The storm outside blew by for today, but Indy's still pushing through some "kicking" seas and wasn't able to have a full day of flight ops. I did manage to get topside and snap off a couple of shots of flight deck personnel testing the cats and launching a few birds.

Before I headed topside though, I stopped in on this guy,(right) AZ3 Mike Hance from Rochester, NY who just returned from leave back in the states. It took a ringing phone to pause his story, and even then he covered the mouthpiece to finish the tale of his first of three weeks home. We actually flew home on the same plane, but, I'll tell him about my leave another day.

Right: This is the guy who gives this group their tasking, MS2 Philip Siegel from Cleveland, OH. He has 106 rooms and nine heads to take care of with a group of ten guys. "We take care of everything from the cleaning, to making sure everything is in working order," Siegel said as he twisted a new light into place. Siegel said one way he "washes" away the tension from a busy day is by playing cards in the evening or studying ship qualifications he needs.

Getting a late start tonight. My shipmate just calculated that it's 8 AM East Coast time right now, that makes it 10 PM here, and this will take about two hours to update. Why the late start? Well, it's just the way some days go here on the Indy. Late starts, interrupted tasking, long lines, you know, the rainy-day-wanting-to-just-read-a-book-like feeling as you muster up the energy to get your job done.

After the chat with Mike, I wanted to get some shots of Sailors new to the Indy. Coming upon this group of Stateroom Managers, I knew I found some new guys. When you report aboard the Indy, and most all carriers, you get the special pleasure of being sent "TAD," which means temporary assigned duty. Basically, you get "loaned" out for your first six months to help keep the ship in order. It could be washing dishes, working in the bakery, taking care of the mess decks, cleaning staterooms and so much more. Pictured here from left to right is ATAN Bryan Skaggs from Springhill, Fla who's been aboard Indy six months, AOAN Jason Reynolds from Sacramento, Calif. who's been here three months, AN Michael Burdge from Anacortes, WA - one month, AOAN Ron McCarty from Springfield, OH - five months, and AEAN Craig Edney from Killeen, Texas who's only been aboard Indy three days.

After I came down from the partially vacant flight deck, I wondered how the lack of incoming CODs (Carrier On Deck) was affecting the post office. We receive roughly 500 pounds of mail a day when we're in port, said Airman Apprentice Patrick Dehart from Skamokawa, WA seen here helping Indy's Command Master Chief, Ashley Dwiggens. Dehart said that most likely the first load to hit Indy will contain about 2,000 pounds of mail, give or take a pound, and will take five or six hours to sepearate into the individual department's stacks. "Realization of being aboard Indy still hasn't fully hit me," said Dehart, who's been here a year now. "It's amazing that when you step off the ship, and go out the gate(Yokosuka Naval Base) you're in Japan, you're really in Japan."