Also, I wanted to post a few pictures of the campus atmosphere this time of year... the ivy is turning red and our huge Commons dining hall is decorated with lights and stuff.

By this point in the week I'm just killing time until I head home. This weekend is the big game against Harvard and it's at Yale this year. It should be fun. For the annual game, when it's at Yale we host all the Harvard students and when it's at Harvard the Harvard students host us in their dorms. Fortunately I dont have any Harvard student staying with me this year. I'm really excited for the game, and it should be an absolute blast. Nothing compared to a UGA game, but still a blast. Then after the game I'll enjoy the night and pack up to head home around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. I'll see the Atlanta skyline by 11:15 on Sunday morning. I'll be honest, I can't wait. I've got a paper to finish tonight, but I just have no motivation. I'll squeeze it out, but I'm just kind of done with this week already...as is everybody else at Yale.

The sad thing is, a lot of clubs are selling Harvard Yale game t-shirts, and all but one is based on the idea of a bulldog pooping on harvard...a not-so-subtle reference to the Poopetrator crimes earlier this year.
I'm probably going to spend my time youtubing videos of low altitude flying in Navy F/A-18s. I'm really trying to get to fly E/A-18s, but you cant find too many videos of those jets and they're virtually the same basic airframe as a Super Hornet....just a different mission. So I always settle for F/A-18 videos on youtube. After I'm done wasting time watching Navy jets on youtube I'll hastily write my paper and head off to my de-bunked bed (which by the way has made my sleeping much better). I officially head home in 3 days, 8 hours, and 46 minutes. Woohoo.

This weekend has been great. I got quite a bit of work, but not as much as I would have liked to get done (sounds like pretty much every weekend for me, haha). I did have a major accomplishment though: So first off, the bedrooms in Lanman-Wright Hall (colloquially known as "L-Dub" by all Yalies) are very small. There's no two ways about it, they're very tiny. Because of that, all of the beds are bunked. I have had the top bunk all semester, and I actually hurt my knee hopping off the bed a few weeks ago so I decided that I was going too address the issue with my roommate.  A  few of my buddies in L-Dub have de-bunked and they used the ultimanum: Either we can de-bunk the beds and have a cramped room or the bottom bunk inhabitant can take the top bunk for second semester. It's only fair when both parties are paying half the rent. So I kindly presented the ultimanum to my roommate knowing he would take the lesser of two evils. He did, and I finished de-bunking the bunk-beds a couple hours ago. I'm a happy camper now.

Yesterday was the last day of sailing, and we went out with a bang. It was quite cold, and there was another small watercraft advisory issued by the National Weather Service. However, our XO (Executive Officer) decided we would sail nonetheless. So,in 30+ knot winds and 6-10 foot seas (doesn't sound like much, but when you're in a 14 foot sailboat that isn't really stable at all, it's like a borderline Tsunami) we took to the seas. Honestly, sailing yesterday was a stupid move. It wasn't safe, and none of us were comfortable sailing in those conditions. In addition to the maritime conditions, it was in the low 40 in temperature, which is extremely cold with a windchill and sea spray on top of that. It was fun...I sailed with a buddy from Annapolis, MD and we went out and had fun in the waves. We found out that if you tack at the right time and instead of jiving just run with the wind you can literally ride the waves...like surfing to an extent. Two of my friends got their main sheet rigged wrong and the out haul got tangled up in the mainsail line and then they capsized. The boat then turtled, which means it became fully capsized with the mast straight down. When a sailboat turtles, it is extremely difficult to get back upright because the sails create so much resistance while underwater. While my buddy was trying to get the boat upright again, the other Midshipmen in that boat was floating further away and was being weighted down by the sweatsuit she was wearing. It was a pretty bad situation, but eventually the sailing coach got over and pulled 'em out. The waves were calm in the inlet that the boathouse is in, but as soon as we got out in the ocean it got very rough very quick. In the end though, nobody was hurt and it was great sailing experience for us all. Here's a couple pictures of the sunset yesterday (It gets dark around 4:45 here, and so we sailed quite a bit in the dark).

 (My camera's setting were on high lighting, but yes...that is the moon in the sky,not the sun.)

