> RaceMixer!!t4BTRmATV2 19/07/16(Tue)22:48

>>112976
> How many people could that have killed?

Well probably the 3 of us who were down in the basement. Me, the operator, and some rando that worked there. The main issue I was concerned with was asphyxiation. You can't breathe steam. It essentially displaces air so a lack of oxygen could be fatal, which is why I didn't run out into the turbine room. At least in the control room we had a room full of air. The first thing they taught us about hazardous atmospheres and first-aid in general was to survey the situation. If your buddy is in a tank or pit, and suddenly drops, there could be something toxic or displacing the air. If you jump in, now there's two dead guys in the tank.

One interesting thing is that when you get steam hot enough it becomes "superheated steam", which you can't see. Should it leak from a pipe it turns into a jet and cuts like a laser. The standard way of finding superheated steam leaks is to talk around waving a straw broom in front of you. When the steam jet hits the broom, the broom explodes.

But the other thing, if a room is filled with superheated steam, you can't see it, or breathe.

  More superheated steam.

  Then there's steam explosions:

> Another consideration is safety. High pressure, superheated steam can be extremely dangerous if it unintentionally escapes. To give the reader some perspective, the steam plants used in many U.S. Navy destroyers built during World War II operated at 600 psi (4,100 kPa; 41 bar) pressure and 850 degrees Fahrenheit (454 degrees Celsius) superheat. In the event of a major rupture of the system, an ever-present hazard in a warship during combat, the enormous energy release of escaping superheated steam, expanding to more than 1600 times its confined volume, would be equivalent to a cataclysmic explosion, whose effects would be exacerbated by the steam release occurring in a confined space, such as a ship's engine room. Also, small leaks that are not visible at the point of leakage could be lethal if an individual were to step into the escaping steam's path.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiler#Superheated_steam_boiler

Which probably would have been bad for everyone in the building if basement 2 had exploded. Natural gas lines and all.

But the biggest danger is letting the boiler run dry, then adding water while it's hot. That's the explosions you see.

I got a couple of emails regarding it. One from our safety manager thanking me for helping the site personnel shut down the unit and asking if it was normal to have pressure relief valves mounted where they can rain on everyone. (It is, actually, though they should dump safely.) And one from our business unit VP giving a +1, and thanking me for being a safe employee.

>>112982
>Also, small leaks that are not visible at the point of leakage could be lethal if an individual were to step into the escaping steam's path.
I don't even want to know what that injury looks like.

>>112983
It's probably not as as bad as high pressure oil injection wounds.

Seems I'll soon be joining the machinists club. How time flies.

I was recently offered a pretty sweet deal on a rather large mill/lathe combo unit. It belonged to a retired gunsmith who basically gutted and rebuilt it for work in his shop, and used it for several years before retiring. He passed it to a friend of mine who has decided it's more than he wanted or needed and offered me a "come pick this 600lb thing up and get it out of my garage workshop" discount off the price. It needs some fairly serious TLC in terms of cleaning, minute inspecting, and re-lubing, but I learned the basics of dealing with a Grizzly 9729 some years ago and they're very similar. Upon basic inspection it seems to be in solid shape and runs like a top. Comes with a bunch of extras (live center, steady rests, riser plates, a selection of milling cutters, and a 4 jaw chuck to name a few) with better motors already installed, too.

Speaking of machinists, how do your shops handle carbide dust from grinding flats and relieving endmills etc.? Where I work it's just an open grinder with no coolant, vacuum system or anything and no one else even wears a dust mask. I imagine that shit isn't good to breathe, I'm curious how it's handled elsewhere.

>>113000
I wear a dust mask, that's about it. Since I'm always the one ordering tooling, I don't have to modify stuff that often so I don't think it's a huge deal.

To be honest I've heard it's bad but I've never seen medical papers or reports on exposure to tungsten carbide dust, no idea how bad it is or what it's like long term or what.

>>113000
Dust mask, Proper airflow, dust handlers.
Last shop I worked at had wet grinders for carbide.

I don't know my job status, if I'm even really employed right now, when I'm returning to NorCal or exactly what it is I'm doing when I get there; it's messy. The survey shit I was doing is a soon to be finished project. I am now a member of the IBEW... I think? I don't know, man. I was supposed to start work as a groundman (still not sure what they do), but it got delayed. My boss is constantly hitting me with shit last minute, there's some vague notion that my doing this shit will eventually translate to a career back here in Vegas, and being unable to tell my wife when I'm supposed to leave or return is irking.
All I know is I fucking love the Army. Completed my first two week annual training for the reserve a week ago. I love my platoon, got a lot out of our training (I ramped a 100 pound robot off a fucking sage bush!), and even sleeping restlessly in the back of a cramped blast resistant vehicle, grimy clothes still on, I felt at ease. My ceaseless worrying and self doubt and second guessing all just shut the fuck up for two glorious weeks. My wife keeps saying I should've went active duty, but I refuse to uproot her. She's started a good career, a master's program, her whole family is here, and she'll never have a better selection of medical specialists (it's gotten worse, by the way. She sustained heart damage). And yet, I feel like whatever I do on the civilian side is just to pay bills until the day I'm down range, in the shit. I want it bad. God help me, I really fucking do.
Highlights of AT:
During an exercise with a grader on site:
>"2-6, Talon. The robot may have inadvertently made contac-"
>"breakbreakbreakbreakshhhhhutthefuckup!"
>"This is 2-6, say again last?"
>"Disregard, hot mic."

A battalion wide party in the barracks where I witnessed my fucked up drunk LT tell off another company's 1st SGT, an impromptu B-boy dance battle, we all got smoked by the XO because even Top was fucked up, and at one point I shouted for a medic.

Smoking black & milds with several platoon members on the hood of an RG as the sun set, an Apache pilot doing some kind of drill in the distance.

My platoon sergeant awarding me high praise.
>"This motherfucker is either CID or a fucking serial killer."

Rolling in a convoy where every driver was hungover except for the LT's driver; he was still drunk.

All I got right now is people I work with asking why WOT/WOWS/WOWP "Dont work like you say".

Literally, caught myself saying "Niggah one be a game, one be real".
Ryan deserved better even if he was white and semi-retarded.

I like my job now, kind of feeling at peace with everything.

Still wish I didn't screw up some more important stuff but it's alright.

Bout to hit that paternity leave boiiiiiiiiiiii

>>113055
>wanting to go to paid gang shit over doing regular guy shit

MY MAN THAT IS THE BIGGEST MOOD

>>112982
Current job is in the solid fuel heating industry, we have retards messing with old boiler stoves (that go in fireplaces not the things you have in the kitchen - though we do have those too) or not getting things decommissioned propperly.

The UK still has a surprising amout of old baxi 16x22" boiler open fires, many in social housing. I know an inspector that went to visit the scene of an explosion. Basically the council had installed gas central heating and the gas plumber had just chopped the pipes and poured sand into the boiler rather than ripping it out. Fast forward 3 years and the lady in the property gets cold and lights the open fire, sits on the sofa and gets cozy... the grate cut her dog in half and spread her over the wall.

