PILOT SPIN
Spin Zone => Spin Zone => Topic started by: Number7 on August 26, 2018, 07:00:30 AM
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Good Morning,
Since I am the one voted as, "Most Crotchety, Grumpy, Old Man, I thought I'd suggest a thread where we all introduce ourselves in a better - kinder - light. Even if you hate me, (those of you with the courage to try) try and see the concept of the thread and let's open up a little and see what happens.
I'll begin.
Grew up in the northeast, where it snowed a lot every winter.
Joined the service for the express purpose of gaining access to the GI Bill (which makes me a socialist according to some liberals). These days I wonder if many people even know what the GI Bill was...
Married the second woman I dated more than twice. So far, so good. We've been married to each other ever since. Our kids grew up without serious damage to their psyche, even with having me for a father.
Our grand kids are pretty typical, modern products of public schooling. One is super smart and kills every curve in every class.
She definitely got the brains from her grandmother.
One is super liberal but claims to be moderate, studies her butt off to succeed in college and hates everyone who mentions anything that doesn't adhere to her narrow minded view of the world. Her world view very closely resembles what I hear on the network news when I mistakenly turn it on.
The third is a candidate to die in prison, and probably will someday. He is the result of a dysfunctional home (he is a step grandchild, but my wife and I REFUSE to make that distinction). Between drugs, booze and stupidity, he spends his time either dealing with the juvenile justice system, or doing things that result in his spending more time dealing with the Juvenile Justice system.
His mother is a moron. Simply put, she should have been sterilized at birth. Her history of drug abuse and addictions have left her the most conceited woman I have ever met. She actually thinks her former drug abuse and current addiction make her a great role model and that nobody else has the history, or experience necessary to deal with her junkie son.
After the military I began a career in writing adult fiction that spans far too many years.
The democrat party looks like a communist prayer meeting to me.
The republican party looks like a pansy convention when I see what they think of as conservative values.
The civil rights movement has become as corrupt as the democrat party.
The feminist movement has become as hypocritical as the civil rights movement.
Old age sucks. Take my word for it, and avoid having to prove it for yourself.
The alternative to old age isn't as attractive to me... YET!
Here's a question nobody ever asked me: Who would I go gay for?
Here's my Answer: No one. You might manage to get your thing up my butt, but when trying to pull it out, you would turn me inside out and we would both die.
Your turn...
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These guys say it pretty good for me:
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Although I mostly just read here, I'll go, following your format:
Grew up in the rust belt, where it snowed a lot every winter.
Joined the service because chasing Ruskies around the oceans seemed a lot more interesting than sharing a cube with Dilbert.
Married a women I met at my brother's second wedding. It was her 2nd, my 1st, and it took. My brother's second didn't, but the third time was the charm.
Married late in life, I have a daughter, who seems to be well rounded.
After the military I began a career in electronics, no Dilbert but I've had my share of pointy haired bosses.
The democratic party is now so far left that JFK appears to be absolutely right wing.
The republican party is now so far left that it looks like JFK.
All the movements, including me too, are self serving bullshit.
Every politician has been bought and paid for by someone.
In the 60's and 70's, network news could be relied on to provide the news, today none are to be trusted.
I'm not old. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Gay? No, sorry, not my thing.
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Born and raised in Illinois. Parents divorced at an early age and I lived with my mother. She married an idiot and they fought all the time. Pretty sure liquor had a lot to do with it. BTW she divorced him and married him again. I finally went to my dad who by then had married another woman who turned out to be a control freak. She kick me out the summer I finished high school.
Began my working career straight out of HS reading meters for the power company. Met my future wife at a football game, only girl I ever really dated. We got married just prior to me entering the Air Force while she was on her spring break during her senior year of HS.
We have two boys, now 45 and 43 and four grand children ages 11 - 19.
