After having some problems with people having issues about my blog, I have deleted several posts that are causing or could cause issues, particularly at work. I won’t delete this blog totally because of the vast number of people who have something to say about Hawaii. This is the number 1 place to discuss it, apparently.

But, in the interest of saving myself harm or discomfort, I have decided to remove the material in question and won’t be posting here for a while. Perhaps in a few years I’ll get back into it. We will see.

My Navy medical board results came back: fit to continue Navy service. Unfortunately, I was expecting to be found unfit, so I have been making plans to get out. Job hunting, budgeting, saving, house hunting, etc. have been my life (apart from my Ph.D.) for the last two months.

The big problem is, if I accept the results and stay in, I still have the possibility of being administratively separated if my medical problem flairs up, or if my next command decides to not accept someone in my condition. With the draw-down the Navy is planning for (25,000 people in the next few years), there is no real reason for the Navy to keep someone who is medically limited around.

So, I’m still planning on getting out if I can’t find permanent shore duty orders or convert to a less sea-intensive rating. Plus, I haven’t heard back from any of my job applications yet. One way to guarantee a job offer is to stay in the Navy, and I have regretted it every time I’ve done it in the past.

I know it’s been a while since I posted, but since the only traffic this blog seems to get is from my post about Hawaii, it doesn’t seem like much of a point to update regularly.

But, since I’m bored, I figured I’d make a short post about my Ph.D. classes. I’m halfway done w/ the required classes. I only have my electives and 2 required classes left. I should be starting on the dissertation next year. > more <

Since I’ve started on my Ph.D. course work, I found that I am having to do a lot of statistical work. I figured there would be some but there’s a lot more than I expected.

My school, like many others, has standardized on SPSS for statistical work. However, being the FOSS guy I am, I chose to find an open-source stats program to use. Plus, I didn’t want to spend $200+ on a program that expires in 4 years. > more <

Though this is another problem with the Navy, I won’t categorize it with that group of posts, at least not without supporting statistics.

I applied for the FY11 Limited Duty Officer program but I was not selected. Honestly, I don’t know what it takes to be picked up. The requirements for civilians to become an officer are pretty low (http://www.navy.org/officer_requirements/) but the requirements for enlisted to become an officer are crazy. > more <

Now that I’m on another ship, I don’t have much time off anymore. I’ve been planning on rewriting my Python programming book, writing the sequel for GUI development, and some programming projects I’d like to do. But the way my command runs things, I have less time off now than I did when I was in engineering. Not to mention, I’ll be starting my Ph.D. schooling in October in addition to being underway for 2-3 months.

So, if anyone was expecting some new material from me regarding my books or anything, it’s just not going to happen right now. What little time off I have I want to spend with my family. Heck, I barely get a chance to go off base and see Yokosuka, much less any more of Japan.

Needless to say, I am not satisified with my “career” but those posts will be written at a later date, when I don’t need to fear any repercussions. I know of people who have gone to mast or at least been talked to about what they put on their blogs, MySpace, Facebook, etc. I may hate my job and want to get out, but there are better ways to do it.