Hello All,
It has been a couple of weeks since I posted and I apologize. I always have good intentions of posting every week and usually follow through. The past few weeks have been pretty busy as I have been preparing products for this 2 week mission rehearsal exercise and conducting the training at the Joint Warfighting Center in Suffolk, VA.
As expected, traveling to the U.S. sucked as it always does when your starting point is Africa. Traveling actually went about as expected. It took 30 hours of elapsed time with a long layover in Paris. Got in late to Dulles Airport and missed my flight to Norfolk and a bag was unaccounted for at that point also. It was determined that my bag was on a later flight which was no big deal as it was just stuff I didn't need in Africa and was hauling home.
I must say, it was an unexpected treat to be back in the U.S. My room at the Hilton Garden Inn is as nice a room that I have experieced in the last 4 months. It was also great to eat somewhere besides the chow hall in Djibouti. Over the course of the last couple of weeks I have eaten Italian, sushi, Mexican, Thai, and Fire House subs (I had some hot sauce so hot it made my eyes water!)
I have also taken the opportunity to drink some bourbon which I can't do in Djibouti as it is against base orders. Something about "good order and discipline", whatever that means.
My brief and training package was well received. Some days were slower than others as our job was to act as subject matter experts and be available to assist the new staff as required. The comments from the training audience at the end of training after action review overwhelmingly concured that those who traveled from DJ were the greatest value added to training. I will consider that a mission success.
The biggest treat of the trip was goin' back to see my woman in Sneads Ferry. It was such a morale booster to be able to see Jodi! The house was decorated for Chirstmas and everything looked great. She made sure that there was nothing to accomplish around the house so we could just spend time together. The time went by fast and it was just as hard to leave then as it was 4 months ago. Well, two more months and I will be home again back to my ever lovin' wife.
Don't expect to be doing anything out of the ordinary around Christmas. We always have Sunday off but will also get Monday off. I plan on being on a dive boat for Christmas this year as well as the Monday following Christmas. I have determined a long time ago that the less time you can spend in your CLU (room) the better. By the time I depart base and return after diving, the day is mostly over. If I wasn't doing something the day would really drag.
So, I would like to wish everyone an advanced Happy Chanukah (first night is Tues, 20 Dec) and Merry Christmas. You will be in my thoughts as I am floating around the Gulf of Aden on 25 Dec.
On duty in Africa,
Michael
Friday, December 16, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
One hundred...and...thirty six feet.
Hello All,
I haven't posted in a couple of weeks because sometimes it takes that long for enough interesting things to happen to make it worth sitting down and telling you about it.
First of all, a belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I for one have a laundry list of things that I am thankful for including my wife, Sarah, Chase, and _________ (insert your name here).
I have been diving a lot lately and, honestly, if I were not doing that, I am not sure how I would fill an entire day off. I was out on Sunday, Nov 20th, and got a real surprise.
I was meandering along at a relaxed pace down at 45' feet checking out the reef (below me and to my left) when I looked up and noticed a large dark mass. I looked to my left and a giant whale shark was passing me going the opposite direction. It was like we were on a two lane highway each going the opposite direction. It was only about 8' way from me!!
When I looked over, its head had passed by and I was about mid-body. By the time I turned about to give chase, I was at its tail. After about 10 seconds of robust kicking, I had caught up to its head and remained just out of its field of vision. I swam with the whale shark for about 150' before I broke off. It was REALLY cool. The whale shark was about 20' long, graceful, and swimming almost with no effort.
If I had not looked up, he would have passed right by me. If I had not looked up and was swimming about 8' to the left, I think I would have swam right into its mouth!
Went out again Wed night before Thanksgiving on a night wreck dive. That dive was just ok. There was a lot of plankton in the water and visibility was not that good as a result.
So, what's the one hundred thirty six feet all about? Well, it also equals 41.5 meters and it is the distance a car traveling 46 mph covers in 2 seconds.
With nothing going on for Thanksgiving and having the entire day off, I decided to go out on the dive boat again. On the second dive of the day, a master dive instructor, a dive master in training and I descended to the depth of...136'. If you are not familiar with SCUBA diving, this probably doesn't mean much, but it is actually a little beyond the depth a recreational diver would be permitted to dive to (at least if they are following PADI guidelines).
