Author: BigCountryExpat

Greetings and Salutations!
So yeah…
On the debrief, I’ve got not a lot to add except for the Senior NCOs (all still on active duty) who were on said-cruise. I’ll get into that in a few, as I got ONE issue that did pop up on the radar.

That being Saipan.

Now I check out YouTube for some videos, and have a couple or three channels that I follow… nothing too deeply, just good content or interesting stuff if you will…”Dark Seas” with the occasional weird story about ‘stuff’ and mysteries fromt he oceans, to Simon Fowler’s multiplicities of channels that he narrates. Critical Drinker and Nerdrotic are also on the ‘must watch’ when they get new posts up…

One of the ones I also check out occasionally is ‘Yes Theory’

It’s about these two Swedish dudes who go and explore wild, weird and off-the-beaten-track places. They’re interesting, although I’m not down with their philosophy of “One Race, The Human Race” when anyone who’s truly explored some of these third world shitholes knows the reality of such high-minded libtarded points-of-view…

I’d say if anything the fact that where they go and the off-camera ‘stuff’ has to include fixers, and local contacts and more than likely contract security as otherwise? Some of the stranger places they’ve been to, and rolled through apparently unmolested/unkidnapped/uneaten (Congo and the like) tells me there’s a LOT of ‘stuff’ that doesn’t make it on camera.

SO… that being said, last night? This popped up on my feed:

Now, bullshit ‘hype title’ aside, (that being “The Dark Secrets Hidden in America’s Most Isolated Islands” ) it’s a pretty good overview of Saipan and Tinian, which is the Island directly south of Saipan. Tinian for you history buffs are well aware that THIS was the place that the US stationed like ALL of it’s B-29s that bombed Japan conventionally on the regular, and then in late 1945, loaded and assisted with dropping the first two nuclear weapons on Japan as well…

So they do a check out of the place, and come right out and show that, overall, it’s a damned nice place to be… to the point what was supposed to be a single 30-40 minute episode (their usual) is now being broken into two or maybe even 3 episodes…

Now… MY issue with this?
Saipan’s “cover”, if you will, is now officially blown.

Part of what I liked about it was the fact that not a Hell of a lot of people knew about it. Not many do, to a point. In fact during the intro, the two guys talk about the fact that EVERYONE they talked to had never even heard about the Northern Marianna’s, nevermind Saipan. Now? After this episode? At last count it was at 988 thousand views, and if history shows anything, when a channel like ‘Yes Theory’ profiles a place, increased tourism is usually a after-effect.

Dammit.

So that’s a minor irritation.
Now… Back to current events…

So the Resort… The British Colonial Resort specifically…
It’s famous for being in the James Bond Movie “Thunderball” with Sean Connery. A very nice place that’d been recently completely refurbished and refinished… Up to date, and well appointed to say the least:

I got the full “lunch and drinks” menu… and with a View Like THIS:

And on the beach, looking out:

And then, walking back towards the Hotel itself:

And hey!
Mellow and Beee-Yoot-A-Full!!!
They even had an Arch made of coral for (I’m guessing) weddings and whatnot… it is a magnificent setting for a destination wedding IMO:

And at the end of the day, after getting a mite sun-scorched, I rolled back to the Ship:

…and after I got back, I got dressy-dressed (for me)…

…and hit the Casino, and had a top-notch dinner, and ended the cruise on a high note with a crazy show that was rather well done:

Overall? 8 out of 10.
The food and prices prevent a full on 10 for 10.
It’s just like, my opinion man…

Now as far as the folks I met?
Well… it’s hard to define some of them… as in one or two of them were rather easy to identify in that the position they have is EASY to look up online… Now granted, we’re not talking the SMA or such, however… the guys I talked to are in positions who’re high enough to be identifiable.

Case in point: A senior NCO at the Drill Sergeant’s Academy. Now… there’s ONE main one of them, so I’m not going to say what position he holds… needless to say, he’s one of the Top Dogs so to speak on the NCO side of things…

I met him while I was getting ready to roll out on the trip to the British Colonial. I was needing some ‘lifer juice’ (i.e. black coffee) and there were a few setups in the lounge area which was the Assembly Area for the majority of the groups headed off-bowt. I was a wee bit hungover, and this guy was up there getting his caffeinated fix on as well… he looked ‘average’ so to speak, and we started chatting… the usual ‘on-board pleasantries’ on I learned exchanges under such social circumstances…

I mentioned something along the lines of “Hurry up and wait…” as we had to form up to leave at like 0800, but we actually didn’t leave until almost 0900. He looked and said “It’s the Army way” at which point we both looked at each other, and recognized a commonality… We sat down together, and exchanged bonafides, and turns out… well… ‘Kevin’ is one Hell of an NCO and maaaaan

He’s got some serious time in.
He told me he’s retiring within a year +/- after 33 years in, and then, he’s done. Primarily that he’s burned out and needs a ‘change’… He was fascinated to meet ME in that he wanted info on… well… how do I put it? How to approach Civvie Life?

He’s been in so long he’s got NO CLUE as to how ‘regular life’ is… he wanted any insight I had, and I gave it freely to him. One of the biggest things I tried to tell him was to start right now in s-l-o-w-l-y “deprogramming himself” from the whole “Army Lifestyle” and to learn to slow down…

I gave the best example I had, which was our Brigade Sergeant Major from the Rakkasans… when I first had gotten there,, the dude had retired… like right after I had gotten there… I never met the man, and have no idea as to how he wass, but ‘intensely wired’ is my guess…

Especially that within like six weeks of his retirement he dropped dead of a MASSIVE heart attack/stroke in the HEB while shopping as a ‘civilian’… his wife wasn’t surprised from what I heard… he was just wrapped waaaaay too tight for Civvie-Land, and cashed in. I actually used the line from “Full Metal Jacket” (which, of course he got the reference) was that Civilians overall are “…nothing but unorganized grab-asstic pieces of amphibian shit.” and to expect nothing but the worst, and HOPE for the best.

