Working Nights
They put me on nights after I got back from Maryland. It hasn't been as terrible as I thought it would be but it's still brutal... especially around that 4am, 5am mark. It's not as busy at night and I'm usually not rounding on my patients as much, mainly because I don't want to disturb them while they're trying to get some sleep. I like the people I work with on nights... well most of them at least, they're pretty laid back. It's tough keeping the night schedule routine though, and it's been keeping me from watching the world cup! =( The other day, I came home from work and got in bed by 8am. I set an alarm to get up to watch the USA vs. England game (which was airing at 11:30am PT) but I ended up setting my alarm for 11:30pm. So I slept from 8am all the way til 5:40pm!!! I couldn't believe I had slept that long. Of course when I got up, I had 20min to get ready to go back to work.
Visitors
My friend's brother and his friend were taking a road trip along the CA coast and was planning on spending a couple days in the SD/Oceanside area. I don't know my friend's brother too well but I've met him a couple times and he's a pretty chill and funny guy. They were supposed to spend a couple nights in the area at a friends place but that didn't work out too well. Apparently, this guy already had 2 other people staying in his crowded apartment and his place was pretty trashed and smelled of urine. So I offered my living room and they ended up staying two nights. I took them on a quick drive thru of base, went to the pier and had burgers right on the pier over the water. The next day, we met up with his dad and went to this park with tide pools, and an awesome view of SD. Oh and I finally tried a California Burrito! I don't know about other people, but I still prefer Chipotle! It was a fun time.
At the bottom when the tide is low, there are small pockets/pools where animals sometimes get stranded. The tide was high that day so we didn't get to play in the tide pools.
View of SD (Picture does it no justice and it was gloomy that day- see below)
Visiting the seals in La Jolla
June Gloom
As you can see from the pics above, June Gloom is upon us. This is when the clouds come in from the shore and it's overcast and cloudy most of the day. Sometimes it'll break and we'll get the sun back in the afternoons. I don't mind so much though since the gloominess helps me sleep when I get off work at 7am in the morning!
M-9
I was sad that we never got to play with, erhh I mean learn about weapons and guns during ODS. We got to do other training like fire fighting, mending a sinking ship, etc, but no guns. I finally got a chance to learn about the M-9 Pistol before I left for Maryland. Guns can be pretty scary especially if you've never handled one before. I was fortunate enough to have my cousin (ex Army) take me shooting once back in Maryland. I remember being totally freaked out and scared (mainly because I didn't know anything about guns and never handled one before). Anyways, our training was two days. The first day, we had to sit thru class time for most of the morning. In the afternoon, we got to actually handle (an unloaded) weapon. We took it apart, put it back together, then went out back and practiced our stance and drawing our weapon from the holster. Drawing your weapon from the dang holster is the hardest part, not aiming and firing! Next day, we got to go out to the range (somewhere on base in the middle of some dessert mountains/open fields aka middle of nowhere) and fire the weapon. Afterward, we came back, took the weapon apart, cleaned them, and put them back together. I finally felt like a real (and badass) military member. hahahaha. I want to go out to the shooting range and practice some more so I can earn my expert/sharp shooter. Now that I've learn about the weapon, I'm not as scared about it. Thinking about getting one... maybe? haha
Earthquakes
Since I've moved here, there have been a few small earthquakes. The first one I noticed was when I was at work. You could feel the place rumble and shake but it wasn't too big (one of my coworkers who was up walking around didn't notice). The other night though, we had a 5.7 mag quake centered southeast of me. It was kinda freaky and scary! I was sitting in my living room watching TV and then all of a sudden, the place starts rumbling and swaying. I hope this doesn't mean we are in for a big one like some of the news stations are saying.
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Things can get pretty lonely out here but it's a great place to be. I love the area and the scenery and weather is awesome. Being independent isn't easy but I'm learning a lot. And I'm also really enjoying the military. Granted there are a lot of pains and things (usually) don't go your way but I'm really proud to serve among my fellow sailors and marines. I never thought I'd feel this way, but I hope they deploy me in the next couple years. I'm ready to see the world!
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to having more visitors later this week!
