Official Big E Rx Site

Fire In The Hole? ....

I figure that I've been out of the navy long enough to tell a story or two and that I won't get sent anywhere that'll make me have to watch out after the ole' cornhole. This is about the first time Kai came to division and was to do maintenance with myself and Lumpy. We were sent on a flexabrase job on 4 SSTG. I had been on the boat quite awhile and had done plenty of PMS but had never done the full on job before and neither had Lumpy. We were supposed to be showing our nub how to do things right...but certain facts just weren't there. It had made sense to me at the time to take the brushes and tape them up so that they couldn't come in contact with the slip ring assembly and get the nice "arcing and sparking" that everyone loves to avoid. But this wasn't exactly mentioned in the card or maybe we didn't even have the card at the time but at any rate I called Chief "Streaker" and asked him if my idea had any merit and he told me "No, just stick them up above the slip rings out of the way and they'll be okay. The condensate had to be brought up to do this, and the TG was to be placed at the low speed stop so we could perform the flexabrase. For those of you who have never done such a thing, it's akin to placing a huge eraser on the slip ring assembly to make a good commutator film. So I'm sitting on the TG waiting for the knuckledraggers to get the thing rolling and I'm facing away from the TG. In front of me are Lumpy and Kai, facing the machine...when all of a sudden I see their faces go ashen, and then see bright flashes out of the corner of my eye as slag goes flying all over the place!!! The mechanics are calling out fire running all over the engine room and I'm screaming for them to trip the TG offline, but no one is listening to me. HEY, NO TURNY TURNY, NO VOLTAGE, NO SPARKS DUMB ASS!!!! Finally someone with some sense trips it off line, but not before the inport fireteam has been called for and everyone's making a huge deal out of it all. Granted, arcing and sparking is not a good thing, but it wasn't like the O2N2 plant had just exploded, and nothing was really on fire. I call the load dispatcher and tell them that the TG is hozed and that when it cools off I'll come close enough to inspect it. Yeah, we showed that nub how to do maintenance alright!!! Turns out the carbon brush assembly got shaken loose, and fell onto the slip rings and completely disintegrated it into slag. The carbon brush was gone. But other than that nothing was damaged, slip rings were fine and everything. Everyone learned a valuable lesson that day...and ended up having a good chuckle out of it too.

Crackhead Bob...the legend continues.

2/7/05

Reunion Scuttlebutt:

From Blue Lou:

I'm with you Joe but I have to tell you guys, May is a bad month for me to leave the wife and head out to Vegas to play with the boys. Her birthday is in the first week and our anniversary is in the last week (May 23). Add in Mother's day in the second week and I don't see May working. April however is perfect I think. It's after Easter and before May. Weather is good in Vegas that time of year and it's still too cold for me to take the boat out back home. I suggest April!

From Mark G:

May does not work for me either. I’ll be sitting on the beach in Mexico sipping a cool one for a big chuck of May then back to West Virginia to cook up some shine and build my mom a new outdoor shitter. It’s hard to get good ingredients for moon shine in Arizona. I am going to try and work out a deal with Ram to rent me a corner of his warehouse to set up a still.

If a weekend is selected that I can make, I will be there. All of April works for me! I look forward to seeing you guys! Take care!

From KP:

April is okay with me as well. What say you, other Big E-ians currently buried under snow while Mark G. and I sip cool ones in shorts and T-shirts?

From Lou Again:

How about April 22-24, or any time that week? Second question, who all are bringing wives?

Pat Hoban:

... think I can swing April. May is definitely out. Motorcycle trip(s) planned already. I'll bring my wife if that's the majority............ LOL! Oh crap! That's her birthday! I guess I'll bring her. Great to here from everyone.

I met with Bryen Sinkkanen in West Virginia last year. I'll pass the info along.

Cheers,

Pat

Hey - has anyone had contact with Greg Davis? I lost his contact about 6 years ago

From Dale Keys:

April works for me, too. Anyone considered Laughlin vs. Vegas?

PS What's this about "air-conditioned switchgears"? The only time those swamp coolers worked was when it was below 70 anyhow. On the line they put out enough humidity to rot your clothes on a SWGR watch.

I remember the first calculator I ever saw. My buddy Bill Langston bought a simple add/sub/mult/divide with a liquid crystal display in Hong Kong for $250 in 1970. I remember seeing the glow of the display late at night through his curtain as he played with that thing.

From Hippo:

Re. Reunion: When I read the excuses/explanations/prevarications, etc., it struck me that it is a miracle that the "E" ever got underway. I can picture the Captain sitting in his chair on the weather deck, counting heads as they cross the brow. When the number reaches a critical mass, he jumps to his feet and gives the XO a high 5.......hippo

[I'll add all further comments about reunion in series with other messages below]

Fire In The Hole Part II ....

Anyone else remember Mike Wl__arski? I know there are many stories about his time on board the 'Prise. The best one I have is about when he set himself on fire in 1MMR...using my lighter no less. Was a weekend duty day, everything shut down/cooled down and had been for a while. Absolutely nothing going on. Mike asked if he could borrow my lighter and promptly started playing with it. I guess in looking back we should have been more worried when he found the can of alcohol. He poured some alcohol on the deck and lit it on fire, chanting "fire..fire" in a Beavis voice. He then moved his pyromania to the mmr workbench. So far no damage had been done to anything. Then he decided to put some on the end of his boot .." look ! I'm on fire..heh heh heh" For his final performance of the day he thought it would look cool to have flame running up his pants leg. So without hesitation he poured a decent amount of alcohol on his cloth pants leg. Which immediately soaked all the way through to the skin so that when he lit it on fire it was burning inside his pants as well on the outside. To our credit we did think about hosing him down with the fire hose when he started screaming but for the first minute of two we were laughing too hard. He did get the flames put out by patting them out in the rag bin ( we were all lucky the whole bin didn't go up) His excuse when he went to medical ? " I was cleaning and my foot got stuck under some steam pipes" Any way that's my story of the flaming RM in 1MMR

Bearpaw

2/9/05

Enterprise Folklore ....

