They Used To Call Me "Chief"

A question was posed in a forum that I subscribe to, as to how many of us spent an entire career with the same company. There were a mixture of answers, but DoD, schools and large companies with government contracts seemed to be the popular ones. Most of us who answered are the retired baby boomer generation, therefore it was possible to start a career in the 1960s and remain with a single company. -------------------- start of my reply ------------------- I spent a 22 year career in the Army, then retired. My 2nd career was 18 years in length at an international telecom giant, and was declared redundant. After that, a short 3-year stint with a large retail chain, and I left on my own accord. I had the opportunity at a 30 year Army career, but I opted to end on a high note and spare my family being further uprooted. I hadn't planned to be in for even the 22 year stretch, but the opportunities and great camaraderie kept me hooked. How I ever lasted the 18 years in the tech industry,...

  Is that term really a slur or a putdown? Hmm! When I've heard the term “OK Boomer” in the workplace, it usually came from the GenYers (millennials). The blurry lines between Ys and Zs are inconsequential to me, but I love them all. After all, we baby boomers produced the Millennial Generation. They’re all young up and coming, and are establishing a foothold, just like we did. I've observed that the biggest critics of the Millennials came from the GenXers, not us. They were relentless in the pursuit of “keeping them in their place,” and I applaud that. Thusly, when I hear that term, I’m far from put down. Instead, I hear the following implications from that work of oratory genius: - I have no creativity - I have no originality - I just go with the whatever (TikTok, etc) trends dictate - I am entitled - Life started with me - I am incapable of forming complete sentences We boomers, according to my research, indicates that we have accumulated the largest amount of wealth (thr...

The best radio station I ever listened to regularly was the great WNEW-FM out of NYC. It was a staple, once FM radio became into its own being. So many fond memories of the listening experience exist, I only have the capacity to list a few notable memories. (More to follow) The DJs who helped shape the alternative music scene were: Scott Muni Vin Scelza Allison Steele Pete Fornatale Jonathan Schwartz Richard Neer WNEW-FM frequently broadcast live concerts from The Bottom Line in NYC, featuring iconic performances that became legendary in rock history. Key, widely-circulated recordings include: Bruce Springsteen (Aug 15, 1975) Patti Smith (Dec 27, 1975) Albert King (1976) David Bromberg (1977) I'll visit this later

Hello Tommy Chong, I appreciate all your contributions in the 1970's counter-culture movement. I love your guitar playing, both as a session musician, as well as your just being a good kick-ass musician. Your schtick is second to none, and your Cheech and Chong albums are outrageous. The Up In Smoke series... love it! I tried both your energy-enhancing and sleep-induced tinctures. Your products seem to have a ground-breaking method of extracting CBD, and I love the vernacular you (or your writers) use to sell it. So, the ingredients in your Nice Dreams Sleep Tincture are also used in other sleep aid products. CBD is now one of those ingredients.The same applies to your Good Vibes Energy tincture, also available in other OTC natural supplements. The question is, is CBD alone really a sleep aid? So many natural supplements include CBD as a marketing ploy. I doubt that that chemical alone would suffice as sleep aid.  My observation is that it's just another snake oil gimmick. ...

Not being one to waste anything, I decided not to dispose of the five or so twelve-foot lengths of rebar . Nor could I part with several assorted pieces of lumber, also left in place after construction was completed on our new house. The wood scraps served me well and became instrumental in building a kayak rack , a sitting bench, a garage table, workbench and some decorative shelving. The upright drying rack for beach towels, made from a 4x4 , well, we all have our folly or two. And the leftover metal slats from the porch railings , albeit great additions to the drying rack, made the term “unsightly” an understatement. The day finally arrived to put the rebar to use. Several badly rotted-out sections of landscaping timber on the thirty-plus years old retaining wall , needed support, and lots of it. Hey, what a great use for the rebar! However, I needed to cut them into four and five foot lengths and drive them into the ground, thus holding back the impending collapse of the wall. I...

I was mostly with the 3AD Rear/DISCOM during the war. I was very mobile and active as a tactical comms Warrant for the Division. We were part of  V Corps , but deployed under VII Corps in the desert. We quickly became a step child of VII Corps. It was fukking miserable, especially in the giant warehouses at the port. What a disorganized mess! I was a newly-promoted CW2 right before ODS . Our air assets were out of Maurice Rose AAF in Frankfurt . My peacetime duty station was on Drake Kaserne , with the 143d Sig Bn, headquartered across the street on Edwards Kaserne . The aviators referred to us as “walking Warrants.” I attended WOCS from Apr 1988 until completion, in Red Flight, class 88-12. I got my dot in Nov 1988, after an additional 26 weeks of a very tough tech course in Ft Gordon, Ga. I had flown on many a UH-60 during the ODS conflict to troubleshoot tactical comms within 3d Armored Division as well as many logistical missions. When the pilot(s) would see my rank whi...