At 136', the pressure on the body is 4x that on the surface. Because of the extreme pressure, the rate at which nitrogen leaves the body slows dramatically. Our wrist mounted dive computers (like a watch but it doesn't tell you what time it is) indicated that we could only spend 5 minutes at that depth before we would have to go through a rather complex decompression sequence. After a few minutes, we started ascending in order to avoid all this.
Most divers will never dive that deep so I am happy to say, "been there, done that".
Again with not much going on this past Sunday, I decided to dive again. The first dive was uneventful but the second dive was a bit of an exploration. The same two listed above and I went into an area no one had dove in before just to see what was there. We ended up finding a really neat reef had developed on a large boulder field. Since we found it, we get to name it and it will be referenced on future dives to that location. Again, very cool.
The last bit of news is that I moved out of my "shared dry CLU" (roommate, no bathroom, containerized living unit) to a "private wet CLU". My new digs are a little older then my old room but what an upgrade. The best part is not having a roommate and having my own "head" (naval shipboard term for bathroom). The location is also a lot better being in the center of camp vs at the opposite end from my office.
Well, that is really about it. Next week I am off on an adventure to other dark continent, North America, where I will be studying the behavior of the indiginous population as well as sampling local foods and beverages. I'll keep you posted on my observations/explorations.
Until then,
Michael
I haven't posted in a couple of weeks because sometimes it takes that long for enough interesting things to happen to make it worth sitting down and telling you about it.
First of all, a belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I for one have a laundry list of things that I am thankful for including my wife, Sarah, Chase, and _________ (insert your name here).
I have been diving a lot lately and, honestly, if I were not doing that, I am not sure how I would fill an entire day off. I was out on Sunday, Nov 20th, and got a real surprise.
I was meandering along at a relaxed pace down at 45' feet checking out the reef (below me and to my left) when I looked up and noticed a large dark mass. I looked to my left and a giant whale shark was passing me going the opposite direction. It was like we were on a two lane highway each going the opposite direction. It was only about 8' way from me!!
When I looked over, its head had passed by and I was about mid-body. By the time I turned about to give chase, I was at its tail. After about 10 seconds of robust kicking, I had caught up to its head and remained just out of its field of vision. I swam with the whale shark for about 150' before I broke off. It was REALLY cool. The whale shark was about 20' long, graceful, and swimming almost with no effort.
If I had not looked up, he would have passed right by me. If I had not looked up and was swimming about 8' to the left, I think I would have swam right into its mouth!
Went out again Wed night before Thanksgiving on a night wreck dive. That dive was just ok. There was a lot of plankton in the water and visibility was not that good as a result.
So, what's the one hundred thirty six feet all about? Well, it also equals 41.5 meters and it is the distance a car traveling 46 mph covers in 2 seconds.
With nothing going on for Thanksgiving and having the entire day off, I decided to go out on the dive boat again. On the second dive of the day, a master dive instructor, a dive master in training and I descended to the depth of...136'. If you are not familiar with SCUBA diving, this probably doesn't mean much, but it is actually a little beyond the depth a recreational diver would be permitted to dive to (at least if they are following PADI guidelines).
At 136', the pressure on the body is 4x that on the surface. Because of the extreme pressure, the rate at which nitrogen leaves the body slows dramatically. Our wrist mounted dive computers (like a watch but it doesn't tell you what time it is) indicated that we could only spend 5 minutes at that depth before we would have to go through a rather complex decompression sequence. After a few minutes, we started ascending in order to avoid all this.
Most divers will never dive that deep so I am happy to say, "been there, done that".
Again with not much going on this past Sunday, I decided to dive again. The first dive was uneventful but the second dive was a bit of an exploration. The same two listed above and I went into an area no one had dove in before just to see what was there. We ended up finding a really neat reef had developed on a large boulder field. Since we found it, we get to name it and it will be referenced on future dives to that location. Again, very cool.
The last bit of news is that I moved out of my "shared dry CLU" (roommate, no bathroom, containerized living unit) to a "private wet CLU". My new digs are a little older then my old room but what an upgrade. The best part is not having a roommate and having my own "head" (naval shipboard term for bathroom). The location is also a lot better being in the center of camp vs at the opposite end from my office.
