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August 3rd: The move in was a success, I am currently working without the TARDIS device to force myself to store some of my less used items. I hope to have my quarters in some shape for visitors soon, I will keep you updated as I can.

There is a klingon proverb, translated goes like this; “Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they will pee on your stuff.” I have found this to be true, the younger cat was not happy with the move, I’ve been forced to move the cat box to her new "spot" to do her "duty" in. She apparently did not approve of the spot I had chosen for the "duty" spot.

On to other items, let's start off with a joke: A Florida senior citizen drove his brand new Corvette convertible out of the dealership. Taking off down the road, he floored it to 80 mph, enjoying the wind blowing through what little hair he had left. "Amazing," he thought as he flew down I-75, pushing the pedal even more. Looking in his rear view mirror, he saw the state trooper behind him, blue lights flashing and siren blaring. He floored it to 100 mph, then 110, then 120. Suddenly he thought, "What am I doing? I'm too old for this," and pulled over to await the trooper's arrival.

Pulling in behind him, the trooper walked up to the Corvette, looked at his watch and said, "Sir, my shift ends in 30 minutes. Today is Friday. If you can give me a reason for speeding that I've never heard before, I'll let you go." The old gentleman paused. Then said, "Years ago, my wife ran off with a Florida State Trooper. I thought you were bringing her back."

"Have a good day, Sir," replied the trooper.

Dan S. and I joined the Klingons on their Good Day to Dine at Ghengis Grill in Plano. I always have a great time with them and it was nice to see at least one other Federation member there. Well, hope to see you at the next meeting crew mates.

May 4th: On Apr 29 and 30th The Core of the Active Duty Marines took part in volunteering for The Sci Fi Expo that took place at the Plano Centre in Plano TX. Some the guests included Alan Ruck who potrayed Captain Harriman in Star Trek Generations, Denise Crosby who potrayed Sela and Tasha Yar in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gates McFadden who potrayed Dr Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series and movies. We also had Dwight Schultz who potrayed Barclay in TNG series and First Contact. We took part in crowd control for those wishing to get autographs. We also managed access to the convention itself to ensure that those that entered had the proper reciept to enter. We also ensured that those entering the Q&A section sat in the appropiate seating arrangements.

April 28th: Lucky me!! The papers for my request to move to a cabin with a view have finely been approved!! It is not as spacious as my old cabin, but I can fix that with a bit of Tardis technology.

I will issue invitations for a cabin warming once I’ve moved in, and made sure there are no boxes in the main living room area. If you are allergic to fur, I will try to make sure the tribbles are in another room.

I hope to see all of you at the next crew meeting, (only if I’m done unpacking / moving by then). I will endeavor to keep you all informed until then.

For those who love the great outdoors, you missed a grand time at the Klingon camp out; it was at Cedar Hill State Park. The State park is quite large, and really nicely wooded and well maintained. I had a great view of the lake from my campsite; it was within a stones throw from my tent. And talk about service!! One of the campsites near mine had no power, and the repair people were out to fix it within 15 mins after it was reported. I don’t see that kind of service anywhere!!

The fun part for me, was watching the looks of the other campers when the klingons started their sparring in the most central area. (round about?). They would ride over and watch as the Klingons took turns with batlauhs and other types of weapons.

We had some new faces at the campout on Saturday night. As we sat at the campfire, being bombarded by June bugs and other unidentified insects; the klingons did their bloodwine ceremony where they toast to members who have fallen in battle. Afterward one of their new members began singing various songs, most of them quite humorous. They took turns telling tales of their various campaigns. It was interesting going to sleep under the stars hearing them singing in the distance.

I say we should issue an invitation to our picnic to the klingons, I think it would make a good gesture upon our half.