The other day at lunch one of our new engineers was talking about her husband's job in the nuclear power industry. Somehow the conversation stirred up some long forgotten memories. Some of the following is first hand memory. Other items are strictly hear-say. Just thought I'd throw this out there.

In the late 1950s construction was started on CVA-65. It was meant to be a conventional carrier but Adm. Rickover got the go-ahead to build a nuke carrier at about this time so he took it over. Story goes that when it came time to make the choice of power plants the Admiral said, "It was meant to have 8 boilers, so give it 8 reactors." This lead to the unique design of CVAN-65. (Conventional CVA hull with 8 relatively small reactors.) This combination gave it a longer, leaner, lighter hull with more power than the later Nimitz class carriers. Supposedly this made her faster too.

Originally classified as CVAN, after the '74/75 cruise the E went through some refitting and came out designated as CVN. We were told this changed the ship's mission parameters, but from where we sat in the hole, nothing really changed.

In early 79 the E went to Bremerton for overhaul. This was when the distinctive fixed array radar "beehive" was removed from the island. I understand this was also when the Phalanx gun system was installed.

I remember the limiting engineering factor to ships speed as being torque on #1 shaft since it was by far the longest. I seem to remember 2.17MM ft/lb as the limit. Rumor had it, this would twist the shaft one and a quarter turns between reduction gear and screw.

In NucAcademics our instructors, while teaching us basic physics, would have us figure how fast a fly would have to travel to stop the Enterprise at a flank bell. I forgot the mass of the fly, but we were given 88,000 tons as the mass of the E. It was also said that it would take 5 miles to do an emergency stop from a flank bell.

The Long Beach had a superstructure that looked just like our island. Story goes it had been built for CVAN 66 but they decided to go conventional (which called for a conventional island), so they put it on the Long Beach. I've heard since from guys who served on the Long Beach that this made for a top-heavy ship with a rough ride.

Supposedly we got our reduction gears "used". They came off 2 decommissioned cruisers. (I always thought they looked small for so large a ship.)

2/11/05

KP Note: Didn't they keep the LB superstructure and put it in a museum somewhere? Or was it scrapped like all the other metal parts?

Ike Bitten

Have you guys been looking over the Ike Bites website lately? They got over 77 stories on their already! I've now added "IB" into my daily routine, as I love reading sea stories. One thing is clear: The Ike boys were quite a gang. Like us Big E nukes, they seemed to take on the personality of their ship. I doubt any two other carriers can say that (I base that on the fact that these are the only two carriers I know of with ex nukes willing to devote so much time celebrating their ship's history.) Try and get a bunch of Nimitz nukes or CVinson nukes to do this! Here's a tale I've gleaned from yesterday's postings. It made me chuckle and think of so many similar events on the E:

"... remember all the training Nukes had to go through just to open a friggin' primary valve? Christ we even had to qualify Primary Valve Operator as if it were a watchstation. Special valve wrenches, torque specs, molycoat (Is that what it was called?)... Anyway, all that went out the window once, when Chief C___s went to operate a stubborn valve. I talked to someone who was there and he said C___s threw his (considerable) weight into unsticking this valve. ... And it did just what NRO feared it would (which is why they had established such elaborate training) - It broke. So we spent the rest of the cruise with CDV-1D poly bagged, and the primary system compromised. Because he was a Senior Chief he never came to grief about it - and in true Naval tradition, placed the entire blame on the valve itself! But then, who am I to talk - I once almost delayed the RX startup due to breaking one of the dogs on the R/C door. - But we ended up getting it repaired in time..."

2/11/05

Enterprise Info:

Hey just surfing when I should've been working. Check this out: Link 1

According to this our old ship will be replaced by the next keel laid. "The next generation of carrier, CVN 21, the hull number will be CVN 78, is programmed to start construction in 2007 and is slated to be placed in commission in 2014 to replace USS Enterprise (CVN 65 which will be over its 50-year mark. CVN 79 is programmed to begin construction in 2012 and to be placed in commission in 2018, replacing USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) in her 50th year."

Further surfing: Link-2

This gives a narrative history of the Enterprise. Of particular interest to me were the 86 and 88 cruise verbiage. After reading that stuff I'm thinking I'm some kind of war hero. Funny at the time I recall we all thought it was just cool and never at any time went to GQ or thought that we were in any real danger of attack. Isn't that crazy?

Louie Wingo

2/11/05

KP Note: Don't forget Lou, we got Navy Expedition Medals, Battle Es and MUCs for the '86 cruise and Armed Force Expedition Medals and JMUCs for the '88 cruise---and jack shit for the '89 pac.

