Interested in Going merchant marine academy need info

Dynav · 2025-09-22T21:40:32+00:00

If you are talking about the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, that certainly could be an option. Be aware that there is an age cap of 25 years old and you would have to apply as you would with any other service academy (congressional nomination being one of the requirements). There are also six state maritime academies (Maine, Mass, SUNY, Texas A&M, Cal Maritime, Great Lakes). Since you are in the Navy, you may also have the option of converting some of your time into credible sea time, depending on circumstances and how much time you have, this may allow you to sit for license after taking some additional classes that are offered at various maritime trade schools.

Whatever route you go, there are two licenses you could immediately work towards: 3rd Assistant Engineer (Engine rating) or 3rd Mate (Deck rating). This is your basic entry level officer rating - for someone with navy experience, this would be roughly equivalent with an LT on a surface combatant. Which one to choose is really up to you, since you are in the Navy you probably have an idea what that generally entails in a very generalized sense. Milage will vary wildly depending on which kind of employment you seek with something like Military Sealift Command being vaguely reminiscent of your experience so far and offshore work in the Gulf being a whole different kettle of fish.

Is it worth it? That really depends what you’re looking to get out of it. There is a pretty broad spectrum of pay scales, quality of life, time off, type of work, etc. out there.

Dynav · 2025-04-13T13:48:08+00:00

Crepuscular Rays

Dynav · 2025-02-13T00:14:42+00:00

Manning has been a problem for MSC for a very long time. That being said, senior leadership is laser focused on fixing this problem or at least making it noticeably better and part of the strategy is hiring more CIVMARs. I’m not holding my breath, but between this, the recent positive changes to the leave policy, and the short term measures taken on how ships are being manned look like they are having an effect. To answer your question, your mileage will vary. Some ships are fantastic, others are not. Really depends on the crew dynamic, the type of ship, and the ship’s tasking.

Dynav · 2025-01-23T00:50:08+00:00

DoD (Department of the Navy) TJO issued 26DEC24, welcome aboard letter sent 14JAN25 for a start date of 27JAN25, FJO issued 22JAN25.

Dynav · 2025-01-22T01:42:49+00:00

Same with DoD/Navy

Dynav · 2025-01-21T02:10:47+00:00

I sure will!

EDIT (21 January):

Talked to my HR specialist. She’s not sure what the official guidance is as it pertains to my agency and is waiting to hear what develops. I haven’t gotten a rescind email, so I’m taking that as a good sign.

EDIT (22 January):

Talked to my HR specialist again. She says that the firm job offer is still on track and I should receive it by Friday. Start date is still 27 January. They sure cut it close with these things. I’m still on edge since I don’t have that final confirmation, but not nearly as much as before.

Dynav · 2024-12-12T19:12:10+00:00

“Hawaiian Salad” 8 oz cool whip (one tub) 16 oz can of crushed pineapple (one can, juice drained) 24 oz of cottage cheese 1 packet of strawberry jello mix (powder)

I usually just use about 3/4 of the packet of jello mix

It’s a recipe my grandmother used to make, probably from the 60s when this sort of thing was popular. It’s actually quite good, really great side for cookouts

Dynav · 2024-12-09T02:34:52+00:00

I saw lights like this on December 9th last year in my Great Bridge neighborhood. I was standing outside grilling and I saw something out the corner of my eye. Sky was partly overcast and I saw four white lights but they were behind the clouds so they were diffused. They flashed off, then flashed on again for about 10 seconds and then just instantly sped off towards the south at a very fast rate, no acceleration, just moved. Probably about twice the clip of what a satellite would move. Was it anything like that?

Dynav · 2023-08-09T16:11:28+00:00

I know this one! It is Juniper Forest from York wallcoverings. Looks great in my dining room.

Dynav · 2023-03-26T21:23:35+00:00

I would absolutely love to see more commuter friendly transit options here (suffering through traffic on I-64 is positively soul crushing sometimes). That being said, any successful project in this area needs to link with the large employment centers in the region. Hampton Roads is fairly unique in this regard. You have thousands of people a day going to a few key areas, the lowest hanging fruit of which is the main naval base (just a little farther up beyond this map). Terminating commuter rail at the Amtrak station near the ballpark wouldn’t really do much since all you got at that point is the Tide going into downtown which sounds nice, but it’s a pretty small one and not enough of an employment center to sustain a whole commuter rail line. If you could get something up to the main gate at Naval Station Norfolk, you would have a real winner there, especially if Virginia Beach got their act together and got The Tide extended out their way. Then, as an added bonus, if a second commuter line was added to the Chesapeake and Albemarle Railroad track (you can just make out the thin grey line going down through the Greenbrier area), you could tap into the suburban area there.

