tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84571269796275870542024-03-12T18:31:29.488-07:00freedom! yay!Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-10178934855141557122014-02-16T07:48:00.002-08:002014-02-16T07:48:26.922-08:00Y U so sexist? Watching the Olympics, there's a commercial for McDonald's chocolate covered strawberry frappe.<br />
"Any woman's day can be made better by..."<br />
No.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-35218351757573570422014-02-03T18:20:00.000-08:002014-02-03T18:24:35.224-08:00ReadingI've been a reader all my life. Like many outcasts, books were my friends, they wouldn't reject me or hurt me, and so I got to be a very good reader, not just in speed but in depth. Often, when I'm reading something critically, I'll be looking for what the author is not saying as much as what he is saying.<br />
So it's really not a surprise to me that when I took a speed reading test, I came out above average, but just how above average kinda makes my jaw drop.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/technology-research-centers/ereaders/speed-reader/index.html"><img alt="ereader test" src="http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/technology-research-centers/ereaders/images/static-ereader.png" height="300" title="Click to launch" width="230" /></a><br />
Source: <a href="http://www.staples.com/E-readers/cat_CL164364">Staples eReader Department</a></div>
<br />
<br />
So. Yeah. Should I feel accomplished or something? Because what I feel is sorta sad.<br />
Edit: And now I feel kinda big headed too, since I thought my score was going to be in that infographic. Well. I read at about 637 words per minute, which is 155% the national average.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-83650424863885361252014-01-27T08:10:00.000-08:002014-01-27T08:10:47.183-08:00It's been a long while.<br />
I'm not in the Navy anymore. I finished my enlistment and was discharged honorably.<br />
I've been floating for a few months, dealing with my own issues. The last few months of being in the Navy were pretty horrible, disappointing, and depressing.<br />
I really wanted to reenlist, see? I had done all the paperwork and was waiting on the bureaucracy to approve it, and the Command Career Counselor told me that if I waited, then I'd get this big bonus.<br />
He lied, it wasn't possible.<br />
I was discharged on Oct 1, 2012, the first day of the government shutdown, and it was a helluva day to try to get anything done.<br />
Mostly, I wanted to curl up and disappear.<br />
<br />
I've been sick lately, with a cough and congestion and general lassitude that makes me sleep like a cat. I've lost weight at an unhealthy pace, and while I've been pushing fluids, it's been a week and I'm only just beginning to feel better.<br />
<br />
So. I guess I'm alright, all being told. I'm warm and safe, I have food. Things could be much worse. Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-66893986350159160792008-02-18T18:42:00.000-08:002008-02-18T19:08:10.214-08:00love and logisitics in the land of nukesBeing around people that think of themselves as particularly smart actually kinda sucks. When everyone thinks they're special, a number of assholes emerge. Like people who think they're so smart, they can break the rules and get away with it.<br /><br />A class, three days from graduation, got masted. They broke the rules and were found out, and were publicly humiliated. And for what, drinking underage. And then some especially stupid people went out and got drunk, underage, that day. And got masted. This is a huge thing at this command, they do not tolerate underage drinking at all. They don't even like us going into Spencer's, because there's drug paraphernalia sold there. There's a hookah bar downtown, and someone got masted because she took pictures of herself smoking out of a hookah. Tobacco, not anything illegal. There's a bit of rebellion with people carrying around spoons and rolled up dollar bills. It's just stupid. They tell you not to do something, so don't do it. Aren't people here supposed to be smart?<br /><br />And yet, there are a few people of good character here. I went out with some acquaintances last night, and one of them picked up the check for me, because that's how he is. I ordered an alcoholic drink, and the waiter gave us two straws. He didn't even touch it, because he's underage. I like him. He keeps himself above reproach.<br /><br />I'm engaged. To someone on the other side of the country, also in the Navy. I understand that I'll probably see him for a grand total of a month a year. I love him, and I miss him. And I understand that this is the way I will feel for most of the time while I'm in the Navy. My class graduates on May 30, and he deploys for a six month cruise of the Persian Gulf the day after. This is how it'll be. Damn, this sucks.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-80176342421796426902007-12-28T13:12:00.000-08:002007-12-28T18:21:09.707-08:00I made it out of bootcamp......And honestly, it was a joke. We were our Chief's last division, and he totally babied us. Even other divisions were like... wtf, you go to the phone center once a week and get candy and red bulls?