An avid Snowboarder, rabid NRA supporter, Starving Artist, Military Junkie, anti-fru-fru Glorified Private that basically posts incoherant ramblings and things better left unsaid.
Alright, so I took some time to answer the questions via a video blog, and noticed I have a tendency to ramble. It took me 12 minutes to answer 8 posts. (and two people asked questions after I recorded the video so. . . er. . . ). I didn't read the questions until I recorded them, so these are off the fly answers that I didn't give myself time to think about. I thought the results might be interesting.
I don't normally video blog, it's something I decided I would try to do, and I had to cut it down into sections to fit the recording in. I don't even know if this is remotely interesting to hear me ramble for whatever or not. Probably not. Let me know if I should video blog more or what I can do to improve it. We'll see.
So, onto the questions.
The first video is WA Tom, Dave J, Haji, John, and Jonathan. And, er, sorry Haji, I read your question and mostly concentrated on teh fact that you seemed to answer Dave's question, so to answer your Apartment question, um, I honestly have no idea why they are called Apartments. I bet if you looked at the root words there is an answer to that.
The second video answers Jeff's questions. And I spend a lot of time answering his questions. A lot of it is rambling and restating the same thing a dozen times in different ways.
The third and final video is answering Arah and Robbie. Arah's question is a doozy.
So, the old fashioned way of answering questions for the two I failed to videoblog, we'll start with T, who writes:
"What has been the toughest part of your military service?"
Bar none, it was my deployment to Kosovo. Mostly because it was through the School of Hard Knocks that I learned things from there. But it has also been one of my most vital lessons in my development as a soldier and a leader. I had a horrible NCOIC that I didn't realize until late in the deployment was a complete asshole that didn't deserve my loyalty or respect but granted, his failure to mentor me taught me some valuable lessons I probably wouldn't have learned otherwise. Overall my deployment was a positive one, definitely a growing experience. As they say, that which doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger. I can agree with that statement that right now I'm probably at my most stable mentally and emotionally then I have ever been. I have definitely matured since then, but I still have a lot of learning to do.
"Do you plan to retire from the military?" Jeff asked me a similar question I answer in the second video. I will definitely put in thirteen or fourteen years (my reenlistment contract is up to debate, I have two ETS dates at present that I'll worry about when the time gets closer) but at this point, I have a sneaky suspicion that I'll go ahead and fulfill that twenty. I'm in a job I love and I can see myself doing this for a while. But we'll see how I feel in a few years.
Funny, in relation to your last question, when I came off of active duty from Kosovo, I was pretty certain I was going to get out. The military is not without its downfalls, but I've enjoyed myself for the most part and I can see myself doing this for now.
A Random Reader writes: Can you explain the cliche of women being attracted to 'men in uniform' (MIUs as some of my friends refer to them)?
And, in your experience, does it work the other way around - are some men attracted to women in uniform?!?"
In response to the first part of the question, uniformed professions such as police, firemen and military are very masculine jobs. I think women are attracted to that masculinity and hence are drawn to the man in uniform. I have to admit, I'm not really into the whole metrosexual thing. I like guys who are men. So I have to admit that on the whole I'm attracted to a man in uniform. But when you are in the military and always see guys in uniform, you get desensitized to it. And strangely enough, I don't really see it in the new ACUs as much as the BDUs.
As for my experience with guys attracted to women in uniform, apparently some people found this attractive.
Granted, I have also heard comments that I look hideous in that picture as well (these generally come from the liberal persuasion). Honestly, what I think guys find attractive about women in uniform is their authority and aggressiveness. Mostly their aggressiveness. And this plays to their mental pictures of what a girl like that would be like in the bedroom.
Hey, I'm just saying it. I'm not implying anything here, but I think a lot of guys got off on that angry look, becaues from my experience, guys only have one thing on their mind. Please, correct me if I'm wrong.
Now that the questions are all answered, some via video blog and others via me typing out a response, tell me if this post was remotely interesting or should I go back to just typing things out?
And WA Tom, I'll have to check out that video. . . later.
