Brother in Law Abuse

This Young Lady Arrives Tomorrow!

I want to take a brief moment for all of us to consider the intense experience my brother in law was subjected to yesterday. He spent the entire day with three Panamanian women at the Wrentham Outlet Mall. I cannot think of a more soul sucking experience than spending an entire day following the unrivaled expertise of these shoppers as they probably touched ever single item for sale in each and every store. I shudder to think of the spiritual pain he endured.

The Ribbon Cutting

I wasn’t a whole lot better off as I had to spend the whole morning surrounded by politicians and we know how well I mix with them. We held the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new facility we’re moving into in a couple weeks. Each and every politician on the dais (which was crowded) got up to have their say. I was afraid they were going to start asking for volunteers from the politicians in the audience to come up and speak. I know they were leaning forward in their seats to do just that. Pain, deep, abiding pain. The good news remains that we are finally on  pace to actually move into the new place, which is impressive, before the snow flies.

Every Single One Spoke!

Since the Panamanians were on their Wrentham death march I had the afternoon after work all to myself. That was spent lugging blocks up the hill to the third terrace. I’m five blocks and 32 cap stones away from finishing the project (at least the 2016 portion of it). Since the Panamanians are infesting New York today I may just accomplish that later.

Project Almost Done

I ran into the following online recently and it really struck a note. It’s a list of military jargon that sneaks into the vocabulary of those who have served and are used regularly without even thinking which can be confusing to civilians. I know that anyone who hangs around me has heard me use 1,2,3,6,9,10,11,13,15,17,and 20 habitually:

1. “Roger that” – instead of “got it” or “okay”

2. “Standby” – instead of “hold on a sec”

3. “Good to go” – instead of “we’re all set”

4. “Get Some” –instead of “go get ‘em”

5. “Gouge” or “skinny” – the insider information

6. “Hard charger” – a motivated individual

7. “Oscar Mike” or “OM” – on the move, meaning I’m on my way or moving out

8. “Got your six” – instead of “I’ve got your back”

9. “Zero-dark thirty” – instead of “first light or dawn”

10. “Squared away” – meaning everything is ready to go

11. “Hurry up and wait” – meaning that you get things taken care of, only to sit and wait for things to progress to move forward

12. “Shit-show” – instead of “things are really messed up”

13. “Mandatory fun” – used when you’re required to be somewhere at a specific place and time, usually a work function

14. “Voluntold”  – when someone appoints you to volunteer to something

15. “Cleared hot” – ready to fire, usually when spoken against someone who is crazy and you’re getting ready to talk to them

16. “FUBAR” – F*cked up beyond all reason.  Things are usually pretty messed up at this point.

17. “Hump” – Going out for a long walk, usually with a pack or gear

18. “Semper Gumby” – meaning that someone should remain flexible to any situation

19. “Big Green Weenie” – when the military rules are out to screw someone over

20. You know how to phonetically spell the alphabet when speaking to customer service reps or others:  A=Alpha, B=Bravo, C=Charlie, D=Delta, E=Echo, F=Foxtrot, G=Golf, H=Hotel, I= India, J=Juliet, K=Kilo, L=Lima, M=Mike, N=November, O=Oscar, P=Papa, Q=Quebec, R=Romeo, S=Sierra, T=Tango, U=Uniform, V=Victor, W=Whiskey, X=X-ray, Y=Yankee, Z=-Zulu