Roi-Namur looking south

Action Shot

Since there is a mission coming... soon, I wanted to put up a cool picture
from a previous mission. Not sure what exactly we are going to be shooting
at this time, but these are the types of light shows we get here on
occasion. I got this picture from Nowhereatoll Photo Gallery.
Check it out for more mission shots, as well as a bunch of other types of
pictures of the atoll.
--
stevePARK

Be Thankful for What You Have

Today was boat license day. Another firefighter and I had appointments to go on our "boat orientaion" trip to finally get our license to rent boats for fishing and diving. While we were waiting, the opportunity came up to head over to 3rd Island, Enniburr, where the Marshallese workers live. It was sobering to say the least.

Enniburr is an island roughly the size of a football field that has about 1,000 residents, 50% of who are under the age of 16.

Here is an article descibing the conditions:
On Enniburr, a sparsely shaded island the size of a football field, where about 1,000 people have relocated, there is no electricity, no running water and no stores. A few of the residents make the five-minute motorboat ride to Roi-Namur, at the northern tip of the atoll, to work on the American base there.

The others, though, mostly sit around all day, dreaming of another life. Asked what people there use for toilets, one man in his 30's who gave his name only as Simon, answered: "That's a good question. I guess we mostly use the reef, or that big bunker over there left by the Japanese. Maybe the Americans could take that away for us one day, and give us some electricity."

Five times a day a 1,000 gallon vat of fresh water is brought to the island for drinking & bathing. It isn't enough. 100+ 5-gallon buckets are brought by individuals to supplement their families needs.

I'm going to do more on this. Since I wasn't planning on going to 3rd Island, I didn't have my camera. I plan on going back next week to shoot some photographic proof of how good we have it.

Mulling a Move

It's been a few days and I actually got a little OT, but still no calls. For those of you waiting to hear about the train wreck of a radio debut... It hasn't happened yet. Hopefully in these next two days off I'll drive that train right off the tracks.

The past couple days I've been mulling a change of scenery once I move back to the states. Lisa and her brother and sister and I have been tossing around the idea of moving to Austin upon my return to the mainland. I drove through Austin on my way to CA in '98 and enjoyed a couple nights there, and I've never heard or read a bad thing about the place. The only question: Is it right for Lisa and I to head there for a year of honest work, some school, a little business planning and career soul searching, with of course rest & relaxation? Or do we stay in SoCal and get things started; start building our future on the same continent together in a place we'll stay for a while?

Ye Olde Timing and Opportunity question strikes again.

Hmmm.

KVZI Roi Radio

Tonight was the world premiere of Rockin' Rick's radio hour on KVZI Radio.
The reason this is news of any kind is that one, he did really well (it turns out he was an on-air personality in Ohio a few years ago.) And two, on his next show there are going to be guests. Sean Connery is going to stop by for an interview and Evan Matthews of the BBC will begin giving updates of world news.

*Further explanation: Rockin' Rick is a firefighter here on Roi and KVZI, while it is an FCC assigned radio station, is pumping out a whopping 5w. That's powerful enough to cover this tiny little island and that's about it.



**Even further explanation: I am both Evan Matthews, pompous BBC reporter, and Sean Connery, pompous Scotsman. It will be my first performance of any kind since... damn, since I was 18-19 years old. We're going to record the show on cassette so there will be proof of how good/horrible I do.



***Even further further explanation: I disguise my voice to sound like a pompous English BBC reporter and read fake news stories. I then disguise my voice in a different way and "become" Sean Connery for a fake interview. Hilarity ensues or... I crash and burn.

Scuba Club Party 05

The scuba club party was this weekend and my camera didn't even come out of the bag. It poured for two hours and dripped for two hours after that. I'm going to try and get some photos from some other people, stay tuned.

It was fun. About thirty people, plenty of food, beer, liquor, jello shots(!?), sodas and everyone there left with something. I got a new mask and snorkel. I didn't win the grand prize (which was a $200 regulator), but it's better than a beach towel.

It was also good to put names with faces and find new potential diving buddies.