In 86, when all that Libya stuff was going on, I remember we couldn't wait for that ol' boson whistle to pipe across the 1MC so the old man could tell us what was going on. The only place you couldn't hear the 1MC was inside the RC and that's where I was when Spane finally came over the 1MC to tell us what was up. I was pissed (not to mention 10-lbs lighter after plugging s/g u-tubes wearing 3 sets of anti-cs). To be honest, that chinfo.navy.mil link (above) had the most detailed account of what happened during Op Praying Mantis than anything else I ever saw written about it. Us below deck folks really had no idea what was going on but we knew it was big because they were moving lots of bombs through the mess decks (the big laser-guided kind, with the tags hanging from the pins). I recall I penned a cartoon in our 4SWGR dopeybook showing how RE04 contributed to the war effort. Basically it showed all the action happening topside and us RE04 dudes asleep in our pits.

Zippy Yankin' It?

Hey Ram!!

That picture of Blisterdick’s board is the best. G__vin and Zippy, oh my god…Talk about chronic clusterfuckitis…I had them blocked from my memory until I saw the Dopey book page.

Remember those all- nude clubs in San Dog? You know, the ones with naked college Girls but no drinking…Any mid-80’s E-divvers remember the night Zippy yakked on himself in one of those joints? T’was a classic…

TROLL

KP Note: Can't say I ever saw Zippy yanking anything except his torso through that manhole on the watertight hatch leading down to Central;) [KP Note^2: After a few days I re-read this and realized Troll said Zippy "Yakked," not "Yanked." I'm not sure which visual is worse, Zippy yanking or yakking at an all nude club. Sorry for the confusion--and bad dreams this must have caused.]

Somewhere in my vast pile of crap is a "Pacers" card. When I found it I was gonna scan it and post in on this website as a quiz (i.e., where was this place?) But my scanner broke. Now, why did I have a Pacers card? That place sucked. But it was guaranteed that when you were in San Diego, and it was evening, there was absolutely nothing to do. You'd swear you weren't going to go to Pacers ... but, come, 10ish, when you were bored, that's where you wound up 'cause you knew EVERYONE in RX and Eng Dept. was there. Who else still has a Pacers Card? Does the place even still exist?

Mark Serna Comes Aboard!

Ram, Ding me aboard. I want a stinger too!

Great seeing all the stories. My memory banks were re-opened and I found myself remembering a whole vault of names and information.

I was able to escape the Pig in July of 1987 along with a large group of others to go build the Stinkin Linkin.

I was on the fateful S/G inspection job. Part of Day crew. Weren't we on 12 hr shifts? Didn't "know" Mike Bowden but as you said that event affected us all. I didn't even want to go into the RC after that. I remember Lurch coming in to the RT classroom and he wouldn't even look at us as he told us we were going to take a day off.

Saw the pic of Galbraith, Howard, Lorenz and myself.

So far I see no mention of John McKnight. John used to cook pasta out of his pit and make his own butter and garlic sauce. That actually improved the smell of RM berthing.

Speaking of berthing, I remember having a bottom pit and it was right above laundry. I was sent a care package that had chocolate in it. I ended up with a big chocolate mess inside my pit. A thermometer was put up in berthing and it actually read 110 degrees and not a goddamn thing was done about it. Nowadays some chiefs head would roll if he allowed his troops to live under those conditions.

I have a great story about a bunch of us not able to find a room in Toulon ('86 WP) that I know a few people would recall. I will save that for later.

Great site, links, pics and seeing all the old guys. I will scan some pics of my own.

Songs: A School (Glakes)-"Hold Me Now" by the Thompson Twins and 99 Luftballoons; West Pac '86 -"Don't you…..Porget about me". You could hear that one coming from CAL JAM Magsaysay a mile away. "Olongo-Polo" Shirts

Take care,

Mark Serna RM-11 1986-1987

nucruiter00@hotmail.com

2/11/2005

KP Note: Hey Mark! I totally remember you. At first I couldn't place a face to your name but when I looked at the '86 cruisebook-Bam, I knew exactly who you were. You were a very familiar face in many of my '86 westpac memories.

More From Mark:

Okay so now you have me starting my own journal of what I can remember.

Toulon, France: My memory escapes the exact group of us were involved but there were about 6(or more) of us. Unless I can produce a picture I will not remember but here goes:

Me, Mike Galbraith, Todd Moody, Greg Hayden, Rich Lorenz, maybe Rob Howard (that's 6) all set out on the 1st day of libs in Toulon. We packed our shit we would need for the next few days because we weren't coming back. Not no way… not no how. First order of business as with any port was cold beer and real food. After dickin around for a few hours we decide it's time to find a hotel. As usual, us cheap bastards were only going to spring for a room with maybe one bed and split the cost so we could preserve the fundage for more important things. We started out looking for hotels. Then it became motels. Then rooms. We talked ourselves into thinking something was bound to open up. We walked for MILES around Toulon. Our minds quickly shifted to finding the next bar. From that point forward not a one of us cared about getting a room. We drifted from bar to bar until each one closed and before getting kicked out, would get directions to the next one that was still open. The last bar closed at about 4 am. All of us had our overnight bags that meant nothing at the time. We were so f-king tired we just wanted to sleep. In a moment of panic, someone suggested going back to the pig. That was immediately squashed and the subject was never reopened for discussion. We started walking (really I had no idea where we were headed) and we came upon the beach. By this time the temperature had dropped down to at least jacket weather. We sat on the beach and next thing you know we all started digging individual holes in the sand. We actually buried ourselves in sand on the beaches of Toulon in order to survive. I woke up to see families on their weekend trips to the beach, kids poking at us and laughing. We really only got about 2 hours sleep, were fully clothed in the same clothes we left the ship in and to say the least HUNGOVER big time. We found an Espresso shop and downed a couple shots and then continued until we finally succumbed to the E. Never before did I think that I would ever WANT my pit so bad.

