Today was a quiet day around the Indy. No mail was flown aboard today, the weather was calm, flight OP's went on upstairs, and we had General Quarters yesterday, so this evening, guys gathered on the messdecks to study and play board games.

Lance CPL Isaiah Peterson (below) from Oakhurst, CA couldn't have agreed more about his time here so far. "I was looking forward to getting me and my finances in shape, and that's what I'm doing," he said. "The time is going faster than I expected too." Peterson said he spends a lot of time watching flight OP's and has several rolls of film ready to be developed. "I'm trying to get as many photos as possible to show my family and friends when I go home," he said. "It's not something I'll probably ever get to see again."

Changing the receipt tape in the ATM was DK2 Roberto Garcia (photo right; on left) from Cavite, Philippines and DK2 Roy Rommelman from Atlanta, GA. "There is more of a challenge here than the first ship I was on, which only had 200 people on board," said Garcia. "Probably the hardest thing to deal with after a long day is the lines, the long lines." Rommelman said being away from his family back in Yokosuka is the hardest part of getting underway for him. "I email them a couple times a day," he said. "This is the first ship I've been on with email and it really helps."

Gamble said he's been in Japan since 1993 and took orders to Indy so he could continue working with a team he'd come to know well in Yokosuka. "My division officer and chief here are the same from my last command," he said. "I re-enlisted to take orders to Indy." Gamble works in the Dental department's x-ray division. He said the hardest part of getting underway was leaving his wife at the pier.

Now, lets see. To properly fill my name out I will need to fill in which boxes...

More than 300 E-3's took their test yesterday, I don't know how many guys I'll be taking the E-5 exam with tomorrow. If there is one thing that I don't think many of us thought we'd be doing much of in the Navy before we joined, it's studying. Getting Sailors qualified in everything from surface and aviation warfare to advance first aid and damage control, there's hardly a period when you're not studying for a test.

I've gotten a few emails wondering about the Marines here. So, while re-supplying on midnight oil, I stopped two Marines and asked them a few questions. I think they were caught off guard when I asked them if I could get a photo of them for Indy's Website. PFC Larry Sikorski (below) from Donnellson, IL only had good things to say about being aboard Indy. "I'm getting to experience a lot of great new things here," he said. "I don't think I really ever thought about what it was going to be like here. Figured I'd just come on and do my job, but I've gotten to do a lot of great training and take part in all the activities they've held out here." Sikorski said the only hard part about being here is not seeing land. "I'm not use to not seeing land," he said. "I am looking forward to seeing land, even if it is just for a little while."

Now since I only left the office roughly three times today, I decided best if I was to look around and grab a few more photos, or another day would go by without an update.

Making my way back to the office with an armload of DP's I stopped to get a few shots of Dental department personnel out "field daying" the P-way [passage way]. DN Louis Hernandez (below) from Los Angeles, CA and DT3 Eric Gamble (below left) from Hollywood, FL were laying down a few layers of wax in one of the busiest P-ways aboard Indy. Hernandez said Indy's been a good experience. He's learned about pulling wisdom teeth, helping with oral surgery, broken jaws and more.

Almost back to the office for the long haul, I stopped and got a photo of Airman Jason Adams (below) from Harper, TX. He's a part of VFA 27 and said things are getting easier for him now that he's been here awhile. "Coming to Japan was the hardest part of all this," he said. "It was a new language and a new land all at once."