THAT might help is what I told him.
That and Chaos Rules.
Civvies have no clue…
I also told him that he should go “ROAD” which is an old Army term for “Retire On Active Duty” provided he didn’t become a total shitbag… especially for where and what he was doing,, meaning at the DSA, he couldn’t fully embrace the shitbag way of life, but that he 0might- be able to relax, and learn to relax, which, again –might- keep him alive so to speak.

We talked quite a few times over the remainder of the Cruise… I wish I’d met him early on, but as they say, it is what it is… He DID however tell me, that despite the Enemedia’s portrayal of the opinion of the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, that no… they have no fucking clue and that ALL the NCOs, with the exception of some of the MAJOR promotors of the whole “Muh Diversity Bullshit” (his quote) that the NCOs and Line Grunts are both seriously grateful for the changes and massively support said changes.

He said ONLY the senior ranks.. primarily the Perfumed Princes and Cocksuckers who ‘made the grade’ under “Teh Obamanation” (again his quote) were upset with the SecWar. “Top Kek” as he called it…

Go figure.
I had to find the most based Black NCO in the US Army right?

Dude was and IS awesome to the point we exchanged phone numbers and emails… in fact I need to send him another email after this… this guy was seriously cool AF… One of the things that stuck with me was that he was thrilled that the Drill Instructors could FINALLY do their jobs without looking at having a Congressional or 15-6 Investigation being launched to deal with “Hurt Fwee-Fwees” as he called them…

He told me FAAAAR too many great warfighters (and their institutional knowledge was lost) when they quit after the Global War on Terror as when it became time in their careers to either do the recruiter thing, or the D.I. thing, where waaaay too many called it a day as they either HATED being a ‘salesman’ i.e. recruiter OR they refused to be a D.I. as that was the path to career-i-cide due to DEI and all the bullshit that went along with it…

Fascinating intel.
Granted this’s a Bugs/E-4’s-Eye View, but to me very telling.

Make of it what you will.
And on this note… I’m bailing for now as I’m STILL jetlagged like a motherfucker. Like I said, it was a fantastic weekend and to all of those out there all going “Ha Ha! I called it!” about Aesop? So fucking what? The Dude when met face to face was cool and unassuming… all the haters are going to hate… In my case? I look at it as a cool thing to get to meet another blogger with some reach like myself, as well as some fans who showed up as well…

Can you say the same? It’s weird to have ‘fans’ so to speak, but at least I appreciate them coming out and meeting me, and making me realize that I have an impact so to speak… that’s fucking cool in my book… PLUS: I’m digging the whole “Choosing My Own Adventure” thing right now, and am trying to figure my next step(s) on the whole who/where/how/when thing…

In fact, Doc Samizdat DM’d me about Saipan, and maybe a trip to Peru? Either way, like I told him, I’m down like a clown these days as what else do I have to do? Grow old and bitter behind a keyboard, raging against the dying light, or seriously carpe that fucking diem until I choke the fuck out of it?

Me?
I choose the latter.
Hope y’all stick around to see what I get into next.

So More Later
Big Country

Greetings and Salutations!
Well, as stated last night, I made it!!!
Yay me!!!
And I’ll tell you what… I was shocked, shocked I say!

Well… not really… I mean I was, but wasn’t at how cold and rainy it is currently. Even the locals I talked to were pretty surprised and miserable, as while YES, this is the time of year for ‘winter weather’ it’s a wee bit colder than they normally get… which I suppose is a national thing right now…

I mean I talked with Gretchen the other day when she had to come by the Casa to fetch up some of her rarely-worn winter gear. Even -I- had to dig out my fleece and sweatshirt with that cold-snap. Up living w/her ‘rents it’s even colder and that’s only about 100 miles north on me…

So here? Cold and Wet
VERY unexpected.

So I settled in and well… I crashed.
Hence my lack of updating like I had stated I would. I’m going to finish off the Nassau trip while I travel (I hope) but I will get it done. Mind you, it’s NOT ay sort of Drama or Weirdness… more of some of the people I met, and their perspectives… Namely some Active Duty Personnel that I interacted with, and got some interesting intel from regarding Current Day DotMil (multiple branch) Point of View…

So, as stated, I did arrive is SoCa:

Florida Part Two: With MOAR Palm Trees.
ONE interesting observation:

EVERYWHERE and ALL THE BUILDINGS had a sign similar to this… It’s like the ultimate (IMO) “Mommy Issue”. OMFG!!! -SOMETHING/SOMEWHERE- that was used MAYBE in the process of building the ACTUAL Building itself MIGHT cause cancer/birth defects etcetc.

FFS
Fucking Califrutopia Amiright?

To continue… I did get to the room…

A Residence Inn King Suite…
Provided for by, of all people Aesop of The Raconteur Report

Yep.
Aesop and I on occasion have traded insults, barbs, and general shytte, but all in good fun. He’s got his opinion and I got mine, but we respect each other, and realize that just because we don’t necessarily agree, doesn’t mean our own individual opinions are invalid… He even donated some shekels when we were fighting for Addy back a few years ago, and we’ve exchanged emails on the regular.

When he read that I was going to be in ‘his A.O.’ he emailed me, and offered up getting me a room. Not one to turn down some hospitality, and to get to meet the ‘mysterious General Aesop’ as Glen refers to him as, I wasn’t about to say no. After I got checked in, we made arrangements to meet up at a Mexican Restaurant, and had dinner. Post Victuals, we went to the Movie together. IRL He’s a nice guy, and tolerates no bullshit (much like yours truly) And a great time was had by the two of us.

I even got a picture of him with me in the theater while we waited for the show to begin:

Rather Apropos as he did request OPSEC deniability.
Personally I think it’s perfect.

We also had two long term readers of mine who met up with us, so a very merry gang we had. S&P didn’t realize the dude I was w/was Aesop, but they were pleased as they read his stuff as well… At for them: Well met to the BOTH of you Brothers!!! I cannot thank you enough for the gift(s)! HIGHLY Unexpected and Unnecessary! I won’t go into it, but the generosity came in at a 12 on the 10 scale… as stated before, it was COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED!!!! Guys like that are why I still grind on this thing after all these years… my most ‘umble thanks to say the least…

So…
Yep…

The Frida itself, while a -mite- run down was still cool AF IMO, and as you can see, they do the Rocky Horror Picture Show on the regular (costumes encouraged) and it’s a funky old-style theater that you’d expect to find as an Art-Haus Movie Theater in a Southern California city…

Now… the movie itself?
It was worth every. single. bit. of effort. I did to get here and do this. My primary reason was waaay back in 2016? Sapper, Ranger Jay and myself went and saw ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ in Orlando on the BIG SCREEN for the 20th Anniversary.