No mention of Bob "Earl" Sandwich or PJ Hammer.

By the way, it took me 2 days to wade through every one of these stories just to catch up. I have a piece of Bishop's rock and the head of a rivet out of the hull of the Big E. I wonder if it has any counts on it…hmmm. I will take a shot of it and send it to you.

Mark Serna

Photo of Big E in rearview mirror:

KP Note: Is it true "PJ" isn't mentioned on this site? C'mon, someone, send in your PJ memories. PJ and I were great pals. I recall drinking many a San Miguel with the lad.

Port Louis ....

Ram, reading Pat's entry about Port Louis brought back a few sparks of memory. Mauritius was a rugged, green, and welcome sight after the dusty, hot, and bleak few days we had spent in Mombassa. Like Pat said we were on a good will mission to provide aid and comfort to the Mauritainians after a cyclone passed through. We had steamed at a Flank bell since leaving Mombossa and arrived at Port Louis along with a French carrier the "Clemenceau" and a Soviet warship, which did not stay long after we arrived. Mauritius was still a French possession (they had not petitioned for independence yet) and the Clemenceau was there to show the flag. Soon, a couple of U.S. supply ships arrived and began to offload water pipe, sewer tile, telephone poles, telephone line, electric wire, tools. food, medicine, candy, soap, water, anything and everything seemed to be packed onboard those ships. We had formed work parties and began to shuttle ashore by liberty barge, captains yacht, and helo. A lot of sweat went into that brief few days and we left Mauritius a much better place than it ever was before. The people were so grateful that the French Governor wanted to show his appreciation by throwing a party. Unfortunately only a few would be lucky enough to attend and the last few work parties ashore were showered with a first class party. I did not attend but heard many similar tales of buffet tables and plenty of adult beverages and lots of babes to help give a great send off. While aboard I played host to a couple of French sailors, ( several of our crew went the Clemenceau and several of theirs came to the Enterprise) It was hard to communicate but we managed to get the general ideas across, I think? I traded a raghat for one of the French covers with a little red fluffy ball on top and the ship's name around the bottom of the cover. The frogs got a liquor ration with their meals and even had a sort of pub on board. One of the bright spots of being there was the private motorboats that would come out to see the Enterprise and the women on board would be topless or naked. This damn near drove the guys on deck wild. Those little French babes loved to show their stuff. I'll never forget Port Louis, I'd like to go back someday, (like a lot of places we all have been) and get a feel for the people and the countyside. I wonder if they remember us as well?

R2O

2/13/05

Searching ....

Ram –

The site is getting so big and stories so varied. Have you ever thought of installing some type of search function?

KP Note: In the early days I did have a search engine on the index page but because "Mooj.com" is a multiple parent website (i.e., I have many websites on it, not just the KP site) I had stuff being 'exposed' that I didn't want seen by the general public. Mainly, the forms people were submitting to The Mooj for helpful advice. (The forms were sent back to my server as an HTML page.) The Best way to find something on the KP Site is to use Google and type in "Mooj + whatever it is you're looking for" Google won't take you into my private pages. I know this site is pretty long and clumsy now (it's got over 300MB of stuff on it) but I can't do much about it unless I start over from scratch. Perhaps it's in the cards to phase this site out and start another with a more useful setup and URL (like BigEnukes.com or something). Or, perhaps, a "blogger" type site would do better. I have no idea. All I know is I can't get my beloved Yuengling in Arizona:(

Big Red & Marsh Go See Luschner ....

Ram,

Just did a quick check of the site and saw the congrats. Thank you. I appreciate it. Little Cecile is doing great. About time my lazy ass started a family. I'll try to check in more often. Boy the site has grown. Makes me proud that I'm actually on the first page. Those were the days! :) I love the story about you and Guido and Dicko at the Tommys Burger. I'm pretty sure I know the one you're talking about. I'm overdue for a road trip down there.

Speaking of trips to L.A. I made many and that reminds me of a trip I took with Dave Conklin. This was back when we were both still Phone Talkers. We were in a hurry to head out on a particular Friday we had to stand watch, IF, the plant was up. He was first, and I waited for him in berthing as he walked in. The plant was being shutdown and my watch was the one after the one after his. When I asked him if the plant was shutdown, he said something like. "Don't worry, it'll be shutdown, let's GO!" Well, they apparently had trouble shutting the plant down and it wasn't shutdown for my watch, or for his subsequent watch and we both ended up being "Put on the Pad" as Rick Kuhn so elegantly put it. Subsequently we both were sent to Captain's Mast and had to stand tall before Captain Luschner. I was first and he read the story off. "So, you were in a hurry to go have fun in L.A. and blah blah blah." He asked the obligatory questions of my LPO, Wheeler, and the D.O., Penguin, and, of course, they said I walked on water and will shortly bring about world peace, and Luschner let me off with just a stern warning. Well, I found out later from Dave what happened when it came to be his turn. As the Capt. read of HIS rap sheet, he suddenly realized that Dave was my "partner in crime" and he blew his top saying if he had known this, the result would have been very different. He ended it with, "Well, I let the other guy off, so I guess I have to let you off, but DON'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!! Wish I coulda seen that show. Hmm, or maybe not.

Rich

2/15/05

The Floater ....

Ram, This story could be construed as somewhat of a ghost story about the Pig.