April 7th: Daniel Dreesbach has been promoted to 1LT and is currently the River Rats Officer In Charge. Chanda Norman has been promoted to 1LT and currently serves as the River Rats Deputy Officer In Charge. Kira Norman has been promoted to 2LT and currently serves as Supply Officer. Ed Dravecky promoted to MCapt (reservist). Debbie Winters promoted to Major (reservist). Ed Dravecky has taken PD-10 (Professional development course level 10). PD-10 is the boot camp course for the SFMC Academy for adults. It ensures you are informed about the SFMC. Kira Norman has taken SU-20. SU-20 is the highest general Support Branch class. All other courses involve a specific Support Branch topic. Daniel Dreesbach has taken CE-30. CE-30 is the Combat Engineer course that requires an essay about a topic from the Combat Engineering field. The topic was "How To Use A Starship To Construct A Base And Survive." The essay was to give the general idea of what should be done if something causes the crew to abandon the ship and what to do if rescue may not come.

The following awards have been issued:

Senior Marine Officer of the Year—1LT Dreesbach

Junior Marine Officer of the Year-1LT Chanda Norman

Marine NCO of the Year—2LT Kira Norman

*Note: 2LT K Norman was an enlisted member of the SFMC during the timeframe for which her award covers.

As a reminder we are also a Combined Arms unit. A Combined Arms unit is a unit that involves more than one branch of service. A branch of service is a grouping of related jobs or MOS' as Marines call them.

The River Rats have taken part in a Klingon Ball hosted on the 25th Mar 2006. 1LT Dreesbach won a heavy-duty lightweight flashlight some cards and took home a fish named DJ after the family name. The House of Norman won some books and some miscellaneous prizes between the two of them. The 4th most power member Reserve General Winans (after the Marine Command Officers) of the MSG has won a set of etched glasses, which included the Marine tri foil symbol of the Klingon Empire for traveling the furthest along the Path of the Stars competition.

The 2 House of Norman have hosted 2 game nights, 1 in February and 1 in March. During the two gaming nights, we competed for the rights to Chucky the Doll (Unofficially named until one has been chosen) by playing Settlers of Catan, a game translated from German to be sold in the US.

We manned the recruitment table for the USS Trinity River and assisted in volunteering for the local Fan Appreciation Day sponsored by the Sci-Fi Expo. We also attended an Oscar Party in which we watched the Oscars and had a Merry ole' time. Comment were made about Keira Knightly and the other Ladies concerning which looked the best and which were the tackiest. We also tried to guess who would win each award. Kris correctly guessed to most right.

Wednesday, March 15th: A few notes from the science department: The sun is about to go stormy, the most intense in 50 years producing solar flares and sunspots 30% to 50% stronger than in year's past. The Cassini space probe found water on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. Star Trek TOS is on every night, seven days a week for two episodes on G4, the video game channel. William Shatner is hosting alien week on the History Channel. Jupiter has a new red spot. NASA has screwed up again, cancelling its university studies in favor of putting their money into designing a space ship, and encountering the same problems with the shuttles over and over again. You'd think they'd get it corrected the first time. Check out mars.google.com for great shots of Mars.

Friday, March 3rd: James Doohan, chief engineer Montgomery Scott on the original Star Trek, would have been 86 today. He passed away on July 20th, 2005, and will no longer be listed in our birthday notices.

Please take a moment today to honor his memory. (Personally, I recommend Wolf in the Fold or The Trouble With Tribbles.)

February 20th: Liz lights a small candle and carefully warms her hands over it before sitting down to type her report... Our tip for this report deals with a sudden cold blast, if it seems that its freezing in your living quarters and you cant seem to get warm…. Space heaters are your best call.

Be sure to buy them in the fall, you wont find one to save your life when a hard freeze hits. I just found this out the hard way. I did find 2 space heaters, but when I went back for a third they were sold out. (Grumbles, someone check the environmental controls in my quarters, I swear it’s an icebox!!)

If you have an icebox for living quarters learn to keep warm in clever ways; I placed my space heater as close to my desk as I could without setting myself on fire. When you are ready to hit the bed for the night, instead of crawling into that freezing cold bed, toss your blanket into the dryer ½ hr before bed. It’s great when your feet seem to be a pair of blocks of ice. Pets make nice bed warmers to, but unless you have several, you are left with cold patches.

