New App.

Hello world,

I just got this free iPhone app to use with my Blog. So even though before I was always online reading blogs, now I will be able to write.

Update on what's going on:

I am currently up in Michigan attending a 1 month course for a new MOS. I didn't really want it, but I need to have it for my full time job. Lame.
My wife and I have bought 2 Pygmy goats, their names are Dave (he is very friendly an is like a puppy, always wants to be with us) and then we bought Opti (short for Optimus Prime). Opti is a real bitch, I would rather of just kept Dave but goats get lonely. We got the goats to eat all the poison-ivy around our house.
We are also planning on getting a few Rhode Island Red hens come spring time. We can use them to get fresh eggs, and use their manure for the garden. Another plus is that Chickens eat ticks, and seeing as we are hippies who live in the woods... Ticks are a problem.
I have been working out almost every single day while I was here, i showed up to this school and failed the army height and weight (I have always been taped, but never even been remotely close to failing). My taping had me at 1 1/2 inches shorter than I usually am, and 4 inches wider than the size of my ACUs are made for. It was blatantly wrong, and they said I was 26% body fat... Crazy. So I worked my ass off every day, losing about 8 lbs so far, and when I got taped for phase 2 (after recieving a "marginal" on my 1059 for phase 1), I grew 2 1/2 inches in height, lost 2 1/2 inches on my waist, grew 1 1/2 inches on my neck. How the hell did that happen in 1 1/2 weeks, and that is pretty much physically impossible. Anyways I passed. They use this odd tape I have never seen, it had a spring on it that seemed to act in some strange way to add alot of inches on EVERYONE.
While I have been here I have been eating alot of vegetables, almost no meat, except when I have gone out to eat at local restaurants. My new favorite snack is triscuits with hummus, yumm....
When I get home I want to continue eating less meat and work on eating more fish in my diet. (I make a mean plank salmon, ask the wife)
Last thing, I can't wait for summer so I can get back on the Harley... Last summer was so wet it was hard to ride as much as I wanted.

Well I'll write again later.


BTW: My phase 1 average was in the top 20% and I would of been on the commadants list if it wasn't for that super innacurate tape test.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Economics of the Military/Veteran Discount

Hello All.. I am back from a long time away from this blog. Hoping to be back here as a regular again.

HAPPY VETERANS DAY!

During this veterans day I read a very interesting article called "Why is a Military Discount Valuable for a Marketing Strategy". It got me thinking. Why don't more places offer a military discount? It only seems like the right thing to do, not only for patriotism, but to expand your sales market. I am not trying to be selfish, seeing as I am a VETERAN, I am just thinking reasonably. Seeing that this country is still in a "lesser economic stature" than other countries at the moment, why wouldn't a company put this minute idea into their sales plans?

I believe that it is human nature to go somewhere that offers discounts, and soldiers are definitely people who NEED to save money. I see soldiers blow their money on EVERYTHING.

As the article says, soldiers fit the demographic of being the ages of 18-34 (MOST WITH FAMILIES). I know I am in that demographic (23 years old, married, 2 dogs). I love to frequent places with military discounts. The people seem friendlier, the quality of food seems better, and even though they are celebrating YOU, in the long run THEY are making some money. Let me share fictional story here:

1 soldier goes to eat at a restaurant (in uniform). Waitress says "Thanks for serving our country, just so you know we offer 15% off your bill for soldiers with a military ID, or retired Vets". Soldier says "SWEET! Man this food tastes better already, I cant wait to tell my friends!"

The Soldier goes back to base, or home, or wherever and tells his wife and friends. Most of his friends are in the military and think "Hey this place gives me a discount to eat, Ill have to go there" (Already the restaurant is improving business by using veterans benefits to spread the good word).

So within a few weeks the restaurant has noticed a boom in business. Many soldiers are showing up, bringing families, friends, whomever. The more soldiers that come, the more soldiers will spread the word.

The restaurant has an idea... how about "Veterans get a free med. cup of joe mon-fri" Well then, now you have attracted the "Officer Corp". You could be serving mud in a cup, and soldiers will still come and get it.... Why you ask? BECAUSE ITS FREE.

