The Daily Poop - 15JUN13

I get the feeling this year's NMA reunion is gonna be a big one.

Virginia Beach reunions are generally well-attended. A lot of MUs live within a day's drive. The hotel knows us, we know them, so things go smoothly. In a sense, it's our home port.

For the last few months, lots of new members have been joining and former members rejoining--click here to see their names. Some are my old shipmates George Thompson and Charlie Sweet. Some I haven't met yet. I hope to see them all in a few weeks.

Yeah, it all adds up to a big reunion.

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I fly to Virginia Beach--holy metal detector, Batman--a week from today. The last year dragged by--have you ever lived in rural Illinois?--and I thought the reunion would never come. Now I'm a week from leaving and I'm a month behind in all I have to get done before I go.

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I may actually check in a bag when I fly. I generally stick to carry-on luggage, which means I'm strapped up with cameras attached to my waist, computers over my shoulder and toothpaste in my jacket pocket. Going through security, I always expect to be asked to step over to the terrorist line. The Wife of the Year is giving me the go-ahead to spend a few extra dollars.

The Daily Poop - Fri., 14JUN13

Two weeks from now, the NMA reunion will be in full swing. I'll get to Virginia Beach the weekend before the reunion, so for me, there's really only about a week left. The excitement is beginning to kick in.

John Pastin in a state of first-
reunion befuddlement, 2009. 

I just heard from John Pastin. He's juggling his schedule so he can make it to Virginia Beach for part of the reunion. It's a reminder that you don't have to come to the entire shebang. People with weekend commitments sometimes can come for the first few days and hustle back home on Thursday night or Friday. The converse is even more common--folks with weekday commitments ("gigs," or in civilian language, "jobs")  still come for the weekend activities. The sign-in sheet in the registration room gets longer every day.

John Vasquez and grandson, 2012.

I also got a message form Johnny Vasquez, who must home in Florida this year. It seems like every year, he gets promoted higher in the ranks of the American Legion--he's a regional commander--and his duties grow. I'll miss his sense of humor this year.

The Daily Poop - Thurs., 13JUN13

Here it is, the first 2013 issue of the Daily Poop, the annual, laser-guided, heat-seeking bag of crap that leads up to the reunion of the Navy Musicians Association.

The event officially begins Wed., 26JUN, although I'll show up early. Once things get going, I'll begin LiveBlog2013, the ongoing, online reportage music, camaraderie and tall-tale-telling. I'll explain more about this at a later date.

Until then, you're stuck with the the Daily Poop.

I'm hoping to see a number of shipmates who've had to miss a reunion or two. Mike & Diane Beegle have moved to Pennsylvania from the West Coast, so I have high hopes of seeing these old friends from Navy Band Newport.

Pete Codispoti, another Pennsylvanian, has missed a year, and I really hope he'll make it to Virginia Beach. Pete and I met at a reunion a few years ago and really hit it off. 

The Beegles were career MUs; Pete Codispoti, like me, served a shorter hitch. This reflects the diversity of relationships that spring up in the NMA. You walk into the hotel at your first reunion to see old friends and walk away with new friends. We're a smaller fraternity than, say, the Worldwide Association of Boatswain's Mates. You don't have to have been stationed with an MU to share a common bond.

 

Oh, boy, two weeks. If you can't tell, I'm starting to get excited. I'll be back tomorrow with more scoop and poop.

If only I'd known.

Damn. Things would have been a lot different if I'd read this 1943 recruiting pamphlet, "Helpful Hints to the Navy Recruit," before I enlisted.

Some of the "don'ts" are obvious: don't disobey orders, don't leave things adrift, don't be afraid to ask questions. But that one down toward the bottom--I spent 13 years in the Navy, and nobody ever warned me about that.