A Snipes ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’

By John Petersen

On the first day of Christmas, the CHENG he gave to me (while sitting with all the other new arrivals in the mess decks),

The order to the Pit you will be!

On the second day of Christmas, my new LPO gave to me,

Directions to the bilge young swabee!

On the third day of Christmas, my Chief he gave to me,

Orders to the mess decks, for cranking is required! (it doesn’t rhyme..write me up..)

On the fourth day of Christmas, that pencil sharp E5 gave to me,

A bucket of water/citric acid and a swab(ee).

On the fifth day of Christmas, the upper level dude gave to me,

Five, golden crows feet…..

On the sixth day of Christmas, T’was a break we were given,

Six San Miguels and a warm little LBFM to shake off the shivers (m) ?

On the seventh day of Christmas, my LPO gave to me,

One full tin of Never-Dull and a fistfull of rags to make things shin-eeey

On the eighth day of Christmas, to my LPO I gave,

A detailed drawing of the main engine, with all 29 bearings and the complete lube oil route, HP and LP steam intake and condensation course, SSTG operational parameters, EVAP line drawings including the Ameroil addition specs, HP and LP drain system, firemain, fresh water lines, etc. (Again, doesn’t rhyme, but what the…)

On the ninth day of Christmas, the LCPO gave to me, (happily),

The responsibility of the plant to run as I see…

On the tenth day of Christmas, to my troops I gave to thee,

Relief from the Chief’s arbitrary melee.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my snipes they gave to me,

High fives all around and shiny new coffee cup (ee, again)

On the twelfth day of Christmas, to my Snipes I freely give,

All my wishes for you and yours, for this time of year belongs to you and yours for which you live.

God Bless