<br /><br />What's to congratulate? The ability to run a mile and a half in 14 minutes? Gaining military bearing? Not bursting into tears when I was yelled at (which was often, because I have a hard time keeping my mouth physically closed)? I mean, the worst thing that happened was one of the chiefs yelled at me a few times for having hair in my eyes, got frustrated with my inability to do so, took a pair of scissors and cut the offending lock off. Though I won't forget the expression on her face, the first time she told me to get my hair out of my face, and I tucked that stupid lock behind my ear, and it promptly fell back in front of my face.<br /><br />I really wanted to get beaten every day, get stronger, that sort of thing. Instead, bootcamp was a classroom-intensive, sleep-deprived (I averaged 4 hours a night, for various reasons) struggle to get things right and pay attention to detail. The physical aspect was almost an afterthought. And for the most part, I had fun. My division did well, earned all our honors (so maybe there was a reason for the phone calls and the red bulls.) But I still wonder if I would've had the same perspective if I had been in my brother division.<br /><br />Here at Nuke school, though, PT is not an afterthought. And the chaplain leads it. we usually do ten of an exercise, uhh, kinda goes like this:<br />Chaplain: One!<br />Nukes: Navy!<br />Chaplain:Two!<br />Nukes: Navy!<br />...<br />Chaplain: Ten!<br />Nukes: Nuke Powah!<br />Chaplain: Hooyah Nuke Powah!<br />Nukes: Hooyah Nuke Powah!<br />Chaplain: Hooyah Chaplain Corps!<br />Nukes: Hooyah Chaplain Corps!<br />Chaplain: It seems some of you can't count/like your R's too much/whatever he didn't like.<br /><br />(yeah, he made us do the exercise again because someone said "nuke power" with a hard r. <img src="http://www.outpostnine.com/forum/images/smilies/duh.gif" alt="" title="Duh" class="inlineimg" border="0" />)<br /><br />And the classes are pretty intense. I like it here. I'm happy. It's crazy.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-41740003003119900792007-09-25T11:24:00.000-07:002007-09-25T11:36:19.490-07:00that wedding -- that assholeSo, my friend had her wedding recently. She had decided to have a fairly small wedding on a boat on a lake. Unfortunately, the waves were pretty choppy for marching down the aisle. I was the last to go before them, and I heard her father tell her that if she started to fall, he was just going to let go.<br /><br />Granted, he is an old man -- older than 3/4 of my grandparents -- and he isn't in the best health. But just letting go of your only daughter if she happens to loose her balance on her wedding day seems awfully assholish.<br /><br />Fortunately, no one fell, and the biggest catastrophe was that someone had misplaced the forks for the wedding cake.<br /><br />But now I can see why she's waiting for him to kick the bucket.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-42281618857036139022007-09-11T05:28:00.000-07:002007-09-11T06:26:31.587-07:00Six yearsToday, I'm certain that there's somebody at Ground Zero in NYC exercising their right to freedom of speech by proclaiming that 9/11 is a massive government conspiracy. More than likely, there's a group of them, and they're handing their propaganda out. Lots of people aren't going to like what they have to say, and will probably tell that to them too. It might come to shouting, but if no one throws a punch, no one is going to get arrested. This is the US, that's the way we roll.<br /><br />Today, there's someone out there who's proclaiming that we should probably just "nuke em all," without the depth of insight that our country would again be guilty of genocide. Wouldn't it be foolish to wipe out a whole region of the world, poison it with radiation, just to satisfy a lust for blood and revenge?<br /><br />Today, there's someone protesting the War in Iraq. Perhaps they'll say that we're killing Iraqis there... and they wouldn't be entirely wrong. Something like 225 Iraqi civilians have died in 2006 as a result of US actions. Some <span style="font-weight: bold;">16,791</span> Iraqis have been killed by terrorist actions in the same year. I'm reminded of a line from <span style="font-style: italic;">Reading Lolita in Tehran</span>, where the author passing by posters, and one of them says, "The more we die, the stronger we become." What the hell kind of logic is that?<br /><br />Today, there is a large, quiet gathering at Arlington National Cemetery. Maybe someone's brought a picnic to spend the day there in memory of their loved one. Maybe someone else will yell at them for irreverence. Or not.<br /><br />But I imagine that almost everyone today sits and thinks about what they were doing, where they were six years ago, at least for a few minutes. I know that I can't forget, though I was hardly the person who I am now then.<br /><br /><br />I suppose the same could be said, of the whole world.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-28145336341042561932007-09-08T13:11:00.000-07:002007-09-08T14:50:24.224-07:00The Last DEP Meeting, or Today I Blame MyselfI had my last Delayed Entry Program meeting today. It was surprisingly academic; the recruiters mostly asked us questions about things you should know before you go to boot camp. That part was easy, since everything is in my mind pretty firmly. Then we went outside and had a little fun, running relay on a soccer field. One of the recruiters challenged us to complete it in under 20:00 -- giving us each about a 1:30 to complete our leg.