Spanish Steps

Quick update today. My new boss arrived on island this week (Wednesday evening) so I offered to show him Spanish Steps on Saturday. He agreed, and Mike volunteered to go as well, so we boonie stomped down and did some snorkeling.

Had a good time, and the CO really was blown away by how beautiful the terrain and Spanish Steps snorkeling area is. Pretty cool to watch someone experience the view for the first time.

Oh, and we found Nemo:

There's a fish here, if you look closely:

And still more photos

Photos from Saturday's disposal of the bomb.

Loading the bomb on the flatbed (photo taken on base at the new gym construction site)

As we were bringing the bomb to the disposal range, a caribou decided now was the time to cross the road - there's a joke here somewhere.

Here's me looking like I just did all the work to set up the shot. In reality, I handed one block of C-4 to one of the guys setting it up.

One of these things is not like the others...

And finally, a shot of the crater.

So what does a 1000lb detonation look like anyway?

For those who've ever wanted to know, it looks like this:

This video was taken by members of EODMU FIVE Detachment Marianas. Hooya guys!

The Big Event

Below are some photos of the 1000 pounder we were dealing with this week. Everything went very smooth, from the base evacuation (over 2000 people were affected), to the EOD render safe procedures (Hooya!), to the transport and disposal of the bomb up at the Naval Magazine. Hopefully we won't have to do this again while I'm here.

This is the day the UXO was found. The EOD Team on Guam was discussing the tail fuse hazards with me.

Good cut-a-way diagram of the actual bomb. Turns out this one had no nose fuse installed, which may the day go a bit faster.

The digging of trenches and piles of dirt you see below were done just in case the bomb high-ordered (detonated) . These precautions would help lesson the affects somewhat.

Another beautiful Guam sunset behind the berm (the bomb is on the other side).

I hope to get some photos of the disposal in the next couple of days. I forgot the camera, so I'm relying on others to forward them to me.

Wait till tomorrow

This week was pretty busy. My boss was out all week for his household goods pack-out; meanwhile I was left to deal with an inspection (which went pretty well), a typhoon exercise (which went ok) and planning for a base-wide evacution (which we will see how that goes tomorrow).

The reason for the evacuation is a 1,000lb, WWII era bomb was discovered (that means hit by a backhoe digger) during an ongoing base gym facility construction project. Because of the type of tail fuse the bomb has installed (mechanical; impact inertia if anyone cares) it isn't safe to transport, so EOD will have to perform Render Safe Procedures (RSPs) to remove the fuse. They'll do this remotely, which means they'll be using special tools and techniques which allows them to unscrew and remove the fuse from, in this case, about 5,000 feet away. Because there is a chance the bomb could detonate during the RSP, we have to clear out most of the folks living in military housing.

It all happens tomorrow, and I'll try and post a few pictures if everything goes as planned.

Same old, same old...

Sorry, no pictures to post.

I made a list when Sam and the girls left for Canada, and slowly get to the items on the weekends. Some of the items 'To Do' include clearing out clogged shower drains (yes, both showers are partially clogged thanks to long hair; thanks Sam and Ellie - just sayin'), fixing Ellie's flat rear bicycle tire, washing and vacuuming both cars, and trying to fix our iPhoto Library of photos.

Today, I tackled the iPhoto Library problem (I handled Ellie's flat bicycle tire and the clogged drains last week).

I tried the "automatic repair" (path of least resistance), no luck. Then I tried the "manual repair", still nothing. Fearing for my safety if I lost all of our old photos, I pulled the hard drive from my computer (a Windows-based computer), and hooked it up to Sam's iMac. I had to manually reload all the old photos, but it seemed to do the trick. While I was at it, I did a little reorganizing of the photo albums.

This afternoon, I went for a "Run, swim, run" to Gab Gab beach. As much as I dread it before I start, once I finally get to Gab Gab and jump in for the swim portion I always wonder why I don't do the run-swim-run more often. I've also set a goal for myself, run 40 miles per month. This will work out to 480 miles in a year (maybe 500 miles if I can exceed my 40 per month goal enough times). We'll see how it goes. I'm using the Nike+ with my iPod Nano to track the miles.

Video from Sunday's Snorkling

If everything worked out, above, you should be able to watch a short video of me swimming through a natural hole. Mike did the filming.

By the way, the water around Guam is always amazingly clear and typically around 80 degrees - Nice!

Time for an Update I Suppose

Not sure if anyone is even checking this now that Sam is back in Canada for the summer, but, I promised her I would try and update it at least once a week - so here goes.

Aggie and I have been living pretty well since Sam and the girls left. I feel a bit bad for Aggie though as Sam, Maddie and Ellie got home at three every day, but I haven't been getting back from work until around six in the evening. I do try and pop in around lunchtime when I can though.

Today (Sunday), Mike Thornton and I went snorkeling out to a rope swing on the south side of the base. Wading in at Old Wives Beach, we swam out to the end of the cliff line and took a right following the cliff. It wasn't far, just around the corner really. We saw a great 'crown of thorns' starfish on the way (photo below courtesy of Mike - I couldn't breath hold that deep (probably 30 feet)).

The rope swing was fun, we were both a little nervous at first, and neither one of us attempted a flip. A few weeks back some guy fractured one of the bones in his lower back on the swing. Luckily, Mike and I got out of there unscathed. Below are some of the photos from our adventure. There are a couple other sights I want to see while I'm living the bachelor life, hopefully Mike will be up for it too.

Crown of Thorns Starfish

If I look scared, it's because I was

Mike's thinking about doin' a flip

Me, checking out some hole