My Air Force career was 71 - 75 and I spent 2.5 years in Gila Bend, AZ and a year in Tampa, FL. After the AF we went back to IL and I continued with the power company and started community college with an eye on electronics. After the winter of 78-79 we moved to Winter Park, FL, my wife is from St. Petersburg, FL. I continued my school in Fl and got an A.S. in Electronics Technology. I spent time in the Cable TV industry in Orlando before moving to Chuck E. Cheese in 81. Got tired of FL and we moved to GA in 82 and have been here ever since. The gig with Chuck E. Cheese ended with their merger with Show Biz Pizza and I landed with a small technical school as the Manager of Education and later Director fo the school.
After that gig I ended up back in the Cable TV industry with a contractor. It was the beginning of the fiber movement so I learned how to splice fiber and made my boss a lot of money. From there I moved to a vendor in the industry and spent the rest of my career there. My two year degree served me well in my career. Cisco Systems purchased the company and proceeded to ruin it and we went into layoff cycles. I got lucky and hit the jackpot in 2011 when they offered a wonderful early retirement package that I snapped up at the age of 60 and have never looked back. We budgeted hard to get me to 62 and I took my SS at that point.
Wife and I have been married 47+ years at this point. My flying career began in 1970 in IL and continued down in AZ until my first son was born in 72. I stopped with 17 hours in the book and did not begin training again until 2008. I've been flying since. I joined the local EAA chapter in 2008 and was the President of the chapter from 2014 - 2017 and am the current Treasurer. During my Presidency I got a youth program started at the chapter. We started with a ground school and the donation of a hangar to the chapter allowed us to begin our youth build program with one project. We now have three projects under construction and 24 active youth. The youth earn $7.50 an hour in credit while working. The credits can be used for the rental of a Cessna 150 for flight training. We have CFIs donating their instruction time.
This year we have added two private pilots, one of which is now in the Naval Aviator program down in Pensacola. A third will be added soon and a fourth ill finish her private at college this year. We have a couple more that are flying. We've had over 80 young folks come and go in our program. Our first PPL has now flown morer than 10 Young Eagle for the chapter. I have a very long waiting list for the program. With additional funding and a larger building and more adults I could accommodate more of them.
I am a Libertarian at heart and very conservative. The rest of my family, excepting my oldest son, all are left leaning. My youngest son felt the Bern! Not sure what went wrong there. My grand daughter attends college with Long Island Global University. She spent her first year in Costa Rica and will soon be in Spain to start this school year. Some of the things that come out of her mouth startle me. She ranted to my wife once about not understanding why we need dryers when the woman in Costa Rica hang their laundry out to dry. She was, obviously, never taught how the movement of women into the work force brought about the convenience of having a dryer in the household in the U.S.. What a shame.
I, personally, feel the country is lost at this point regardless of who is President. Congress understands that if they never pass a budget there will be no restraints on spending as there is no control on what you spend in a continuing resolution. The only thing that could stop is the President vetoing it and shutting down the government. Never going to happen, thus the debt will just continue to grow and the country will implode.
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Since I've been questioned regarding my history, I guess I'll remove it.
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Joined the service because chasing Ruskies around the oceans seemed a lot more interesting than sharing a cube with Dilbert.
Subs or targets?
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Back where I have a keyboard - been at the CAP National convention in LA this week.
I've mainly grown up in North Carolina. I've been a computer guy all my life, started with an Apple ][. Within a year I was writing and hacking assembly language on it. If you're not familiar with that, it's basically the level right above 1s and 0s and the lowest level that humans deal with...although I'm not sure anyone deals with assembly any more.
Joined the Navy in 1988 and went into submarines because it was tech heavy...just a different kind of tech. A US nuclear submarine is the second most technology dense machine ever built. The space shuttle is the first. If you're keeping up with history, then you remember that we had a little war around 1990 because some Hussein guy decided he wanted to annex the country of Kuwait. Unfortunately I can neither confirm or deny any operations that may or may not have occurred during that time because I wasn't there. When a submarine goes to sea for big operations, they take specialists with them and as a result leave part of the crew behind. As a torpedoman, I was considered "non critical" to fighting a war, so I was left behind.
