"Ask the Chief."
It was a good weekend. Friday, Mike from high school (as opposed to Mike the contractor, or various other Mikes) got pinned as a Chief Petty Officer in the US Navy.
That means, for the non-military, that he was officially, and publicly, promoted to Chief Petty Officer. The ceremony is called a pinning, because the stripes on the sleeve of the lower ranks are replaced by twin pins on the collar. The pins are called the Fouled Anchor, because they consist of an anchor with a chain wrapped around it. The letters U S N go across the front of it as well. You might think that they stand for the United States Navy, but you'd be wrong -- at least according to the Chief Petty Officer's creed.
The rank of Chief Petty Officer is an unusual one indeed -- there is no other quite like it in any of the other armed forces. There's a lot of history, and tradition, and CPO's do consider themselves to be a very different part of the Navy from the rest of the enlisted men and the officers. If you want to learn more, check out the GoatLocker.
So anyway, Mike invited me up to Washington for the ceremony. I was able to clear the time off (I would work elsewhen that weekend to make up for it) and was able to get a reasonably cheap flight. I flew out of Oakland because it was nearly $100 cheaper. It turned out to be the best flight I've ever taken, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
As you might have guessed, I was not exactly early for the flight, so I was one of the last ones on. It was Southwest, so seating is first come, first served. I wandered down the aisle of the 737 to where there was a small wall separating the front of the plane from the rear. Just beyond it, I glanced down and noticed that the row of seats just behind the wall faced the row behind it.
In a rare moment of lightning-fast thinking, I realized that those two rows, because they shared the foot space, would have more legroom than most rows. There were three people on the port side of the plane, so I asked if the the other seats were taken. They weren't, and I scored the backwards-facing window seat.
We were joined by one more person who took the middle, forward-facing seat, leaving the one next to me vacant. I had expected to either sleep (it was, after all, 7am, and I had gone to bed at 2am the night before) or pull out my laptop and get some work done. I did neither, however.
I don't know what set things off, but someone made a comment about something, and someone else responded, and we didn't stop talking until the plane was on the ground. We talked of many things -- Singapore and Hong Kong, telecommuting, ballparks, caring for aging parents. We got to know each other, in a friendly, comfortable way. There was the fellow who worked for NullSoft, the woman who sells faucets and toilets to Home Depot, a commercial Real Estate broker, and a guy who works for Sherwin-Williams.
In my mind, they were WinAmp Guy, Daly City, Real Estate Guy, and Sherwin Williams, respectively. WinAmp Guy, Daly City, and Sherwin Williams were all going to be in Seattle for just the day; Sherwin Williams wasn't even going to leave the airport. Real Estate Guy was visiting a friend for the weekend; they were planning to visit Vancouver B.C. They were all neat people. The time passed quickly, and before we knew it, we were on the ground in Seattle.
I noticed as we were landing that Sherwin Williams (who had the other window seat, opposite me) was looking out the window as much as I was. What made this noticeable is that from our conversation I felt fairly certain he had flown a lot. I asked him as we walked off the plane, and he told me he did indeed fly a lot -- his frequent flyer miles totalled six figures last year, and the company has two private jets to boot -- but that he does still enjoy flying.
What was perhaps the neatest thing of all for me was that I brought up the new business without it being clumsy or awkward. It just came out smoothly, a natural part of the conversation. As we taxied to the gate, I passed out my proto-cards to everyone. I doubt anything will come of it, but you never know.
From the airport, I picked up my rental car (cheaper, and more convenient than the shuttle bus) and headed out to Silverdale. Once I got into town, I dug up the local mall and picked up a card; something I'd not had a chance to do before leaving. I managed to find one with a 5 on it -- that's Mike's favorite number. Then it was off to find Mike's house.
When I got there, no one was home yet, so I wandered off to Bremerton to check out some thrift shops I'd found on the web. Picked up a small Donald Duck for Rachel and a sandwich. Then back to Silverdale. I got there just ahead of Mike's Dad whom I had never met. The problem was, his Dad wasn't supposed to see him there, because the whole thing was to be a surprise.
Thinking quickly, Mike told his daughter to bring his Dad in while I headed out. Mike would then sneak out the back and around the side of the house and into my rental car. We then took off to try and pick up his son. Unfortunately, there was a fire or something, so we couldn't make it. (The traffic was horrible.)
We turned around and headed for the base because the Military, as I understand it, takes a rather morose view of tardiness. I dropped Mike off to get ready, parked the car, and found a place to change into clean clothes.
The ceremony was, as most such ceremonies are, not exactly riveting. A whole lotta small groups of guys walked onto stage, got pins on their collars and new hats, and walked off. There were about a billion people crowded into a ballroom that could probably handle a couple hundred at most. Still, we made it through, and Mike was a CPO.
There was a reception to follow, but we never really got to it. Mike and family were all too busy running around talking to people and stuff afterwards. Then, it was decided that the reception was too crowded, so it was back to Mike's place.
We spent an enjoyable evening with lots of people coming and going. I got to talk to Mike's Dad, and I met Paula's parents as well. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen chatting up Mike's Mom -- Yvonne was always totally hot, and a few years hasn't changed a thing! She's also taken up ceramics, and she's really good.
Eventually, things wound down, and everyone started thinking about hitting the sack. I slept in Mike's daughter's room (thanks Shelby!). Before going to bed, Mike and I figured out what time I needed to get up to catch my flight home. I came up with 5am; Mike figured 3:30am. So I got up at 3:30am.
I took a quick shower when I got up, and found Mike waiting for me in the living room. We said goodbye, with promises to get together soon, and I headed off. Mike was more right than I was about the timing; I made it without much time to spare.
The trip home was nowhere near as enjoyable as the trip up; the plane was mostly empty, and this model of plane didn't have the lounge section.
Mike and I didn't get to spend a lot of time together -- he was pretty busy with a lot of people. He was pretty tired too. Still, I'm glad I could be there for what was a very important day for him. Next time, and it will be soon, we'll spend more time.