I like this time at night on HBT

[snaps10]

I'm on the older side of being allowed to enlist. That would have had to come when I was much younger and much more single without kids.

 

[Dan]

I understand.

 

[Varmintman]

Everyone knows if you are going to enlist army is the way to go not being a squid

Just joking Dan. My family went Navy all the way.....Until me :cross:

 

[SharonaZamboni]

Went from hippy to patriot.

Don't know about all of you but have a belief you guys are pretty good people. I probably say to many times that I am a retired Navy man. I was not a SEAL or anything like that but I did spend nearly three decades in the Navy and had a chance to meet some great Americans.

Among them were some truly great people and along the way some SEALs. Those guys are as bad ass as you hear about. They are also some of the humblest, greatest people you'd ever meet. Their initiation into the world of SEALs is pretty much much like any other Special Forces group except harder.

Man, I'm Navy. Don't expect me to humble this part. NAVY rules! Best aviators, best Special Warfare ops guys, best aviation mechs and techs, Sailors and ship drivers!

My dad was in the Navy long before I was born- he was on an ammunition ship in WWII.
My mom's friend was a WAVE, I think. She wore at least one navy blue Item every day of her life.
I never got too many stories out of them, though.

 

[Varmintman]

Dang. A mouse crawled into my storeroom and died. Now it is stinking bad and I have a ton of stuff to move just to find it if I can.

 

[mcbaumannerb]

That sucks - but at least he didn't crawl inside a wall to die.

 

[Lushife]

I wanted to go navy but I'm colorblind

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Sometimes I imagine what my life would have been like if I had pursued a military career. And then I take a look in the mirror and break into hysterical laughter. I need sympathy if I stub my toe.

 

[45_70sharps]

I fell asleep early last night!!! That's a good thing though. Looks like I missed a busy night. Good music. Had the Ramones but skipped the clash?

Sometimes I imagine what my life would have been like if I had pursued a military career. And then I take a look in the mirror and break into hysterical laughter. I need sympathy if I stub my toe.

You might be surprised. The military can bring out the best in you and not everyone is an airborn ranger.
There is every job under the sun and there was probably something that you could have done well at and enjoyed.
Military friends are different than any other friends you would ever have.

I wish I would have done more when I was wearing the uniform. In the mid '80's I think they needed more officers so they figured out some criteria and picked a number of us that fit the criteria and had us go to a seminar designed to make us want to sign up to go to school and become an officer.
I had no interest. Later, after I was out but still within an age that would have let me go in and do stuff, an officer from a headquarters unit in the Oregon Army national guard ( his dad was my gunsmith ) tried to recruit me to join his unit an be a warrant officer.

I would have a retirement earned right now.

 

[Subsailor]

You might be surprised. The military can bring out the best in you and not everyone is an airborn ranger.
There is every job under the sun and there was probably something that you could have done well at and enjoyed.
Military friends are different than any other friends you would ever have.

Too True! Retired from Submarines, best damn job I ever had. I didn't marry or have children until after I retired though because I saw all too often how that life tore up many families.
I have friends that are Seals, Rangers and other Spec. Forces - their all nuts but very good people! Submarine community is a small community and so it is very tight, it's sometimes closer than family.
Go Navy!

 

[45_70sharps]

Too True! Retired from Submarines, best damn job I ever had. I didn't marry or have children until after I retired though because I saw all too often how that life tore up many families.
I have friends that are Seals, Rangers and other Spec. Forces - their all nuts but very good people! Submarine community is a small community and so it is very tight, it's sometimes closer than family.
Go Navy!

I would imagine that the closeness of military friends is multiplied on a sub.
You guys work so close, hot cot it, have no other contact for extended periods, are essentially in a war mode every time you go to sea.

That would be it's own world.
Was smoking still allowed when you were in?
I knew a guy who was in subs way back, and he said that in the radio room the nicotine from the smoke coated everything!

Another factor of the subs that most people wouldn't think about.

 

[Subsailor]

Yes, smoking was still allowed until 1989 and then we were only allowed to smoke topside - so you can imagine how cranky one would get on a 60 day or longer patrol. Between Nicotine, Amine and who knows what other - ines in the air, there was a constant yellowish coating to everything.
I was strictly a Boomer Sailor for my career and you are very right, once underway, we are essentially in War Mode.
Good perks were some of the best food in the Service, that's why many of the older Submariners tended towards round. Who needed excercise in those days. Besides where were you going to run if the boat is going down? Excercise and fitness really started kicking in in the 80's.
Being Boomers, the other big perk was a relatively fixed schedule, one crew in port and the other crew at sea. You could plan time off and education much easier.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

I heard a funny statistic somewhere that the Mall of America in MN has more submarines than the Canadian Navy. I cannot personally confirm this.

 

[45_70sharps]

I heard a funny statistic somewhere that the Mall of America in MN has more submarines than the Canadian Navy. I cannot personally confirm this.

With a quick search I couldn't find how many subs they have, but they only have a total of 33 war ships and that includes subs.
They certainly have many more support ships, but with a total of 33, there can't be that many subs in their fleet.

In contrast, the United States has 10 aircraft carriers alone!

Comparison to our navy isn't fair since we are the big dogs in this regard, but that is a little perspective.
I have no idea how the Canadian numbers compare to the rest of the world.

Just glad they are up there as a strong free nation. That keeps us much safer on our largest boarder.

 

[Varmintman]

I agree subsailers are a different breed. Dad started out on diesel subs and then went nuclear. I think it was the triton that he was on that was the first sub to go around the world submerged.

It broke his heart when I went army.

