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I would like to present you with the transcript from my diary while aboard Te Vega and teQuest of the Flint School. This transcript is complete and unabridged with the exception of a name being withheld. After all, a gentleman doesn't kiss and tell, even if he didn't get the kiss. The dates in 1980 were jotted down in the back of an address book and I didn't have a lot of space. They tend to be brief and leave a lot out. In 1981 I had a larger diary with dated pages, which is why the dates suddenly become uniform and consistent. I believe the text explains itself but I did add the occasional note in [purple] if I thought something needed explaining. I do find it amazing how much I left out. While reading it I find myself wanting to reach back to 1980 and strangling a certain writer for not filling in the details. Oh well, (you will notice I use that term way to often), I hope you all enjoy this tour of the Flint School's final year and remember, the author was only 14 at the time. Trey Wickwire teQuest 80-81
Aug. 24, Sunday, 9:15pm I'm starting this whatever you call it so I can look at it in the future and laugh. Ha Ha. I won't be writing every day, just on special occasions. I became an APS on the 7th. End Aug. 25, Monday, 10:19am Well it's a special occasion. I got up on skies today and qualified for doubles. I hope I don't have a special occasion every day, I don't have the room. End
Sept. 5, Friday, 8:31am I got moved from Vega to Quest. Now I'm in Eldorado. I like Vega better but I guess this will do.
Oct. 10, Friday, 5:12pm We set sail today. I just got off sailing watch. It's a beautiful day and I'm in love with the sea. I'm on Alpha - C -. Genoa is our next port. Oct. 19, Sunday, 5:45pm We set sail today from Genoa at about 2:00 or 14:00. I'll be on watch in a couple of hours. I finished taking a whole roll of film today. Two more months till Christmas. Bye Oct. 22, Wednesday, 12:00pm We saw dolphins off the bow. They ran along under the ship (full story). Well got to go to sleep - night. Oct. 27, Monday, 4:57pm I'm lying in my bunk writing this to you. I'm in the galley so I will have to go after a while. It will soon be the end of the quarter. (2 days). Just got out of rank revotes and I'm still an A.P.S. Many people didn't survive. It's 5:00 now so I better clean up my bunk. Masalama. [Arabic for goodbye] Oct. 28, Tuesday, 11:39am
Oct. 29, Wednesday, 11:58am Today is my last day in the galley. It's Wednesday October 29, 1980 11:58am Spelling Class. Craig caught an octopus today. He brought him around then turned him loose. On the page opposite I am keeping a record of my travels. [See list of ports above] Just in case. I really like the school and if possible I want to come back next year and the next. I want to finish my education here. Oct. 31, Friday, 11:47am Today's Halloween. I'm dressing up as Jack the Ripper but I don't think I can get my costume. Well Masalama.
Nov. 7, Friday, 11:33am It turned out I was Drac instead of Jack but I did look pretty good. Nov. 20, Thursday, 10:43am I'm in penmanship class at the moment. We just got out of a group meeting about deceit, dishonesty and many other things like that. Some people owned up to their past mistakes. I have a list of all the staff and interns. First we have:
Dec. 1, Monday, 1:30pm Today is the first day of December, as the date above says. Today we are going to Mahon. Thanksgiving has come and gone. 16 MORE DAYS Dec. 9, Tuesday, 1:45pm We're sailing towards Mahon. Been sailing more than twenty-four hours. It's been pretty rough and I was really sea-sick last night. I'm kind of ashamed of myself. I'm all right now though. Should get there at 4:00. 8 MORE DAYS Dec. 11, Thursday, 8:55pm Went through Mahon and I'm now in Palma de Mallorca. 6 MORE DAYS Dec. 15, Monday, 4:58pm Tomorrow is the last day. Then I'm gone. We saw four movies today. One was 60 minutes: Our Reply. It was about how 60 minutes purposefully distorted the facts about a Nuclear Plant. The other three were Libra, The Inflation Files and The Incredible Bread Machine. They were about the US Government and its goof ups. All in all it his been a great day.
