The Village Carpenter's question is: If you could do your life over again, what would you do differently?
A bunch of stuff....I was no angel growing up, so maybe make the other decision would have been wiser. Not as fun, but wouldn't have limited some of my options later.
There was this girl, that I dumped for a younger, prettier model (kind of like a Barbie doll), that was a HUGE mistake. By the time, I realized it is was too late. I believe that a lot of my early adulthood decisions hinged on that mistake. Later, I met her husband which was the guy she dated right after me, they have two kids a nice house and are essentially happy.
Maybe when I went to college the first time, if I would have not had a full load and a full time job (that was also sixty miles away), I would have lasted a little longer. Maybe.
I probably shouldn't have married my first wife. I should have listened to the "adults" for my second.
All in all, all these experiences make me like I am today. Whether it is good or bad, this is me and I can't change anything from the past, just learn from it.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Way Too Early For Christmas
I have received some Christmas items suck as a tree and light and ornaments. And I said, What the Hay!" The tree reminded me of Charlie Brown's when I first started setting it up, but it is definitely a tad better than that. You all can make up your own mind. So what, if there is about forty days to go, minor.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Wacky Searches on my Blog
Seems that "lately" the most frequent searches(using that search thingy on the bar at the top of the page) are :
GIRL
GIRLFRIEND
WIFE
WIVES
EX WIFE
and
NAUTICAL
The nautical makes perfect sense since that goes with the birthday and Veterans Day. But the other five, I have not talked about any women on this blog since my six year rant and even that really wasn't about women it was about the church.
The answer is no, I do not have a girlfriend(or wife). Girlfriends and deployments do not go together, and as my past has proven wives and deployments do not work either.
If you happen to have a pointed question just ask.
GIRL
GIRLFRIEND
WIFE
WIVES
EX WIFE
and
NAUTICAL
The nautical makes perfect sense since that goes with the birthday and Veterans Day. But the other five, I have not talked about any women on this blog since my six year rant and even that really wasn't about women it was about the church.
The answer is no, I do not have a girlfriend(or wife). Girlfriends and deployments do not go together, and as my past has proven wives and deployments do not work either.
If you happen to have a pointed question just ask.
Ben Stein, August 9, 2004...A Look Back
How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?
As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is"FINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end. It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it.
On a small scale, Morton's [famous restaurant which was often frequented by Hollywood stars], while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.
Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a manor woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.
How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails. They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer.
A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world. Areal star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him.. A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day,is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with apiece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.
The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists. We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines.
The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.
I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject. There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament....the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive. The orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery, the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children, the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards. Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse.
Now you have my idea of a real hero. We are not responsible for the operation of the universe, and what happens to us is not terribly important.
God is real, not a fiction, and when we turn over our lives to Him, he takes far better care of us than we could ever do for ourselves. In a word, we make ourselves sane when we fire ourselves as the directors of the movie of our lives and turn the power over to Him.
I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin--or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman, or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them. But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis, into a coma, and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.
This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.
For validity of this post visit:http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/b/benstein.htm
As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is"FINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end. It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it.
On a small scale, Morton's [famous restaurant which was often frequented by Hollywood stars], while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars. I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.
Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a manor woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.
How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model? Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails. They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer.
A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world. Areal star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him.. A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day,is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with apiece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.
The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists. We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines.
The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.
I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject. There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament....the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive. The orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery, the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children, the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards. Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse.
Now you have my idea of a real hero. We are not responsible for the operation of the universe, and what happens to us is not terribly important.
God is real, not a fiction, and when we turn over our lives to Him, he takes far better care of us than we could ever do for ourselves. In a word, we make ourselves sane when we fire ourselves as the directors of the movie of our lives and turn the power over to Him.
I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin--or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman, or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them. But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis, into a coma, and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.
This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.
For validity of this post visit:http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/b/benstein.htm
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Veterans' Day
Please remember your past and present veterans, especially today.
Here is a link to the VA Veterans Day page.
A link to the history of Veterans' Day.
Friday, November 09, 2007
November 10th, 2007
Some of you have asked how I will spend my day, the answer is simple, with my Marines.
I will give you some of my favorite quotes:
"Where do you find men like this? They come from families like yours. From farms and villages, towns and cities across the nation...Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines."
