M2

Actually, we had our house inspected twice, once by an inspector we hired and again but an independent inspector the builder hired. Both found things we would've never known about, so I concur with Stagger Lee's recommendation of getting at least one inspection done before buying, even on a new house. Cheers! M2

Just the numbers, but we borrowed $184K on our house in S.A. and are paying around $1600 a month. That's a 5.875% rate on a conventional 30-year loan, with very little taxes as the property is still listed as undeveloped (as it was a year ago when it was last surveyed) and we are outside of the city limits, so no city taxes at the moment. When the property gets re-assessed, the taxes will be increased as will our mortgage payments. Cheers! M2

This will explain all... What really is going on in the tower Cheers! M2

Sell A-10 patches... Cheers! M2

As usual, Snopes has the real story behind the myth... Cheers! M2

Sprint No, you make a good point. The US military in general is not adequately resourced to maintain two major operations for this long (except for 40" plasma TVs, which seem to be in excess). The Army is taking a major hit trying to maintain this opstempo and it is beginning to have its effects. The USAF isn't fairing much better, we seem more focused on F-22s than on the equipment (e.g C-130s) we need to sustain our current ops. Of course the ideal thing to do right now is to have a major reorg as we all know that fixes everything! Cheers! M2

Sorry, you aren't "deployed" if you have an auto-dog*... Part two can be found here. Cheers! M2

BRAVO ZULU, I knew what it meant from my last first joint tour, but I had to Google it to find out where it comes from... I actually had my boss at SHAPE, a US Army O-6, ask be what the USAF equivelent was to BZ. He was a bit taken back when I said "shit hot," so he asked a few more USAF types and got the same answer. We later told him he could use "sierra hotel" in mixed company or around SNAPs... Cheers! M2

Now THIS is the cell phone to have! Cheers! M2

Here is the web site for the phone I saw in the in-flight mag... Cheers! M2

In the mean time, start reading this... Cheers! M2

Actually, it is a EA-18 or F/A-18G "Growler"... Cheers! M2

Crash I am no personnel/admin weenie, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night; but if I am not mistaken, vMPF is "managed" by AFPC. But, that said, do NOT make the mistake of thinking that if something shows up on vMPF that it is in your Master Records! What is updated in the computer doesn't necessarily mean the hardcopy has made it into your records. See my earlier remark of having someone else's dec in my records. For all you who have yet to smell what I am cooking, go to Randolph and look over your records yourself! If you can't do that, use one of the other methods of getting a copy of your records! If you think the excuse of "Sorry, but I didn't check that a critical dec or all of my OPRs were in my records" is going to pass muster after you've been passed over, then you are dumber than you realize and you don't deserve to be promoted. As a matter of fact, you probably shouldn't be in the USAF in the first place, as I wouldn't trust you to cook my eggs at the chow hall or anything else as equally important! And don't forget to do your PME, unless, of course, you don't want to get promoted! Cheers! M2

Bitte Ein Bit (cool name) Good post, and I would only add one thing. You can bring copies of your decorations and orders to get your records updated, but you can't do a damn thing if an OPR or training record is not in your master records (the ones AFPC holds, and the ones the promotion boards see). For that you have to work through your local MPF (if you are lucky to have one, and the one on Lackland is going away in a few months). Anyone within a year of a board should make the trek to the Alamo city to check their master records, on average I think I was missing 2-3 decorations everytime I checked. And with the boards being someone competitive with everyone deploying all of the time and everyone using the SH OPR/PRF bullet lists I posted earlier, all it takes is a missing MSM or ticket to cause a passover. My earlier post assumed these guys checked their records in advance. You can request a hardcopy of your records from AFPC, but it takes a month or two to arrive. Cheers! M2

Nav Here's the thread and here's the pic of Moseley wearing his... Cheers! M2

There a pic of Moseley wearing one somewhere on AF.mil, but the ****ing photo search engine is TU'd at the moment (at least for me). I would print off a copy and carry it around with you...if it's good enough for the CSAF, it's good enough for a nav! Cheers! M2

2 hours? In AETC? I wouldn't bet 2 minutes... Good luck, let us know how the experiment goes and who gives you your LOC... Cheers! M2

Yep, I got MS Office for about $19.95 through our SC shop. Also, you can get McAfee AV for free from their web site. Cheers! M2

So, where are all the C-21 drivers going? Cheers! M2

You lose height (notice I didn't say "shrink") as you get older anyway... But that makes your "Liger" bigger in perspective! Cheers! M2

Not that I know shit about helicopters (besides the Jesus Nut), but the Army UH-1s that I used to catch rides on had the same cable cutting device above the canopy as well. Not a rare item on a helo, if I am not mistaken; but we have a few experts on here that I am sure will pipe in... Cheers! M2

Crash Don't be too jealous, I bought on the northwest side of San Antonio and paid $235K for a nice house. The S.A. market goes up on average 8.7% annually, so based on when you last lived/bought here, the housing market has changed quite a bit. Trust me, I've bought two houses in San Antonio (one in 99 and the other last year), and I was floored by how much houses have gone up here. Cheers! M2

Might want to consider buying a condo instead. Less hassle and easier when you are gone a lot. I just sold one that I lived in for a while, then used as a rental property for ten years. Made quite a nice little profit from the sale (which Uncle Sam will rape the hell outta me for). Houses are a lot of work, and if you are single and gone a lot they may not be your best option. But investing in property is a good move if you do it smartly. Beats pissing away your BAH on rent... Cheers! M2

Everything you would ever want to know can be found here. Cheers! M2

Very similar to a college pasttime we had called Dean Martin...where you started drinking at someone's apartment, then you figure out who would be studying at that time and go over to their apartment and start drinking. Once they've started drinking, you then go to someone else's apartment, and before you know it, you've got a Dean Martin party going! Dean Martin knew how to throw a party! Cheers! M2