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Bowfin Sub Museum

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I dropped off my friend at the airport at 3:45pm, and in the name of killing time and going on adventures I decided to go to the USS Bowfin submarine museum. It was AWESOME. It was recently re-done and re-opened in February, it looks like. I decided to make us members there… Brian doesn’t get in for free. You’ll find that military rates are weird… Anyway, I only had an hour, so I went into the submarine first.

It was HOT inside. Thankfully there were fans. Here are the infamous beds on top of the torpedo tubes.

Old school submerge check list and CPR instructions.

Here’s a dump of fun gauges and rooms. Can’t forget the old school mixer!

The great thing about Hawaii is that tourists with real cameras aren’t usually very far. I snagged one to take a picture of me to show the size of the holes. So small!

Coming back outside, from the bow you can see the USS Missouri and Arizona Memorial

The other side.

I was running out of time, so when I got to the actual museum part the exhibit guide told me to go right to the WWII stuff. It was amazing, and I learned a lot.

They used to have flags indicating how many targets they hit

They had a thing to look through that mimic’d a periscope. You were supposed to identify what ship you see. The mini models are there to show you the differences. There’s a running joke about submariners and how they can pick out what type of war ship is in front of them from a blurry profile through a periscope but can’t find the ketchup in the fridge. And if that isn’t true about Brian I don’t know what is. I guess he’s skilled where it counts.

Please, God, let there be no WWIII.

There was lots to see outside as well! I was running out of time, though.

I thought they did an AMAZING job on this display. The one problem was there was a display exhibit in front of it… so you can’t really get a good dead on picture.

I think this is the size of the biggest submarine hull in operation. As I was walking out I caught another tourist with a big camera and she took this. She thanked me and Brian for our service. I said honestly it feels like I serve sometimes. Also, people, help a girl out and tell me I’m not in the middle.

I emailed Brian to tell him it kinda felt like I was at work with him. He said he has it a little roomier and cooler, but similar 😉

Will have to go back to really absorb the museum part fully.

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BSC – OLD post

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**This is very delayed. I might’ve forgot to post it, I’m supposed to wait >24hrs after they leave port… and here we are probably 3 weeks after, ha. Whoops!

Brief stop for…. commodities? On Monday, Brian’s boat was in port for a quick re-stock before they leave for a long time. Of all days it happened, we were having a tropical storm side swipe Hawaii. Also, COVID cases are really high in Hawaii. However, the captain really pushed for us to be able to see them. So, with vaccination card in tow and mask on, we went to the docks and saw our sailors.

It felt like a whirlwind. We spent ~2hrs together. I was SOAKED and turned my heated seats on on the way home (yes, in Hawaii). There was no avoiding the rain with all the wind. We were surrounded by 50 of our closest friends *sarcasm*. But, I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to see my husband. I didn’t even get a selfie of us, but I took this of him as I was leaving. He’s carrying two bags of goodies and a bag of uniforms.

Hopefully that’ll help him get through the next few months. He didn’t ask for much because he didn’t want to stress me out, so I guessed. He got graham crackers, coke zero, Aloha Drinks (it’s a hawaiian juice, basically hawaiian punch but different flavors), more cards, other drink powder, mints, gum, chocolate, I feel like there was more but I am spacing. For the uniforms, I had to drop them off at the uniform shop to get those silver bars sewn on the collar. Thank God for the workers there who know their stuff, because I brought the pin version of the bars in and the two uniforms and said I need the patch version of these sewn on, and they knew what to look for and what to do. So they did that for me. Brian was borrowing another set of these from a friend, and didn’t ask me to go get more sewn for him because he didn’t want to bother me too much, but I just guessed he’d want more. I think he’s adjusting to having a wife to help him. I felt that he should return the other set, too. They’re called coveralls, or informally “poopie suits”. They’re the “we’re getting our hands dirty and no one is going to see us” uniforms, typically. Brian was going to change into their more formal green camo ones, but “I figured I was only seeing you”. Whatever that means!