I mention that because it's also when I first started learning to fly. From my fading memory, it was in January 1991 and I was ready for my second lesson at the flying club on base. I showed up at the club and my instructor was there and said "sorry, we can't fly, the field is shut down". Well I looked around and there was nothing there...I mean even the hangar queens were gone. I was dumbfounded until that night when I was ordered to report to the boat to load weapons all night (!!!) so they could get underway and go to war the next day.
After the Navy I went back to school and used my GI bill - graduated from UNC and now I am mortally embarrassed by them. I work in the supply chain field, primarily as an operations and IT consultant for warehouses. It's not at all what I envisioned myself doing, but it's steady work and whether the economy goes up or down, people always seem to need to install new computer systems for new warehouses. I'd get out if I could, but after 20 years, what else am I going to do?
Go my certificate finally in 2011, only about 20 years after I started. Been on the verge of starting IFR for a couple of years now but work keeps getting in the way.
Politically I lean heavily toward realistic libertarianism, which means sometimes neither side is right. It also means that I don't have an emotional position in some fights, I don't decide first where to go and then justify it; positions are a consequence of morals, not the other way around. The freedom of people to live their lives unimpeded by government (aka, liberal with a lowercase L) is the key element. I dislike Trump as a person, but some of his policies make sense. That is a better choice than disliking Hillary as a person a almost none of her policies making sense.
Did you actually read that?
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Judging by responses, looks like I'm the youngest here.
I graduated high school in 1998 in Clearwater, FL. I was a fantastic high school student, and was accepted to Georgia Tech's computer science program upon graduation. Little did anyone know that I'd fool my parents (and myself!) into believing I had the self-discipline to succeed in college at that time in my life. I struggled and eventually came back to FL and earned a two year degree.
For a while I worked in restaurants and sowed my wild oats with a bunch of losers. Did some additional schooling trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Eventually I walked into an insurance agency that had a position available sign on the marquee. It was for file clerk. I took the job. That was twelve years ago. I'm still with the same organization (post acquisition in 2016), and currently the COO. We're a small business - 32 employees and growing. I feel blessed to have the position. I work hard but certainly don't have decades of exec experience. I try to learn quickly, both from my mistakes, and in new areas.
I'd always been interested in aviation. Loved the Air Force and the Viper. Wish I'd served, frankly. Would have taught me self-discipline real fast. While working as a middle manager 5 years or so ago now I guess, I walked into a flight school (@KPIE) one day after work and asked about flight training. They recommended knocking it out in 3 months. Then they showed me the price sheet.
I ended up taking three years to finish my PPL, but I did it. I loved flying, but I think I loved the challenge of it -- including the training -- perhaps more than flying itself. My favorite part of the flying was perfecting the landings. I'm not current at the moment, but eventually I'll get back to it.
I'm in a long-term relationship of 11 years. Two kids of my significant other's - 12 and 14. I own a small house in an urban area near Tampa. It's my first home and I like it. We have a dog - Griffin the Whippet -- who's the goofiest damn dog ever. I drive a '16 Tacoma double cab. I've got a 17 foot Key West dual console boat, bought cash from Craigslist. I have a 75CC Derbi GPR "sportbike" that I've had on the go cart track, but is currently off to the side while I work on my new project: an 80s Snapper Rear Engine riding mower that I'm working on tuning up. Got the carb back on last night around 8:30, but couldn't get it to fire up. Spark issue I think because the boot wouldn't "snap" onto the new plug. We'll see.
Historically I'm a liberal. My Dad, Mom, and Brother are definitely liberals. Lately I'm moving away from that leaning in a number of areas. But I'm definitely not a conservative. I'm frankly tired of the whole hair-on-fire atmosphere of politics in general. I just don't have time for it at the moment.
