Story Market Day
- Thread starter ComCamGuy
- Start date
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Nope -- do what you can with what you have.
Besides the R32 is a Golf/Rabbit; flop that back seat down & it holds a crap load by volume. True the suspension is designed for on-road handling NOT hauling a pallet of 7.62 but it will deliver what you can cram in there. You may need to adjust tire pressures and not be too aggressive as the R32 is more of a road rocket. Now an STI WRX......
Carry on CCG; we're here and apparently en masse.
Thank you.
G.
Fiction as metaphor, allegory, premonition. They KNOW "something bad has happened", but the world spins around as it always has, but now spins the populous into different groups:
1. Those who follow their promptings, intuition, inexplicable concerns that "immediate and decisive action beyond the norm is called for."
2. Those who either feel no such concerns, or feel them and dismiss them--these await "Herd Consensus" Until they see someone tell the world on the Nightly News, their "Normalcy Bias" is AT MAXIMUM STRENGTH.
This part of the story bears, to those with searching minds, undeniable PARALLELS, RESEMBLANCE, AND RELEVANCE TO US, "HERE AND NOW", "TODAY". Are you listening? Have you experienced an inexplicable disquiet, a secret "enhanced concern", a vague: "I think I should __________. Sure, maybe nothing to it, but I'm not going to ignore delicate warnings I have learned to heed with great benefit thus far."
a. China's Hubei, Wuhan regions are being flooded (Fact). [We don't need "100' Wall of Water" for this.]
b. Those regions contribute the world's majority of either 1) finished Rx drugs or 2) critical components used by others all over the world for OTC and similar non-prescription purposes. (Fact)
c. There is increasing friction and discord between "The Free World" and China, which might alter present economic ties, sales arrangements, long-standing contracts, and China's ability or willingness to continue "business as usual". (Fact)
c. Maybe I/We should STOCK UP in the event that there is a "break in the supply chain from China" (Prompting)
SO, WE READ FICTION, AND THEN...WHAT DO WE DO?
Query1: Could Divinity use the medium, modality, conduit of FICTION to give, warning, counsel, instruction?
Query2: Would Divinity use a rather gifted healer with a MERE HOBBY as casual writer to provide such...warning, counsel?
Query 3: Will/Has Divinity provide(d) an "ineffible, unseen, indescribable, yet nonetheless perceptible confirmation, affirmation, ratification" to such a writer's audience/readers: "Hey, wake up. THIS MEANS YOU, 'HERE AND NOW'"?
Please ignore this post, I'm sure it's all the most foolish, egotistical and wasted speculation!
1. Those who follow their promptings, intuition, inexplicable concerns that "immediate and decisive action beyond the norm is called for."
2. Those who either feel no such concerns, or feel them and dismiss them--these await "Herd Consensus" Until they see someone tell the world on the Nightly News, their "Normalcy Bias" is AT MAXIMUM STRENGTH.
This part of the story bears, to those with searching minds, undeniable PARALLELS, RESEMBLANCE, AND RELEVANCE TO US, "HERE AND NOW", "TODAY". Are you listening? Have you experienced an inexplicable disquiet, a secret "enhanced concern", a vague: "I think I should __________. Sure, maybe nothing to it, but I'm not going to ignore delicate warnings I have learned to heed with great benefit thus far."
a. China's Hubei, Wuhan regions are being flooded (Fact). [We don't need "100' Wall of Water" for this.]
b. Those regions contribute the world's majority of either 1) finished Rx drugs or 2) critical components used by others all over the world for OTC and similar non-prescription purposes. (Fact)
c. There is increasing friction and discord between "The Free World" and China, which might alter present economic ties, sales arrangements, long-standing contracts, and China's ability or willingness to continue "business as usual". (Fact)
c. Maybe I/We should STOCK UP in the event that there is a "break in the supply chain from China" (Prompting)
SO, WE READ FICTION, AND THEN...WHAT DO WE DO?
Query1: Could Divinity use the medium, modality, conduit of FICTION to give, warning, counsel, instruction?
Query2: Would Divinity use a rather gifted healer with a MERE HOBBY as casual writer to provide such...warning, counsel?
Query 3: Will/Has Divinity provide(d) an "ineffible, unseen, indescribable, yet nonetheless perceptible confirmation, affirmation, ratification" to such a writer's audience/readers: "Hey, wake up. THIS MEANS YOU, 'HERE AND NOW'"?
Please ignore this post, I'm sure it's all the most foolish, egotistical and wasted speculation!
Last edited:
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
The 2006 Forester was lighter than the WRX and could be upgraded to at or beyond STI WRX, with a larger cargo capacity (Bekka anyone?)
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Sabine drove along the dark mountain roads, her mind a thousand other places as much as she could let it and still pay attention to her driving. She loved her job here. She was in a one person position, limited field time, running sick call for some special operations people who also bring their own medics. She was mainly the liaison with the student class medics, the supply person for their med gear needs and med support for the Spec Ops instructor staff in this little slice of the Mountain Warfare Center. It wasn’t hard work. She still saw patients and kept her skills up, but was away from the units she was once in, and away from the people who used to know her.
She needed the fresh start. She was hiding and trying to heal, but some wounds will take a lifetime. She would forever owe the Master Chief who got her the school and then this position. He believed in her. He knew she was the victim and needed supported, not attacked and vilified. He even got the chief at personnel to walk the name change paperwork through himself so it wouldn’t be obvious in the system. Her job in the Navy was a small group, and the IDCs were a small sub sect, and here she was, in one of the smallest sub sects of that even. She was an Independent Duty Corpsman Advanced Tactical Provider.