<br /><br />Physically, I'll say that I'm average to above average. I can push out the required push-ups easily, the sit-ups are a breeze. But running? I'm not so sure if I can make the required 15:00 mark for a mile and a half.<br /><br />So my turn comes up, and I ran at an easy loose pace until the last 100 yards or so. I dug deep and sprinted as hard as I can, and my muscles felt like jelly. And about 12 feet from the tag-off line, my jelly-muscles say, "nope, we're not going to support you!" and I fall on my ass. The recruiter that I was running with asked if I was okei, (yes) and offered a hand to help me up. I jogged back, tagged off, and walked around with my hands on my head, stomach revolting and feeling as though I might pass out.<br /><br />We missed the 20:00 mark, by five seconds -- about how long I was on the ground. No one else fell, no one else pushed themselves so hard that they hated themselves after it was done. No. If I hadn't literally pushed myself to the limit, we probably would've made the mark. my team failed because I didn't acknowledge this.<br /><br />For this, I completely blame myself.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-74629415571366979512007-09-01T06:58:00.000-07:002007-09-01T06:59:07.383-07:00Religion of peace?<span style="font-family:Arial;color:#800000;"><p><a href="http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/"><br /><img border="0" alt="Thousands of Deadly Islamic Terror Attacks Since 9/11" src="http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/TROP.jpg" /> </a></p><br /></span>Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-60176953808208054322007-08-30T12:26:00.001-07:002007-08-30T12:53:57.231-07:00Catchphrase for V -- and coundown timeI dunno if you're allowed to "win" more than once, but what the hell.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.violentacres.com/archives/150/ongoing-catchphrase-contest">Your pain does not make you special.</a><br /><br /><br />I've started counting the days until I leave, literally. 32. I ship out Oct 2nd. (and my b-day is a week later, that's going to be "fun.")<br /><br />I'm not worried anymore. Maybe writing had a cathartic effect. Yeah, I'll blame it on that. And I gave my notice at the mcjob. I've changed subtly -- I roll out of bed and I want to go for a run, I want to do 50 push-ups in a minute, I want to recite my 11 general orders in phonetic alphabet.<br /><br />Sweet zombie jesus, I'm crazy...Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-80447622589438630162007-08-22T13:20:00.000-07:002007-08-26T15:21:45.303-07:00Dream a dreamThere is a certain doubt, internally, when I consider my fitness for the Navy. I've had three brothers go to boot camp, but none have graduated. This, by itself, gives me more pause than mother's passive-aggressive campaign to convince me to believe I will fail. Granted, this was a different time -- these brothers are all 30+ now, and they enlisted in the late 80s. Still, I wonder what was so irreconcilable with who they are and military life. I'm more anxious about this than anything else.<br /><br />Family lore has it that they couldn't shoot. I... don't believe this. All of them have better eyesight than I do, and in arcade games, I usually hit what I'm aiming at 50% of the time. Not exactly the best indicator of my shooting ability, but I've never shot a real gun before. Although one of my brothers has admitted to doing "something" to an Army captain that made his separation more expedient.<br /><br />I'll probably be fine. I try not to think about this too often, still it's kinda worrying.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-63977976147672994082007-07-25T16:06:00.000-07:002007-07-25T16:27:22.661-07:00weddingA friend of mine has asked me to be maid of honor for her wedding, and I accepted. We had a nice, long chat and I asked her what color dress she's wearing.<br /><br />She's always been a dark sort of person. She wrote a book where no one has more than one redeeming quality. Once, a group of our friends dressed up in dark robes, went to a cemetery and had pizza delivered, and after eating the pizza, we picked up the garbage until the police came to scare us off. She's decided that rather than having a proper "wedding night," she's going to invite the whole wedding party back to the suite, hang a "do not disturb" sign outside, and likely jump on the beds and play with the jacuzzi and make a lot of noise. (her fiancé has the same sort of personality. This is going to be a fun wedding) And she hates white.<br /><br />So I fully expected her dress to be blood red or even black. So I was surprised when she said it was white. Apparently, her mom threw a fit when she said she wanted a black wedding dress. So they had a trade-off, she gets a themed wedding in a white dress for her mother's... non-bickeringness?<br /><br />Whatever makes her happy, I guess.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-22053023641086467542007-07-18T10:38:00.000-07:002007-07-18T11:05:33.419-07:00Intelligent designAbout once a day when I work in drive-thru, I get someone who almost drives pass my window, and probably would if I didn't holler "hello!" at them. Often then, they'll comment on the poor design of the drive-thru. I mean... heh, looks like I'm going to have to do some exposition.