Here’s another fun thing about the uniform. You can barely see it, but attached to his belt is a personal radiation detector. It’s supposed to monitor how much radiation he’s being exposed to. It’s called a TLD, thermal luminescent dosimeter. Here are some first hand accounts about it. And here’s a huge paper about a study done about their exposure rates. (It’s low).

Brian has only good things to report about the command climate. He says there can be some communication issues, but communication is really difficult in general anyway, particularly with all the craziness always going on. He has assured me it’s nothing unusual or crazy so far. He keeps telling me how much sleep he’s getting because it’s a big concern of mine, and he’s doing ok.

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BSP

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On Friday, Brian’s boat did another BSP (Brief stop for personnel). This is what they did to get Brian on the boat. This time, they took a lot of PCO (pre commissioned-captains), PXOs (pre commissioned-XOs), and the person who was the emergency role fill that Brian was replacing off the boat. They were on it for training-essentially Captain and XO school.

There really isn’t much different with these pictures than before… except that Brian is helping drive the boat this time! Thankfully he didn’t hit anything.

This time the turn around was much faster (must’ve been because Brian was helping ;-)), I had a long sleeve UPF shirt on, and sunscreen. So no lobster Sarah. Here’s a cool picture of it with another warship.

I’m really REALLY upset because I didn’t change out my lenses before leaving the house… so I didn’t have my wicked awesome zoom lens on.

While we were waiting we watched the jets do their thing and I was EVEN MORE UPSET I didn’t have my zoom lens (insert sobbing emoji).

No, I didn’t actually get to see Brian, they pulled in and out quickly, so this was an exercise in true dedication to supporting my husband. But it was fun nonetheless, and another distraction (kinda?)

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PHSOSA Welcome “Coffee”

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PHSOSA (Pearl Harbor Submarine Officer Spouses Association) is a group of women who meet regularly to build friendships with other submarine related spouses. This was their kick off event, and we were to meet at the Banyan tree (This is THE banyan tree, apparently. (there are actually many banyan trees in Hawaii)). It’s on Ford Island where the USS Missouri and museums are. There is also base housing. You can see the enormity of the tree behind the cute welcome setup.

From the tree we walked to the admiral’s house. Apparently there is a lot of unique history that goes with the house. There was a farewell party at the house the night before the Pearl Harbor attack, and lots of people were still in their pajamas the next morning when the attack started. They used it as an early triage location on the day of the attack, and the rumor is it’s still haunted in the basement. They repurpose the basement into a haunted house in October.

Being the Admiral’s house, I am sure you can imagine it is the best of the best. It has this huge wrap around Lanai with a great view of the harbor. We had treats laid out for us, including Biscotti, mochi, lemon bars, and baklava. Funny enough, though, no coffee… but we did get starbucks gift cards.

Because of COVID, they were limiting numbers, and rotated us through this event in groups of about ten. They had tables set up in the “Garden” where we sat with our group while we ate and heard about some resources we have access to to help us be submarine spouses.

I took “group” pictures of the different sets of groups, and the idea is they’ll stitch them all together somehow… Why am I wearing my sunglasses??? Ugh!

They also had the dolphin store represented there. The submarine spirit animal is the Dolphin, and when a submariner gets qualified to do his job he gets pinned with dolphins. This store is located on base and hosts a ton of fun submarine related items.

All in all, I was a little underwhelmed by the event. I ended up sitting with a lot of post-serve CO (captain) wives who all seemed to know each other and had their own chatter and inside relations, they’ve all known each other for a while. It would’ve been nice to hang with a more relatable crowd. However, I did meet another subwife and had pictures of her husband’s boat coming in and out, so I was able to send them to her. I told her I wasn’t sure if she was as excited as I was to have those pictures but I’d definitely offer them anyway… and she said no I’m definitely still excited to have them! ALSO. Come to find out, her sister lives in STURBRIDGE, MA. Because obviously!! So I told her to tell her sister to say hi to my mom the next time she’s at Micknucks. Can’t get away, even in Hawaii.