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Forged his signature on enlistment papers, and I was outta there.
Wouldn't that be kinda hard to do considering your parent(s) are required to sign the waiver in the presence of the recruiter?
Had several jobs in the Army, I was trained as a calibration tech for fire control equipment, but since they didn't need that skill, I was cross-trained in the field as an Army medic(not my choice). After almost 3 years, the Marines were in desperate need of medics(which they call corpsmen). It's all rather confusing, because there are Navy and Marine corpsmen in service. Anyway, I did that for a couple more years, and left the Marines active duty and went back to SoCal with about 6 dollars in my pocket.
So you went from the Army to the Navy?
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Wouldn't that be kinda hard to do considering your parent(s) are required to sign the waiver in the presence of the recruiter?
So you went from the Army to the Navy?
All the recruiter wanted was his quota. It wasn't hard to do at all. I did have to show my birth cert to prove date of birth but I took the enlistment form with me, came back the next day and he was fine with it. I told him I'd been working 45 hours a week as a tire recapper since 16(summers), and we agreed that the Army was better place than where I was. I sure didn't complain.
I went from the Army to the Marine corps. As I said, it's a little complicated, because in some billets the Marines use Navy personnel, and in some billets they can be Marine. The branches are prohibited from 'poaching' people in other service branches. However, in times where there is an over-subscribed MOS in one branch, and another branch has a critical shortage, the armed forces are quite accommodating(back in the 70s). So, as I said, in the Army, they had a critical shortage of field medics. But - after a maybe 18 months or something, they upped recruiting bonuses for medics brought the complement back up in the Army, and they still had a shortage in the Marines. I was within 6 months of ETS in my Army commitment and they were happy to accept my AC-1088 req for inter-service transfer with time in grade, and time in service fulfilled for the billet I was transferring into with the Marine corps.
Army based service: Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Fort Hood TX., Camp Pieri, adjunct Wiesbaden. Transferred to Marines and received early ETS from Army(for benefit of service branch). Marine service in Okinawa camp Futenma, Kinser, sometimes Hansen.
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Interesting.
A recruiter broke federal law to fill a quota. ::)
And the marines don't have corpsman, never have. What the marines do have is Navy Corpsman who are assigned to them (the green side). These Sailors rate as a Hospital Corpsman first, then some of them are used by the Navy while the others are assigned to the marines after undergoing a fairly grueling training course. Those Corpsman are Petty Officers and retain their Navy rank.
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You are mistaken. There were Marine corpsmen when the Marines were desperate to fill the need and the dept of the Navy retained their corpsmen for sea duty. The shortage was so severe, that they were also training people in the field to take on the duties. The Marines have always and forever been the poor step-child of the Navy, and when the shortages start - Navy takes care of its own first. If you're reading modern wiki articles, you have no idea of what the deal was 40-ish years ago. We lost nearly every combat veteran of Vietnam in the medical services to med school, or civ nursing programs. From 1974 to 78 it was rats off a sinking ship(to use the metaphor). Retention bonuses for Navy corpsmen were running $15,000 or more, and they still left. The Marines were out in the cold more than the Navy who couldn't keep corpsmen sufficient to sail a destroyer. The medical corps are similar to Navy and AF pilots who get their primary training in service, and leave for the majors soon as their time is up.
Interesting, that I started this in a vain attempt to get to know each other better, and be conciliatory. No good deed go unpunished I guess.
And - I'm done here explaining myself. I'm ok with you not believing anything I say. However, there are others here besides you whom would take your nonsense for veracity. Should I need to prove anything from my history, I have plenty of evidence. Cya, post whatever you want from here on in.
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I was in the Navy in that time period.
And there was never a Marine Corpsman, they were and all Navy Petty Officers.
You missed your calling as a fiction writer.
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Lucifer -
I always thought dick and balls went hand-in-hand, but you're sorely lacking in the latter while certainly being the former. Post up your deal or cut the criticism. Some of us have the guts to share. And some of us have the guts even to use our real names.