She had thrown herself into her studies and work. It’s what she had left. No home life. That was irrevocably shattered. Along the way, she ended up trying something new, different and unexpected. She wasn’t necessarily looking for a new relationship at all, especially after how the last one ended.
It was shortly after arriving at her new job. She was at the NCO club on base, the last of its kind in the Marines. She was still in billeting and trying to find a place to live. She was talking with a couple people and having a beer or two. One of the guys was being extra friendly, and tried one of his pick-up lines on her. To be fair, he was nice, polite, a gentleman and there was nothing wrong with what he did. The effect on her was unexpected. She seemed to freeze in place. He reached out with concern, and touched the back of her hand with his, trying to find out if she was alright. Sabine shrieked and ran, or at least she was told that’s what she did, she didn’t remember. The next thing she did remember was crouching in a corner of the bathroom, terrified. That’s when she met Andrea.
Andrea was over at another part of the club and heard the shriek and saw the tall woman, OK, almost all women are tall to her, run to the bathroom. She followed, concerned. As she passed the table with the confused crowd, she asked what went on. A thirty second synopsis followed with no real conclusion. Andrea went to the bathroom to see what she could do.
The next thing Sabine knew, the door to the bathroom opened and a small framed woman came in, not the hulking shape of her ex-husband as she was expecting and dreading. She knelt down and began talking to Sabine. Small, unassuming, non-threatening, her tanned skin, and deep chocolate eyes, matched with the bubbliness of her personality soon had Sabine calmed down. Sabine felt horrible and embarrassed. She didn’t know how she could go back out there. Andrea reassured her it would all be OK and it was.
She found the guy a month later and apologized for her reaction. She played it off on ‘shouldn’t drink cheap beer at altitude’ or some other thing, she didn’t remember exactly. Andrea slipped them out of the club that night quietly through a back way so they could avoid the main room. Sabine was shaken up something fierce. She hadn’t had an attack like that in some time. Andrea asked where she was staying, she was going to drive her home. When she found out she was still in billeting, Andrea declared she needed someplace better to calm down and reset her brain, so she drove her to the house Andrea shared with Paige. Sabine spent the first night in a long, long time outside of a billeting room or hotel room or deployed tent or temporary building. The guest room at the house later turned into her room, splitting the rent, and then much more. It was companionship that didn’t leave her terrified and cringing.
Sabine didn’t know why she was rethinking all of this on the drive. She needed to think about the stuff she would need for the next four to six months of winter weather and reduced supplies.
She needed the fresh start. She was hiding and trying to heal, but some wounds will take a lifetime. She would forever owe the Master Chief who got her the school and then this position. He believed in her. He knew she was the victim and needed supported, not attacked and vilified. He even got the chief at personnel to walk the name change paperwork through himself so it wouldn’t be obvious in the system. Her job in the Navy was a small group, and the IDCs were a small sub sect, and here she was, in one of the smallest sub sects of that even. She was an Independent Duty Corpsman Advanced Tactical Provider.
She had thrown herself into her studies and work. It’s what she had left. No home life. That was irrevocably shattered. Along the way, she ended up trying something new, different and unexpected. She wasn’t necessarily looking for a new relationship at all, especially after how the last one ended.
It was shortly after arriving at her new job. She was at the NCO club on base, the last of its kind in the Marines. She was still in billeting and trying to find a place to live. She was talking with a couple people and having a beer or two. One of the guys was being extra friendly, and tried one of his pick-up lines on her. To be fair, he was nice, polite, a gentleman and there was nothing wrong with what he did. The effect on her was unexpected. She seemed to freeze in place. He reached out with concern, and touched the back of her hand with his, trying to find out if she was alright. Sabine shrieked and ran, or at least she was told that’s what she did, she didn’t remember. The next thing she did remember was crouching in a corner of the bathroom, terrified. That’s when she met Andrea.
Andrea was over at another part of the club and heard the shriek and saw the tall woman, OK, almost all women are tall to her, run to the bathroom. She followed, concerned. As she passed the table with the confused crowd, she asked what went on. A thirty second synopsis followed with no real conclusion. Andrea went to the bathroom to see what she could do.
The next thing Sabine knew, the door to the bathroom opened and a small framed woman came in, not the hulking shape of her ex-husband as she was expecting and dreading. She knelt down and began talking to Sabine. Small, unassuming, non-threatening, her tanned skin, and deep chocolate eyes, matched with the bubbliness of her personality soon had Sabine calmed down. Sabine felt horrible and embarrassed. She didn’t know how she could go back out there. Andrea reassured her it would all be OK and it was.
She found the guy a month later and apologized for her reaction. She played it off on ‘shouldn’t drink cheap beer at altitude’ or some other thing, she didn’t remember exactly. Andrea slipped them out of the club that night quietly through a back way so they could avoid the main room. Sabine was shaken up something fierce. She hadn’t had an attack like that in some time. Andrea asked where she was staying, she was going to drive her home. When she found out she was still in billeting, Andrea declared she needed someplace better to calm down and reset her brain, so she drove her to the house Andrea shared with Paige. Sabine spent the first night in a long, long time outside of a billeting room or hotel room or deployed tent or temporary building. The guest room at the house later turned into her room, splitting the rent, and then much more. It was companionship that didn’t leave her terrified and cringing.