Steam boilers, like bombs that stupid people like to put in their living rooms.

>>113079

Over here, the old engineers used to say that there's a stick of dynamite in every gallon of water, and from everything I've seen and read, they weren't exaggerating. Any volume of superheated water flashing to steam is absolutely not to be fucked with.

Image unrelated.

>>112980

The bigger problem, from what I've read, is that it'll basically popcorn your respiratory tract, preventing gas exchange from occurring even if you managed to get back out to breathable air.

>>113091
For boilers under extreme pressure, look at nuclear power reactors. Many of the most common designs contain water under 150 atmospheres of pressure! If the structure containing the pressurized water cracks, the water will instantly flash to steam, destroying everything around it that isn't built like an Abrams tank. That's one of the main reasons why the reactor casing is made from solid machined steel more than nine inches thick, the pipes are like cannon barrels and the containment building has to be extremely strong to contain a steam explosion.

For a 1,300 MWe pressurized water reactor, the pressure vessel is about 12 m high, the inner diameter is 5 m, and the wall of the cylindrical shell is about 250 mm thick. The overall weight amounts to approx. 530 t without internals. The vessel is designed for a pressure of 17.5 MPa (175 bar) and a temperature of 350 °C. https://www.euronuclear.org/info/encyclopedia/r/reactor-pressure-vessel.htm

- This product is a forged steel component used in nuclear reactors. Unlike conventional products made by welding separate pieces of metal together, this is made entirely from a single high-quality steel ingot, the largest in the world.

Pressurised water reactor (PWR): This is the most common type, with over 280 operable reactors for power generation and several hundred more employed for naval propulsion. The design of PWRs originated as a submarine power plant. PWRs use ordinary water as both coolant and moderator. The design is distinguished by having a primary cooling circuit which flows through the core of the reactor under very high pressure, and a secondary circuit in which steam is generated to drive the turbine. In Russia these are known as VVER types – water-moderated and -cooled.
A PWR has fuel assemblies of 200-300 rods each, arranged vertically in the core, and a large reactor would have about 150-250 fuel assemblies with 80-100 tonnes of uranium.
Water in the reactor core reaches about 325°C, hence it must be kept under about 150 times atmospheric pressure to prevent it boiling. Pressure is maintained by steam in a pressuriser (see diagram). In the primary cooling circuit the water is also the moderator, and if any of it turned to steam the fission reaction would slow down. This negative feedback effect is one of the safety features of the type. The secondary shutdown system involves adding boron to the primary circuit.
The secondary circuit is under less pressure and the water here boils in the heat exchangers which are thus steam generators. The steam drives the turbine to produce electricity, and is then condensed and returned to the heat exchangers in contact with the primary circuit. https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-power-reactors/nuclear-power-reactors.aspx

Here's a pressure vessel with a titanium jacket.

Nuclear Reactor Pressure Vessel being forged.

Now that's a sturdy water pipe!

Gotta keep those jerk X-Wings away from this pressure vessel.

>>113098

Holy balls that's awesome.

I'm assistant gunner on a 120mm crew meow, moving out of ammo bitch status. Our ammo bearer is a stupid but eager kid that desperately wants to go eat a machine gun sandwich instead of being a chuck and therefore is slow as fuuuck and can't fucking count so I end up doing half his job too.

I fucking hate the Army, I really do. The shit leadership, the hordes of otherwise unemployable 19 year olds desperate to die in a firefight in Afghanistan because they think there's no higher calling. Not kick some ass, but to fucking die. But hanging rounds is fucking exhilarating. That moment after you hang it and clear the tube. That fucking Earth rumble from the H.E. on impact. God damn. I was butthurt when I randomly ended up a Charlie instead of a Bravo but it was the best thing the Army ever did to me. All about that chuck life.

Heading off to second JRTC rotation in 7 months soon. Deployment to Afghanistan a couple months after that. ETS a few months after return thank God.

kill.

>>113110
Assistant gunner?
I heard the story of an ammo loader in a 105mm howitzer crew stationed in Vietnam and he said his job was to grab a shell off the top of the ammo pile and hand it to the loader who shoved it into the breech of a howitzer and another gunner would fire it. And that was pretty much it. He just grabbed 105mm shells from a pile and handed it off to another guy. Occasionally he would assemble firebases and then pass around more artillery shells. He did two tours in Vietnam, finished his four years in the US Army, and then discovered that he had no real skills for the civilian employment market apart from bricklayer in construction where he grabbed concrete blocks from a pile and handed them to someone else more experienced who placed them in the walls they were building. After a few months of that, he said he joined back up to swing shells in Vietnam. I hope he learned more marketable skills then (unless there are super-lifers who swing shells for 20+ years in the Army?).

Camp Lejeune, N.C. - A Marine with Task Force Southwest prepares to load an M121 A1 120mm mortar during a joint mortar shoot aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., Jan. 24, 2017. The range was conducted to refresh and exchange techniques on firing the M252 81mm and 120mm mortars in preparation for an upcoming deployment to Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The Marines are scheduled to deploy as part of Task Force Southwest to train, advise and assist the Afghan National Army 215th Corps and 505th Zone National Police. https://www.iimef.marines.mil/Photos/igphoto/2001691589/

>>113111
Oh hard facts. I had a relatively fun, stable job but always felt guilty for being a fatty and not going through with originally joining in 2009 with some super dumb sense of "honor". I had a high enough GT score that I could have gotten any MOS in the Army that maybe had some later employment opportunity but was still naive enough that I wanted to do "grunt stuff". I was willing to stick it out for 20 years if I liked it, but kept the GI bill as a fallback (if a little late). That's a hard no on plan A.

The military is literally designed for children that have never lived on their own (and still won't until they marry the first water buffalo that is looking for some o dat tricare/bah or are an alcoholic Staff Sergeant that hates life). I showed up as a 28 year old E-1 that had been married 3 years. I've lived a very independent life for the last 10 years and now I have people my age or younger with the most fucked up home life coaching and questioning my every move. Whatever, I signed up for it. I can live with that.

Now artillery and mortars are similar and not at all at the same time.

Artillery is slow, REALLY slow. They're also usually inaccurate as fuck by comparison. Far less mobile as well. Obviously arty let's anybody know what's up, but a 120 High Ex is no slouch either with a 75 meter kill zone. Not hating on Artillery even though it's easy to. They're not infantry though. While obviously an emphasis is put on mortar stuff. We're still expected to do anything an 11bravo can and half the time leadership either doesn't know how or doesn't want to use mortars and puts them in a half assed 11b role.

I don't know how mech or heavy mech units operate with tracks, but as a "light infantry" unit with 120's, 81's and 60's it typically goes

Ammo Bearer - In charge of running downrange with aiming poles, prepping rounds out of tootsies and keeping a round count of white phos, high ex, illum etc. Swabbing the tube as we fire. It's the ammo bearers job to pull cheese charges off of the round as FDC (fire direction control) dictates, pull safety pins, set timers on illum and fuses (impact, air burst etc).

