100 Nights...Again

    At the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, there's going to be a party to celebrate 100 nights to Graduation Day. It's going to be  a great time, and all senior midshipmen are encouraged to go. The morning afterwards, the revellers will think to themselves: "the party's over", which it is, because of this pesky but ultimately rewarding thing called "Licenses".

     Merchant Mariner Licenses, issued by the US Coast Guard and required for graduation from the USMMA, is the thing that figuratively sets up Kings Point different than the other service academies. 
  Second semester senior year at other Academies, I heard, is a relative coast towards graduation compared to the rigors of previous years. They have a ball, throw their hats in the air, and leave their well-manicured campuses with PCS (permanent change of station) orders in their hands. Still hard at work, we try to tune that out. For Kings Point seniors, things ramp up quickly in May.

     In contrast to self-regulating sectors of the economy like banking's FDIC, railroad's self-certification of train engineers, and technology's industry standards; the maritime industry lost the privilege of self-regulation over a hundred years ago, and with just cause: even Huckleberry Finn talks about the boiler explosion on an 1840's Mississippi River paddlewheel ship. What resulted is that licenses are required for lucrative commercial sailing jobs, and a big part of the licensing process is the licensing tests, as well as seagoing experience. So what's on the test? Knowledge of 1960's-era relay circuits and boiler technology? Modern stack gas analysis? It's in there for engineers. Celestial Navigation, which is returning to the Naval Academy after a 20-year hiatus? Prospective mates have never gotten a break from the topic.

     On the engineering side, licenses are designed to make sure that the ship's crew, with a minimum supply of spare parts, and no outside technical support, can keep a ship sailing. This is a total break from the modern world's just-in-time, outsourced economy; 490 questions in 7 tests in 4 days are used to determine this competency.  For mates, the goal is to not beach or reef the ship, and to avoid collisions through knowledge of "rules of the road"; and do so alone with little to no OJT (on-the-job training). While most tests require 70% to pass, some of the mate's tests require 80% or 90% proficiency.

     Why do I care about the King Point Class of 2016's celebration of 100 nights? I've "long passed" this hurdle. It's because I want everything to go right for my brother. Really, I shouldn't worry. He's doing well in class; and more importantly, performs well on the type of multiple-choice tests that make up licensing. But like a godfather, I want no May surprises; no drama. Planning my vacation around this event, I'd like my brother to have a Disney-perfect conclusion to his time at Kings Point. As a graduate, I want to confer that fabled "legacy alumni privilege" on him. Since my brother is a prospective mate, and I graduated as an engineer, I get to keep a proper distance, not becoming a long-distance tutor or micro-manager. I know my place.  

      The pieces fall into place for most graduating midshipmen, a process that requires concurrence by the Dean's office, the Navy Reserve, and the Coast Guard's verification of meeting all licensing requirements.  If these requirements are met, you get your diploma in the spotlight of the stage. If there is an outstanding item on graduation day, you'll get a photo opportunity with the administrative assistant later on. For those who've had graduation this way, it's a proud moment nonetheless, but without the pomp and circumstance. Completion of the licensing exams, just three weeks before graduation day, is typically the last piece of the graduation puzzle, so there is immense joy when successful results are posted.

      And speaking of pomp and circumstance, finishing licenses the first week- passing seven of seven tests- affords several awesome opportunities: ringing the bell, going out for what is billed as the "craziest night of their lives", and getting 10 days of pre-graduation leave. Job offers are made final upon receiving a license.
I've scheduled my vacation around the events of my brother's graduation. 

     What I'm harping here is vicarious living at its finest; nostalgia for a different time. I've been out of college for almost a year. Yes, there are times at work that I think: "it never gets easier". Nostalgia for the past? I'll move on after my brother's graduation, but for now, part of my heart is still at Kings Point. It's true, though, that as a midshipman I'd admire the young, happy graduates I'd see in Greenwich Village, New York on Saturday nights. This June, I'll be one of them as I anticipate my brother's graduation.

My last blog post was on Groundhog's day, and writing about 100 nights makes me feel as if I'm in the namesake movie. It's still winter in Korea.

Consumer Test: Roll-Sort

Some have said that sorting through half-dollar rolls provides the most collector coins, because they don't change hands much. Others claim that dimes offer a better return on time, because the date's so small on the coin. One frustrated collector whimmed that nickels are a better deal. Little Brother and I tried all three options on 60 halves, 400 nickels, and 250 dimes. The dimes were duds; the halves turned up nothing this time, but the nickels showed the greatest variety. Of 400 nickels, 10 were more than 50 years old, and one was a silver WWII nickel. According to Internet reporters, 1 of 1000 dimes is silver, so our sample was probably not large enough. I cannot dash over halves though; over the summer I came across two full rolls of silver halves. I figure that any coin that ends up in regular rolls of halves has already been mulled through by another collector. Seek hand-wrapped rolls.