Jan. 1, Thursday, 3:58pm Today's January 1st 1981 and this is my new diary. I will try to keep up with it and write everyday but I'm not promising anything. PS. Don't look at my handwriting or spelling, it's horrible. Jan. 22, Thursday, 10:50am Today I feel horrible, its 10:50am and I'm in Penmanship class. Big deal was yesterday and I saw the Caine Mutiny.
Feb. 6, Friday For the past few days all hell has broken loose. Alison came into the room a long time ago and Joes just now paying for it. Pete is trying to put us all on restriction for sanction. He'd like that! You probably know how I feel about him! Mike and Alex have thought of a skit already. So that should be alright. [Later the same day] The going is getting rougher. It may be that all of Eldorado will have to go on restriction. Seven people have lost their rank. Three tonight. Mike, Alex and me might have to go tomorrow morning. We have to talk to George about it. All I can do is hope, and cross my fingers, which I am doing right now very actively. End (See Notes and Addresses) [At the back of my diary I created a matrix showing how the knowledge of Alison's visit to Eldorado spread]  This, in my opinion, is how George found out Alison went into Eldorado to say goodbye to Joe Novelo before Christmas. [I have no idea how I came to this conclusion or how accurate it is. I only know that this is what I thought at the time.] [Later the same day] Greg Gache is talking to George right now. I think he's up to no good. [Later the same day] Well the heats turned off. I'm free. Its perfectly OK. I don't have to derank myself. Neither does Mike or Alex. Oh happy day! Feb. 7, Saturday The Scandal is finally over. Mike and Alex went to talk with Ann about going on restriction. They're pretty loco. George said we didn't have to so I'm not going to. Well I'll talk later. [Later the same day] I had to come up so I lost my rank. In ten days I'll come up. Well it's bedtime. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Feb. 8, Sunday, 9:50am Yes what you heard was true. I am a restricted landlubber. I came up last night and let me tell you, I hate it. I can't come up for ten days. That's the 18. Plus I have to learn my APS rules all over again. I might get to you later. 12:04pm Mike let us come outside on Ram to do our spelling. That's where I am right now. Some kid just rode by on a skate board. End 7:30pm Well, here I am in restricted study hall and let me tell you I hate it. It's like being in jail which it is actually. Oh well, might as well make the most of it. No more have come up yet and I have nine days left. "Restriction is Hell" Feb. 9, Monday, 7:20pm It feels weird to be a restricted landlubber. We went on an excursion. We saw the cathedral. By the way my camera battery has burnt out. We walked around the city for a while then we came home. Me, Mary, John G, Tod S and David C were in one group. We all agreed to come straight home. We didn't and to make to make things worse I had to go to the head. Feb. 10, Tuesday, 11:58am I think someone been reading you. Mike Wyles found you in the tool room. I haven't been near the tool room since before Christmas. The Black Ribbon was twisted in you but after I last wrote I made sure it was straight. Well all I can say is if I found out who is reading you, he will be very sorry. Feb. 16, Monday, 11:32am Sorry it's taken me so long to write but I've been busy. On the 14th we had skit night. I was in the first skit, "A funny thing happened on the way to the station." I was a tire. The whole thing was called a 'Train of Thought'. We got another data card today. Yesterday we filmed the skits. I crashed after my skit was over. I'm also on workcrew. @*#& Fev. 22, Sunday, 11:43am I came up for APS last night. Mike Huck brought me up at dinner. I made it. I'm an APS working on my Seaman First. 11:57am: Thought I'd tell you that it snowed here on the night of the 20th. When I went running yesterday morning the snow was an inch thick on the tops of cars. George just told me to stop writing in my diary in spelling class so I better go. End Feb. 26, Thursday, 1:40pm Well here I am at rank revotes. Were doing just teQuest now. We've gone through Peter. I'm finding out a lot of things I hadn't thought of. I'm still an APS but I don't know for how long. 3:53pm: We're taking a break from rank revotes, we just did Tod Steward. We will start again at 4:00. Times getting short.
