| P-MAN XII Progress
Report #08 - Miscellany; P-MAN interruptus; Semper Gumby! Lessons Learned:
25 February We debriefed yesterday's SSS mission during breakfast, and then got into the brief for today's operations. Pat had an all-night teleconference and did not get much sleep. He opted for doing errands around town. We were just about to walk out the door when PNCC (the phone company) called and said they needed to change out our DSL line. They installed it on Tuesday and I thought we were good to go. It seemed a little slow compared to last year and we could not get the wireless router working. But other than that, we had Internet in the room. Well, it seemed they just kinda hooked us into the hotel's DSL line rather than give us our own. They asked if someone would be around all day so they could do their work. I looked at the team, and sacrificed myself to hang in the room. I would much rather be on the boat, going at 1.5 knots, running back and forth doing stuff, hauling in cable, letting it out, calling out depth soundings and looking at the SSS screen. For 8 hours. The team left and Pat hung with me. He did have a cutoff time of noon so he could accomplish stuff. We chatted a bit, dealt with stuff, planned future P-MAN missions and solved world problems. I chatted with the Navy in Guam. They own the CAT team here and wanted to touch base with us. They wanted us to know that since the CAT teams change out every 6-9 months, promises may be made by one team that the other team doesn't know about. They wanted us to know that the turnover between teams will cover what was promised so there will be some continuity. I guess they like what we do out here. And then Wycliff showed up. He was going to solve all our problems. And in a short period of time, he did. A bit of tinkering on my part and I solved the wireless issue. So, I am typing at the dining table, while the wireless router is all the way across the room. I feel so smug at the moment. Pat and I dashed out for our list of things to do:
Then we met the boat team at Neco Marine for a debrief. Since Pat Colin wanted to talk with Jack from Marine Sonic, we had him meet us at Neco. Since Steve wanted to chat with us about the maps we found showing where all the land mines are, we had him meet us at Neco. Since the sun was going down, we had a libation. And since I had that burger, I wasn't very hungry. So the team is out to dinner, I got the wireless working, and now I'm calling it a night. Tomorrow is in the jungle with Paul leading us to find a single engine Marine Corsair. And a big shout out to the Saline American Legion. Paul says you're following our exploits. We're happy to have you aboard. Stand at ease. Smoke 'em if you got 'em. I'll be in the area all day. And I hope to have a grand story for you tomorrow. 26 February Now it's tomorrow. A day in the jungle was planned for all. All but Jack. He had some data crunching he wanted to do and get caught up on work for work. Then we got hit by a surprise. Seems Rick needs to return to Seattle. Although Palau is important, all of our responsibilities at home really do take precedence. We're sorry to see Rick go, but not as sorry as Rick is to leave. We'll miss him for the rest of the trip and look forward to the next SSS mission with him in charge again. Standby for P-MAN XII.5. So Rick spent the day dealing with stuff. He had to decide when to actually leave. When we left for the jungle, he hadn't contacted the airlines to see what was available. So the rest of us, Pat, Me, Paul and Mike headed up to Ngatpang to do more searching for a Marine Corsair. Our first stop was unplanned. We drove into the OISCA farm complex (Organization for Industrial Spiritual & Cultural Advancement), mostly because we've never seen the gate open before. A very pretty farm tended all the time. We went in to ask if they'd ever seen any aluminum in the jungle. No. So we left. But at least we got to see a pretty farm.
It's hard to get used to, but having a cell phone in the jungle is a very useful tool. We got a call from Bernadette from the Palau Horizon (a newspaper in Koror). She interviews us each year we're in town. We've set up something for next week. Then part way through our first sweep, Father Gould called. Mark Swank has been trying to get the Jesuits in Palau and us together so we can brief them on the Jesuits who were killed by the Japanese. We think we know where all this took place and we do know that the current day Jesuits are interested. We spoke with him again later in the evening and we're going to arrange a tour in March.
Then at the top of the ridge at the end of our first northward trek, a call from Rick. To make this work, he needs to leave tonight. Tonight? As in 6 hours from now tonight. He is routed through Manila and Taipei and then Seattle. We told him we would take him to the airport. We finished our searching with one southward trek and then marched out. No, we didn't find anything. But we certainly know we do not have to look there again.
We wanted to spend some time with Rick and Nicole before they left. Since they hadn't had a chance to have a Bem Ermii milkshake, we thought we would bring them one. We picked up the shakes en route to the hotel. Got there and they were out and about. We got the jungle cleaned off of us and waited. Rick showed up, first goodbyes were said and he went down to their room to pack. We went down at about 1645 as we thought we should take them at 1700. That way they could avoid the crunch at the airport with all the folks in line. They hadn't left the room when we thought we should be going so one of us went to the room. A few minutes later, another. Then another. Then there was just Pat in the lobby. Seems they cannot find their passports. Anywhere. We ripped apart the room, their luggage, their purchases, the gifts they gave away in Palau, under the furniture. And did it all again. I called Continental and confirmed that no, you cannot leave the country without a passport. At some point, we ran out of time to find them AND get to the airport. So, they're here until at least Monday.
We contacted the chargé d'affaires of the U.S. Consulate and he told us what Rick needed to do to get going. And he can't do a thing until Monday. We could not make this up even if we tried. We all went out to a Thai dinner with Bert Yates. We got caught up on all the comings and goings around Palau. Always good fun to be with Bert. And for those that did not know it, Bert is a proud papa and husband. Cute kid. Tomorrow is a split ops day. Jack, Mike and Rick will be on the boat. If Rick's not leaving, we might as well make use of him. Pat, Me and Paul will be on land. Nicole is going with Esther for a Palauan first baby ceremony. And a good time will be had by all. More later as it happens. - Flip |
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