I didn’t see it back in the day because ‘reasons’
But it, like ‘Forbidden Planet’ is one of my favorite movies, and having seen that on the Big Screen with the color, the sound system and everything? I’ll be watching for similar things in the future as Big Screen versus Lil Screen (even if it’s an 80 LCD)? Let me tell you…

This movie purely kicked ass…
PERFECTLY restored.
MAGNIFICENT sound effects and everything…
In fact, the ‘moments of tense waiting while the monster was approaching’ even though I knew the monster was inroute, I was still on the edge of my seat due to the atmosphere that the theater provides, and which I now realize is sorely lacking in the house viewings of movies and whatnot.

So post movie, I got dropped off, and now, well I’m hammering this out and realizing I have like a 0500 wakeup, and a shitload of jet-lag to look forward to. The leg is looking ok-ish. I think it’ll take a few more days of the drugs to get things back, but I am feeling better which is important.

So on that note, I’m off to crash
More Later
Big Country

Greetings and Salutations!
Soooo… it was a LOOOONG day!
Did 3/4 of a day at People’s Glorious Tractor Factory and then packed and got dropped off at the Aeroporto by Sapper, who’s got another quiet weekend without my witty repartee to bother him… Which BTW tell me this ISN’T the coolest custom license plate we saw on the way to TPA:

Florida has a Gadsden Flag plate available… myself, I think having that plate is waaay cringe… HOWEVER! In this case?

KLDZR
Killdozer!?!
That’s fucking great!
Both Sapper and myself were loving it…
Speaking of which… as I was saying… Me being gone again? Well Sapper much prefers the peace and quiet with me being out and about… The animals however tend to ‘cluster’ when I’m out of the Casa:

ALL the Animals… From the left, you have Bob-the-Cat, the Red Hot Chili Pupper laying on Stella The Sausage Princess, and in the back, Beans. Beans is the other cat we have who tends to be a bit ‘asocial’, even by cat standards. I took him in when his person had to move back home, and unfortunately Beans wasn’t able to go… when she had him, she told me she’d found him living out of a dumpster, so he’s semi-…. I dunno… he’s not feral, just…. not the cuddliest cat…

But BOY is he fat.
Like 4 times Bobs size…
BIG HONKING FAT BLACK CAT!!!

What I find humorous is the fact that Bob and Stella ‘match’ in color, Chili and Beans match… and this was unplanned… it just sort of happened.

Usually the dogs stay w/me all day while I work, and at night while I blog. They usually bunk with Sapper at night 90% of the time… With me gone again, they look like they’ve all clustered w/Sapper…

So I’m here, and crashing out, as I’m wiped:

I got here to freezing rain (comparative to Florida) and it was a LONG couple of flights…
So I’ll take some time tomorrow and try to finish up the Bahama Debrief, and then I’ll get into what’s going on this weekend, and who I’m meeting up with… with OPSEC being a part of it… not mine, but others so to speak.

So More Later
Big Country

Greetings and Salutations!
OK
Let us get the health thing out of the way. Some of you who’ve been hanging out for quite a spell may remember that my dumbass cracked the ever loving shit out of my shinbone on the ‘bad leg’ (AKA Lefty) while doing PMCS and ‘stuff’ on The Boat (The J3 Donated Boat that is)… PMCS stands for Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services, which is a term used in the DotMil for inspecting equipment and doing on-the-spot repairs IF one has the ability. Meaning I was working on The Boat and forgot I had a GIANT assed tow hitch I needed to dodge…

Like I said, dumbass mode engaged.

Said-Injury looking like this:

Yeeeeah… a ‘Fred Flintstone’ sized lump that was so bad, Sapper insisted we go and get me checked out at the VA at the time… which was pretty much worthless, as it resolved after about 3 months (August 12th being the Day of Deep Impact if you will) on it’s own.

HOWEVER…
The reason I call it “the bad leg” is that’s the knee that got blowed da faq up back in 2006 and had to be rebuilt. Now in the hospital, you can see a wee bit better, but when they cut on me to insert all that Titanium and the other ‘robo-knee stuff’ a LOT of the return veins got either severed, smashed and or not fully mission capable:

All that blotchy color and darker skin?

Yep. That’s been there since the surgery.
Which was in January of 2006…
Not much they can do about it (so I’ve been informed)

So back then I got a Xray and some other pablum that was (IMO) wholly inadequate but it IS the VA so… not much I could do about it… That being said however, things appeared to be OK… Until a few weeks ago when I re-hit the original area…

My dumb ass hit the same exact area again… the how/where/when/why? No idea. I did, however, break the skin, and therein lies the problemo. It was a minor cut BUT

Seems it got infected.
And a BIG PART of my overall encompassing health issues stem from my nerve damage that I got waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day… that being the injury that earned me a One Way Ticket to Fort Living-room, The House.

See… I regularly injure myself.
Most dudes do to a certain degree

The usual stuff… minor cuts… smashed/broken toes (hence last night’s meme of the stones… that cracks me up)… but when I do cause a self induced injury, the problem is I barely register it/feel anything!!! It stems from the brachial nerves coming off of the Cervical 5,6, and 7 vertebrae.

The main nerves got squished when I did my best Wile E. Coyote imitation with the main gun toob of an M1A1 Abrams:

Meaning instead of a “Rock or Something” I got a 10,000 Pound Rheinmetall made M256 120mm Main Gun Toob dropped laterally across’t me squash, thereby inducing a serious vertical compression based impact injury that crushed me like a bug and almost kil’t me.

Hence the cartoon.
BUT
I did say
ALMOST
Thankfully I was in great shape and my at-the-time 26+ inch neck did NOT shift/slide or displace, otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversation, as I would have died right then, right there… Nope, I got ka-squish-tulated, and have been dealing with it since…

As it was however
So at first, I was in AGONY 24-7-365 for years.
Muscle Spasms, Pain, Joint Pain…

ALL the pain….

