Come and Gone

Well I just got back from dropping Erik off at the carrier so he can get underway for his Fall deployment. He was back here in Japan for the last 5 days and it was great to be together - we basically just hung around the house so Erik had a chance to relax and spread out, eat non-boat food, and watch football (we wake up at 9am on a Tuesday morning to catch Monday night football in the States - and yes, we still make chili and eat chips despite the technicality that its breakfast time). We definitely got out, though, to do the regular circuit of karaoke, imbibing with friends, and visiting our favorite restaurants like the noodle shop across the street and the Indian place up the road.

Side bar: To clarify, Erik works out of the Atsugi (pronounced At-soo-gi) Naval Air Station. This is where all the hangars and runways are for the air wing. So we live near Atsugi base. But the carrier itself is actually located about an hour south in Yokosuka (pronounced Yoh-koh-ska), which is a huuuuge base and - most importantly - by the water. There are lots of ships down at Yokosuka, so the community is much larger down there. They have a lot more shopping and restaurants on base, so its always a bit of a novelty to pick up/ drop off Erik down there. Our standard is to eat at the Chili's the night before he goes back to "the boat."

Anyhoo, we did go into Tokyo (about an hour train ride) over the weekend to visit the music district and also the electronics district - which may as well be any district within Tokyo as far as I can tell. The music stores were well stocked, and I found humor in the flying V guitars, with 80's metal pumping in the background, and older staff with their salt and pepper mullets. The electronics district was just super busy and was store after store of things like network cable, PC parts, etc. To humor me between the sight and sound overload of those districts, Erik acquiesced to visiting a park I wanted to check out. It was so beautiful and peaceful to escape the crowds and concrete for an hour. Because as much as you'd think Japan is an aesthetically genius place to live, it really isn't, save for the temples, shrines, and old gardens you find once in a while.

So it was a quick 5 days and we are looking forward to this much shorter Fall deployment ahead. In the meantime, I am back to searching for neat things to do, hanging with a great group of friends here, and just plain enjoying the relaxed lifestyle.

Why hello there - A blog from ERik

First BLOG for me EVER....here goes.

Well...where to begin. Back in March we set out for a good old fashion summer deployment...seemed pretty simple. 6 months, a fire, and a stop back in the good old US and A later and we are finally back in Japan...but not for long. After our 5 day "port visit" to where we "live" we head back out to sea for the fall deployment and a number of port visits around the western pacific. Don't worry, the fall deployment is only about two months and I will actually be in Alabama for a week or so of it.

Other than the mainly unknown element of our summer deployment, it all actually went pretty well. Before we started trekking east we pulled into Hong Kong and Guam..good times. On our way back to the US, we got to live the same day twice (June 13th) as we crossed the international date line...this was actually a pretty big buzz kill as it make our time at sea one day longer than was on the calender...and in case you were wondering, we dated paperwork 13A and 13B to know which date we were talking about.

Then did a lot of flying in a big exercise off of Hawaii called RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific). And also we were able to stop into Hawaii TWICE, once before and once after the exercise, to get a little R&R and I was fortunate to be able to spend a week of those port visits with Kate. With the exception of a terrible fishing trip...the port visit/vacation was awesome.

At the conclusion of the HI exercise we headed back to San Diego to swap ships. After flying through Whidbey Island for Prowler Ball, we landed in San Diego and began preparing all of our belongings and work spaces over to the USS George Washington (CVN 73). It took the better part of a week to get everything moved over and all of our spaces set up the way we like them...and at the end of the day, we are pretty happy with the move.

I now have 3 roommates in a "4-man" very close to the ready room and wardroom...it is pretty nice. The GW is definitely a huge upgrade as far as size and the quality of the spaces...but there is a part of me that will always miss the good old USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) where I have spend almost 9 months at sea.

I leave you now with a few pictures of my OLD stateroom on the Kitty...standby for pics of my new room in a couple weeks.

What Did You Have for Breakfast?

As some background info: I have been in the States this past month to help around the office and visit friends and family. Erik is still off somewhere in the middle of the Pacific so temporarily leaving the muggy (and buggy) summer of Japan was a no-brainer decision on my part.