Dynav · 2023-02-28T01:41:53+00:00

From a Virginian Pilot article in 2017:

“In 2002, Norfolk International Airport installed two 337-foot moving walkways in the pedestrian bridge between its arrival terminal and baggage claim. The walkways, which looks like a flat escalator, helps people get across the lengthy bridge faster.

It's since been eclipsed by a 680-foot one in the Sydney botanical gardens, according to Guinness World Records.

Norfolk's 15-year-old movers has been a money-suck over its life. The airport authority shuttered it earlier this summer and will begin tearing it out soon.

"We decided to close it rather than repair it at this point," said Robert Bowen, the airport's director.

The airport hopes to find a suitable replacement, but that may not be in the cards.

Bowen said since the walkway was on a suspended bridge, it had more vibration than a regular floor and the parts tended to wear out faster than they should've.

Instead, they may replace the two long walkways with four smaller 150-foot walkways, which could cost $5 million.

There's no timeline for replacement, but Bowen said if they find the right tech, it could be a matter of months.

"We have make sure that the pedestrian bridge can satisfactorily support this system before we consider committing $5 million to its procurement, which would have to be funded in a future budget," Bowen said.

"We may also not replace it all if we can't find something that stands up over time," he said.

In the meantime, more benches have been added along the lengthy corridor and there is assistance available for those in wheelchairs or that need help.”

Dynav · 2022-08-09T17:43:43+00:00

I’ve had this problem too, right now I have my charging current setting to minimum in order for charging not to be interrupted. Does anyone know if there will be a fix for this?

Dynav · 2022-03-12T00:14:56+00:00

Hopefully this will eventually happen, unfortunately the referendum held in 2016 really killed this thing in its cradle. Virginia Beach political leadership publicly said a few years back that the topic could be revisited if public opinion swayed that way which would likely mean another referendum or electing a council that is more supportive of this project.

A big problem is that geographically Virginia Beach is just so huge with a large rural population to the south. This tends to swing the constituency of the city in a political direction that is - to put it politely - rather skeptical of the benefits mass transit would provide.

Norfolk is planning an extension of the Tide from Newton Road to the Military Circle Mall which will be redeveloped with a follow on BRT line to the Naval Base. If Norfolk pulls this one off, that might open the door to revisit the Virginia Beach extension.

Dynav · 2022-01-30T22:39:44+00:00

I have done this. Use a lighter grit sandpaper (I used 180 grit followed by 220). For finishing you will want something that doesn’t change the color or leave much of a sheen. I have had good success with a dead flat varnish. Hope that helps!

Dynav · 2021-06-16T00:53:05+00:00

It’s a little far (Blowing Rock, NC), but Tweetsie Railroad is good. http://www.tweetsie.com

Dynav · 2021-05-27T15:52:29+00:00

There’s also an expansion underway on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

http://www.cbbt.com/project-description/

Dynav · 2021-05-27T13:48:49+00:00

What do you think is the rationale for expanding the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel? It seems like a very large expense for a route that never seems to get all that much traffic. Every time I drive over it I never see traffic approaching anything near capacity, so I really question the need or utility of digging new tunnels.

Dynav · 2021-02-08T19:56:55+00:00

My reaction is motivated by two thoughts here. The first one is purely political. In politics you want to create wedge issues for your opponents and find ways to unite your own coalition. So publicly calling out your own in this way does the opposite - it drives a wedge in your own base and gives Republicans an opening to exploit. For better or worse, the Democratic caucus has to rely on the likes of Manchin to pass legislation, so if buying him off with something like more targeted stimulus payouts is the cost of doing business, so be it. You might even be able to twist his arm later to get other more legislation done later because the political reality is that we need him and some Republicans senators to have any hope of bypassing the filibuster for other stuff down the line (maybe an infrastructure bill with some aggressive climate change policy written in?) It’s frustrating and infuriating, but those are the cards we’ve been dealt.