Any type of hot drink or food is great for warming your innards let me list you a few and you may be surprised!

• Hot apple cider
• Hot chicken broth (made with chicken bullion cubes)
• Hot chocolate
• Coffee
• Hot tea
• Hot cereals (I only know malt o meal, & Oatmeal)
• Any of your favorite soups or stews!

I shall not go into the hot drinks you can make with alcohol, I’d be pages!

January 27th: Well 2005 had come and gone. What a year it was and what great things we did as a ship. We helped with a great IC for Starfleet. We did some awesome charity work this past Christmas.

Though I've thanked people in the Ship e-mail list I would like to publicly acknowledge the following people (as you're obviously on the web reading this) for the USS Trinity River's Toys for Tots drive October 2005:

• Chanda Norman, Chairman 2005
• Kira Norman, Toy Collector
• Dan Dreesbach, Liaison to the USMC
• Ed Dravecky, Past Chairman of the event
• Jan Agee, Toy Collector
• Kris Wingear, Toy Collector
• Debbie Winters, Toy Collector
• Mr. and Mrs. Norman and Jack (thanks for the van)

You guys did an awesome job. We'd like Chanda or Kira to be Chairman for 2006 as well.

January has turned out to be a great month already. Several of us made it to the ORAC New Year's Eve party. ORAC is a general science fiction club in the D/FW area. We've got a home movie and Chinese New Year coming up at the end of this month. Chanda (Chief of Security), Kira (Operations Officer), and I attended Region Three Retreat in Austin. We have more activities from the regional calendar to share in the months ahead. We also are proud to announce that the USS Trinity River has Summit 07 bid. Yea!

Keeping watching this space for news of various activities on the ship from our various departments or maybe find some really kool news you haven't found anywhere else on the web yet.

January 16th: "Q-Tips"

Howdy All,

Well this time around, I decided to write about a bit of the Regional history. I hope it inspires all of you towards higher goals!

Back in the Mid. 90’s, The USS Joshua did some very interesting volunteer work; from once a month Adopt-a-highway, to bi-yearly visits to the children’s ward in uniform to hand out small toys, crayons, coloring books, and stuffed animals. They were very handy in building mock up’s of the Next gen. Bridge set and did mini-plays at local conventions. They also did a once a year Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in Richardson.

The Joshua was very uniform orientated, but we don’t have to be, so I want everybody to help ED with the Logo, to design it were everybody is happy with how it looks.

Remember the clubs logo, when seen on a polo-shirt/t-shirt will have people remember us when they are looking for a local club to join.

One of the other things they did as a group, were club campouts. Now I know not everybody is as hardy as I, so I don’t expect you to put up a tent and sleep on the hard ground. But we can plan on a spring/early summer Picnic like we did last year! I personally enjoyed it! Someone remember to bring a Frisbee, or horseshoes, or some other outdoors game.

I will be handing everybody 20 flyers at the next meeting, everybody is encouraged to take them to your local bookstore and place them in a promenate location. The half-priced bookstore has a location strictly for flyers; look around till you find something of that nature. If you don’t have a bookstore near you, try a library or hobby shop. Be sure to get permission from storeowners! Our goal is to have 5 new members!

Well I hope these anecdotes cause great thought and inspire you all to greater efforts to achieving what ever goal you are focused on.

November 18th: "Q-Tips"

would like to start off by wishing everybody a safe and happy holiday!

Well they are already playing Christmas music on some of the radio stations, and all the shops have their windows full of holiday cheer. So you might think about those presents you’ve been storing away during the entire year. (WHAT, you tell me you don’t shop all year round for presents????)

If you haven’t found the perfect box for your odd size gifts, now is the time to start looking!

Good places to check for those larger than normal gifts, U-Haul has every size box imaginable, they are a bit pricier than other places but your bound to find that box for that bike or other large object you want to disguise. (Except a car)

As for wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows, depending on the size of your budget, and family/friends list; the dollar store is your best friend for large quantities at low prices.