Assistant Gunner - Adjusts cannon and bipod on changes of deflection. Not a huge deal on a 60mm, but the 120 system weighs 319 pounds and needs a little loving to move for a large deflection. AG checks gunner's sight data and bubbles. Hangs rounds and drops on gunner's command or signals of "HANG IT" and "FIRE". Helps AB prep rounds during big fire for effects, double checks all charge levels and fuses so we don't go to jail and whatnot. Not the most fulfilling job in the world, but it's fun.

Gunner - Makes sure his gun is up always. Dirty bird signals AB when planting aiming poles. Floats bubbles on bipod and gets sight on aiming poles. Calls the shots on when to hang it and fire.

Squad Leader - Directs squad, checks all data.

>>113118
But is there actually an Army job title of the guy who takes the shell from the pile and hands it to the Assistant Gunner? An Assistant Assistant gunner?

- US M30 106.7mm (4.2 inch) heavy mortar, Vietnam, 1969.

"Just shift the shells, shell-shifter."
Pvt. R. Jones, of the 81mm Mortars Plt., 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, is Wet and Cold as He Takes a Break During Operation Pitt, Taking Place Approximately 12 miles north of Da Nang.

>>113118
This shit is hilarious, thanks for story time.

  > got new job
> same company, same job, just in california

> some months ago
> did the interview
> best interview ever
> was telling jokes, talking about special shit we do, good to go
> get an offer that's a promotion to tech priest 4 (of 4)
> get 10% raise
> get hometown
> bosses and guys who know me are very enthusiastic about me joining
> I keep hearing "Oh good! We need someone with your skills!"

> get into working with the guys who are here
> they act like scalded dogs around any kind of policy or safety issue
> they're afraid to do shit

> at customer site, they're having some problems
> brainstorming with coworker
> suggest changing the software as a possible fix
> coworker is iceman (The alpha dog)
> I'm maverick (The loose cannon)

> Iceman: You can't just change the software! It's standard software!
> Me: Uh, yes you can. I did it all the time on the east coast.
> Iceman: What makes you think you know better than the engineers who designed it! Do you think you're smarter than them?
> Me: Yes! I'm here, at this site, for this application. I can see it's fucked up and I can fix it.
> Iceman: Well if you're so smart, why don't you become an engineer!
(more on that later)
> Me: Everything in this job if what you can justify to your boss. I stand behind everything I do. I would make the changes, document it, and if anyone asks I'll be happy to explain it. How long have you worked for this company, and you think the software is right? What the hell?
> Iceman: Well whatever man, you're the lead on the job and it's your name on it.

(like whatever man)

> informing coworker after clearing lockout/tagout
> Me: Hey man, I hooked up the CO2 bottles but have the fire system off
> Iceman: Well, are you gonna turn it on before they start?
> Me: I was going to wait till after it's running, I like to check for leaks while it is starting.
> Iceman: *Shrugs* Whatever.

I think this guy is stupid and he thinks everyone is as stupid as he is. Again, when I interviewed I told the bosses what I do, and they gave me a promotion and a raise, so I interpret that is a green light make shit happen.

Regarding the engineer. This year I've applied for 5 controls engineering jobs and 1 engineering-bitch job. They were going to make me an offer on the bitch job, but then it was canceled by the president of the company. (Oh well.) For the controls engineering jobs I got an email from Human Resources asking if I had a degree or not. (I do not.) They said it was a "legal requirement" to have an engineering degree to be an engineer. I'd like to see what "law" that is, but then they basically told me to stop applying for engineering jobs, so this technician job was the last shot before I walked.

>>113131
> They said it was a "legal requirement" to have an engineering degree to be an engineer.
In some places "engineer" (especially in a job title) is a "protected term" which carries legal implications if misused. I don't know if this is the case where you are, but they may simply be covering their bases and being overly cautious.

You should see what kind of "engineering" degree they actually require. If its an engineering technician degree (diploma?) that they require, you may want to look in to it.

Yesterday, we had a twelve mile ruck march. Sore as fuck. We passed a couple guys shooting a souped up bolt action. Thinking it funny, a young sergeant said, "on the next shot, just drop." So I did. My head bounced a little.

>>113132

It may be a requirement for some of the other countries the company deals with. I've heard that the guys who do my job in Europe have to be degreed engineers. Also they don't lower themselves to "turning wrenches", and just point and tell the "helpers" what to do.

We had a dude from Mexico come up to help with our last maintenance season. We broke a bolt off in a combustor and he had the best fucking time drilling the N60 stainless bolt out. Initially it took 3 hours to wear out all of my drill bits, for no damage to the bolt. Then we found some boiler guys who had "Norseman" brand "Black and Gold" drill bits which slowly worked. Another 3 hours and dude had that one bolt cored out enough to break it with a chisel.

The dude from Mexico fucking loved it. He said he never gets to do stuff like that at home.

Whats a 401k and why does it matter?

>>113140
The short of it is, a 401k is a retirement plan where you contribute money before taxes. This has the result of lowering your taxable income, but when you retire you then have to pay taxes on it.

Example: You make 50k a year. You put 10k a year in. You only have to pay taxes on the 40k of income you didn't put into retirement. However, when you get old and retire, then you have to pay taxes on it as income.

Example 2: Your employer matches half of what you put in. So each year you + the company are putting in 15k.

The actual retirement account is run by some company and typically goes into a stock market fund of some kind so that they can grow... unless it's 2008 and the "great recession" just destroyed your retirement fund. Those dudes are still working today.

If you're really savvy you can just put in whatever percentage is required to get the company match and then do your own Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or just play the stonks and gamble with it.

>>113131
My new coworkers suck. They're middle aged men that just talk about sportsball and whatever their dumb kids are doing.

> today, my 8 year old daughter knocked down a girl in soccer, she's such a badass
> that's cool man, I repainted a room in the house
> did you see how we did last night? that guy ran with the ball and later we stopped that other guy from running with the ball

I'd heard from another guy that coworker would over torque a certain thing, so when I saw him installing it I told him the torque spec of 33 ft/lbs, then showed him the documentation for it.

> well I've been torquing it to 48 ft/lbs for 8 years and nothing bad has happened

The classic: "That's the way we've always done it."

That mentality pisses me off so much. With my old group we were always trying new shit to try to do a better job for the customer. Now anytime I bring up something it gets shot down like a Chinese jet fighter.

A couple of days ago I worked with a new guy who I'd worked with previously in my old job. At the time he was just a trainee, now he's a real boy. When we were hanging out last time we went to the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, OH and talked about planes for 5 hours. He did an internship work on landing gear for aircraft, so he was telling me all about it. Good stuff! At lunch I was telling him about the other aviation museums I'd been to and talking about Space X's new methane powered rocket.

Then the other day I was working by myself doing some troubleshooting. The customer and I were running the engine up and down, I was taking emissions readings and doing some tuning, looking at data... love it! I spent like 6 hours writing the report yesterday, with pictures, charts, and data.

Today I was working with the middle aged men, pulling an engine, and just turning wrenches. Hanging out with myself. Thinking about how this sucks. Thinking about how they all have their chiropractors on speed dial. Wondering how long my joints are going to hold up. Watching the siloxane fall like snow from the other turbine's exhausts.

