http://www.pleonast.com/user/navydoc recent pleonast.com entries by user navydoc en-us http://www.pleonast.com/user/navydoc?l=5&entryID=544929 I'm now half way through the didactic (class) part of my school. I go to clinicals in Sept. for 6 months. Had 4 tests last week and one this week, but this is a short week due to the holiday. I'll be heading to Tampa on Thurs., coming back Sunday. My girlfriend came to visit recently. She asked me to take her out somewhere expensive. So I took her to the gas station. That's a joke, btw. What's with all the natural disasters over the past few years? Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami in Sri Lanka or whatever, monsoon hit somewhere recently, cyclone in Myanmar, earth quakes in Japan and China, the flooding of the midwest, tornadoes everywhere, forest fires in CA, NC, AZ, and FL. This is esp. bad now that the price of produce is going up. With the prices of gas and food going up, the stock market crashing, the housing marketing plummeting, do you think it is all, or even partly the result of 9/11? I went to visit Ground Zero a few years ago. I remember someone saying that NYC (whi... 2008-06-30 http://www.pleonast.com/user/navydoc?l=5&entryID=533435 Here are some interesting things I found about Democrats, and a joke at the end. And I'm sure I'll take some heat about it, but I don't care. 22 WAYS TO BE A GOOD DEMOCRAT 1. You have to be against capital punishment, but support abortion on demand. 2. You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity. 3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than U.S. nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese and North Korean communists. 4. You have to believe that there was no art before Federal funding 5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by documented cyclical changes in the earth's climate and more affected by soccer moms driving SUV's. 6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial but being homose... 2008-05-29 http://www.pleonast.com/user/navydoc?l=5&entryID=522783 First off I would like to thank everyone who commented on my previous post, I appreciate the thoughts expressed. Are you content with your job? Are you doing what you wanted to? If not, what else would you like to be? What's your dream job? Here's a list of the top 10 things I would like have been, if I wasn't doing what I do now: 1. Navy SEAL 2. CIA agent 3. Pro football player 4. NSA 5. U.S. Marshall 6. FBI 7. Computer programmer 8. Bounty hunter 9. EOD (bomb squad) 10. Architectural engineer That is all. Carry on. 2008-04-29 http://www.pleonast.com/user/navydoc?l=5&entryID=517228 I have recently been visiting other CoC congregations, and have noticed some obvious differences. I tend to compare and contrast churches I've been to to the one I grew up in. I've come to realize the one I grew up in was very conservative. The one I had been going to in NC did a few things differently, such as a youth group, clapping when someone gets baptized or has a baby, and singing 'happy birthday' to someone after worship has concluded. I recently posted a blog about my experience at an all black congregation and how they did things, you can scroll down to read it if you would like. Then I went to one a couple weeks ago whom I was told was liberal, but I wanted to check it out for myself, because I want to know exactly what goes on there. Here was my experience: I come inside for worship, and everyone is on a 'social hour' for coffee and donuts. After we are seated they start worship with a video on the big screen about the separate entities of worship (I assume thi... 2008-04-15 http://www.pleonast.com/user/navydoc?l=5&entryID=511529 I got all moved to Newport News, VA. I'm attending X-ray tech school in Portsmouth, at the Naval School of Health Sciences. We're going over some math now, stuff I haven't had since my freshman year at FC 10 years ago. I went on leave for a couple weeks before starting school, going to IN and FL. I played the license plate game on my way back from FL to VA, found 43 states and 4 Canadian provinces and one that said 'Consul', which I'm assuming is a special gov't plate. I got engaged over the weekend. Big day hasn't been set yet. I've not had very good luck getting adjusted to my new life here in VA. My first night here I had no heat (this was the first week of March), b/c I didn't know how to work the gas fireplace. The 3rd night was a thunderstorm and the power went out. Last Friday I woke up at 0611, when I should be on the road to school by 0545, so I was 15 minutes late for school. Saturday I took my car in for an oil change. They said it would be awhile so I left i... 2008-04-01 http://www.pleonast.com/user/navydoc?l=5&entryID=500865 God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael, the archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day. He inquired, "Where have you been?" God smiled deeply and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look, Michael. Look what I've made." Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and said, "What is it?" "It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put Life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a place to test Balance." "Balance?" inquired Michael, "I'm still confused. God explained, pointing to different parts of earth. "For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor. Over here I've placed a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black people. Balance in all things." God continued pointing to different countries. "This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and ... 2008-03-05 http://www.pleonast.com/user/navydoc?l=5&entryID=494869 Well I made it back from Indiana. Had a flat tire, so had to change that. I'll be having to buy my 7th tire in a year. I have the worst luck with cars. I'm about halfway done packing up my house. Check out these quotes by some famous, or near famous, people: Question: "If you could live forever, would you and why?" Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever. --1995 Miss America, Heather Whitestone, from (of course) Alabama -------------------------------------------------------- "Whenever I watch tv and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not deal with all those flies and death and stuff" --Mariah Carey ------------------------------------------------------------ "Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've... 2008-02-20 http://www.pleonast.com/user/navydoc?l=5&entryID=489768 The population of this country is 300 million. 160 million are retired. That leaves 140 million to do the work. There are 85 million in school. Which leaves 55 million to do the work. Of this there are 35 million employed by the federal government. Leaving 15 million to do the work. 2.8 million are in the armed forces preoccupied with killing Al-Qaeda/Taliban. Which leaves 12.2 million to do the work. Take from that total the 10.8 million people who work for state and city Governments. And that leaves 1.4 million to do the work. At any given time there are 188,000 people in hospitals. Leaving 1,212,000 to do the work. Now, there are 1,211,998 people in prisons. That leaves just two people to do the work...you and me. And there you are, sitting on your butt at your computer, reading emails and blogs. That's why I'm over worked and under paid...because I have to do the job all by myself. Ok, I'm done working for awhile, going on leave tomorrow to IN for 12 days. I should have been in... 2008-02-07 http://www.pleonast.com/user/navydoc?l=5&entryID=486464 Well it may seem like a good thing, but not necessarily in my situation. When I went home for Christmas, I had 51 days of leave. I was gone for 10 days = 41 total, but since we get 2.5 days at the end of every month = 43.5. I took 8 days of leave to FL a few weeks ago. After I got back, I found out my leave papers didn't get to the personnel dept. in time. The lady who works the desk ask me if she wanted me to charge the leave days I just took. I told her it was up to her. She said she wouldn't, less work for her to do. So that was 8 days of free leave I just took. And I'll get another 2.5 by Friday. So that equals 46 days of leave on the books. I'm taking 12 days, starting next weekend. I can't take enough vacation to get my numbers down. It's not like I'm being denied or hasseled for taking it. The main reason I'm taking so much is so I can have like 20-30 days of leave when I transfer in March so I don't have 60+ come Oct. While I was on leave, I visited an all blac... 2008-01-30 http://www.pleonast.com/user/navydoc?l=5&entryID=476566 I went home to IN for Christmas for like 10 days. Then when I get back to NC, I'm on a 4 days New Year's holiday routine which I'm off of work. I worked yesterday and today, then off for 11 days. So 2 days of 'work' in a 3 1/2 week time is not bad. I have a vacation situation. Before I went home, I had 51 days of leave on the books, as we call it, or had 51 vacation days saved up. But when I go to VA in March, I'll be there for a year and most likely only will be allowed to take leave for Thanksgiving and Christmas for a week or so each. Our fiscal year ends the end of Sept. Whatever leave days we have over 60 come 1 OCT will disappear. We call that 'use or lose'. And we get 2.5 leave days per month. So even though I took 10 days of leave, I was given 2.5 for the month of DEC, which means I actually only subtracted 7.5 from my 51. So to prevent me from having more than 60 days of leave by the end of next Sept., I'm taking as much leave now as I can. I'm leaving Monday, hea... 2008-01-04