Chopper is Back!!

Chopper is back!! Our mascot has returned from purgatory, and is once again living the "Life of Riley." Yours truly has taken him in his charge. The Band here in Okinawa is the only Marine Band who has a mascot. Our current mascot is named Chopper IV. He is an Okinawan Mixed Breed and is about 7 years old. He has his own Service Record Book, and a complete set of uniforms. Right now, though, only his Woodland Camouflage uniform fits him. I am in the process of replacing his other uniforms, Dress Blues and Desert Utilities, with ones that fit. He holds the rank of Sergeant, and we hope to get him promoted to Staff Sergeant some time this summer. I am also working on getting him a proper ID card, and he needs to re-enlist. Oh yes, he has to sign re-enlistment paperwork just like every other Marine. Since he can not write, he just puts a paw print on the appropriate lines on the forms. I know that all of this may seem silly to some, but you know how tradition can be.

The Band has had a mascot since the 1970's, and all of them have been named Chopper. Having a mascot has become the trademark of this unit. He greets every visitor to the Band Hall with a bark. Once they enter the building, he fully expects tribute to be paid. In other words, one needs to either pet him in greeting or have a cookie for him to eat. He does tours of the building during the day, ensuring that there is nothing amiss. I do not know how many times he has come back to my office and laid down at my feet. When he was younger, he used to go on runs with the Band.

On a different note, things have been going well here. I have been busier than a bee in the spring time. I am in charge of ensuring that the Band has orders for when they travel. To do this, I use a web-based application, similar to Expedia.com, that is intuitive, responsive, and easy to use. NOT. It is one of the most user UNfriendly programs that I have used. For example, I spent nearly 6 hours trying to get travel orders written for a Marine. Despite having everything entered in properly, they would not go through. Several phone calls to the help desk and a couple of hours later, we find that there was a tick box on a page that even the help desk did not know about, that needed to be checked. No where in the user documentation was this tick box mentioned. Oh well, such is life. When the program works, the Marine has everything they need for their trip relatively quickly. I think that once I get more fluent with it, things will go quicker.

Well, I have to go. Enjoy!