Openbah / Journal of a Marine Officer Candidate

Month: August 2006

  • Pepper-crusted Burgers with Blue Cheese Mayo



    Here is the recipe from Cooking Pleasures Magazine.

  • Old gas receipt



    Was cleaning out my car this morning and found this. Check out the date, gas type, and the price per gallon.

  • MRI

    A week ago I went to Beth Israel Hospital for my MRI. After a little waiting around, I was lead into the MRI room by Matt. He stopped me at the door and told me the crutches had to stay outside. I told him how about I crutch in, and then he can bring them back out. He said no, so I had to hop my way to the machine.

    After lying down on the machine, Matt taped my feet together and told me not to move, not even to “wiggle my toes.” I asked approximately how long it was going to take and he guessed about 45 minutes. I was then slowly fed into the opening of the machine.

    In the beginning, it kinda felt like I was going to be shot out of a cannon. Things weren’t bad at first, but about 15 minutes into it things started irritating me, I had an itch on my waist I just couldn’t ignore. About 45 minutes in I wanted to wiggle my toes, just despite Matt. 60 or so minutes in while slipping in and out of consciousness, Matt announced that we were finished and that I did a “great job.” I hope that was my first and last MRI.

    So I just got back from Beth Israel, I picked up my MRI images on CD. After scrolling through the 291 images of my mid-section, I’ve decided to wait until after I see the LtCdr in Newport again before I shared them with everybody. Truth is, I really don’t know what the heck I’m looking at and therefore won’t be that interesting.

  • Letter from Maj Chris Brewster

    Received this note recently from a Major in the Reserves. Even though this letter is already availble as a comment to an earlier post, I wanted to put it on the front page to make sure everyone would see it. Belive it or not, the thing that gives me the most hope, is to hear other people’s successful stories of returning to OCS after serious injuries.

    Hang in there, Candidate. I found myself NPQ during the 4th week of PLC Seniors. I suffered a compound fracture of my right ankle during the same evolution (I fell off of the rope). I was not sure if I would be found PQ to return to training, and, to make matters worse, I was concerned about losing my scholarship as a cross country runner at my university.

    Well, I missed fall cross-country season, but, the next summer, I was back at OCS and I completed PLC Seniors and was commissioned a 2ndLt. I am now a Major (left active duty upon my promotion to Major and I am now in the Reserves). My point: if you want it bad enough, you can do it! Don’t give up.

    So, keep your chin up, many Marine Officers have been in your position. Now is the time for you to prove your desire to be a leader of Marines. Good luck!

    S/F
    Maj Chris Brewster

    Thank you sir.

  • Mushroom-Olive Burgers



    These burgers were really good, even though they had a hard time staying together on the grill. I topped mine with cheese and ketchup.
    Here is the recipe, from Cooking Pleasures magazine.