it was time to form two scraggly looking lines outside to be marched to the chow hall. I used the term "marched" but what you would have observed would look nothing like the military precision we would demonstrate 10 weeks from that date. A few miles later we reached the chow hall where we were informed that we had 5 minutes to travel the breakfast buffet line and to stand with our tray held in front of us at nearby tables. Once everyone was ready to eat we were informed that we had 2 minutes to eat and were to be standing in that same position when the second whistle blew. Then the first whistle blew!

I learned a lot about Navy life in the next 10 weeks - but I learned most of it in those first few days. I learned to keep my mouth shut unless addressed. I learned I had better listen carefully, do what was ordered, when it was ordered, and to do nothing more. Now was not a time to be innovative or to draw attention to oneself in any way! I learned how to receive immunizations from an air powered syringe without flinching, how to stencil my newly issued clothing with my newly issued stencil, how to fold said clothing, how to launder said clothing, how to tie said clothing on the appropriate clothesline using the proper small twine and the proper square knot ... and not to forget to keep the crotch of those boxers facing the Marine Boot Camp next door!

With the advantage of hindsight - I can't say I really needed much of the knowledge and skills I learned in Boot Camp but that wasn't the point. What I was supposed to learn was discipline and accountability -- Naval Discipline and Naval Accountability! I may not have been headed to war in the jungle but I was headed to some job aboard a Naval Vessel and I was going to be expected to do my job - when it was supposed to be done - after being told once (at the most!)!

Sometime that first week we were separated into 40 man companies with each Company assigned to a barracks. Shortly after moving into our barracks I was summoned to our Company Commander's Quarters. This couldn't be good!  I thought I was doing pretty well at doing what I was told and not being too visible but there couldn't be two guys named Evringham in this Company so I marched myself to the Company Commander's Quarters for my first face-to-face meeting with Chief Boatswain's Mate Olsen.

Chief Olsen was the most senior person I had met yet in my first few days in the Navy and I was pretty scared and in awe at the same time. We later learned that Chief Olsen was putting in his last few years before retirement after his last tour of duty commanding a river boat on the rivers of Vietnam. Pretty hazardous duty for a navy guy in those days! But he could have been a Chief Cook for all I cared at that moment when I entered his quarters.

It turns out that Chief Olsen needed to chose someone from my Company to be the recruit in charge when he wasn't around. Apparently since I was already an E2, had a few semesters of college under my belt, had been chosen by the local American Legion Chapter to attend "Boys State" in high school and had been a Cub Scout - I was to be chosen as the new Recruit Chief Petty Officer (RCPO) of Company 149!

So there I was - 19 years old, in a foreign environment, 1 among 40 of my peers - many who were several years older, and now I was responsible not only for my actions but the actions of those other 39 as well! 

Fortunately for me, Chief Olsen was not motivated to have his Company be the best Company in the command. He, like most of the rest of us, just wanted to get his job done with as few problems as possible. His job was to get us through the rigors of the next 10 weeks with as little drama as possible. Our job was to make his job easier.

So we survived the next 10 weeks learning to march in close quarters, learning how to pass all various types of inspections, attending all the basic seamanship classes, learning how to fight shipboard fires, learning all about the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and we even learned how to shoot a M1 rifle and a military issue Colt Model 1911 .45 caliber pistol. We didn't learn to shoot well - but nobody got injured. After all - shooting a rifle and pistol wasn't to be our job.

10 weeks later we (well most of us) had made it through to graduation day. Graduation day meant we were to don our dress whites for the first time, including leggings (for the last time), and along with 10 other Companies, perform our close order drills and pass in review for the Base Commander and all the dignitaries. "Dignitaries" for some us included parents, siblings, and fiances/girl friends. Yes indeed - even Nan, my sister Jamie, and Peggy flew all the way down to San Diego for the big ceremony!