Well, that is really about it. Next week I am off on an adventure to other dark continent, North America, where I will be studying the behavior of the indiginous population as well as sampling local foods and beverages. I'll keep you posted on my observations/explorations.
Until then,
Michael
Monday, November 14, 2011
Another one crossed off the list
This past week I took a few days off for a 4 day/3 night SCUBA diving trip. In a nutshell, it was great. The Deli (pictured last week) was the perfect size to allow everyone to spread out and the crew did a wonderful job. On board were (8) military and civilians from base and we were rounded out by a couple from Finland and a couple from Italy, both of whom traveled to Djibouti specfically for this live-aboard dive trip.
We sailed to an area that I had never dove before which was the Gulf of Tadjoura and the Bay of Ghoubbet both in the vicinity of Djibouti. We did (3) dives on the first and last day with (4) dives on days two and three. Let me tell you....(4) dives a day is a lot and has us underwater for three hours per day.
You may recall from a previous post when I was in Germany that I had a list of things to do before I died. In that particular post, it was "climb the world's tallest steeple" which I did in the town of Ulm, Germany.
Well, I'm happy to tell you that I crossed another one off the list..."SCUBA dive between the earth's teutonic plates". As you probably know, teutonic plates are what makes up the crust of the earth and earthquakes shift these plates.
Thursday morning was the highlight of the trip as we desended over 100' of water and then into the crack. The site we dove is literally the crack in the earth between the continents of Asia and Africa which is caused by the movements of the earth. This crack marks the separation between the African, Middle Eastern and Indian Ocean tectonic plates. It’s an amazing feeling to sink between the rock walls below the crust of the earth. I am told that Djibouti is the only place in the world recreational divers (read those who dive to 130' or less) can experience this.
Night two was also very interesting. After sunset, (3) whale sharks spent about 90 minutes feeding mere feet off of our starboard bow (right side as you are facing forward). Whale sharks eat plankton (sorry to all the Sponge Bob fans out there) and very small fish (1"-4"). On this particular evening there was a school of tens of thousands of these little fish and I think those three whale sharks ate just about every one of them. Of the three, the biggest was estimated to be 25' in length. Let me tell you, a 25' fish is enormous!
However, the largest one ever sighted was estimated to be 41' and checking in at 47,000 lbs. Did I fail to mention that the whale shark is the world's largest fish? The 25 footer seemed to have a mouth as wide as I am tall and could have easily fit a human in there.
Well, check another one off the list..."swim with the whale sharks". Two off the list in only one outing. Not bad.
The food was also top notch. Simple...but very good. On nights one and two, we ate whatever found its way onto a hook earlier in the day. We ate very freshly caught king mackerel, grouper, and tuna.
We all had assigned cabins but that was just a place to shower and stow your stuff. Most everyone found a comfortable spot on the deck to sleep at night. The weather was beautiful with clear, full moon skies. The temperature was just right for sleeping and all you needed was a thin blanket to keep the wind off of you. Very restful after long days of diving.
Honestly, I was exhausted after we got back. It was a fabulous trip and now back to the reality of life aboard Camp Lemmioner. The good news is that I am off on another adventure in a couple of weeks as I travel to the land of milk and honey to a place called "Suffolk, VA". I can only imagine what excitement that holds as I check my list of things to do before I die.
Oh, wait. "Visit Suffolk, VA" is not on the list....
Until next time,
Michael
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Its Sunday, again? Really?
Hello All,
Yes, Sunday again. I find myself in the unusual position of trying to figure out how to entertain myself today. For the past month and a half I have been SCUBA diving every Sunday. That would leave me scrambling Saturday morning before work to get all my Sunday stuff done and return Sunday night to unpack and do some laundry. Today, not so much the case. I passed on diving today because my (4) day dive trip starts tomorrow. Today is my prep day.
Well, now the challenge is how to fill blog space for this entry.
