I was a volunteer, and well paid, we still goofed off when we thought no-one was looking. As long as the job got done.
Met a Desert Storm vet for lunch this past day. I'm a GWOT OEF and OIF vet myself. It was at Taco Bell. We talked about his current family situation because his wife and her friends are angry with whom he voted for, and one of my former soldier's sister whom was physically abused by her husband that we evac'ed to my house to be safe again.
Ditto on the Thanks
When I was a nike crewman I would catch gate guard duty every now and then so I would spend two days on duty as a gate guard on the launcher area. A nice little tiny shack that had a combo air and heater in the front window facing the road, a sliding door because the little shack was too small for a regular door. Winter time I would have the heater on full and I would stretch out on the floor and hang my head out the door staying nice and comfy. You have to understand it was long hours and I'm out in the middle of nowhere land center of Texas flat lands. Some days there was no cars passing the base at all. In summer we had a terrible time with skunks out chasing the lady skunks so guard duty at that time was not a happy event. You can't escape it due to the shear number of skunks out messing around. I need to upload the photos of the base and post them. I think I have enough space on flickr left. The base is still there almost like it was left but Texas Department of Highways did have the upper administration and radar area leased for several years for equipment maintenance. They did a lot of changing on the buildings that were once two small barracks and the orderly room is gone today and the little PX. On a good note a real estate broker bought the entire upper area and keeps it about like it was but he used the mess hall as a house and remodeled it a bit. The launcher area where I worked has had a couple leasers but no historical damage was done, one guy had a small house trailer on the elevator of my pit and he lived in that pit with the elevator still working of course. Some say he was growing mushrooms but I would be more apt to believe he was growing another type of weed. So he left and the area appears to now have a roach coach parking place because I saw trucks parked in front of the ready building and they looked like a roach coach truck. The fallout shelter that was used for any personnel caught about ground in case of a firing was equipped with a lead lined box that the people could all get into and would not have to worry about radiation. Our little console room was so small we could barely get into the room together and the Army was so thoughtful to supply us with rations for two weeks but the ass hole that did the planning forgot the bathroom facilities. I have always remembered what I thought to myself when I saw for the first time where I was expected to live for two weeks minimum without even a bucket to piss in. It was expected that if we had taken a near miss hit we had a good chance of coming out in two weeks. I don't know where we would have gone to, the top area up the highway would probably be a bunch of dead people. It was really a small gesture to place cases of C-Rations and no more.
Thank you for your service as well.
Channel changers are almost critical equipment!
I feel your pain with the dentist! (Crowns cost a lot more here - root canals are at least $1000)
Mrs F just got an implant.
I know the feeling well!