<br /><br />There are three ways to enter the parking lot at my McDonald's. Two of them can get you to drive-thru easily, but one other makes you circle the building so you can order. Also, you can't see the window that I work at from very far down the line, because it's around a corner. Besides the window I often work at and the window where the food is handed out, there's another window. We have it covered by a curtain, but sometimes people still stop there and I'll have to hang out the window to wave them down.<br /><br />The poor design of this McDonald's is not merely relegated to the exterior; it also has quite a bit of wasted space, not much storage, a grill that is too small of the volume of business we do, and my personal favorite, only one stall in the women's bathroom. In fairness, there's only one in the men's too, but they also have a urinal. It was built on a crawl space rather than a foundation, and there are cracks in the floor if you look closely. And, the dining room is too small. I say, jokingly, that this McDonald's is evidence that there is no such thing as intelligent design. And the owner agrees with me. He's having it torn down and rebuilt like a "normal" McDonald's.<br /><br />Hey, Mr. Owner, be sure not to give the contract for designing this place to the same company that give you this shitty design in the first place, mmmkay?<br /><br />Chances are, it'll still be closed when I graduate from boot camp. It'll make things nice and complicated when the Navy guys show up to interview my superiors and coworkers for my security clearance and find a building site. Heh. I might spend a month or two doing more shit jobs because they can't easily find people to interview.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-75269393605710355922007-07-10T11:45:00.000-07:002007-07-10T12:59:13.966-07:00Letter to motherDear mother,<br />So, you went through my stuff and found my birth control. I almost want to congratulate you, since this is the most you've found out about me since I was seven. Which, judging by your reaction, is about your age.<br /><br />I'm not really angry. I'm too lazy to be angry. I expected you to break your promise sooner or later, because you've broken similar promises in the past. I had hoped that you wouldn't, but like Dr. Phil says, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.<br /><br />I guess I'm sad. I had hoped that you would actually talk to me. No, listen to me. I've done a lot of listening for you. It feels as though I've been your emotional garbage can, that you talk to me in order to get it off of you, rather than dealing with it. What's more, I want you to care about what I think and how I feel, since I've come to the conclusion that caring about thoughts and feelings is the hallmark of real love. I know you won't find that in your bible, so perhaps that doesn't mean anything to you.<br /><br />I can remember times that you've shrieked at me to "grow up." Now that I am an adult, I find a sort of irony in it. I mean, you're throwing a fit because I'm not behaving like you think I should behave. I wonder what Grandma would think if she saw you like that. I think that you got to point in life where you decided that you didn't need to grow anymore, so you just stopped. Oh, certainly you have grown older, but you have consistently chosen not to learn from what happens.<br /><br />I know, I know, you've been hurt. I have heard you tell the tale many times, relishing the hurt, the details, the pain. Mother, your pain does not make you special. Pain happens to everyone, and I could point out numerous examples of people who have been through the same traumas that you have, some even worse, and have come out of it to live successful lives, with a better sense of perspective. I imagine many more have taken your route, to blame the world, everyone around them, shove off the responsibility of growth on other people. It is the easy way. The coward's way.<br /><br />Yes, I think you are an emotional coward. Accepting the past, then letting it go was the hardest thing I've done. But, it's given me an incredible freedom... a detachment from my pain. I can look at what has happened, and see oh, perhaps that's why it happened, and gain understanding. Yes someone did a horrible thing to you. Someone did a horrible thing to you <span style="font-weight: bold;">45 years ago</span>. It's as though you are stuck at that age. Maybe you are, emotionally.<br /><br />Then, you had kids. You had a responsibility to be supportive and caring and nurturing. But, you weren't; you aren't, just listen to yourself and the disparaging way you talk about most subjects that my siblings and I bring up. Anything uncomfortable gets a one-sentence treatment. The talk about sex went: "Sex is for marriage." The talk about birth control: "Some women just can't say no." There's no information in those statements, no caring, no love.<br /><br />So, you've found my birth control. Rather than behaving like you care about me, you try to rip me to pieces. I can't tell you how sad it makes me feel when you behave like this. I wish you had some self-awareness, to listen to what you're saying and imagine how you'd feel if you were called a whore by your mother. I will obey you and your rules, in letter if not in spirit.<br /><br />I think I've cried enough tears over this.<br /><br />your daughter,<br />Tactical GraceTactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-51130812280792717322007-07-04T14:29:00.000-07:002007-07-04T14:49:46.732-07:00[i] do something to [/i] support the troopsYou know, I dislike the yellow ribbon magnets people have on their cars that say, "support our troops." I wonder what people [i]do[/i] to support our troops. Hey, I work in drive-thru! Let's ask people!