In a Holding Pattern

I have been lax on my postings lately. This is something that I feel a little sheepish about, but there just isn't very much going on right now. I'm in a holding pattern. All of my paperwork is finished for me to leave, and all of the arrangements have been made. Now all I have to do is be patient and wait. Just ask Ben though, patience is not one of my stronger virtues.

The only thing that really needs some firming up is employment for me on the other end. I won't be homeless, and I won't be destitute (I have 60 days of paid terminal leave and administrative absence coming to me). However, I know that after about a week of relaxing I will become very bored. So, I want to know that I have something else to look forward to. I've had preliminary interviews, and some of the leads have been promising. I'll just have to wait and see.

While I've been in a holding pattern, Ben on the other hand has been extremely busy. Every night I get emails from him, telling me about things things that are going on. The nature of my job right now also fills me in on what is going on in his neck of the woods. Ben is getting ready to assume a whole lot more responsibility with transfer season coming up, so he's been working hard to make sure he doesn't get TOO bogged down in work. Fortunately though, Ben has been able to send me some pictures from this patrol to share what he has been up to. So without further ado, or any amplifying information that tells TOO much, here are some of the pictures:

These pictures are from their first port call, when they got to work with British vessel HMS LANCASTER. Ben was up to his eyeballs in administrative work, so he didn't even get to enjoy the brief stop. He was able to get out for a wardroom function with both ship crews though.The next port call, Ben was able to get off the ship for some down-time, thankfully. I got so see some pictures of the beaches where he was, and I was insanely jealous (of course). But he got to golf and got to go shopping (which always bodes well for me...he he he), and just relax. The relaxing is the most important part if you ask me. And of course, being OPS comes with some serious perks, including getting to do really cool stuff like fly in helicopters...

That's all I have for updates from Ben about this patrol. As I get more pictures, I'll post them to let you know what he's doing and how things are going.