When the Chief’s away, the ship catches on fire

I used to joke all the time with Kurt that if he doesn’t go to work every day, the ship is going to catch on fire. At least, that’s how his chain of command views him. Trying to get him temporarily stationed to the base near our house was like pulling teeth. “Why do you need to go TAD [temporary duty assignment]? We don’t care if your house hasn’t sold. You’re supposed to be here and working. We need someone with your expertise.”

Blah blah blah.

We had to go back to the ship today to get his TAD orders extended. We were supposed to move today, which, as you can see, ain’t happenin’. The house hasn’t sold, so we’re resigned to my staying here in Washington while Kurt flies to Rhode Island in two and a half weeks. It sucks, but what can do you? Not much. But we needed his TAD orders extended so he wouldn’t have to get underway with the ship next week.

Can you believe it?? They just get back from a seven-month deployment, and they’re already headed to San Diego for six weeks. And then the chain of command wonders why morale is so low.

“The beatings will continue until morale improves.”

The ferry was extremely late this morning, after we already got a late start, so it was about 12:15pm by the time we got to the ship. Kurt was informed that all the officers were in a meeting that wouldn’t end until 1 or 2pm. So we decide to grab some lunch on the pier while we’re waiting.

We’d just finished and started walking back to the ship when alarms went off. Kurt shook his head in disbelief and muttered, “A drill??? Now??? I just want to get my paperwork signed off!!” A passing sailor heard him and told him it was just a fire drill that would be over shortly. Kurt listened to the instructions coming over the 1MC (the ship’s public-address system) and figured that the drill was taking place right on the quarterdeck, which is where we get onto the ship.

As soon as he could see the guys on the quarterdeck, he starts shouting at them to see what’s going on. Come to find out, it’s not a drill. The ship has actually caught on fire, and all while Kurt wasn’t on board. Not only that, but the ship had lost power that morning. Not a good day for the ship.

It wasn’t much of a fire, just a bit of smoke and a bad stench from plastic melting.

I kept saying the ship was going to catch on fire if Kurt wasn’t there all the time!

We had good reason to have a late start this morning. We were out really late last night. Amazingly late, really, now that we have a kid.

I had gone out and chatted with my friend J across the street when I went to grab the mail, and I mentioned to her that Kurt wanted a date night at some point. J told me the best day for her would be that night!

ACK! It was a slight problem because Kurt and I were having a bit of a disagreement, and usually grudges are held for a while and silence is unbroken when that sort of thing happens. It wasn’t until about 7pm that we figured out we did indeed want to take advantage of the opportunity.

We weren’t sure where we wanted to eat, so we drove down to the island to check things out. As hoity-toity as most Islanders are, I figured there would be a nice restaurant for Kurt and I to enjoy our time together, without Grace. Plus the Islanders are hugely against any kind of chain (I’m amazed they allowed a Safeway and a McDonald’s onto the Island…), so we would be supporting the local economy — always a good thing.

Besides, locally-owned restaurants always have better food, IMHO.

We ended up at the Four Swallows Restaurant, a home built in 1889 that was converted into a restaurant. Of course, there were all these tiny little rooms in which to eat. The furniture was all old, and the silverware was actually silver. Or it looked like it was, anyhow.

Our table was located just at the window you see at the far right, in a glassed-in porch. I sat with my back to the stained-glass window on the side of the house. The porch was very narrow, but there were windows cut into the wall, through which we could see more diners. It was a pretty cool experience.

Then we ordered the food. I got the seafood risotto. The seafood was absolutely amazing. None of it was overcooked! Usually mussels and clams are somewhat chewy because they’re been cooked too long. These were tender and nearly melted in my mouth. Kurt got the bacon-covered Alaskan halibut. After one bite, I wanted to steal his meal from him. That’s how good it was! We also each had a salad. Kurt’s featured mixed greens, pears, pecans, and bleu cheese. I have never liked bleu cheese, but I have to say that eating it with the pear tasted pretty darn good!

We started off dinner with carpaccio.

By the time the appetizer arrived, we’d forgotten what we ordered. Initially we thought that the redness on the plate was a design painted on. No, folks, what you are looking at is raw beef sliced extremely thin, topped with truffle salt, and garnished with arugula and parmesan shavings.

Oh. My. Word. It was absolutely amazing! Kurt enjoyed it so much he joked he was going to have it for dessert too! Instead we each got creme brulee. That too was just divine.

The only slight downside was the service was a little slow. So while waiting for our food to arrive, Kurt started taking photos of me. I didn’t mind much, since we were sort of in a room all to ourselves. There was another couple in the porch with us, but they were behind Kurt and couldn’t tell he was shooting photos.

So that’s me. It’s my favorite of all the ones he took of me.

After we finished dinner, we decided to go to the casino. It’s pretty much the only place left where we can’t take Grace. We spent at least two hours there, possibly three, and lost just $15. Not bad at all! Plus we had a great time.

At one point I started getting the munchies, so we headed to the fast-food area of the casino to find something to nibble on. We were shocked to see a woman with a three-year-old boy in the fast-food area. It was 12:15am! First off, why was this boy still awake, and secondly, why did she take him to the casino that late at night? Aren’t there rules on how late you can take a child to a casino? I think they ought to ban children altogether, but the rationale for allowing them is they can still eat at the buffet or the steakhouse or the fast-food area.

And what did this paragon of motherhood purchase for her son just past midnight at the casino? A cookie larger than his head that she allowed him to eat.

Some people.

By the time we got home, it was nearly 1am. Our friend J had told us that if we weren’t home by 11pm that Grace would simply spend the night. So we didn’t even have Grace to deal with at all last night.

It was so weird not going into her room to kiss her goodnight one last time before going to bed ourselves. I’ve done that every night for almost three years now. But it’s good for Grace to learn it’s okay to be without Mommy & Daddy once in a while. So I think it was a win-win situation.

Now if only Kurt didn’t have to go to Rhode Island without us….