Should have read the fine print...: Staying safe, and a sea story or two...

When I tell people I served on a submarine, invariably the first question I am asked is 'what is the longest you stayed underwater' - almost 100% of the time. I honestly don't remember - never counted the days - and at least we stuck a periscope out every day. Maybe it was my 3rd class midshipman cruise in the 1980s when I spent my post-freshman summer vacation under the Pacific on USS Florida (SSBN 728-Blue) on a strategic deterrent patrol - that was 62 days. Sailors get bored at sea, and fresh-faced middies are fun to mess with, so... Now an uncle who served in the Navy had warned me about this, so I thought I was pretty aware. Well, periodically the ship 'dry fires' a torpedo tube (shoot it without a torpedo in it...) and then they drain the tube and wipe it down inside. (another story there...). One day they did that and then a bit later they called the middies down to the torpedo room because they had captured a 'sea bat'. I figured it was a prank and was pretty cocky about not getting tricked. They had a metal bucket turned upside down on the metal grating floor and they told us to come closer to see the 'sea bat'. I moved up, all cocky, when all of a sudden the bucket moved. I must have jumped about three feet... and then as I stared at the bucket (mildly freaked out) I noticed the rope attached to the bucket, and the torpedoman at the other end of rope... but it was too late - they had me. Now, a part they left out is they normally whack you in the behind with a broom stick or something to complete the 'sea bat' experience. But they got me fair and square - and I heard about it for several weeks (deservedly so!).

Anyhow, the most common thing people say when I tell them I am deployed to the Gulf is 'stay safe' - and I have said it many times as well to friends / peers deploying. But was pondering it during my last run and frankly, I should be saying it to all of my friends and family back home. Qatar is very safe - almost crime free -and I don't worry when I go to a mall or work that someone is going to open up with a gun. Traffic is a bit crazy here - but I am much less worried about getting creamed by a drunk driver here - and they are pretty strict about red lights as the fine for running a red light is over $1000 (they consider it attempted murder) - and there are cameras at many stop lights. Actually, my biggest worry is vapor locking during a run. I have been slowly pushing my distance and total time out on my runs - but my pace is also slowly dropping... grr. But around a certain point, I hit a wall and start feeling off and that is where I stop. Am hoping when the heat drops I will get back to normal... but not for a few weeks yet...

Doha weather - pretty easy job being a weather person here....

Last weekend I Ubered out to Festival City Mall to do a little shopping and sight seeing, Festival City is a huge mall - not quite Mall of America - but it is close. The newest attraction is an indoor sledding hill - with snow - it seemed pretty popular. I opted to dine at Texas Roadhouse and have a burger - sort of strange listening to country music and chowing down on a burger and fries. But it was a nice change of pace. (one minor difference - you don't throw the peanut shells on the floor there - they give you a cup to put them in).

Vans at Festival City mall - trying to excite my teenage daughter about her upcoming visit

One more submarine story: I found this old pic from my active duty days. Back in the early 1990s, there was a TV show about a submarine called 'Seaquest DSV' starring Roy Scheider of 'Jaws' fame - and Dr. Robert Ballard (the guy who found Titanic...) was technical adviser. To get a feel for submarine life, they came out and rode our sub, and I happened to be assigned as their escort officer. So, for a couple of days, I got to hang with them a bit, even spent some time chatting with Scheider about some of his non-Jaws movies that I liked. (2010, Blue Thunder, and French Connection) I didn't get any cameos in the series out of it... I recall the series started off OK, but then they got more into weird sci-fi stuff to try to boost the ratings, Scheider publicly complained, and finally quit after season 2.