G'Day

It's pretty rough, though I'd say it's probably not as physically demanding as the Army or the Marines. They do have a nice physical fitness program though, which utilises a really awesome facility. You march about 25 miles a week, which isn't really that much. Navy boot camp is focused on becoming sailors, not soldiers. Big difference, since you won't be running around with a gun pretty much ever. The biggest ship is about a thousand feet long, so running 10 miles a day is pretty much pointless. It's a lot of education. You sit in lectures and do learning exercises most of the time.

I'm super excited. Assuming I'm medically cleared, I'll be getting in tip top shape so the PT will be no problem.

Awesome Pop... Sounds great. Like most things in life, being physically fit helps make everything a whole heap easier. Keep us posted

In a related story, I'm starting a part time, temporary job tomorrow at my mum's accountant office. She's not the boss there (don't know how I'd cope with having to answer directly to mum ) but I did meet with her boss today to discuss it.

I'll be scanning and doing some other filing type jobs for the next few weeks (at least) to help the office go digital.

So I'll actually have money for a change! Woohoo!

(Just had to share. )

Video Hits had its last show yesterday. Is anyone else saddened by this?

I loved Video Hits. It was the thing to watch on a weekend morning!

I'm actually surprised that Australia didn't watch it enough to warrant keeping it running. I had assumed that music was always going to be popular...

Perhaps this has something to do with youtube? I mean, if you can go on youtube and watch whatever music video you want, perhaps that had something to do with the demise of Video Hits?

VH1 and MTV seem to be doing pretty well here in the States. Of course, MTV almost never plays music videos anymore, and VH1 has cut back significantly. I don't watch any of them though, so what do I know?

Yeah, we have VH1 and MTV here on Foxtel (cable/satellite TV). And yes - MTV never plays music videos.

I wish I could afford Foxtel again. We don't have it anymore, but I loved having all those music channels at my fingertips. Apparently if you have an XBox360 then you can get Foxtel without needing the cable/satellite set-up. I might have to look into that, especially as I want an XBox360 anyway.

Again, it all comes down to money.

cooeedownunder said:

When I first left school I had wanted to join the Army - got to the end of the day, which meant I had passed everything, and out of about 70 of us that started that morning, there were only 20 of us left - and the last bit was to see their socialogist. They only took 15 girls, and I wasn't one of them. I often wondered if it was because he asked, "Have you ever thought you're being followed?"

I answered, "Yes." LOL

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Haha. It's a multi-day process with the Navy now. Especially for people going into the Nuke program. Top 10% of the Navy!

I once actually considered a post in the armed forces in the physics lab, doing research. It combined 2 things I loved - theoretical physics, and an Army pension after 10 years service or whatnot.

However, I don't think I've ever been physically fit enough to pass any of the training sessions... And I also dropped out of Science at Uni.

Maybe there's a position in the Army for an overweight unfit fiction writer? I somehow doubt it...

Just thought I'd sneak in and say g'day to yous all!

PrincessofPersia said:

I have a background in physics and math. I wanted to join the military years ago, but the oldies talked me out of it. I love boats and the ocean, I love travel. And I absolutely love military-type structure, uniforms etc. My step-dad told the recruiter my IQ, and he made me take the test like immediately lol. He didn't even talk to me about other jobs. But I did some research, and the nuke program is totally for me. Apparently nukes (the nuclear engineers, not the bombs, lol) are the only job that can't reclassify (too needed), so I did my research.

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Odd. Whenever I quote my IQ my bosses try to marginalise me or state their superiority. Then again I am completely overqualified for their positions, let alone mine.

Cliff Face said:

Video Hits had its last show yesterday. Is anyone else saddened by this?

I loved Video Hits. It was the thing to watch on a weekend morning!

I'm actually surprised that Australia didn't watch it enough to warrant keeping it running. I had assumed that music was always going to be popular...

Perhaps this has something to do with youtube? I mean, if you can go on youtube and watch whatever music video you want, perhaps that had something to do with the demise of Video Hits?

Click to expand...