Then… it sort of just tapered off…

It seems that I finally found a Sawbones who could explain it to me… As it was such a severe injury, that over time?
The pain receptors burned the fuck out. Leaving me with NO IDEA that I had a cellulitis infection cooking away for a few weeks, and that it’d spread causing a serious buildup of liquid (lymph) and peripheral edema.

They loaded me up with a metric fuckton of meds so now I’m not worried about any potential social diseases like HerpaGhonorrSyphilAIDS or anything… the amount of shit they put me on I could probably bang a leper… anyways…

To add to the good news, the EKG came back awesome with NO ABNORMALITIES, and the liver panel came back the best it’s been in years, much to the consternation of my primary care, who’s used to seeing it marked “Pickled/Plastered” for the past 20 years or so… Add on that the chest X-ray and leg X-ray show no issues either, and I got the Ultrasound today and they said they’d call me IF there was anything to worry about… In fact the BP?
Yeah… without ANY drugs I was running a 127 over 72 Average

Which for a 57 year old sedentary (current lifestyle that is) sort of guy?
That’s fuckin’ great…

And since I haven’t heard anything negative about Ye Olde Ultrasounde???
That means I’m cleared for a bounce to California to see ‘Forbidden Planet’!

Which ALSO has a few surprises!

As in I may/may not be meeting up with some of you who’ve told me you’d be there and look for me, and I’m also the grateful guest of a fellow Blogger who kindly offered me up a place to stay, and is someone who’ll blow y’alls minds when you find out who… I’ll keep that for later…

I’m also trying to coordinate to see Concerned American from WRSA as he IS a damned good fren and we’ve broken bread quite a few times… it’s a matter of timing as he has to leave shortly after I get there… ships passing in the night and all that (without the romantical bullshit involved in that old saying…LOL)

So no matter what, this’s going to be a kick-ass weekend.

Now, to continue with the debrief of “Operation Nassau”

When we last left off, our Hero, Big Country had been repulsed by Superior Numbers and an Unnatural Putrescent Stink that was vaguely reminiscent of Mad Dog 20/20 and Old English Malt Likker, coming from the Hot-Tub(s) that appeared to be brewing “Negroid Soup” at the back of Ye Ole BOWT.

Needless to say… there was NO coming back from that level of gross… As seen by my reaction here:

“Run Away! Run Away!“
Monty Python and The Holy Grail
(or is it Groid these days?)
Anywho….

It was sort of like that joke when us GenX kids were kids still “What’s grosser than gross?” followed up by some really foul punchline in one form or another… Anyway, many of you in the comments tended to agree… So with that minor defeat being logged, I retreated to a ‘beach chair’ to read and relax…

I got a wee bit of sun, as I forgot the sunscreen, but only enough to feel ‘warm’ as opposed to ‘scorched’ which is a good thing. I stayed out there working my way through some long-overdue reading which, for once, did not involve training manuals and/or ‘educational stuff’ which is my usual.

Nope… this was pure ‘reading for mindless pleasure’

The unplugging of my Casaba was almost physically felt.

Of course said-mindless pleasure reading was getting caught up on John Ringo’s “Dark Tide Rising” Zombie-Apocalypse series of book(s) (up to #16 now!) but hey! Preppers gonna prep, and us TEOTWAWKI fiction lovers need some down time and love too amiright?

And when the night started to close in, I got this:

This picture does that skyline no justice!

It was absolutely magnificent, and reminded me of just WHY the Good Lord gave me a smol wakeup in N’awlins two weekends before via the Bishopman… It really reopened my eyeballz to the beauty that is still in this world, as well as a reminder of just what the fuck we need to fight for when the time comes…

Anyways, enough with the ‘waxing philosophically’.

Leave that to the Libtards and Bluehaired Breeding Rejects…

Jes’ Sayin’

So after soaking up the rays, and Saturday being a full-on “Day At Sea” which can translate to “We have them trapped and can try to milk every. single. shekel. out of them as they are, in fact, a captive audience.” (which was absolutely true) it was time to ‘go on the prowl’ and check the various bars and entertainment and shows to be had on Ye Olde BOWT…

Now mind you, I only had a total of 4 buckets of bleer (intentional misspelling, there’s a inside joke there) for the whole trip… essentially one a day, and only bought the occasional companion/bedwarmer a few boozles as well. she claimed not to like to drink too much…

Meh… whatever…

Now while I wasn’t drinking, I did have a cash reserve of a couple of fitties that Sapper had laid on me for his ‘rent’ before I left… he contributes weekly, and for the most part, said $$$ goes to the household expenses. Since I’m no longer having ‘extra expenditures of a type’ I was able to hold onto said $$$ for a “just in case/OH FUCK!” moment as cash talks a language allll it’s own overseas, even in a place as relatively civilized as Nassau…

And having cash?
Well the only place on BOWT that took cash was the Casino.
Hmmmmn…

Blackjack anyone?
Yep. That was fun…

Mind you I literally broke even as fuck.
By the time we re-anchored and docked back in Palm Beach, I had had a zero-sum set of game(s) for the whole weekend, meaning I started with $170.00 and went home with $170.00… minus $20 in tips to the dealer(s)… so as far as I was concerned it was a wash…

That being said, for a few hours, I was up by like $400…

To the point I started getting free drinks and if I wanted, appetizers IF I requested them. I’m not a great player by any means… I’m more ‘instict driven’, meaning while I can NOT count cards, I do see the ‘greater pattern of chaos theory and randomness’ of the Shoe as the cards are dealt.

Case in point:
New dealer.
They re-did the card decks or the shoe as it’s properly called.
Then, after -I- cut the cards, and after a few other things happened, the dealer asked us to throw down on the table, at which point I did not.

I waited.

Which after having played multiple successful hands the dealer, (an nice girl from Serbia named Markova) asked me why I was sitting the first (and subsequent hands) out?

I said I never play off a fresh shoe… maybe hand number 3 or 4, but only if it feels right.

She shrugged and played and I watched.

After Hand Number 2, on a $5 dollar table (the $5 table kicked in from 15:00 until 18:00 to get the suckers in) I threw in $50 for Hand #3.