Sabine didn’t know why she was rethinking all of this on the drive. She needed to think about the stuff she would need for the next four to six months of winter weather and reduced supplies.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Henrik was the first one home as he expected. Pulling up to the house had a welcoming feel. It wasn’t very impressive; a late seventies to mid-eighties multi-level house with three bedrooms and a bathroom on the top floor, a half level with kitchen and dining room, a lower den level with fireplace and the finished basement converted to a master suit. None of the levels were that big. The whole house wasn’t more than 1600 feet, but it was warm, cozy and quiet. The landlord’s father lived there until he died, and now the son rents it out to the military stationed at the base. He and Paige shared the basement master suit while Andrea and Sabine were in the third floor master bedroom.
The main thing attracting Paige to the house other than the close proximity to the base was the barn. The Barn was a leftover from the farmhouse that once occupied the land. There was a picture hanging up in the barn showing twelve cars parked in it. It was a real barn, with hay loft, hay loading doors to the outside, a side room for some sort of storage and all the charm and history you could feel walking in.
This was the garage for the house. There was plenty of room for their cars out of the weather, a couple of large working freezers along one wall, along with a massive old built in workbench and a rolling toolbox full of Paige’s tools. The back wall was shelves made of old pallets and these were crammed with a bunch of military and camping gear, mostly Henrik’s.
Henrik unloaded most of the stuff he bought here in the barn. Some old chest freezers bought cheap since they didn’t run anymore were where they stored any extra food stashed out there. This protected it from mice. He stacked most of the rest of his purchases on the shelves. The bag of stuff for Sabine and some stuff for Paige were all he carried into the house.
Late night meal for the others and himself was his next chore. He was addicted to breakfast for ‘midnight chow’ He prepped some steaks with reverse sear, that way it would only take ten minutes to hit the table with them. Hash browns, biscuits, some gravy and he could do the eggs once they got there as well. He figured he owed them since he was the one who called the audible for the complete change of plans and sudden shopping trip. Once his preparations were complete in the kitchen, he started a small fire in the fireplace. They normally did meals when they all ate together, down in the den level in front of the big stone fireplace. This room was big enough for a fill sized pool table and then some, but it had several big comfy sectional couches and chairs. A flat-screen was mounted over the mantle. This was the main room for everyone in the house.
Laying the fire, he was reminded to get another couple cords of wood delivered. They had two already but four more would be better. His mind drifted along as he waited. The one thing he knew he didn’t want to do was turn on the tv or look at the computer. He needed to relax. If he did either thing tonight, he would just end up with a headache and no better solutions to what he saw.
The main thing attracting Paige to the house other than the close proximity to the base was the barn. The Barn was a leftover from the farmhouse that once occupied the land. There was a picture hanging up in the barn showing twelve cars parked in it. It was a real barn, with hay loft, hay loading doors to the outside, a side room for some sort of storage and all the charm and history you could feel walking in.
This was the garage for the house. There was plenty of room for their cars out of the weather, a couple of large working freezers along one wall, along with a massive old built in workbench and a rolling toolbox full of Paige’s tools. The back wall was shelves made of old pallets and these were crammed with a bunch of military and camping gear, mostly Henrik’s.
Henrik unloaded most of the stuff he bought here in the barn. Some old chest freezers bought cheap since they didn’t run anymore were where they stored any extra food stashed out there. This protected it from mice. He stacked most of the rest of his purchases on the shelves. The bag of stuff for Sabine and some stuff for Paige were all he carried into the house.
Late night meal for the others and himself was his next chore. He was addicted to breakfast for ‘midnight chow’ He prepped some steaks with reverse sear, that way it would only take ten minutes to hit the table with them. Hash browns, biscuits, some gravy and he could do the eggs once they got there as well. He figured he owed them since he was the one who called the audible for the complete change of plans and sudden shopping trip. Once his preparations were complete in the kitchen, he started a small fire in the fireplace. They normally did meals when they all ate together, down in the den level in front of the big stone fireplace. This room was big enough for a fill sized pool table and then some, but it had several big comfy sectional couches and chairs. A flat-screen was mounted over the mantle. This was the main room for everyone in the house.
Laying the fire, he was reminded to get another couple cords of wood delivered. They had two already but four more would be better. His mind drifted along as he waited. The one thing he knew he didn’t want to do was turn on the tv or look at the computer. He needed to relax. If he did either thing tonight, he would just end up with a headache and no better solutions to what he saw.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank u
Sportsman
Veteran Member
I think you're right on. Vehicle choices are personal. I drive a 4runner and my wife's little Forester can haul pretty much everything I can stuff in the 4runner... plus, I'm limited to something 6' long, and her car can carry something another half foot longer. That little subby has gone everywhere the 4runner can, other than slightly lower ground clearance.
Keep those chapters coming. Each one gives a different insight into things I seldom think about.
Thanks.
steamroller
Contributing Member
Great chapters, thank you.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Paige knew most the food stuff Henrik was getting. She was after either more of the camping food or other stuff they would normally go through over the winter. She didn’t have nearly as much room for stuff since she was driving his Jeep and not her Cherokee so she needed to choose well. On the drive, she decided to talk to Henrik about going garage sale shopping Saturday morning. There were a few on Craigslist that sounded good.
She was always on the lookout for more tools to upgrade what she had. She had spent hours prowling through tool bins at pawn shops, sorting sockets and building her assortments of stuff. She had snapped and chewed up cheap gear as a kid. She now knew the basic truth of all those axioms from her military school, her father, her mother and her grandfather: ‘buy once, cry once’, ‘two ways to do something; right and again’, ‘take care of good tools and they will last a lifetime’, and so on and so forth. She was always on the lookout for old school overlooked tools. She kept a bucket of newly acquired used, rusty tools. She had about a hundred sockets she left for several days in an old brass tumbler she also got from a yard sale. They were good as new when she was done. With her training, she would buy old chewed up screwdrivers, cut off the chewed up ends and make the tools she needed from them.
