erudity.net prattlings on via nattering nabobs

Vacation, pt. 2: Helicopter Ball and Norfolk

The morning after we got back to Norfolk was the day of the HSC wing ball, along with my farewell.  Usually farewells aren't held in conjunction with other events, as the other events tend to overshadow the person being farewelled, but in this case I agreed to it since it let us have an admin room where we could drink and schmooze a bit before the ball itself. But I'm getting ahead of myself a bit...

Kendra and I in the bar before the ball

As I said, we got into Norfolk the night before the ball, but were so relieved to finally have some time to ourselves that we ended up staying up quite late watching movies, talking and just catching up with stuff.  Which meant that we slept in until my haircut and Kendra's hair and makeup appointments the next day, compressing our time schedules a bit.  I had assembled my uniform the night before, but didn't account for the time that it would take for me to assemble all the crap I needed to while also getting my DJ deck, mixer and speaker ready to go (more on that later.)  With the farewell set to kick off at 4:00, I got us a cab out front at 3:00, giving us an hour to get to the hotel and get the music set up.  Things being what they are, I was a wee bit behind in my preparations, with Kendra chuckling at me while I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to find ID, debit cards, etc.  So we get going around 3:10, and I was feeling a bit rushed, since I didn't have my standard ipod for my deck and had to use my iPhone instead - long story short, I didn't know that it would work at all, and I was responsible for the music.  (Sidebar: yes, I shouldn't have been responsible for anything since it was my farewell, but if I don't do it, who will? Anyway.)  Upon getting to the hotel Kendra and I head up to the admin room to find it in something of a state of disarray.  Around 3:20.  I let the guy in charge of the place know that there should probably be some more work done on the room, and then Kendra and I headed down to the bar for some quick munchies, as we were both starving, having gone without food since the previous night.  After munchies, a beer and a photo, we returned to the admin room and saw... no one.  I double-checked my watch - yup, it was four after four.  DJ equipment not there, bartender not there, people not there... Uhhhh, wtf?  As it turned out, the XO had told everyone the day before that things wouldn't really be kicking off until 5:45, so we were a weeeee bit early.  People trickled in slowly - a couple here, a stag guy there, but before you knew it, we had a nice critical mass of a crowd - assisted by some social lubricant - and everyone was having a good time, yours truly included.  This was a great relief to Kendra, who was a bit tired and frankly just did not want to deal with my shit and couldn't see why I thought it was such a big deal that no one was there "on time."  And she was right - everything ended up being just fine, regardless of how much or how little I fretted about things.

Kendra and I waiting for things to start

With the aid of the aforementioned social lubricants the time passed quickly, and before I knew it I was up in front of the whole squadron listening to the skipper recount my deployments and jobs held, followed by what was really a touching series of anecdotes and compliments regarding me and my three years in the squadron.  After the skipper and XO had had their say, to include calling Kendra "another piece of arm candy," we took a couple of photos with me receiving my plaque and photo mat, and then I had the floor.  I had given this "speech" of sorts a good bit of thought since I got the official date of my farewell, so I went with a theme that I'd visited earlier in my time at the squadron - the distinction between the Armed Services and standard civilian jobs, and how that distinction is slowly but surely being eroded.  I pontificated on that for a bit and then challenged the JOPA to prevent that from happening by holding on to the traditions and special things that make the Navy more than just a corporation with weapons.  Having made my point, I thanked all those that had helped me through my difficult times and had enabled me to help out with all the things that I did while at 26, and then graciously exited the stage to applause.

Kendra and her corsage

With the farewell portion out of the way, the skipper motioned for me to fade out the music and entreat people to head on down to the ball proper.  Kendra and I walked in and she was immediately given a balloon sculpture - I guess that's what people really want at military balls.  It turned out to be a rubber ducky, complete with bubbles... and it went on Kendra's wrist like a corsage!  Nice touch, weird balloon guy.  At the end of the room, close to where we sat, JOPA had constructed a 12' tall minotaur for our "centerpiece" that was mandated by the squadron that organized the ball. There was an added benefit - the thing actually housed a 5 gallon keg of beer and associated CO2, with the tap being in the only logical place.  This afforded us more cheap booze, since the admin room was closed and our pre-paid booze locked up until the ball was over - but the ingenuity of JOPA struck again, this time against the tyranny of high drink prices at mandatory functions.  We took our seats in the corner, far away from any unwitting senior officers who might spoil our fun, and proceeded to eat, drink, and basically be jackasses for the evening, making catcalls and whoops and hollers at judgments we didn't agree with.  Kendra got a bit tired by the end of dinner and the start of the gambling (oh wait, I forgot - the theme of the ball was "Monte Carlo," and we could gamble for raffle tickets at any of the many tables they had set up.), so I set her up in a room so she could get some sleep.

Matt and the, ahem, tap

While she was catching a quick nap, I kept on gambling - doing not so well at craps, semi-okay at blackjack and then headed to one of the bars to refresh my drink, our minotaur keg having been shut down at the behest of some higher ups.  While there, I was somewhat cornered, as these bartenders weren't especially quick and Kendra was still somnolent, so my ex, who was there with the guy she left me for, approached me to catch up.  To be sure, I could have just gotten my drink and said "See ya!" and I don't need Kendra to defend me from anyone, but at the same time I'm better than that - and it's a bit telling that the ex waited until I couldn't go anywhere and didn't have the awkwardness of my current girlfriend being present to talk to me.  At any rate, I was gracious and said hello and then talked with her for a few minutes about... well, nothing of consequence at all, really.  Lots of small talk, how her sister's been, etc.  When her fiancee came up to join the conversation, I knew that it was time for me to make my exit, so I said that I had to get back to my blackjack game, and that was that.

Upon getting back to the blackjack table I saw that all the spots were taken, so I headed over to the poker table, where a seat had just opened up near Dan and his wife.  I sat down and proceeded to do pretty well over the next hour, including two huge hands and one prize of turquoise jewelry for Kendra.  I was also happy to see that Kendra got up and headed down to the ballroom, and she was ten times better than she had been when I put her to bed an hour and change earlier - bright, alert, and ready to roll.  Unfortunately for her, the effects of drinking for 8 straight hours had started to catch up with me, so I gave most of my chips to the skipper's wife, who was sitting next to me, and Kendra and I caught a cab home, where I proceeded to serenade her with real life Rock Band on my guitar, bass and drums.  While she ordered pizza.  Good times!

The next morning I was a bit rough until we got coffee and pancakes at The Pancake House near Ward's Corner, along with some much-needed cold medicine from the Eckerd's nearby.  It was such a nice day when we left the Pancake House that Kendra lamented the fact that gas cost as much as it did, otherwise we would just go driving like people used to do.  On a whim I said "why can't we just go driving?"  So we rolled down all the windows, put the sunroof back and cruised around Norfolk neighborhoods, including the house my mother used to live in when she was stationed here back in the 60s. Upon returning home we discovered that I had left the house key inside the house, so we used the time we had waiting for the locksmith to show up further enjoying the great weather on the porch swing.  That evening we had some wine and watched a movie again - basically just relaxing in preparation for our flight to New Mexico early the next morning.