KPC Christmas

Well I can say that is was an interesting Christmas. Away from the family and the rest of the world. We had a great Christmas Feast and a good party with the supplies that we had. So I can’t really complain. I had beer, friends and probably closer to were Saint Nick is than I ever have been. I was hoping I would see the sleigh fly past us, but no luck in that. I did miss the family. I have not been at the last few Christmases but was close enough to get there if I wanted to. I didn’t even have the option to get there and that was the hard part for me. That was the hardest part. When it cleared up, I was able to take a hike and enjoy the silence of the Tundra, a beautiful sunset and an incredible landscape laid out before me but it would have been better if the family were there. On the other hand they probably would have been complaining and it would not have been so quiet and calm. It was a white Christmas too, so how much can I really complain about. I had company; Haley joined me on my hike and was a good hiking partner until she decided to play with my hand and little rougher than a dog should. She just did not want to let go so I had to show her who was boss; I am not sure how effective it was. She is a good dog, just a little rough at times.
We had a good party at least I did, I did a fairly good job at entertaining my shipmates with my semi inspired by Jay dance moves. I am sure you can imagine. If not, ask him to show you. I had several beers smoked some cigars, don’t worry it is not becoming habit, jut on special occasions. Everyone appeared to have a good time and for the moment I think we forgot that we were in isolated duty witch is always a good thing. The station was fairly dead the next day, but I suppose it is to be expected. To top it all off, I was shown a beautiful sun resting in the arctic sky. One of the best I have seen up here. Unfortunately we have been socked in storms for most of the time and there is not much to. We lose the internet, hence the tardiness of this blog update. I hope you were able to handle the delay. I really enjoyed talking to everyone on Christmas, believe it or not it really raised my spirits. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I would have been there if I could. Beth, Congratulations on the new babies at the ranch. Have a wonderful day and I hope that everyone has a chance to read this soon, if I ever get the chance to post it.

I guess I did get a chance to post it, the internet started working again.

Isolated Duty and Fresh Bread

  Well it has been a week up here.  I was mess cooking so I have long days of constant work, not hard, just constant.  I have started going to the gym regularly, I benched 180 pounds for a lifetime max.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Sorry for the delay in an update, but the storm that just came through blocked our internet connection.  

  The sun is rising around 1200 now and it is still strange to see that.  I am at around five in the morning and the sun does not come up for half my day.  The Eskimos came by and I got some gifts for Mom and Kensey, there was not anything dad would have liked, so I held off on getting him something.  You should receive those in the mail soon.  It is still beautiful up here, even though it is oftentimes socked in.  When the sky opens it is amazing.  When you can see the sun rise or set over the frozen bay and the arctic landscape, it is something of indescribable beauty.  I do miss seeing trees though.  I suppose that is what I miss most in landscape.  It is hard to believe that I have been up here for two months now and have not left the base to go anywhere else.  It does not feel like that long, but it does wear on you.  Strange to never go to another town or even group of buildings.  It is still an experience worth doing, more challenging in the isolation part, but what things in life are as you expected them to be.  I enjoy talking to anyone at home because I Get called Cj and not just Watt.  It is the way you are addressed and just feels impersonal at times.  It really makes me appreciate the times you have with family.  The Coast Guard is definitely like a family in some respects, but could never be like family that has been there for me me entire life, always supporting and doing there best to help me out.  

  I suppose I just miss being able to go and visit or even see the people I care about.  The isolation makes most things a little more difficult.  The TV and Internet are satellite, so if the weather goes bad, we may lost internet first, but maybe even TV.  In  Addition when the weather gets bad, you can't really go outside because there is no where to go and you can't really see.  I find things to keep me from getting bored.   I can always go the the gym and lift weights,  although the treadmill is hard for me.  I generally put it to the fastest setting and see how long I can go.  My goal is to be able to do a mile at the fastest setting.  I can meditate, and do a lot of reading.  I just ordered some books on Shamanism and Wicca just for kicks to find out what they really are.  An informal research project to kill time.  We have the movie theatre with new movies every month so that is always a good bet.  But most important of all, and probably the most moral boosting thing we have at the station is the food at any time and fresh bread made daily. 

