Touring and Testing

I’ve finished a third of my classes for the semester. The two that are over, though, were the two easiest ones, so there’s still awhile to go. Because of the way my classes are staggered, there’s not really a break in sight, but summer won’t be too much longer in coming.
It’s been a busy week. On Friday afternoon I was back in Boston for Change of Command practice. I haven’t missed this from JROTC, but we managed to get through the whole thing, so hopefully we’ll all have figured out what’s going on by tomorrow morning, when we have to execute. It was a busy weekend for ROTC. On Saturday, several of us from ROTC drove up to Groton for a submarine field trip. We left early in the morning and arrived a little before noon, then went on a tour of the USS Hartford. No pictures, for obvious reasons, but the tour was pretty neat.
We couldn’t see the classified areas, but we could see the living quarters and cafeteria and sonar controls and the like. No space was wasted anywhere; things were nearly packed in and double-purposed everywhere. In some places even the walkway was just a long, zigzagged cutout of metal fitted around whatever pipes and machinery were around it. If I had to use one word to describe my impression, it would have to be cramped, although it was probably even more so than usual, since I spent the whole time in the middle of a tour group. I’m glad I had the chance to go, though.
After the tour we had lunch and toured the USS Nautilus and the Museum also at the base. The USS Nautilus was the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine. A lot of what I just said still applies; just picture everything being a little more dated. By that time, though, everyone was wandering around half-asleep and only occasionally perking up as one of our Lieutenants explained something, so we figured it was about time to go. Most people slept on the two-hour ride back. I finished a book.
When we got back, I had enough time to grab dinner and change out of my Navy Working Uniform before heading out to the Under Construction concert to see my old a cappella group perform. I was pretty impressed with their performance (the sound system was working much better than last time, which helped) and I enjoyed going up to sing the alumni song and seeing all the alumni and still-current members again. I went to the reception briefly afterwards and talked to friends and bought their new CD.
On Sunday I went to church as usual, and on the way back Helen and I went to Bagelsaurus for breakfast. Every time we walk past, there’s a line out the door to the corner of the street, and we’d been wondering what was so amazing about these bagels, so when we walked by this time and there were only a few people lined up outside the door, we decided to go for it. I was like an Israeli bagel shop – bagels, cream cheese, and toppings, toasted – except that these had bacon and cheese combos.
I didn’t have ROTC yesterday morning, but this morning we had our final Professional Knowledge Exam (PKE) and Physical Readiness Test (PRT, not to be confused with the PFA, the Physical Fitness Assessment, which is in turn not to be confused with the CFA, the Candidate Fitness Assessment. Anyway…) After another lab and a few more Naval Science classes, I’ll be done with ROTC for the semester.
My to-do list has changed form; it used to be a lot of mid-sized tasks, and now it’s a combination of huge projects, exam preparation, and little errands that need to be run. Tomorrow is the last day of class, except for two of my four remaining classes, which have overtime. After that we have reading period, which gives us down time to prep for projects and exams, except for the two aforementioned classes, which have their final project/exam due in the middle of that. Then I have an exam during actual exam period, and then I have two papers due. And then finally, finally, summer starts, assuming I survive.
On a cheerier note, my class ring arrived in Texas today (sales tax considerations), so I’ll have that to look forward to when I get home. And I took my pictures for the senior yearbook yesterday. The trees outside are almost in bloom and I’m almost a senior – both seemed like they’d never happen, but they’ll be here before long. See you next week for one final update before summer!

Pictures:

We couldn't take any pictures on the modern sub, but here we are touring - thanks to our LT for taking this picture!

 You might not realize how momentous a change this picture signals, but the wood stair overlay has been removed, meaning that snow-and-ice season is officially (hopefully) over.

 And since it's now spring, you once again have to deal with my excitement about flowers (more coming):

My hand after Change of Command practice. This is why I don't like doing sword. It hurts. But it does give you something to twirl around while waiting for things to start.

 At the sub museum:

 Under Construction:

 This is a blurry picture of a bunny crossing the road. I thought it was photo-worthy.

 Bagelsaurus after church:

 This is in the science center. I don't understand the human propensity to congregate in stairwells and intersections, but it's pretty undeniable, and I'm guilty of it myself at times.

 Spring (from yesterday, when it wasn't raining):