VH sucked for years. It was 90% competitions to win junk by sending in your details so that they could spam you on your phone. They also only ever covered the major artists from major labels and still cut the start and end off of each song.

Not that there was a better music show on Aussie FTA TV. Rage is a dull shadow of its former self. Either that or Rage has too much of a mainstream influence now.

Well, the way I saw it, Rage had the occasional 3-4am 30-minute section with music I really liked (metal etc.) and the rest was pretty crap most of the time. And I wasn't going to stay up till 4am just to see 4 or 5 metal music videos. Whereas Video Hits had all the popular artists. It annoyed me that they didn't have any metal, ever, but I like some pop music from time to time. And I think it was a great way to wake up on a weekend morning, when I'm usually bleary eyed and not knowing what to do with myself.

I should totally start my owm music video show, full of punk, heavy rock, all shades of metal, goth, whatever. I wonder how long that would last... and what terrible timeslot they'd give me...

Cliff Face said:

Well, the way I saw it, Rage had the occasional 3-4am 30-minute section with music I really liked (metal etc.) and the rest was pretty crap most of the time. And I wasn't going to stay up till 4am just to see 4 or 5 metal music videos. Whereas Video Hits had all the popular artists. It annoyed me that they didn't have any metal, ever, but I like some pop music from time to time. And I think it was a great way to wake up on a weekend morning, when I'm usually bleary eyed and not knowing what to do with myself.

I should totally start my owm music video show, full of punk, heavy rock, all shades of metal, goth, whatever. I wonder how long that would last... and what terrible timeslot they'd give me...

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I'd watch it. Video hits was awesome. Such a great way to start the day and get you moving in the morning.

Well, I'm not going into the nuclear program. I qualified no problem, but I spoke with several people in that program, and every single one of them hated it. They said it's 80% maintenance painting pipes and walls and 20% standing watch, i.e., doing nothing. The actual reactor work is very limited.

Additionally, the hours are horrendous, and they don't get to participate in a lot of the bonus stuff that the rest of the crews get to do. Some of those things factored heavily into picking the Navy over the Air Force, so I want to pick something where I can make sure I get to do them.

The main bonus for going nuc is being advanced to E-3 right at RTC (Recruit Training Command), but I get that anyway because of my college credits. So...really no point. My old roommate's husband is in the nuc program, and he told me to run away from it as fast as I can. He and I are pretty similar, so I'm taking that advice.

I've been trying to figure out what I geek out over, so I can pick something that I'd enjoy. Most of the advanced programs involve electronics or computers. I'm not really a computer geek, and while I like electron theory, I'm not sure doing electronics work is really for me.

I'm thinking something in aviation. I'd love to be a pilot, but I don't have a bachelor's, so I don't qualify (though I could apply through the STA-21 program once I'm enlisted). I love planes though, always have. That's probably the one area where working in electronics would interest me. Working on the computer systems in the aircraft would be really cool.

I apparently go to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) at the end of this week or early next week to get my physical and pick my job. I just hope one of those jobs is open and doesn't have too long of a wait to ship out. Some of the people picking the electronics fields are waiting a year to go to RTC.

tim290280 said:

Odd. Whenever I quote my IQ my bosses try to marginalise me or state their superiority. Then again I am completely overqualified for their positions, let alone mine.

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I didn't quote my IQ. The only person I told my IQ to was my mother after I got the test results, and she told my step-dad. He's the one who told the recruiter. I wish I hadn't told anyone, because I hate it when they say it in front of people. It's embarrassing, and I automatically feel pretentious.

PoP - Be a pilot - that would rule! Plus you could go all top-gun, and walk around with aviator glasses and say things like "Five by five" Oh hang on I'm thinking Aliens (the movie).

If you are going into the armed forces, you need a plan and you want to find the right job to get into.

At least if you learn to be a pilot, you can go into commercial airlines when you come out

(sorry none of that probably makes sense.. I'm tired.. )

tarkine said:

PoP - Be a pilot - that would rule! Plus you could go all top-gun, and walk around with aviator glasses and say things like "Five by five" Oh hang on I'm thinking Aliens (the movie).

