It has been a while since I last wrote. I was editing an article the day before we pulled in (April 23) and trashed the entire thing afterwards. I would up going to bed and awoke in the morning to ready the ship for linking to dockside. Mr. “J” showed up on Sunday and we wound up troubleshooting an unexpected network problem. Then came the day I flew home. I thought it would never arrive. “L” and “I” were at the airport to greet me to a great homecoming after four months at sea. Compared to the Navy, it is not much but you had a team to work with in the Nav.
In retrospect, I enjoyed the cruises on both the Ka’imimoana and the Hi’ialakai. However, the stress of separation and knowing that I would not be back for more than a few months as well as the helplessness of solving problems back home added to the anxiety. Sounding like a cliché it was nice to see “L”s family again after a year and a half away and as always Western Samoa feels like home as I have no trouble finding my way around. Of course it is difficult to get lost on an island. The stepson and I bonded and proved to him that we were working to get him to America. As I was about the leave a cyclone hit both Samoas and my flight to Pago Pago and meeting the Hi’ialakai was delayed for two days.
Several weeks after I left for sea, the computer “L” was using blew out a power supply and fortunately, my son had a spare computer for her to use. My PDA took a dive while in Samoa and its operating system crashed (Windows of course) with no recourse. After a few recovery attempts, the PDA would not even post to Windows. Towards the end of the cruise, my laptop started to shut itself off after posting to Windows. The trouble with the laptop started on the KA in January but did not come back until the end of the cruise in April on the Hi’ialakai. They say things happen in threes and with the Windows problems I experienced on my personal computers; it was bye bye to Microsoft operating systems after I returned. Last week I went to the Navy Exchange and purchased an Apple iMac desktop.
When I left Seattle it was winter and when I returned it was still winter despite spring being over a month old! It did not get warm here until last weekend. I took most of last week off to reconnect with the family, wind down and settle in to the home environment again. Then there is the office work! It isn’t the people I work with but rather the political bullpucky that accompanies with an office/cubicle environment.
It seems we (ETs) can never be left alone to do our jobs. If it isn’t over micro management then it is A76 studies in trying to justify in forcing me to work for a contractor at a much reduced salary. After that is canceled comes the outrageous relocation to Newport, Oregon. At first, the wife and I were indifferent to it. After much thought, we reversed ourselves and opposed it. We cheered at every roadblock that was put in place. In the end it did no good. Property and money takes precedence over people. Whoever voted to pick Newport over Seattle or any Puget Sound bidders did just that. They forgot that NOAA being a government agency has a diverse workforce. They only looked at the money and forsaken everything else. In many ways “L” and I view this move as being forced into a “cultural concentration camp.”
Going from an area of diversity that supports ethnic communities to an area of homogenous population where “L” and I may be somewhat a novelty because of our “foreignness” or a source of resentment on what NOAA had brought to their communities. We may be part of the developing dislike towards NOAA as the honeymoon is appearing to fade even before the ribbon cutting ceremonies are scheduled to take place sometime next year. It seems local infrastructures in Lincoln County has been taking a hit in county and cities from firefighters being laid off to not enough money to hire additional police officers. County employees face layoffs and crime is increasing way above the national average for a town that size. To add another handicap, a primary school was closed down due to budget constraints but the spin was that Newport was a retirement community so the numbers of children who attend school were lacking to keep it open. The schools are not rated very well and most NOAA and OSU employees send their children to a charter school twenty miles away. To add to the disenchantment of citizens using NOAA as a political football, the State of Oregon kicked in 19 million dollars to subsidize NOAA's construction and lease. The justification was that lottery money was used to subsidize the federal agency while local educational (schools and libraries) and public safety infrastructure corroded.
To add another concern “L” and I face is we are bringing her son to America. Seattle would be an ideal place on the mainland (besides Hawaii) due to its large immigrant and ethnic population for him to begin his life here. There may be a chance he will have a classmate with a similar background while going to school in the Seattle area. He will also need to attend ESL (English as Second Language) classes and there is a safety net for his adjustment here. Will that exist in Newport? My other son graduates from high school next month and plans to attend Seattle Central Community College to pursue a ship’s engineering license. What is to become of him when we must move? The community college in Newport offers no such course and the nearest college is Oregon State University in Corvallis, 50 miles east of Newport. If I leave him in Seattle, how will he live and will need medical insurance due to this country’s lack of National Health. He too has no choice but to join us in the “cultural concentration camp” imposed on us by NOAA. Yes, NOAA can say I should resign but that is easier said than done. Government employees in the latter stages of their careers have their lives invested, not just hours, in their jobs.
The other day after I picked “L” up from school, she reminded me we had run out of kimchee. Edmonds and Lynnwood has a large Asian community. There are plenty of small Asian grocery stores as well as gigantic Asian supermarkets. One, Ranch 99, is only a mile and a half from our condo. We’ve gone there for last minute shopping and when we need fresh Asian vegetables, we buy it from H-Mart, a large Korean chain who took over a defunct Mervyn’s building and converted it into an Asian mall. For Japanese and Polynesian foods we shop at Vegetable Bin which sells the type of taro Polynesians eat rather than the generic Mexican version sold at most general supermarkets as well as Samoan foods from its deli. Afterwards we stop at Murata Shoten or Uwajimaya to buy Japanese goods and foodstuffs as well. I reminded “L” that after the move to Newport, these types of shopping trips will end. We will have to settle for common Fred Meyer type of stores which do not carry what we need. A weekend two and a half hour one way trip to Portland for such shopping will become reality. And if nothing short of Polynesian store is found in Portland then it’s a one way five and a half hour trip to Seattle.
I do not expect any assistance in social and cultural transition from NOAA. Like any government program, just throw money at the problem and it should magically go away or fix itself. They will tell me that they are paying for our move, severance of any leases and all the issues that is required by law but still provide no assistance in adjusting to the new lifestyle that they imposed on us. I will likely hear the words “assimilate” or it was our choice to live the lifestyle we live, not that we were born in it.
Perhaps my annoyance is the way our society cherish money and property more than people. A social cost is just a blank space on a spreadsheet with no consequences. Quality of life was the fanfare pushed forth by NOAA when Newport was announced as the new location for the fleet. Now the higher ups admitted it was all about money and nothing else. Some mysterious way, Newport rated higher in technical merit (another classified generic term) than Seattle or Bellingham. It was all about money and nothing else. Money, money and money.
I will make contributions weekly to the blog while I am ashore. Take care and see you next week.
A Real Insane Sailor
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