marius

And LOL the Jay Leno and spam basketball. Blech indeed!

marius

And now ... a true Missouri Moment

When I was almost eighteen, the parents left for a week-long trip and somehow we kids convinced the parents to NOT hire a babysitter. This left me in charge of four brothers, ages 15, 13, 13 and 6. (yes, twins). The parents had been gone a few days and all was fine except for one thing, dinner! The boys decided it was funny to pass gas, belch and eat without any regard for manners. (We're talking NO manners!) So, after one particularly disgusting dinner, I'd had enough.

marius

The next night I fixed goulash. It was a messy affair, elbow macaroni with tomatoes, ground beef, celery, etc. When all was ready, I called the boys to dinner and they straggled in one by one. In an amazingly short period of time, all of them were crying out, "HEY! I don't have silverware!" When they realized I wasn't paying attention they decided to remedy the situation themselves, but alas, the silverware drawer was empty. There was a nasty tone rising in the air, but marius ignored it. She also ignored the frantic search for silverware in other places.

marius

When the brothers finally realized there WAS no silverware, not even over-sized serving spoons, marius calmly said, "Well, you guys have been acting like a bunch of pigs the past few nights so I thought we may as well go all out, you know ... BE pigs!"

Then I made a bunch of piggy noises, slopped food in the mouth and let some dribble down the chin. I did some belching, scratched indecently and encouraged them to join the "fun."

As there was no choice, the boys reluctantly got into the spirit of eating ala pig. And by the end of our meal ... tee hee hee ... the most lovely pleas and apologies began to drift in my direction. The rest of our meals together were perfect in every way.

marius

And, to this day not one of them laughs about that night as much as marius does! : )

sheftali52

lol marius--you'd have made a good military training instructor!

marius

Really? Know zip about the military, just found power where I needed it.
And ... hmm ... that sounds rather "military." LOL!

sheftali52

The military has its amusing moments. When Sheftali was in training, she had to keep her room (with a roommate) in "inspection order." But we had no vacuums or brooms to keep the floor immaculate. So, we used a long piece of masking tape on a yardstick to "sweep" the room and collect all the offending dustballs, hairs, etc. It worked amazingly well. Sheftali and her roommate collected few demerits during our hectic time in training.

marius

How funny! Was this standard military, to not provide vacuum or broom? Was it some kind of covert "training" to activate the inventive mind? Funny!

marius

Am nodding off ... will look for reply tomorrow. Sweet dreams to sheftali, and to all!

sheftali52

Sweet dreams, marius. Yes, it was standard not to provide brooms or vacuums. That was supposed to test our resourcefulness!

marius

sheftali, am imagining this testing of resourcefulness was very difficult for some. Was there sharing of yardstick/tape cleaning materials or were these things supposed to be kept to ones self?

And one hears so many stories about basic training, sees things in movies. It always seems the most difficult part is developing (or holding onto) mental fortitude. Is that true, and if not, what was the most difficult?

Wondering, besides travel and friendships, what do you feel are some of the best things that your training and experience added to your life? Also, did sheftali have a specialty? Since my knowledge of the military is scant, it's hard to know what to ask but anything you want to share would be interesting, am sure!

maddyjean08

Sheftali, is the military brutal?

sheftali52

Marius, joining the military was the best thing I ever did (besides marrying my hubby, of course!) I can only comment from an Air Force perspective, but I believe members of all the services would have similar sentiments. Military life was full of discipline, duty, honor, respect, and a sense of belonging to something much bigger than one's self. Certainly mental fortitude was and is important. The point of basic training is to see what you're made out of, and to see if you can be part of a team while not losing your individuality and ability to think things through. I liked the discipline and knowing exactly where I fit in the pecking order. My specialty? I was an aircraft maintenance officer, which meant I supervised those who worked on aircraft, the engines, and the stuff that was put on the aircraft (missiles, bombs, etc). I've worked on the flightline and in office settings. The longer I stayed in, the more I migrated into staff work and got away from the fun of the flightline. It was an exciting life at times, but drudgery at other times. Still, I never lost sight of the big picture, and always felt that what I and my teams did was of service to our country. My travels and living in foreign countries have given me a lifetime of memories, and friends all over the globe. Military life is fraught with frequent moves for most, lots of deployed time, and certainly danger for many. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. Consider this, too--the military is one of those institutions where men and women are paid the same for the same work.

maddyjean, you asked if the military is brutal. No, it's not, but it takes a certain mind set to be part of the military. Yes, there are rotten people in the military, just as there is in civilian life, but in my experience, most of the rotten ones get weeded out sooner rather than later.

