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   Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 01:45:42 JST Tek say resist

   A neighbor reminded me about the ceremonies navies have when you cross the equator. Here’s my certificate from surviving mine. You protected these carefully lest you lose yours and be compelled to participate again to earn a new one.

   • Embed this notice
     Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 01:47:56 JST Tek say resist

     in reply to

     • Nate Bartram

     @nateb If you thank me for my service, I will fucking block you.

     Eh, it doesn’t come up much. That was many ages ago.

   • Embed this notice
     Nate Bartram (nateb@mastodon.thenewoil.org)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 01:47:57 JST Nate Bartram

     in reply to

     @tek I had no idea you were a veteran. Neat!

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     Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 02:05:18 JST Tek say resist

     in reply to

     • Nate Bartram

     @nateb Oh! I didn't know you were one too. 🍻

     Yeah, same here. And I wasn't off saving the world or anything, just going to work each day. Thank you for building houses or delivering mail, I guess?

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     Nate Bartram (nateb@mastodon.thenewoil.org)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 02:05:19 JST Nate Bartram

     in reply to

     @tek lmao no, I don't do that shit. As a veteran myself, I hate that shit. To me it feels cheap. I remember so many times standing in line at the airport for Starbucks and someone behind me going "thank you for your service!" and just feeling like "you know, Starbucks is only $5. If you really wanna show some appreciation, you could buy me one. Words are cheap, you're just trying to feel better about yourself." Maybe that's a selfish take, but it always felt hollow to me.

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     Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 02:06:27 JST Tek say resist

     in reply to

     • Nate Bartram

     @nateb It was "type 2" fun, where it was utterly miserable but with a bunch of similarly miserable people, and afterward you celebrated having made it through intact. You know, the kind where afterward you remember the amusing parts, not the horrid portions. 😀

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     Nate Bartram (nateb@mastodon.thenewoil.org)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 02:06:28 JST Nate Bartram

     in reply to

     @tek At any rate, I was saying "neat" to the "crossing the equator" thing. I've heard about how that's a big deal (also the dateline, IIRC), but I never got to deploy on a ship so I never experienced that myself. Seemed like a reasonably fun time.

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     Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 07:41:24 JST Tek say resist

     in reply to

     Side note: that was a “fun” place in summer ‘94. For extra joy, we left there to respond to the outbreak of violence in a country we hadn’t heard of before, Rwanda.

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     Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 08:27:36 JST Tek say resist

     in reply to

     • Draken BlackKnight
     • Nate Bartram

     @drakenblackknight @nateb I have that one! This is just the laminated card they handed out.

   • Embed this notice
     Draken BlackKnight (drakenblackknight@mastodon.online)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 08:27:37 JST Draken BlackKnight

     in reply to

     • Nate Bartram

     @nateb @tek
     That certificate looks bland. This is the one I was issued when I crossed the line on the Stennis in 1998.
     https://www.tiffanypublishing.com/certificates/shellback/

   • Embed this notice
     Nate Bartram (nateb@mastodon.thenewoil.org)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 08:27:38 JST Nate Bartram

     in reply to

     @tek Doing paperwork and watching YouTube, baby! (Once the gov't unblocked YouTube lol)

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     Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 08:28:19 JST Tek say resist

     in reply to

     • Nate Bartram

     @nateb Precisely! “It wasn’t so bad.” “You’ve forgotten.”

   • Embed this notice
     Nate Bartram (nateb@mastodon.thenewoil.org)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 08:28:20 JST Nate Bartram

     in reply to

     @tek Oh, like boot camp itself? lol

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     Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 08:48:25 JST Tek say resist

     in reply to

     • Draken BlackKnight
     • Nate Bartram

     @drakenblackknight @nateb Fancy! Our ship did not waste a lot of money on things like camaraderie or morale.

   • Embed this notice
     Draken BlackKnight (drakenblackknight@mastodon.online)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 08:48:26 JST Draken BlackKnight

     in reply to

     • Nate Bartram

     @tek @nateb
     The card I got was not only not laminated but also a miniature version of the certificate.

     By the way, it's also possible to order replacements of the certificates if you can prove you were on the ship when it crossed the line.