I just got back from the Yale University Art Gallery, which I must say is a very impressive museum. My item of the week for furniture class is a Wallace Nutting side chair from around the 1920's.... it's a very modest piece compared to the rest of the art in the art gallery,but here it is:

Here are some other pictures I took in the art gallery:

The ancient art collection is really great...it rivals the ancient art of the museums in the Vatican, Florence and Rome. I didn't really stop for anything since I was just there for my chair for furniture class, and I missed a good 80% of the museum, but it was all really neat and I'll definitely go back on a blistery Saturday afternoon when there's nothing better to do. Off to office hours to work through a problem set!

So it's been busy and I forgot to update the blog...whoops.

Yesterday me and a few guys from the unit went down to the USS New York, LPD-21 since it was moored at pier 88 in Manhattan. It is an amazing ship....practically brand new and it is also symbolic of 9/11 since it has in its bow 7 tons of World Trade Center steel. It really is a beautiful ship, and we all had a blast. A few of the sailors and marines took us and showed us the ship and all sorts of stuff. It was really neat. They also had a couple MV-22 Ospreys and AH-1 Cobra helos we got to check out. The ospreys are more cramped on the inside than I would have thought. We had a great time as always, and of course got some photos.

School is still going great. And only 13 days until I head back home for Thanksgiving. 

I got up at 0500 this morning to perform the Navy Physical Fitness Assessment, and it went very well. It was the makeup PFA for the Midshipmen that had midterms during the PFA on Wednesday, and our LT loaded us up in the van and drove us over to the Yale track. I did well on the pushups, situps and the 1.5 mile run. No complaints.

Now its 7:30 in the morning and I'm just killing time until class. I was actually thinking a minute ago that if someone had told me three years ago that I would be in the Navy and down the road be a commissioned officer, I probably would have laughed. I love it when things don't turn out the way I planned and end up being better than  my plans. "Plans are useless, but planning is crucial."

Today I have Naval Science at 0900 to 1015 and then work immediately afterwards. After that I'll probably get my homework done for the weekend and enjoy the evening. It'll be a good weekend. 15 days until I head back home, and I can't wait to go on a long drive and enjoy not being in a cramped up city. Living in a city kind of feels like an animal living within the confines of a cage. But with more amenities.

Sailing should be fun today...

So I'm in Calculus right now. It's my only free time all week really. It's been a really hectic week! I get my calc midterm back in a few minutes!

I have changed my ways. So now that it sounds really dramatic, what I really mean is I've reverted back to life as a 5 year old...with regards to my sleep schedule. I have set a bedtime for myself now. I realized that sleep is one of the most valuable resources in college (and in life) and if I work really hard during the day, then I can be in bed by 10:00 p.m. every night...thus giving me at least 8.5 hours of sleep. I've been doing this for the past 5 days,  and I feel great. I've got a midterm tomorrow in calculus and a 12 page research paper due on thursday worth 35% of my grade...but no worries from me. I've been getting sleep and studying efficiently. I just kind of look at it like getting used to the aviator lifestyle...Aviators are required to get at least 8 hours of sleep per night, while most other sailors barely get sleep.

I found out last week from my Executive Officer that we have 4 more weeks of sailing, so this should be fun. In the frigid weather.

And....18 days until I set my compass southward and make the voyage back home.

So I guess I could sum everything up by saying "Life isn't good. It's great."

Super super super cool day today. So this morning in Naval Science I gave a presentation on Vice Admiral Stockdale, and then we had the privelidge of getting a very very very cool Naval Aviator to lecture us on Naval Aviation. Captain Le Branche was the Commanding Officer of the last F-14 Tomcat squadron, and recently finished a tour as a Commander of CVW-17. He was an enlisted Marine for 6 years and then commissioned into the Navy and got his wings. He had some absolutely amazing advice and stories to tell...as the CAG (Commander, Air Group) he got to fly F/A-18s, E-2s, C-2s, E/A-18s, and helos. He also showed us a video of him having to punch out of his A-6 Intruder early in his career. Here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JETOXZXSXBM

Overall, it was really neat to talk to a guy that has flown so many different platforms in the Navy and has experienced so much.

Then, of course, we went to Popeyes, and as we say every week, "enjoyed good food and good times."

This evening I had a Navy study session and then took some pictures on the walk back to my suite: