A Different Kind of Watch

I find myself on watch again. This time, though, I'm on the 8PM to 8AM watch. Fun, fun, fun. So I get to try to keep myself awake for the next 11 or so hours. The good news is that I probably got a good night to do it. The NFL preseason starts tonight (well, today in the states). So at 3AM we'll get to watch Pittsburgh at New Orleans. I'd probably wake up for that anyway.

I haven't flown since last week. So far I've gone through three alerts with no calls. As has been pointed out, that's not really a bad thing. It means that the guys down in this area are at least doing all right.

I managed to get to church today. Unfortunately, especially with the alert schedules, I don't always get to make it. It was good to make it. It had been a few weeks since I'd gone last. I was the only Navy guy there. I tried not to rub it in. Just kidding. Most of the congregation are going through here on their way to less friendly places up north. I pray that church is the only place I have to see them (as opposed to the back of my helicopter). I've had a lot of people ask what I want. I'm really grateful for the packages that I've received. However, if you know someone pounding the ground in Iraq, send them your packages. I'm living in paradise compared to what those guys go through.

I'll probably be posting throughout the night as stuff occurs to me. That should be interesting. You can experience my mind going downhill as I approach 24 hours awake. I do have DVDs to keep myself awake. I've got the second season of Battlestar Galactica and Transformers. Wow. On the geek scale, I'm about one step away from playing video games in my parents' basement. Of course, I've never claimed that pilots - excuse me, "Naval Aviators" - are anything other than geeks with really, really cool jobs. Oh, did I mention our hot wives? :-D