boat driver Department: Rx Author: Joe Brown Era: 1988 Date: 01/04/06 Hey, Joe Scullion, I have this memory that sticks for some reason. I think it was you, but if not I apoogize...these memories are fuzzy at best. During the 88 med cruise did you catch a little flack for referring the driver of one of the 'liberty boats' as the 'cocks vein'?

Department: Rx Author: joe s. Era: 1990 Date: 01/05/06 that's good, but i can't take credit for it.

INRE: Larry's 12/27/05 Nightmare posting Department: Rx Author: Cal Era: 2006 Date: 01/06/06 I've been off the "floating nightmare" for twenty-two years and I still have them occassionally. They usually involve me realizing it is past my date to get out--May 12, 1984--and I'm the only one who is aware of it. I finally get Chief Foster or Colpus' attention and they decide to let me go, except we are at sea and I can't fit all my stuff into a seabag to get on the helicopter so I have to stay--that's usually when I usually wake up screaming. By the way, is the Steve Moffitt who was barred from engaging in activities regulated by the NRC for five years due to the Davis Besse event the same Evil Marfit we knew from RT division in 1980?

Guns in the hands of P.J. and Pete Department: Rx Author: Cal Era: 1983 Date: 01/07/06 P.J. bought a pump-up BB gun while we are at Noodle Central. His bedroom window looked out into the backyard (site of the famous cutthroat croquet matches) and he had put out bird seed to bait the song birds which he would shoot from his bedroom window. Only one time he forgot to open the window before he fired (Mrs. Cantrell itemized the broken window with the other $3000 in damage). Another time, I don't know what possessed him (think the neighbor kid might have been stealing something or maybe just tresspassing by cutting through our yard on his way home from school)--anyway P.J. shot him in the shoulder--don't know how P.J. stayed out of jail. Another time Bowman brought his pistol up to Sugar Mountain. A gun in the hands of Brother Pete scared the hell out of us. That may have been the time he shot up the Charger. The bottle of Jack that had its neck broken off that Charlie was writing about also had shards of glass inside of it that we had to be careful not to swallow.

Urban legend? Messdeck rumor? Department: Rx Author: Flounder Era: 1983 Date: 01/09/06 First heard this story on board the Ikeatraz; can anyone verify it for me? A bunch of 1-plant RM mechanics finished working on something important at about midnight one night when the ship was underway. They wanted to go get a bite on the forward mess decks, but alas, flight ops had just ended and there was a line of colored shirts reaching back to the aft mess decks. So our ever-resourceful RM guys dressed one of their number in yellow anti-Cs (anti-contamination suit, for you non-nukuler types). Then they took one of those Cyalume glow-in-the-dark plastic tubular lights - the kind you bend in the middle, then they glow green for a few hours - got it going, sliced it open then sprinkled it all over the anti-C guy. He staggered up out of the port side entrance to #1 RAR, yelling "The reactor is critical! THE REACTOR IS CRITICAL!!," then pretended to faint and collapse in a heap on the deck. The airdales went runnin' faster than they ever ran in their lives. (cont.)

Urban legend? Messdeck rumor? (cont.) Department: Rx Author: Flounder Era: 1983 Date: 01/09/06 Of course, when nucs say that a reactor is critical, it just means that the reactor is at a steady self-sustaining power level; nothing more, nothing less. Our aforementioned RM div. guys came up, went to the head of the (now non-existent) chow line, and enjoyed some fine Ike midrats. The next day, the Rx Officer called all of that group into his office, chewed them out with a slight grin on his face, cautioned them to never do that again, and could be heard laughing his head off after the guys left. So, was this story just made up or what?

Reactor is Critical Department: Rx Author: Peter Era: 1984 Date: 01/09/06 That story sounds a bit embellished - But I have heard stories of guys running out of the plant screaming that the Rx was critical - They were probably egnored by most of the chow-dales, though. Something sort of similar happened to me. I bashed my forehead with a tool one day. - It was a small cut, but because of all the blood vessels in one's head, it bled profusely. I was covered in blood from this tiny cut - first I stagger into EOS to freak them out - then I stagger up to the mess decks and stumble down to medical... I was very theatrical about it and gave everyone quite the show. It wasn't til I was being cleaned up in medical that I remembered something... I was still on watch. No problem, I got back to the plant later, radioed my logs for the past 2 hours and was as good as new. PS. where did the term Radio come from? - was that just a Nuke prase or do others use that phrase?

Radio Department: Rx Author: Flounder Era: 1986 Date: 01/09/06 Hi Pete - That's a good story; hope everyone was grossed out by all the blood. I heard the word "radio" used in reference to log-taking all over the Vinson when I was there; not just by nucs, but also A-gangers, etc. Never heard it used in the merchant fleet, though. Of course we only take logs every 4 hours. See you guys in a couple of weeks - we're leaving Curaçao tomorrow at 5 AM to go to St. Croix, then over to the Dominican Rep. to fix a cable. Gotta start lighting everything off at 3:30 AM. Ah, the carefree life at sea...

Radio Un-free Eisenhower Department: Rx Author: Cal Era: 1982 Date: 01/09/06 Pete, no mystery where the term "radio-ing logs" came from--simply a reference to the distance between the log-taker and the indication supposedly observed. As Flounder mentioned, most readings really didn't need to be taken that often but anything to keep the squids busy. I remember in the North Atlantic when I was on watch on the upper level of Rx auxiliaries in one plant when the SW temp dropped like twenty degrees in a short period of time. I caught it (don't know why I decided to take logs on the hour that day--maybe wanted to avoid painting the bilge?) but the two-plant watch didn't and the temperature reached the point where we had to report it. Another time on feed pump watch I wasn't so lucky and didn't catch the feed pump running backwards until I smelled the smoke from the wiped bearing.

Dangerous Dave on Feed Pump maintenance helpful hints Department: Rx Author: Cal Era: 1982 Date: 01/09/06 Speaking of damage to feed pumps, I walked around the CG lower level and saw several come-alongs anchored to the lube oil separator going into the feedpump room. Dave was having trouble breaking loose a nut on the MFP steam inlet and had attached a torque wrench to it and then strung a few come-alongs from the torque wrench over to the lube oil purifier. Dave was ratcheting on one of the come-alongs when Pete Ryan (chief reactor watch) advised Dave of some minor safety concern he had with the situation. Another hint to the squids still on board: You know what a pain in the arse it is to complete maintenance on one of the condensers, clearing the tags, and valving it in only to find it is leaking and you have to re-hang tags? Solution: Look at the required length of the PM (e.g. annual = 1 year). Subtract your time left aboard the pig from this number (e.g., 145 days, 3 hours, 34 minutes, 23 seconds). If the number is negative--simply use permatex when re-installing the gasket!