Oh, Jenn...

I didn’t get to the tailor in time for the floor-length aqua wonder to be altered so I made an attempt to compensate for the extra room in the bust with a strapless push-up slip. In the dressing room it made my tits look great. But when I brought it home, and tried it on under the dress, it sadly wasn’t enough. So I just bought a pair of silicone inserts to slip into my slip from the As Seen on TV® folks.

This woman has driven me to a new low.

It's a Girl!

The Skipper introduced our new executive officer on Friday and she is a she. I can’t remember her name, but she’s petite, well groomed, and seems very professional. It felt good to look to the front and see one of my people. I’m glad she’s here.

A Bond

After I finished playing soccer with the chubby kids this afternoon Mad Dog came up to me in the hall:

MD: EA2, have you seen Carver?

EA2: Chief. Carver?

MD: No, not Chief Carver. Carver. He should have been at FEP (chubby kid soccer).

EA2: Who's Carver?

MD: ...rolls his head... Big bald kid. Second Squad. Looks like Santa Claus.

EA2: Do you mean the guy with the lips? I contort my lips to resemble the alleged Carver's lips, which really are bizarre in an unnatural way.

MD: ...pause... bloodshot eyes sparkle... laughs... Yeah, I guess that's him.

EA2: I haven't seen him. He didn't play soccer with us.

I think, in those few moments, we officially bonded and that can only be good. On top of it, it's only 5:10 and I'm home from work. Things are looking up.

They Love to See You Smile

A few weeks ago I met a man, Geoffrey, for coffee in Santa Monica. I worked for him during undergrad at DePaul and hadn’t seen him for ten years. He approached my table on the sidewalk and I rose to greet him. We hugged with emotion. And the first thing he said to me was, “You still have that smile.”

During FEX an exasperated Senior Chief said to me, “As long as you keep smiling EA2 I know I can get through this.”

I have had men at work tell me that they look to my smile to get through the day. And when they say that I always wonder why it is my responsibility to make them feel good about themselves. At my worst their comments make me indignant and frustrated at my situation. At my best I smile in resignation and accept my position.

I’ve never understood why my smile gets so much press until today.

There is a Lieutenant, about 5’5” with a face that looks like a caricature, and I don’t know his job in the battalion. We sat next to each other for a few hours in the back of a MTVR during FEX for Rapid Runway Repair and that’s all that I’ve worked with him. But still, every time I see him, he greets me by name and gets a big grin on his face. No matter what I’m doing, or what's eating at me, his smile makes me feel comfortable and calm.

My lesson is learned. I will always smile freely.

Pool

I just pulled the wedding invitation out of my mailbox and it's the same wretched color as my dress.

2000

Mad Dog extended our working hours to 8 pm, which means I’m now scheduled for thirteen and a half hour workdays. It’s especially crazy because there isn’t any work for me to do.

Two days ago my squad leader asked me for a list of tools and materials that I would need for the bridge and for a man-day estimate of my labor expended on the project. With a little help from my EA1 it took half an hour to figure it out. I submitted my requests and asked some follow-up questions:

I heard that the contractors do all the concrete testing in Cuba. Is that true or do I need to order cylinders?

Silence. He writes something down.

You should also ask who is going to break the cylinders. If it’s me, then we’ll need to be sure to order them – three per truck – but if not then the engineering firm that does the breaks should provide the forms as a part of the breaking fee.

I’ll ask. But if we do have to order them how many will you need?

It depends on the size of the trucks. Are you going to order the crete 10 yards at a time?

…I don’t know.

Well, once we know that we can count up how many cylinders we’ll need.


The prints say we’re going to blue top a small portion of the road leading up to the bridge on both sides. Is that all the blue top we’re doing or do I need to order extra stakes?

Uh… that’s one of the things I need to ask. I don’t know if we’re supposed to blue top anything or not. You think we are?

Well, it says we’re going to on the prints.



Confusion encourages smoke brakes, smoke brakes encourage coffee breaks, coffee breaks lead to gossip, and all that wasted time means nothing gets done. That’s why we’re doomed to an 8 pm closing time.

The Love of Good Women

running errands

shopping on Melrose

Venice Beach

more Venice

The weekend was a stew of comfort, confidences, gossip, and laughter. And it was decided, by all who participated, that the innagural JP Fest West™ will be repeated year after year.