If you are going into the armed forces, you need a plan and you want to find the right job to get into.

At least if you learn to be a pilot, you can go into commercial airlines when you come out

(sorry none of that probably makes sense.. I'm tired.. )

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Can't be a pilot. You need a BA or a BS. I'm about 30 credits short with no way to finish (no $$$). I kind of want to be involved with the aircraft though so I can apply to be a pilot or a flight officer through one of the commissioning programs. I already know how to fly though.

I had a friend who wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force. Not sure what happened to him, whether he got into the program or whatever.

He was doing a sciency course at the same Uni as me (we graduated High School together) but I only ever saw him in 2 first year classes, and then 1 second year class. Not sure exactly what his specialty was within Science... But it was 1 Physics class and 2 Maths class that we shared. We weren't huge friends anyway, so we sort of ran in different circles.

And then I dropped out, and I haven't seen him since.

Your mentioning being a pilot reminded me of him. And that's a compliment - out of all the friends I had during High School and Uni, he was the least crap person I knew. Seriously, most of the people who decided to befriend me were terrible people. He was an alright guy though.

...

Hey, while we're on the topic of careers, what do you think I could do (in a few years time, if all goes to plan) I could do that would be both interesting and with decent pay and hours, considering the following (future) qualifications?

-Certs II, III and IV in Retail (Cert IV is management)
-Cert IV in Office Admin (I might do this next year, and I can get straight into IV because I will have completed III in Retail this year - I can do any Cert IV class I want next year)
-Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing, minor maybe in Psychology or perhaps Sociology
-Masters in Psychology or Sociology (assuming I can get in, and depending on which direction I take with my minor - alas, there is no Masters course for Creative Writing)

What do you think? I'm trying to decide what sort of really unique and interesting job I could have that would include all those things.

And don't say, "Write novels and movies about offices and retail environments, with a focus on social or psychological issues."

I mean, I probably will do something like that, but that's not exactly a 9-5 job - and I'd want something with a steady paycheck.

I'm so clueless about what sort of jobs are out there...

PrincessofPersia said:

Can't be a pilot. You need a BA or a BS. I'm about 30 credits short with no way to finish (no $$$). I kind of want to be involved with the aircraft though so I can apply to be a pilot or a flight officer through one of the commissioning programs. I already know how to fly though.

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Oh this^ is what I meant - sign up to do something else, get the degree and then go and be a pilot.

Cliff - at the university of canberra they have a degree in creative writing and a masters in it.

Personally, I'd consider getting into one of the government graduate programs, work in the ACT for a bit, get them to pay you to further your studies and go from there - but you have to do a bunch of research first to find out which dept to work for.

gotta dash, master two is demanding to watch more fireman sam.

Well, I think I have a plan. Hopefully, one of the aviation jobs will be open when I go to MEPS. But I'm already too old to be a pilot, even through the commissioning programs. The maximum waiverable age is 29, and I won't be done training before the application due date before my 29th birthday. However, the Naval Flight Officer program in the STA-21 commissioning program (Seaman-to-Admiral) has a max age of 31. I only have a couple semesters left, so I can totally do that.

I'm thinking of doing AWO (basically working as an enlisted aircrewman operating sensors and stuff) or one of the Aviation Electronics programs (would be good to know how the systems work and are maintained). That will give me about a year to make a mark and apply to STA-21. I can go in and finish my degree and be commissioned within a year and become a Naval Flight Officer. They don't actually fly (though they do get chances to do some basic flying), but they act as navigators, weapons officers, electronics warfare officers and flight planners/commanders. In fact, usually the senior officer in the plane is the NFO.

NFOs also can become commander of a squadron, carrier air wings, aircraft carriers (what I want!) and strike groups. So that's basically the main thing for me. Get to be in planes and can work up to command. Woot!

As for you, Cliff: I have no idea. Sorry! But here in the States, creative writing basically gets you fuck all. If you can go for the masters in psych, go for it. Probably better career options, and you can do the creative writing on the side. That said, you can always try for some sort of journalism job. That would be cool and offer fairly good/steady pay.