- President Ronald Reagan, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina 1983
"Come on, you sons of bitches-do you want to live forever?"
-Attributed to Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Daly, USMC, Belleau Wood, June 1918.
"They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines."
Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb, USMC 1943
"The U.S. Marine is a professional who stands ready to fight anytime, anywhere, any enemy that the President and Congress may designate and to do so coolly, capably, and in the spirit of professional detachment. He is not trained to hate, nor is he whipped up emotionally for battle or for any duty the Corps may be called on to perform. Patriotism and professionalism are his only two 'isms.'"
- Colonel Robert D. Heinl Jr. USMC 1970
"I still need Marines who can shoot and salute. But I need Marines who can fix jet engines and man sophisticated radar sets, as well."
- General Robert E. Cushman, Jr., USMC, 17 May 1974
Happy 232nd Marines! Where ever you may be!
I will give you some of my favorite quotes:
"Where do you find men like this? They come from families like yours. From farms and villages, towns and cities across the nation...Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines."
- President Ronald Reagan, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina 1983
"Come on, you sons of bitches-do you want to live forever?"
-Attributed to Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Daly, USMC, Belleau Wood, June 1918.
"They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines."
Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb, USMC 1943
"The U.S. Marine is a professional who stands ready to fight anytime, anywhere, any enemy that the President and Congress may designate and to do so coolly, capably, and in the spirit of professional detachment. He is not trained to hate, nor is he whipped up emotionally for battle or for any duty the Corps may be called on to perform. Patriotism and professionalism are his only two 'isms.'"
- Colonel Robert D. Heinl Jr. USMC 1970
"I still need Marines who can shoot and salute. But I need Marines who can fix jet engines and man sophisticated radar sets, as well."
- General Robert E. Cushman, Jr., USMC, 17 May 1974
Happy 232nd Marines! Where ever you may be!
RevGals: Friday 5- Extravagant unbusyness....
Sally, from RevGals, is writing in my official capacity of grump!!! No seriously, with the shops and stores around us filling with Christmas gifts and decorations, the holiday season moving up on us quickly for many the time from Thanksgiving onwards will be spent in a headlong rush towards Christmas with hardly a time to breathe.... I am looking at the possibility of finding little gaps in the day or the week to spend in extravagant unbusyness ( a wonderful phrase coined by fellow Revgal Michelle)...So given those little gaps, name 5 things you would do to;
(In the Marine Corps spirit, my list is slightly askewed)
1.to care for your body
100 crunches in two minutes, 20 dead hang pull-ups, and a 20 minute three mile run.
~2. to care for your spirit
Praying for baby Jesus on his birthday, Christmas, and remembering God was a Marine as well.
~
~
3. to care for your mind
Engaging in the illustrustrious history of our fine Corps and teaching the up and comming generations in the pride and honor to be a Marine.
~4. to bring a sparkle to your eye
November 10th, need I say more, I think not.
~5. to place a spring in your step
Singing cadence while going about your daily business.
~
.... and then for a bonus which one on the list are you determined to put into action?
Every one as my fellow brothers and sisters in arms have done before me.
______________ ______________
Thursday, November 08, 2007
The Marines' Hymn
MARINES' HYMN
From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli,
We fight our country's battles in the air, on land and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom, and to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title of United States Marine.
~Our Flag's unfurled to every breeze from dawn to setting sun.
We have fought in every clime and place, where we could take a gun.
In the snow of far off northern lands and in sunny tropic scenes,
You will find us always on the job, the United States Marines.
~
Here's health to you and to our Corps, which we are proud to serve.
In many a strife we've fought for life and never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy ever look on heaven's scenes,
they will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines.
Do Feel It?
Do you feel it coming?
On November 10, 1775, Robert Mullan, the proprietor of the (Tun) Tavern and son of Peggy Mullan, was commissioned by an act of Congress to raise the first two battalions of Marines, under the leadership of Samuel Nicholas, the first appointed Commandant of(the Continental) Marines.
The emails and conversations have been leaning hard toward our birthday. For those of us that are Marines or former Marines our birthday is November tenth.
