Day 27; Navy Language and Navy showers....

Not THAT kind of language. There were lots of Navy translations that I had to get used too. THings like POD (plan of the day), SMEE (subject matter expert exchange), EBBD (emergency escape breathing device), mess deck (where they feed you) berthing (where you sleep) but the one I found most humorous is SECURED. When I think of security I think of being protected, wrapped in a warm blanket with all of my loving family around. Not so, in the Navy SECURED means something entirely different.

SECURED in the Navy means..."do not enter", "step away or bad things will happen", and "broken, do not use." Any number of things can be "SECURED" aboard the USNS Comfort. THings like washers, as seen here, showers, toilets etc. So should you happen upon a "SECURED" sign, all is not well, you are not protected, you must find another (insert item here) because this one is busted.

These are EBBD's they are everywhere. INside the orange box is an oxygen concentrating hood that will give you 8-10 minutes of oxygen to evacuate the ship, unless of course you get too close to a fire and then it will melt to your face. YEs, there can be dangers in everyday living aboard the ship. I never had to wear a EBBD but the case that hung above my rack dinged my forhead a time or two when I sat up too fast.

As I've had a lot of questions about showers aboard the ship. LEt me instruct you in how to take an NAVY shower. 1. Remove all clothing and enter stall. 2. Turn on water and rotate in a circle 3 times. 3. Turn off water. 4. Apply shampoo to hair and body wash to body in lathering motions. 5. Turn on water and turn yourself around 3 times. 6. Turn off water and assess suds residue. 7. Poke head outside of curtain, if no line is evident. Turn water on one more time and repeat turning yourself around 3 times. However, if line has formed you are done. Therefore, you must rotate slower next time. 8. Wrap self in towel or other cloaking device and return to berthing. You packed alot of wet wipes, right?