grawk Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 I disagree with Al completely. As you know, I think there's a lot you can get from the military, and the experience you gain will serve you well the rest of your life. And will help your career a lot more than working for a lesser police department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augsburger Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 I agree with Dan. In the military you get a lot of training on the most current and often cutting edge technology, and you get to play with a lot of cool gear. Note how a lot of Israeli high tech companies are made up of former Israeli army guys and gals, there is a reason for this. Either way, hang in there Colin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 I'm not against service and I agree it can be a good career step -- probably better than most PDs. BUT, there are a couple of quagmires where too many service people are dying for me to think joining the military is a healthy move. I'm not trying to debate the issue, but I did want to explain myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrion Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Military is a great place for training but at the moment, with the war in Afghanistan heating up and the occupation in Iraq, not sure I would join anything other than the Navy or Air Force, unless you are looking to kick the door down, which is fine. As long as you go in with both eyes open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knuckledragger Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 THE DISHES. Stop snickering, in a house with two bachelors, this is no mean feat. Particularly when one of said bachelors (not me) has a penchant for cooking disgusting meat dishes. Next task is to stumble out into the darkness and get two baskets of firewood before the snow arrives. Then I'm going to wire up one of 1200s to my McIntosh C-22 and give its tube phono section a listen. More on that later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cetoole Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 I'm not against service and I agree it can be a good career step -- probably better than most PDs. BUT, there are a couple of quagmires where too many service people are dying for me to think joining the military is a healthy move. I'm not trying to debate the issue, but I did want to explain myself. Thanks everyone for the support. Al, I can definitely see both sides of the issue, though part of the issue is that there are plenty of departments around here that wont even consider me. Baltimore city, county, DC, and I think a few others wont even let me test because of my vision, which is corrected to 20/15 with soft contacts, and has been stable like this for nearly a decade now. Only problem is I am -3.75 both eyes without, and that is a deal breaker for them. Oh, not what I did today, but yesterday. I got a thick packet in the mail from Montgomery County, which is a bigger department than Howard, just as good, and right next to it. I did the initial online mandatory application for them about 2 months ago, and heard nothing back until yesterday. Testing and possibly interview in 3 weeks (3/21), and the confidential questionnaire I was just sent is due at that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augsburger Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Fingers crossed for you. Good luck, if it is meant to be..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beefy Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Best of luck cetoole * I'm re-doing all of the high pressure section of our reticulation including connections from the mains and around the solenoids. Only two zones, but what a royal pain - the PVC cement fumes are making me nauseous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guzziguy Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Thanks everyone for the support. Oh, not what I did today, but yesterday. I got a thick packet in the mail from Montgomery County, which is a bigger department than Howard, just as good, and right next to it. I did the initial online mandatory application for them about 2 months ago, and heard nothing back until yesterday. Testing and possibly interview in 3 weeks (3/21), and the confidential questionnaire I was just sent is due at that time. Good news that they are interested enough to interview you. Hopefully this one will produce. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Today my wife, gardener and I went to Los Olivos. The main purpose of the visit was to pick up a Cockatiel and his gear that was going to our gardener. Recently when I was in the hospital, one of my roommates was there with a lung issue. His doctor has decided that their cockatiel was a contributing factor to his lung problem. In talking with him and his wife, they learned that Stacy and I were bird people and asked us if we could find a home for their cockatiel. So today was the day. However, first we stopped in Los Olivos. Before lunch, Stacy and I shared a wine tasting at the Stolpman Vineyards tasting room. Greg (Augsburger) has been raving about their Viognier. Of course, the Voignier was not on either of their tasting menus. We tasted (from memory), the Stolpman: L'avion (white blend) Angelli (late picked white wine) Sangiovese Estate Syrah Hilltop Syrah (Can't remember the 6th wine) The wines were good but none of them struck me as being great. However, this really isn't a valid tasting. I'm still taking pain meds with acetominophen and so was taking tiny sips. It wasn't really enough to make a worthwhile decision on their quality. I'll go back and taste again after I'm off the pain meds. In the end, we bought a bottle of Sangiovese and a bottle of their estate olive oil, which I really liked. The olive oil is young, fruity and has a wonderful peppery finish. After the tasting, we ate lunch at Patrick's Side Street Cafe. This is one of our favorite restaurants and Patrick didn't disappoint. I had his Paella and Stacy the Prime Rib sandwich. He brought out some homemade Jalapeno and Habanero salsas. Both were superb and went well with the Paella. Then it was off to pick up the cockatiel and back home. All in all a good day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hungrych Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Note how a lot of Israeli high tech companies are made up of former Israeli army guys and gals, there is a reason for this. Perhaps this is because military service is mandatory in Israel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Lots of american high tech companies are made up of former military too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hungrych Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Lots of american high tech companies are made up of former military too. I'm not arguing, it just bears mentioning that pretty much everyone in Israel is a former army person (afaik). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jinp6301 Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Curious what Mexican restaurant it was. When my wife was in grad school at Cornell we went to a Mexican place that had the greatest Buffalo wings, oddly enough. Might have been Mexicali Rose or something, but she is not here to remember for me. viva taqueria good food for cheap and they have a great tequila selection as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laxx Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Went to open casting call for extras for the movie Avatar with a friend for fun. Then hit up some arts and crafts stores to make some diffusors for our flashes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 viva taqueria good food for cheap and they have a great tequila selection as well It was a long shot but those were damn good wings! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augsburger Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Perhaps this is because military service is mandatory in Israel? Well following that statement one could surmise that all Israli businesses would be successful because of the military background of the employees and this is clearly not the case, yes? So why try to minimize the point I was making? The point was military service can provide high levels of technical ( and other ) training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guzziguy Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Perhaps this is because military service is mandatory in Israel? Only if you're Jewish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augsburger Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Good news that they are interested enough to interview you. Hopefully this one will produce. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Today my wife, gardener and I went to Los Olivos. The main purpose of the visit was to pick up a Cockatiel and his gear that was going to our gardener. Recently when I was in the hospital, one of my roommates was there with a lung issue. His doctor has decided that their cockatiel was a contributing factor to his lung problem. In talking with him and his wife, they learned that Stacy and I were bird people and asked us if we could find a home for their cockatiel. So today was the day. However, first we stopped in Los Olivos. Before lunch, Stacy and I shared a wine tasting at the Stolpman Vineyards tasting room. Greg (Augsburger) has been raving about their Viognier. Of course, the Voignier was not on either of their tasting menus. We tasted (from memory), the Stolpman: L'avion (white blend) Angelli (late picked white wine) Sangiovese Estate Syrah Hilltop Syrah (Can't remember the 6th wine) The wines were good but none of them struck me as being great. However, this really isn't a valid tasting. I'm still taking pain meds with acetominophen and so was taking tiny sips. It wasn't really enough to make a worthwhile decision on their quality. I'll go back and taste again after I'm off the pain meds. In the end, we bought a bottle of Sangiovese and a bottle of their estate olive oil, which I really liked. The olive oil is young, fruity and has a wonderful peppery finish. After the tasting, we ate lunch at Patrick's Side Street Cafe. This is one of our favorite restaurants and Patrick didn't disappoint. I had his Paella and Stacy the Prime Rib sandwich. He brought out some homemade Jalapeno and Habanero salsas. Both were superb and went well with the Paella. Then it was off to pick up the cockatiel and back home. All in all a good day. Well I thought the L'avinon was very interesting once it opened up but that is just my preferences for subtle non oaked-into-oblivion fruit forward whites. FWIW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyrion Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Got a call from Jp at 5:09 am that he is at the airport and needed a ride and a place to stay. So now, I'm at work, getting ready to take a 2 1/2 hour ride to a hearing and he is sleeping like a baby at my house. What is wrong with this picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Well following that statement one could surmise that all Israli businesses would be successful because of the military background of the employees and this is clearly not the case, yes? So why try to minimize the point I was making? The point was military service can provide high levels of technical ( and other ) training. While I think you're probably right that military service does have benefits, your data doesn't really suggest that. There's no counter example, so you don't learn anything at all about the military. I'd bet the crappy technology companies in israel also were founded by former members of the israeli military. And that there are lots of successful non-israeli tech companies founded by both people with and without military backgrounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 What is wrong with this picture. That said "hearing" is not actually jp's arraignment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 ^^funny Monkey. Did JP get stranded at the airport because of the crazy weather or something? I hope you locked up the P-1 while you are gone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Just shoveled what felt like a ton of snow. I'm exhausted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knuckledragger Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Long miserable day that involved not nearly enough sleep and way too much snow. I'm now inside with a cup of tea, and wish greatly to NAP NAO. I am going to fight that ugre, and instead dig out my best tripod, ultrawide, circular polarizer and go do my best (worst) Ansel Adams impersonation. ...I also have to go buy a new windshield wiper, as I broke one this morning scraping off my car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laxx Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 Seriously. I didn't fall asleep until 4:30, got up at 7 to shovel. But surprising, I'm wide awake today at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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