They needed to go out Saturday anyway to return the cooler to Tom. On the way home from town, she went by Tom’s and picked up the extra deer he had for them. He was lucky on his hunt and had too much for his own freezer. He also owed her money for the work she did on his engine, so this made them even. She would rather do things this way anyway.
With the temperatures, the cooler and the ice, it should hold until tomorrow evening when she can get Andrea to help break it down and wrap it for the freezer. Andrea’s aunt was a butcher and taught her how to do such things when she helped out at the shop. Paige and Henrik have been wanting another lesson in how to do it. She was sure Andrea could convince Sabine it will be fun. She had Sabine wrapped around her finger sometimes.
Paige went to her workbench before she went inside. She started a list of still need to get stuff. Some of this she could get on base, or at the auto parts store in town without making the big drive. She tried to run through what all servicing was going to gobble up. Oil, oil and air filters, plugs, fluids, brake pads, and so on, the list was at least half a page. She was tired. She would work more on it tomorrow when she got done with the rifles on her bench.
She was always on the lookout for more tools to upgrade what she had. She had spent hours prowling through tool bins at pawn shops, sorting sockets and building her assortments of stuff. She had snapped and chewed up cheap gear as a kid. She now knew the basic truth of all those axioms from her military school, her father, her mother and her grandfather: ‘buy once, cry once’, ‘two ways to do something; right and again’, ‘take care of good tools and they will last a lifetime’, and so on and so forth. She was always on the lookout for old school overlooked tools. She kept a bucket of newly acquired used, rusty tools. She had about a hundred sockets she left for several days in an old brass tumbler she also got from a yard sale. They were good as new when she was done. With her training, she would buy old chewed up screwdrivers, cut off the chewed up ends and make the tools she needed from them.
They needed to go out Saturday anyway to return the cooler to Tom. On the way home from town, she went by Tom’s and picked up the extra deer he had for them. He was lucky on his hunt and had too much for his own freezer. He also owed her money for the work she did on his engine, so this made them even. She would rather do things this way anyway.
With the temperatures, the cooler and the ice, it should hold until tomorrow evening when she can get Andrea to help break it down and wrap it for the freezer. Andrea’s aunt was a butcher and taught her how to do such things when she helped out at the shop. Paige and Henrik have been wanting another lesson in how to do it. She was sure Andrea could convince Sabine it will be fun. She had Sabine wrapped around her finger sometimes.
Paige went to her workbench before she went inside. She started a list of still need to get stuff. Some of this she could get on base, or at the auto parts store in town without making the big drive. She tried to run through what all servicing was going to gobble up. Oil, oil and air filters, plugs, fluids, brake pads, and so on, the list was at least half a page. She was tired. She would work more on it tomorrow when she got done with the rifles on her bench.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Sabine got to the store with half an hour to spare before closing. She made the decision during the drive to swing past the outdoor store herself. Shoes were not something to buy without trying them on, and she was also short on non-military winter clothes. She wasn't that big a fashion person and her closet was pretty empty with the sudden and drastic changes she had made to her wardrobe selections after ‘The Incident’ and the trial. She never even went back to the house after that night. The one friend who still believed her and her Master Chief had gone in and collected what they thought was hers and left the rest. When she got out of the hospital, she looked through the bags of stuff and kept the issued uniform stuff, her grandmother’s ring and rosary, and the ring her father got her when she enlisted in the Navy, a combination high school graduation/ Navy ring. She couldn’t stand the clothes he had wanted and pressured her to wear when they were married. Everything went to Goodwill. She had been picking up bits and pieces, sweats and blue jeans and simple T-shirts from the megamarts near the schoolhouse while she was going through her upgrade schools, and some here and there once she got to the Mountain Warfare Center.
She went straight to the shoes. One good pair of deep winter capable boots and a medium weight pair as well went into the cart. At least a dozen pairs of socks were next, followed by lightweight long underwear tops and bottoms. She grabbed a dozen pairs of pants and shirts and moved on to warm stuff. Sweaters, she found two. A thin puffy pullover jacket caught her eye, as well as a vest. A down jacket and a Gortex shell rounded out her ensemble until she remembered her head. A knit cap she could get away with in uniform and a down one for other times. Next to the hats were the gloves. She hated cold hands. Three different types of gloves. She was feeling giddy. She hated shopping for years. Now she was actually having some fun. She picked what she wanted for why she wanted it and didn’t have to look through the lens of ‘does it fit what he wants?’ or ‘is it what is expected of me?’ She was still fighting for her freedom in her own head, and probably will for a long time, but Damnit! She was fighting!
She went straight to the shoes. One good pair of deep winter capable boots and a medium weight pair as well went into the cart. At least a dozen pairs of socks were next, followed by lightweight long underwear tops and bottoms. She grabbed a dozen pairs of pants and shirts and moved on to warm stuff. Sweaters, she found two. A thin puffy pullover jacket caught her eye, as well as a vest. A down jacket and a Gortex shell rounded out her ensemble until she remembered her head. A knit cap she could get away with in uniform and a down one for other times. Next to the hats were the gloves. She hated cold hands. Three different types of gloves. She was feeling giddy. She hated shopping for years. Now she was actually having some fun. She picked what she wanted for why she wanted it and didn’t have to look through the lens of ‘does it fit what he wants?’ or ‘is it what is expected of me?’ She was still fighting for her freedom in her own head, and probably will for a long time, but Damnit! She was fighting!
Grouchy Granny
Deceased
Very impressive cast of characters you are putting together. Many different skill sets, some overlapping but the more in the medical line the better. All different personalities, but I can see them all coming together as a cohesive group.