Fuck I don't know. I bought new PC hardware like a month ago and have had one chance to actually game on it. I know this is the busy season, but fuck why am I even doing this. I'm making good money but I just don't care.

It's the carrot on the stick. But it's a different "c" word... "career".

>>113143
Either way, there is several trillion dollars locked up in 401(k) plans, and Congressmen of both parties are just drooling over the idea of confiscating 100% of it and using it to bail out failed state pension funds, then using whatever might remain to write welfare checks for the people they want to bring in to replace you. Interns and legal teams have for the past 25+ years been continuously working on semi-plausible pretexts and trial balloons are lofted every few years. "Everybody has to have skin in the game." "The State of Illinois made these people a promise." "We have to impose some responsibility." "It's just a small tax, you rich bastards won't miss it." "Wealthy retirees have to pay their fair share." "We have to use these resources to fight 'global warming,' it's an emergency."

Oh, yes. It's coming.

>>113144
New record: 99 hour week. 7 day period. The job was actually 9 days and 121 hours.

Shit kept breaking. I don't know who brought that curse upon the site, but it was bad. We'd fix one thing and another would go... like 7 times. By the end we were praying to the turbine goddess Braytonia for help.

And then I got home and The Outer Worlds had an update, and I lost my shit.

I seriously need to find a normal job.

>>113162
Keeps you busy, lad; no time for mischief.

First time shooting ACOG, I only scored 30/40. Fuckin disappointed. Not one, but two motherfuckers pissed on the floor in the barracks last night after a night of hard drinking. I stepped in the second puddle trying to avoid the first. Everyone qualified, and the main body will be going home tomorrow, so tonight will be a real fuckin party.
Pic is scenic Fort Irwin, CA.

started working at a gun store/range
so far it's enjoyable, i can deal with retail well enough that it's not frustrating dealing with morons
getting extremely tempted to pick up the used hudson h9 we have, once i hit my 90 days i'll be able to snag it for 15% over what the store bought it for
black people stop shooting the target hangar clips challenge 2019

>>113164
Sounds like your instructors failed to train you about morale, elan, unit cohesion, and mission accomplishment, RaceMixer. Everyone in the barracks clearly should have peed on the floor. For you to not do so shows a lack of team spirit.

Are you drunk? - Soldiers put to the test at an Army sport day in Oswestry, UK, 1956.

>>113164
Maybe you just need to switch to a better ACOG?

2nd LAR Battalion practices stealth, puts rounds downrange
Light armored vehicle crewmen with 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion man a crew-served M240 Bravo medium machine gun during a live-fire platoon attack exercise on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, April 15, 2015. The unit utilized machine guns, which stood in for the battalion’s light armored vehicles for the exercise, but the weapon systems still provided an opportunity for Marines to maintain their combat skills. https://www.mcbhawaii.marines.mil/News/News-Stories/Article/585383/2nd-lar-battalion-practices-stealth-puts-rounds-downrange/

US M4 with an ACOG scope & Aimpoint T1 Micro sight on a MURLM (Multi-Use Rail & Light Mount).

>>113165
I enjoyed my time in gun store retail.

I was one of the lucky owners that had their Hudson H9's in for warranty repair when the company folded, and now have an empty box and 6 magazines.

http://www.operatorchan.org/k/res/107440.html

>>113174
how'd you like yours?
i don't have much if any experience shooting handguns, but it feels great in my hands and i should be able to get it home for around 700-750, if my estimates are at all close.
figure at that point since it's not too much more than a glock or something and it continues my unintended tradition of buying only guns with expensive mags so it's on brand for me

>>113175
nvm, read the thread

>>113163

Dam tho.

>>113131
> ...This year I've applied for 5 controls engineering jobs and 1 engineering-bitch job. They were going to make me an offer on the bitch job, but then it was canceled by the president of the company.

The engineer's bitch job reposted, but there's a catch, I'm on an 18 month lockout by taking the West Coast tech job. I emailed the hiring manager, he says my current manager can waive the lockout if he chooses to. I emailed my current manager letting him know I was interested in reapplying to the engineering liaison position and asked if there was anything we could do about the lockout. (Being kind of general, so he could throw HR or someone else under the bus, so it wouldn't be awkward if I couldn't go.)

A week goes by and I haven't heard anything.

I get a text message at 8pm from my current manager saying he's good with it, and apologized for the delay saying he just wanted to consult with the supervisors first. My current manager used to work closely with the engineering liaison position, so he knows it well, and said someone with my skills would do well in the position, and said the position benefits field service quite a bit, so it works out.

Well shit. Not bad. I'm even in a better position than I was when I first applied. Another year of exp, Field Tech level 4 instead of 3, and already live in town, so no need for relocation. Hopefully as long as some super-star doesn't apply and ass me out, it should be pretty straightforward.

I hope this works out cause I'm not doing another maintenance season. If the job falls through my plan is to hang out during the slow winter months then bail before spring. Seriously thinking about going back to school for engineering, since I can't seem to avoid it.

Think your boss hands out demeaning punishments?
In 2007, it was announced that police in Bangkok would be forced to wear bright pink Hello Kitty armbands as punishment for minor infractions.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/27850/way-more-you-ever-wanted-know-about-hello-kitty

When the boss rides your ass like a rented mule, you can always console yourself with some Hello Kitty wine.
Assertive without being pushy, hints of cedar and coffee with a subtle aftertaste of kitty.

Starting tomorrow, I am a janitor at the elementary school where my wife works. I haven't had full time work since July.

>>113213
> insert joke about Army training preparing you for a career

That's random. At least there won't be any stress.

>>113185
Update: HR once again screwed up and just tossed my application in the trash, again. After the position closed in early Dec, my buddy told me that engineering said "nobody applied". I emailed the manager and he said he'd look into it. A little later I saw the position reposted, but that my application was still in.

The manager contacted me to say they got my app straightened out but that they were going to wait till early January to review the applicants because everyone was on vacation, but that he was excited that I applied.

Two days ago I got a call from the manager. He said I have been selected and they're working with HR to get me an offer. Sounds good, but I've already been here once...

Second try is a charm?

pretty soon i'll be able to add 'machinegun instructor' to my resume, getting trained on them and running a couple shoots now

so far i'm still enjoying being a gun store wagie

>>113213
Elementary/middle school it turns out. The boxes in the stalls of the girls' bathrooms were taped over and had little printed signs saying to dispose of female hygiene products in the trash cans instead. I was told to take them don't since we don't have liners for them. Well, whatever cocksucker taped over the boxes didn't fucking empty them first.
OPchan... Like putrid death.

>>113217
Neat!

>>113218
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.'”

― Martin Luther King Jr. to a group of students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia on October 26, 1967.

Monday, I start as a full fledged Silvicultural Forester GS-7/9. God job, going to get all the training I need to apply for GS-11 Silviculturalist jobs within a few years, but my commute has increased to 2hrs one way. Not worth it to sell the house and move, since, once I am qualified to be a Silviculturalist, I'm going to be applying to everything I can to get out of VA.

My internship was at the GS-4 level. This is an 11k a year pay increase. Next year I pick up GS-9, for an additional 10K a year pay increase, followed by the normal step grade increases after that.