For things to buy; I leave that up to your imaginations! All the good places for science fiction related toys/things are pretty well known by everybody, but I shall list some anyway: Half Price Books, Hobby Lobby, Toys R Us, Spencer Gifts, Remember When (if its still in business), K-B Toys, Barnes & Noble bookstore, Radio Shack, and Fry’s.

August 21st: Greetings gentlefolk,

Considering my position on the ship, I thought it appropriate that my first blog entry deals with money. Specifically the State Quarters program and Westward Journey series of Nickels that are currently being released by the US Mint.

First, the quarters. This program started in 1999 and is scheduled to end in 2008 (yes the end is in sight). The states represented by the 2005 quarters are California, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas and West Virginia. The first 3 have already been released. Kansas is due to be released in August and West Virginia in October, although it usually takes at least a month in circulation to find one in your pocket change.

Now for the nickels. The Westward Journey series consists of 4 nickels. The 2 released in 2004 were the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark nickels. In early 2005, the new Bison nickel was released and due out in late 2005 is the last of the series, the Ocean view nickel. This nickel depicts a view of the Pacific Ocean from a mountain side as seen by Captain William Clark on November 7, 1805. It has the quote from Captain Clark saying "Ocean in view. O! the joy!" The facing side of the 2005 nickels has an enlarged profile of Jefferson and a hand written Liberty.

In 2006, the nickel will return to the traditional Jefferson nickel. Maybe they'll do the penny next: Lincoln logs, Lincoln town car, the possibilities are endless... For more information and a look at the coins go to www.usmint.gov and click on the Special Programs link.

August 11th: "Q-Tips"

Greetings Crewmembers!! GROUP HUG!!

I hope no one has missed me on the recent outings; but I will still keep you informed with my little tips and tidbits.

Writing articles: Well first find what interests you, check out science fiction related stories on your interest, difficult but not impossible. For instance, like cats? Read the Kazinti series or the (Chandur series?), there is even some Star Trek related stories on cat like creatures, write a review, write what you liked or disliked about the story line. Isn't that easy?

Want to write an article on REAL world things? Per Ed, our Communications Officer: If it's not related to Star Trek, science fiction, the club or its mission it's just not appropriate. So write about any away missions you attend; note who was there, but make sure there is not someone else writing an article on the same thing! We don't want 5-6 reports on the same thing!!

Do you have a persona? i.e.: a romulan, klingon, or other alien race. Write about your career, history, etc. If you are up to the task, talk about the uniqueness of the ship. (The starbucks around on each level) Don't have a persona? Then write about yourself; tell were you come from, what your goals are on the ship.

Movie Review: Fantastic 4 - If you haven't seen it yet, you might not wish to read this article!! Five people go up to do some experiments on some crazy type of radiation that passes by the earth every so many thousand years to see if it has anything to do with evolution. Everybody gets a nice dose of it, soon you have a rock, a flamer, stretchy, and ms clear and eventfully Mr. Heavy metal. You have flaming snowboarding, bike tricks, and fire trucks being dragged from the very brink of doom, stripping, stretching and a fiery tornado. I know very little of the original comics, I caught the fantastic 4 in cartoon form; so felt that it was the same. Go if you just want to watch some a live action cartoon. Better than the Marieo brothers, but not as good as the more recent Bat Man movie.

Upcoming movies to catch: Sky High; the previews look fun; Harry Potter: Lets see how much of the book they chopped out this time.

Good TV: The 4400; aliens abduct 4400 people, and then return them years later. (poor people)

August 8th: Wow, what a summer it's been. IC (International Conference) is finally a month behind us and we are looking forward to the Fall. Please check the calendar for all the fun stuff you can join in on. We got a gaming day and movie afternoon. There's a trip to NASA in September and the October Dallas Comic Con and 3BDE Muster in November.

Our ship has grown tremendously over the summer. Chanda, Kira, Jerimiah, and Marvin are great additions to the crew and we looking forwarding to seeing everyone at our next meeting or event.