Mar. 8, Sunday, 11:10 Its been since the 26 of February. Not much has happened lately but I do have a few things to tell you. Big Deal was on the 6 and that was a nice meal. The movie was Funeral in Berlin, a Harry Palmer movie. Michael Cain played Harry Palmer just like in 5,000,000,000 Brain. Tina Bach was sent home on the night of the 6. Rumor has it that she was caught coming back on board after dark when she wasn't supposed to be out at all. I've heard she had a knife, a snoopy, and a crucifix. This may not and probably isn't true but it's something to think about. She was looking for a Nun at the cathedral. So she was a religious fanatic, but on the outside she was pretty nice. Makes you wonder though. Mar. 10, Tuesday 11:05am 3/11/81 [14 year old humor] Hows this for writing into the past. Ha, Ha Mar. 11, Wednesday, 11:10am Today is a free academic day. We have study hall all day or at least till lunch. After lunch I don't know what we are going to do. Last night Lars, Pete, Shawn, and Jason came up and got a lot of things off their chest. We saw a movie yesterday called Scared Straight. It was how prison life really is and it seem to scare Shawn and them straight, but I don't know, I hope so. I really do. Pete is the one I'm not sure about, I don't know about the others. Pete seems just trying to butter up George into letting him finish the school year. It would be quite an embarrassment if he were kicked out of school. Especially since his uncle, Arthur Hailey, is paying for his schooling. [This is what Pete told us but I don't know if he really was Arthur Hailey's nephew] Oh well, so long. Oh by the way the mates went on an excursion. Mar. 12, Thursday, 11:20am 3/11/81 [14 year old humor] Hows this for writing into the future. Ha, Ha Mar, 19, Thursday Well I have got some things to talk about. Jim came back yesterday. We had a work day right after a port hole lunch. We were supposed to leave today but didn't. We're going to have a storm tomorrow. We're in the eye of it now. It should hit at 6:00am. Then we will leave after the storms over. That's 1 to 2 days. Maybe even 3. I hope it's a big blower. Its been awhile since we've had one. By the way just between me and you, I think I'm getting somewhere with [name withheld to protect the guilty (me) from embarrassment]. Oh its nothing but friends but she seems to be getting friendlier, if you know what I mean. Its funny, I really like that girl, she is not the prettiest on board , but she's not the ugliest, she seems - well just right. Oh well that's just whats been going on. See you later. Mar. 29, Sunday I'm ashamed of myself - I should have written a long time ago. I was just too lazy. I'm sailing now - been sailing for a long time and had lots of time to write. Right now I'm filling up my brain with useless negative music while waiting to go on sailing watch. I've got the dog watch again. Have I told you what the watches are? No? Well here they are.
Sorry my handwritings not so well but I'm in my bunk and the sea is sort of rough. (Looks like its going to get worse before better.) I'm also in galley. Well that's the bad news. Some good news is: weve been sailing for awhile, just left Malaga. Went to the Alhambra, a wave just hit my port hole, were heading for Gibraltar now. Oliver came in just now, he said its getting really rough and we might go into port to wait it out. Oh I ran out of room. See you tomorrow. (if I'm alive) Mar 30, Monday, 6:40pm I'm here in Gibraltar now. Got here last night. Mike is giving me hell as usual but that's nothing new. This is a nice port, except that we can't get any water here, it's too expensive, so we can't take showers, which is hell. Remember all those things I was talking about yesterday. Well every single one of them turned around and became enjoyable. I'm not kidding I really enjoyed it and didn't get sick or anything. I think we left Palma around the 23, but I'm not sure. Well it's ten minutes till study hall and I have to go to the head so I'll see you later. End
Apr. 1, Wednesday, 10:50am Well it is this month that my birthday is in, hooray. That means cake. But that's 21 days away. Sigh. Todays also my last day in galley. Thank god for little miracles. But then again today is big deal. Damn oh well can't help that. Only two months left and less than 20 school days. That's a lot of sailing, excursions and free days. We had an excursion just yesterday. We went up the rock of Gibraltar. I even got my piece of the rock, (the damn thing cut my hand). Well that's about all I know. Maybe I'll talk to you in spelling class too. Apr. 2, Thursday Well didn't get to talk in spelling but what the heck. Only 55 more days and somewhere in between 10 and 15 school days. That leaves a lot of free days. We're still in Gibraltar, don't expect to leave for a few more days. We've got some of the people scraping off our hull. I didn't volunteer. Don't think they'd except me. I'm in Academic Probation. Oh well, there's always next year. Apr. 3, Friday, 10:45am Today we had 5th and 6th classes in the morning two hours each. This is the beginning of the 6th class. Were starting