Thanks for asking about my military life and giving me the opportunity to comment on it.

maddyjean08

Did you like the military? Did you ever fight with someone, like a gunfight? Have you been in Iraq? If so, was it dry, or wet? Stop me if you think I have too many questions.

IamMatthew

You do ask too many questions1 Just live your life instead fo acting like a stupid retard!

maddyjean08

I'm not retard! Shows what you know, A.K.A nothing!

marius

Thanks for your reply, sheftali!

Yippee for men and women being paid the same for the same work! Didn't know that happened in the military. Bravo for them! And does spending time "on the flightline" mean you spent time on air craft carriers? [Watched a PBS documentary about living on air craft carriers, but don't recall term "flightline."]

Does sheftali travel to visit these friends she's met all over the place? And, am guessing that spouse must have also been in the airforce. (Think you told us before, but forget.)

Does being an aircraft maintenance officer mean you know how to fix things on aircraft? That you did fix things? Would that include the computer side of things? How many people did you supervise? And ... guess you had some kind of rank? Those are lost on me, but you can tell us anyway.

If you had it to do all over again, would you have chosen a different branch in the military? Think you said once that your Dad was in the military. What about siblings, other family?

sheftali52

maddyjean--never be afraid to ask a question, and just ignore those who would put you down for doing so. Yes, I definitely liked the military. Did I like it all the time. To be honest, no. But overall, yes! I was never deployed to Iraq--the closest I got was in Qatar. It was very dry there, and we had to contend with severe sand storms. We had to wear goggles during the sand storms, or our eyes would fill up with sand.

Marius, Air Force flightlines are on land, which was fine with me. I have great respect for those who work on the flight decks of aircraft carriers--that is a much more dangerous environment due to the compressed spaces. I went to a technical school to learn the basics of aircraft maintenance. The rest was learned "on the job", which meant I literally followed a more senior person and absorbed as much as I could as quickly as possible. Did I make mistakes--sure! But never any that crashed an aircraft or caused any serious difficulties. I myself did not fix things--those I was responsible for did the fixing. I was responsible for coordinating all the people and equipment necessary for fixing stuff, and reporting the outcomes. I was scared to death at first, but with time and experience, I gained confidence. It was a very fast-paced world, with little time to think. I directly supervised few people, as there were layers below me who supervised many more. But--I was responsible for all of them, so if they didn't get the job done, my a-- was the one getting chewed. At one time, I was in charge of the folks who fixed computers and other equipment once it was removed from the aircraft. My rank? Well, when I retired, I was a colonel--you'll see folks of that rank on TV a bit--the next higher rank is brigadier general. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to achieve the rank of colonel, which is still not all that common among women in non-medical fields in the military. Even now, women are only about 15 percent of the military, but the opportunities open to women are much greater than in years past. Years ago, women were not allowed to be pilots, as it was considered a combat position, from which women were barred. Now, however, women in the Army in particular see combat as a matter of routine, so the "combat" distinction has become blurred. I would not have chosen any service other than the Air Force. My husband is a retired Air Force guy, and I knew more about the Air Force than the other services when I joined. I am the only member of my family who joined the military. It was a very good life for me. I must admit, though, that I gave up being a mother to stay in the military--a joint decision with my husband. I have no regrets, as I knew myself too well--there was no way I could be a good mother and a good Air Force officer. Other women have succeeded at both, but I chose a path that worked for me and my husband.

Thanks again for your interest in the military and my observations.

sheftali52

And thanks to our host, Baldur, for indulging such varied topics on his radio channel!