On the 10th of November in 1775, the Continental Congress passed a resolution, which said in part:
"...Resolved, that two battalions of Marines be raised, consisting of one colonel, two lieutenant colonels, two majors, and other officers as usual in other regiments; and that they consist of an equal number of privates with other battalions;
that particular care betaken, that no persons be appointed to office, or enlisted into said battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve to advantage by sea when required;
that they be enlisted and commissioned to serve for and during the present war between Great Britain and the Colonies, unless dismissed by order of Congress; that they be distinguished by the names of the first and second battalions of American Marines..."
On November 10, 1775, Robert Mullan, the proprietor of the (Tun) Tavern and son of Peggy Mullan, was commissioned by an act of Congress to raise the first two battalions of Marines, under the leadership of Samuel Nicholas, the first appointed Commandant of(the Continental) Marines.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Litttle Things that I Hate in the Blog World
I hate it when I visit a blog (or website) and they have a "Cost of the War" ticker.
I hate it when I visit a blog and they have a " Iraqi deaths due to US invasion" ticker.
I think it is "fucking" stupid. Of all the people it shouldn't piss off is me, according to most of those I have spoken to about their tickers.
I really can't write what I want to say. I have rewritten this post about two dozen times, not because I am trying to be politically correct. I have rewritten it because I am bound by the contract I signed under my own feel will and I am not allowed to say or write certain conclusions or hypothesis about my country men and women.
Oh, I understand, open your eyes ...various people that working against the system. Those people are not reading this, those people do not vote, those are the people who complain all the time and do not do anything about it.
The great thing here is not that you agree, you don't have to, "we" live in a free country.
I hate it when I visit a blog and they have a " Iraqi deaths due to US invasion" ticker.
I think it is "fucking" stupid. Of all the people it shouldn't piss off is me, according to most of those I have spoken to about their tickers.
I really can't write what I want to say. I have rewritten this post about two dozen times, not because I am trying to be politically correct. I have rewritten it because I am bound by the contract I signed under my own feel will and I am not allowed to say or write certain conclusions or hypothesis about my country men and women.
Oh, I understand, open your eyes ...various people that working against the system. Those people are not reading this, those people do not vote, those are the people who complain all the time and do not do anything about it.
The great thing here is not that you agree, you don't have to, "we" live in a free country.
Sandstorms and Post Cards
Today, there is another sand storm going through, it not the first I have seen, not the second, it probably is the thirtieth or more. I could take a picture but it wouldn't turn out because the sun is down. Sandstorms are bitch to prepare for, because they just kind of pop out of nowhere. So I keep a whole bunch of stuff for sandstorms with me all the time. It just sucks.
I did receive a post card from Fran I Am today. It is a picture of water fountain in Barcelona. (Just to let everyone know, I would reply if I had an address.) I am actually one of those crazy people who keep most, if not all, of the mail sent to me. I even have a wacky filing system. So lets say you wrote me a letter when I was floating around the ocean in 1996, odds are I have it somewhere.
So today's verdict is: it sucks there is a sandstorm but I am happy because I received a post card from Fran I Am .
I did receive a post card from Fran I Am today. It is a picture of water fountain in Barcelona. (Just to let everyone know, I would reply if I had an address.) I am actually one of those crazy people who keep most, if not all, of the mail sent to me. I even have a wacky filing system. So lets say you wrote me a letter when I was floating around the ocean in 1996, odds are I have it somewhere.
So today's verdict is: it sucks there is a sandstorm but I am happy because I received a post card from Fran I Am .
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Post From Jan
"Cascading 268 feet into a deep pool, Snoqualmie Falls is one of Washington's most popular scenic attractions."Very Cool.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Something Everyone Can Understand
I saw this on Jan's blog, apparently anyone can enjoy my ramblings and only college level humans can enjoy hers.
The Truck
I have in my website several pictures of my '96 Ford Ranger in which I have painted several times. The thing that prompted this painting was this:
After this event, I attempted to fix it, but after another fender bender on Amarillo, Texas I said screw it.
After this event, I attempted to fix it, but after another fender bender on Amarillo, Texas I said screw it.
The first original paint job was gold with chevrons on the fenders, but it didn't last very long.
This was followed shortly there after with a " 5-ton" color. I never understood why they look pale all the time until it finally rained. I had added some air-wing type terms with the type of humor I have. I have it displayed here.