Civilians will see that your restaurant seems to always have people in it, that will make them curious, and probably go and try it themselves. (CHA CHING, more customers!)

I know it may sound SO obvious, but still many many company's/stores/restaurants don't even think of offering a military discount. I know I could be the asshole veteran and say things like "I DEFENDED YOUR FREEDOM AND YOU WONT EVEN THANK ME FOR IT WITH SOME FREE COFFEE?" But I will not be THAT GUY. I am merely just trying to spread the good word on how you can help your business.

By the way here is another great tip for businesses that offer veteran discounts. You can get a free post on a very active veteran website called "MilitaryAvenue" You will get posted on their list of "Military Friendly" establishments. This alone will definitely turn some heads towards your establishment.

Anyhow, Keep living the good life America.

Out

APPLE!

So, dropped some major cash today, and bought an iMAC.  O yea... and Final Cut 4.     I gotta say though, the Mac does take some getting used to. But the colors, O THE COLORS!.   The resolution on this damn thing is amazing.  Its fast, its really fast, its like... the fastest computer I have ever used. Did I mention how fast this fucker is ?   I have already been typing and making the Mac talk to me like Stephen Hawking... first thing I made it say, " This might seem strange to you, but..... I'm Gay"....  Fuckin thing cracks me up.      I tooled around with it for like 5 hours now.   its almost 0200....  Whooo hoo.  Im just sittin here sippin on tea, lettin my eyes become even more blood shot.  Our office isnt even painted or really furnished... in fact, its half stained, and half taped up.  BUT THERE IS A Mac IN IT NOW, which officially makes it our OFFICE.   I think ill put a picture of dwight in her.   That would be awesome if the Mac had a "Dwight" voice.   Shit... im gonna go make my computer say "Dwight-like" things to me now!   PEACE!

Public Affairs stuff

So I have looked into trying to get Apple products for out PAD... and its very possible and 95% gonna happen. I decided that since our 1Beyond laptops = SHIT, and 1Beyond customer service = SHIT, that we needed something else. I approached LTD telling him frankly "Our computers suck, 1Beyond Sucks, Apple doesn't suck, we need apple, What do ya think sir?". LTD started looking through GSA to get us some new Mac book Pros, and its actually cheaper to buy them through Apple.com, than it is to go through GSA.

Another thing, LTD had started looking around at the Mac book idea when he came across a military forum on AKO called "Got Apples?". I went onto the forum and spoke my mind about how I had contacted 1Beyond many times about their shitty equipment. Every time i called or e-mailed them, I got a run-around that went nowhere. I was later contacted by a SFC from Ft. Meade who called me at work to talk about our problems. He asked what type of climate the systems had been in, where they had been in the world, if we had beaten them up in the field and such. He also requested the Serial Numbers and such. As the conversation was ending, he notified me that the reason he asked all these question was because the Army is ending its contract with 1Beyond, and within the next year trying to outfit all its PA units with Apple products. He wanted all that information to use at the Public Affairs meeting next month in DC. At the conference they will be discussing the options... its going to be TOUGH BOOK vs. MAC BOOK PRO. As I continue my research, it seems the Army is moving more towards the MAC BOOK PRO. Thank GOD! FINAL CUT 4 HERE COMES THE ARMY!

Graveyard Shift

So for the past two nights I have been punished (I think) by a full bird by having to work 2100 to 0600. OK I know its not alot of hours... but this shift makes me want to rip my brains out. There is nothing for me to do at night besides watch TV, or try and find a blog online that hasn't been blocked on the government network (pretty much any blog that uses the word blog on the site). The one blog that I follow almost religiously is AfghanistanShrugged.com, and the good Major hasn't posted in over a week, and it is KILLING ME! Either he is dead (hope not) or he knows that the only thing I do at work is read his blog, and is being a good officer by denying me that right.

So what did I do at work last night... called SPC Intel on the phone and talked about JOCITCH. According to www.ri.gov , JOCITCH has an Assault Charge, and a Vandalism charge against him. He plans on pleading guilty today in court, this would result in him losing his SECRET security clearance, and losing his MOS, and losing his job. Let me make this clear.... I HOPE ALL OF THAT HAPPENS. I HOPE HE GOES TO JAIL! (though he wont). Why do I feel this way? Let me back fill you on the story.