I talk with Jodi every day via Yahoo IM and she is doing well. Thanks to all of you who look in on her occasionally either through a phone call or an invitation for dinner. Chase and Sarah are also doing well and in the throws of school. Sarah visited Chase a couple of weeks ago and they both had the time of their lives. Jodi, on the other hand, not so much. Turns out that taking care of two kids really is about double the effort. But, because of her, they both had a memorable time. Thanks, Honey!
What else, what else?
I have taken a liking to hot sauce over the last 6 mos or so. I order online from Hotsauce World and they carry hundreds of kinds of hot sauce. This is stuff you don't see in the stores, even the high end grocery stores. I have reordered "Virginia Gentleman" hotsauce made with real bourbon and just cracked open a bottle of "Blair's Original Death" hot sauce. I am slowly begining to appreciate hot sauces that most people would consider "really friggin' hot". I am not ready to try some of the hottest sauces available which are made with Bhut Jolokia chili peppers or "ghost peppers". These little babies are 400x hotter then Tabasco sauce.
The current "world's hottest" is the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T, officially tested at 1,463,700 SHU. SHU or Scoville rating measure how hot peppers are. By comparison, Frank's Original hot sauce checks in a 450 SHU and Tabasco is around 3000.
You might ask yourself, why put something so hot on food? A good hot sauce adds flavor, the heat is a by product. Of course, the key is moderation. Some of these sauces are applied by the drop.
Jodi's Dad, Jerry, has a blog also. It is not a "this is what I am up to" blog like mine. His blog is a little more poignent then mine is and I admire his dedication to the research he does for his daily posts. He has found a lot of interesting clips on the "Occupy Wall Street" bunch. Some posts are funny but all of them are thought provoking. The clips are entertaining and found at http://blogfromonhigh.blogspot.com/
I look forward to reporting back to you next week after my trip. I hope to have a few pics worth posting. It is also Veterans' Day this upcoming week. Everyone knows someone who served. It is because of them that we have the freedom to choose our religion, to speak out against our government, to vote, and to read this blog. Please thank them for their contribution.
It is also the Marine Corps 236th birthday on 10 Nov. If you know a current or former US Marine, tell them "happy birthday". They will know exactly what you mean.
Until next week,
Michael
Yes, Sunday again. I find myself in the unusual position of trying to figure out how to entertain myself today. For the past month and a half I have been SCUBA diving every Sunday. That would leave me scrambling Saturday morning before work to get all my Sunday stuff done and return Sunday night to unpack and do some laundry. Today, not so much the case. I passed on diving today because my (4) day dive trip starts tomorrow. Today is my prep day.
Well, now the challenge is how to fill blog space for this entry.
I talk with Jodi every day via Yahoo IM and she is doing well. Thanks to all of you who look in on her occasionally either through a phone call or an invitation for dinner. Chase and Sarah are also doing well and in the throws of school. Sarah visited Chase a couple of weeks ago and they both had the time of their lives. Jodi, on the other hand, not so much. Turns out that taking care of two kids really is about double the effort. But, because of her, they both had a memorable time. Thanks, Honey!
What else, what else?
I have taken a liking to hot sauce over the last 6 mos or so. I order online from Hotsauce World and they carry hundreds of kinds of hot sauce. This is stuff you don't see in the stores, even the high end grocery stores. I have reordered "Virginia Gentleman" hotsauce made with real bourbon and just cracked open a bottle of "Blair's Original Death" hot sauce. I am slowly begining to appreciate hot sauces that most people would consider "really friggin' hot". I am not ready to try some of the hottest sauces available which are made with Bhut Jolokia chili peppers or "ghost peppers". These little babies are 400x hotter then Tabasco sauce.
The current "world's hottest" is the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T, officially tested at 1,463,700 SHU. SHU or Scoville rating measure how hot peppers are. By comparison, Frank's Original hot sauce checks in a 450 SHU and Tabasco is around 3000.
You might ask yourself, why put something so hot on food? A good hot sauce adds flavor, the heat is a by product. Of course, the key is moderation. Some of these sauces are applied by the drop.
