Well today was John's and my first day breathing underwater! It was pretty exciting, and very very cold. Cold in Hawaii? What? Well it is December, in water, and mainly... 6pm-10pm. And it's December, water is chilly. Now, we were just in the pool so it's baby steps. Thankfully, it's baby steps or I'd be very nervous.
The schedule has been: Finish chapters 1-5 of the PADI Open Water Diver Manual before the beginning of class. Then yesterday we had a meeting inside the classroom where we went over the answers of the first 3 chapters' "knowledge reviews" and then took 3 quizzes on each of those chapters. This took about an hour-an hour and a half. It wouldn't have taken as long if people were on time and the instructor wasn't on the phone. Though, apparently, he's one of 50 great instructors in the world. I admit "great instructors" is doubtfully the correct term, but I can't think of it. Oh, and apparently on top of that, he's rated 5th and the only one of the 50 on the island so I was told it's a great honor. I'd probably be more impressed if I could remember what Tina (the lady dive master who helped me today) had said exactly. But anyway, that was that and we went home pretty early.
Today we were there from 5:30-10. The class started at 6 but we were told to get there early. The moment we got there we had to jump in the chilly outdoor pool and swim 400 meters and then tread water and/or float for 10 minutes. The swimming was the hard part. I was sick from, well, pretty much Thanksgiving - Christmas so my exercising ceased. I was beat! I made it though, so all is well. After the testing we were given the tank, the BCD (Bouyoncy Control Device that pretty much holds everything,) weights, and the wet suit. We had to provide our own mask, snorkel, fins, and boots. I like having my own of those, especially the first three. I can use those for scuba AND snorkeling! Hoorah. They proceeded to show us how to put everything together and have us do it ourselves. After everyone was comfortable we inflated the BCD, got in the pool, and went over numerous activities. Activities/Training including: How to clear your mask of water while underwater, ascent and descent with the BCD, troubleshooting, hand signals, purging the regulator and snorkel of excess water, buddy breathing (breathing from your buddy's tube if you have to), and so on and so on. All things you need to know in order to do it, solve problems, and not panic if something goes wrong. We also learned how to breathe if something goes wrong with the regulator or any of those attachments and a free-flow occurs. The equipment is made so if something goes wrong it gives you too much air instead of none at all. In that case you breathe from it as if you're drinking from a water fountain. Sounds off, but it works!
It was fun down there. A little nerve wracking, but it's me and pretty much anything new makes me nervous. It's definitely the last thing I should be doing with my jaw problem though. Having to bite on the regulator or snorkel pretty much forces my bottom jaw more forward and makes me clench the whole time. I'm very very stiff and I can't think of any sport/activity that would be worse for it than this. Oops! This is something I've wanted to try for years so oh well. I'll just by a lot of advil and bust out my fantastic heating pad.
Anyway. Tomorrow is another classroom day, including the final exam! Dun dun dun. On Wednesday we have another pool day to go over the remaining troubleshooting activities then nothing on Thursday and Friday. Saturday and Sunday we go into the ocean! Yikes! And apparently we do the same stuff we did in the pool. They do this for regular and muscle memory. The more you repeat something corrently, the more you'll be able to do it without thinking. Woo hoo.
So Scuba post 1! It was fun, odd, and cold. It's odd to breathe that way and I'm still a little nervous about the pressure and such but it's seeming like it's easier then I think it is.
Alright, I need to go to bed. I'm sleepy! It's so nice to be warm.
Love,
Meredith
P.S. Christmas pictures are up! They're mainly of the cat and presents since we hadn't showered yet and well, I yielded the camera so they would have been all of John and repetitive. I figured ultiple pictures of a cute kitten would be more exciting than multiple pictures of an unshowered unshaven John, haha. Enjoy! And thanks for the presents!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Mele Kalikimaka!
Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day
That's the island greeting that we send to you from the land where palm trees sway
Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright
The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night
Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way to say Merry Christmas to you
That's the island greeting that we send to you from the land where palm trees sway
Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright
The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night
Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way to say Merry Christmas to you
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Part time only
Scratch the whole promotion thing. Toni wants other girls to do it and they might have to overlook even one of those girls to a Japanese speaker.
fun fun.
fun fun.
Food
I miss Mrs. T's Pierogies
-Gertrude Hawk: Momma sent us two boxes of Smidgens. They're already gone but they were AMAZING. I made some of my friends have only one just so they could taste the amazingness.
-Ruby Tuesdays: Went to one last night. Not only was the overpriced delicious Chicken Parmesan five dollars more and still the tiny new portion, but it oddly wasn't as good. It was sad.
-Chinese food: Wonderful American Chinese food. I have yet to have the good stuff here. Panda Express is ok, but it's not the same.
Mainly, right now, I want pierogies.
-Gertrude Hawk: Momma sent us two boxes of Smidgens. They're already gone but they were AMAZING. I made some of my friends have only one just so they could taste the amazingness.
-Ruby Tuesdays: Went to one last night. Not only was the overpriced delicious Chicken Parmesan five dollars more and still the tiny new portion, but it oddly wasn't as good. It was sad.
-Chinese food: Wonderful American Chinese food. I have yet to have the good stuff here. Panda Express is ok, but it's not the same.
Mainly, right now, I want pierogies.
Boring E-mail :-
Hey there everyone!
I hope you're all having a great week. I know some people are off for the holidays but others aren't so I hope it's good no matter what. It looks like this e-mail may take me a while to write. There's needy kitten distracting me! And there she goes again, attacking my foot. On that note, Dixie is doing well. She's getting bigger, bolder, and more troublesome but she's also very adorable so it's ok. I had to cut off any ribbons that were sent to me because it caused risk to the wrapping of the present. She runs all over them while she attacks the tree (if you notice in future Christmas pictures, there are no ornaments on the bottom third) so the presents already have to tough it out without being the main object of attack. They're mainly still wrapped. To my Grandparents, my parents, John's parents, and Jan and Bruce I wanted to let you know that I've received cards and/or packages from you safe and sound so no need to worry, if you were. Thank you :-).
John and I are doing fine. He was gone from the 8th-18th but is home on "stand down" right now. He doesn't have work but he's been going in every day to try to get qualified. He's mainly been going when I have work so it's not really a problem. My hours are down to 15, which isn't too bad. I'd prefer more for money but it is part-time so I can't expect a lot. I'm still working in the fittings rooms and yesterday one of the Bra Specialists (full-time position) told me she was going to refer me to our superiors for one of the open Bra Specialist positions! I feel pretty honored. I like knowing that I'm appreciated and recognized for my hard work, but then, who doesn't? I don't expect anything to happen quickly so there may be no word on this for a while, especially since it's Christmas. I have a friend who was told they were actually giving her the position (a few weeks ago) by Toni, the head of our department, but Toni is still trying to get word and agreement from the Corporation so nothing has come of it so far. If that happens I'll have five, nine hour shifts per week with an hour break. Fun fun. John is home, as I mentioned, which is nice. Standdown is over on the fourth and soon after John's off again for another 2 weeks-ish. It seems like it's 2 weeks home, and 2 weeks underway. It's a pain, haha. I think he leaves the day my parents come in and comes back soon after they leave so they won't be able to see him, but it helps me! Haha, I won't be nearly as lonely, so that's nice.
On Sunday John and I are starting Scuba lessons! We have new masks (thanks to the Russells!) and are studying up for it. I'm pretty excited. We have classes Sun-Wed night and then open dive classes on the following weekend. It should be exciting. I hope it's not too scary. Hooray.
I'm not sure what else to report on. With me working and John not really being home anyway we haven't explored at all since the Russells' visit. I've also been sick since then. I got sick soon before thanksgiving and it's been off and on until just now. The most recent week has been all cough so it was bearable. I think sinus headaches are the worst part of a cold, so once those were over it's been fine. And on a health note, Momma will be glad to hear that I have been referred to an someone about TMJ and am supposed to expect a call within a week to set up a consult.
My next e-mail should be more exciting. I'll be sure to talk about the Scuba experience and the oh so exciting Holidays. I'm currently annoyed by then. Traffic to and from work is HORRENDOUS. I do work at a mall after all but, it's terrible. It took me 40 min just to get out of the mall and onto the highway the other day! That, so far, has been the only day it took me an hour and a half to get home from work, which is technically only 10 miles away.
Happy Holidays!
I hope you're all having a great week. I know some people are off for the holidays but others aren't so I hope it's good no matter what. It looks like this e-mail may take me a while to write. There's needy kitten distracting me! And there she goes again, attacking my foot. On that note, Dixie is doing well. She's getting bigger, bolder, and more troublesome but she's also very adorable so it's ok. I had to cut off any ribbons that were sent to me because it caused risk to the wrapping of the present. She runs all over them while she attacks the tree (if you notice in future Christmas pictures, there are no ornaments on the bottom third) so the presents already have to tough it out without being the main object of attack. They're mainly still wrapped. To my Grandparents, my parents, John's parents, and Jan and Bruce I wanted to let you know that I've received cards and/or packages from you safe and sound so no need to worry, if you were. Thank you :-).
John and I are doing fine. He was gone from the 8th-18th but is home on "stand down" right now. He doesn't have work but he's been going in every day to try to get qualified. He's mainly been going when I have work so it's not really a problem. My hours are down to 15, which isn't too bad. I'd prefer more for money but it is part-time so I can't expect a lot. I'm still working in the fittings rooms and yesterday one of the Bra Specialists (full-time position) told me she was going to refer me to our superiors for one of the open Bra Specialist positions! I feel pretty honored. I like knowing that I'm appreciated and recognized for my hard work, but then, who doesn't? I don't expect anything to happen quickly so there may be no word on this for a while, especially since it's Christmas. I have a friend who was told they were actually giving her the position (a few weeks ago) by Toni, the head of our department, but Toni is still trying to get word and agreement from the Corporation so nothing has come of it so far. If that happens I'll have five, nine hour shifts per week with an hour break. Fun fun. John is home, as I mentioned, which is nice. Standdown is over on the fourth and soon after John's off again for another 2 weeks-ish. It seems like it's 2 weeks home, and 2 weeks underway. It's a pain, haha. I think he leaves the day my parents come in and comes back soon after they leave so they won't be able to see him, but it helps me! Haha, I won't be nearly as lonely, so that's nice.
On Sunday John and I are starting Scuba lessons! We have new masks (thanks to the Russells!) and are studying up for it. I'm pretty excited. We have classes Sun-Wed night and then open dive classes on the following weekend. It should be exciting. I hope it's not too scary. Hooray.
I'm not sure what else to report on. With me working and John not really being home anyway we haven't explored at all since the Russells' visit. I've also been sick since then. I got sick soon before thanksgiving and it's been off and on until just now. The most recent week has been all cough so it was bearable. I think sinus headaches are the worst part of a cold, so once those were over it's been fine. And on a health note, Momma will be glad to hear that I have been referred to an someone about TMJ and am supposed to expect a call within a week to set up a consult.
My next e-mail should be more exciting. I'll be sure to talk about the Scuba experience and the oh so exciting Holidays. I'm currently annoyed by then. Traffic to and from work is HORRENDOUS. I do work at a mall after all but, it's terrible. It took me 40 min just to get out of the mall and onto the highway the other day! That, so far, has been the only day it took me an hour and a half to get home from work, which is technically only 10 miles away.
Happy Holidays!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
It's been a while
I recognize that I haven't posted in a while. Things are less exciting now. They've become a regular day by day rotating life. The real world, if you will. I'm working a lot and John works about three times more. It's alright though.
My job is going well. I've made a lot of work-friends and have been put in the fittings rooms most of the time. I like it there. It's always rather hectic though. I'm not selling or showing people around and answering gift questions. I have to work with the fitting room go-backs, the bra wardrobe center, and helping the individuals in the dressing rooms. This consists of clasping, adjusting straps, separating, and handing out the bras/other underwears that people choose not to get. The BWC is the drawers devoted to a different size containing all the bras that come in that size. Ideally the people on the floor explain this and people try on the box and then we mark down the bras that they felt fit them best and then they go to the floor and pick out colors so that we don't have to do as many go-backs. This leaves me constantly organizing the boxes that goes in the drawers and putting them away as well as making sure that all the correct bras are in those boxes. While I'm doing this, I help customers. The Bra Specialists and supervisors tell me that I'm a strong worker so they prefer me helping with the boxes because then I can help with the customers if the other girls are busy. Ah FYI, the go-backs are done in the back room of the fitting rooms so it's a little isolated, which is nice at times. Therefore, if I'm doing those- I'm not easily available to customers. So lately I've been focusing on the boxes and customers.
Oh yes and I also run out to the floor whenever as Bra Specialist asks me to grab a bra either for the customer or for the boxes. I'm on my feet the entire time and often exhausted at the end of the day. I'm thankful I bought dress crocs (aka crocs that don't look a thing like crocs but seriously help my legs).