Leading Up To Vacation

It's been nearly 3 weeks since I last posted. A lot has gone on. It sounds cliched, but when you consider the time it takes to prepare for a 6,000 mile odessey by auto, taking the trip, and recovering from it, I'll say my current internet presence is a wonderful addition to the world scheme.
July 3 was my last day prior to vacation with my regular co-workers. Work had just gotten harder and I didn't want to rub it in , so I just gently mentioned "wedding and reunion" prior to signing out. I was also gentle on the managers, who were sorting out staffing matters. (It's great to work somewhere that you're basically essential).
July 4 was dedicated to sailing (that's another blog post to be written)...and to God. It's Sunday, after all. The Mass had a patriotic tint that was most appaernt in the recessional hymn, "God of our Fathers". Sailing is a good workout, I'll tell you. I still had time for tradition; hot dogs, watermellon and fireworks. Like I've attended every Palm Sunday mass since I was born, I've faithfully attened each National Mall July 4 Firework display since 1993 in some form or another (That was the 17th).
My main priority on July 5 was to complete the DODMERB ROTC/Service Academy physical, a necessary and important step for the aspiring midshipman. Make a good impression: As the Naval Academy mantra goes, "to be late is to be forgotten". Being on-time was not an issue with light traffic and an ample allowance of time to travel on my part. Since I was going on such a long trip, I decided to pull a day's work so I wouldn't forget what work is. I was assigned to a neighborhood pool of mine; little brother is based there and was more than eager to see me; he called 3 times in 70 minutes.

Donut Day

6/4 = National Doughnut (or Donut) Day.
In honor of this special occasion, I jogged over to the local Krispy Kreme (paradox), and took large bites into my Boston Kreme Donut that did not cost me a penny. Dunkin' Donuts is doing the same (the local college, GW, with its hoard of New Yorkers and Connecticut people, imported a DD to our area). While I'm in SATII prep mode, Little Brother is running a comparative "taste test" that will take him across the city and until 11pm.
Now say what about America's waistline?

Memoir, 1 week ago

Waking up on a cool morning at 6:30am, because you went to bed at 10. Seeing a real life groundhog, like Punxsutawney Phil, but with less celebrity status, and brown rabbits, admitting to nerdship and going to breakfast at 7am to avoid the big sports camp groups. Doing some summer homework (I'm falling behind- and the milk says August), watching calories because of all the temping dining hall treats. Attempting to retrieve a $10 frisbee- on two occasions. Considering what was on the other side of those hills to the west. Seeing the American Reinvestment and Recovery act in action. Never need a jacket (except in the classroom), and never humid, and no daily thunderstorms. Not touching the computer for a day, watching Little Brother look at pictures of trains.

Lost and Found

National Harbor- the environmentalist's nightmare- please arrive by car or limo, or cruise ship. But bowing to the county, limited-stop bus service was provided from Southern Avenue to the resort. For those who don't know the area, this is a lipspeak for the resort workers and mass transit advocates. So what I did not know was how 'rough' Southern Avenue was, or at least according to what I saw. Hoodlums staring gaped-mouth to the station manager's booth, then hurdling over a lowish gate to evade payment. Time constraints- it was almost dark outside- had us have the desire to take a $16 boat trip to our local ferry stop in Georgetown. But the last one left at 5:10pm. It was 7pm. But the time flew anyway, having fun in the glass elevators.


So on the way back home, along comes a train marked Yellow and Greenbelt. Silly train. We got on a train. As it headed deeper into the suburbs, the riders were more clean cut, and we happened across a young woman reading a book- a relieving sight.Suitland!? I didn't remember passing by there on the way to Southern Avenue. Then it hit. We were on the wrong train. From that platform at Southern Avenue, it turned out that the goofy mixuped sign did display where we wanted to go. I and Little Brother did not read the platform signs one bit. So, remembering the Dietrich Bonhoeffer quote about trains from my planner, "If you board the wrong train, it is useless to run along the corridor in the opposite direction". So in the 13-minute layover, we got to see train cars disconnected. A loud, subtle movement separated the cars. It was not that bad after all.

Leprechauns

The shoemakers, cookie makers, luckifers (bringers of luck), and bankers. That's right- your banker is a leprechaun. Luckily, this is only in fantasyland. Last time I checked, there is no widespread elfism in Ireland, either.