<br /><br />Most people say they have them on to support a relative who's in the military. Okei. What do you do to support this relative? The answer usually end up in the "uhhh..." department. Some of them do write and send care packages on a regular basis, but most, don't. To me, it seems that the magnet amounts to telling people if you happen to meet a service member, you won't spit on them. I imagine that it might be comforting to Vietnam vets, but on the whole, I think it's a wimpy position.<br /><br />And it's not as if it's difficult to adopt a service member. You could head over to anysoldier.com, pick the last person who updated, and just write letters, tell jokes, that sort of thing. No obligation to send care packages or meet them at the airport. The cushiest job in Iraq doesn't compare with being home, and generally speaking, a letter that comes off as "It's rough out there, and maybe I can cheer you up a bit" is as good as a box full of hooah bars. Maybe better.<br /><br />So if you have a bumpersticker on your car, spend the $0.37 and the time to actually support our troops. It's much more appreciated.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-73538600591346335732007-06-09T15:27:00.000-07:002007-06-14T11:43:48.977-07:00maturity<div style="text-align: left;">I've recently been obsessing over a single sentence VA wrote : <a href="http://www.violentacres.com/archives/198/where-are-the-baby-factories-on-livejournal-of-course">Children are the only people on this planet who can seriously claim 100% victim status. </a><br /><br />It's got me thinking, is claiming to be a victim a kind of immaturity? I mean, shit happens to everyone. I doubt that there's a single person that has had a life free from emotional pain, but you don't learn from the experience by wallowing in it. I think part of maturity is being able to handle and control your emotions. The question is, then, when are you going to stop letting the past control you?<br /><br />Let's apply this at a large scale. I imagine that many of the problems in Palestine arise from a communal victim status. (Caution: broad and sweeping generalizations ahead) Jews feel victimized because of the Holocaust, and Palestinians feel victimized because their fathers' land was taken from them.<br /><br />Firstly, I'm not saying we should forget the Holocaust or The UN Partition Plan. <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><a href="http://www.violentacres.com/archives/198/where-are-the-baby-factories-on-livejournal-of-course"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></a><br /><br />I'm saying that no one's life should be controlled by what's happened in the past.<br /><br />I wonder, and suspect that I'm right, that blowing up yourself is an incredibly immature way of proving your point. The abbreviated scenario goes like this: "You're not listening to me! I'm not getting my way! WAHH I'm going to blow myself up and take take some of you along with me! BOOM!" Again, I know I'm massively generalizing, and I know that generally isn't not [i]that[/i] impulsive, but sheesh, that's what it amounts to. Riots are also generally massive orgies of immaturity. You know, I really wonder when the Middle East is going to grow up...<br /><a href="http://www.violentacres.com/archives/198/where-are-the-baby-factories-on-livejournal-of-course"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></a></div>Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-5551994101053153482007-05-23T16:48:00.000-07:002007-05-23T17:33:10.908-07:00Drive-through ettiquetteI think that there are quite a few people that are inadvertently rude while giving their orders in drive-through. Some suggestions seem to be common sense, others are less so.<br /><br />1. Diction. Seriously, there are times when I can barely understand customers for lack of diction. Ive changed "Hi-C" into "Iced Tea," and on one occasion, a small sprite became a small fry. And speak slowly! Over the intercom, speaking too quickly is one of the best things you can do to damage your understandability. Slow down, and make your consonants crisp, please.<br /><br />2. Have an idea of what you want before your start ordering. Even if it's vague, I can list the choices we have in that category. Say, you want a salad though you're not sure what kinds the store offers or what's in them; a good drive-through order-taker should be able to describe the different kinds of salad fairly quickly. Don't get me wrong, I know that sometimes you need to look at the menu board to see the prices or narrow your decision, but please, don't sit in drive through looking at the menu board for more than a minute or so.<br /><br />3. Turn your windshield wipers down if it's raining. This isn't obvious, but when your windshield wipers are on high, often they'll throw the water off of your windshield and onto whoever happens to be next to you. It sucks working in drive-through when it's raining just because of this.<br /><br />4. Please don't yell. Try to speak in a calm, low tone. Even though the volume is up on the speaker outside, you don't need to match its volume for me to hear you. Speaking voice is good, if you know command voice, that is better. Screaming and shouting aren't good.