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Lucifer -
I always thought dick and balls went hand-in-hand, but you're sorely lacking in the latter while certainly being the former. Post up your deal or cut the criticism. Some of us have the guts to share. And some of us have the guts even to use our real names.
First of all, go find someone else to give your orders to.
Second, what's the criticism shit? Are we not allowed to ask questions? Or is this you wanting to control the narrative (surprise surprise).
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First of all, go find someone else to give your orders to.
Second, what's the criticism shit? Are we not allowed to ask questions? Or is this you wanting to control the narrative (surprise surprise).
I'm not sure why you think you can blow up a thread where people are sharing their personal stories, not share your own, and expect not get shit for it.
Maybe that fancy moderator tag has you feeling entitled.
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I'm not sure why you think you can blow up a thread where people are sharing their personal stories, not share your own, and expect not get shit for it.
"Blow up a thread".....really? ::)
Maybe that fancy moderator tag has you feeling entitled.
That butthurt just won't go away, will it? And what does being a moderator have anything to do with it? Did I attempt to moderate something here?
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Now paging a moderator to come moderate your moderator.
He's right. If you aren't here to share in the thread, then butting your nose in with an unrelated argument just makes you an ass.
Do you even fly bro?
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Now paging a moderator to come moderate your moderator.
So much for wanting an unmoderated forum.
He's right. If you aren't here to share in the thread, then butting your nose in with an unrelated argument just makes you an ass.
Unrelated? Seriously?
Do you even fly bro?
Speaking of unrelated.............
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Maybe that fancy moderator tag has you feeling entitled.
Boy that really sticks in your craw, huh? You do know this is an UNMODERATED forum, right? I always knew that Liberal/Progressives were control freaks of others, but you're going to make the moderator thing an issue? W,j,W.
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Speaking of unrelated.............
Dare you to post a pic of your pilot certificate. ;)
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Dare you to post a pic of your pilot certificate. ;)
Going to call me a Nazi next?
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So much for wanting an unmoderated forum.
That was a joke. I run an unmoderated political forum too, but for submariners.
I am seriously doubting you fly.
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I am seriously doubting you fly.
WTF does that have to do with anything? Why are you obsessed with that?
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WTF does that have to do with anything? Why are you obsessed with that?
Lucifer,
There are no restrictions on Pilot Spin that members must be pilots. Personally, I lost my medical certificate in 1980. But my wife got her license in 2009 and we do own a plane.
But my point is you don't have to be a pilot to participate here. So why don't you just explain that you do or do not have a pilot license, even though it doesn't really make any difference.
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But my point is you don't have to be a pilot to participate here. So why don't you just explain that you do or do not have a pilot license, even though it doesn't really make any difference.
I don't see its relative to any of the discussions. For some weird reason BFlynn has been obsessed with this.
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I don't see its relative to any of the discussions. For some weird reason BFlynn has been obsessed with this.
Well, I mentioned it once and you dodged for no real reason although I didn't really care. Then you dodged others and I asked again.
Apparently it's rather relative to you.
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Well, I mentioned it once and you dodged for no real reason although I didn't really care.
Of course you cared, you've obsessed over it.
Then you dodged others and I asked again.
Furthering your obsession.
Apparently it's rather relative to you.
What other weird obsessions do you have?
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Furthering your obsession.
Relax LuLu. I really don’t care, but your dodging created curiousity in more people than me. You want to be the private loner outsider here, that is your is business. You just objected way too much to my little joke.
Go on, make a claim that you know my thoughts and show how desperate you are to smear me. The politics here aren’t supposed to be against each other.
Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Little minds discuss people. And it appears I have let you drag me down to your level.
Take your shot, I am out.
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Relax LuLu. I really don’t care, but your dodging created curiousity in more people than me. You want to be the private loner outsider here, that is your is business. You just objected way too much to my little joke.