Now this table had the “Insurance/If your hand has…” spots… and in this case IF your face cards on the first hand (meaning the first 2 cards you get thrown only) has either a Blackjack or a hand that equals 20, and IF you get that 20 with a queen, well I believe as memory serves me it was a progressive payout… if you got 20 via 2x Queen Face Cards, it was a 200 to 1 payout… meaning if you bet $1, you made $200… and it went from there.
That is IF you put down some ducats BEFORE the dealer even started throwing cards…
Otherwise it was a moot point. To continue

When it came time for Hand #3 on this shoe and I had thrown in the $50? The cards came up:
Two Tens
Which got me a 25-1 payout because I had hedged a bet on it equaling 20. And since I had two 10 cards?
I split.
And because of the split, I was able to double my original bet on them ($25 more on each)
Which in turn gave me a Blackjack on One Hand and another 20 on the other, which curb-stomped the dealer nicely… I made almost $250+ off that one hand alone altogether

Needless to say, I had a blast
And BTW, don’t argue my maff… it’s been a LOOOONG day and I’m a wee bit fuzzy. What matters is I had a ball, ‘companion’ had a good time, and then, well it was time to prep for the AM trip to Nassau itself.

Because of the upcoming off-ship adventure, I went to bed pretty early… This was Saturday night. I also didn’t drink worth a fuck-all as each beer, a 16oz tallboy, or a ‘pounder’ as they used to call them back in the day, cost $8USD EACH.

5 of them were $42.99 which gets filed under an “Oh my aching balls!!!” level of pricing… Buying a mixed drink for my companion? $18 for a Sex on the Beach or a Mai Tai on the BOWT… extortion-level prices IMO.

So… I went and crashed, and fought the good fight to get some serious ZZZs as they’d been in short supply.

I woke up and brekkie that AM was an omelette:

Somewhat on the lighter side, BUT!
It was good grub as I stated before.
And on that note, I’ll leave it to finish (maybe) tomorrow as I do have to continue, but that being said, the day tomorrow is looking BUSY-BUSY AF. We’ll have to see. I AM bringing my little Lappie (Thanks for that Ed!!!) so I can at least attempt to stay on topic as well as update y’all…

Say a prayer for me, wish me luck and I’ll be back.
More Later
Big Country

Greetings and Salutations!
Part the Second of the mission debrief is put on hold for tonight as I have to go to the E.R. It was pointed out to me by a fren who saw my picture(s) and told me I got some serious Edema going on and since my last Liver Panel (4 weeks ago) was completely normal… something isn’t right…

In fact the Docs at the VA said it was the best one I had done in like a year or three… like EVERYTHING either perfect or even low. So I don’t -think- it’s the booze… Also I don’t have ANY symptoms that are associated with that outside of MASSIVE edema/water retention…

Another point is my weight went from 320 to about 360 over the past 2-2.5 weeks. In fact I went from 357 last night to 360 overnight and yes, I did recalibrate the scale BOTH times as I had trouble with ALL the readouts.

That’s….concerning…

I mean I DO love me some beer and pizza but that’s a stretch, even for my garbage gut….

And when earlier Doc Samizdat called me just to yakk it up, when I told/asked him, he told me to make sure I go tonight

So I’ll update later
Big Country

Greetings and Salutations!
OK folks… back at Ye Olde Casa of Ele Grande Campesino! Safe and relatively sound… leastways tired AF as it was a full day evolution to get back here… Long ride/Traffic/Minor Vehicle issues and the like took what should have been 3-4 hour jaunt into the Floridian Version of The Bataan Death March across the peninsula… like we’re talking almost 9-10 hours and my legs and back are still jacked up.

As you can see, literally “…from Sea to Shining Sea” and all that Jazz… Now this’s probably going to be in two parts as A) I got a later start as I worked late to -try- and make up some of the missed hours for People’s Glorious Tractor Factory… I was supposed to have only one day of LWOP (Leave Without Pay) and use the last 4.5 hours of my remaining VayKay time. And B) I’m still pretty tired… lots of fun (again) power packed into what was supposed to be a three day weekend, which due to unforseen circumstances became a full four day.

<Le Sigh>
Side Note: Ever notice if you miss one day of regular work without pay, the paycheck appears to be lighter by like a full $200+/- than normal… but if you do an extra 10+ hours of Overtime at time-and-a-half, you only seem to make like an additional $50+/-?

Go figure.

So on that note, let’s “Break it down like Barney” with some of the observations I had. Now… I pretty much was up all night worrying about the trip. Pre-Mission jitters is what I call it, as well as a certain amount of anticipation. The only other cruise I was on was with X#1, and ALL of the X-In-Laws and to be fair, it was mostly on MY mental headspace and timing, in that I had just recovered from that nasty near fatal lung infection, and they had discovered the tumor in my lung because of it.

Throw in a healthy dose of PTSD, and ‘other issues’ and said Thanksgiving cruise was doomed from the get-go. SO I had high hopes that this’d be fun.

Now… I got to the Port, and had a pretty quick run-through to get on board. The people were a interesting and eclectic mix with the ‘blend’ appearing to be a 1/3rd of the “Main Tribes of the US of A” if you will, those being Whytte, Blaq, and Hispanic. (with some serious various delineations among the Hispanics that I’ll cover in a bit).

For the most part, everyone was cool, calm and collected, with only ONE noticible group that had everyone’s toofuses on edge… it was a party of 4 Tatonka Whammenz… I.E. The Shaniqua Bridal Brigade… Loud, obnoxious, entitled and truthfully, all four of them looked like 800 pounds of gratuitously gross flab packed in waaaay too tight Spandex and bullshit…

<SHUDDER>
Just the memory makes me want mind-bleach in Liquid 90 Proof strength… It was that bad.

I got the following as I had cleared the Boarding/Customs location:

I will say the folks running the show were pretty damned efficient. They got everyone prepped and ready, locked and loaded and on-board within an hour of my estimated SP time, which was 12:00-13:00. SP being a DotMil term that refers to the location and time where a convoy or unit assembles and begins a movement I.E. “Start Point”

Once on Board, I made my way to my room:

Which was located roughly inside the red circle here:

Without knowing it, I chose wisely in that the red dot with the number 5 in it? That was/is the main onboarding/off-boarding point/door. It meant that due to my room’s proximity to said door, I was one of the first on, and the first off when the whole thing was said and done.

