WOW, where does the time go weeks go by like the wind and then pretty soon its a year and I am here to state that I am getting real tired of this and I wish someone would do something about this problem. No time for a story but thanks for ya'alls... RUSSELL SEAMAN MMFA X2 '78-'80.

[] Good story Brad. I'm glad you didn't hit him on the side of the face or something like that. Being on the new XO's S**t list is not my idea of fun.

Steve Green

Guys:
Ran across a good chuckle:

An old retired sailor puts on his old uniform and heads for the docks once more for old times sake. He engages a prostitute and takes her up to a room.
He's soon going at it as well as he can for a guy his age, but needing some reassurance, he asks, "How am I doing?"
The prostitute replies, "Well old sailor, you're doing about three knots."
"Three knots?" he asks, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well," she says, "you're knot hard, you're knot in, and you're knot getting your money-back!"

Enjoy!
Brad Zlomke, ex-EW1 (circa 74-77)

As requested -- A Cockroach Story

As you all know, one of the first things a new Seaman has to look forward to is mess cranking. So, as a newly arrived FTGSA I drew my turn on the mess decks as the assistant Night Baker. We were in the Indian Ocean and you know how well the A/C worked on the mighty Cochrane. It was really hot in there with all the ovens on making bread all night. Well, the cockroaches were everywhere you looked. They would run across the counters, get stuck in the pans and serving ladles etc. Frequently the HMC would come in with a pump spray rig and spray insecticide behind all the galley equipment and counters. We had to wait outside for a little while but then we would go back in and start "Flushing". We powered up a big steam cauldron until the water was boiling, then, we would dip large pitchers in and throw gallons of boiling water against the bulkheads and lagging behind all the equipment and counters. This flushed out thousands of dead cockroaches, some still twitching. The more water we threw, the more cockroaches would come floating out. There were so many that we had to stop periodically to clear the drains of their carcasses so the water could drain properly. During one of these flushing sessions I was just beginning to throw a pitcher of boiling water against the inside of the closed galley door when the XO (LCDR Ahearn?) walked in wearing nothing but some jogging shorts. He was on a midnight snack run but I almost scalded the skin off his feet.

That's all I have to say about that.

John Bos FTGSA-FC2 1985-1987

What? Roaches on the Cochrane? I don't recall ever seeing one on board in the early days.
I do recall visiting friends on a couple of the old WW2 cans that were still in commission back in the 60s and being thankful we weren't over-run with roaches like they were.

Dunno if I was the one who introduced the cockroach subject or not, but Cochrane did not have roaches during my tenure. I was referring to the Hawaiian National Insect. They would sidle up to you at the bars on Hotel Street and join you lapping the beer if you spilled a bit on the bar. Very sociable critters. But some of 'em were big enought to elbow you off.

Cochrane must've acquired 'em with age. I don't remember the A/C being too bad in the early days. Although once in awhile it was out and we sweltered down on Yankee Station. The Snipes had it the worst. Remember seeing one of the snipes, prostrate from the heat, being carried over the shoulder of his shipmate up the ladder (was it Lt. Torkelson doing the carrying? He was big and burly enough to manage it. Am probably romanticizing) from the engineroom during a "dropped load"--A/C outage. Also remember standing watch in Radar Room with no A/C and the equipment really cooking--still, not as bad as snipes' work spaces. I was thankful Cochrane had A/C and I wasn't on one of the WWII cans.

Paul '65-'67