So what does a cruiser who is staying put for a period do? Well I am working on an agenda to fill the vacuum of copious amounts of time I seem to have on my hands. Granted I am not complaining about this self inflicted turn of events.

Most folks join the service with grandiose visions of utilizing the extremely generous GI Bill that the American taxpayer funds. I am no different. But while I was in the service the government starting funding Tuition Assistance which morphed into a full on free ride while on Active Duty. One never needed to tap into the GI Bill account. I am embarrassed to say that it took me a full 16 years before I got my act together and started using Tuition Assistance or TA for short. Once I got a degree program, applied to a school and figured out the bureaucratic ins and outs of how to tap these resources I took off to the races. For almost 4 years I was able to manage, via distance learning from Troy State U five to seven classes per year. It was a strain most of the time especially while spending 6 months at sea. But my last 8 or 9 months before retirement, it just got to be to much. I stopped taking classes with 92 credits completed.

But, now I have time. So I contacted my academic advisor at Troy and can pretty much pick up where I left off. Now the difference being I need to tap into the GI Bill now vice the TA program which is only available to Active Duty. I have $50,000 in benefits available that need to be used within ten years. So I'm in. I am striving for a BS in Political Science. An area I've always been interested in. Although I will never mention, debate or entertain politics on this blog. That would be the quickest way to a blog meltdown. So the next term starts in May and last until July when the next term starts and ends in October. So I am jazzed to use my knoggin to delve into the workings of our Republic.

So again I wanted to mention that I recognize that this started as a sailing blog and shall remain generally as such. But if I'm not sailing, it would be tough to write a pure sailing blog. Plus, I am engaged in a lazy, multi-year circumnavigation that will encompass the gammet. I have many many other interests that have nothing to do with sailing. While I'm not sailing these interest will surely ooze to the surface and be splashed upon the blog pages. So for a new blog reader the continuity is just not present which could lead to a furrowed brow.

Capt Chris