Change-of-Command

Introduction
First, let me begin by apologizing for slacking the past few weeks on my blog. I really have no excuse, save that I’ve been pretty busy at work, what with us getting ready to push out into the field for two weeks on top of preparing for our change-of-command.

Change-of-Command and Retirement
Speaking of change-of-commands, NMCB FOUR’s happened yesterday. Usually, these things go down in the summer, but our skipper rolled early so that he could take a high-profile job (read: desk jockey position) at the Pentagon. The ceremony went off mostly without a hitch. The only major mistake was when Constance (a fellow officer and the MC for the day) announced the arrival of the official party before they actually showed up—oops! As a result, YNC (without checking to see if the car had pulled up next to him) rang his bell and Boats began to pipe aboard the first VIP even though he didn’t see anyone. Fortunately, this obviously all happened before the official party arrived, so Constance was spared much embarrassment (not that I won’t let her forget it. While I’m in the middle of an aside, let me also say that we all missed seeing Jason [another officer and friend whose moved on to bigger and better things] standing tall and proud like Mr. Roboto in front of the troops).

For my part, I did the invocation and benediction as always. It’s nice being the one doing the prayers because it means that I always get to sit up front with all the VIPs in the big comfy chairs under the awning while the rest of the poor NMCB FOUR suckers had to stand out in the sun. As they say, “choose your rate, choose your fate.” I guess about a half-dozen troops fell out on the grinder, but all that action happened behind the formation so it didn’t interrupt the ceremony…

Right after the change-of-command and the reception following (no one spilled pink punch on me this time), I came home, changed out of my choker whites (I promise photos soon) into my service dress blues and headed over to the chapel at Point Mugu. There, I invocated and benedicted for two IT1s who were retiring from Navy Satellite Operations Command. In the past month, I’ve done three retirement ceremonies for people outside of our command and one yacht club opening off base. The base chapel has but one chaplain now, so I’ve tried to take the load off of him for some of these ceremonies…

Leg Update
As you loyal readers know, my left leg has been giving me some trouble of late. It’s the same leg I’ve had surgery on before for exercise-induced compartment syndrome, back in December of 2000. Well, I’ve had many of the same symptoms, so Doc thinks it might be the same thing. Sadly, no one in the area has the equipment to test for it (basically, they jab huge needles into the muscle to test the pressure), so off to UCLA I went after I got an x-ray at the base clinic first to rule out anything being broken. Unfortunately, despite knowing what my issue was, the orthopedic center down there did not schedule me with the sports medicine doctor, but with a doctor who deals with smashed up and arthritic people. Oh well. He didn’t think that it was compartment syndrome, so he wouldn’t do the test which was the whole reason I went down there. He did suggest that I get an ultrasound done to see if maybe I have blood clots of a cyst in my leg. I asked if I could get it done while I was down there and he said, “well, it’s almost 3:00, so probably not.” I didn’t know that hospitals shut down early! You’d think that they’d at least be 9-5! At any rate, I paid 8 bucks in parking and had to drive all the way to LA to have a doctor write me out a prescription for an ultrasound. What a waste of a day. Sad to say though, it still almost beat having to spend the day at the battalion. Now Doc has put in another consult for me to go down to the hospital of Camp Pendleton, where they will do the test for me. I’m so looking forward to another day of driving all over Southern California! The only positive thing about the trip is that I now know where a) Bel Air is and b) where UCLA is. I must say that it’s in a nice part of LA, but the campus is way too urban, way to integrated into the city and way to big. I would hate to be a student going there! I must also say that the students looked way too young. Then again, I do hit 28 in July, so maybe I’m getting too old…

The Philadelphia Story
After running around all day dispensing prayers, Melissa and I settled down for homemade pizza and a movie once baby passed out for the night. We watched The Philadelphia Story, which I’ve never seen before. In fact, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Ms. Hepburn in a movie at all, so I enjoyed discovering a new actress. The movie was excellent; the play it is based off of must be pretty good, because the plot and dialogue really crackled. Of course, when you have Mr. Grant, Mrs. Hepburn and Mr. Stewart all in the same movie, one is bound to have a hit. Being the nerd that I am, I had to research unfamiliar actresses, so I hopped online and checked out the bios of Ms. Hepburn and the woman who played her younger sister. This next note is for my sister Naomi: did you know that Ms. Hepburn was offered the role of Marilla in the Anne of Green Gables movie? She turned it down but suggested her great-niece for the role of Anne (she ended up playing Diana). I suppose that some of you wonder why I take such great interest in this. I realize that this may bring my manhood into question, but I’ve read through the entire Anne of Green Gable series several times. That said, I think all of the movies are horrid, especially since they take such liberty with the books. It’s just as well that Ms. Hepburn didn’t star in it.

Conclusion
Well, it smells like baby Sarah needs a diaper change. She’s rolled over on her belly on the playmate, a new skill she’s been practicing a lot of late. Mommy is down for a nap, so I suppose I must bear the responsibility for changing the little one. That and I need to make myself some breakfast. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!