Journal Entries
VA Police Application
Posted Apr 3, 2003
I submitted my online packet for the Vetrans Affairs Police. They pollice VA hospitals around the country. I've always thought I'd like to work at a hopital or an airport. There's a certain kind of energy at both places that I've alwyas liked. I'm not sure that I can describe it.
I'm not real sure this job would be right for me. I can't tell what the pay is. They're hiring peole at pay grades GS-5 and GS-6, and the pay range is shown as $25,725.00 - 37,278.00. I qualify, actually I'm overqualified, for paygrade GS-6. I don't know how much that makes. I don't think I'd be willing to take a pay cute. On the other hand, it would be a step into the federal system, which would make other jobs available.
I have heard they make more arrests per officer than any other federal law enforcement officer.
All-in-all, it's an interesting possibility.
Right now, I'm pretty happy with my current agency, but I am looking around to see if there's something better. Besides, watching job websites, and applying for jobs is sort of a hobby with me. I'm going to start posting in my journal to keep track of applications.
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Latest reply: Apr 3, 2003
NPS Job Application
Posted Apr 3, 2003
I applied for a position with the National Park Service as a Park Ranger (Protection) today. I filled out the online application. When I get up in the morning, I'll mail off my supplemental materials.
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Latest reply: Apr 3, 2003
Tenth Wedding Anniversary
Posted Apr 1, 2003
Ten years ago, Bev [U188100] and I had been engaged for nearly a year. We kept trying to set dates, but they kept being delayed when I couldn't get out of the Army as early as I wanted to. We finally gave up on setting a date.
I was finally discharged on March 23, 1993, and I went to New York to meet with her. She was being reassigned from New York to California. Most of her stuff had been moved already. We spent a couple of days in her empty apartment before setting out to our new life together.
We drove from New York to her home in Ohio in separate cars. While we were driving, I was stopped for speeding in Pennsylvania [A717518] and we were separated. I had a vague notion of where she grew up. I remembered that she grew up in Oak Harbor, but that was about all I had to go on. So here, I was without a job, without prospects, in Ohio for the first time ever. Luckily, we ran into each other at one of the gas stations on the Ohio Turnpike.
We visited with her family and friends in Ohio for a few days. We also sold her car to her little brother. So the rest of the trip was in my 1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo.
On April 1st, I decided that I wanted to get married that day. Bev didn't think getting married on April Fool's Day was such a great idea. After much begging and pleading, she finally agreed.
We went to the county court house and applied for a marriage license. We could get one, but their weren't any judges available to marry us. The clerk told us that there were preachers that waited on the steps of the Lucas County (Toledo) courthouse for people to come out of the marriage license bureau. So off we went.
After a brief stop to pick up some contacts, we went to Toledo and found the courthouse. We walked up to the marriage license bureau, turned around and walked out. A lady, who had just been waiting on the steps, saw us leave the office and walked up to us. She took us to an anteroom next to the steps. There we were married.
When we went back to Oak Harbor and told everyone that we were married. After some disbelief, we went to a bar downtown to celebrate. It turns out that the owner were married on April 1st as well. When they were married, the preacher got drunk before the services and barely made it through the vows before passing out. Anyway...
From there, we drove on to Arkansas to visit my mother's family. On the way, Bev was learning to drive a stick shift. This was somewhat difficult because the seat in my car was back, and we couldn't get it to move. Bev is five feet tall, and I am six feet tall. We had to stack up pillows behind her so she could reach the pedals. Throughout the trip, we listened to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The whole thing. The radio series and all five books on tape. That might not of been wise. She doesn't like it all now. I was also stopped for speeding in Arkansas.
After visiting with my mother and grandparents, we drove on to Oregon, where I grew up. We stayed with Dad, and we had a little reception with some of his friends. He even had a little cake for us. He was also able to fix the driver's seat in the car by plugging the buttons back in.
Then we pushed on to our life together in the high desert in California.
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Latest reply: Apr 1, 2003
A No Car Family
Posted Mar 20, 2003
My wife and I tried to go out to dinner tonight to meet some people that we might be able to play RPGs with. Since my Grand Caravan is still in the shop (it might be done this weekend), we took my wife's Mazda Miata.
On the way up there, we were involved in a seven car accident (That may have been a hit and run). As close as I can tell we were the forth car in the accident. The car was totaled with a huge amount of front and rear damage. I'm still not sure if were in two or three different impacts. I know we spun around some and the airbag deployed. While the car was smoking from the air bag, we discovered that we were entrapped. Fortunately, the Miata was a convertible, so we opened the roof to escape.
We were taken by ambulance to an emergency room, but the wait was so long, we called a friend to get us and take us to the after hours care at our HMO. They gave us some drugs, treated our wounds, X-Rayed my wife's hand, and let us go home.
Now my wife's much beloved (By her, I hate it) car is gone.
We're really really lucky. Everyone walked away, even if it was just to the ambulance. This was on a five lane interstate, and people could have easily been killed at those speeds.
I love my wife, and I'm glad she's not hurt worse, and I'm grateful for our good fortune.
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Latest reply: Mar 20, 2003
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Posted Mar 6, 2003
This weekend, I was trying to make some extra money working an extra job. I don't do it often, but the money was good, and the work was easy. I was to guard an empty tent that didn't have any walls. Don't ask me why, I just take the money.
I had a grand time. I took my minivan down there. I could watch everything in and around the tent from the van. I took a new AC/DC television, that I could plug right into the cigarette lighter (which was labeled power outlet), The Clash of Kings (the novel I'm reading), and an old laptop. One of the middle seats has been removed from my minivan so there's plenty of room to stretch out. I set a cooler between the front seats, propped the TV up there, and watched movies. The caravan was a moving living room.
I wrote a little bit of a new article for the Guide. I read some. I had a good time. I even made sure nothing happened to the empty tent.
Right before I left, another deputy said that she was hemmed in by water. It stormed something fierce during the night. After I was relieved. I went over to where she was. I wanted to make sure she got home, even if we had to leave her car there until later.
The streets in the area were flooded, but the water was only two to four inches deep. In front of her car it got worse, but I thought I could make it through. I was wrong.
The air intake on the minivan is very low, and I splashed a lot of water in there. The van died.
The engine is shot, and it's going to cost $2,950 to replace it. Our savings, including the money that I earned this morning comes out to about $1700, so we're going to have to go deeper in debt to cover this (something that we haven't had to do for a long time. It's horrible. We've been trying to pay down some of our debts. We've been saving money to for emergencies and big car expenses, but it wasn't enough.
I'm pretty bummed.
Discuss this Journal entry [22]
Latest reply: Mar 6, 2003
Two Bit Trigger Pumping Moron
Researcher U35376
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