Getting Prepared: Doug’s Under Weigh, Helping Others, and Typhoon Haishen

Monday, August 31st

I am on my own until tomorrow evening. Doug has watch today and will be home tomorrow night. I took Doug to work and he had to take two trips to the car to the ship. He is making sure all his stuff is on the ship before he leaves.

I am still rocking my morning routine. I came back to the apartment to work out, eat breakfast, and check the cats food bowl. The cats had plenty of food.

I didn’t do to much today. I wanted to rest because I feel like I have been going non-stop. I laid around and watched Big Bang Theory. For lunch, I reheated the pork chops from last night and had Miso Ramen with it.

For dinner, I went to Chili’s. On the ship, dinner was meatloaf. Doug doesn’t like meatloaf. He asked me to go get him dinner from Chili’s and I told him I would. He felt bad for making me go, but, what he didn’t know at the time as I was going to get me dinner too. I ordered him two things of Skillet Queso, a Bacon Cheeseburger, and Texas Fries. I ordered myself the Chicken Bacon Quesadilla. Doug was sweet to give me the salsa and a bag of chips. Salsa comes with the Skillet Queso. Doug doesn’t like salsa.

I took Doug his dinner and I went home to eat my dinner. I ate my Chicken Bacon Quesadilla while continuing to watch The Big Bang Theory. Then I took a shower and went to bed. Uneventful day.

Tuesday, September 1st

I got up, worked out, ate breakfast (peach), and cleaned the apartment. It was a little easier to clean because we now have the vacuum cleaner. The cats get cat litter everywhere and I hate stepping on it.

After cleaning, I needed to go to the grocery store. I went to AEON at the Ginza. I got some food for me for a few days. I didn’t get anything for dinner, because Doug might want CoCo Ichiban-ya.

For lunch, I bought some already made chicken wings. I bought six wings for $1. I brought them home and has to heat them up just a little bit. They were awesome! I cannot believe they were only a $1.

I waited for Doug to get off work. I picked him up and he wanted to get another blanket from the NEX for on the ship. Then we went home and ordered Domino’s for dinner. I got my own pizza! I got the California Chicken and Bacon Pizza. Doug got the New York style pizza. We also ordered wedges and desert. My pizza was awesome! The crust had two layers of thin crust with cheese in the middle.

We had a quiet evening with the cats. Calcifer, Gigi, and I hung out on the balcony for an hour. It was nice and they enjoy the balcony.

Wednesday, September 2nd

I dropped Doug off at work and won’t see him until end of November early December. He will be under weigh until mid October, spend two weeks in port, and then on deployment. They won’t be allowed off the ship because of Covid-19.

I worked on organizing the apartment. I worked on the Tatami Room again because Doug put items from the game room. I had to get his XBOX One games in the cabinet so I moved some movies around. Then I organized the closet because the book shelf we got doesn’t hold the big books we have. I put the books in the closet and made two stacks in the front. One stack is books I haven’t read yet and the other stack is Harry Potter for when I want to reread it. I finished the Tatami Room and had lunch. I reheated pizza from last night in the toaster oven. I love the toaster oven!

Later in the afternoon, our figurine shelf came in. The shelf was large and heavy. Thank goodness the delivery guy brought it in for me. I signed for the package and said thank you!

I lounged around for a while then made myself dinner. I made Korean BBQ beef with rice. Then I worked on putting the figurine shelf together. I had to unbox it in the hallway and brought the pieces to the kitchen. I built the shelf and I totally made a mistake while putting it together. I couldn’t fix it so I just kept going until I was finished. Once done, I started putting the figurines on the shelf. I need to put together our amiibo stand to go with everything else.

Typhoon Maysak came through with some fierce wind. It was loud and I woke up a couple of times throughout the night. I felt bad for Calcifer, because he spent all night under the bed. Calcifer actually likes it there, but I know he doesn’t like loud noises. We are getting another typhoon this weekend.

Thursday, September 3rd

I woke up, worked out, and ate breakfast. I worked on organizing the apartment some more. I worked on organizing my clothes. I just hung my clothes in the closet without putting them in order. I also needed to finish unpacking my suitcases and out the clothes away.

For lunch, I had left over pizza. Then I went back to work on organizing my clothes. I have some clothes that need hangers. I thought I had some extra hangers but no idea where they are. I guess I will need to buy some hangers.

For dinner, I made Teriyaki beef with curry noodles. I watched The Big Bang Theory and then went to bed.

