Ship tripping

I have found blogging a bit harder lately. With a laptop balanced on my knees, my office (and all the clutter that goes with it) is located wherever I park my bum. That just doesn't work very well for me. I'm like a moon that orbits a planet, my desk & computer are supposed to be the stationary objects and I come to them when I need to. Maybe because my laptop is a beast, too, at 8lbs. Just when I crack it open & plunk down on the couch, someone needs a jam sandwich or a nose wiped. I don't mind the sandwiching or nose wiping, it's the feeling of being pinned under an anvil & hefting it to a safe place multiple times in the space of 10 minutes that bothers me. I like laptops, I just like having a desktop better. I allows you to come & go without the physical workout! Though maybe I need more of that . . .

Ok, the promised trip to the USS Harry S Truman. You do know that his 'S' initial doesn't stand for anything. His middle name is S. This ship is also a Nimitz-class supercarrier. Need translation? Yeah, we did too. Nimitz class aircraft carriers are a class of nuclear powered carriers, of which, there are only 10 in the world. A supercarrier is the unofficial term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 70,000 tons. {all this technical stuff is courtesy of wikipedia, since my memory isn't the sharpest. btw, think abt donating a little to wikipedia. they rock.}

The whole tour took almost 3 hours. It was not for the weak of leg or lung. Trotting up those narrow stairs and throughout all 10 levels of that ship we got quite the workout.

Top row, L to R: the chains for the anchor, Mairyn by the ropes, going up the stairs, on the flight deck, view of the tower.
Bottom row: Planes parked, solo plane, the tower close-up, the middle of the runway where they land, the cable that they 'hook' to land.



Top row: Eliza in the captain's chair, Mairyn's turn, the bell in the control room, Mairyn taking her time in the chair 'o' power.
Bottom row: *The* carbon copy of the note that ordered the A-bomb, Eliza steering, Mairyn too, the girls with Truman's bust.

Funny thing: The captain's chair. Our tour guides were Navy officers that worked on this carrier. They told us that we could sit in the captain's chair & that we should take advantage of it. They weren't even allowed to sit in it. Mairyn asked, "Not even if your legs are tired?" The guy said, "No ma'am, that's above my pay grade." They were serious! So where the girls are sitting is the view the captain, and only the captain, gets when he's commandeering the ship. Though after seeing the inner workings of this carrier, it's a team effort. I wouldn't want to park a 70,000 ton beast all by myself! Oh, funny thing #2: I told the girls to stand by the bust (for a picture) and they looked at me like I'd grown a third head. "What's a bust?" I then explained what a bust was and then they proceeded to ask, "Why would someone want a statue of their bust?" Both Mairyn & Eliza then dissolved into giggles. Probably because 'bust' sounds so close to 'butts' without actually saying it. They said it the whole way home. "Hey Eliza, wanna take a picture of my -bust-?" And I don't even have to imagine what it would be like if I had had boys instead of girls . . . . .


P.S.
I just looked it up. Top Gun was shot on the USS Enterprise and is the 11th heaviest supercarrier. USS Harry is the eighth heaviest. Just think if Maverick had had that kind of space to strut his stuff . . .