Go on, make a claim that you know my thoughts and show how desperate you are to smear me. The politics here aren’t supposed to be against each other.
Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Little minds discuss people. And it appears I have let you drag me down to your level.
Take your shot, I am out.
Wow, the hypocrisy. It is amusing to watch you project though.
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Going to call me a Nazi next?
See here for those who love Godwin - http://www.pilotspin.com/index.php?action=search2
I'm not sure what to call you, since you don't have the guts to honor the intent of the thread.
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I'm not sure what to call you, since you don't have the guts to honor the intent of the thread.
See post #2.
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See post #2.
Saw it, watched it, looked up the lyrics. None the wiser, except about a Stones song.
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Well that got derailed fast. And you guys wonder why I rarely post here.
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And you guys wonder why I rarely post here.
Actually no one cares. Your "post" are nothing more than drive by flaming with little or no content.
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... And you guys wonder why I rarely post here.
Funny.... I NEVER think about your lack of posts at all.
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Well that got derailed fast.
Does that happen on that other so-called aviation web site you participate in?
And you guys wonder why I rarely post here.
No we don't.
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Does that happen on that other so-called aviation web site you participate in?
Actually, not really. Things get sidetracked, but there's usually a fair discussion of the topic. This one was supposed be a civil thread and it went south on page 1.
Getting back to the topic and ignoring the cause of the recent unpleasantness...who is next?
Just remembering something I suppose I should admit to - I am the instigator of the Great Monkey Race. It's my fault.
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Actually, not really. Things get sidetracked, but there's usually a fair discussion of the topic. This one was supposed be a civil thread and it went south on page 1.
Getting back to the topic and ignoring the cause of the recent unpleasantness...who is next?
Just remembering something I suppose I should admit to - I am the instigator of the Great Monkey Race. It's my fault.
RACIST ! ! !
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My turn I guess. But I'll keep it fairly short because I learned the hard way not to expose yourself too much on the internet.
My Great Great Grandfather was killed in WWI. I never knew him.
My Grandfather was wounded (and disabled for the rest of his life) in WWII.
My Father was killed in the closing months of the Korean conflict, while my mother was pregnant with my younger brother.
When my Father was killed, my Mother moved us from Texas (my Fathers home town and my birthplace) back to her hometown in Philadelphia to be near her family.
The area we moved to was in South Philly. Supposedly, it used to be nice, but when I was growing up, you were in a gang or you were a victim of said gangs.
Due to my Father's death in service, my brothers and I received survivors benefits. That helped a lot, but my mother still had to hold two or three simultaneous jobs most of my childhood. I didn't, and still don't consider the survivor's benefits as "handouts". My Father earned them and he would have earned a lot more if he hadn't sacrificed his life for his country.
But even with the survivors benefits and my mother working (for $0.25/hour), we still needed and received food assistance from our Church. Now THAT was embarrassing and I received a lot of teasing about it in school. That was what caused most of my early fighting and school suspensions. I still remember one meal when my mother picked dandelions out of the yard for a salad. She said she read they were "healthy and good for you". I remember thinking, "wow, we must really be poor if we have to eat weeds".
Throughout all of this, I always had the goal of enlisting in the Army, like my Great grandfather, my grandfather and my father did.
Later, my mother finally remarried a drunk, abusive Navy Chief. He was the flight deck chief on a couple of aircraft carriers and he thought he was more important that the Captain or any officers he served under. The only good part was the he was transferred and we escaped Philadelphia and went on to live in Virginia, San Diego, South Georgia and various other military towns.
Then came Vietnam and I was a supporter. But as I grew up and the war raged on, it became obvious it was a corrupt, useless quagmire. But I was still willing to go if I got drafted.
The draft lottery was instituted the year before I was eligible. My number was 131. They drafted up to number 125 that year, so I escaped. And I have regretted it ever since.
