I slept well last night, I got up at a decent time today, and my foot wasn’t bothering me so I was in a good mood when I got out of bed. That lasted until I read my 2nd email I had waiting for me.
My “Brother the Brother†wrote us an email telling us he has a brain tumor and surgery Friday. He says the Dr’s are upbeat and have no worries, but still, talk about getting kicked in the balls.
I’ve had such a urge to call him the last few days and had no idea why, but I didn’t since we just spoke 2 weeks or so ago and had “nothing new†to talk about so why pay for the cost right? (He lives in Vancouver BC). So now I am waiting for a few hours more as I am not calling him at 7 am and of course I am a wreck.
So much for me having a good day and my plans to get some things for our project done today, not even sure I will be sober for the whole day.
Diesel and I met in early 1991. I was a 19 year old punk who thought I knew it all and didn’t know a damn thing; he has just transferred into my squadron and into our shop (Jet Mech). I didn’t get a “A School†out of boot camp, so I was what they call a “NonDes†which means I was “not designated†for a job, and when I choose “Jet Mech†I lucked out with the timing and got in, so I was learning on the job and didn’t know the “Navy way†when it came to anything.
When I first got to the shop I worked with 4 or 5 other guys who I took every word they said as gospel, which was a huge mistake since, not known to me, they was all full of shit and cut corners and literally put lives at risk since they did not do things the right way.
When Diesel came in, he was already in the Navy for 8 years or so and a AD3 (Jet Mech, 3rd class) and he was never one to keep his mouth shut when he saw something wrong, actually, he was never one to keep his mouth shut on anything…. But anyway…So right off the bat he was getting on my ass saying everything I did was wrong, so we really hit it off on a bad note.
For the first few days/weeks we argued daily and much more then once a day, it got to the point I just said fuck it and did things his way just to shut him the fuck up. All I was thinking was he was 100% wrong and he was going to get us all into deep shit, but said fuck it, shut him up and it’s his ass on the line, not mine. Fuck him.
Well, after more and more of the guys I worked with started backing down to him over big and small shit, I started to take notice on who really knew what was suppose to be done and how it was suppose to be done. Then D found out THE guy we had inspecting every job was not certified to check them, like we was all lead to believe. That’s when the shit hit the fan in our shop and out of 9 or 10 of us, 4 was left after the “purgeâ€.
Retirements, transfers and what have you hit within a month of Diesel coming into the shop and we got new people and that’s when things started to get better and I actually started to learn my job.
We still argued of course and argued constantly, so much that the entire shop was referring to us as “the brothers†behind our backs, as in, “Don’t go in the shop, the brothers are at it againâ€.
I don’t recall when was the first time I heard us called “the brothers†but when I first heard it I took it as an insult, but over time he and I started talking more and more and he invited us all over to his house for movies and food a few times and then we went on our first cruise together, and both of us worked the night shift and we had 2 new guys in the shop and Diesel and I got into it over something and like his normal self slapped me on the back of my helmet, but I was “in a mood†so I pushed him back, he pushed me and boom… punches were flying.
Now I am 6’2†and at the time 205 lbs or so, Diesel is 6’3†350+ so I was getting much worse then I was giving, but being me I don’t back down so I just took it and gave what I could. I still remember the new guys sitting in the shop, having no idea who we was, or what to do, and I recall one guy kept saying over and over “come on fellows, cut it out nowâ€. After a minute or so (no idea how long it really lasted) we both just stopped, Diesel asked if I was ok, I said yes and asked if he was and he said yes, and we both let go of each other and grabbed our tools and went to the plane to work…. Friends since.
We have been in many “events†since that day, I have pics on my arms that have bruises from his punches, and you can actually see the spaces between his fingers, I’m not kidding, I’ll even scan and post them sometime.