I’m a little off-put by the group, if I’m being honest. Turns out their meetings are only during the week… I feel like that is very unwelcoming and unsupportive of spouses who have work (me, my friend, my other friend, my other friend…). I did have to pay dues to be apart of this group, so I’ll stick it out and attend what I can, but so far I’m preferring my KOSC crew on this side. I only happened to be able to attend this one because I’m in-between project work and watching training videos. …Which I definitely listened to on the car ride over and back…

We’ll see, trying to keep an open mind with everything.

Later that day, I went back over to that side of the island and brought my new CO’s wife dinner. I made BBQ chicken, and also brought a chicken pot pie for her to freeze, she’s juggling a two month old and two other kids while her husband is gone! It was a great chance to talk, she is one impressive woman. She graduated with her graduate degree in nursing and is becoming a nurse practitioner. She just had a baby two months ago, her third. Her husband is the captain of a submarine… and she’s planning on returning to work in January. She is in rare air as a captain’s wife that works. I enjoyed her company and her rambunctious, but well behaved all things considered, kids. I’m glad we were able to connect.

Trying to keep myself busy over here! I have heard from Brian 4-5 times via email, which is VERY surprising. It’s nice, but can be really emotional too. His emails are of a brevity I’m not used to in my communication with him. A lot of it is his limited time, and a lot of it is he’s limited on what he can say. We also haven’t really ever communicated via email, so it could just be the way he emails.

If you haven’t watched this SNL skit about love letters during war, you should.

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FRG Meeting

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I don’t have a picture to go with this, but I wanted to talk about it anyway. FRG (Family readiness group) meetings are a way to connect with other spouses on the boat. They are meant to inform you about how to prepare for having your sailor gone, and then while he’s gone offer camaraderie/information about their schedule. They are about once a month. We had one on Monday.

There were about 15 wives there and a gaggle of children. We talk about having playdates, doing fundraisers, and if there are any port calls we might be able to go see our Sailor at. I offered to do a fundraiser for them for Christmas mini photo sessions for after the boat comes back. We use those funds to host things like a welcome home BBQ or gifts for certain occasions (I think?).

It was a pot luck, but I wasn’t really interested in a lot of the food. There was a buffalo chicken dip and the chicken was indistinguishable… I know that a lot of people use a blender to “shred” chicken and I think that’s the method they went with. It’s a weird consistency thing that I can’t handle.

There was childcare offered, but honestly the kids were mostly in and out of the room they were hanging out in that I didn’t find it was super worth it. I am very thankful Brian and I don’t have kids yet.

Nothing terribly exciting, but it’s something about boat life many people don’t know about so there you have it.

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So long, Sailor

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Brian left yesterday. I can’t tell you exactly when he’s leaving, or exactly when he’s coming back, or really anything. It’s a part of OPSEC, “operational security”. The motto in the Navy is “loose lips sink ships”. I can post pictures once they are ~24 hours out of port. I’m pretty sure we’re fooling ourselves thinking that there aren’t satellites watching our every move, but I’m not the one to get her husband in trouble.

So what next? Well, I do have information about when I could possibly see him again before he gets back to Hawaii at the end for what’s called a “port call” at a different location (sounds sexy, but the logistical planning can be a nightmare). Otherwise, I send emails to this email address that he supposedly will some day be able to receive emails at. And just hope, wait, and pray that I get an email back one day.

Meanwhile, look at how AWESOME that zoom lens is! This is a cropped in picture of the sail. The guy leaning on the stacks is Brian’s captain. I am not sure who anyone else is.

I also waited for the boat to leave for… THREE HOURS. Another spouse and I went to Missing Man monument. Turns out this is one of Brian’s Nav Aids, so he knew where to look. I turned into a lobster. First time since being here, so I am a bit impressed it took me this long. Lesson learned!