<br /><br />5. If it takes you more than thirty seconds to find exact change, don't bother. Exact change is nice, but celerity is better. If you have pennies to make it to the next quarter, dime, or nickel, that's more than adequate. Also, if you want to pay exclusively in change, please don't come at lunchtime or around 8 in the morning, because chances are, there will be a line at least three cars long behind you. Ideally, we're supposed to go from order to handing the food to you in less than 90 seconds, and giving me five dollars in mixed change at lunch is more than just annoying. It's going to take you and those other people that much longer to get to the food.<br /><br />6. This is a personal preference, but if you're going to thank your order taker while at the speaker, say "thanks" rather than "thank you." Over the speaker, "thank you" sounds like "fuck you."<br /><br />I may think of more later. I just want to put this out there, for contemplation's sake.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-33282808112662246882007-05-19T14:49:00.000-07:002007-05-20T17:13:16.792-07:00Reflections on "The Sailor's Creed"<blockquote></blockquote><blockquote>I am a United States Sailor.<br />I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America and I will obey the orders of those apponted over me.<br />I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy and those who have gone before me to defend freedom and democracy around the world.<br />I proudly serve my country's Navy combat team with Honor, Courage, and Commitment.<br />I am commited to excellence and the fair treatment of all. </blockquote>At the beginning of every school day at Great Lakes, I and my fellow recruits will recite this creed, like schoolchildren recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I'm fairly certain that there will be some in my division who would protest this, but I think repetition is the best way to learn something, and once it's fairly solid in your mind, then that's the best time to analyze it.<br /><br />It hasn't been around very long. I suppose there is a kind of tradition around it, but how can something be "traditional" when it's only 15 years old? It's a shallow sort of criticism, I'll admit. Those who have gone before me didn't recite this. I think that's it's deepest flaw, giving it tradition when it's new.<br /><br />I wonder why it's the singular "Sailor's Creed," rather than the "Sailors' Creed." There are about 342,000 active duty personnel in the US Navy, and we're in it together, not as disparate personalities. There is no such thing as a "Navy of one," no matter what the Army may try to tell you. Every branch of the Armed Forces needs that solidarity for it to function. Perhaps, as we recite it, we should say, "We are United States Sailors... We protect and defend... We represent the fighting spirit... We proudly serve... We are committed..." I suppose the problem there in lies that I can't depend on anyone else to prove that I have Honor, Courage, or Commitment. Funny how the Armed Forces are like that, eh?<br /><br />"I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States..." You know, I think you have to read the Constitution in order to really support it and I think that it's necessary to know its contents to defend it well. I don't know how well the average American knows the Constitution and its amendments, But I'll hazard a guess and say not well. But I think below its surface, its fancy language, its specifics, it say that each person has a right to choose how they want to live. I will support and defend each person's right to choose how to live their lives as they see fit.<br /><br />"...and I will obey the orders of those appointed over me." I knew this point would get sticky with me. I am a skeptic, I ask questions, I want to hear what the authorities have said. I realize that there will be times when I will need to do what has been ordered without understanding its context or its meaning. But, I also trust that I will ask questions if an order seems very wrong or harmful. I may not be able to have the point of view that my superiors have, and I trust that in time I will trust their judgment when I cannot see what they see. That's actually just a little scary for me. I've grown accustomed to feeling like I can only trust my own judgment. But that is another blog entry, eh?<br /><br />"I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy..." Now there's a phrase that's special -- fighting spirit. I don't think they mean a bellicose spirit, the spirit of bullies, but "fight" is such a vague word. Only two of the Navy's ships have sunk enemy ships, and one of them is the USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned ship afloat. So obviously, we're not out there sinking every ship of every country that disagrees with us. Or at least not openly, if the Navy is doing that, but there's a giant cover up (there's one for conspiracy theorists) so... well, I can't see the point of there being a cover up. More than anything, the Navy is like a Sentinel of the Seas, always armed but rarely firing. It seems that way at least.<br /><br />"...and those who have gone before me to defend freedom and democracy around the world." When I think of the people who have given their lives to defend freedom and democracy, I think of the men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima, or the heroes of the Revolutionary War, more than the kids out in the Sandbox. Don't get me wrong, I think that they're doing what they believe in, but also we, as a nation, are instituting democracy on them. They're not really defending democracy, but it's more like they're on the offensive for democracy, if that makes any sense.