We went on a International maneuver in Cold Lake Alberta Canada, and when it was over we hooked up with some local girls and spent the night at one of their houses, when we was getting ready to leave a neighbors 6 year old boy came over and kept staring at Diesel, this kids eyes never left D, no matter where D stood this kids eyes never left him and it was the eyes you see the first time a kid sees Santa or something, total “shock†and disbelief.
So finally D asked this blonde haired blue eyed kid, “What are you staring at?â€
Little boy: “You’re the brown man I’ve seen on TV!â€
Me: “MUAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!â€
To this day… THE funniest thing ever…. I still bust his balls on this, 15+ years later?We have been through a lot, a few bar fights with others and each other and we even saved our Squadron Commander from getting his assed kicked in Israel in a 6 on 1 situation, the 2 of us just got to the bar and EVERYONE was trashed and we saw our “Skipper†being pushed, so we stepped in and told the guys he was a Commander, they said fuck off or something, we then stepped in front of them and dared them to take another step, and they walked away, our Skipper bought us some drinks and we saw how trashed he really was so we then got our Skipper a cab and had him taken back to the ship.Same night yet another fight and we was once again trying to break it up, and we got separated and my back to him and next thing I know someone grabs me from behind and drags me out of the bar, I turn around ready to hit/be hit and its D madder then fuck, I asked why he was so mad, (we broke up so many fights, that getting hit or whatever was just “part of the funâ€) he said he was breaking up a group fighting and the guy he was trying to save from injury/arrest told him to “get your black hands off me†so D let him go and watched him get his assed kicked, but he was still pissed, so he grabbed me and said let them all kill each other.
D was still steaming mad over this as we walked away, madder then I have ever seen him, and not knowing what to really do or say I just asked if he educated the guy, he asked what I was talking about, I then grabbed his hand and said “see, WHITE HANDS†which got the fucker laughing and I think he hit me and we went bar hopping as our norm.
I spent a lot of time at his house, and many times, hell MOST of the time, during large parties I was the only cracker there, I was a product of the “80’s hair bands†so I wore ripped jeans, ripped t-shirts and a black leather biker jacket, so I NEVER “fit in†dress wise, all these guys dressed in ironed pants and shirts and was just over all dressed well and then there was me… the white sheep of the family… muscle shirts and earrings…
Many times we went to “clubs†and some black guy would come up to me wanting to start shit, I would laugh at him/them and get them all pissed, then D would show up and as soon as they saw I was with him, I had new friends, funny how that worked. I never figured out if it was due to him being black, or him being a huge Diesel of a man. (Hence his name)
D is just someone EVERYONE knew and loved and very popular and he spent his full 20 years at NAS Whidbey Island which is a small base, so he was very well known. He was even well known to Officers who even tried to get him into their squadrons to “turn things aroundâ€. He was “capped†from 2nd class to 1st class about 3 years before he retired, that means the CO promoted him as a reward.
In the Navy, promotions work differently then the other branches, we have a set number of ranks in positions, so say 100 retire, 100 get promoted, so you now have 200 openings and 10,000 people trying to get one of those spots. You get a lot of people who “PNA†a test (passed, not advanced) I PNA’ed my test for 3rd class three times, two I tried, the third time was three weeks before I got out.
So when D got capped it was a huge deal, this is not just a pat on the back, this is huge and from what I am told they had a huge banquet and the CO got D up in front of all the squadron and families and started to give him shit over a “hat raffle†and the CO was trying to get D to put on some stupid hat, D laughed and said he would rather wear the CO’s hat, the CO then reached down and got the “1st Class Petty Officer†and said here, wear your own instead at which point a few hundred people stood up and cheered and laughed at this fucker who was completely taken by surprise and SPEECHLESS… I would so have paid to have been there.
Pauline and I have flown out to Washington 3 or 4 times in the past 10 years, always making sure to spend time with D and his family. He was married to a psycho for 12 years I think, and in the last 5 or 6 years divorced and remarried Eliza and now has 2 boys, 6 and 4 years old I think, spoiled but great kids the youngest looks and acts so much like his dad its freaky to me, we sat in the kitchen just talking last fall and his youngest son sat on my lap it was just so weird to have a “mini D†sitting on my lap.
