If You Are What You Eat...

Then I guess I'd be a strawberry Nutri-grain bar. I definitely would say my middle is just about as mushy. I don't think I've ever eaten as many in my life as I have out here. The quality of the food is sub-par, so I kind of rely on pre-packaged foods. I'll give you a better idea of how it is in the galley. First of all, our chief steward must have gone to culinary school at the Easy-Bake Oven school for retards. Every pastry is about the size of a thimble, which is great for say your waistline, but not very appetizing. And it's not like we're out on a DDG, okay, so why do all the baked goods come out looking like he juggled them before they were through?! To top it off, let me see a show of hands of how many people out there in the FREAKING WORLD who eat raisins in their cupcakes, cakes, pies, etc?? NOONE, that's right. Yet, this guy manages to inject those suckers into every bite. It's not like you can pick them out, either. Who ever heard of strawberry cake -- with raisins!? Well, he did by God. He learned that in the online correspondence course. So today, I did what we've come to know out here as 'being brave.' Yup, I saw the 'appetizing' cupcakes sitting there, and said, "Why not." Yes, folks, I threw caution to the wind, and grabbed not just one, but two. Two! Yes, two bites of cupcakes, they would be. Of course, coming from the Easy-Bake oven, it must have taken him forever, so I guess that's why he slaps the icing on unevenly at the end. He's tired of waiting for the whole process. It takes awhile when you have to wait for a heating lamp to cook your food. Anyway, I peeled away the cupcake-holder-thingie, and didn't spy any brownness, so I thought it was safe. WRONG! After spitting out the 4 raisins I managed to bite into in one little nibble, I sat there and broke apart the cupcake just to see how many were hidden. I stopped counting at 15. Ridiculous.

This guy is the same person who writes out our menus everyday. They are typed up and then posted 'round the ship. Let me give you a 'taste' of his literary talents (which match his culinary skills)...
hmm...tonight I see we are having: CAJUN STYLE JUMELYA
the other day we had: ENCHANADAS (Mexican style, of course)
Oh wow! I'm looking a few days ahead and it looks like we're actually going to have HAMBURGERS (as opposed to what we usually have: HAMBUERS)
Here's another: BEEF RAVOLI
(It's an Italian dish I've never tried before! Sounds scrumptious!)
He likes to describe things as being 'SAVOY.' Makes ME want to try it...
Just a sampling there. It's usually worse.

So even though I've been working out like crazy, lost nearly 10 pounds, and have put on quite a bit of muscle, I still feel unhealthy b/c of my eating habits. It's hard to eat good when there's nothing appetizing. I'm ready for some real food. You know, like microwave dinners.

We're almost to Hawaii now -- just have a few more days 'til we pull into port. I'm probably going to get a rental car to get around Oahu while we're there. The main thing I want to see is the Arizona memorial, but other things such as seeing the 'North Shore' sound fun too. We'll have about 4 days in port before we'll push back out to participate in RIMPAC, which is already underway.

In regards to RIMPAC, there was quite a stir raised by environmentalists this year because of the medium-frequency sonar the Navy wanted to use. The concern that this damages marine mammals was brought up in the form of a suit against the Navy to halt the sonar. As the case progressed, there was a temporary injunction against the sonar's use until the case was settled. The latest word is there was a compromise in which the Navy can use the sonar responsibily (e.g., with restrictions based upon large marine mammal's prescence in the area). Okay, not to be a bummer here, but does anyone think the Navy is really going to put a whale's well-being over what they call 'operational readiness?' Get out of here. It's lip-service, in my opinion. All the participants in the exercise have been instructed to halt use of the active sonar immediately if there is an indication a whale has entered within certain parameters. Oh, and how is the Navy supposed to provide extra measures to watch out for the whales? By putting watch-standers out on the decks of the ships to be a look-out for them, that's how! Oh, ok. That's really gonna work. Besides, that sonar is so powerful, and hence destructive, that there's no way they can halt it in time to keep a whale from being harmed. Despite the fact that we don't even know the complete repercussions of this sonar, anyway.
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