After the party, the drunken bicycle crashes started. Crashed at night are VERY common on Roi. More due to the roads being pitch black than the level of sobriety. Luckily the one crash we had was not serious enough to do any real damage. And another good thing... it wasn't me. Monday I felt like I had been in a bike wreck though. My first hangover in over 10 months was not fun. It wasn't the worst ever, but it reminded me of the college days.

I'll post again when I have a picture. That's all for now.

Scuba Club Party

The days are still crawling. Still waiting for my first real call since returning from vacation. False alarms don't count. Tomorrow the 15th is the annual scuba club party, which should be fun. I'll do my best to snap some photos and put them online in a day or so.
--
stevePARK
fyrefyter75.blogspot.com

I can't believe I didn't mention this!

Hey everyone. I can't believe I forgot to put this up in big bold letters last weekend.

Lisa passed the first of two licensing exams for her Marriage and Family Therapy License. She took the test last friday and breezed through 200 questions like nobody's business. Now she just has to wait for the state to process those results and register for the second test, which I'm sure she'll breeze as well.

Then it's on to private practice? Write a best seller? Both? Who knows...

Congrats Lisa!

The test results are in...

Today I found out I passed the written portion of my Firefighter II class. The packet is all finished now, as I finished my practicals in March. All I have to do is wait for the cert to go through the system.

The next course I'm gong for is my Airport Rescue Firefighting (ARFF). Hopefully I can finish it before my contract expires and I head back to civilization.

As far as work goes, I am still waiting for my first call since returning from vacation. The other shift has only had one call (a 2 year old with seizures), and I have a feeling the calls are going to come in a group. They always do. In the meantime I'm trying to fill my days with working out, studying both ARFF and another HazMat course, reading, painting, and staying in touch with everyone back home.

Where in the world am I?

For those of you who are curious as to where exactly Kwajalein atoll is, check out this page at WorldAtlas.com. Click here to see a map of Kwajalein Atoll, including Roi-Namur and some other geographical info.

As you will see, it's the middle of nowhere.
--
stevePARK

Little Girl - 24" x 12" acrylic on canvas

Here is one of the paintings I've done in the past couple years. In the past
I've done painting that were larger scale, like 6' x 3', but recently I've
scaled it down a bit. I'm currently working on three paintings of this same
style.

This little girl was cropped out of a photo taken by a friend while in New
York. The girls brother didn't work for the painting, so I cut him out.
--
stevePARK
http://fyrefyter75.blogspot.com

Japanese Headquarters

Here is a picture of what remains of the Japanese commanders headquarters on
Roi-Namur.

The conquest of Roi-Namur had been a relatively easy operation when compared
to some of the other marine campaigns in the Pacific. At Tarawa, for
example, more than 3,300 men had been killed or wounded in 76 hours. the 4th
Division's victory came at a cost of 313 Marines and corpsmen killed and 502
wounded. By contrast, the defeated Japanese garrison numbered an estimated
3,563 - with all but a handful of them now dead. - taken from Breaking the
Outer Ring: Marine Landings in the Marshall Islands

--
stevePARK
http://fyrefyter75.blogspot.com

Kwajalein Atoll, World Class diving

--
stevePARK

Plane Graveyard, off Roi-Namur, RMI

--
stevePARK

17 September 2004

There are about 20 planes dumped in a small area of the lagoon. You may be
able to notice the engines are removed and the props are sitting on top of
them, sometimes in the cockpits. They were junked after the war, stripped of
anything useful or dangerous to the environment and dumped off the back of a
barge. They are now at rest in a lined up group and make for a fun and kind
of spooky dive.
--
stevePARK

Kwajalein sunrise

One of the really nice things about being in the middle of, well nowhere, is
the clean air and water. This picture is of a typical Kwaj sunrise and since
we rise at 6am everyday, we get to see them quite a bit.
--
stevePARK

Any camera buffs out there?

Here's a call to anyone who is into digital photography.

I'm in the market for anywhere from a 5-6MP to a 8-10MP DSLR. Not sure which way I want to go yet and any advice, suggestions, etc. would be appreciated.

Thanks,
SS