And that's my day. Only, they've been cutting hours because they aren't making the sales they were when they first opened and thus can't afford the workers. This is a pain in the butt, for two reasons. 1.) If your hours get cut, you don't make money and 2.) When they cut other peoples' hours my work doubles because we become seriously understaffed. It sucks. We're understaffed when it comes to the job demand but overstaffed when it comes to the budget. And I don't think I get paid enough for everything I do.
Oh fun fun.
Let's move on.
John's family visited during Thanksgiving week. That was nice. It was good to see people and run around the island with them. Nine of them came, so it was a pretty packed week! We showed off Hanauma Bay and even saw a puffer fish while there! That was awesome. While I worked on Black Friday, John took them all to the Arizona Memorial. It sounded like they had a good time. I know mother wants to go, so I didn't miss out on anything. I'll go with her when she visits in January. We went to the Navy-Hawaii game, but unfortunately lost. I blame the Time zone since it was a night game in HAWAII, but according to John the Hawaii team was also amazing against our one type of play that most teams don't do well against. Don't ask me to elaborate, I don't care enough to remember the details haha.
Bah! I don't know what else to say on the matter. I'm glad they were all able to come down and it was great having them here. This is the trouble of putting off writing because then I forget any exciting details.
Though, I'm still pretty excited about seeing the foot longish puffer fish!
Oh look! It's 10 pm and John's finally home, hurrah.
OffI go then. He leaves soon for 1-2 weeks so I'm going to spend some time with him.
My job is going well. I've made a lot of work-friends and have been put in the fittings rooms most of the time. I like it there. It's always rather hectic though. I'm not selling or showing people around and answering gift questions. I have to work with the fitting room go-backs, the bra wardrobe center, and helping the individuals in the dressing rooms. This consists of clasping, adjusting straps, separating, and handing out the bras/other underwears that people choose not to get. The BWC is the drawers devoted to a different size containing all the bras that come in that size. Ideally the people on the floor explain this and people try on the box and then we mark down the bras that they felt fit them best and then they go to the floor and pick out colors so that we don't have to do as many go-backs. This leaves me constantly organizing the boxes that goes in the drawers and putting them away as well as making sure that all the correct bras are in those boxes. While I'm doing this, I help customers. The Bra Specialists and supervisors tell me that I'm a strong worker so they prefer me helping with the boxes because then I can help with the customers if the other girls are busy. Ah FYI, the go-backs are done in the back room of the fitting rooms so it's a little isolated, which is nice at times. Therefore, if I'm doing those- I'm not easily available to customers. So lately I've been focusing on the boxes and customers.
Oh yes and I also run out to the floor whenever as Bra Specialist asks me to grab a bra either for the customer or for the boxes. I'm on my feet the entire time and often exhausted at the end of the day. I'm thankful I bought dress crocs (aka crocs that don't look a thing like crocs but seriously help my legs).
And that's my day. Only, they've been cutting hours because they aren't making the sales they were when they first opened and thus can't afford the workers. This is a pain in the butt, for two reasons. 1.) If your hours get cut, you don't make money and 2.) When they cut other peoples' hours my work doubles because we become seriously understaffed. It sucks. We're understaffed when it comes to the job demand but overstaffed when it comes to the budget. And I don't think I get paid enough for everything I do.
Oh fun fun.
Let's move on.
John's family visited during Thanksgiving week. That was nice. It was good to see people and run around the island with them. Nine of them came, so it was a pretty packed week! We showed off Hanauma Bay and even saw a puffer fish while there! That was awesome. While I worked on Black Friday, John took them all to the Arizona Memorial. It sounded like they had a good time. I know mother wants to go, so I didn't miss out on anything. I'll go with her when she visits in January. We went to the Navy-Hawaii game, but unfortunately lost. I blame the Time zone since it was a night game in HAWAII, but according to John the Hawaii team was also amazing against our one type of play that most teams don't do well against. Don't ask me to elaborate, I don't care enough to remember the details haha.
Bah! I don't know what else to say on the matter. I'm glad they were all able to come down and it was great having them here. This is the trouble of putting off writing because then I forget any exciting details.
Though, I'm still pretty excited about seeing the foot longish puffer fish!
Oh look! It's 10 pm and John's finally home, hurrah.
OffI go then. He leaves soon for 1-2 weeks so I'm going to spend some time with him.
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