This past summer a lot of crew members have taken Starfleet Academy and Starfleet Marine Academy classes. Wow we have such a bunch of Eggheads on board! Deputy Ops Erik is keeping track of academics for us. If you'd like to join the fun, E-mail Erik and he can explain it or ask any crew member at a meeting.

Be sure to make it to gaming day on Aug 13th. The Norman sisters have a great afternoon planned for us and we'll talk about things for September.

August 6th: Jan's column.

July 20th: Jimmy Doohan died today at his home in Redmond, Washington. His current wife, Wende, was at his side when he passed at 5:30am. Beloved by millions as "Scotty," the chief engineer of the USS Enterprise on the original Star Trek, Doohan was also a veteran of World War II where one of his fingers was shot off during the Juno Beach invasion on D-Day. He leaves behind two ex-wives plus nine children, the youngest of whom was born in 2000 when Doohan was 80 years old.



On a personal note, I had the privilege of meeting Jimmy Doohan on several occasions in Texas and he was always warm, friendly, quick-witted, and a true gentleman. Even at his last Dallas-area appearance, plugging HDTV sets for Phillips, as the early signs of his illness were beginning to show he was still sharp as a tack when he needed to be. I became a Star Trek fan and went to engineering school because of Scotty. I am a better person for having met Jimmy.

Please forgive me the clunky prose and any typos as it's incredibly difficult to type through all these tears.

July 6th: Third Brigade Award Announcements

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am pleased to announce the following awards to these deserving individuals:

The Great Barrier Expedition Award is hereby awarded to BDR Erik Cowand. This award is given to Marines who have undertaken extreme or lengthy travel on behalf of the SFMC. The two important criteria are "extreme or lengthy" and "on behalf of the SFMC."

The Embassy Duty Award is hereby awarded to BDR Erik Cowand. This award is given to marines for participation at a STARFLEET function, such as the annual International Conference or a Regional Summit. Erik made that long trip to San Antonio and ran the mini-SFMCA room. And, according to reports, stayed out of trouble. :) Well Done Marine!

The Brigade Service Commendation is hereby awarded to BGN Jeffrey Webb. This award is given to recognize marines who have rendered exceptional service to a particular brigade by demonstrating consistently outstanding performance over time. Jeff did an amazing job with 3rd BDE during his tenure as OIC. This is richly deserved.

Congratulations, Marines!

In Service,
COL Mark A. West
OIC 3rd BDE

June 14th: "Q-Tips"

Salutations dear crewmates!

Now on to Movie reviews for the last few months:

Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy: My suggestion, don't go in expecting anything resembling the Book, TV show, or Radio series, Hitchhikers is a constantly evolving entity, always changing with each new media it goes to. Be sure to look for the TV series Marvin making a cameo appearance. Expect it, accept it and enjoy it with your favorite towel.

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith: Come on People, get over it, we KNEW that Anican Skywalker was going to become Darth Vader. It was just a matter of time, Plenty of Explosions, Fight scenes, Yoda hoping around like a frog on a hot frying pan....

Mr. & Mrs. Smith: A twisted version of Spy vs. Spy getting married. First they go after each other, then they find out who set them up, and next thing you know plenty of explosions! Fist fights, House explodes, coats explode, crashes, guns galore, more shots fired than the entire war of 1812! Cant wait till the sequel were they go after their bosses, and don't tell me I'm spoiling the next movie, I'm pretty sure that somehow they will somehow force a merger between their companies.

May 13th: Third Brigade Staff Announcements

Greetings Everyone!

With the permission of Brigadier Jeffrey Webb, the 3rd BDE is proud to announce the following additions to the 3rd Brigade Staff.

The new 2nd Battalion Deputy Commander is: LTC John Johnston of the 308th MSG in El Paso. LTC Johnson is the former CO of the 308th MSG, and an active member of the USS Gunslinger. LTC Johnston's job is to provide back up to MAJ Chris O'Bannion as his deputy and other duties as assigned by BDE HQ.