My Stepfather retired from the Navy while we lived in Brunswick Ga. He was stationed at NAS Glynco. I muddled through public school as an average student. On graduation, I applied to Georgia Tech, but was denied. That really hurt, so I went to the local Junior college and made straight As. That took 4 years because I was working full time, but I graduated and was then "conditionally" accepted at Ga Tech. Boy, I thought I was smart. Then three quarters later, I flunked out. Working full time and going to school full time wasn't working out for me, so I took a job driving a flat bed tractor trailer (for Superior Trucking) for a year and earned enough money so that I could go back to school and not have to work as much. After a year, I was accepted back. I was able to work less and I took fewer classes but I flunked out again, and was told I would never be accepted back. Boy, was I feeling stupid.
So I took a job with First National Bank of Atlanta as a courier and worked my way up to officer level in the advertising department. I kept reapplying to Tech because it was so humiliating to have failed. I could have gone to an easier college, but that would have felt like giving up. I was doing really well at the bank and the President of the bank called me in and said I was up for promotion to VP, but I needed to finish college. He suggested I try one of the liberal arts colleges nearby. That wasn't going to happen, so I applied back to Tech, but they said NO WAY. So the President of FNB wrote to the President of GT and I was miraculously accepted back to finish my senior year. So after a total of 11 years (4 at JC, 1 yr driving a truck, 2 years at FNB 4 more years at Tech, I finally got my 4 year degree, ON THE PRESIDENTS LIST! (Higher than Deans List because I had a 4.0 average for my senior year).
Now that the hard part was over ( ;) ) I started work. My first job offer was for $23,000! That was the highest offer at Tech that year, except for a woman Chemical Engineer that had a 4.0 average and graduated in 3 years (on her Daddy's dime). That first job was pure hell. Because of my stint driving a tractor trailer, I was hired by Yellow Freight as a foreman in a tractor trailer repair shop. Just what all those old Teamsters wanted; a "college boy" for their boss. Their sole job came to be to make my life miserable. One time I fired a mechanic for shooting and killing a road driver in the parking lot. The Union got him hired back because the parking lot was not considered his workplace and the rules said no firearms in the workplace. I had to work with him for three more years while he was out on bail and he finally got convicted and sent to prison.
One day, on the drive to work, I was listening to the song "Take this job and shove it", and that was exactly what I did when I arrived.
After that, all my jobs were in air conditioned offices and I was on easy street. After years of chasing pretty women, I met a good looking woman that was the smartest woman I ever knew and married her. Eventually, we opened a small business together and we were quite successful and sold it for enough to retire on.
So that's my story, and I'm sticking with it. I had a certain amount of luck and a certain amount of help along the way, but it would have been easy to give up and settle for less. But I wasn't going to let that happen.
My trek through life is what has caused me to look down on those that don't try their hardest. I understand the part about people sometimes needing a hand up and some assistance, but it still falls on the individual to try their hardest to do their best to get ahead. If they don't do that, then they don't deserve what they don't get.
And I still resent that fact that the Vietnam war derailed my life plans to enter the military.
edit: sorry, I said I would keep it short, but I failed.
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Thanks for getting the thread back on track Little Joe. Everyone has such interesting stories. I am too paranoid to post too much personal info on the interwebs. The illuminati might get me. :)
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Later, my mother finally remarried a drunk, abusive Navy Chief. He was the flight deck chief on a couple of aircraft carriers and he thought he was more important that the Captain or any officers he served under.
Avoiding becoming a drunk abusive chief is why I got out of the Navy. However, the chief was right, he was more important than the officers. They could replace any officer, but there was no way to replace the experience of the chief on how to make the flight deck run.
Don't worry about making it long - that's a good thing.
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Thanks Little Joe!
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My mother grew up eating dandelion greens. And it took me 9 years to get out of college. See we all have stuff in common.
I might post my story eventually. I don't have time at the moment, real busy working IRL.