<br /><br />"I proudly serve my county's Navy combat team with Honor, Courage, and Commitment. " Honor, Courage, and Commitment are the Navy core values. Commitment and Courage I have good concepts of, but Honor is rather squicky with me. If they mean "honor" as a personal obligation to acknowledge what's right and what's true, then I can get on with that. Some other definitions would leave me rather speechless.<br /><br />"I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all." This one is the most forthright of all. I like that.<br /><br />It's nto such a bad, thing, th "Sailor's Creed." I'll probably have different ideas about it when I graduate bootcamp than I do now, but that's okei. I'm never really the same person twice.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-70345520900910704622007-05-14T12:12:00.000-07:002007-05-14T13:11:08.286-07:00confessionsA few weeks before Christmas, a friend of mine asked me what I'd like to get. This is the sort of question that gets to me, because most of what I want is immaterial. I want peace, warmth, a soft place to fall. I got very quiet. I paced around him in the mall, and he waited without vocal complain. Who could understand that what I want can't be handed to anyone?<br /><br />As a child on Christmas, I'd look around at all these presents while my parents were screaming at each other, usually over nothing. As much as the presents comforted me, I still wanted more. I feel badly that at such a young age, I began equating love with stuff. Not good, I think. I began to ask for more and more outrageous presents, and I'd get one of a few reactions. Being told I'm a spoiled brat. Being told that it's not affordable. Being told that it's not possible.<br /><br />I have a vivid memory of my first boyfriend and his father talking to each other, disagreeing, but they still said what they needed to say in a normal tone. Although the issue wasn't resolved, they mutually decided to talk about it later. Before he left, his father hugged him and told him he loved him. And it was as natural as you could think. I sat on the bed, and stared at the ceiling above me, trying to keep my eyes from watering up.<br /><br />"What's the matter?" he asked as he put his arm around me. I don't remember what I said, or whether or not I said anything. What was I supposed to do? You know, he's never wanted for anything he's needed, which is both a gift and... well, not a curse. It's just that he would never be able to understand how much it hurt watching a normal, healthy relationship, because I wanted -- I still want it -- so badly. Ironically, he's now grown into an asshole. Is that because he's never been rejected by someone he's loved, or are there deeper roots? Man, that's a whole topic by itself.<br /><br /><br />After pacing around him for a while, I got to the point where I could say something that wasn't "a hug" or "loving surroundings" or something like that. I succumbed, and told him I'd like guitar hero.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-571902119298780722007-05-12T14:53:00.000-07:002007-05-12T16:22:21.238-07:00DEP, againSo, like a good little depper, I've been memorizing things like the Sailor's Creed, Rank and recognition, 11 general orders.<br />The problem is that, I didn't memorize the order of my 11 general orders. I could tell you all of them, but not nessisarily in the order that they're in. oops. Everybody drop, and give me 15!<br /><br />Also, I found out that Donald Rumsfeld is no longer Secretary of Defense. Fortunately, they didn't make us drop for that, he only laughed at me and told me I was out of date. yay, not paying attention tot he news.<br /><br />But all in all, it was a good dep meeting.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-74159711954756124312007-05-08T16:43:00.000-07:002007-05-08T16:48:08.710-07:00heh.I came across a site named, "Fundies say the darndest things" and I've been browsing it, and already I have some favorites. There's <a href="http://www.fstdt.com/comments.asp?id=710">this one:</a><br /><br /><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote>I believe it can be more or less proved, or at least there is better evidence for the truth of the Bible than the Gita. First off let me state that the philosophy of the Gita makes more sense to me on a rational level than that of the Bible, and yet I believe in the message of Jesus. Just because something is rational or seems sensible or can be explained convincingly, doesn't mean it is necessarily true!</blockquote><br /><br />That last sentence is priceless. Is it mean of me to laugh at that?Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-33769569506908929152007-05-03T12:54:00.000-07:002007-05-04T07:37:45.261-07:00IntuitionI've been reading <a href="http://blog.peterwall.net/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Res Ipsa Loquitor</span></a>, a blog by an atheist law student, from its beginning. I had been searching for something, and had hit upon his blog. The<a href="http://blog.peterwall.net/2007/03/31/"> first entry</a> I had read was about the aborted Easter showing of a naked chocolate jesus, I had though, ah, here is a person that thinks in a different way than I do, but we've come to similar conclusions.