A visit from Cal Department: Rx Author: Charlie Era: 1986 Date: 03/19/05 In 1986 after we had been out a couple of years, USC (that's South Carolina, not Southern Cal) and Nebraska were having their first ever football game. Cal and I decided to attend and Cal was supposed to get the tickets in NE and bring them to SC. He showed up without them, so we figured we'd get them at the stadium and luckily we did. We treated my wife to some old-time Noodling, and she put up with us pretty well. We made a good mountain road trip, Noodle style, of course. We also made a very drunken appearance at the local bowling alley. By the day of the game, we were so hungover my wife had to put in an extra effort just to get us moving. It's about 50 miles to the stadium, so she had to pull over a couple of times to let us dry-heave. Even though it was early October, it was about 90 degrees. When we got tickets, it was at the top row. It turned out to be a very close game, and the stdium back then would actually sway when people got rowdy, which didn't help our hangovers any.

Monte Carlo road trip Department: Rx Author: Jim Bacquet Era: 1982 Date: 03/19/05 How many nukes can you fit in a little european rental car? We were able to put 6 per car and off we went from Naples to Monte Carlo to see the grand prix. Several lessons were learned: 1. Peter is the only one who can speak to the French. 2. French people don't appreciate American humor. 2A. Restaraunts in France are expensive (tres cher) 3. Peeing out a slightly ajar car door traveling 140 KPH does not entrain the urine in the air stream and drag it out of the car. It simply blows it into the passenger compartment. 4. Always buy more beer than you think you'll drink in a four day trip or you will run out and have to drink cheap wine for the other 3 days. 5. If you can't fit your car into the parking space, 6 nukes can pick it up and carry it in. 6. If you are stopped at a traffic light and decide to jump out and bang on the hoods of the cars around you, make sure the asshole driving your car does not drive away and leave you to face the wrath of the other drivers.

pete story Department: Rx Author: Jim Bacquet (dog dart) Era: 1981 Date: 03/19/05 One night Pete went to bed with a big dip in his mouth, he was a swallower, he fell asleep with his dip still in and puked all over his rack. The smell was horrible but we all thought it was just his usual farts so no one knew what happened until he woke up the next morning. Sorry to tell on you Pete. Remember the two Canadian girls you picked up and brought by my apartment? I'm glad one of us got lucky. I sure wish I had paid more attention in French class during high school!

Visiting Cal Department: Rx Author: Charlie Era: 1987 Date: 03/19/05 My wife and I paid a visit to Cal in Nebraska in 1987. Cal was working at Ft. Calhoun and was not yet married, but engaged. Cal was a good host. He took us to a truck stop across from the state prison where I admit I had probably the best steak I have ever eaten. Cal always said, "You can't get a good steak on the East Coast." Cal and I also attended the College World Series while the women went shopping in Omaha. We even ended up at a huge drunken wedding celebration at the local VFW hall. I think Cal actually knew at least one of the persons who got married. I also got to see Joe Braun, leader of the Un-Noodles out there, too. We had a pretty good Noodle style croquet match, kind of like we did at Noodle Central.

Busted! Department: Rx Author: Charlie Era: 1984 Date: 03/19/05 Walt and I were doing the final closeout of 1RC at the end of the yards in 1984. When we got to the Ion Exchanger, Walt read some his graffiti, the words to "People are Strange". Being a Doors fan myself, I decided to scratch "Weird Scenes Inside the RC" on the IX after I found a spot big enough. Of course, an NRRO chief saw me and reported it to Bob Amante, who was acting Div Officer. Bob had no choice but to write me up and I got to see Capt. Clexton. My charge was destruction of goverment property, because I removed shielding from the IX. The CO busted me to MM2. I was just glad not to be in the brig after such a "serious" charge. I only had about 3 months left, so I didn't appeal. I was still the defacto WCS of RM21 till my relief got out of RT. I was just getting paid a lot less for my efforts. I'm not really bitter because they could have busted me for a lot of other things. It's just typical that when your worth is about used up in the Navy, you're suddenly expendable.

Smuggling Department: Rx Author: Peter Era: 1982 Date: 03/19/05 Many of us were involved in some sort of smuggling coming back from liberty - but I remember this one electrician did just the opposite... Every day during the cruise, he'd buy a carton of Marlboros from the ships store. Then, when he went on liberty, he'd fill a seabag with all these smokes and sell them on the black market. No one ever searched us going ashore - it was always just coming back. - This guy made a hell of a lot of money

Weird Berthing PO Department: Rx Author: Charlie Era: 1983 Date: 03/20/05 We had this guy get de-nuked for a reason other than drugs and sent to berthing during the 83 Med Cruise. He always had acted strange, wearing rags tied around his arm and talking about seeing a guy get turned into a wolf and other strange stuff. I really hated getting woken up by him for watch because he would touch you with his really clammy hand and grin like a maniac at you. I guess the weirdest thing about him was he would watch "The Sound of Music" all the time when he had berthing duty. No matter how much grief we gave him, questioning his manhood, etc, he would just grin like a maniac and keep watching it. He eventually got sent away and our berthing PO's were more normally supplied by guys busted for drugs.

Doing laundry Department: Rx Author: Charlie Era: 1984 Date: 03/20/05 When we ran out of clean clothes, we would load up and hit the laundry. A couple of doors down was a Mexican Restaurant called Gringos which had a 2 for 1 happy hour that coincided with our laundry time. We would drop the clothes in the washers, and have few drinks and play pool, then dry the clothes and have some more drinks and shoot some more pool,and then collect the clothes and drink some more and shoot some more pool. Once, we ended up at the laundry in the middle of the night after shift and a visit to the Shillelagh Inn. We were being loud and obnoxious and noticed some people sleeping in the laundry. It toned us down very little. Pete W even found a shirt in the trash can that he liked and either washed it or maybe put it on and washed the shirt he was wearing. Either way, that's pretty Gonzo!

The artist Department: Rx Author: Charlie Era: 1983 Date: 03/20/05 Fast Fred was a pretty creative artist. He designed a lot of the cruise patches displayed on this site. I still have mine sewn on my old utility jacket, which I wore for years until it started shrinking, kind of like my old Hawaiian shirts. Fred could also take those old black plastic-framed (birth control) glasses and carve designs into them. He also made jewelry out of 100 lire coins. But Fred's big talent was being able to blend in with the native population wherever we went in the Med. His Spanish ancestory gave him that Med look. Once in Morocco, I saw this figure approaching wearing a striped robe and fez hat. It turned out to be Fred. He was also the master at trading with the locals. His lucky bag raids before port are true. In the picture of him getting his shoes shined in Lisbon, I am holding a bag of his items for trading with the locals. He was and is a very unique character.

Rx Berthing PO Department: Rx Author: Peter Era: 1983 Date: 03/20/05 Were you confusing Jones with Ross? - I don't think Jones ever was de-Nuked... I do remember that rag he'd tie around his bicep... Speaking of getting woken up... Some foks would use an alrm clock instead of counting on the Berthing PO... What was great is when they would get up, forgetting they had set their clock... then at 3:30 am, that damn chirping would go off - and due to the high pitch of the chime it was almost impossible to locate it. Finally, after digging through umpteen racks - you'd find it and dash the God Damn thing on the floor and then fling the pieces back into the owner's rack.