After being placed on the Limit List for serving amongst many involved on the S/G inspection job, I was sent to MAA duty. Somewhere in the previous entries there was mention of the token Nuke intercepting speeding tickets before they made their way down to Reactor Dept. That was me. By the way, this was some of the most interesting times I have had in the Navy. Spelunking in the voids of the Enterprise yielded many a treasure. After getting back into Alameda with a quick stand down, the ship headed across the Bay to Hunter's Point. After being there for quite some time, we (MAA's) received orders to box up the personal effects of a sailor who was declared a deserter. This sailor had 3 or 4 different lockers, one being on board the duty barge next to the ship. Strangely, one of the lockers contained things that one would assume you would take with you if you planned on going UA. Family photos, jewelry, cash, etc. Certain items were not allowed to be placed in the shipment, which was to be sent to his home of record. I quickly grabbed a couple of full bottles of cologne, Skilcraft pens with the different colored push buttons, and some small unopened boxes of laundry detergent. I took the items home to the apartment I was sharing with my, at the time, girlfriend in Hayward. A few days or weeks go by (clouded memory) and the ship is moved back to Alameda. I went home that night exhausted. I lay down on the bed and remember my girlfriend talking to me. I immediately fell into a deep sleep within minutes of lying down and felt as if I was being pulled down into the bed. In this dream I recall looking at the foot of my bed and seeing a black silhouette coming in from the door to the footboard of the bed. At the same time I could hear the sound of water filling up an empty bottle. My girlfriend didn't even know I had fallen asleep and woke me up when she saw me trying to grab her. I woke up in a cold sweat and told her what had just happened. The next day we were up in the MAA shack and we received a call stating that the pier needed to be secured due to a "floater" between the piers. We quickly secured the area and yes there was a dead body of a sailor and several feathered friends having a mid morning snack. Once we found out who it was, I realized that I had this guy's possessions, had been using them and also realized the significance of what had happened the night before. The sailor was upset that I had his stuff. The black silhouette (he was a black man), water filling up in a bottle (drowned) and coming into the bedroom (the cologne was right near where the silhouette was standing) were all good enough reasons for me to believe it was him that visited me the night before. I went home that night and threw all of "his" belongings in the garbage. The only thing I could find out about his death is that he was possibly involved with some other person's wife and that there was foul play suspected. The surge that the ship created must have pushed his body out from the pilings. He was still wearing dungarees and had a wallet with cash in it. He may have been knocked out while waiting for the shuttle boat at the pier that took us from Alameda to Hunter's Point.

Do you remember "Taps taps…All hands turn into your OWN racks"

Mark Serna

2/17/05

KP Note: Mark, I remember the "floater." I didn't see him but remember two nuke MAAs sitting in berthing with this ashen look on their faces (was it you and Mike G?). We asked what was up and they told us about the body they just saw fished out of the water. They described it as a body wearing dungarees with most or all of it's flesh missing. I recall it was, as you said, a Big E crewmember, who had been missing for a few weeks.

Wee Hour Tale....

I've been told a million stories by a million different people but the only ones I seem to remember are the ones shared with me by a shipmate, usually told during those long, boring early morning hours while on watch or sitting on a sponson somewhere. One such tale was one that popped into my head a few days ago, of which then I promptly shared with my children because I knew they'd enjoy it (as you can imagine I have few navy tales that I can do this with). Anyway, this was a tale Dicko told me about his father, most likely when we were RTsians, sitting beneath the starlit Indian Ocean sky on that catwalk outside the void. I loved stories about Dicko's father and when I finally met him during Dicko's wedding I felt like I had known him all my life. Here's the tale as I remember it:

Dicko was unlucky as a lad, as his father was his high school principal. One day something happened at the school. I think it was vandalism or something. Dicko said that his dad came over the loud speaker and did the whole, "....I know who did this so turn yourself in ....." Dicko said his whole class did one of those "Yeah right" sounds and ignored the call for surrender. A few minutes later Dicko's father came over the school loud speaker again and said, "Last chance! If you don't come and turn yourself in I'm coming to get you!" Again the whole class made that "yeah right" noise. Well, then out of nowhere, Dicko's dad comes storming into the classroom, walks up to the guilty kid, yanks him from his desk and pulls him away kicking and screaming. Dicko said his dad Always knew what was going on. He was like a super principal or something.

2/17/05

Talkin' Sh_t ....

KP, I don't usually pass along stuff like this to you, since you sound like the kind of guy who is already inundated by the stuff, but I usually don't get good stuff that mentions Nuclear Power. Here goes :

Pat

Subject: are you qualified?

Two strangers are sitting in an adjacent seats in airplane. One guy says to the other, "Let's talk. I hear that the flight will go faster if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger."

The other guy, who had just opened a good book, closes it slowly, takes off his glasses and asks, "What would you like to discuss?"

The first guy says, "Oh, I don't know; how about Nuclear Power?"

The other guy says, "OK, that could make for some pretty interesting conversation. But let me ask you a question first: A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff. But the deer excretes pellets; the cow, big patties; and the horse, clumps of dried grass. Why is that?"

The first guy says, "I don't know."

The other guy says, "Oh? Well then, do you really think you're qualified to discuss Nuclear Power when you don't know shit?"

2/17/05

KP Note: I always enjoy a good joke about nuclear power so I thought I'd share this with the rest of you. The other day I had a dream that I was kidnapped by these terrorists because they thought I knew something about making nuclear weapons. So there I was, being tortured while trying to convince them that I really didn't know shit about anything--because I don't. Maybe I'll write a screenplay about it and try to sell it to my Hollywood pals. But first, I guess, we gotta write Catch 65.....

Skilcraft Pens ....

One thing stood out about the previous story... filching those pens with different colored push buttons...