The new 3rd Brigade S-3 Officer is: 1LT Daniel Dreesbach of the 325th MSG In Dallas. 1LT Johnson is an active member of the USS Trinity River. 1LT Dreesbach's job includes: coordinating activities within 3rd BDE/Region 3, either cooperative or competitive and outside 3rd BDE/ Region 3 with external groups such as KAG or other Sci Fi Groups, as well as other duties as assigned by BDE HQ.

The new 3rd Brigade Sergeant Major is: SGT Daniel L Evans of the 333rd MSG in Fort Worth. SGT Evans is the NCOIC of the 333rd MSG and a very active member of the USS Regulator. I should know, I work him to death. :) SGT Evans' job includes acting as the representative of the NCOs in 3rd BDE and coordinate activities geared to the NCO, and also is responsible for accounting for NCO reports from the units, as well as other duties as assigned by BDE HQ.

Gentlemen, report to BDE HQ for familiarization training. Welcome Aboard!

I hope you join us in extending Congratulations to these fine individuals!

Thank you.

In Service to the 3rd Brigade and Region 3,
COL Mark A. West
DOIC 3rd BDE

April 6th: "Q-Tips"

Salutations dear crewmates!

It's been a wile since I have written an article for the newsletter (now a blog); I hope this article finds everybody raring to do things ! Let me start off with my small tip:

Always have a small calendar and a steno notebook with you at all events to write down upcoming events, notes on who attended what events, short stories, poems, or even a story-bio line of yourself. This will help you when it comes time to write your portion of the blog/newsletter.

Take a camera too if you have one, don't let Ed be the only one taking photos!

Check the calendar for upcoming scheduled events.

April 5th: USS Trinity River STARFLEET Academy/SFMC Academy Graduates for the Month of March, 2005:

Dan Dreesbach STARFLEET ACADEMY: College of Mythological Studies- Classical(HONORS); Europeya School- The Foreign Legion(HONORS); SFMC ACADEMY: Aerospace, AE-20; Xeno-Studies-Romulan, XR-10; Support, SU-21, SU-26

Dan Stockelman STARLEET ACADEMY: OTS(HONORS); College of Mythological Studies, Slavic(HONORS); College of SciFi Television, Firefly(HONORS)

Erik Cowand STARFLEET ACADEMY: College of Mythological Studies, Bajoran(HONORS), Norse(HONORS), Classical(DISTINCTION), Egyptian(HONORS); College of Temporal Physics, Time Theory; School of Law, D1(HONORS), D2; SFMC ACADEMY: Xeno-Studies-Klingon, XK-18(DISTINCTION), XK-25(DISTINCTION)

Congratulations to all the graduates!

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14 February 2004
Volume 1, Issue 4a
(90kb)

Special Commissioning Celebration issue: Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The Shuttle Trinity River is now the USS Trinity River (NCC-6425). Also, learn all about the original USS Trinity River (LSMR-535).

November/December 2003
Volume 1, Issue 3
(55kb)

In this issue: The Shuttle sets a holiday mood, Toys are collected for Tots, the Region explores space in Houston, department heads keep us up to date, the medical officer likes chocolate, Away Missions from September and October are duly recorded, plus a look at upcoming events and a few notes from your humble editor.

September/October 2003
Volume 1, Issue 2
(378kb)

In this issue: CO Robyn Winans reports in from IC 2003, Security Robert Fritz introduces himself, DOIC Erik Cowand fills us in on Starfleet Marines 325th MSG, our Chief Medical Officer Jan Agee has a few good words, Science Officer Debbie Winters explains it all, Away Missions from July and August are detailed, guest columnist Alan Goulet tells us about lions and tigers but no bears (oh my!), plus a look at upcoming events and a few notes from your humble editor.

July/August 2003
Volume 1, Issue 1
(82kb)

In this issue: Admiral Pense announces our launch, CO Robyn Winans offers a warm welcome, OPS Erik Cowand introduces himself, XO Elizabeth Weber says we must learn from history, Away Missions from June and July are revealed, Jennifer Lien is welcomed, Elizabeth celebrates a birthday, plus a look at upcoming events and a few notes from your humble editor.