Honestly, I for the most part forgot pix of the room. It was OK… with a King Sized bed, on which the mattress was a wee bit on the harder side than I liked, but the AC was first class and the shower astall, while smol (for me) was still enough for me to get my scrub on in. The only issue, leastway in the bathroom, was the hot water was tepid at best in the shower, while the sink had a lot of the agua caliente rolling… In there of note was the toilet itself, which was somewhat reminiscent of a Jet Aircraft’s shitter. It appeared to be suction-powered or something… I dubbed it the “Turbo-Flush 9000” as I think if I had accidentally flushed whilst perched on it, the suction was so strong it was likely to rip my junk off and suck it down the tubes.

The major negative was only ONE US Standard power outlet on the smol desk area. It did have, strangely enough, another power outlet, however it was a Euro-Style two round-prong round plug type, and I didn’t have an adapter, nor did I know if it was 220 or 110, and wasn’t risking toasting any of my gear.

Once I got settled, I gave myself the nickel tour and rolled up to the 11th floor to the “License to Chill” bar and pool deck:

It was, as you can see, an utterly gorgeous day.

At this point the BOWT started rolling out, and since the sun was not quite yet setting, before dinner I plopped down, and sans sunscreen read my book for a few to initiate “Chill Mode”

I hung out and basted a bit in the sun until about 17:00 and then went to the “Port of Indecision Buffet” which was located one deck below the pool deck. Once I got there, I found it was a choice of pizza, burgers or the ‘flavor of the night’ which in this case Dinner being some Jambalaya and Mac n Cheese with assorted ‘other’ stuff…

Yeah, the food wasn’t great but it was “chow” in the respect that it was aight, plentiful, filling, and available damned near around the clock. I forgot to take the pic before starting to chow down as by that point I was hungry-hungry.

It was exceptionally reminiscent of the food we had in the chow halls in Iraq and Afghanistan. ESPECIALLY the Burger bar on the poop-deck in the 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar:

I swear to GOD as my witness that these were the same exact burgers we had “back in the day” in the chow hall(s) on Victory and Balad.

Speaking of Church, I did find the Chapel and yes, I did visit on Sunday:

Your basic AF Multi Denominational Church, with an emphasis on 1970’s decor and “All of the Above” Religions. I think the Bishop from N’awlins would have been pleased. No real services held of course, but at least it was a place to go (at least for me) to give thanks and reflect on the wild-assed shytte I’ve been doing as of late Aye?

Shortly after eating, and since I had only had about an hour-and-a half of sleep, I went and got a surprisingly good night’s sleep after dinner. The sleep was sound, but vivid dreams were had that really surprised the Hell out of me… it was like a ‘life in parallel’ so to speak where for a bit, I wasn’t sure which place was the ‘real world’… it wasn’t a problem, not even… just really vivid and… sincere? I’m not sure how to describe it… suffice to say I got some really good ZZZs out of it…

So, after a really good, hard crash out, I made sure that I was up relatively early for the “Full Day At Sea” to take advantage of the ‘stuff’ they had available. The first thing I did was hit the brekkie in the buffet:

My absolute favorite meal of the day on board hands down.

Polish Breakfast Snausages w/Onions, French Toast Stix, Infidel Meetz (ham) and good ole US Army (probably) powdered scrambled eggs. I realize it’s with an Ironic Tone that I say this, but considering how as I went along and discovered that the majority of the guys on board were all either retirees like me, and/or quite a few active duty guys who spanned ALL branches, the chow was great (leastways to us Grunts).

The chow also brought back some fond memories, leastways in the case of breakfast, which when I was active duty in the Army AND as well as being a Contractor, the brekkies were the tits man…

After breakfast, I then scooted back up to the “License to Chill” bar and pool deck, and well… I tried to be early and get to the Hot Tub as Ye Olde Spine was in pretty rough shape still, and there I found my first… hmmmn… “Diversity Checkpoint” so to speak?

Mudshark and Groid Soup anyone?

EUUUW! EUUUW! EUUUW! EUUUW!

So much for THAT amenity amiright?
Those two tubs stayed that way the entirety of the trip mind you. Meaning positively PACKED with ‘floaters’ so to speak… Needless to say, I had ZERO Interest in soaking myself in any potential ‘stuff’ that could have been passed on in such a hot-temp breeding ground for the HerpaGhonnaSyphiliAids that any one of them weirdos were possibly carrying…

Thanks/No Fucking Thanks Aye?

Sticking my dick in an open, pus-filled Festering Wound held more appeal TBH… I know… gross but y’all didn’t smell the scene… and yes… ‘Par-Boiled Nog’ Does have a rather pungent aroma.

And now… with that rather grody description, I realize I’ve hit the writing limit for tonight.

Tune in for the next installment tomorrow of our Travelog of The Country of Bigness™ and his Wild and Whacky Adventures!

Thanks for coming by!
So More Later
Big Country

Greetings and Salutations…
I’ll have more to follow…
I’m on board BOWT and have temporary Intarwhebz and Fon (VERY sketchy connectivity on fon and NOT sure of International Fon $$$ charges….)

Pix cannot load, so You’ll have to wait

BUT
So far?
A VERY COMFORTABLE TRIP!
No chimpouts an waaaaaay chill… almost everyone is my age or a wee bit younger…

The primary thing is 70%+/- of the passengers are ALL Prior/Current service…. every one (for the most part are very polite and cool AF… I’ll go into depth later, so lemme run… I got an appointment w/a hottie for a steak dinner at the $teakhouse.

More Later
BCE

Greetings and Salutations!
This’ll be the last poast for a few as I am not shilling out the MAD $$$ (unless there’s an onboard deal) for the WiFi on Ye Olde Tub. They want like $200 for 2x devices (when it’s just me rolling) and I’d rather have $200 to either buy a quality meal or get some brewskis. It’s the “nickel and dime them to death” business model…

Even the bleer is outrageously cray-cray in price… a 5 pack pre-ordered is $70 “but comes in a neat-o souvenir cooler!!!” That sort of shytte only appeals to fucking splits, so that’s a no go at this station.