As watchstanders, our lives were so barren that many (most?) Nukes on IKE had a preoccupation with the colored push buttons on pens... immediately upon getting a new pen, one would remove the steel clicker and the anticipation was on par with finding out how you did on the scratch off lottery... most colors were mundane - but there were several unique colors. (for a while I had the only light brown one). And if you dropped one of these "special" pens in the bilge you'd go bilge diving for it.... Peoples pockets would be adorned with several pens - all a different color. Maybe this was just me - maybe I'm projecting this on everyone else... But I do thik we were so bored that this sentiment was shared.

and...

at D1G, there was a linkage connecting the throttleman's wheel with the throttle valve on the main engine. There were times when the throttleman had to cycle the throttles (maybe before startup???) anyway, all of the mechanics would take that opportunity to hang on to the linkage so the poor buggar could barely even turn the wheel.

2/22/05

KP Note: On the Big E during my era red tabs were the most sought after.

Re: Your Dream ....

Okay, so I have to ask. Did you wake up naked on your stomach with a stick of butter sticking out of your ass?

Louie Wingo

2/22/05

KP Note: Lou, you have one of the best memories I know! No doubt the rest of the gang is scratching their collective heads wondering what that means but I know EXACTLY what you're hinting at. Yes, somewhere in sleepy Perth is a now fully grown woman, who probably remembers fondly a long ago winter when she sat in a hotel room full of Big E squids; and, maybe, she recalls one of them sharing a dream he had one night about being sodomized and then waking up to find himself laying naked on his rack with a pat of butter sticking out of his azz and a smoldering corncob laying on the deck beside him.

"Really?" I recall her saying after this narrative was told so delicately. She then looked around the room to see if the faces of the others betrayed it as nonsense. "No, they all look so serious... even nodding ... It must have really happened..."

Steaming in San Diego ....

KP,

Your recent mention of Pacers shook loose a few San Diego steaming memories. Most first time steamers chose the bars on Broadway. The problem in that area was a lack of women and the ever-present SDPD. The cops had it in for squids, and were always sending a bunch of Rx and Engineering types back to the ship in paddy wagons.

Or you could go down to 32nd street, where most of the ships were berthed. Most of those bars were dives, and unless you were traveling in a pack, it was a good place to get your ass kicked.

As I recall, Pacers was one of two major "titty bars" in the area referred to as "Rosecrans Highway." There was also another one called the "Doll House." As you indicated, you would tell yourself that you wouldn't go there this time in port, but somehow you ended up there only to find all your co workers already there. (Incidentally, a buddy of mine recently spent a couple of days in San Diego and reports that Pacers is still there. If that's a lifetime membership card you have, it should still be good.) There was another place in the area called "Foggy's Notion." It was a hang out for all the young "beautiful people" from the area. Lots of fine looking young women, but if you were a squid…..

Later on someone discovered a bar off Broadway called the "Arirang." It was owned by a Korean woman who was shrewd enough to stock it with cute oriental gals for us squids to ogle and paw at. This eventually became THE M-Div meeting place while in S.D.

Of course there was always T.J. just a short bus ride away, but that's a whole other story.

Memorable music from that time and place : "Dream Weaver" (Gary Wright), "Hotel California" (Eagles), "Fox On the Run" (Sweet) and "Margaritaville" (Jimmy Buffett).

To quote Jimmy B : "There's booze in the blender, And soon it will render, That frozen concoction that helps me hang on."

2/23/05

A DATE HAS BEEN THROWN OUT!!

OK we need to keep the ball rolling:

I'm proposing this:

Meeting time: Friday April 22 at 7pm

Meeting place: House of Blues at Mandalay Bay (meet in the bar outside facing the casino floor)

Accommodations: Up to you, you can stay wherever you want

What you do: Up to you, meet your buddies and make your plans, as for us all getting together and reminiscing, we start at 7 Friday night. Anyone up for Golf on Saturday?

Everything is ala carte, pay for what you want to pay for. No rules except where we're initially hooking up.

We can get a group together as points of contact, I'll volunteer email me for my number.

Louie Wingo

KP Note: My daughter has her First Communion on April 30th and were doing something in mid April so I doubt Mrs. KP minds if I sneak off for a day or two on that weekend. I'm in!

Executive Decision Time!

Okay I slept on it last night and I'm thinking, "why are we so hell bent on Vegas", we could just meet in Phoenix. It's just as easy to fly into and honestly it would just be easier to meet there in my opinion. I don't mean that Ram has to host us all or provide accommodations, I would think there are plenty of hotels and Ram could suggest local watering holes for the event. What do you guys think?

Louie Wingo

2/24/05

KP Note: Hey, I like that idea best! That way I don't have to drive to Vegas. This place is mobbed with Casinos and such so accommodations are plentiful. (Bongo Bill, were did you and your wife stay when you were in Phoenix last month? It was literally a stone's throw from my warehouse).

Let's confirm this by end of next week. Will you come to Phoenix on April 22-23-24? If so email me and I'll keep a tally. If you're hell bent on Vegas, we'll make note of that, too. Maybe our second annual reunion can be there. We need a practice run anyway. By end of next week if we have a majority then I'll declare the reunion ON and look into places that can handle the appropriate number. I can always call the local VFW hall and see if they can host us (hopefully they won't see how behind I am in my dues;). I also have a huge warehouse that can serve as a Friday night gathering place. Golf Saturday? (but I'm not a golfer so others will have to look for a place). By late April it will be "warm" in Phoenix but not yet "hellish."

LET's DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!

REUNION IS A GO!