Unfortunately, they are still docking my pay for the year I was mostly LWOP, but still had health care coverage building up a debt, and it will be another pay period or two before I have the pay increase money hit. Wife, is doing 110% compared to a month ago, but doctor co-pays, gas money to see specialists, her being out of work, etc. it all adds up fast. Going to be a rough month finacially.

Today is a special day for me, for it is the day that I have made my one thousandth firearm.

Feels good man.

>>113235
Hopefully you did not sell them all to one guy.
- More than 1,000 guns seized from home in upscale Los Angeles
https://www.kmov.com/more-than-guns-seized-from-home-in-upscale-los-angeles/article_82464073-9d24-5bca-addd-2f9884465e31.amp.html

Man charged with 64 felony counts after 1,000 guns seized at Bel-Air mansion
A 58-year-old man with ties to the Getty family has been charged with 64 felony counts after police seized more than 1,000 guns from his Bel-Air home in May, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said Monday.

Girard Damian Saenz is charged with 23 counts of possession of an assault weapon, 17 counts of the transfer of a handgun with no licensed firearms dealer, 15 counts of unlawful assault weapon activity, seven counts of possession of a short-barreled rifle or shotgun and two counts of possession of a destructive device.

Saenz, who was arrested in May after officials received a tip about a person illegally manufacturing and selling guns in a home in the 100 block of North Beverly Glen Boulevard, pleaded not guilty Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

California law prohibits the manufacture, distribution, transportation, importation and sale of such firearms, except in specific circumstances.

When authorities descended on the Bel-Air home owned by Los Angeles real estate mogul Cynthia Beck, who has three daughters with J. Paul Getty’s son Gordon Getty, there were AR-15 military-style automatic rifles, what appeared to be a World War II-era Thompson submachine gun, .44-caliber handguns, .357 magnum revolvers, long guns with intricately carved stocks, an Uzi 9-millimeter submachine gun — complete with a silencer — and a 9-millimeter Luger pistol.

In court documents, Saenz was identified as Beck’s longtime companion.

Prosecutors say the offenses occurred between January 2016 and May 2019. Bail for Saenz is set at $100,000. If convicted, Saenz faces up to 48 years and eight months in state prison. The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-07-16/1000-guns-girard-saenz-felony-charges-getty-mansion

>>113236
>>113237
I did not, but even if I did, there would be nothing wrong with that.

SHALL.

>>113235

You're doing the Omnissiah's work.

>>113237

It's California.

>>113228

Sweet, hug some trees for me.

Big boy deployment. Time now.

Last month fell out of a next level smoker 8 mile run and was amberlampsed to hospital off post. Spent two days due to Rhabdo.

Deployment orders barely salvaged, super profile for a month. Got pulled off gun line and made "RTO for PL." Had to sit upstairs with the other dude that heat catted like 9,000 times in Africa feeling and looking like a piece of shit as I stared longingly at my friends getting fucked up outside without me.

Just found out I'm out of the fake headquarters section back on a mortar squad with two of my best friends and the best squad leader I ever had. FUCK. YES. FUCK YES. FFFUUUUUUCK YESSS IM FUCKING BACCCKKK.

>>113242
Jealous. I wanna deploy.
Good luck out there.

>>113185 >>113216

Update: It worked! At the end of January I go the offer, started Feb 3rd. Been at it for a month now and it's great. It's amazing how little work you can do in an office. I read emails, stare at my cube wall, sit in meetings, nod, then go back to my cube and read some technical documents or try to figure out why some Excel spreadsheet macro doesn't work worth a fuck.

I realized that I can't concentrate if someone nearby is talking, so I got some gaming headphones and listen to some generic drum and bass music all day. The microphone works great for calls and Teams meetings.

Aside from the initial shock of the gray-ness of of cubicle life, it's great. My coworkers are really nice, I'm learning a lot, and at 16:30 I go the fuck home. It seems like every time in the field when all we needed to do was get the engine running, something would fuck up. And then it's rush-hour and instead of taking 2.5 hours to drive home from Los Angeles, it takes fucking 5 hours.

But the job is great. My main duty is to help the test cell guys troubleshoot engine issues, which maybe happens 2-3 times a week. I get all the info together then go find the engineer who actually knows shit and ask them. Other than that I find some engine related boondoggle to harass people about, or some rabbit hole to dive into, and stir shit up in the design department, or on behalf of the design department.

And no more landfills!

Tomorrow I will be stealing toilet paper from work because the boogaloos have bought up every fucking roll on every shelf of every store in the entire metro area.

  Making Your Own Toilet Paper: For many people, the best substitute for toiler paper is simply… toilet paper. It is possible to make your own as you do not need complicated tools, as you will be recycling all of your old paper which you have no use for anymore. You can use newspaper, general paper and even magazines as long as they do not have a shiny gloss. You will also want to add ingredients such as baby oil, lotions or aloe in order to keep the paper from hardening.
1. The first step would be to remove as much ink as possible from the paper, by soaking it in a tub or a bucket. Afterwards take the paper and place it in a pot with leaves and grass which will help the fibers remain together. The pot should be filled with water so that it completely covers the paper and then left to simmer. It is important not to boil the water from the beginning so that the dry materials have a chance to absorb the water.
2. After an hour of simmering comes about half an hour of boiling at high temperatures. It’s ok to add more water if necessary. You will also need to remove the foam which begins to rise to the top, as this is mostly ink, glue and other materials you don’t want.
3. Eventually, the paper turns into a pulp. At this time you will have to remove the water but without disturbing the pulp. Try to remove as much as possible and then simply wait for it to cool before removing the rest of the water. The pulp also needs to be taken out in order to remove the water, but it should not be done so that the pulp becomes completely dry. Once this is done the pulp is put back in the pot and it is mixed with the softening oils. If you have it, you can also add Witch Hazel which will act as an anti-bacterial.
4. Once this step is complete, it is time to scoop out the pulp. Do it in chunks and place them on a towel or a cloth on a flat surface. Afterwards you will use a rolling pin in order to spread out the pulp in a thin layer. Try to make it as thin as possible. A mallet can be used to gently deal with any lumps that might appear.
5. Now another towel or cloth should be placed on top of the layer as to create a sandwich. On top of this place something flat and rigid and then something heavy. You can even walk on it if you want. The goal here is to remove all the excess water.
6. If this is done you can remove the items placed on top. Be careful with the second towel as you do not want it to stick to the pulp. In order to remove the towel on the bottom, you will have to flip it all upside down. Do not try to remove the pulp off the towel.
Then you are left with a big layer of thin paper which needs to dry in the sun. Afterwards all you have to do is cut it into pieces and you’ll have your DIY toilet paper. https://www.survivopedia.com/diy-toilet-paper/

A third grader licked his hand, full tongue, and wiped it on another child's sweater. Me and the PE teacher yelled at him until he cried.

>>113288

Children are disgusting. The major SoCal school districts just suspended classes for 3 weeks. The colleges are going online only in April (though I think that might move up.)

At work we had a meeting to discuss who would have an impact on the business by being gone for 6 weeks.