BTW: Not shilling for them, but if you’re vet, I got the room for the cost of the taxes port fees and whatever… I paid $250.00 and that was it… there’s a bunch of stuff they’re still hawking thru Friday, so if you’re in Florida and hankering, go check it out.

THAT is a MomUnit’s “Traveling well for short $$$” lesson of the day. She’s a certified Black Belt in cheap travel. She used to regularly sign up with a courier company out of NY that she’d get a call the day before asking if she had her passport and “Are you willing to go to ‘X’ tomorrow?” Depending on her circumstances at the time, she’d either do it or not, and she ended up catching some cool flights for free to various European cities for a weekend…

“Travel on someone else’s dime!” was what she told me…

Since I wasn’t hot enough to lock in an Heiress, thus my stint(s) in the Army, and then as a Contractor… Yeah, the Machine Guns, High Explosives and High Adventure were part of it, but also getting to go to strange places, meet interesting people and possibly shoot them was ALSO high on the list of “How cool is that?”

So if you have a GovX account and can prove to the algorithm that you be you and are a Vet, there’s some good deals out there to be had.

Now, the next thing is laundry… I still haven’t caught up from N’awlins. That’s next right after I get out of work and finish this….

And as far as comments about me going bugshit on an Island?
Folks… I was in fucking Guantanamo Bay for six fucking months. THE MAIN REASON I bagged that job was the company I worked for totally buttfucked me on my vacation as they didn’t pay for my one vay-kay flight home, as stated in the contract… $1500 round trip, and then the general “locked down” nature of the place.

I mean it was the most maximum of maximum security locations… and after the Abu Ghraib scandal, they went full retard to the point of OMFG… there’s Big Brother, and then there’s Gitmo. Add on while I was there I didn’t make not one single solitary fren nor did I have anyone cool to even occasionally hang with… I mean there was nuthin’.

And as loquacious and gregarious a motherfucker that I am, I decided “Fuck this for a trip back to Iraq” and I punched… I mean there were ZERO social clubs… even the USO was a dead-ender… no fun to be had, and as one of you mentioned, the ONLY thing in abundance was the Library, movies and really cheap vodka. I did a LOT of self inflicted liver damage there I swear…

Part of The Issue was that the National Guard who was in charge of the various Camps… The regular camps, not the black sites… they were clannish AF and purely hated us high paid contractors… so unlike Iraq where I made some life long frens with the Active Duty kids (2/8 CAV!!!) there, these jokers were openly hostile, so no fun to be had there either.

It wasn’t all bad tho…
There’s bad then there’s…. well….
There were some ‘mandatory fun days’ among us Jailer/Staff folks, but unfortunately there, the Captain, female, BLAQ (and don’t you forget it you, you utter whytte scumbag) type one each was a primo example of a ball busting whytte hating Negress who got off on nutcutting her subordinates, and especially us poor fucking Contractors who were beneath her contempt.

Any wonder why I’m an eeeeeevil ray-cysist?
THERE IT IS!
Just another example of obnoxious Shaniqua Behavior…

The mandatory fun days sucked enough that I couldn’t wait to go back to the house and play my vidya-games while getting torqued on Red/Orange/Blue Motherfucker…(or Green if I was lucky to find it)…that’s a 1/2 a liter of 80 proof Vodka, one liter of water, and add the ‘color of choice’ Kool Aid and bam! ‘X’ Color Motherfucker as we called it in Iraq as it was going to fuck you up like a motherfucker…

No wonder I was damned near shitting blood a few months in amiright? Lost some weight so at least I had that going for me…

Gitmo is 45 square miles in size, but in reality is a LOT fucking smaller… like FUNCTIONALLY the Area, to include the McDonalds and BX? Yeah like call it 8 square NY City BLOCKS worth of functionality. I don’t count the housing areas, as the majority of them were and still are mothballed… and none of the “Detainment Areas” either. The warehousing and dock areas, as well as the off-limits airfield? MAYBE 8 square blocks AT BEST. So yeah, I have quite a bit of experience in dealing with smol island life if you will. Like I said, I want to do a recon and check it out before committing to anything.

Saipan looks pretty fucking cool… if only for maybe a 2 week vaykay… might have to have a travel companion on that one, IF I can swing the $$$. Like I said, lots of moving parts and maybe/maybe nots to look at.

At least the Sun seems to have calmed down.

I was getting a mite worried about the Solar Storm and those offputting X Class CME Flares that almost came our way. From what I can see, they look (at least for now) to have calmed down…

The last thing I want to have happen is get caught in a “Carrington Level Event” on a cruise shit-ship filled with (potentially) cannibalistic Negroids…

That’s like a fucking script for a Comedy Horror Movie right fucking there ain’t it Aye? Unarmed, except for my own skill sets, fending off Deonte and Shaniqua who’re determined to be the first to eat my fucking liver!?! I’ll ‘nope the fuck out’ on that one…

In fact, no bullshit….
If the power on the boat goes completely dead for a period of ten to fifteen minutes… like COMPLETELY FUCKING INOPERATIVE… no ’emergency power’ no backup genny… nada… just silence and a HUGE “Ooooooh SHIT!” moment?

I’ll risk a federal charge and hit a lifeboat ahead of everyone else… one of the ones that has the emergency hand crank and all the rations in it for what? 30/40 folks? Steady Steve can punch holes in this idea… I was Infantry, NOT a squid…

Either way as part of the traveling preps I ALWAYS have, I’m bringing my compass, map board (poast on that in the future) and wearing my Garmin GPS Watch as IF the GPS is operational, well it can’t hurt… in fact if IT (the watch) goes roastie-toastie and turns up DOA due to a Carrington Level event happening while I’m at sea, it means it’s time to get the fuck off the boat, and out of Dodge…

Fuck being the “whytte meat” on the menu with a bunch of potential cannibalistic fucking groids…

Like I said, I’d rather get hemmed up by the feds for ‘prematurely abandoning ship’ IF it came down to that…

In fact I think they wouldn’t even go after me that hard ‘cos they do not want me on TV explaining just WHY I did such a thing… anyways…

AND if nothing happens BUT a chimpout?