Alright,

We're finally pushing forward with this and making it happen.

April 22-24 we're going to get together in Phoenix and have some semblance of a reunion of us old swabbies.

Now I don't want any excuses, and I want you to spread the word. I expect you all to be there.

Here's the plan in general:

Friday 4/22 we can meet up in Phoenix, we'll pick the place but if nothing else we can meet up at Ram's warehouse. Generally just reminiscing and getting back in touch that night. Next day we play golf or something to that effect, maybe just hang out some more, we can decide as we go along. Meet back up for a barbecue or something at a local park or whatever. Sunday, pretty much time to go on unless you want to stick around and do something else. Pretty humble but a good chance for us all to get together and see each other after at least 14 long years.

Right now airfares are relatively low and you can probably find any level of accommodations you want in Phoenix. I'm thinking this is a little less expensive than Vegas and easier to manage.

We can work out more of the details as we go but if you're in, or out, let us all know. Truly I hope to see all of you there, you were all huge impacts on my life and I can't wait to see you all again. Right now I know that Pat, Ram, and myself are in. Hope to see the rest of you all there too!

Louie Wingo

2/25/05

KP Note: Lou, do you want the guys to email you?

Reunion Scuttlebutt ....

I can take emails that's fine, just to let you know though, there really is no big coordination, but sure email me and I'll keep a count. The more the merrier!!

Hey Crete, welcome aboard man!!! Crete was another great one from 8503!! Clip clop clip clop clip clop!!!!

Louie Wingo

Sorry, I've got to work that weekend so I don't think I can make it. Book your stuff early, that is the weekend of the NASCAR race in Phoenix.

Chester

Bill and Lou,

Count me in for the reunion. If you could suggest a place to stay I would appreciate it.

Smokin' Joe

KP,

I would love to attend the reunion -- if you guys don't mind an Ike nuc hanging around. I am looking forward to meeting you guys, drinking a few beers and laughing my ass off.

Also, I love that story about the Enterprise khakis reading your website...and that your website has become the "website that must never be spoken."

Mike (from Ike)

Alright!!! Smokin Joe is piping aboard! Ram, you're going to have to clue us in regarding motels.

Lou

I’m there! I’ll even volunteer to help set things up since I’m in Tucson. Busy now. More later.

Mark G.

Not only is NASCAR in town that day, so is the Iron Man triathlon.... Doh! But, let's not give up hope, Phoenix is a big city. There is a hotel complex near my home on the Gila Reservation (big casino, etal). I'll call them this week to see what it looks like. Maybe I'll call the Phoenix tourist commission or something. Sadly, this is my busiest time of year and I don't have but a few minutes each day to sit down (and when I do, it's usually to update the KP Site). As soon as Mrs. KP comes into work I'll beg her to make a few calls for me.

The worst part about being so busy is that I can't find any workers. I have three "full time guys" who are about 67% reliable, meaning that on any given day 2 of the 3 actually show up. Since I need 3 guys to run my bottling machine I decided to hire a 4th person (lest my lazy ass be out there). I've been trying to get a new guy for over a week now. Every morning I have to call the temp agency to scream, "Hey, the guy you were supposed to send this morning NEVER SHOWED UP!" Finally, this morning, much to my surprise, a new guy DID show up. Without saying too much let me just describe him for you: he's about 6 foot-5, weighs no more than 100 lbs, has long black hair and a Satan-like goatee, is wearing black leather pants, has one of those biker wallet chains dangling from his backside and is wearing an 'Insane Clown Posse' T-shirt. But he does appear to speak English. I have no idea what today will be like.

2/28/05

A Tale!

Okay, I'm busy as hell but I Must share this with you guys. Those of you who ran with me back in the Big E days know that if we were in port Alameda, and we didn't have duty, we'd most likely be at any one of the many live music venues in the Bay Area. Larry Blakes, in Berkeley, was our place of choice since it was closest and cheapest. One band we saw every chance we could there was Little Charlie and the Nightcats. These guys were one of my favorite bands. Three nights before we left on Westpac '88 most of RE Div and many others went to Larry Blakes to see Little Charlie. Nitro's little sister (the future Mrs. KP) was there that night as well. This was the night we fell in love. The rest, as they say, is history. After that Mrs. KP and I went to see Little Charlie anytime we could, even when I was a starving student at UCLA. Little Charlie was from the same town as Mrs. KP so he always remembered her when we went up to talk to him between sets or after the show.

So now fast forward fifteen years: A few days ago I was thumbing through the local paper when my eye's bugged out! I saw that Little Charlie and the Nightcats were playing at the Phoenix Blues Blast! Hot damn! We hadn't seen them live since 1991 (or so). So Mrs. KP and I decide to take the kids to the show (in other words we couldn't find a babysitter). After the show Little Charlie was signing autographs so we went up and introduced ourselves (wondering if he still remembered us). As soon as he saw my wife he said, "Hey, Mary from Millbrae (their hometown)." He then told her how back in the old days he really had the hots for her and so he tricked her into giving him her phone number by telling her it was for his fan club. He said that he thought he even called her. Mrs. KP said, "Yeah, I think you did..." All I could do was stand there and look baffled. I wasn't sure whether to be flattered or pissed off that my favorite guitar player of all time tried to muscle in on my gal back in when I was on Westpac '90. When Little Charlie saw all our kids he said something to the effect of "It looks like you did fine without me..."

2/28/05

Kenny Roady Comes Aboard ....