Nevertheless, tradition and the liquor companies of the world make St. Pat's day into a federal affair. Yes, and yesterday, we dropped Little Brother in Pottstown. If you need to know, I was wearing green- the little loopy for the ski tag on my coat. Pennsylvania food differs from hoity toity city haute cuisine- desert in a tablespoon!? Anyway, it's more German than Irish, and so is the mood. The Columbia Diner did not mention the day, and for supper at the Charcoal Pit, it was a sidenote by a nice waitress to a festive family.

After getting back home, the other three of us rushed to the White House to see the fountain, which was dyed green, a Chicago tradition. The same thing that was done on the Chicago River- dye it green- was brought over by the First Family. It had a tint of green, but not a lot. Naturally, what nation would want a green monster in front of their president's residence? But it was surely festive enough. The large crowds of revelers would dissent.

And naturally, St. Patrick's Day (if it's on the 17th) marks 1 month until my birthday. So the countdown begins.

On Money

A double or nothing bet. On my tennis skills. It's on the Tuesday after next. So whatever has been going on, little brother has taken an interest in buying collector coins on eBay. Yes, I come home and he's there with his account card and coin price book. So yes, he just started this on Sunday, and he expects to start receiving deliveries from across America- tomorrow.

Fast Snow, Delaware Roads

Somehow, I did not have much homework this weekend. I got just about all of it done yesterday, so that left me with 'nihil faciendum esse', not much requiring to be done. Sort of sad for a three-hour each way trip, but I laid my head down several times. The trip to Pottstown wasn't that bad, except for Delaware, whose government thought that understaffing the I-95 toll booth was A-OK. By the impingement on interstate commerce legal doodah, it's probably illegal and sue-able for the DDOT to do that. Well, we have EZPass, but the Cash people still cause a bottleneck as they groped for the single open Cash lane.

Pottstown diner lived up to the crowd- a large place where the whole town, or so it seems, converges.

As for Bye Bye Birdie at the Hill School, a free extravaganza that the school let the neighborhood in to see. Spectacular and time-expensive props, interesting use of the electronic orchestra. Rosie played her character; Daddy MacAfee played his part much more violently than I thought anyone would allow- lots of slaps between the characters, now I recall. Ma did well over-dramatizing the mother's role, and Al kept the show rolling well. The screaming hoards of teen girls (and boys) were perhaps played by the young faculty kids- an interesting twist that I haven't seen before. Overall, it was worth seeing.

I then handed over the poker set to Little Brother, and took the return trip home to see the big thing on TV.

Cautiously Pessimistic

The Denny's disaster of a nationwide dusting of snow, significant enough to close school, but not enough to scare drivers from driving, did not happen. And a snow day for the central DC region tomorrow, according to my books, may not happen tomorrow. Let me tell you- a lot of the weather tonight will be what a lot of kids call dismal- the weatherman(or woman)predicted wrong about a major snowfall.

So then, my forecast for tonight is wishy-washy. According to the national data, a significant snow is falling from Minneapolis south to Raleigh east to Boston, and north into Canada. Somehow, all this snow is to dodge the Chesapeake? The local meteorologists are calling a snow tonight, although a brief one. However, NOAA is differing. Or maybe there'll be the yink of an hour delay. After all, I do want to see little brother off.

Water and The Working Girl

Working Girl. A great movie about an aspiring secretary (Melanin Griffith-never heard of her name) from Staten Island (supposedly) who speaks with a Brooklyn accent. A ski scene, she becomes 'da boss', plays the Wall Street game, wins over the respect of men in the workplace, gets Harrison Ford and dumps Alec Baldwin. Then she gets a secretary, and they have coffee together. Which reminds me about how important proper hydration is.

Having gone all morning and afternoon without a drink. On a bridge while biking, my head hurt a lot for no reason. I thought I would faint--but soon, I found a water fountain that Little Brother noted. I pushed the little button, and nothing came out. I pushed harder, and ka-bam! Now if someone caught a video of me lapping the water (from a shiny, brand-new water fountain) like a dog...

An American Way

So Walgreens was selling cans of Progresso soup for $2.99. SOrt of outrageous. Well, they had a sale that brought the price down to 99 cents, and Little Brother found a coupon for $1.10 off the price. THerefore, we could earn 11 cents by purchasing the soup, as sometimes happens. So we did, along with some other stuff. We got home, and I popped the lid. Well, well, it so splattered everywhere in a terrific fashion. Why? A mild dent in the rim. So cleaning was pesky.

But, it was still worth it to take advantage of American Consumerism!