Can't wait - need more!!!!!!
Can't wait - need more!!!!!!
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Everybody was dragging the next morning when it came time to go to work. Henrik had the news on, ostensibly to get the weather for the day, but everything was about the quake and devastation. He wondered what work would be like today. The whole country was in a state of disbelief. He had a hard time understanding the scope of the event himself.
Paige remembered Henrik rolling and flopping like a landed fish in bed all night. She knew he was worrying over something. No surprise, they all were, but which part had him in knots? She knew the Spec Ops guys for the upcoming class were from the east coast, but their community was so small, she knew they probably knew all the guys at Coronado and Pendleton. She was sure they would be on edge today. She just had to get the two rifles finished and then she could relax and try to figure out what next. At least this was Friday. Tomorrow night, the four of them would chill around the fire pit, have some fresh venison steaks, a couple of beers and unwind some. Monday, there should be some better cohesion to what was going to happen.
Andrea knew she would be busy all day. The big wigs would be wanting all the back-up radio capability tested out with so much going on and lots of the main comms systems were tied to the west coast. Well those were off line and she knew her shop would be jumping through its own ass trying to appease the powers that be with whatever info they could get. She knew there were many of the older sat comm systems in the storage building. She might as well figure her boss wanted them and be ahead of the game.
Sabine was feeling a little embarrassed with herself over her spending spree last night. She didn’t show everyone everything she bought. Instead, she took it up to their room and decided to put most of it away this weekend. Another though started intruding. With all the devastation, they will probably put out a call for med support of the search and rescue along the coast. Would she be tasked? She would start getting her gear set for that possibility when she got to work. The student medics wouldn’t be by until after lunch, so as long as there were no pressing med issues, she had her game plan for the morning.
Paige remembered Henrik rolling and flopping like a landed fish in bed all night. She knew he was worrying over something. No surprise, they all were, but which part had him in knots? She knew the Spec Ops guys for the upcoming class were from the east coast, but their community was so small, she knew they probably knew all the guys at Coronado and Pendleton. She was sure they would be on edge today. She just had to get the two rifles finished and then she could relax and try to figure out what next. At least this was Friday. Tomorrow night, the four of them would chill around the fire pit, have some fresh venison steaks, a couple of beers and unwind some. Monday, there should be some better cohesion to what was going to happen.
Andrea knew she would be busy all day. The big wigs would be wanting all the back-up radio capability tested out with so much going on and lots of the main comms systems were tied to the west coast. Well those were off line and she knew her shop would be jumping through its own ass trying to appease the powers that be with whatever info they could get. She knew there were many of the older sat comm systems in the storage building. She might as well figure her boss wanted them and be ahead of the game.
Sabine was feeling a little embarrassed with herself over her spending spree last night. She didn’t show everyone everything she bought. Instead, she took it up to their room and decided to put most of it away this weekend. Another though started intruding. With all the devastation, they will probably put out a call for med support of the search and rescue along the coast. Would she be tasked? She would start getting her gear set for that possibility when she got to work. The student medics wouldn’t be by until after lunch, so as long as there were no pressing med issues, she had her game plan for the morning.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you.
steamroller
Contributing Member
Very good, thank you.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Andrea was at work early. She was the engine for the shop. She wasn’t the highest ranking, but she was the one everyone turned to when things needed done or questions needed answered. She was right in her earlier guess about the chickens with their heads cut off. Nobody on the command staff really knew what assets they had or what they could support. Her boss came to her with the directive to assemble as many support packages for search and rescue support teams. To this, she started asking the pertinent questions they didn’t know the answers for, like how many people per team, how many radio operators per team, contact with what level of command, how long, what support were they expecting and a host of other things needed to do things right. She knew they didn’t have those answers, but by putting the questions back at them, she could get the bosses to go fight amongst themselves for the answers while her and her people did the actual work.
She started with a whiteboard and some phone calls. Andrea knew all the other radio guys and comm shops on base. She could issue the requests for availability of operators and equipment since she was attached to the headquarters element and get the answers much faster than the ‘flow through channels’ bullshit. The only guys she didn’t know well were the ones over in the Spec Ops schoolhouse. They rotate in and out a little more frequently and the new guys were still really new. She had to make a point next week to go over and talk with them, maybe do lunch. She could invite Paige and Sabine since they were also in that little fenced in compound as well.
By the end of the morning, her whiteboard was full of info and she was hip deep in radio and antenna parts down in the main commo bay for the schoolhouse support element. Who would have thought those years ago she would end up loving all the radio work. She joined with no guaranteed MOS, just wanted a paycheck and a home somewhere, hell anywhere away from the backwater Alabama town where she grew up.
Her recruiter looked at her entrance scores and the 'ship me now' attitude and filled a hard to fill slot. She thrived all the way through boot camp and radio school. She was smart, and was loving something challenging her mind and body. She also relished the comparative freedom to be her instead of the repressive notch in the Bible belt she grew up in. She knew her taste in romantic involvement was contrary to the accepted norm for her area growing up.
She tried to conform, but boys, especially the ones she was meeting did nothing for her. Where her friends growing up started to get crushes and drone on and on about this or that dreamboat and snogging on the bleachers at the Friday night football games, she stuck to her schoolwork as a cover for her lack of interest in boys that way. Once she was in the Marines, it took quite some time for her to come out of her shell. It was about a year after arriving at her first duty station until she actually started dating women. She still had nothing against men as people, they just didn’t make her breath quicken and loins ache like in the romance novels. And the right women did.