KP I'm sorry, I don't remember you. Thanks for the site. I can't tell you how much it means to have this connection with people who were such a big part of my life. I was roadtoad (roaddog, buddha, pi bimbo banger, george strait, etc) from RC-14 ('86-'88) Roomed with Billy-bob Scoggins in Idaho. Hung out with Fend, Crankshaft, Puffo, Spuds and Miguel, not to mention so many others. Please add me to whatever list you have. Please let everyone know that I would like to get in touch with all of them. Once again thanks. BTW did anyone ever straighten you out on how Spuds Manry got tagged with his nickname?

-- In His service,

Kenny Roady

kar66@swbell.net

2/28/05

KP Note: Roadtoad, how could you not remember me? How many times did I stick my head out of my rack to give you and Billy Bob a ration of shit when the two of you were lingering half-drunk and noisily yapping in the aisle (Billy Bob's rack was above mine). I remember the two of you were always wearing cowboy hats so I'm sure my ration of shit included commenting derogatorily on that fact. Tell us about Spuds. Speaking of Spuds, where is the lad these days? Pfaffffffff promised he'd round him up for us but never did.

Gotta Pipe In .....

KP,

Wow, I got all the way to page 10 and had to put in a story. Started out my first month at Mare Island. Was doing well in class and then one day was called OUT of Class to see some tight azz. Something about illegal rope. It wasn't mine man. I never got a merit badge for knots and ropes. Anyway I went to Captains mast and the good old fellow says, "son we don't want your kind in the newclear navy. Son your going to the fleet." Boy did I feel screwed. Stuck with 5+ years of service and thoughts of chipping paint til my hands fell off.

With great disdain and dread I open my orders. You are to report no later than Sunday APR 7, 1974 at 18:00 hours to the U.S.S Enterprise CVAN 65, Alameda NAS, CA. Where in the hell was this place? The duty PO told me, man your screwed. That tub is just across the bay." Hell, I was an eighteen year old E-4 still dripping water from behind the ears. As with all nubs, I was bullet proof and dumber than donkey shit.

I reported aboard and was assigned to 2AMR. By the time it was all over I was the lowest ranked (E-3) CAMO qualified in both AMR's and Water Control Watch. Enough of the braggin and now onto the no bullshit sea stories. On your site I read about me ship mates that were talking about the haunted pump room. It was number two pump room. I looked on the drawings and never found a number one pump room. Though we did call the number for 1 pump room and got the windless room. I thinks the deck apes may have had that one. But back to the story. I spent many a watch in number two pump room. We hooked up a shower there, we had a library and an old alarm clock. That was to wake you up in 17 to 40 minutes depending how many evaporators were filling and how many chowdales were on board. In the IO the water was so warm you couldn't let your guard down for a second cause you would wash tiles on the second deck.

Onward, 2 pump room was so loud you could barely hear at a shout. The lighting were those incandescent bulbs in those top hat covers. If you lost a couple of those it was like a dungeon. You were alone with your thoughts. If you didn't have the grit it changed you. A couple of nubs couldn't handle it and kept flooding the second deck. One night we were called out three times to mop the second deck. After that I volunteered the watch so I could get some sleep.

Now it was the duty of the old salt to let each new nub know that the place was haunted. It was not hard to do really. You entered the pump room from the second deck from a hatch that was tricky to navigate at first. You went down to the 5th or 6th deck. It was the same as lower level in the plants. Above was some machine room that was just as loud. There was another room on the starboard side of the pump room that was even louder. If the air handler was not set just right or a vent was closed then the pressure would get out of balance and you would get a distinct pop when the 2nd deck hatch was opened.

We would leave the nubs on their first watch alone. To give them confidence I would stick around for a while. Usually long enough to get bad mouthed for questioning the poor numbs manhood. Leave and duck into the room above and set one of the supply vents to three quarters shut. Now it took some time to get a negative balance on the pumproom. After a couple of hours it was time to take a little stroll forward. Then undog the hatch and yank that puppy open as fast as you could. God the screams below could be heard over the din and clang of machinery.

The pump room was so far forward that when going through the Formosa straights the Pig would run over anything in its way. Small timber banging up against the ship some 20 feet under water sounds like you have been hit by a two thousand pounder. With your self all wrapped up in your own head, reading a playboy and day dreaming you just about jump out of your skin.

I was eventually forgiven for whatever I did and was told that after the little two weaker off the Pacific Northwest coast I would be moving back to the AMR. I was extremely happy because when the water is cold it is colder than Davy Jones locker down in 2 pump room. It was the 4-8 watch and I had been coke'n and smokin most the trip. I dressed warm and looked forward to spending some time with my alarm clock. I relieved the watch and checked the line up and levels. Couldn't snuggle down right away because I had a new lineup coming in 15 minutes and it was hell to pay if you woke your mates up to swab the second deck. I changed the line up and scared my self shitless when I noticed someone moving around in the other machine room. The watch nor the log had said anything about anyone being down there at that time of the morning. I know some one is there and can feel it. I open the hatch to confront the person and the space is empty. Every hair on my young ass grew to bristle and straight up. My hair was so extended that my skives felt like fuzzy underwear (another PI story). I know I saw a shadow move by the light. At that moment one of the pumps starts on the deck above which almost makes me stain my skivys. I move out of the space and the lights in the trunk go out. I moved through the pump room out the hatch to the trunk. I must have been white as a sheet. When I put my foot on the rung of the ladder and looked up the lights come back on. The second deck hatch opens up and there stands MM2 D______ with that big dumbass cowboy grin. I had been had. But of course the nubs heard it a different way. For now, sign me Doober Nuke

3/2/05