 

[Varmintman]

I think I am dealing with a zombie mouse because I cannot find the bugger. No no I have not gave up yet I just need to up my game I think

 

[45_70sharps]

I think I am dealing with a zombie mouse because I cannot find the bugger. No no I have not gave up yet I just need to up my game I think

I remember many years ago, mid 80's probably, when I was young and poor and lived in a POS house was so bad that the wind outside would blow the inside curtains around.

I had mice. Imagine that. Lived out in the trees, had a comparatively warm environment and enough gaps in the walls for the wind to come through and had mice.

I use to sit there with a beer ( when I could afford it) and put the dogs food in the middle of the kitchen floor.
When a mouse would come to take it, I would shoot at it with my BB gun.

What can I say, it was cheap entertainment and I was so broke that my only non essential spending was thursday nights one of the bars had 5 beers for a buck so I would walk the couple miles to the bar, spend about three bucks then walk home.

 

[Varmintman]

Oh heck I think the best hunt I have ever been on was right in my yard. We had a terrible vole problem one year and as the snow melted you could see dozens of voles at any one time. I set up my bench with a thermos of coffee and a cigar and spent several hours with a BB gun shooting voles. Dirt cheap hunt but a ton of fun

 

[b-boy]

I think I am dealing with a zombie mouse because I cannot find the bugger. No no I have not gave up yet I just need to up my game I think

The same thing happened in my garage over the summer. I could smell the litte guy, but couldn't find him anywhere. Eventually the odor disappeared. Took the Christmas tree down off the shelves to set it up, and guess who fell out? He'd made a home for himself in there with some insulation he'd picked up somewhere. Kinda bothered me all Christmas.

My cat needs to step up his game.

 

[b-boy]

I remember many years ago, mid 80's probably, when I was young and poor and lived in a POS house was so bad that the wind outside would blow the inside curtains around.

I had mice. Imagine that. Lived out in the trees, had a comparatively warm environment and enough gaps in the walls for the wind to come through and had mice.

I use to sit there with a beer ( when I could afford it) and put the dogs food in the middle of the kitchen floor.
When a mouse would come to take it, I would shoot at it with my BB gun.

What can I say, it was cheap entertainment and I was so broke that my only non essential spending was thursday nights one of the bars had 5 beers for a buck so I would walk the couple miles to the bar, spend about three bucks then walk home.

Honesty, I've had worse Saturday nights than that.

It sounds like fun. I might head out into the garage tonight.

 

[Dan]

Dang. A mouse crawled into my storeroom and died. Now it is stinking bad and I have a ton of stuff to move just to find it if I can.

We have a mice problem at work. The base exterminator gives us those little boxes with the sticky stuff in them. Poor little mouse walks in, gets stuck and starves to death unless you remember to check them daily and then you can smash them with the heel of your boot. Sometimes forget to check the traps and a mouse gets caught, dies and rots. The putrid smell reminds you. Nasty.

 

[bottlebomber]

We have a mice problem at work. The base exterminator gives us those little boxes with the sticky stuff in them. Poor little mouse walks in, gets stuck and starves to death unless you remember to check them daily and then you can smash them with the heel of your boot. Sometimes forget to check the traps and a mouse gets caught, dies and rots. The putrid smell reminds you. Nasty.

What's really cute is when they only get one leg stuck to it. They will chew their own foot off to escape eventually.

 

[Subsailor]

Ha ha ha! They just moved our Shop into another section of the building and gave me "new" office furniture for my office, one piece of which is a very comfortable couch. We were settling in for our first Shop meeting last week and my boss sat on the far side of the couch and 2 dark little objects seemed to fall out of his pockets but then they took off running. Turns out when he sat down he disturbed a nest of mice right underneath the cushion he sat on. They brought in exterminators and set out bait traps, I haven't seen a fresh mouse dropping in the last 3 days.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Sticky traps are the only thing that seem to work at home. I've stuffed steal wool into every crack in the wall, so we dont get them as often, but when they do they get on the sticky traps (many are too smart and just go around).

I put the whole trap, mouse and all, upside down in the toilet, hopefully drowning it quickly. I used to use an axehandle, but that got a little too personal. Little scared eyes looking up at me... no thanks.

 

[Varmintman]

Well I am in full on war mode just shy of war paint but only just shy. I found where he was hanging out but I think he died in a wall meaning it is going to stink for days.

Odd thing though I store my grain there and no tracks around the grain at all. I guess those double bags for long term storage of wheat really do work

 

[CreamyGoodness]

True story, when I was a kid I put on a winter boot that had been sitting in the boiler room for half a year. My foot went into a boot full of sunflower seeds.

Mouse made a cache from the birdfeeder.

 

[ruralbrew]

I can't figure out how something so small as a mouse can stink so much.

Anyway, just doing some middle of the afternoon posting, but when you work third shift this is the middle of the night for me, sorta.

Just headed off to get some sleep, thought I would leave you with one of my favorites from back in the day.

 

[BobbiLynn]

True story, when I was a kid I put on a winter boot that had been sitting in the boiler room for half a year. My foot went into a boot full of sunflower seeds.

Mouse made a cache from the birdfeeder.

I just recently had that happen with a shoe I left on the screened in porch, went to put my foot in and it was full of sorghum seeds I had left out on the porch in a box. Not sure if it was a mouse or a squirrel(tree rat).

 

[45_70sharps]

I try and always check my boots! If not small furry critters there could be a bug, if not a bug there could be something like the recent barbie shoe incident!

In a hurry, threw my boots on to get to work, felt something in there when it was laced but had to run.
I got to work and took my boot off only to find a barbie shoe in there!

Always check the boots first!

 

[Subsailor]

Forgot to check my footwear one time and one time only. The centipede occupying my boot reminded me quite painfully. I don't have any boot inhabiting critters up here but we are planning to move to AZ in about 2 years so I better get back into practice.