Myself and SPC Intel and JOCITCH were 3 of over 200ish soldiers who applied for a full time job at the JOC. Of all the applicants, we were the only 3 to make it as far as the final interview. By the time it came for the interviews, I decided I didn't want the job anymore, and that SPC Intel would be the man for the job. Not that I don't want it cause of the job itself, but because I cant work for JOCITCH anymore. So the interviews came and went, I pretty much spoke my mind at the interview, telling the officer that interviewed me that I thought the JOC was run totally wrong, and needs all new SOP's and yadda yadda. Another week goes by, and guess who gets the job ..... JOCITCH!!!!! WTF.

So now it has come down to SPC Intel and myself not wanting the job, and not wanting to be on ADSW there anymore. But then JOCITCH caught his wife cheating, beat the crap out of the guy he was cheating on him with, smashed up his Lexus, and threw away the keys. Thanks for fucking us over by letting your wife cheat on you....Asshole.

My orders ended 31 March, and I got new orders to work for an old family friend at Range Control. The old friend (lets call him..RCM..for Range Control Man) called me on the 31st in what sounded like he was in tears (I'm sure he wasn't). He told me that a certain full bird had been chewing his ass out all day. Supposedly RCM was supposed to ask permission from Full Bird for me to go to Range Control. Umm... my orders ended, Full Bird didn't extend me... so I went elsewhere. Well according to Full Bird, I am his, and nobody else can have me. So as punishment I am now on this brand new "night shift" that started April 1st, and also RCM has to pay for me from his Range Control funding, to work at the JOC. I feel bad, like its my fault. Now RCM cant hire someone else to work for him for the summer, because he has to pay for me to work elsewhere.... what type of shit is that.

Friends Come, and Go....

So yesterday we had a "reunion" at the DB1 household in Melrose, MA. Wasn't anything big, we had heard that LTD was bringing our "freedom awards" and we would have a visitor. The visitor was supposed to be a soldier who deployed with us but then moved away the day we came back to the USA. So LTD showed up with his wife and kids, and nothing else. No awards, no visitor..... oh yea, and he was almost 2 hours late. (Cant spell Late without LT I guess eh?) Anyways, we picked on him about not being prepared, or having anything he told us about, pretty much meant this reunion meeting was pointless. About an hour into our little get-together LTD stood up and said he had an announcement... "The reason our visitor isn't coming is because he is sick. He doesn't have the power to be able to drive up here and visit. He is really really sick and can barely sit. He has cancer..." WHAT? WTF? When did this happen? DB1 and I were just talking before the LTD's speech and we made a joke saying the only reason our visitor wasn't here was probably cause he was dead from a disease.... karma sucks. anyways..LTD continued, " The cancer is in his Pancreas and just moved into his colon, and is spreading rapidly throughout his lower vital organs. He already had a dose of chemotherapy at Walter Reed but he will need alot more." I don't know what the hell happened while I was gone in DC, but before I left, I was in contact with his unit, sending all of his personnel files and medical stuff to Texas because he was about ready to deploy again in June. So messed up...

HOW TO PREPARE FOR DEPLOYMENT TO IRAQ / AFGHANISTAN

Got this from another blog I found....pretty funny

1. Sleep on a cot in the garage.

2. Replace the garage door with a curtain.

3. Six hours after you go to sleep, have your wife or girlfriend whip open the curtain, shine a flashlight in your eyes and mumble, "Sorry, wrong cot."

4. Renovate your bathroom. Hang a green plastic sheet down from the middle of your bathtub and move the showerhead down to chest level. Keep four inches of soapy cold water on the floor. Stop cleaning the toilet and pee everywhere but in the toilet itself. Leave two to three sheets of toilet paper. Or for best effect, remove it altogether. For a more realistic deployed bathroom experience, stop using your bathroom and use a neighbor's. Choose a neighbor who lives at least a quarter mile away.