- PHD's and Masters degrees in the design department? Meh. Send em home.
- Avgas, the A&P Mechanic, supporting production - C R I T I C A L

Or maybe I've got it backwards, I'm the expendable one they can make work, while the PHDs stay home. (And you figure the design department is more of the future of the company, rather than the present.)

We also divided up in to the "A" and "B" teams. The idea that one team would come in on even days and the other on odd. My buddy's work had a much better idea where they'd alternate weeks, but being an electrician and not being able to work from home, he'd just get paid to stay home. There's also the "C" team which covers field and sales people, and they're just outright banned.

I keep volunteering to work from home, since I'm used to working on my laptop from the cab of my field service truck, but the managers are pretty old school and have this idea that people need to be in the office to get stuff done.

>>113289
Well they've had us working from home since Tuesday. Then on Thursday I get a text from the emergency alert system that the plant is completely shutdown for 1st shift, don't come to work. Then 2nd shift. Then Friday and one of the offices too. "For deep cleaning" though "no one has tested positive."

The good news I have plenty of time to practice dry fires now.

>>113291

my company tried split shifts, half people working 6am-2pm, other half 2pm-10pm. Some in management were still "its just the flu bro" and clueless.

Then when our gov. declared a lockdown management said since we're a defense contractor so we're exempt. Nonsense. The stuff we work on has nothing to do with the current situation.

Then they sent out an email saying you can stay home, use vacation time or take unpaid leave. I'm out till the lockdown is over. I've got enough food to last for a month if not more.

Assuming I don't die from the virus, I am leaving the defense industry for good once I either recover from infection or get the vaccine.

>>113301
Bosses be like

>>113301
>we're a defense contractor so we're exempt. Nonsense. The stuff we work on has nothing to do with the current situation.
Ditto. We didn't even get told we're exempt and to come in, they just assumed we would. Which we all did, of course. I was told they were working on getting it set up so I could work from home last week, and now this week it seems like they gave up on that? At least I haven't heard anything else. Most of my coworkers can't work from home anyway. Safety guy at work told us if we all wash our hands we'll be fine. Yeah, sure. I have enough saved to where I'd really just rather not be at work for a month or however long.

>>113158
Looking at the near non existent growth of my 401k for the past 6 years and knowing and considering the incredibly poor average growth of the last 20 years given economic bubbles teamed with government bailouts its feeling like someone has already figured out a way to milk our 401k. The only value I'm getting from mine is really the company match, even reducing the amount of income I earn in the 20% bracket is hardly worth the investment.

>>113302
Grats on your new job finally, we're all slaves of no value, our bosses are just too stupid to realize they are also slaves.


I'm still in PA working this job for a bunch of miserable, old, entitled, shrews that make 6 figures while acting more desperate than a stripper who still hasn't made rent on the 3rd of the month.

On the plus side, being salaried and I guess essential enough. I'm still getting paid. Saved enough money to buy either a small fixer upper house or a few acres of land with cash, probably either in WV or OH near PA, so I can live rent free and set up for early retirement.

In the mean time I've gotten skinny fat and incredibly out of shape from the unhealthy lifestyle this job creates.

>>113328
>we're all slaves of no value
don't put me on your level

I move steel. Ranges from maybe 50 pounds to tons, but I'm new so I don't move the heaviest shit regularly alone.

Funny thing is that I haven't trained with barbells since I started a month ago, and I've put in so much work at this job I feel I could pull a new PR without crazy PR-making ritualz (yes that word is spelled with a -z).

Pulled out of Afghanistan early due to COVID-19. "Force preservation" or some other bullshit. Whatever. That shit was fucking lit and I miss it. C-RAMS, pulling mortar QRF in sick uparmored land cruisers. Not dealing with useless garrison desk jockey motherfuckers.

Out of the mortars, into the arms room as head armorer. Going POG has it's perks, but I'm also working on a 4 day where I should be fishing for catfish in my kayak and later getting Schloshed at my bro's barbecue so this doesn't bode well.

Another year and a half and I'm finally out of Uncle Sam's welfare program for misfit children and back to freeish America. I will never work for the goddamn government again.

Tech question for old men:

I have a .net domain that's expiring soon. My current registrar provides free e-mail addresses but not free web hosting of any kind. Looking to transfer domains for this reason. Anyone been through this process? Is it a PITA? Better yet, can anyone recommend a good registrar that provides free e-mail and small bandwidth hosting for the price of admission?

>>113451
Transferring domains is easy, you unlock it and get the transfer code at your current registrar. On the new reg, there will be something to transfer domains, input the transfer code and then I think it emails the email contact on the domain info.

It's been a while since I messed with it. I use opensrs.com, and they kinda suck by being really damn complicated to renew domains each year. No idea what they do for hosting.

>>113452
Ohh, Opensrs aka Tucows! That's a name I've not heard in a long time.

Their sales funnel for individuals is called Hover and they exclusively deal in domains, with zero addons (save maybe e-mail I'm not sure). :'(

I tell you, I'm looking for such a micro solution that literally if I knew a tech in a datacenter I'd be like, hey man, give me a small instance.

Something like 1gb (the smallest increment I believe might be available) storage for one domain name. And no ads. I write my own web pages and each is like 2kb! So you can see how paying $30 a year for hosting when no one goes to my web site anyway is somewhat irksome.

>>113453
Still looking if any of you have any ideas.

I'm a pot farmer, It's easy work, and it's honest in my state.

I got back home last Friday after five weeks with my army reserve unit. We played in the sand in sunny Fort Irwin (OPFOR fragged our commander twice. He was not happy). Before we left home station, the company leadership printed off a thick stack of licenses for every vic in the company and issued them to every Joe from fuzzies to specialists. A few NCOs too. I am licensed on five vehicles, the lightest of which is 70,000lbs. I have driven two of them around the motor pool, I have ridden in another, and two I have never touched. I have completed the required day driving, night driving, and road test for zero of them. A lot of people were driving over wadis and gulches and shit at Fort Irwin some of whom were driving their respective vic for the first time. They attempted black out driving with NVGs one night. The convoy didn't even make it out of the AA when our two buffalos (massive top-heavy route clearance vehicles) smashed into each other. This does not sit well with me. I have a license certifying I got the training I needed with these things. If I transfer or cross level, I'll have a 'toon sarnt that expects me to know what I am doing.
I feel like the right thing to do is go to battalion. I asked for advice from my acting team leader ("won't do shit."), my father, an army veteran ("use your chain of command. They'll sweep it under the rug. But you did your due diligence."), and a disinterested NCO from another unit ("Anonymous report to IG. Don't put your name on shit."), and all seem to think an actual, earnest report to higher will be, at best fruitless, and at worst self-inflicted career suicide. Is this the kind of thing that usually gets pencil whipped in the army? Am I just being a pussy about the license thing? Advice?

>>113541
This sounds like exactly the thing I would expect from the military. Really any big organization. Someone high up says "We need all of our people qualified". The middle manager has to make it happen, so they pencil whip it.

This is the good shit that comes up in court after someone gets killed and their family writes to a senator.