I’ll consider myself Blessed AND hopefully I get some great footage that’ll go viral as everyone loves to see a good chimpout.

So off to do laundry.
More Later
Big Country

Greetings and Salutations!
Yep.
As asked, the recon is a loooong way aways however… I did find a place that IS within some distance and ‘out of the way’ but is still OUR territory.

Saipan

When asked by dude “How far you going?”
Dude… pretty fuckin’ far is my answer
I joke, I joke…

For real however…
It’s got a LOT going for it.
American (i.e. English) is the day-to-day lingua franca. Chamorro is the secondary locally. It’s a US Protectorate. Gun laws are close to the stateside ‘stuff’ i.e. no concealed carry but open carry allowed, and the Assault Rifle ban was struck down as unconstitutional. You need a Firearms ID card which I got no issue with, and hey… Palmetto State ships there!

Maybe become the Master Gunsmith of the Northern Marianas?

The rent on apartments are pretty decent too. $770 US for a NICE new fully furnished 2 Bedroom 1 Full Bath. Newly built mind you. One of my Expat Boards I roam on has the monthly utilities (electric/gas, water is included in the rent) is between 300-400. $400 if you need to keep your place cold-cold-cold with AC.

I get about $2k a month from Uncle with my retardedment.
That’d leave me (if I don’t keep working remotely) with about $600-700 a month for food and the like.

And the Apartments (at least the ones I’ve been looking at) are built like bunkers, with backup gennies and Typhoon Shutters as a Typhoon is on the menu so to speak… that’s a minor thing after all the shytte I’ve gone through in my life.

I’m waiting on a quote for a 20ft Connex now… that’ll tell me what I have to worry about $$$ wise there… I figure I’d sell the house, The Boat, get a good Motorcycle, throw it into the connex as well, with the guns, dishes and whatnot, (all my smithing tools and yadda yadda and clothing and bullshit) and hey… if the price is right?

There are far worse places (like Fucking New Yawk Shitty) to be living in… In fact Saip[an has a certain ring to it in my head… think “Puerto Rico” without the Puerto Ricans… It’s got a world class hospital in Garapan, however, there isn’t an Ambulance Service

Maybe a niche that needs to be filled?
DiveMedic, any thoughts?

Like I said, having lived in some true 3rd World Shitholes, I’m comfortable with what I speak of here. Saipan sounds pretty fucking nice, hence why I want to recon it. I know Costa Rica is nice, however No Guns. Ever. Not allowed… almost a dealbreaker right there IMO.

So your thoughts?
To me, so far it’s a fascinating mind-exercise.
Let me know in the comments

More Later
Big Country

Greetings and Salutations!
A few good conversations had in the comments (per usual with the usual suspects) and also, per usual, I enjoyed the Hell out of it.

As far as any current news, the one thing I’ve noticed is the INSANE amount of ‘flooding of my feed’ of assholes talking about how any and all opposition to the Izzies is anti-God, Anti-AMerican and general badness all around.

What.
The.
Fuck.

To the point one significant poast was about the Texas Bell County Sheriff’s Orifice made the utterly stupid and retarded choice to do a knock and talk with a disabled vet regarding him being critical of the Izzies. I lived in Bell County (Ft. Hood) and never thought I’d hear of such a thing…

Fuck those ‘shabbos goys’ too

As I’ve stated before, for “Murica’s Greatest Ally in The Middle East” they suuuuuure AF haven’t ‘put up’ anything. Gulf One? No use of Airfields. Which meant we had to use a real Ally i.e. the Saudis, who in reality are “Allies of Convenience” in that they were worried Saddam had them up next on the “Roll in the Tanks” games…

Which in turn pissed of the Wahhabists as having Infidels on the ‘sacred soil’ of Muhammed’s birth caused us a lot of fucking problems later….

How many times have the Izzies supported us militarily?

Let me know… I’ll wait…………….

Yep. That’s what I thought.

OH SO Typical of them, and then to NOT understand where the Gen X/Z hate is coming from??? Literally the most clueless bunch of inbred retards that claims a bogus religion as a ‘race’. No WONDER they’ve been chased out of 109 places over the millenia…

And as an aside: If you count Afghanistan, it’s 110.

Seems the last Rabbi in Bagram packed up and left shortly after WE left as the US Army had been financially supporting him (despite the Taliban NOT fucking with him at all)… in fact the interview with locals were like “Thank GOD that whiney sniveling Jew-Bitch is gone… all he did was complain and whine!”

I’m not kidding…

See… the Taliban are unwilling to fuck with a Priest, a Nun or a Rabbi… the whole “Talks to God” thing… Places, regular people and things? Fair game. So they suffered the Rabbi… until he realized they were NOT going to subsidize his schtick, and he packed up and left.

How bad is it that you annoy the the Taliban and want they you gone, but aren’t willing to shoot you due to the respect of Religious Norms???

Sums up Judaism to a “T”

I mean for real…

Then, a VERY PERSONAL ‘bedbug’ of mine:
Like 15 (at a minimum) HoloCost Memorials in Every. Single. State. of The USA. Like. every. single. fucking. state. And WE were the ones who supposedly rescued them.

How many memorials in Izzy-Land dedicated to ALLLLL the grunts who died during the march across Europe to ‘liberate the camps’?

Answer: Not. One. Fucking. Single. One.

They are, as both a religion and a race the most GRIFTING and ungrateful curs to have ever drawn breath IMO.

May they all enjoy Hell when J.C. decides to make an appearance.

Add on their retarded Tribemember:
The amount of pushback too vis-a-vis that fat fuck Sen. Fine has been unreal too… The fat fuck comes right out and states that the Jews have been chased out/expelled and “…none of it was our fault!!!”

Fucking dude is a retard.

Yep…
Make of it what you will…
Me?
I don’t care per se… just another fucking observer.
In fact I might have discovered a place I might want to retire to. Problem is, I need to recon it… and it’s a $2800 airfare, so I’m going to have to save up to check it out. I’ll kep you all in the loop as I go….

So otherwise
More Later
Big Country