5. When you take showers, wear flip-flops and keep the lights off.

6. Every time there is a thunderstorm, go sit in a wobbly rocking chair and dump dirt on your head.

7. Put lube oil in your humidifier instead of water and set it on "HIGH" for that tactical generator smell.

8. Don't watch TV except for movies in the middle of the night. Have your family vote on which movie to watch and then show a different one.

9. Leave a lawnmower running in your living room 24 hours a day for proper noise level.

10. Have the paperboy give you a haircut.

11. Once a week, blow compressed air up through your chimney making sure the wind carries the soot across and on to your neighbor's house. Laugh at him when he curses you.

12. Buy a trash compactor and only use it once a week. Store up garbage in the other side of your bathtub.

13. Wake up every night at midnight and have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a saltine cracker.

14. Make up your family menu a week ahead of time without looking in your food cabinets or refrigerator. Then serve some kind of meat in an unidentifiable sauce poured over noodles. Do this for every meal.

15. Set your alarm clock to go off at random times during the night. When it goes off, jump out of bed and get to the shower as fast as you can. Simulate the lack of hot water by running out into your yard and breaking out the garden hose.

16. Once a month, take every major appliance completely apart and put it back together again.

17. Use 18 scoops of coffee per pot and allow it to sit for five or six hours before drinking.

18. Invite at least 185 people you don't really like because of their strange hygiene habits to come and visit for a couple of months. Exchange clothes with them.

19. Have a fluorescent lamp installed on the bottom of your coffee table and lie under it to read books.

20. Raise the thresholds and lower the top sills of your front and back doors so that you either trip over the threshold or hit your head on the sill every time you pass through one of them.

21. Keep a roll of toilet paper on your night stand and bring it to the bathroom with you. And bring your gun and a flashlight.

22. Go to the bathroom when you just have to pass gas, "just in case." Every time.

23. Announce to your family that they have mail, have them report to you as you stand outside your open garage door after supper and then say, "Sorry, it's for the other Smith."

24. Wash only 15 items of laundry per week. Roll up the semi-wet clean clothes in a ball. Place them in a cloth sack in the corner of the garage where the cat pees. After a week, unroll them and without ironing or removing the mildew, proudly wear them to professional meetings and family gatherings. Pretend you don't know what you look or smell like. Enthusiastically repeat the process for another week.

25. Go to the worst crime-infested place you can find, go heavily armed, wearing a flak jacket and a Kevlar helmet. Set up shop in a tent in a vacant lot. Announce to the residents that you are there to help them.

26. Eat a single M&M every Sunday and convince yourself it's for Malaria.

27. Demand each family member be limited to 10 minutes per week for a morale phone call. Enforce this with your teenage daughter.

28. Shoot a few bullet holes in the walls of your home for proper ambiance.

29. Sandbag the floor of your car to protect from mine blasts and fragmentation.

30. While traveling down roads in your car, stop at each overpass and culvert and inspect them for remotely detonated explosives before proceeding.

31. Fire off 50 cherry bombs simultaneously in your driveway at 3:00 a.m. When startled neighbors appear, tell them all is well, you are just registering mortars. Tell them plastic will make an acceptable substitute for their shattered windows.

32. Drink your milk and sodas warm.

33. Spread gravel throughout your house and yard.

34. Make your children clear their Super Soakers in a clearing barrel you placed outside the front door before they come in.

35. Make your family dig a survivability position with overhead cover in the backyard. Complain that the 4x4s are not 8 inches on center and make them rebuild it.

36. Continuously ask your spouse to allow you to go buy an M-Gator.

37. When your 5-year-old asks for a stick of gum, have him find the exact stick and flavor he wants on the Internet and print out the web page. Type up a Form 9 and staple the web page to
the back. Submit the paperwork to your spouse for processing. After two weeks, give your son the gum.

38. Announce to your family that the dog is a vector for disease and shoot it. Throw the dog in a burn pit you dug in your neighbor's back yard.

39. Wait for the coldest/ hottest day of the year and announce to your family that there will be no heat / air conditioning that day so you can perform much needed maintenance on the heater / air conditioner. Tell them you are doing this so they won't get cold / hot.

40. Just when you think you're ready to resume a normal life, order yourself to repeat this process for another six months to simulate the next deployment you've been ordered to support.