Friday, September 4th

I helped out another Navy wife today. They don’t have a car and her husband is under weigh with Doug. They haven’t been able to go get driver’s license and a car yet. They do have housing at Hairo. Anyways, I took her and her kids to the grocery store. We went to AEON Daito to look around and to get groceries. I bought more groceries than I normally would to last the weekend.

After getting groceries, we went to the McDonald’s at the Food Court upstairs. I got the Gran Pepper Garlic Burger and a grape soda float. It was good. She got a Big Mac and agreed it taste different than back in the states. Then we headed back to Hairo. We stopped at the Commissary. She wanted to get some water and a few other things. I got salt, taco seasoning, and toothpaste. Then I took her back to her tower. I am glad I got to help her out.

I made my way back home and then had to go to Main Base to get Doug’s package. He got a Nintendo Switch game that he forgot he ordered. Story of my life. He tends to forget items he has pre-ordered. I then went back home.

I made myself diner. I made nacho cheese dip with ground beef. Yummy! Then another Navy wife, who lives in the same building as us, brought me a Filipino snack. It was thoughtful and good. I will also be helping her out if she needs to go get anything or do anything. She doesn’t have her driver license’s and won’t for a while.

I started looking into Typhoon Haishen and its not looking good. It is a Super Typhoon and is currently a Category 4 with potential of being Category 5. When I was looking at it earlier, Typhoon Haishen would be a Category 2 by the time it gets to Sasebo.

Saturday, September 5th

Last night I was looking into the typhoon we are getting late Sunday to Monday morning. Well it is now a Super Typhoon Haishen with winds reaching 288 km so its a category 5. It will hit Okinawa, then southern Kyushu island, then will hit southwestern Kyushu Island which is where we are. Typhoon Haishen will be a category 3 by the time it hits Sasebo. I decided I needed to get a few things before tomorrow night.

I went to Main Base to get some yen out of the ATM. I want to have some money on me just in case. Then I went to the post office to pick up a package for Doug. The last stop was the Commissary. I wanted to get two gallons of water and some snacks just in case. I wanted some white cheddar popcorn, no luck. I did get some Kind bars, Fiber One chocolate chewy bars dried apricots, and tuna and chicken salad snack packs. I left base to go to AEON at the Ginza.

My first stop was Daiso (100 yen floor). I was looking for a flashlight but no luck. I also was looking for masking tape but no luck. Instead I got some Halloween decorations, a water container, two bags of chips, paper cups, and paper plates. Then I went to the grocery floor to get some snacks. I got some bananas, cheese crackers, bagel, bag of apple slices, and garbage bags. I wanted to see what foods they grab up during a typhoon. I couldn’t find noodles and bread. The noodles make sense because they are easy to make and are essential to most Japanese meals. The bread I was kinda surprised by but it makes sense.

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After AEON, I went to the 100 yen store to look for a light of any kind. No luck. Then I thought I could get some batteries, but realized I have some at the apartment from our junk door in Colorado. I did buy a rain poncho and some rubber gloves. Then I went to 7-Eleven to buy some Fruit Au lait and to see if they had some mango snacks. I got some Fruit Au lait but no mango snacks. Then I went home.

At home, I put all my snacks and drinks away. Then I decided to do the dishes because I didn’t do them yesterday. My plan is to get the apartment ready for the typhoon. I boarded up the windows. I packed an emergency bag in case I have to evacuate. Then I made lunch. I made Italian chicken with butternut squash. It was scrumptious.

Sunday, September 6th

Typhoon Haishen will be arriving tomorrow morning. I have everything I will need in case the power goes out. I just hung out at the apartment all day. There was no need to leave.

For lunch, I made myself Teriyaki Beef with Fried Rice. It was delicious. Then I filled the bathtub with water, just in case. Sasebo city announced they were opening 43 shelters to evacuate to if you don’t feel safe in your home. Later they announced they were opening more to have a total of 74 shelters. I was able to figure out where I could evacuate to, just in case. It is a community center that is a six minute walk down the hill. It is actually the building I turn by to get on the road in front of the apartment complex. Neat find.

For dinner, I made a pre-made pizza. It was good. I thought it was pepperoni but its ham. Then for the rest of the evening I started watching Its Okay to Not be Okay. Its a South Korean drama about a girl raised by her ‘monster’ mom and a boy who likes her. It has some interesting characters and some interesting themes. I watched about four episodes. I will continue watching tomorrow if I have power.