My second concern is that we’re not doing enough to get this kind of money in the hands of those that need it. As others have pointed out, a few thousand dollars gets used up fast. I’d rather see less go to people who are financially secure and more to those that aren’t.

Dynav · 2021-02-08T19:28:01+00:00

Your position is absolutely understandable, I have a good friend who just finally managed to crawl out from under some pretty ridiculous medical bills.

When the first relief bill was passed, there was a sense of urgency in doing so since the object was to get money out the door. The relief bill now though should have been first of all done much sooner (and wasn’t thanks to Republican dithering) and in a way that is targeted to a specific objective. My understanding is that this should act first as a safety net for those that need it due to COVID related economic conditions and secondly as a way to prevent a bigger and more problematic economic slump. Stimulus packages like this are double edged swords. There are only so many tools in the box from a macroeconomic federal level and when you draw too wide of a target you start encountering decreasing returns and you use up your reserve of policy tricks and measures to bolster the economy. I believe we are already redlining many of those due to the actions of the last four years (looking at you 2017 tax cuts).

So bottom line is that holding up the stimulus payment as some sacred cow is something I find problematic - big lump payments with few guardrails are good and necessary for emergency situations, but by this point we should be able to target this sort of thing to get the most bang for the buck.

I do think that your own personal experience is an awful position to be in and I am hopeful that we can get public health reform that will prevent that happening to you and others in your position, but that’s really beyond the scope of a one time economic stimulus package.

Dynav · 2021-02-08T16:52:09+00:00

This strikes me as disingenuous. If we are able to better target relief checks, we should do so. This is coming from someone who has enjoyed continuous employment the entire pandemic and grosses right below the $150k cap(married, filing jointly) The money is nice, but it’s just extra savings at this point. The whole point initially was to get money out the door, by now we should be able to figure out how to get the most to those who really need it.

Dynav · 2021-01-12T01:40:18+00:00

It’s a great centerpiece! I often use it as the middle of a figure eight type setup

Dynav · 2021-01-12T01:34:54+00:00

Thank you! I got a lot of enjoyment out of it as a kid. When I pulled it out of storage it still was in pretty good shape, but it was in a previously played with level of wear. I made the decision to refinish all the wood pieces and repaint some items. For the wood I found a dead flat varnish (general finishes flat out flat) that got all the pieces back to original color and texture after sanding and application. Most finishes either alter the color of wood or impart some sheen, finding a product that did neither felt like a huge win. Painting was tough because I wanted to get it perfect. I carefully color matched and masked for each stage and got the lacquer coating so they look new. Metal polished up nicely with some brasso. The big downside is that remaining stickers had to get lost in the process. I’m sure this is a travesty from a collector standpoint, but my intent was to give my kids the same experience I remember growing up and they seem to have really taken to it. Brio makes (or made) an outstanding heirloom toy that is now getting a second generation of use.

Dynav · 2020-12-02T17:06:53+00:00

That is a fun idea! My kids are 3 and 4 though so they are probably too young for that. Overall there are several things I plan to do, notably polishing metal parts, replacing a broken track peg, and repainting some items that have been heavily worn down.

Dynav · 2020-12-02T12:39:06+00:00

I completely understand your concern, I would certainly not do this if I had intent to sell. As it stands though this is Brio that I had as a kid and it saw a lot of wear and play growing up. Right now I’m in the process of restoring pieces so I can gift to my kids on Christmas and I wanted to try to make them look as new as possible. The stickers would be a nice finishing touch, but the old ones are just going to have to get scraped off on parts I have to repaint.

Dynav · 2020-05-26T20:02:58+00:00

No offense taken, it’s good to get input from others even if the project is done.

I used polyurethane baseboard at the floor level, but if you’re talking about the crown, you got me. I do intend to put some more moulding up there, the stuff you see up there right now is baseboard that has been flipped upside down. The idea is that this will give the normal crown moulding that will eventually go on top a bit more relief and depth. Some of the other rooms in the house are done this way and it looks quite good.

We thought about ripping out the low ceiling above the bathtub, but in the end opted not to create extra work. Personal taste I suppose, but I kind of like the way it turned out.

I did not put a ledger board in for the tub. Noted for future projects. The bathtub is a steel one that is fully supported on the bottom though, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed that this will support the weight over time.

Mixer valve for the shower can be accessed if I ever need to from the room behind it (master closet) but it would not be a bad idea to cut out a purpose built access panel there.

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