She still was discrete in uniform. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of her choice. It was more about professionalism. Displays of affection are improper in uniform, regardless of the gender configuration of anyone involved. She believed it to her core and enforced the standards on her troops. A NCO had to lead by example. She had no real problems with any of her troops once they knew where they stood and saw she lived up to the same standard. She told them she would never ask them to do something she wouldn’t do, haven’t done, or be willing to do. Common words from a supervisor to their subordinates, but she was different. After she said it, she did it, lived it, and showed them.
She would send them all home at normal time today, even if it meant she was staying late to finish things up. If you take care of your troops when you can, they will take care of the mission when you need it.
She started with a whiteboard and some phone calls. Andrea knew all the other radio guys and comm shops on base. She could issue the requests for availability of operators and equipment since she was attached to the headquarters element and get the answers much faster than the ‘flow through channels’ bullshit. The only guys she didn’t know well were the ones over in the Spec Ops schoolhouse. They rotate in and out a little more frequently and the new guys were still really new. She had to make a point next week to go over and talk with them, maybe do lunch. She could invite Paige and Sabine since they were also in that little fenced in compound as well.
By the end of the morning, her whiteboard was full of info and she was hip deep in radio and antenna parts down in the main commo bay for the schoolhouse support element. Who would have thought those years ago she would end up loving all the radio work. She joined with no guaranteed MOS, just wanted a paycheck and a home somewhere, hell anywhere away from the backwater Alabama town where she grew up.
Her recruiter looked at her entrance scores and the 'ship me now' attitude and filled a hard to fill slot. She thrived all the way through boot camp and radio school. She was smart, and was loving something challenging her mind and body. She also relished the comparative freedom to be her instead of the repressive notch in the Bible belt she grew up in. She knew her taste in romantic involvement was contrary to the accepted norm for her area growing up.
She tried to conform, but boys, especially the ones she was meeting did nothing for her. Where her friends growing up started to get crushes and drone on and on about this or that dreamboat and snogging on the bleachers at the Friday night football games, she stuck to her schoolwork as a cover for her lack of interest in boys that way. Once she was in the Marines, it took quite some time for her to come out of her shell. It was about a year after arriving at her first duty station until she actually started dating women. She still had nothing against men as people, they just didn’t make her breath quicken and loins ache like in the romance novels. And the right women did.
She still was discrete in uniform. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of her choice. It was more about professionalism. Displays of affection are improper in uniform, regardless of the gender configuration of anyone involved. She believed it to her core and enforced the standards on her troops. A NCO had to lead by example. She had no real problems with any of her troops once they knew where they stood and saw she lived up to the same standard. She told them she would never ask them to do something she wouldn’t do, haven’t done, or be willing to do. Common words from a supervisor to their subordinates, but she was different. After she said it, she did it, lived it, and showed them.
She would send them all home at normal time today, even if it meant she was staying late to finish things up. If you take care of your troops when you can, they will take care of the mission when you need it.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Henrik knew the day was screwed when he walked in the door. His boss stopped him in the hallway.
“Glad you’re here. We have a big meeting in the briefing room in twenty minutes. It looks like we will be sending some SAR support down to Pendleton. They are still fighting over the details of how many teams, who’s on the teams and what needs to stay here to continue the mission here.”
“Gee, boss, I’m doing fine, and how are you this fine morning?” Henrik replied in a chipper tone, a big fake smile plastered on his face.
“I know, smartass. I haven’t gone home yet. This started yesterday evening. Michael is losing his mind trying to figure things out.”
“Michael couldn’t plan piss out of a boot if you put the instructions on the bottom. Tell me straight boss, how screwed are we?”
His boss looked at Henrik, a serious and earnest stare.
“Henrik, He’s trying to set things up so he can ‘command in the field’ to get more brownie points with command staff when all this is done.” At this, Henrik visibly cringed. His boss continued. “I am fostering this idea as a good one. If we can get him out there, away from here and away from the safety net of here, when he screws up, bigwigs will see it and cut him off at the ankles like what should have happened three incidents ago.”
Henrik was stunned at the frank openness of such a statement by his boss. Granted, they have known and confided in each other about their immediate superior’s shortcomings before, but that was over beers somewhere outside the building. He could see the fatigue and frustration on his bosses face.
“Boss, you know me and the other Senior Instructors have your back. Make the call and we will back you. Be careful on saying that shit around here though. That weasel has long ears. Anything else?”
“No, just be in the meeting and stay unobtrusive once we are in there. No reason for you to get hit with any of the tar and feathers I expect to be thrown about.”
“Gotcha boss.” Henrik stood there a moment as his boss walked away.
“Glad you’re here. We have a big meeting in the briefing room in twenty minutes. It looks like we will be sending some SAR support down to Pendleton. They are still fighting over the details of how many teams, who’s on the teams and what needs to stay here to continue the mission here.”
“Gee, boss, I’m doing fine, and how are you this fine morning?” Henrik replied in a chipper tone, a big fake smile plastered on his face.
“I know, smartass. I haven’t gone home yet. This started yesterday evening. Michael is losing his mind trying to figure things out.”
“Michael couldn’t plan piss out of a boot if you put the instructions on the bottom. Tell me straight boss, how screwed are we?”
His boss looked at Henrik, a serious and earnest stare.
“Henrik, He’s trying to set things up so he can ‘command in the field’ to get more brownie points with command staff when all this is done.” At this, Henrik visibly cringed. His boss continued. “I am fostering this idea as a good one. If we can get him out there, away from here and away from the safety net of here, when he screws up, bigwigs will see it and cut him off at the ankles like what should have happened three incidents ago.”