Jodi's Dad, Jerry, has a blog also. It is not a "this is what I am up to" blog like mine. His blog is a little more poignent then mine is and I admire his dedication to the research he does for his daily posts. He has found a lot of interesting clips on the "Occupy Wall Street" bunch. Some posts are funny but all of them are thought provoking. The clips are entertaining and found at http://blogfromonhigh.blogspot.com/
I look forward to reporting back to you next week after my trip. I hope to have a few pics worth posting. It is also Veterans' Day this upcoming week. Everyone knows someone who served. It is because of them that we have the freedom to choose our religion, to speak out against our government, to vote, and to read this blog. Please thank them for their contribution.
It is also the Marine Corps 236th birthday on 10 Nov. If you know a current or former US Marine, tell them "happy birthday". They will know exactly what you mean.
Until next week,
Michael
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Well...I am back in Africa.
You would think that after a week in Germany I would have more to write about.
The trip went very well and the group got a lot accomplished in a relatively short period of time. Flying in and out of Africa is a real pain with our return trip taking a total of over 14 hours.
It was great to get out of Djibouti for a bit. I had forgotten what normal (at least to me) civilization looked like. The town we stayed in (really a small city) had all the things you would expect to find. By the time we got done with work during the day, nobody really felt like doing much besides going out and grabbing dinner.
I managed to eat a few tasty meals and drink some of that delicious German beer. The one thing I had forgotten about is how expensive everything is in Europe. It is not that it is expensive in local terms, just expensive when you convert US dollars to Euros. It takes $1.40 or so to buy one Euro. So, a $20 Euro meal ends up costing you $28 USD. Throw in a one Euro tip (15% is not customary as tip is built into price, but you usually round up and leave the server the change) and you are looking at $30 USD for a decent restaurant entree and a beer. Seems like kind of a lot by American standards.
The strong Euro is not necessarily a bad thing (unless you are traveling to Europe). As you probably know, strong foreign currancy relative to the USD helps American companies who EXPORT goods to those places with strong currancies. Companies like Catarpillar, Harley Davidson, Coca-Cola, and the few other companies in the US that actually export products make out pretty good as their products become cheaper as foreign currancy becomes stronger. It is also beneficial to companies like Disney, various ski resorts, and other tourist destinations in the US because it is cheaper for tourists from other places to come here.
At any rate, it is always nice to be done travelling and I have quickly settled back into a normal routine.
This upcoming week, I will be taking a few days off to go SCUBA diving. A group of us from camp will be going out on that 75' twin mast schooner that I go diving off of on Sundays. We will leave Monday morning and return Thurs afternoon. Should get in 3-4 dives per day including night dives, wrecks, whale sharks, and a dive between the earth's teutonic plates (gap in the earth's surface/plates).
I have almost completed my Advanced Open Water SCUBA certification which included underwater navigation, deep dive (went to 100' which is pretty deep by recreational diving standards), and still need a night dive.
Time to put those skills to work!
At least when I get back, I will have something more interesting to write about.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Back to the Fatherland.
Hello All,
Russia is called the "Motherland" but Germany is called the "Fatherland" (and the U.S. is the "Land of milk and honey" or it was at one time).
At any rate, I am back in Germany.
I just arrived a few hours ago and the trip has gone really well. I am up here for a week long conference to finalize the training package the new staff will get in December.
A small group of selected individuals, myself included, left Djibouti Saturday evening from the airport around 7:30 pm. We were connecting with a flight bound for Frankfort out of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and departed at 10:30 pm.
We arrived at the very early hours of 5:30 am in Frankfort. I have come to discover that it is impossible to get anywhere outside of Africa at a normal hour. The flight was very smooth and I enjoyed a couple of scotches and a couple of beers over the 6.5 hour flight. I haven't had scotch since I left NC and it tasted good.
A couple of people I was traveling with had carry on sized bags like I had and they decided to check them. Apparently, they don't have very much experience traveling in and around Africa. Once we were all met at the gate, I exclaimed, "You checked your bag?! What, are you out of your mind!!?".
Sure enough, when we got to Frankfort, their bags were not waiting for them. They will be lucky to see their luggage before we leave late Thurs night. Lesson learned, I suppose. I can tell you that I had NO intentions of parting with my gear.
