Just Reflecting

OK, so this coming Monday will be my 46th birthday.  No big deal, really. I'll have fun over the weekend leading up to it, yes.  But, then, I almost always manage to have fun.

What did get me reminiscing a little, though, was thinking back to my 18th birthday (1984).  I remembered that tomorrow, Sept. 29, marks the 28th anniversary of my graduation from US Navy boot camp.  Damn...28 years.

I still have to giggle, though, at what happened on my birthday in boot camp.  One other guy in my company also turned 18 that day.  Unlike him, though, I tried to keep the fact quiet. After 8 weeks in boot camp, I knew the last thing ya ever wanted to do was give your Company Commanders any reason to call you out. The other guy (his name was Rich, if I remember correctly), didn't think that way.

And sure as hell, the CC's called him out to cycle him for 18 minutes.  And, as he knew it was also my birthday, he told them.  So I get called out to join him.  And we got our asses cycled for 18 minutes. The full gamut of push-ups, lunges, and everything else. All in front of the rest of the company, and they all had a good laugh at our expense.

But I got the last laugh. After the 18 minutes were up, the CC's gave Rich an extra gift: they gave him my midnight fire watch for ratting me out.

Yep, I smile as I think back on it. 28 years ago, there I was just out of high school and about to wrap up boot camp. About to begin my tours over 10 years in the Navy. Ready to take on the world.

Wow!