now. Bye 12:55pm - Five minutes till lunch better write fast. I think we will be leaving today. (hope) George said to go to deck stations after lunch. Well see you on the sail. Apr. 5, Sunday, 8:58am Sorry I missed you on the fourth but I was busy (being lazy). I was on the Dog watch. Then after dinner I took a long nap. I'm on work crew today but I don't think I gonna make it. There went the deck stations bell. We'll be coming into Lisbon. Apr. 7, Tuesday, 8:53am Well we came into Lisbon all right. Stayed all Sunday went on an excursion right after lunch, came in, ate dinner, then went out on an endurance hike. My legs were killing me. Then we left that night. On not that it wasn't fun, it was. I had a ball. It was late at night and we were in the old section of Lisbon. I bunch of little kids started to follow us. They were cute and kept running around us doing all the crazy things I did when I was a little kid. Then we left at about Midnight and sailed onward. Sailing all day yesterday and should be coming in today, right after our dog watch (or work watch actually). Alpha gets all the bad breaks. So far, every sail we have had at least one dog watch. Oh well that's the breaks. We'll just have to hope for next time. Apr. 14, Tuesday, 7:03pm Well it's been a long time and I'm ashamed. We went to Paris yesterday. I got gypped and didn't get what I wanted but oh well. I think we might see a movie tonight. That's where I am now, in the Aud. 8:45pm You are not going to believe this. They are going to close the Flint School. That's right, close it! What in the hell am I going to do? I'm dead! I'll never survive. Jim is starting a new program called Motive Power! (look for it) George wont say what he's doing. Damn it all to hell why did they have to do it this year!?! 9:30pm - Man do I need a drink now but all I got is a coke bottle full of water and it's a poor substitute. I think I'll commit suicide. [I should point out that I never seriously entertained the idea of suicide. It just looked good on paper. I was serious about that drink though.] I said it once and I'll say it again - waters a poor substitute. Got to start thinking about next year. I think I want to go to Kenya or Australia or maybe Washington State. God help me what am I going to do. Apr. 15, Wednesday, 11:55am I've calmed down a bit but still not sure about what I'm going to do. I'm thinking about Washington State for my next boarding school so I'll be near Motive Power. Got to go to spelling so bye. Apr. 16, Thursday, 9:55am I'm in World History now. Not much to say. We wont be leaving LaHavre for a few more days. I hope we leave the day after Easter. But you never know with gale warnings. They could let up anywhere from a day to a week from now. Apr. 23, Thursday, 11:09am Sorry I haven't written sooner but I've been to damn lazy. I'm 15 now, have been since the 21st. I've got to go on the work watch now. It starts at 1 but I got to start cleaning the room for inspection at 12. We left LaHavre yesterday at about 11:15 or so. That's about all so I'll see you later. Apr. 25, Saturday, 8:22am Happy Birthday one day late, Dad. We're in Vlaardingen now. (the spelling is correct too). 45 miles away from Rotterdam so I've been told. We might be going into Dry Dock tomorrow. Just Quest for now, Te Vega later. We finished Atlas Shrugged awhile back. Took the final exam also. I think we're finished with Evening Reading. We're supposed to have Fourth R I tapes now but I don't know, you never can tell what their going to do until they do it. Well it's time to go. Apr. 26, Sunday, 7:19am Well there, about a month give or take a day till graduation. I just hope to God that Mom and Dad can come (maybe even Eric). To be even more wishful, maybe even Mawmaw and Pawpaw. This might just be the only thing that will get Pawpaw on an airplane. Oh well that's all to be decided upon. I hope they know this is the last year. I haven't heard that they've been told. That's all I can think of for today so unless something unusually important occurs I'll call on you tomorrow. PS Fourth R I test tonight. (oh no!) Apr. 27, Monday, 7:57pm 30 more days until graduation. Or actually 29 because todays almost over. [Name withheld] even gave me a cookie, now if that's not progress nothing is. Nothing much happened except that we're going into dry dock on Wednesday, or Vega that is. We will be separated and go in one after another. There'll be no classes so that means tomorrows the last day of classes in a long time. I'm having a hard time concentrating, [Name withheld] is beside me eating cookies. Oh well. Apr. 28, Tuesday, 8:31pm Almost fifteen minutes till Fourth R I starts and not much to write. We're going into Dry Dock tomorrow. That's going to be excellent. Nothin' else to say cept bye. Apr. 29, Wednesday, 8:41am 12 hours later. It's time for Fourth R to start. We're going into dry dock today but we're going to have a few classes until their ready for us. That's all I have to say at the moment. Apr. 30, Thursday, 8:25pm Not much happened. I found out I'm going into galley on Mother's Day and while we're in dry dock but that's life.