Each of our two groups picked up rental cars and we were off after a little bite to eat. The site of the conference is about an hour away and we arrived around 7:30 am. Great, what ever shall we do for the next 8 hours or so until we can check in (keep in mind most everything is closed in Germany on Sunday). Well, we were in luck again. We got to our hotel (mom and pop place with a modern bed and breakfast feel like most hotels in Europe) and the inn keeper had a couple of empty rooms and handed us keys to our rooms. Jackpot!
As you may recall from my previous post from my time spent in Europe, hotel rooms in Europe are very small by American standards. I was very surprised to find that my room was the size of a small one bedroom apartment. Jackpot again. The first thing I did was take a hot shower in my private bathroom (as opposed to the bathroom I use in DJ which features a row of 8 shower stalls and 8 sinks).
Actually, I think this small 36 room inn used to be an assisted living facility based on its layout. Jodi would say that this will be good practice for me as I am not getting any younger.
One thing that I had not really considered was that late October in Germany is much different then late October in Djibouti. DJ is still seeing highs in the low 90s and evening temps in the mid 70s. It is actually a pretty pleasant time of the year in the Horn of Africa.
This morning on our ride out to the hotel it was below freezing! I really forgot what that felt like. It felt cold for the record. As I was getting ready to go to Africa during the hot summer season, I had not given much consideration that I might wind up somewhere cold. I never gave any thought that I would be sent to the North Pole for a conference!
May have to pick up something at the Rammstein PX to keep me warm in the evening when we head out for something to eat. I will also have to have Jodi send me a jacket for my trip to Suffolk, VA, which is the first couple of weeks in December.
It feels great to be back in civilization! I am looking forward to some really good beer and really good food! I will keep you posted on how my trip to Germany goes...
Until next time,
Michael
Russia is called the "Motherland" but Germany is called the "Fatherland" (and the U.S. is the "Land of milk and honey" or it was at one time).
At any rate, I am back in Germany.
I just arrived a few hours ago and the trip has gone really well. I am up here for a week long conference to finalize the training package the new staff will get in December.
A small group of selected individuals, myself included, left Djibouti Saturday evening from the airport around 7:30 pm. We were connecting with a flight bound for Frankfort out of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and departed at 10:30 pm.
We arrived at the very early hours of 5:30 am in Frankfort. I have come to discover that it is impossible to get anywhere outside of Africa at a normal hour. The flight was very smooth and I enjoyed a couple of scotches and a couple of beers over the 6.5 hour flight. I haven't had scotch since I left NC and it tasted good.
A couple of people I was traveling with had carry on sized bags like I had and they decided to check them. Apparently, they don't have very much experience traveling in and around Africa. Once we were all met at the gate, I exclaimed, "You checked your bag?! What, are you out of your mind!!?".
Sure enough, when we got to Frankfort, their bags were not waiting for them. They will be lucky to see their luggage before we leave late Thurs night. Lesson learned, I suppose. I can tell you that I had NO intentions of parting with my gear.
Each of our two groups picked up rental cars and we were off after a little bite to eat. The site of the conference is about an hour away and we arrived around 7:30 am. Great, what ever shall we do for the next 8 hours or so until we can check in (keep in mind most everything is closed in Germany on Sunday). Well, we were in luck again. We got to our hotel (mom and pop place with a modern bed and breakfast feel like most hotels in Europe) and the inn keeper had a couple of empty rooms and handed us keys to our rooms. Jackpot!
As you may recall from my previous post from my time spent in Europe, hotel rooms in Europe are very small by American standards. I was very surprised to find that my room was the size of a small one bedroom apartment. Jackpot again. The first thing I did was take a hot shower in my private bathroom (as opposed to the bathroom I use in DJ which features a row of 8 shower stalls and 8 sinks).
Actually, I think this small 36 room inn used to be an assisted living facility based on its layout. Jodi would say that this will be good practice for me as I am not getting any younger.
One thing that I had not really considered was that late October in Germany is much different then late October in Djibouti. DJ is still seeing highs in the low 90s and evening temps in the mid 70s. It is actually a pretty pleasant time of the year in the Horn of Africa.
This morning on our ride out to the hotel it was below freezing! I really forgot what that felt like. It felt cold for the record. As I was getting ready to go to Africa during the hot summer season, I had not given much consideration that I might wind up somewhere cold. I never gave any thought that I would be sent to the North Pole for a conference!
