But all is not work aboard a ship. One does get some time to relax. A ship is a small city at sea, and has some amenities.
Leaving port doesn’t mean leaving everything behind. Aboard Porter there are computers enough, both in the work spaces and in the Learning Resource Center (LRC), to allow the sailors to send and receive e-mail – and even access the internet (though the speed can be quite slow at times – the combat systems do have the priority when it comes to bandwidth). The TV’s may be set up with Playstation 2 devices in berthing or in the Ship’s Classroom, or a DVD player - or you could just watch what’s shown on the system.
The ship’s library, while a bit small for my tastes, does have a good selection of reading material. The barbershop may not hold everything a salon does, but the barber does get the job done. There are, as mentioned, vending machines for snacking and sodas, as well as the ship’s store.
Money: There’s a pilot program going on in regards to money aboard. There are six ships (I think) that are part of a pilot program called “Navy Cash”. What this does is allow one to not have to carry around money on board. The concept is simple – one is issued a card that has both a magnetic stripe on it and a computer chip. One can transfer their money to the card in several ways – either have some of their pay split off to be put on it, write a check in disbursing, where the funds are put on the card, or effect a transfer funds at one of the two (on this ship, anyway) Navy Cash terminals from their home checking account.
I think the program is great – no more worrying about having enough change for a soda or stamps (though one should still keep track of their balance just like a checkbook or credit card), no more cluttering up the locker with loose change, and no need to carry around currency at all.
Guide Note: Thought this series was over, just because it said "Conclusion?" Well, we did too, but STG1 Long has been kind enough to provide us with another chapter. To continue this series, see Part 6, Ship's Chain of Command/Organization.