Today I kept myself very busy. I did my sunrise walk. Went to mass. Went snorkeling at Secret Beach with my friend (Secret beach was a let down, again. I think Brian is my lucky charm). Came home, answered TED emails. Lifted weights, then did a trash pick up. I picked up TWO dirty diapers. One was handed to me en route… I figured if the alternative was it would end up in the bush, I should just take it, so I did. It was SO HEAVY by the time I got to the top of my little hill. Yup, that’s a practically full bag of trash. Woof.

I showered immediately after getting home. Fixed myself dinner… adult chicken nuggets with a side of hummus and hot sauce with carrots. Wrote Brian an email he may not get until he gets home. And now I’m here, summing up my day for you guys, too!

It’s really great when I have days like this, with all the energy to do things. I definitely still have recovery days (few and far between now!) where I can just about muster brushing my teeth. I sometimes wonder if this was how I was pre-COVID, just having a bit of a low energy day once in a while, but these just feel different. I did start back on my inhaler. I pushed it too hard on a peloton ride(s) (I did two back to back, a total of 1 hr 15 minutes) and my lung burning was very persistent afterward. I actually took my oxygen level reading for the first time in forever. I’ve done this before, over done it (surprise surprise), but usually it would rectify in a couple days. After a week of it being persistent, I asked my pulmonologist what she thought about me going back on the Albuterol and she said go for it. I’m feeling a ton better just after a few days on it.

Here are a couple more badass submarine pics. (I took about 100. I was a bit excited)

This song was made for Navy wives. Except, I do truly know he’d rather be home with me.

Dad called to check up on me today, thanks dad <3 Day 2, done.

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When life hands you lemons…

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You go for sunrise walks?

(This is post published, written end of last week)

It’s been a week to say the least. I feel like it can be really easy to look at the situation I’m in- living in Hawaii on military orders- and be really jealous. And to be honest, I probably would be too. But I was warned, and will not sugarcoat the fact, that military life is hard.

Brian found out that he is changing boat assignments due to a staffing issue. The good news is, the boat’s homeport is Hawaii and staying that way for the indefinite future and this is incredibly good for Brian’s career. The bad news is, he joins the boat on deployment sometime in the next month (I have to stay vague, because, you know, the Russians are listening).

There is a whole lot of backstory that I can’t share here, but essentially it’s a really good thing for Brian’s career and for a lot of other things. But it also means that I am without Brian, my husband and best friend, for the next 2-5mths (again, can’t give specifics). Before it was official, Brian’s bosses asked his opinion on it, and Brian said that he’d agree but would have to consult with me because we’re a team and I’d be the one that needs to be convinced. If any of you are single reading this, THAT is a quality in a husband you should have on your list. Brian’s bosses offered to meet with me and that meeting happened and, as much as him being gone will suck, I am a lot more ok with the move.

Brian’s bosses keep reminding me that deployment was going to have to happen at some point, and that’s fair. I am also truly in a best of the best situation where his bosses will even talk to me about this and ease my concerns. But if I told you your husband was going to be gone tomorrow for months vice a year from now for months, how would you feel? I, for one, feel wholly unprepared.

There’s a lot that was supposed to happen before he deploys; I get to meet the boat spouses, attend Family Readiness Group meetings, fill out a bunch of paperwork, he’d finish hanging pictures… As with the year that was “supposed to be” and all the “supposed to happens” of 2020, we’ll just stack these on top.

The biggest challenge for me for his deployment will be to try to find friends and more company. I keep dipping my toe into events with spouses at the Marine Corps Base, but I need to work on developing relationships. That and I need to figure out how to kill cockroaches (we’ve only had one so far! But that’s not a roommate I would hope to gain)

Send good thoughts and prayers my way. And if there was ever a time you wanted to visit Hawaii and not see Brian… this might be a good one!

Here’s a second picture from the same sunrise for good measure. Unsure if I’ll still wake up so early with Brian gone.

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