One of the reasons we are moving out west is D and his family, we will be within an easy 6 hour drive. Just the idea we can drive to Seattle or Vancouver to spend some time with them is so appealing.
So now I am just waiting until noon my time so I can call at 9 am his time, my first question is what the drill is made of that the Dr’s are going to use to crack that hard head of his. Must be diamond tipped cause he has a hard fucking head and is hard headed, if he thinks he is right, it will take a act of god to prove him other wise… Or a smart ass punk cracker who knows a thing or two and loves to prove him wrong, either way its fun for me.
I know I am just babbling, but this is actually giving me some laughs right now, and I am trying to kill some time as I wait to call him.
He was the best man in my wedding and I was in his wedding and if I remember right, out of 200+ people Toni and I and 2 other crackers was the minority that night, we had such a great time that night.
D’s and my “favorite†drink has always been tequila shots, and we have done MANY shots together and all over the world. People was always amazed I could drink and keep up with D, drink for drink, what they didn’t know was I was ralphing my guts up in the bathroom between drinks lol. I was actually able to hold it in, and calmly walk to the bathroom and puke and calmly walk out and get more booze. I will never forget Turkey since I ate a lot of carrots as I drank, and Cold Lake Canada since that was the worse drunk I ever did.
Three nights before the “brown man on tv†episode, we got off around 4 pm and D had already made mixed drinks, and I downed 3 or 4 on a empty stomach, so I was drunk right off the bat. We went to a stripper bar, where the Toronto Blue Jays was beating some “American†team and won the ALCS, so I started yelling “BULLSHIT!â€â€¦. keep in mind I am in DEEP Canada country.
So I almost got killed and I was pissing off a lot of people so they cut me off. D and another guy just got a pitcher of long island iced tea and poured 2 drinks from it and turned their backs to me to watch the stripper. I grabbed the gallon pitcher and started to guzzle, the stripper is the one who pointed me out and I got hit a few times, but I got that “teaâ€!
They then took me back to the barracks, it was still daylight, but I was beyond drunk, still had no food, so they left me in the room and went back out. I remember sitting in this 2 man room and I knew I was going to vomit, no biggie, toilet is a few feet away, but hey, there is this window right next to me, its hot, so I will just open the window and when its time, Ill puke outside.
So I open the window and wait and boom, I vomit and vomit hard and a few times, then I “see†my legs are all messy and nasty and I am like, WTF????
Stupid window screens, why are they so hard to see when your drunk? Have you ever tried to clean a huge mess of vomit when you can’t stand, can’t see and are barley conscious? I actually did a good job of cleaning it, but man did it reek big time the next day, but I cleaned it up pretty good with what I had and what my condition was.
Ok, I am going to try and call him now….
(Hour later)
We talked for 20 minutes or so, I ripped his ass for doing this to us and he of course blamed me for 16+ years of mental abuse and stress. So we both vented at each other and then we started talking about the shit I wrote just above, he said he was thinking of the same things so we got some laughs in. He is very confident he will beat this and I am to, but I am still worried, I just hate the idea of someone going from hell like he was in to a heaven with his family and current life back to hell.
Man every time I start seeing “good things†for Pauline and I in the future a huge road block hits us. I am closer to him the majority of people in my life and just the idea that we can drive 3 to 6 hours to see him and his family was really a huge bonus for us, no one can make BBQ like that mofo can, and he loves to cook and I love to eat his cooking, so it’s a good relationship.
I called Pauline and let her in on the news and we shared some tears. She has Friday off so I am not sure what we will be able to get done around here, hopefully we will get some work done and of course I forgot to ask what time the surgery was so I have no idea what time to call Friday…. Me so smart.
I hope everyone else is having a good day.
How Do I Feel?:  crushed
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