Typing

First Blogpost on a laptop. The late Mr. Henderson let us use his spiffy job, but as close as I came to blogging on that laptop, NTFletch would do it first. Anyway, Little Brother is going back to Philly. Boy, these laptops are only good for looking at websites, not typing.

So I'm getting my blast off this laptop when I can...

113 x 2 Thanksgiving

I totally felt like a tourist. After getting off the and trying to figure out whether the express or local would come first (unlike most stations in the NYC subway, Penn Sta. blue line lacks a crossover), and dashing to the business dinner. We got on the local, and shuffled to the express at the next stop! Having had the NJ Transit train arrived in New York 1 hr 15 min late, we missed cocktails and part of dinner. Afterward, after a long delay, as a group, the younger St. Thomas alumni went out to in an effeminate style to the 68th street theater, ten blocks north. Duane Reade, Starbucks, theater closed and locked. How could this be? It was therefore necessary to go back downtown to 42nd street. Since all of us were cheapskates, we didn't take a taxi or a subway. When we all got to 58th again, somebody got hungry. Realizing that the last show was actually at 12:45am, and that no one really wanted to see Quantum of Solace that badly, we headed out to Bella Vita- the slices went up to $3 each! Anyway, because they wanted to rid of their pizza, they cut us deals. Some late-night supper with Chocolate News and Futurama before realizing that it was 1:30 am. By then, this was the most wasted I had made myself to date, surpassing the Dec.1 lock-in at the Cathedral last year (refer to a post around that date). So we got into bed and all. Truth and Dare with Stefane, nothing too weird, though, and we set the game into a logic loop (I dare Stefane to stop doing this game). So we all fell asleep. Or that was what I thought.

I had a good long sleep until 8:57 am, according to the clock on the microwave. I felt totally refreshed. Surprised not another soul was not awake, I looked at my own clock. It was 7:57. The clock had not been reset since the organist-in-residence left this posh midtown apartment (approx value 3,500+/mo.) in July. So I put my head back into bed. Some time later, I remembered that I needed to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade pass by on Broadway, for I never had the chance to do so.

Got some good shots. But where was Kermit? I had vowed to see him as a float while in New York. Well, I at least I saw the parade, I thought, as I got dressed for church. I took a wide look out the window. Some Escalade and a small dirigible. Then I heard loud applause. A green head. Sure enough, it was Kermit, and his dominating minions holding him to ground were dressed in florescent green jumpsuits, as I had been informed. I got two awesome shots, and jolly-lept to church.

The service was quite enjoyable, with good company. Sitting in the wide, dark, balcony of Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue that was unknown to the hoards of tourists let us rest in peace. I pulled out two knit finger puppets I bought in a hurry for $5 on the way over. A lion and a giraffe. THe crocodile would have been nice, but they were sold out. Yes, I had meant to buy them as a gift for someone all the way back in sixth grade. I lost one brief window of opportunity, and he was gone when I returned from church then. So I willed this not to happen again and all. How's that for rewriting history? Some greetings, nice to meet yous and all before taking the walk down Avenue of the Americas, cutting to Seventh and Times Square perpendicular to Radio City. With the grand avenue closed, Little Brother and I alternated taking touristy shots of each other as we rattled to Penn Station (at 33rd, not 34th!) past Macy's Herald Square. I didn't get to see any large floats being deflated of helium, though. They were probably done at 28th street, a larger street than the others. Looking for a cheap lunch took us around the large loop under Madison Square Garden, and out to a falafel vendor outside, who sold those lamb gyros for $5. Coupled with two cans of 99 cent Arizona Iced tea and a $1 bottle of water, we faced the train departure board. Twenty minutes delayed. The only one out of 20 trains on the board. Oh well, the train could catch up time. Better start late and fast, rather than on time, go fast, then wait for the schedule to catch up. We looked for our unaccompanied minor friend, who might get us bumped into business class. Eating the gyro on the floor in the coach section of waiting room wasted a little time. Just looking into the sparsely populated First Class waiting area... 2:25pm. The 169 was supposed to be here, with the delay. Instead, the message went vague. 'Delayed' I was in so much anticipation of my first Amtrak ride.

Not present for our class was NTFletch and his co-partner and twin brother, Zak. The school board thought that Thanksgiving was a racist holiday, so they had school until 3, and band practice, too. ?!

Even with your stock fund in the gutter,
We all have to be thankful for gas in the $1.-- range. That's what matters most.

Oh, and yes. I found out that three of the brothers went out to the 24-hour Apple store at the GM building (59+5th ave) to seek out internet. Why? Facebook.

