40-odd days left, now. After that, the watchword is WHARRGARBL. Here we go again...
I know, I know, I volunteered. Fine. But the standard deployment rotation is something like 6 months out, 18 months in. But not here. I got here in August 2007, right after we'd returned from a cruise. We went into the shipyard for a while, then I got sent IA to Bahrain. I got sent back from that after a month and some change because of a bad eval (which is its own stupid story), did lots of pre-cruise workups and headed out in August 2008. We returned in April 2009, did more workups and set out again in September '09, until November. Then, after even more workups which often involved 12 to 14 hour workdays, we set out /again/ in January. We're preparing for a rapid turnaround again after getting back. Gimme a break!
But when we mention how ludicrous this all is, what's the command's response? They say that 'single people don't have anything else to do anyway'. Really? What are friends, non-married significant others, personal space, personal time? Chopped liver? They have some minuscule amount of sympathy for married folks, but if you're single, what do you get? You get 'you're a grown-ass man, you don't live with mama anymore and you don't have a wife. What the fuck do you care'. Yeah. Fuck that baloney.
I'm just pissed off at this command right now. They just don't fucking get it and any attempts to make them see the light just result in beatings that will continue until morale improves. I wish I was kidding, and I wish I were using that phrase ironically. I'm not. While they won't put it in quite those terms, it basically amounts to punishing anyone who seems unhappy and ordering them to do the same. Has that ever worked?