<br /><br />I think logic and hard evidence is very valuable, but I'm naturally more intuitive than logical. I think that the writer of that blog is drawn to law because it requires a combination of intellect and incisiveness to be a good lawyer, but I can't point to anything he's written that implicitly or explicitly states that. I end up reading blogs and thinking, what does this say about his character? what are his motivations? And I end up forming opinions and conclusions based, mostly, on what's not being said.<br /><br />woo.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-35547037141429029262007-04-29T14:37:00.000-07:002007-04-29T15:50:18.268-07:00If the bible is inerrant, then Joseph had two daddies.You know, when someone says the bible is inerrant, I usually send them to read Matthew 1:16 and Luke 3:23.<br /><br />Matthew 1:16 reads:<br /><br /><span id="en-NIV-23161" class="sup"></span><blockquote>and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.</blockquote>and Luke 3:23 reads:<br /><br /><blockquote>Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli</blockquote><br />Both passages refer to both Jacob and Heli as sons, so we can reasonably assume that they're both male. If you say the bible is inerrant, then Joseph had two fathers. If you believe that the bible isn't inerrant, then you can pass this off for a mistake. Although I would personally find it somewhat alarming that a mistake like this was made in the highest book of my religion.<br /><br />Or, as I took it, that the bible isn't inerrant, and that this is just one of the more glaring examples of lack of self-consistency.<br /><br />I value self-consistency; I look for it in movies and fiction and in people. I find it more often in movies and fiction than people. That used to bother me, but now, not so much. I'm not entirely self-consistent, and I doubt that anyone is. But I think a system of philosophy -- which is what most religion seems to be, at least to me -- should be self-consistent.<br /><br />I wonder where I got this peculiar fetish...Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-9474725531098629512007-04-27T05:35:00.000-07:002007-04-27T06:05:46.314-07:00Suicide is not painlessAt work the day before yesterday, I dropped a glass coffee pot and it shattered on the edge of a shelf, causing an impressive amount of glass shrapnel. I'm lucky, I guess; I stepped back and put my arms up, so rather than getting a face full of glass, I only have a series of mostly minor cuts on my arms. Most of them are shallow, a few are deeper, and a couple of them are longer than the others.<br /><br />There's a cut on my left wrist that didn't even go all the way through my skin, but it's fairly long, so that gets three stitches. One on my right elbow, although not as long, was quite a bit deeper; it even had some arterial spurt action going on before the bleeding stopped. It got one stitch.<br /><br />Of all the cuts, I find these two to be the most interesting and oppositional. The one on my wrist looks like a lame suicide attempt. It hardly bled at all, and I don't know why they felt it needed some help getting back together. And why'd they use stitches? It's shallow enough to use superglue. However, because of its location, and not so much its severity, it gets the most attention from my superiors and crewmates. Great. I'll have a scar on my wrist the rest of my life.<br /><br />The one on my elbow, though, was bloodier and messier than the one on my wrist, but it got less attention because, I suppose, people don't normally try to kill themselves by cutting their elbows. Maybe this'll start a new trend.<br /><br />Anyway, I'm in a bit of pain. I think I'll leave it at that.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8457126979627587054.post-21177988152731960952007-04-21T15:02:00.000-07:002007-04-21T16:32:18.810-07:00Oh, I want to copy this and make the shift leaders read it aloud...So, I got a copy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bluejackets-Manual-Centennial-Thomas-Cutler/dp/1557502218/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-4615503-7588607?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177193032&sr=8-2">The Bluejacket's Manual</a> from Amazon. It's pretty much the handbook on how to do stuff the Navy way. And it's frequently abbreviated <span style="font-style: italic;">BJM</span>. BJ, he he.<br /><br />So I've been reading it, and I've gotten to the part about leadership. Here's a bit:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Know your job. </span>Few things are more uninspiring for subordinates than to recognize that their leader does not know her or his job. As a leader, you will earn confidence and respect of those who work for you if you know everything you can possibly know about your job. You should also strive to learn as much as you reasonably can about the jobs of your subordinates, but use this knowledge to improve your communications with subordinates, to instruct when necessary, and to monitor what they are doing. Do not use this knowledge to <span style="font-style: italic;">intrude</span> on their work.<br /><br />Oh, I want to copy the whole section and give it to the managers at McDonald's.<br /><br />I hope it just keeps getting better.Tactical Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05009746911118164361noreply@blogger.com0