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Raised on a farm by parents who loved each other and lived by their principles … hard work, honesty, and a deep enjoyment of life. We had fun along with the hard work, and I feel immensely fortunate to have grown up in such a way. Of course, I thought that was the way everyone lived, so it came rather as a shock to me when my first marriage ended ... love is all you need, right? I learned then that someone could stop loving you. I didn’t want to repeat that experience, so was very careful next time around. After 13 years, married my husband and we had a wild parenting ride raising his two kids, whom we cherish and enjoy today. Our daughter is married and in medical school, and our son is a massage therapist. Both own their own homes and are productive, happy adults. Grateful! My husband and I like to hike, browse in bookstores, read and discuss, and travel to places like the Oregon coast and Mount Rainier National Park. We both are rejuvenated by the mountains and nature. I used to cook a lot, but in recent years I just hunt and gather really great produce at our local farmers’ markets and put together simple meals.
I’ve been a secretary, marketing assistant at our local port district, and finally a tech editor, after going back to college for my BA in English after my first marriage ended. During the parenting years, I left my editing job and stayed home to keep things going there. My husband is a software engineer, and writes software for a local medical equipment manufacturer. He loves his job, and has been with the same company for 38 years! We've been married 22 years. Grateful.
I was shocked when he said about 15 years ago that he wanted to learn to fly. I’d had my own fling with flying in the 80’s but realized I couldn’t manage the cost as a single person and then … over a six-month period, six people I knew died in four separate small plane crashes. That did it for me, and I’ve struggled with my husband’s flying as a result. I went on POA to complain about it and had a big old thread there discussing how to cope. Got started on the Spin Zone there and, like here, found it very therapeutic to be able to actually interact with people of varying viewpoints. My husband bought a Cessna 175 in 2013, and is president of our local EAA chapter. I don’t like to fly, but have flown with him a few times. I wish we could veer into boating or camping or something, but he is happy, so I am doing my best to be happy for him. EppyGA’s youth build story inspired him to get one going in our chapter, and all is in place now for that to happen.
The hardest thing for me, all my life, has been to be falsely accused. Or to have people misunderstand what is really going on. Deception angers me. Deliberate obfuscation, deception and agenda-driven lying absolutely frustrate me. So these days, one of my biggest challenges is to enjoy life while all around me the biased media rages on in its false narratives, dragging good friends and otherwise intelligent people, and hence our beautiful republic, down with it.
As an editor, I seek clear communication of pertinent information as close to the truth as can be achieved. I have to keep reminding myself that I am not in charge, there are larger forces at work, and that many other people are working to promote function and truth over lies and dysfunction. In my life, I have had several experiences that make it impossible for me to take any sort of stand against the existence of God. He is there. I don’t argue religion with people, but for myself, because of my experiences, I can’t not believe. It helps to know I don’t have to carry the burden of setting the world straight, but I still wake up in the wee hours sometimes and formulate letters to the editor and letters to liberal friends … but I never actually get up and write and send them.
I just read Pilot Spin instead. Thank you all!
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Thank You Becky.
You say things so much better than most of us.
Of course, you are not an old, crotchety, geezer. So... there's that.
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Becky,
Glad to hear about your husband moving forward with a youth program at his chapter. Expected demand for pilots over the next decade is 650k+. We just found a new mentor that will allow us to include more youth every week.
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Becky,
Glad to hear about your husband moving forward with a youth program at his chapter. Expected demand for pilots over the next decade is 650k+. We just found a new mentor that will allow us to include more youth every week.
I’m kind of worried that we won’t have enough mentor interest to start and sustain this thing! My husband feels calm about it, though, and he knows more than me ...
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I’m kind of worried that we won’t have enough mentor interest to start and sustain this thing! My husband feels calm about it, though, and he knows more than me ...
All he can do is try Becky. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. We started in October of 2015 with one project and three or four adults. Three of my current mentors have been with the program since then. When they need a week off they take it. I have a good pool to use and two of my mentors are actually parents.