I don’t know if I’m more aware of it now after being immersed in the courteous culture that is Japan, but I realize there are a lot of inconsiderate people floating around these parts. Mind you there are plenty of wonderful people, but there are some just plain jerks in everyday American life. [Actually, there are probably plenty of jerks in Japan, too, it’s just that I don’t understand when they are being jerks, short of someone placing a "kick me" sign written in kanji on my back.]

For example, I was in line the other day at the little deli shop next to my office building and the woman in front of me was ordering a sandwich. The dialogue went a little something like this:

Customer: Give me a tuna salad sandwich
Deli Staff: On white or wheat or a wrap?
Customer: No wrap – I said a sandwich. As in bread. Pssh. [Eye roll.]
Deli Staff: White or wheat?
Customer: Give me white. I need tomatoes and onions on there.
Customer: [in response to the deli staff temporarily helping her coworker get a new jar of mayo out] I placed my order before them – give me this to go. Oh, cut the crusts off, too.

Now that you’ve read this fascinating dialogue (“It's like I was there!”), I will continue my thought. Point is: I don’t know why this woman didn’t smile or say thank you or say please, but it bothered me. I figure even on my worst days, I can muster up a small smile and a thank you for a simple transaction like ordering a sandwich. Its tuna salad, not a debate on Roe vs Wade. This one woman’s attitude perplexed me for the rest of my lunch hour.

As fate would have it, I was later interviewing someone that afternoon that had a relevant thought to share -- in response to a question about how he would work with a difficult person on his team, he said “Well I don’t know what he or she had for breakfast.” After tangentially remembering my delicious bagel from earlier in the morning, I asked him to further explain what he meant. He basically said that he knows some people act like asses, but that person could have problems at home or overall wasn’t privileged to be raised in an environment of good communication. Or they are drunk. So he tries to look past the person’s attitude as much as possible and seek out the business task at hand.

Good answer. I don’t know if the company ever hired him…

So next time I am in line and see the person in front of me being rude or inconsiderate, I will just breathe and try to remember they may have had a big ol’ bowl of poo for breakfast. And when it’s my turn at the counter, I will just smile a little brighter.

I Found Richard Marx

The age: Preteen glory of the late 80s and early 90s. The hair was crimped, the sweaters were geometric and bright, and orthodontic treatment had begun.

The setting: The Mares household in suburbia (specifically, the confines of my bright teal-painted bedroom).

If you were a fly on the wall, you would have seen me seated next to my pink tape deck, obsessively using the play, pause, and rewind buttons to listen over and over to the most glorious notes of 1989: The beginning piano music from Richard Marx’s ballad Right Here Waiting.

I would quickly turn and mimic the notes on my nearby Casio keyboard and muster a soulful sing-a-long with Rich’s endearing raspy voice. I would have another tape deck nearby to record my notes and voice, self assured that Richard would want a copy. However, after listening to the home production, I was convinced that someone else was recording their horrible voice and/or the tape deck was malfunctioning – surely that warbling replaying through the speakers was not me. [Dramatic sigh] Richard would never hear my tribute.

Alas, years have passed by and multiple mimic-worthy ballads have come and gone. To this day, I still bring that Casio out once in a while to play an homage to the musical flavor of the month. And also to this day, I believe that every recorder has malfunctioned while recording my voice. I digress.

Anyways, I was driving the other day and Right Here Waiting came on, and my body reflexively went into a response of turning up the volume, scrunching my face in romantic pain, and holding a fist to my heart while I sung along. After I was done the mini car concert, I resolved to find Richard Marx, circa 2008.

Turns out he isn’t that hard to find. This guy’s in Chicago and actually has done a lot of stuff; he still records, produces, and plays live in concert. No one (no one!) can break Richard Marx.

Richard Marx: 1988























Richard Marx: 2008
















My favorite part is that his hair hasn’t changed in 20 years, except he has cut off the party in the back. The bushy top has been completely preserved. How entrancing.

Oh, Richard, if you only knew that I am still right here waiting… for you.

(Learn more about Richard Marx at www.richardmarx.com)