In the corporate world this stuff is taken more seriously, and as you mentioned there are anonymous ethics compliance hotlines and shit like that. For the military, I don't know, and I'll let someone with dot-mil experience chime in.

>>113541

anonymous IG report is the way to go. It'll get it fixed and you probably won't get fucked. Don't tell anyone you did it :)

>>113544
This.

First it's your platoon driving around the test area, next it's some goon getting a CDL licence and learning how to drive haulage on the highway.

Today is a special day for me, for it is the day that I have made my two thousandths firearm.

Feels good man.

>>113585
Lets have an International Coffees moment!!

>>113586
ok but i'm running out of baileys

  >>113585 >>113587
Well done sir.

I suppose I haven't updated in a while, cause, well nothing much happens. I've been working from home since March, which has been pretty awesome. I work at HQ and the test cells I support are in another state and in another country, so except for not seeing my coworkers, it doesn't matter where I am. I do meetings and spreadsheets. Just delivered a big training presentation I've been working on for months and it went pretty well.

Absolutely nothing happened on Monday and Tuesday, so I watched Donut Media car videos on youtube and shopped for Miata parts. Tuesday at 16:30 one of the engineers asks me to help him research some running data, then at 17:00 the test cells call up with an issue. So that's how it goes with a salary job.

Haven't been shooting since I left Maryland. With as fucked as ammo is now and COVID protocols, I don't even care to try.

Been doing Track Days with the Miata. That's been going great. Just put in a couple of racing seats and harnesses. I've been teaching my nephew how to work on cars and he rode along for the last event. He's having a good ol' time. (He was going to ride along for the autocross, but that track wasn't allowing passengers, for any reason, due to the 'rona.)

In the video, the run was going extremely well, until the money shift. Was at the top of 2nd gear and I went for 3rd. A couple of times that day the shifter kinda jammed up, but managed to get it into 3rd. This time it went into 1st. As soon as I started to let the clutch out we started to spin. Fortunately, as soon as we started to spin, I pushed the clutch back in, and we *only* revved to 7000 rpm, which is the normal redline for this engine. I figured at 55 mph that would have been 10,000 rpm in 1st, if I'd have let the clutch out all of the way.

For the whole day I couldn't figure out what happened. We're driving, everything is great, then some kinda shifting problem, then we're spinning. The next day, watching the video, is when I figured it out. No damage to the car or gearbox.

So I still couldn't figure out why it happened. I've got a good 8 years of daily driving manual cars. I did a bit of research on the miata forums and apparently this was pretty common due to worn out engine mounts. Under heavy loads, the engine can move around enough to where the gearbox and 3rd gear weren't where my right hand thought they should be.

I ordered some new, stiffer, engine mounts which we'll slap in this weekend.

>>113213
Hydrogen Peroxide kills viruses.
Cloroxide (liquid bleach) kills viruses.
They're both also unstable, highly reactive, and revert to more stable compounds if you look at them wrong.
Should you, for some reason, mix the two, the immediate and vigorous reaction turns H2O2 and ClO into O2, Cl2 (chlorine gas), and H2O. Two previously virus killing substances in combination are rendered completely harmless to viruses.
But try explaining to admin that the two stage classroom disinfecting procedure they pulled out of their ass is completely ineffective, and I get told "just keep doing it this way." So instead of spraying all the desks with a peroxide based sanitizer right before Mike with the mister comes through spraying dilute bleach everywhere, I've just started wiping desks with a wet rag and keeping it between me and mike. Fucking "educators".

>>113591
Mike's a bro.

A lot can change in a year, and this company has been off-ramped a few times in the past, and we haven't been officially informed, but from what LT told us this weekend, this time next year...

>>113593
America's Fun New Imperialism(tm). But it's not new anymore. And fun? Well.. just depends on who's asked.

Put in an application as a forestry aid with the USDA. It's a position on a fire crew, the "unskilled labor" part of fighting wildfires. It takes a lot of people to clear fire lines, and fedgov doesn't want to pay firefighter wages and pensions to all of them.

>>113593
More info came in. It's looking like Kuwait now. Might get whored out by platoon to units in Iraq and Syria. Might fuck around all deployment. No telling.

11 more months and I can get out of this fucking hell. Army was going to shit, Covid pumped the gas.

The wife and I have been looking at isolated properties so I can finally become the crazy anti-government homesteader I need to be. Starting to put out some feelers for basic part time jobs while I go to school. Might go back to Cabela's. Shit sucked, but now I know, it gets much, much worse.

>>113541
I know this was months ago but welcome to big green my guy. First time I ever drove with NODS it was a 3 hour movement with full cloud cover leading a fucking convoy with the battalion commander in the vehicle behind me during mountain peak which is 10th Mountain's baby JRTC. One of my dismounts, a new private in the mortars asks "hey man how can you see the road?" "I can't." They tried giving me an AAM because I dodged hella C-wire that nobody else could see lol.

I'm a company armorer now and I no shit am on a driving detail 4 out of 5 days a week if not more because I'm licensed on so much shit it won't fit on my license and I have to carry two more full pages around with me. I've never taken a goddamn driving class in my life. It's shitty as fuck, but not many people have mowed down a goddamn forest with an up armored like me back when I was a real fucking soldier. Gotta just roll with it and get out of this chickenshit outfit.


>>113639
Kuwait was pretty dope pre-covid en route to Afghan. Fucking TRASH coming back through during the lockdowns. Hope it's improved since then bru, otherwise you're going in a giant warehouse with hundreds of cots, 6 electrical outlets that someone will short out with the wrong plug and 2 broken showers and 3 portajohns while enjoying them spinach fettuccine mres.

I'm on night shift and the only way to get a day shift position seems to be get a new job. I applied to over a dozen places in the past week. Wish me luck.

>>113669

I wish you good ruck.

>>113670
Thanks fren. I had a voicemail from some Indian guy about an interview (from a # local to me), but I couldn't understand a damn thing he said so I ignored it. My logic is if a company wanted to hire someone, they'd make sure to have someone who spoke understandable English call potential candidates. Or maybe it was a scam, who know?

>>113674
>(from a # local to me)
100% a scam. use of "local numbers" is done by caller ID spoofing. I've even gotten a call from my own number before, and one time an AT&T scam call from someone spoofing a legit AT&T customer service number. Or, if you get a call from a 'real' person asking why you called them first, it's because a scammer but spoofed a call to show your number on someone else's caller ID)and the unwitting dupe called your number back at a later time, not realizing the original caller was from India or Bangladesh.

>>113674
>(from a # local to me)
100% a scam. use of "local numbers" is done by caller ID spoofing. I've even gotten a call from my own number before, and one time an AT&T scam call from someone spoofing a legit AT&T customer service number. Or, if you get a call from a 'real' person asking why you called them first, it's because a scammer originally called them and left a voicemail (while spoofing your number on their caller ID) and the unwitting dupe called your number back not realizing the original caller was from India or Bangladesh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID_spoofing

>>113677
It was a legit call actually. I picked up after a 2nd call and he had info on a job, that won't pay what I want. I did have another job recruiter call me about something that I'm interested in, so hopefully I'll hear more next week.

