The fork in the road

C

Carl Kneel

New member
Jobs are boring. Again, they have to pay you to get you to show up. It's what you do with your life that matters. Don't identify yourself through your job. The job is a means to an end. It's a paycheck and that check allows you to do stuff you find interesting.

My job is OK. Mostly I fix printers, answer stupid questions and do other IT related tasks. For fun I weld, I sculpt steel, I work with Greyhound Rescue, I play the piano, I play the cello, I read, I ride motorcycles, I work on motorcycles, I hike, camp, target shoot and I'm a member of an international social organization. On top of that I do this shit, I work with Taylor on some of his side projects... The job just allows me the financial ability to do all of that.




Don't romanticize the military. You could just as easily get stuck doing the same thing you're doing now without any change of pace or scenery. Short of combat troops a LOT of the folks in the military sit around doing the same stupid shit day in, day out with no end in sight.

You are more likely to get a support role than a combat role in the military. The Marines might decide that you're an electrician fixing broken outlets in Buttfuckistan Idaho for all you know. Or maybe you'll be a unit clerk (secretary). My neighbor was a Marine. They trained him to be an HVAC tech. Basically he fixed their air conditioners.

So be certain before you join up that the military is going to fix what's wrong. And it may be that you don't need to fix what's wrong so much as find something NEW to do outside of work. It sounds to me like a new roommate and a hobby might be all you need. And if not you can still join up. I'd just be a bit cautious about making a decision that you can't un-make if you understand what I mean.
 
ya know, the more i think about stuff I swear i got MPD ... i change my mind soo many fuckin times

I think I will go with union and see how it plays out, if I don't like it, i just quit and find a new job (bartender sounds fun >:D)
 
changing your mind a lot isn't a symptom of multiple personality disorder. Chunks of missing time, waking up without remembering going to sleep, and waking up tired after a full night's sleep are.
Anyway, I think you're making the right choice. Try a couple different things, and if you still don't find what you're looking for, you can always join the military later on, but it's not a decision you should make lightly.
 
If you want to go into the military do AF or Navy. Joining the marines or army will get you shipped off to Iraq or Iran right quick despite what a recruiter tells you. If you don't want to be AF or Navy, then go get the union job.
 
Navy's just as likely to get you over into that area, at the least.. What do you want to do? Obviously you're unattached, so I would suggest Navy. I mean thay technically have the longest tours of duty, (well, outside of war-time) however we travel all over the world. You see amazing things, and especially so if you're unattached. You have no loved one's to miss, so you could just enjoy it all the more.
 
Derek, I'm not going to sway you one way or the other. Just know that the military is a HUGE step, and for some people, not always the best one made. Just make sure that you want that before you take the oath.

As far as your roomie, sorry thing between you and the Kro aren't going so well.

And the lonely part, you'll find someone, that I can guarantee. You've got a lot going for you, so don't give up!

I liked Uber's opinion on the situation. You just do what you think is best, and do what you think you should to make your life move forward instead of standing still.
 
;849900']As for the army in comparison with the Marine Corps- http://forums.wtf.com/showthread.php?t=60654

Now, if you join the military- you are going to Iraq. Let me say it again- you are fucking going to Iraq.

Now, as far as the downside of joining the Marines-

2 year unaccompanied tour in Okinawa, Japan. It sounds really cool, but trust me, things have changed since I went there- you can't leave base without another person, you have to sign out to the exact place you intend to go, you have to be home by midnight, they are intentionally looking for underage drinking, and they are not hesitant to bust you at all for anything.

Constantly deployed/on training ops. There is a song, and it goes, "They say that in the Marine Corps, the beds are mighty fine. How the hell would I know? I never slept in mine". It's true. You get sent all over the place all the time, and you'll have shorter deployments to Iraq- although after a 4-year enlistment you may have gone to Iraq 3 times.

Marine Corps gets the last- 9 times out of 10, the Marines get busted, broken, cheap, unreliable gear. Not to mention the food, medical care, and living conditions are at the bottom of the barrel.

Half of your leaders will act like a Drill Instructor- This goes without saying. There's a lot of those guys who get brainwashed by the Corps, and never will be a drill sergeant, but they act like one. It gets annoying.

Now, if you can deal with that- and there's more to the military than that- you may do fine.
 
Slinger, as a veteran and a patriot, I say join the union. Hostile, JLXC, myself and legions of others did our time so that you would have more 2 options. You're a human being, not CPU's logic gate: options aren't binary. Hell, even in football, the option isn't really one thing or the alternative. If you join the Corps, you give up options for a long time. For the rest of your life perhaps (because it could be the end of you).
If you don't fear death, fine. The courage/honor/commitment/blindness to laugh at danger can be a good thing. But, loosing all freedom for a long time is another matter entirely.
This is a good time to compare and contrast the jobs:
  • $$$$: union job in a skilled trade vs enlisting in the military: what do you think?
  • work day: union job: 9-to-5. Military 24-7.
  • Company Policy: union fights for your needs, in any branch of DoD: the needs the unit ALWAYS trump yours.
Finally, DoD will always need good people. That opportunity will never go away. However, a union job opening has a much shorter shelf life. If I were in your shoes and had trouble deciding, I would go with the union job and try it out. If it sucks, join the USMC. You can do it that order, but you can't easily get out of the military to pursue other options if find it not to your liking.
 
Also, people contracted under the DoD (as civilians, not military) make a shitload more than we ever will.

For example, a Signals Intelligence Analyst in the military gets paid by rank. Right now, monthly, I'm making about $1,400. So yearly, that's less than $20,000. Now, get a contracted civilian in the same job under the NSA, and they start at roughly $80,000 yearly. It's the same damn thing I'm doing, just minus the PT.
 
;849928']Besides, at the rate things are going- DOD civilians will replace the military anyway. They already treat us like shit and talk to us like we are retarded.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I am going to try for the union first, see how I like it. If I don't like it I'll enlist, otherwise I don't like any other options (yeah I know I got other options and I thought about it, but nothing intrigues me more than fighting for the country)
 
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