Henrik was stunned at the frank openness of such a statement by his boss. Granted, they have known and confided in each other about their immediate superior’s shortcomings before, but that was over beers somewhere outside the building. He could see the fatigue and frustration on his bosses face.
“Boss, you know me and the other Senior Instructors have your back. Make the call and we will back you. Be careful on saying that shit around here though. That weasel has long ears. Anything else?”
“No, just be in the meeting and stay unobtrusive once we are in there. No reason for you to get hit with any of the tar and feathers I expect to be thrown about.”
“Gotcha boss.” Henrik stood there a moment as his boss walked away.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Wow, no on needs that kind of leader as Michael. But I have to say one of our daughters had way to many of ones like this Michael in the service and as a Military Contractor.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Paige walked into her workshop/arms room and was stunned to see several cases left in the middle of the floor. She knew they were not there yesterday. A quick look showed still sealed rifle shipping containers. She went straight to the duty NCO.
“Who dropped boxes off in my arms room?” She sounded a little upset. This meant she was quite controlled in her manners. She was really quite pissed! She didn’t like people in there when she didn’t know about it or expecting it. Heaven help you if you move something on her workbench!
“The Duty Officer let the arms escort with the new student group put the boxes in there so they would be secure.” Paige started to say something, the color and temper rising exponentially. The Duty NCO continued. “He watched them the whole time. He only let them wheel the crates in, made sure they were in the middle of the room with nothing around them, and walk straight back out. No body touched anything and they were only in there two minutes. Jenson was the Duty NCO when it went down and he told me at turnover. He also said he told the Duty Officer he should at least call you or text you to let you know what was happening. According to Jensen, the Officer said and I quote ‘I don’t answer to that NCO’ end quote.” He looked at Paige and considered running.
Paige’s face was red and the veins in her head and face were bulging. She held up her hand in a ‘wait one’ gesture as she marched back over to her workspace. She checked the logs, the access roster and came back to the Duty NCO a grin worthy of a comic book villain on her face.
“Sargent, could you please document my coming to you with an unauthorized access to the arms room and potential security breach? I have no record in the access log, nor the in and outs sheets. I have multiple unknown, unidentified unlogged objects of a suspicious nature in the arms room and am requesting LE and EOD support for such. I assume you have no documents in the Duty Book on these as well?”
The NCO looked at the Duty Log, Paige’s logs, and the clipboard for ins and outs. Nowhere was listed the unit arms escort dropping off the weapon boxes. At this point he knew three things; one, Paige was well within her rights to initiate the actions, two, The Duty Officer would try to weasel out of the blame, and three he was going to be busy with this all day. Four. Make that four things he knew. The forth thing was this officer just committed a major foul, on paper and would be severely gigged for it, maybe even removed from the unit. Accountability of sensitive items is one of the places you can really bone yourself if you are not careful. This officer will learn, if he survives. He owed Jenson twenty bucks. He said she would go high order and get him gutted.
“Who dropped boxes off in my arms room?” She sounded a little upset. This meant she was quite controlled in her manners. She was really quite pissed! She didn’t like people in there when she didn’t know about it or expecting it. Heaven help you if you move something on her workbench!
“The Duty Officer let the arms escort with the new student group put the boxes in there so they would be secure.” Paige started to say something, the color and temper rising exponentially. The Duty NCO continued. “He watched them the whole time. He only let them wheel the crates in, made sure they were in the middle of the room with nothing around them, and walk straight back out. No body touched anything and they were only in there two minutes. Jenson was the Duty NCO when it went down and he told me at turnover. He also said he told the Duty Officer he should at least call you or text you to let you know what was happening. According to Jensen, the Officer said and I quote ‘I don’t answer to that NCO’ end quote.” He looked at Paige and considered running.
Paige’s face was red and the veins in her head and face were bulging. She held up her hand in a ‘wait one’ gesture as she marched back over to her workspace. She checked the logs, the access roster and came back to the Duty NCO a grin worthy of a comic book villain on her face.
“Sargent, could you please document my coming to you with an unauthorized access to the arms room and potential security breach? I have no record in the access log, nor the in and outs sheets. I have multiple unknown, unidentified unlogged objects of a suspicious nature in the arms room and am requesting LE and EOD support for such. I assume you have no documents in the Duty Book on these as well?”
The NCO looked at the Duty Log, Paige’s logs, and the clipboard for ins and outs. Nowhere was listed the unit arms escort dropping off the weapon boxes. At this point he knew three things; one, Paige was well within her rights to initiate the actions, two, The Duty Officer would try to weasel out of the blame, and three he was going to be busy with this all day. Four. Make that four things he knew. The forth thing was this officer just committed a major foul, on paper and would be severely gigged for it, maybe even removed from the unit. Accountability of sensitive items is one of the places you can really bone yourself if you are not careful. This officer will learn, if he survives. He owed Jenson twenty bucks. He said she would go high order and get him gutted.
Shotgun Willy
Contributing Member
I quote ‘I don’t answer to that NCO’ end quote.”
The best response to an officer I ever heard/stole was "Sir, please don't confuse your rank with my authority"
The best response to an officer I ever heard/stole was "Sir, please don't confuse your rank with my authority"
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
An hour later, Paige was in the office with the Executive Officer having a pointed discussion. He was pissed at the whole event. The officer was wrong and the NCO was right, but he didn’t need the headaches today. He had to coordinate a ton of stuff, especially since his boss was MIA for who knows how long. He was right now the acting commander of the Spec Ops training branch since his boss was at Coronado for a conference when the earthquake hit.
“I get it. He’s an arrogant little shit who cut corners and didn’t do things right. Do we really need to go through all the hoops?”