Any of you lot unemployed? I see hiring signs everywhere for legit work near ORD - the airport being the logistics hub that it is - and I found a regular job from being a good worker on a gig.

The job itself is a 9 out of 10. The people are all my kinds of coworkers, the work itself is physical enough for my liking.

We had an impromptu pull-up contest using the forklift with the owner of the company participating in, and would you believe it, winning it? I came not dead last!

It's better to be fortunate than wise, they say. And sometimes they're spot on about things.

Pic not related, except for shouldn't there be a transgendered transvestite transylvanian (of color) included in it though?

>>113778
>Pic not related, except for shouldn't there be a transgendered transvestite transylvanian (of color) included in it though?
HolyshitIamjustkidding

>>113778
Isn't that in the People's Republic of Illinoistan? Ew.

Work has been hectic. They usually got two daytime janitors, but the last several weeks, I've been it. They've run me ragged. This week, I've cleaned up every bodily fluid except cerebrospinal. My boss is struggling to hire a new guy and I know why. Every retailer and fastfood restaurant has hiring signs in the window, and they are offering more than we are. The way things are going, I am looking forward to a nice relaxing war in a couple months. If indeed there is any war to be had in CENTCOM these days. Until very recently, casualties in both Aghanistan and Iraq have been very low. If we have anything to do depends on whether or not recent events emboldens ISIS and others beyond Afghanistan.

I feel my days at my fun job are numbered. It's been a pretty fun ride, I've made a lot of guns, but now the future of my work is in the hands of a higher power than mine. I don't know how long it'll last, it could be weeks, months, maybe a year or two.

Basically the same as 1 year ago.

>>113588

Still working from home.

I swapped a 2.5L engine from a Ford Fusion into my Miata and put in some cams. Runs awesome. Best mod I've done to the car. More track days.

Got the nephew an RX-8 so we've been working on that. It absolutely amazes me when people do shit work on their own cars. The car would leak gasoline when over half a tank. We figured out it was the gasket sealing the fuel pump into the tank. Whoever worked on it previously (the Mazda dealer, it seems) rolled the X shaped gasket while installing it, so it just pissed fuel onto the ground. The replacement gasket was $80!!

One day I noticed the passenger seat seemed kind of loose, so upon further investigation, it was only held in by 2 of the 4 bolts. I find one of the bolts on the floor, go to install it, and the threads into the floor were boogered up. So I buy the appropriate tap, retap the hole, and install the bolt.

The previous owner put his wife and kids in this car.

Also probably why his wife wanted him to get rid of the car, lol.

I had a 87 RX-7 non turbo back in the day, and I've had that rotor shaped defect in my brain ever since. The RX-8 is fun as fuck to drive.

>>113788
I have been gone for half a month. The school is still without a janitor. Various teachers aids have had to pick up the slack. Since my absence, I'm told they've been losing an alarming number of staff.

It's been confirmed we're going somewhere cool. Looking forward to doing our real job instead of LARPing in the desert.

I came back just to say I finally got a new job.

>>113816
Well done bro.

Omicron has been going around Kuwait hot and heavy, and I got it. On quarters. I feel guilty that others now need to pick up the slack. This Omicron shit has been pretty mild. Symptoms began to dissipate before I even took the test.

>>113873
Had the Delta over Xmas, shit was rough but I'm still here.

Friend had Omicron and essentially no sold it, like mild tickley cough. The bastard, I was written off for 2 weeks.

We spent the night out at the demo range earlier this month. First time in my years with this company we got a demo day. Anyway, I was in the back of a MMPV racked out on the floor with another soldier. A common arrangement in a route clearance platoon, but he is a transfer from a sapper unit. I tried explaining to him we usually sleep head to foot to optimize our limited space. He just got right up next to me though. Fuck it, whatever. Neither of us had our sleep systems (long boring story), but I had layers on and I shared my woobie. He got pretty cozy. It was cold and I didn't give a shit.
I cannot stress enough how ordinary it is for me to sleep snuggled up next to other engineers in tight quarters. Never been a problem. Males, females, rank differences, no issue. Get in where you fit in.
I woke up in the middle of the night with an erection and this dude rubbing my dick through my pants. I wish I had beat the shit out of him. I wish I had Donkey Kong down-B'd his ass until the staff sergeant in the front seat put me in a choke hold. Life would be simpler now.
Instead I feigned half asleep and brushed him away. He gently put a leg over mine lime we were lovers, then started groping me again. So then I had to "wake up", stretch out, check my watch, and generally signal to him that I was awake and alert.
He made a couple lines of small talk and asked if my sleeping position was comfortable. Then he asked "is this okay" and patted my crotch. He knew that I knew what he'd been doing. I told him no. He reacted with shock (real or feigned) and profuse apologies that went unaccepted. He put up a hammock and slept six inches above me. At the time I thought, cool. I get the whole floor, and went back to sleep.
I was more concerned with how our demo charges would perform in the morning than any emotional fallout.
Pic is part of a metal pole we blew in half with a diamond charge.

>>113909
Two days later, I made the mistake of telling my wife. She was emotionally fucking destroyed. Sobbing, missed two days of work, fucking devastated. Kinda threw me off guard.
She wanted me to press charges. Not excusing what he did, but a light groping with no physical evidence and no witnesses won't even lead to a loss in rank, much less a full prosecution. In word on word, the defendant wins. I was not going to bring CID down on my platoon for no possible gain.
She demanded counseling. Non-negotiable. So, I went to our company level victim advocate and filed a restricted report. This got me access to counseling as frequently as I want. As an added benefit, our victim advocate pulled strings to keep me from going down range with the creepy little weirdo. I can get through the work day here in kuwait, but I do not want him around me with loaded mags. I have no plans to hurt him, but I don't know where his head is at, nor do I trust him to have my 6.
So far the worst of it is problems with my wife. She can't understand why I still want a full military career. Her position is that I am accepting a system that tacitly allows sexual misconduct and assault. My position is that I will not allow one scrawny shitbag to run me out of the only occupation I have ever genuinely enjoyed. She sees the impasse as unresolvable. Even talks of leaving. She is in a very bad way.
Pic is a picket that was packed with C4 for use as an improvised bangalore. It is greatly reduced in mass as the material in direct contact with the explosive disintegrated.

>>113909
>>113910
Sorry that happened to you, and that your wife is making it about her.

>>113910
Oh man, sorry to hear about this. I think you're right for wanting to stay with the Army. Sounds like you like the structured and clear-cut nature suits you. Keep working it through the victim advocate.

As for the wife, it sounds like she's having a hard time with you being gone and this is just a trigger for it.

Hang in there bro.

>>113910
>I have no plans to hurt him
just gonna let him keep on pulling that act on other folks? why do you think you ended up stuck with a faggot like that to begin with? everyone else down the line before you was also too cowardly to confront the faggot. faggots and fag enablers larping as soldiers.

>>113909
>>113910
Lol, tell your wife to chill out. It's your problem to handle, not hers.
Also now you're gay whether yo like it or not.

>>113920
>>113919
All soldiers are gay.

>>113925
It's not gay if it's in combat boots.