Triple Three

It's a little surface transit website that doesn't stop growing. Last year, there were just a few destinations along the NEC (I-95) and in Washington the state. Now, at least 15 states are rostered, with many destinations, and they keep on coming in. One day, the state gets colored. Next day, the destination in that state shows up, and soon, you can book a ticket. It's pretty incentful for the companies- you can be like a real bus line now! Then, this separates the MBA's from the hacks. Until today, the little bus- I have never seen it, but I was told it was an used job- that runs from Ohio to New York, was hiding. Now it came out online, and it's quite clear it's one driver and a bus. And there's the well-managed Eastern, 12 trips per day DC-NY, flashy website. Yes, yes. Then I can see that six companies work together to have a departure from DC-NY at least every 1/2 hour between 7 am and 7:30pm. Sort of neat. www.gotobus.com

Oh, and Little Brother's back.

Three Days of Thought

Important emails were being sent from this peripheral unit last night. So that brings me to Little Brother's laptop. A $1.5K outfit behest by the HIll School. Nothing too extraordinary; none of our neighbors have free open wifi. So, that's what a starbucks is for. Or an Eastern/DC2NY/ Megabus for Internet four hours straight, between DC and New York, if an electric plug is provided.

Now an important topic that I never brought up to you. It was one of those metal mixing bowls, with two round latches on the side. So, to melt the butter, I put the metal thing in the microwave for ten seconds. I take it out with paper towel. It is cool to touch. Then a finger touches a round loophole. Yoken Yikes! I suffered an annoying second degree burn on the finger. It sure made writing tough for a week- and it could have been worse. So don't do it. Take the time to transfer the butter. Somehow, the loops attracted radiation, because that's what metal coils do. Same with dark, round tattoos in an MRI, as I read a scientific paper on. Same goes for putting cell phones in one, too.

So then, I come down to freewriting novels. Namely, the long-term novel. I am capable of wrting pages in 10 minutes, but I cancelled those pages from the master plan because it could be better. Anyway, if I had the time, I could theoretically write cheap novels in a three-day weekend. But I don't. Yes, and when one becomes a good writer, people expect the best. JK Rowling had a writer's bloc/block. Yes, every word has to be good. Same with my lit, but I haven't yet set the bar for myself, yet. An experience today made me think of Opera. Two JV soccer players come by. One wants to chat with me. The other cares less, especially since I started the novella which portrayed him as a flawed character. We three are dudes, so I decide to switch the dualist's name to Delora, which already resembles his common nomenclature, but in dame form. And here we can go in a typical Bully lover serves tough love to dame. Dame looks to the darling guy (who has more dough and charm) And we go on for two hours as Delora the Soprano sings high above the guy-fight. Happy ending. The End.

A day in motion

5:30am. Little Brother took me out on a bike ride to find mall treasure. But, there was only a quarter to be found. Pretty early to blog, eh.

Tuesday Again

help im a prisoner trapped inside of a fortune cookie

Little Brother came to work today, and he was really, really bored. I went on, reading Cicero, and I'm nearly done with it- 9 pages to go, I should finish it tonight. After an overtime group lecture about respect at the workplace, there was a slow ride home on Wisconsin Avenue. It was 2:00 when we got home. Little brother then went to his follow-up appointment to pick up his retainer. he got home at 3pm. He played Locomotion, 20 slow years to 6pm as I did work- violin, etc. After supper, a long bike ride to The Mall, and he seemed to try to rid of me in front of cars, but I made it home, albeit tired.

Tisk

This will be a shortie post- I still haven't flossed yet, and it's already 10:20.

Little Brother finished his orthodontic treatment today, and likewise got a bag with a King Size Snicker's bar, popcorn, and tootsie pops, all on the orthodontic no list. M'kay. So I should be getting that sometime relatively soon as well.

I finally got to sign in as my real name today, after being hassled at the Convention Center on Saturday. Little Brother's first day of work should be tomorrow. Will blog on that.

To Baltimore

'John, there were more like 22 D's on the history final, not like 27.
Based on my final semester score, I had to have scored in the mid-to-upper 90's, therefore, getting all these D's wrong is not a logical conclusion.
This makes me totally sound like a geek that I remember something like this.'

Little Brother went out on a shopping trip, and gave me a slight reprieve to check my email, blog, etc. I have to push our small staff to finish July's JangooMag. But not much. I needed to practice the violin, and he just walked in. M'kay.

I went to Baltimore, and since it's so close to DC, it was not too critical to do everything to do there. This was about visiting Johns Hopkins's University, as well as neighborhood whizzing (driving on local streets for 'alternative sightseeing') and free looks at the B+O Locomotives. Then a leisurely drive home via US 1.