sebtool
Blackhawk
My kids (24 and 26) must have some sort of secret revenge plot. I think that they're trying to get me to commit hari kari, by driving their mother, and at the same time, ME!, over the edge.....
#1 daughter, 26, is a social worker, bless her heart. Definitely a field that I tried to talk her out of, but we all know how that went, don't we? She's worked with the mentally ill in St Louis for the last 4 years since graduating. She decided about a year ago that to effect any real change to a really screwed up sytem, that she needed her Master's in Social Work. She says that without it, her options for advancement/progress are very limited. OK, I'll buy that.
So she did some research. The #1, #2 and #3 ranked schools in the country for her MSW are located in MI, TX, and guess where else - St Louis! We have family in MI, not too far from Lansing and the school, plus my cousin lived and worked there for a few years. He could, and would, give her enough info and help to get her going. But it gets pretty cold there, so....
-Wash U in St Louis. Yup, 1 hr, +/-, away. Nope. The company she works for will not help her pay for school, even though she works for 1 of the largest health care conglomerates in the midwest! They won't even allow her supervisor to give her a reference in her new job search, as they're afraid of liability issues down the road. Pathetic. Plus, she decided that St Louis is getting a bit more interesting than she wants to deal with right now. It's been that way for a while now, as far as I'm concerned, so no arguement there! I spent an hour on the phone with her the evening that the mayor and DA released the statement that the officer who shot Mikey Brown was not going to face charges. I talked to her till she got home, which was just before the press conference. She skipped her last appointment that day.
SO. U of TX, at Arlington, it is. We pick up the UHaul Thursday morning, load it, and drive down Friday to her new digs. I anticipate going broke on all the #!%$#@!!!! toll roads between here and there, as well. So now, her mother won't be able to jump in the car and take her shopping, go for lunch, etc, as their schedules would occasionally permit up till now. Or just go up there to get away for a bit, and visit. Worse, is that she won't be able to come down here to hang out for the weekend, bbq, and do some shooting on Sunday afternoon, either....
NEXT. Yesterday, I dropped my son (24) off at a recruiting station so his happy butt can go to Fort Benning for the next 6 months. Basic, then OCS. He's going for all the right reasons, but that doesn't make it any easier to see him go. Especially after finding out that he turned down a $70k job right after he got his bachelor's degree, as it wasn't part of his plan... I pray that the new C-I-C, after he gets out of OCS next Jan will be, at the very least, a huge improvement over the clown with the title now!
The requirements are much different now than when I was asked if I wanted to go to OCS after boot camp 37 years ago! He's been working at it for months, taking online classes, going to meetings, etc. He's been in good shape, P90x and all that. Last PFT he ran, he missed Ranger school qualification numbers by 3 points. The recruiters told him he needed to be able to max out the PFT before he went, if he wanted to stand out when he gets there. He'll get there. He's a good man, he will do well. We'll see how far he decides to go with it, and go from there. The wife and I are both veterans, so we have a clue as what he's getting into. But Afghanistan was just a rocky little country 35 years ago. Times change. Ask the Russians.
The bottom line is, the wife left for work crying on Monday. Her baby is in the Army now! The week hasn't gotten much better, and I don't think it will. After we get #1 daughter settled, we're off to pick up a washer and dryer for her, and hopefully (!) have it DELIVERED! The plan is to hang around till early Tuesday to help her out. Might ease the strain of leaving, but I doubt it.
To top it all off, the M-I-L volunteered to go along for the ride. Don't get me wrong, she's OK for an 'outlaw'. And she might even help settle the wife down on the 10+ HOUR drive home. I sure hope so, anyway.....
Sorry for the long post, just needed to vent a little. To put the icing on the cake, I quit smoking last week, after 39 years. So yeah, things are just a little dicey around here right now!!!!!!!
#1 daughter, 26, is a social worker, bless her heart. Definitely a field that I tried to talk her out of, but we all know how that went, don't we? She's worked with the mentally ill in St Louis for the last 4 years since graduating. She decided about a year ago that to effect any real change to a really screwed up sytem, that she needed her Master's in Social Work. She says that without it, her options for advancement/progress are very limited. OK, I'll buy that.
So she did some research. The #1, #2 and #3 ranked schools in the country for her MSW are located in MI, TX, and guess where else - St Louis! We have family in MI, not too far from Lansing and the school, plus my cousin lived and worked there for a few years. He could, and would, give her enough info and help to get her going. But it gets pretty cold there, so....
-Wash U in St Louis. Yup, 1 hr, +/-, away. Nope. The company she works for will not help her pay for school, even though she works for 1 of the largest health care conglomerates in the midwest! They won't even allow her supervisor to give her a reference in her new job search, as they're afraid of liability issues down the road. Pathetic. Plus, she decided that St Louis is getting a bit more interesting than she wants to deal with right now. It's been that way for a while now, as far as I'm concerned, so no arguement there! I spent an hour on the phone with her the evening that the mayor and DA released the statement that the officer who shot Mikey Brown was not going to face charges. I talked to her till she got home, which was just before the press conference. She skipped her last appointment that day.
SO. U of TX, at Arlington, it is. We pick up the UHaul Thursday morning, load it, and drive down Friday to her new digs. I anticipate going broke on all the #!%$#@!!!! toll roads between here and there, as well. So now, her mother won't be able to jump in the car and take her shopping, go for lunch, etc, as their schedules would occasionally permit up till now. Or just go up there to get away for a bit, and visit. Worse, is that she won't be able to come down here to hang out for the weekend, bbq, and do some shooting on Sunday afternoon, either....
NEXT. Yesterday, I dropped my son (24) off at a recruiting station so his happy butt can go to Fort Benning for the next 6 months. Basic, then OCS. He's going for all the right reasons, but that doesn't make it any easier to see him go. Especially after finding out that he turned down a $70k job right after he got his bachelor's degree, as it wasn't part of his plan... I pray that the new C-I-C, after he gets out of OCS next Jan will be, at the very least, a huge improvement over the clown with the title now!
The requirements are much different now than when I was asked if I wanted to go to OCS after boot camp 37 years ago! He's been working at it for months, taking online classes, going to meetings, etc. He's been in good shape, P90x and all that. Last PFT he ran, he missed Ranger school qualification numbers by 3 points. The recruiters told him he needed to be able to max out the PFT before he went, if he wanted to stand out when he gets there. He'll get there. He's a good man, he will do well. We'll see how far he decides to go with it, and go from there. The wife and I are both veterans, so we have a clue as what he's getting into. But Afghanistan was just a rocky little country 35 years ago. Times change. Ask the Russians.
The bottom line is, the wife left for work crying on Monday. Her baby is in the Army now! The week hasn't gotten much better, and I don't think it will. After we get #1 daughter settled, we're off to pick up a washer and dryer for her, and hopefully (!) have it DELIVERED! The plan is to hang around till early Tuesday to help her out. Might ease the strain of leaving, but I doubt it.
To top it all off, the M-I-L volunteered to go along for the ride. Don't get me wrong, she's OK for an 'outlaw'. And she might even help settle the wife down on the 10+ HOUR drive home. I sure hope so, anyway.....
Sorry for the long post, just needed to vent a little. To put the icing on the cake, I quit smoking last week, after 39 years. So yeah, things are just a little dicey around here right now!!!!!!!