  I have started to work on my far fetched goal of Bear Fist Fighting  a Polar Bear.  So as you can see I worked on my battle roar.  Unfortunately it made HS1 laugh more than anything.  I definitely have to work on it.  If anyone has any idea let me know!  we also had an intense game of pictionary.  My team won, but is was a close game.  Pojar and Chapman were the MVPs for our team.  Pojar successfully drew 4 out of 5 of his cards and Chapman guessed more of them than anyone, even when stealing from the other team.  It was a fun game.  Dad I know that it drives you nuts when there is no one in the pictures so I got HS1 to take a picture of me.  I have to really compress all these pictures, so they are not the best quality, but they are still worth more words than I feel like writing. 

  I will talk to the family on Christmas and hopefully everyone is having a wondering holiday a season.  It is different up here, but it is an experience.  Have a wonderful day and enjoy a glass of wine or a shot of tequilla for me on Christmas.

P.S.  For the family ..... you better think of something better than Best Christmas EVER!!!         

The Pictures don't do it Justice

The pictures don't do it justice, you have to see it with you own eyes to truly see the beauty of it, but here it is, The Aurora Borealis ...... enough said.

The Crew, My Room and The Aurora

I experienced my first departure yesterday. Sn Reyes headed to Station Lake Tahoe for his next assignment and in about 5 months this entire crew will have changed. The crew created a gauntlet and had him walk through as he said goodbyes to everyone and then dogpilled him in the snow before he was allowed to head out to the plane. He will be missed. That is just how it works up here. So I posted a picture of the entire crew for all to see. It was taken in the Rec Deck if anyone was wondering. I also posted some pictures of my room now that my household goods have arrived. The group picture is not as entertaining as the Halloween pictures, but what formal picture is? Reyes is the third from the left, back row.
Now to my room. It is not to shabby. It is large than I thought it would be and now it feels alot more like home. Don't worry mom I will get a picture of you up somewhere, I just have to find a good one. It is comfortable and the one place in the station that I can get away from everyone if I choose, atleast most of the time. I have also contacted Humboldt State about finishing my degree through distance learning with them. I have not heard back, but there are other options to take if Humboldt cannot do it. A registrar is working is looking into it for me at the moment.
Last but not least, I saw the Aurora. It was very beautiful. I attempted to get photos of it, but unfortunately is was not good lighting to get pictures. It was to small to really stand out. I hope to see a more prominent aurora and get some great pictures, but I can say that I have seen it now. One thing done on the list. I hope that everyone is having a good holiday season and I love and miss you all.

Station Morale

I have gotten several request for pictures of the station so I will do that when I get a chance, but this blog is the Morale Physical fitness challenge. Every so often for "Morale" reasons we do a station wide event. This was a contest to see who could bench press the most weight, do the most pushup and sit-ups in one minute, The most dips and the most pull-ups. I did not win any of them but I had a good time. I don't know who the winner of bench was because that was based on some formula, but I officially lifted 140 pounds. I tried for 160 which was way to much and was able to do 150 pound just for kicks, which is 10 pound below max. Chief and some others were trying 300 pounds and I believe that someone lifted 295 pounds. I think is was Reyes, the one in the benching picture. Chief won the push-ups with a scorching 93 in one minute and he was bouncing the entire time. That was impressive. I did 55 which was better than by basic test when I got 43. Em1 won the dips with I believe around fifty. That was the last event so I was already tired at that point I think that I did 12. Heck was disappointed because he thought that he set the bar hight at 25. I don't now who won the sit ups and I don't remember how many I did, but it was not to shabby. I think is was around 60. Rivera gets honorable mention for the pull-ups because he was one of the top performers and wore his climbing gear, chalk and all. He even rested and re-chalked his hands in the middle of his set. I found it amusing. It was a fun event and I now have more time to go to the gym because I got qualified. No more breaking in and I will be doing watch once every five days or so. More time to hike and see the surrounding area. Although it is getting colder. It was -20 degrees today with the wind chill. So hiking will now involve keeping my skin completely covered. It should be fun still. I am sort of jealous of the warm weather that the The Katdenrie is in. Mexico must be nice this time of year. We are still getting a fair amount of sunshine so I have not seen the winter yet, but is is bound to be interesting. I don't know what else I can really say. I did include an close up picture of the Loran Tower and you can get an idea of the gym we have up here. Have a great day and I hope that everyone out there is enjoying every moment.

P.S. Kensey I need to talk to you, it has something to do with Christmas.