   • Embed this notice
     Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 08:55:36 JST Tek say resist

     in reply to

     • Draken BlackKnight
     • Nate Bartram

     @drakenblackknight @nateb The stories I could tell. Ours was a martinet who seemed allergic to the idea someone might be not miserable at any given moment.

   • Embed this notice
     Draken BlackKnight (drakenblackknight@mastodon.online)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 08:55:37 JST Draken BlackKnight

     in reply to

     • Nate Bartram

     @tek @nateb
     I wish I could say that sounded like the Stennis (I was airwing so I was on a different carrier every 2 years when I was in) but the CO tried to have fun every once in a while. Didn't help we were stuck in the fucking Gulf for 4 months because Clinton swore up and down Saddam was hiding WMDs (sound familiar?).

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     Draken BlackKnight (drakenblackknight@mastodon.online)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 09:00:40 JST Draken BlackKnight

     in reply to

     • Nate Bartram

     @tek @nateb
     Yeah. The Navy in particular seems to be magnetic to that type. The ones who get "dear John" letters in the middle of deployment and then end up having to keep reenlisting because they wouldn't otherwise be able to afford alimony (this actually happened to my squadron's CO).

   • Embed this notice
     Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 09:00:40 JST Tek say resist

     in reply to

     • Draken BlackKnight
     • Nate Bartram

     @drakenblackknight @nateb LMAO. That’s the type. “Wife’s gonna cheat on me, huh? Everybody up! We’re painting today!”

   • Embed this notice
     Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 09:15:55 JST Tek say resist

     in reply to

     • Draken BlackKnight
     • Nate Bartram

     @drakenblackknight @nateb OK darnit, I’ll chip in. The Peliliu’s dry dock was running too long so the took it out before the contractors were finished. For the first 3 months of deployment, everyone was assigned a space they were responsible for rehabbing, as in strip it to bare metal and then repaint everything to make it look new. Then the CO would personally inspect it according to a calendar.

     Take your normal “relaxed” schedule and add another 3 hours of construction to the end.

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     Draken BlackKnight (drakenblackknight@mastodon.online)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 09:15:56 JST Draken BlackKnight

     in reply to

     • Nate Bartram

     @tek @nateb
     THAT sounds exactly like the Eisenhower. Every other fucking week the XO wanted to field day the ship. It got to be a fucking joke that he'd want the ship looking good in the event it ever goes down.

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     Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 09:19:24 JST Tek say resist

     in reply to

     • Draken BlackKnight
     • Nate Bartram

     @drakenblackknight @nateb The New Orleans was chill. They were like “LOL it’s going to the boneyard any day now. What do we care? Try not to get tetanus.”

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     Draken BlackKnight (drakenblackknight@mastodon.online)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 09:54:32 JST Draken BlackKnight

     in reply to

     • Nate Bartram

     @tek @nateb
     Ouch. I'm glad I got out while Clinton was still President.

   • Embed this notice
     Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 09:54:32 JST Tek say resist

     in reply to

     • Draken BlackKnight
     • Nate Bartram

     @drakenblackknight @nateb I enlisted during Bush I and got out during Clinton 1st.

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     Draken BlackKnight (drakenblackknight@mastodon.online)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 11:01:36 JST Draken BlackKnight

     in reply to

     • Nate Bartram

     @tek @nateb
     Oof. At least the ships had internet access when I was in.

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     Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 11:01:36 JST Tek say resist

     in reply to

     • Draken BlackKnight
     • Nate Bartram

     @drakenblackknight @nateb We had INMARSAT and MARSgrams and we liked it that way.

   • Embed this notice
     Tek say resist (tek@freeradical.zone)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 13:49:37 JST Tek say resist

     in reply to

     • Draken BlackKnight
     • Nate Bartram

     @nateb @drakenblackknight It’s so easy to get vets to complain. 😀

   • Embed this notice
     Nate Bartram (nateb@mastodon.thenewoil.org)'s status on Sunday, 08-Dec-2024 13:49:38 JST Nate Bartram

     in reply to

     • Draken BlackKnight

     @tek @drakenblackknight this has been a most amusing read. Thank you both lmao