May 3, Sunday, 7:08pm Tomorrow is the day we go into dry dock, we hope. Nothin' much has happened. Regular class days. I will try to write during work week but I don't know if I will have the time. I also go in to Galley on the tenth which is in the middle of work week and mothers day. I think I'll be dish washer when we get out of dry dock. I hope I'm swabby though cause we will be sailing as soon as possible after work week. Oh yeah, tonight we have a test in Fourth R I. Damn! May 4, Monday, 7:54pm Well at least the damn thing worked. We're now in dry dock. Tonight we're going to listen to two lectures on vocational work week. I also hear that this work we're doing can earn us a half credit. That would be very nice! May 5, Tuesday, 7:57pm Well nothing much has happened. Today was the first full day of work week. It went pretty fast. I even enjoyed it. (Some of the time) They have some heads on the dock with heaters in 'em. I ain't kiddin', they're real warm. Time for Vocational Work Week class so I'll see you tomorrow. May 6, Wednesday, 8:17pm Vocational Work Week Lectures are about to start so I've got to go. May 7, Thursday, 7:58pm We're starting May 8, Friday 8:11pm - Kent's mad I better go. 9:22pm - Kent's taking up time and I have to take a wee wee May 9, Saturday, 8:45 (?) I can't put the time up now, my watch has been stolen. Somewhere in between 9:30 and 10:45 my watch was stolen. At around 9:30 I washed my hands and left my watch on the sink (stupid) and when I came back at 10:45 it was gone. I think it was either Pete L, Joe D. or Shawn B. No proof for any of them though. May 10, Sunday, 9:17pm (This is by Kirk's watch) Mother's Day - I still haven't found my watch. I'm really suffering. I think its withdrawal sickness. I had a lot of tea tonight so I had to go to the head. Dinner was 45 minutes late because some rooms had fives. So I had fun in the galley. Oh yeah, that's right I'm in the galley now. Happy Mother's Day Mom. May 11, Monday, 7:51pm (John Bishop's watch) We left dry dock today but we are still in port. It's hot as hell. Nothing else to say. 16 MORE DAYS May 14, Thursday, 9:34am (Pete's Watch) Howdy. Sorry I haven't written but I have been busy and that's no lie. To start with on the 11th at about 10:10pm we left. It took a long time to get out of port and far enough out for sail watches to go on. Delta went on first for two hours. I went to sleep for those two hours. Then Alpha went on from 4 to 8. We got into port on the morning of the 12. It was on my watch too, so I only had two hours of sleep. That morning after breakfast, I'm also in galley, we had deck stations to get the ships clean. Luckily, after lunch, Betty gave us nap time. I would not have survived if I hadn't had that time to sleep. That night we saw The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank. It's an excellent film and very moving. On the thirteenth we went on an excursion. First Quest went to a museum at Anne Frank's house. That afternoon we toured in a bus stopping in certain places I will have to tell you about later. Well that brings us up to date so I'll talk to you tomorrow. May 18, Monday, 8:53pm (Mike Sisson's watch) Well I have some catching up to do. On the thirteenth I cut my thumb cutting cheese for Candy and she had to put it in a splint which it is still in. On the sixteenth we got our Fourth R exam. There's 58 questions. I'm on 21. There due on the night of the 20th. I still haven't done my Rome Paper and I have 6 more chapters in the work book left and 8 more days in the school year. Oh woe is me. May 23, Saturday, 8:46am (Pete's watch) Well it's been awhile hasn't it. I finished my Fourth R I exam, all except 8 questions that is. We just got into Malmo Sweden yesterday. We saw Fahrenheit 451 last night. Today is the first day of exam week. That means trouble! Fourth R I class is study hall and I'm going to be working on my World History exam so I better get going. PS We're sailing to Copenhagen tomorrow. No rumor, Jim said so. May 24, Sunday (Time unknown, around 4:30) Well the day started out perfect. We sailed to Copenhagen and the weather was real nice and I had lots of fun working. Then, of all things to ruin my day, my camera gets stolen. No telling how long its been but it was stolen. [My battery had died and the camera was in its bag in my bunk. I hadn't looked in the bag since the battery died so I had no way of dating the theft.] Plus if I find the damn bastard he will pay, God how he will pay. May 26, Tuesday (Time unknown) Well tomorrow is the big day. It's also the end of the Flint School. I still haven't found my camera or my watch. They sent Pete and Shawn home yesterday and Tom today. But they didn't find any of the stolen stuff. $900 worth of stuff has just disappeared in the last week or so.
[Something tells me these prices might be a bit inflated] That's all I have to say for the moment but if I find out who stole my stuff he might find it harder to breath on the outside of the plane than on the inside. May 28, Thursday (Time unknown) Well I have a bit of catching up to do, don't I. Well yesterday I woke up as usual and went up for breakfast. It was raining and many people had laundry on the line. Not me though. We packed our bags and cleaned the rooms until 3pm. (I also scrubbed decks since I was finished with packing early). I swear so many people accumulate so much junk its ridicules. Well at 3pm we had open house. Candy had snagged me and I voluntarily (!) was a waiter, but it was lots of fun and I enjoyed it. We munched in the galley while the parents munched on the outside. They finally cleared out around 5:30 or so. We started to load buses for Graduation next. (We had to go in the VW since it was raining.) We drove to the Hotel (Scandinavia). We had to wait for our rooms to be finished before we could go in. We had bout an hour to spare. Kevin Clark found a piano and started to play Chopsticks, the Pink Panther and the Entertainer. Hardly fitting for Graduation but we all enjoyed it. At 7pm they let us into the rooms. We had the Iceland room and the Denmark room. It had been made into one big room for Graduation. I had the pleasure of sitting with the Godfreys, Mike Wyles, and Bruce Allen. It was real fun. First we ate, then we had a few awards and acknowledgements, then they had the Increadable Bread Machine that was played very very very well by the graduates. After that we had a few more awards and acknowledgements. After that George gave a speech (very good one at that) and then Jim. After that we were dismissed. I came back and went to bed. This morning I woke up for night watch at 4:30 am, went up in shorts and a T-shirt. Fooled around mostly and cut napkins. Then, after night watch I put on my good clothes and checked my bags out. At 9am we left for the airplane. We boarded SAS flight No 911 for New York one hour late which means we got to New York an hour late. I just barely made my flight in time. That's where I am right now, on my way to New Orleans on a 727. May 29, Friday Yesterday I was on the plane but today I'm in a car. Yep, a real car, going out to eat. Haven't been home 24 hours yet.
Jun. 30, Tuesday, 6:30pm Well its been almost a month but there really isn't much to say. I'm in Houston now. I'll be here till next summer at least. I got a letter from Oliver this morning but he didn't say much. He wanted the address of two other guys so that's what I'm going to do tonight. 9:45pm - Well, I wrote a letter to Oliver Janssens, David Bratton and [Name withheld]. And that is that last entry having anything to do with the Flint School. I spent one year in public school in Houston and then Dad went back overseas to Saudi and I went to boarding school in Hawaii. They asked me to return to Louisiana after I had a little party in the field next to the school. No sense of humor at all. I spent the remainder of my high school education going to public school in Denham Springs Louisiana and living with my Grandparents. Trey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||