Some time after that rain storm I took a little more time and used Marine Corps colors to paint my truck. This is the point when you may say I am a little proud. You can make your own assumptions. I had this paint job the longest.
The one thing you have to keep in mind is I didn't use high quality paint, so when the entire hood decide to chip up it was time to repaint. This was the last yellow paint job I had. (In the picture is a Chevy, it is not mine, it is my ex-wife's)
After that, I was experimenting with a digital patten to match our cammies and did various pattens. I did take a few pictures but I do not have access to them at the moment. Like I have mentioned before, I believe the last and current paint scheme is light blue with scarlet highlights. Something that should resemble the gremlin in the first Wayne's World.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Reading and Writing
Normally by now I would have read my usual 15 blogs and have read the headlines of around 10 news agencies. Instead I read my comments that were posted while sleeping and wrapped a hot towel around my neck.
I feel I am betraying myself somehow.
I should be writing letters back to the gracious people who have written me. I am going to put that off until tomorrow.
(Funny thing, I gave my sergeant time off again today, what the fuck was I thinking?)
I feel I am betraying myself somehow.
I should be writing letters back to the gracious people who have written me. I am going to put that off until tomorrow.
(Funny thing, I gave my sergeant time off again today, what the fuck was I thinking?)
Saturday, November 03, 2007
I Have Been Tagged
Tagged = someone challenges you come up with 10 random things about yourself, then you have to tag 5 other bloggers.
10 random things about The Wyldth1ng:
1) When I was knee high to a grasshopper I would camp out in my toy box shaped as a football.
2) My junior year in high school I applied for the Air Force Academy.
3) I have been fascinated with breasts for as long as I can remember and I just can't seem to get enough of them.
4) The words nifty, shnazy, and silly should be included in everyone's everyday conversations.
5) My MCMAP instructor says I look like "Foamy" the Squirrel.
6) I have a glow in the dark pillow case with the solar system.
7) I love being the devil's advocate, all the time.
8) I have painted my '96 Ford Ranger 17 times, never once with auto paint.
9) I have bought the movie LA Story seven times in VHS and four times in DVD.
10) I went to Nationals while in VICA for extemporaneous speaking and finished thirteenth.
I am tagging:
MoreCows
Diane
(Deleted)
Magdalene
Jan
10 random things about The Wyldth1ng:
1) When I was knee high to a grasshopper I would camp out in my toy box shaped as a football.
2) My junior year in high school I applied for the Air Force Academy.
3) I have been fascinated with breasts for as long as I can remember and I just can't seem to get enough of them.
4) The words nifty, shnazy, and silly should be included in everyone's everyday conversations.
5) My MCMAP instructor says I look like "Foamy" the Squirrel.
6) I have a glow in the dark pillow case with the solar system.
7) I love being the devil's advocate, all the time.
8) I have painted my '96 Ford Ranger 17 times, never once with auto paint.
9) I have bought the movie LA Story seven times in VHS and four times in DVD.
10) I went to Nationals while in VICA for extemporaneous speaking and finished thirteenth.
I am tagging:
MoreCows
Diane
(Deleted)
Magdalene
Jan
How it is.
I am not asking for sympathy.
I am hoping that this sore/pain lessens in the next few days or I do know if I can keep going in this course. I know that parts of my body that I don't use regularly are supposed to be sore. I have some bruises in places that there should not be bruises. I do not bruise easily.
The last few days I have been sleeping longer, my water consumption is up, and typing is royal pain in the ass(not literally, pain is in wrists and forearms). I normally don't lay still while sleeping, but everytime I do move I awake with searing pain in my ribs.
I volunteered for this. Does that make me a sadist or masochist?
Two weeks to go.
I am hoping that this sore/pain lessens in the next few days or I do know if I can keep going in this course. I know that parts of my body that I don't use regularly are supposed to be sore. I have some bruises in places that there should not be bruises. I do not bruise easily.
The last few days I have been sleeping longer, my water consumption is up, and typing is royal pain in the ass(not literally, pain is in wrists and forearms). I normally don't lay still while sleeping, but everytime I do move I awake with searing pain in my ribs.
I volunteered for this. Does that make me a sadist or masochist?
Two weeks to go.
