Longer than planned

For those of you keeping track, we were supposed to leave Atsugi on August 27th, but we're now in September and still my bags are not yet packed. Last time I talked about plans for a baseball game, a Fuji climb, a few flights and then off we go. Well, in the past 2 weeks, I've accomplished both goals and the flights, but the extended time didn't offer much in terms of excitement. I'll fill you in on the highlights, and save the interesting stories (Fuji, etc) for the next installment.

Flights -

I managed to get a couple more flights off the ground, and both have been at night. Over the ocean on the boat, there may not be much to see other than stars, but around Yokohama and Tokyo, night flying is incredible. The urban sprawl and city lights provide amazing scenery. We even got to watch a baseball game from about 1000 ft up. The second flight saw less of the city. We were too busy rescuing the crew of a downed airplane (only for pretend). As I do on almost every flight, I learned a lot and got to think about new aspects of things that sometimes have the tendency to seem like the "same old same old" sometimes. Anyway, check out some night pictures of Yokohama.

Go Bay Stars!

Work (other) -

Now on to the reason for our delay. The main transmission of the helicopter (the part that changes engine power into rotor power) decided that a little corrosion would be a good idea. None of us agreed. Good news is that this is the type of thing we check for during the phase inspections. Bad news? It's the kind of thing we don't want to actually FIND on the inspection. We called in the experts to try and fix what was wrong, but long story short, the damage was to the point where replacement was the only option. The biggest thing wrong with that is that it's not like some batteries died and we need to run to the store. There were 0 (read, zero) available transmissions for our helicopter. . . worldwide. Finally one came off the assembly line and was shipped to us, but again, it's not like sending a postcard. It has to be trucked across the country, then flown to us. We're hoping to get out of here in a bit over a week, but we'll see.

Don't try to fly this helicopter.

Life on/off base -

Fuji and baseball deserve their own post, so I'll skip those and just fill in some of the quicker stories.

We managed to explore Atsugi proper on Friday the 22nd, and in case anyone was wondering, karaoke bars still rule the night in Japan. We stopped off at a small bar for a few songs before moving on to "Bar Skunk." Appetizing name, isn't it? I ordered some cheese fries (delicious) but the food of the night was the nachos. I was away from the group with my new Japanese Army friends. They made the mistake of challenging me to some car racing arcade game in the bar, so I had to show them that Americans could drive pretty well. Realize also that driving for real at that point would have been a BAD idea, but arcade driving was safe enough. Anyway, back to the nachos. They included the usual toppings for the most part: tomatoes, cheese, lettuce, olives (normal for some of us, dad), and what we THOUGHT was sour cream. One bite, however, and the guys found that in Atsugi, they top nachos with mayonnaise. Yup. Gross.

Honestly, I can't tell you who was imitating who.

On to the next excursion. The main purpose (yes, we can make an excuse for anything) of the first night out was some "research" for the upcoming visit from the CO and XO of our squadron in Guam (Aug 26&27) . The current Commanding Officer is poised to turn over command to the current Executive Officer, and was making a trip to our detachment to wish us well before he departs. Of course, we had to show them what we were all about, which somehow included the social life and golf that we hadn't been lucky enough to experience much other than when they were around. . . but I digress. They arrived during a real workday, toured our borrowed hangar, took a look at our injured aircraft, and once they had enough official business, we prepared for a night on the town. First up was Korean BBQ. If you're not into meat as the only ingredient, steer clear of this one. Yes, plates of rice or potato salad gave some variety to the meal, but the rest of our sustenance this evening was a mix of pork, beef, chicken, fish, shrimp, some sort of intestine, sausage, and lamb. The intestine was slightly better than it sounds, and every bit as chewy. I won't say I was full by the time we left, but I think we all agreed that no more beer and meat was necessary. On to the Officer's Club. Rule #1 - as posted on a sign I failed to notice - No covers inside the bar, or you buy a round for the club. My Cardinal pride was rather costly that night, especially since the CO is a Cubs fan, and rang the bell to signify my penalty. Luckily we were the only crowd in the bar, and the tab was much more modest than it could have been on another night. A few games of pool and shuffleboard later, and once the karaoke cooled off, it was time to move outside the gates. We found the rest of our detachment at a local karaoke bar (same one as before) and joined them for a few songs and a round or two of liquid refreshment. Following the group (or most of it) over to bar skunk proved easier on the wallet than the last time, and by that point, the group began to split. Mark and I kept the officer contingent strong and returned to karaoke central to join the maintenance division for more songs, but no more refreshment. Aparently we enjoyed ourselves for about 2 more hours, and by the time it was over, I had learned to write my name in Japanese, Mark made friends with the bartender, and everyone in attendance sang more songs than anyone had anticipated. We finally rolled back through the gate and went right to bed.

Taught me how to write my name, and no I don't remember.

Joining the guys for a few songs.

Not surprising to anyone, the phone call at 8:15 the next morning came much too early for my taste. 18 holes of golf were out of the question for me, but for some reason, a Navy Commander is able to talk me into breakfast at the course and 9 holes to follow. The golf pitted the senior officers against the junior O's. From the start, we knew 2 things: The CO and XO are both quite skilled at the game, and no less than half of our team was in no condition for such activity. I don't think anyone minded when we came up a several (maybe 10?) shots away from victory, but the day was fun regardless. One of the previously mentioned night flights loomed that evening, so Hector and I kept the promise of only 9 holes, and returned to the rooms to rest for a few more hours.

Perfect? no. Effective? sometimes.

A few more quick highlights from the past couple of weeks:

Bowled a 205 (over 200 for the 2nd time ever), and the game before that was a 197

Mark and I took a free golf lesson which definitely changed my swing enough to screw up my game the next time I played.

Watched Tropic Thunder and Get Smart. Liked both of them, but would more highly recommend Get Smart.

Got to hang out with Aaron (San Diego roommate) when he arrived from the carrier.

Climbed Fuji and found my way to a Japanese baseball game (not at the same time).