And perhaps best of all, graduation day meant our first Liberty as a real sailor! Most of us only received 1 day of Liberty before going off to wherever to start our various careers but I was among the few to be granted 2 days Liberty. This was to be my first introduction to RHIP - "Rank Has It's Privileges." See - I was already learning all those naval acronyms ... but many more were to follow.

My first day of Liberty was spent playing tourist with my mom, sister, and Peggy before they flew home to Sacramento and my second day was spent also playing tourist with a few of my fellow shipmates. Well - we weren't really "shipmates" yet but we had survived Boot Camp together so that counted for something.

Surviving Boot Camp also meant I got another promotion. Since I was "designated" for the Nuclear Propulsion Program and had been also designated to attend Machinist Mate training I was promoted to a full fledged Fireman (E3). That and all the back pay from the last 10 weeks while in Boot Camp meant I was living pretty high. 

Since I had a couple of weeks before I was to report to my next duty station at Machinist Mate "A" School at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in North Chicago, IL -- I donned my dress whites, slung my seabag over my shoulder, and boarded a plane for 2 weeks "Leave" in sunny Sacramento, CA.

See - this Navy stuff wasn't so bad. I've been enlisted now for less than 3 months, had 2 promotions, money in my pocket, and already 2 weeks vacation (although that meant I wasn't to get any further "Leave" for the next 12 months!)

How had I forgotten about all that stress of Boot Camp and the stress of the unknown ahead? 

I remember now ... it was good to be 19.

Maineiacs Ready for Thanksgiving - And Mikee the Sailor - Chapter 1

We have definitely moved on to winter here in Maine. Leaf 
picking up season is over, vehicle storage season is over, the snowblower has been readied for use, and the snow shovels are in their ready position. Now that we are ready for snow -- I'm ready for it to wait until December 27th! Another sign that winter is upon us --- sunset is just after 4 PM and the daylight hours will continue to shrink for another 4 weeks!

So -- now that all that good news is over it's time to move on to "the Holidays." Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day that means that today is prep day. Peggy has been busy baking the apple pie and preparing the house for tomorrow's big feast while Mikee prepped Turkey #1 for placing in the smoker early tomorrow. Peggy and the rest of the Maine Evringham's/Johansen's are providing the remainder of the feast and I'm fairly certain no one is going home hungry!

Then it will be time to get into the Christmas Spirit, round up all the coal to stuff in the stockings, and prepare WTT for her 2018 Winter Getaway. For those of you counting the days ... today marks 33 and A-Wake-Up!

The Life and Times of Mikee the Sailor - Chapter 1

Every so often someone will ask me something that will require memory of life in the 1970s. More often than not I can't help them. Yes, I was alive in the 70s but I was kinda "out of the loop" socially. I sorta remember some of the 1970s TV shows and a few of the popular songs of the 1970s but my memory is much better at those things from the 1960s.

I was "attending" college in late 1969 in Sacramento, CA. Except for "deferring" the military draft, I really didn't know why I was in college. I was getting acceptable grades but wasn't really motivated. I was so unmotivated that when it came time to register for spring 1970 classes I only signed up for 3 classes. I was amazed at how fast my local draft board learned about my lack of motivation.

Within weeks I received notification that my draft classification had been changed from 2S (Student Deferment) to 1A (USDA Prime Draft Fodder). Although I had a relatively high draft lottery number (that's how they determined who would get drafted first in those days - a lottery based on one's birthdate) - the war in Vietnam was still escalating so the chances of me being drafted into either the Army or the Marines remained fairly high. With this new found motivation I commenced visiting the local military recruiting offices.

I had nothing against the Army or the Marines - I just figured -- as long as I'm going to serve it might as well be somewhat on my terms, After visiting with the Air Force, Army, Marines, and Navy Recruiters I was most impressed with the Navy. I took their battery of initial exams and was told that I qualified for Advanced Electronics Training and for their Nuclear Propulsion Training Program. Both programs would require extensive training time and therefore would also require an additional enlistment commitment (2 additional years for a total of 6). 