Friday, November 02, 2007
RevGals Friday Five: Interviews
Mother Laura writes:
Songbird just had an interview for a "vague and interesting" possibility, and More Cows than People is doing campus visits for doctoral programs. There always seem to be a few RevGals applying for new positions, and I just got my first call for this year's preliminary interviews for college teaching jobs at the American Academy of Religion meeting in San Diego coming up in a few weeks. It's for my dream job among this year's offerings, and I am flipflopping between excitement and nervousness. So please keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer for everyone facing such conversations, and share your thoughts on the wonderful world of interviews:
1. What was the most memorable interview you ever had?
2005 Enlisted to Warrant Officer board at the Wing level. This was the first year in which I had put in a package and the Wing wanted to conduct interviews on the potential candidates. Previous years that I had applied I only interviewed at the Squadron level. Everything I did was wrong, my ribbons were upside-down, I rattled off the wrong job description in which I was applying, I couldn't screw it up any more that I did. (By the way, the list for this year is out, I did not make it, again.)
2. Have you ever been the interviewer rather than the interviewee? If so, are you a tiger, a creampuff, or somewhere in between?
I would have to say 'not applicable.'
3. Do phone interviews make you more or less nervous than in-person ones?
Never have I done one. I would think less nervous.
4. What was the best advice you ever got to prepare for an interview? How about the worst?
The best was reread the statement of purpose(reason why interview is taking place) ten to twenty minutes prior. The worst was act naturally.
5. Do you have any pre-interview rituals that give you confidence?
I hum the Marines' Hymn. Everytime.
(I don't know why my first link didn't work, but this goes to my site.)
Songbird just had an interview for a "vague and interesting" possibility, and More Cows than People is doing campus visits for doctoral programs. There always seem to be a few RevGals applying for new positions, and I just got my first call for this year's preliminary interviews for college teaching jobs at the American Academy of Religion meeting in San Diego coming up in a few weeks. It's for my dream job among this year's offerings, and I am flipflopping between excitement and nervousness. So please keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer for everyone facing such conversations, and share your thoughts on the wonderful world of interviews:
1. What was the most memorable interview you ever had?
2005 Enlisted to Warrant Officer board at the Wing level. This was the first year in which I had put in a package and the Wing wanted to conduct interviews on the potential candidates. Previous years that I had applied I only interviewed at the Squadron level. Everything I did was wrong, my ribbons were upside-down, I rattled off the wrong job description in which I was applying, I couldn't screw it up any more that I did. (By the way, the list for this year is out, I did not make it, again.)
2. Have you ever been the interviewer rather than the interviewee? If so, are you a tiger, a creampuff, or somewhere in between?
I would have to say 'not applicable.'
3. Do phone interviews make you more or less nervous than in-person ones?
Never have I done one. I would think less nervous.
4. What was the best advice you ever got to prepare for an interview? How about the worst?
The best was reread the statement of purpose(reason why interview is taking place) ten to twenty minutes prior. The worst was act naturally.
5. Do you have any pre-interview rituals that give you confidence?
I hum the Marines' Hymn. Everytime.
(I don't know why my first link didn't work, but this goes to my site.)
Thursday, November 01, 2007
With All of Your Help
My comments have increased five times with all of your help. Then again, with this support I also wrote fifty posts. That alone is almost more than all of last year.Thank you.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Time Consumption with Pain
If you "see" less of me on the internet or do not here from me much I have a good reason.
Green Belt
I am attempting to increase my Marine Corps Martial Arts (Program) belt from a gray to a green. It is not a big step, but it is a step none the less.
So more or less I will be getting my ass kicked for about three weeks by a bunch of young bucks. I found out tonight that I am one of the heaviest of the group. That is wacky. I don't think that has ever happened before.
All I have to remember is, if I am injured I have to stop; if I am hurt I keep on going.
Green Belt
I am attempting to increase my Marine Corps Martial Arts (Program) belt from a gray to a green. It is not a big step, but it is a step none the less.
So more or less I will be getting my ass kicked for about three weeks by a bunch of young bucks. I found out tonight that I am one of the heaviest of the group. That is wacky. I don't think that has ever happened before.
All I have to remember is, if I am injured I have to stop; if I am hurt I keep on going.
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