Paige had time in the past hour to gather more info and line up her ducks. She knew the officer would be gunning for her head for her actions. ****ing let him she thought. That miserable bastard has had issues with her since he got here! She talked to Jensen. What he said wasn’t exactly what Jensen told the Duty NCO at turnover. He was more descriptive. Jensen was willing to put it down in a sworn statement as well. All ass or no ass, no half-assed.
“Sir, the officer ignored USMC regulation, Installation policy, the Commander’s guidance and willfully ordered the Duty NCO to do so as well. Part of the reason he has done so is his inability to separate his personal feelings about women in the military from his professional duty.”
The commander was struck by this much larger accusation on top of the serious breaches already enumerated.
“That’s a pretty serious accusation. I hope you have something to back up such a thing.” The tone in the room got serious, heavy, and dark all at once. She had just thrown a huge gauntlet to the floor and it landed with a crashing sound in the silence.
“Sgt. Jensen was the Duty NCO at the time. He tried to get the Officer to follow proper procedure and was shut down in a very blatant and colorful verbal exchange he is putting in his sworn statement as we speak, sir.”
“Must be pretty bad for you to continue with this rather than just letting me slap him around with a warning. “ He paused. “What did he say?”
“His reply to Sgt. Jensen’s request to follow procedure was” she looked at the notepad in her hand, even though she knew every word. She wanted to make sure he realized she was trying to do the right thing. “Quote ‘I don’t work for that prissy little ****! I don’t know who she blew to get here but she needs to go back to polishing nightsticks for the shore patrol instead of up here with special operations!’ end quote.” She closed her notebook and looked at the commander calmly, quietly and waited.
He was surprised to say the least. This attitude troubled him more than anything else in the whole incident. He looked at the two folders on his desk. One was the officer in question. The other was hers. Hers was easily twice as thick, and not in a bad way. It was full of positive performance reports, letters of appreciation, as well as the list of decorations and medals. She has more than one deployment, and really knew her job, better than anyone he had worked with that had less than twenty years of experience.
The officer on the other hand, his record was less impressive. He had all the blocks filled to get where he was, but they looked like just that; block filling. There was no struggle to do better, no innovation, just cookie cutter ladder climber.
He would do a quick investigation among the staff. He would follow the process. He also knew when he was done, one of them would be leaving with a down check on the promotion category of their performance report. Unless he was horribly wrong and found something to mitigate it, the officer will be off the compound by the end of next week and off the installation by the end of the month.
“I get it. He’s an arrogant little shit who cut corners and didn’t do things right. Do we really need to go through all the hoops?”
Paige had time in the past hour to gather more info and line up her ducks. She knew the officer would be gunning for her head for her actions. ****ing let him she thought. That miserable bastard has had issues with her since he got here! She talked to Jensen. What he said wasn’t exactly what Jensen told the Duty NCO at turnover. He was more descriptive. Jensen was willing to put it down in a sworn statement as well. All ass or no ass, no half-assed.
“Sir, the officer ignored USMC regulation, Installation policy, the Commander’s guidance and willfully ordered the Duty NCO to do so as well. Part of the reason he has done so is his inability to separate his personal feelings about women in the military from his professional duty.”
The commander was struck by this much larger accusation on top of the serious breaches already enumerated.
“That’s a pretty serious accusation. I hope you have something to back up such a thing.” The tone in the room got serious, heavy, and dark all at once. She had just thrown a huge gauntlet to the floor and it landed with a crashing sound in the silence.
“Sgt. Jensen was the Duty NCO at the time. He tried to get the Officer to follow proper procedure and was shut down in a very blatant and colorful verbal exchange he is putting in his sworn statement as we speak, sir.”
“Must be pretty bad for you to continue with this rather than just letting me slap him around with a warning. “ He paused. “What did he say?”
“His reply to Sgt. Jensen’s request to follow procedure was” she looked at the notepad in her hand, even though she knew every word. She wanted to make sure he realized she was trying to do the right thing. “Quote ‘I don’t work for that prissy little ****! I don’t know who she blew to get here but she needs to go back to polishing nightsticks for the shore patrol instead of up here with special operations!’ end quote.” She closed her notebook and looked at the commander calmly, quietly and waited.
He was surprised to say the least. This attitude troubled him more than anything else in the whole incident. He looked at the two folders on his desk. One was the officer in question. The other was hers. Hers was easily twice as thick, and not in a bad way. It was full of positive performance reports, letters of appreciation, as well as the list of decorations and medals. She has more than one deployment, and really knew her job, better than anyone he had worked with that had less than twenty years of experience.
The officer on the other hand, his record was less impressive. He had all the blocks filled to get where he was, but they looked like just that; block filling. There was no struggle to do better, no innovation, just cookie cutter ladder climber.
He would do a quick investigation among the staff. He would follow the process. He also knew when he was done, one of them would be leaving with a down check on the promotion category of their performance report. Unless he was horribly wrong and found something to mitigate it, the officer will be off the compound by the end of next week and off the installation by the end of the month.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you.
Someone else you don't screw with is payroll. One guy on sentry duty learned that the hard way in Germany one time. Lost his car and a bunch of other stuff when his paycheck got "lost" for about four months. All for a few guys coming back on base a few minutes late.
ted
Veteran Member
Had to remind one or two that their rank did not over rule my authority...Face down in the mud.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
I have found that women seem to react poorly to being referred to with the four letter "honorific" starting with "C" normally reserved as a vulgar reverence to female anatomy. It has been known to ignite long dormant red-head genes and almost always leads to bad things for the issuer. Doing so to an individual who's entire job in the military is to fix and maintain firearms seems a poor life choice.