So after considerable consideration I decided to join the Navy and signed up for their delayed enlistment program - meaning I was committed but I had 60 days to report for duty. I received even more motivation when I received my Draft Notice just a few weeks later! Saved from being an Army Draftee by joining the Navy - what a deal!

Actually - it was a pretty good deal when you think about it. By being "designated" for the Nuclear Power Program I was initially enlisted as an E-2 which meant I made a little more money than a "normal" enlistee (E-1), they provided a place to sleep, plenty of food, and they paid me every 2 weeks. All I had to do was 1) What I was told and 2) When they told me to do it (usually yesterday)!

So there I was on March 10, 1970 -- Free bus ticket in hand provided by the USN on my way to the lovely Armed Forces Examining and Entrance Station - Oakland, CA where I would take the oath to preserve and protect the next morning, be given another free airline ticket to San Diego, CA that afternoon and would arrive at the San Diego International Airport late that night. After a short walk to the Navy Desk in the Arrivals Terminal I was immediately hollered at - told to board a standard grey Navy Bus waiting outside and was whisked away to the Naval Recruit Training Center - San Diego.

Life as I knew it was about to change ...

Ready for Whatever is Next

If it's November then that must mean that we spent the last few weeks bagging leaves and giving them a ride to the town transfer station for inclusion in the town compost heap. And we did -- and we're not done yet. I figure I still have two or three trips to the transfer station to go over the next few weeks before I can call that annual chore complete for 2017. I still consider this New England tradition worse than shoveling/blowing snow but it's a lot easier since I bought that Lawn Tractor with the bagger last year! 

Right in the middle of leaf picking up season we were also treated to one night of hurricane force winds last Monday. The winds blew pretty steady at over 30 mph from about 3 AM to 6 AM with gusts over 50 mph. Around 5 AM we lost power and joined several hundred thousand other power customers in the State of Maine. It was pretty obvious that we weren't going to get power back anytime soon - and I needed a cup of coffee - so I fired up the generator and plugged it into the house around 8 AM. We were fortunate to have our power restored by mid afternoon as some of our neighbors are still without power today - some 5 days later! 

With all the downed trees and power lines the local authorities cancelled Halloween activities on Tuesday and moved them to Friday. Nothing like a night of sugured up kids roaming the streets that haven't been in school all week because of a power outage!

Even Aiden got into the act at Daycare.

But Sophie got to have her Halloween as scheduled over in Auburn.

It seems we and our kids are mostly recovered from the Hurricane without a Name and survived Halloween so it's on to Thanksgiving! The traditional Thanksgiving Dinner will be at our house this year so there will be lots of prep for that event. Mikee is planning on smoking a Turkey in the smoker while Peggy prepares another bird in the house oven. It's good to have a backup and there will be plenty of leftovers!

October was also pre-winter storage month. The Chevelle got her end of year cleaning and put into storage and the Yamahas followed closely behind. I haven't yet put the Honda into storage as I hoped to get in a couple of more rides before the weather turned too cold. I did get one nice ride in a couple of weeks ago but alas -- I think it's time for the Honda to get put away for the winter as well.

Winne The Two also got her winter prep done. The battery charging solar panel is set up and the fresh water system is full of RV Antifreeze. 

But not for long!

Once we get past Turkey Dinner and then Christmas Day we hope to have Winne rolling south - looking for warmth and whatever new adventures await. 51 and a wake-up!

So ... I hear "Tax Reform" is in the wind. I'm pretty sure "Tax Reform" is just another name for "re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic." Since no one in Congress is talking about spending less money because that would require real backbone, and no one in Congress is talking about "fixing" Social Security and Medicare because that would be political suicide -- all that's left is re-determining the winners and losers. When the Dems were in power they liked to redefine the "fair" share that the "rich" got to contribute so that they could spend more. Now that the GOP has more power they want to redefine "fair" once again and spend more while counting on an improved economy to pay their bills.  

Does anyone really care? I suppose the winners and losers of this round will ... and then they get to care again when the deck chairs get rearranged the next time.

It's a tough job trying to keep ahead of our government ... but we keep trying.