May have to pick up something at the Rammstein PX to keep me warm in the evening when we head out for something to eat. I will also have to have Jodi send me a jacket for my trip to Suffolk, VA, which is the first couple of weeks in December.
It feels great to be back in civilization! I am looking forward to some really good beer and really good food! I will keep you posted on how my trip to Germany goes...
Until next time,
Michael
Sunday, October 16, 2011
My God! THEY'RE HANGING THE TOILET TISSUE THE WRONG WAY!!
Friends,
I've always said, "there is a right way and wrong way to do everything."
Did you know there was a "wrong way" to hang toilet tissue? Maybe you never gave it much thought.
I was in the "never gave it much thought" camp until around the Fall of '97 when I found myself "couch-surfing" at a friends house in Raleigh, NC, while I was between assignments with the Marine Corps.
One afternoon, I used the last little bit of toilet tissue and slapped a new roll in the holder. Later that day, my friend, Joe S., returned from work, came out of the bathroom, and asked me if I changed the roll of toilet tissue. Of course, I responded that I had, in an effort to be a good house guest. He responded, "well, you put it in backwards."
I was thinking to myself, "what the hell is he talking about?". Backwards? I didn't recall seeing any instructions or suggested ways of mounting the roll of toilet tissue on the holder.
Backwards? Really?
So, after a shot of bourbon (it was happy hour and I love bourbon), we grabbed beers and headed into the bathroom to explore this further.
Joe demonstrated that when the roll is backwards, it hangs close to the wall making more difficult to grab. It also seemed to have a bit of rolling resistance. We reversed the direction of the roll and it was like night and day. The tissue hung out in front of the roll and it was very easy to grab. Additionally, it seems easier to pull out the required number of squares.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, there seems to be no standard operating procedure (SOP) with the cleaning crews with regards to how toilet tissue is hung in the rest rooms. This is a little frustrating and I find myself putting rolls of toilet tissue in the right direction on a routine basis. I'm not sure what kind of organization is in charge of this, but they are not doing a very good job.
For some, you may have long ago discovered the "right way" to hang toilet tissue. For those of you in the "never gave it much thought" camp, give it a try. Go ahead, right now. Do a little experiment in your home and I think you will agree...there is a right way and a wrong way to do everything.
Until next week,
Michael
I've always said, "there is a right way and wrong way to do everything."
Did you know there was a "wrong way" to hang toilet tissue? Maybe you never gave it much thought.
I was in the "never gave it much thought" camp until around the Fall of '97 when I found myself "couch-surfing" at a friends house in Raleigh, NC, while I was between assignments with the Marine Corps.
One afternoon, I used the last little bit of toilet tissue and slapped a new roll in the holder. Later that day, my friend, Joe S., returned from work, came out of the bathroom, and asked me if I changed the roll of toilet tissue. Of course, I responded that I had, in an effort to be a good house guest. He responded, "well, you put it in backwards."
I was thinking to myself, "what the hell is he talking about?". Backwards? I didn't recall seeing any instructions or suggested ways of mounting the roll of toilet tissue on the holder.
Backwards? Really?
So, after a shot of bourbon (it was happy hour and I love bourbon), we grabbed beers and headed into the bathroom to explore this further.
Joe demonstrated that when the roll is backwards, it hangs close to the wall making more difficult to grab. It also seemed to have a bit of rolling resistance. We reversed the direction of the roll and it was like night and day. The tissue hung out in front of the roll and it was very easy to grab. Additionally, it seems easier to pull out the required number of squares.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, there seems to be no standard operating procedure (SOP) with the cleaning crews with regards to how toilet tissue is hung in the rest rooms. This is a little frustrating and I find myself putting rolls of toilet tissue in the right direction on a routine basis. I'm not sure what kind of organization is in charge of this, but they are not doing a very good job.
For some, you may have long ago discovered the "right way" to hang toilet tissue. For those of you in the "never gave it much thought" camp, give it a try. Go ahead, right now. Do a little experiment in your home and I think you will agree...there is a right way and a wrong way to do everything.
Until next week,
Michael
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