Well we had a nice quiet Saturday together, watched a couple of movies, did a little shopping, and I cooked roast beef. I've gotten a lot better at roasting a beef let me tell you, the first couple of times I tried, I didn't cook it long enough, and well it tasted ok, but it was kinda chewy. So the last two times I let it cook an hour or two longer and well it tastes good and basically falls apart when you stick a fork in it so I guess I know what I am doing now.
Jason's boot camp story #1.
Well I guess the logical story would be my first experience as an active duty member of the Navy. Leading up to the day that I was shipping out I was very stressed, worried about Lisa the house, money etc... so needles to say I wasn't getting very much sleep, waking up 3 or 4 times a night, stomach aches, and such. My day started early I think leaving the house between like 0400 and 0500 after not much sleep at all, and then just more waiting at MEPS (where all the processing takes place) going through the same tests that I had already taken, including a drug test that I had difficulties taking my first try (boy they get upset if you think you are ready and in fact you are not), well needless to say I went on to pass with flying colors seeing how I don't do that sort of thing. Well anyway to make a long story short Lisa and Gina (my mother in law) came and watched my swearing in ceremony and then had lunch and we said our goodbyes, which was tough as you can imagine. So now they bus us to Metro and we fly to O'Hara, the first thing we do is eat, because besides a tiny sandwich I had at MEPS I really hadn't eaten or drank much of anything for a good two days because I was worried about weighing too much and not being able to ship, so of course now that I think I am in the clear I pig out, lasagna, pizza, french fries, a bunch of water, I was stuffed.
On to reporting, we as a group of about 5 or 6 of us report at the DSO office I think, where I met a Petty Officer, and being the friendly guy that I am struck up a conversation where I asked "So are all of you guys Drill Sargents?" He said yes. So there I went thinking Petty Officers were Drill Sargents. Well let's just say that they way I found out that a Petty Officer wasn't a Drill Sargent wasn't very fun. We were standing in line waiting to get on a bus to go from the airport to Boot Camp and this big mean looking Petty Officer came in yelling, "Let's move it!!!!!" do this and do that and blah blah blah. And I was first in line (which was my first mistake), and my second was when he asked me "Do you understand me recruit?" and I responded "Yes Drill Sargent." I proceeded to get yelled at for a good 30 - 60 secs which wouldn't seem like a long time, but it felt like ages. "How can you be so stupid not to even know the ranks of your own service?!?!?" I'm sure there were some expletives thrown in for good measure. Just like the movies, mere inches away from my face. I just stood there like an idiot and said nothing, which was the only thing I could do.
After that made me feel so stupid, it was on to boot camp, striping down naked and packing everything I had on me in a box and sending it home, and putting on boot camp issued clothing, another drug test, that I was ready for, and I thought the guy at MEPS was mean, the Chief at boot camp made that guy look like a saint. He almost had a couple of guys in tears because they couldn't go, with probably 20 other guys standing in the head just waiting for 1 or 2 guys to go. Then another bad thing happened that night, I had to weigh in again (which I didn't know about) Well lets just say I put on about 13 lbs in the course of the day and was basically labeled a fat kid for 2 months because I was over weight. All this and I didn't get to sleep until the next night I think I was up for like 41 or 42 hours in a row.
Well hopefully you guys enjoyed that, and I'll probably share some more stories later on.
Now for my much anticipated review of Krystal:
The closest White Castle that I know of is in Ohio, so that means I need to find a substitute. Well after talking about the Castle in boot camp and down here in the SC, I've learned of this place called Krystal which was supposed to be "Just like white castle". Well my friends I am here today to tell you that it is not. Yes their burgers are the same size, and yes I can eat many (10 that is) and yes Lisa doesn't like it, but it just isn't the same. First their burgers have no holes, second the buns weren't steamed. Onions don't taste the same, they also have the audacity to offer regular sized hamburgers on their menu. Well all in all they weren't that bad, but they did make me miss the Castle that much more. I remember having sporadic Castle runs with my good buddies at EDS. I miss you guys. But here are some pictures of our trip to Georgia.
Grrrrrrrrr!!!! I've tried 3 times to upload pics, and nothing. I'm going to bed. I'll try again tomorrow.
-Jason
