Snail Mail

Virtual aside: In the old days, before a sailor crossed the equator, he was called a Wog (as in pollywog) and was looked down upon until he became a Shellback. This was accomplished after much trial and tribulation during an event lovingly called Wog Day. Nowadays, Wog Day events are much tamer and less gross than in decades past (there is no longer the arduous task of eating a cherry from the hairy belly button of the largest man on the ship). This photo is of one of my favorite people searching in vain for the elusive Mail Buoy off the coast of Vanuatu... Mail is very important to the deployed sailor, even on Wog Day!

Okay, what's the big deal about snail mail? Living overseas has taken it's toll on my mental state when it comes to checking my mailbox. BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): Mail call while I was deployed at sea took a whole new meaning...I opened up magazine subscriptions and eagerly awaited catalogs and other 3rd class mail just so that SOMETHING was in my office INBOX. Granted, I had to beat back my admin staff (all male) when my Victoria's Secret Holiday catalogs came. Ick factor alert: there's nothing like getting ABC'd mail (Already Been... well, you get the picture).

Brown Boxes & Blockbuster.com DVDs: Oh, packages are even better... even if you're the one who ordered from Amazon or any one of the hundreds of online companies who cater to military post offices. Those companies are amazing! Blockbuster.com, you guys are also on my list of "favorite things to get in the mail"! I could have been in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with no land in sight, but when the mail came, those lovely brown boxes with the familiar amazon.com swirl or the flat little blue and yellow squarish envelope with any one of the next 3 DVDs on my Blockbuster list could make an otherwise crappy day at sea pretty darn good. 10 days delivery time was about the norm...in fact, no packages from an online company took greater than 2-3 weeks (10 days was about the norm). The only thing I recall being delayed was my Texas ballot that was sent to the wrong ship while at sea...so it probably went to more port calls than I did. (FYI: I still managed to send my ballot in time...)

Anyone who knows someone who's a long way from home, whether in another country or another state, please remember that little things in packages mean a lot. We wouldn't have been able to get into the holiday spirit while at sea on a ship that's stationed overseas if it hadn't been for our friends and family who sent us the little things to help us along the way...

These photos are from my last holiday party on my old ship in 2005...that was probably one of the best times I've had with my coworkers in the 16 years I've been in the service. You know the saying about "these are the best of times, these are the worst of times"...that pretty much summed up my 2 years on the Kitty Hawk. I wouldn't trade it for all the tea in China!