Idiots Thread - From the Balls of Montezuma - The Something Awful Forums

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > Idiots Thread - From the Balls of Montezuma

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Evil SpongeBob: Dec 1, 2005; Not the other one, couldn't stand the other one. Nope nope nope. Here, enjoy this bird.

Wibla posted:

This reminds me of a very intelligent, but also not very smart naval academy grad

As an Annapolis grad, you could have just said "This reminds me of a naval academy grad..."

# ? Jun 3, 2023 17:59

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# ? Jun 1, 2024 12:48

lightpole: Jun 4, 2004; I think that MBAs are useful, in case you are looking for an answer to the question of "Is lightpole a total fucking idiot".

Arsenic Lupin posted:

Also it's bound to compress some when supporting its own weight vertically, no? Tiny amounts, but it's the thought that counts.

Until things change and you start working on a scale where that tiny amount matters. It would also expand a bit depending on the temperature.

Saul Kain posted:

They are sea cops.

I've usually had decent experiences with the CG inspectors. Sometimes there is an interpretation gap in how they write regulations and how they can/will be interpreted.

# ? Jun 3, 2023 18:21

M_Gargantua: Oct 16, 2006; STOMP'N ON INTO THE POWERLINES; Exciting Lemon

Saul Kain posted:

They are sea cops.

More sea fire fighters

# ? Jun 3, 2023 21:54

spacetoaster: Feb 10, 2014

Wrr posted:

Is the coast guard cool and chill or is it filled with try-hards?

As much as in pains me to speak well of another branch, they are pretty cool.

I worked on a small staff for a few years that did military liaison type work with civilian agencies during natural/man-made disasters (No Mayor soandso, you do not need an infantry company with machineguns and tanks to guard your parking lot). We would spend a lot of time with coast guard folks on coast guard bases. They were all pretty much the happiest, most chill, little chubby guys/girls I had ever worked with.

Unlike the rest of us, they actually get to do their jobs that they train for every day. And a lot of the time that also involves actually saving people (or just helping them) in distress.

They always seemed to be very satisfied with their careers.

# ? Jun 3, 2023 22:55

MarcusSA: Sep 23, 2007

All of the coasties I�ve met have been pretty chill.

One guy I know only joined because they said he could come back home and serve then get to surf on his off time. Which they did till get got deployed to Iraq for 6 months lol.

He didn�t hate it though he said it was chill overall.

# ? Jun 3, 2023 22:59

Scratch Monkey: Oct 25, 2010; 👰Proč bychom se netě�ili🥰kdy� n�m P�n Bůh🙌🏻zdrav� d�💪?

Can you grow beards in the coast guard?

# ? Jun 3, 2023 23:15

Humbug Scoolbus: Apr 25, 2008; The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.; Clapping Larry

Coasties are great. I did a lot of work with them, training in Puget Sound with them and USMC Scout/Swimmers.

# ? Jun 3, 2023 23:34

Hyperlynx: Sep 13, 2015

MarcusSA posted:

All of the coasties I’ve met have been pretty chill.

One guy I know only joined because they said he could come back home and serve then get to surf on his off time. Which they did till get got deployed to Iraq for 6 months lol.

He didn’t hate it though he said it was chill overall.

Wait, they sent the coast guard to Iraq, a country that doesn't have a coast?

Then again, they did the same with the Marines :shrug:

# ? Jun 3, 2023 23:42

Flikken: Oct 23, 2009; 10,363 snaps and not a playoff win to show for it

Hyperlynx posted:

Wait, they sent the coast guard to Iraq, a country that doesn't have a coast?

Then again, they did the same with the Marines

Iraq has a coast

# ? Jun 3, 2023 23:44

Hyperlynx: Sep 13, 2015

Flikken posted:

Iraq has a coast

Oh, huh. My mistake!

# ? Jun 3, 2023 23:48

A.o.D.: Jan 15, 2006

This feels a bit like piling on, but it was called Gulf War I and II, and it didn't necessarily have anything to do with the Gulf Oil company.

# ? Jun 3, 2023 23:51

HiroProtagonist: May 7, 2007

FrozenVent posted:

Unlike Grover, I don�t abuse my power on the people who disagree with me.

here to say you aint no troop bicth

# ? Jun 3, 2023 23:54

Hyperlynx: Sep 13, 2015

A.o.D. posted:

This feels a bit like piling on, but it was called Gulf War I and II, and it didn't necessarily have anything to do with the Gulf Oil company.

No, that's a really good point

# ? Jun 4, 2023 00:02

Splode: Jun 18, 2013; put some clothes on you little freak

To be fair, it's only a teeny tiny coastline

# ? Jun 4, 2023 01:37

goatsestretchgoals: Jun 4, 2011

lightpole posted:

Until things change and you start working on a scale where that tiny amount matters. It would also expand a bit depending on the temperature.

This is no poo poo. We had to throw away a shitload of non-aerospace parts because we were testing internal diameter hot (literally) off the lathe. Fucker closed in by .001� when cold.

# ? Jun 4, 2023 02:14

Liquid Communism: Mar 9, 2004; коммунизм хранится в яичках

M_Gargantua posted:

The reason I became an engineer was one particular piece of navy equipment. The high pressure air dryer had a classic analog front panel, big plastic bulbs and chunky steel push buttons. All in all about 30lbs of materials.

That panel didn't hinge open left or right, nor did it flip down like a tray, which would have been quite nice. Instead it hinged up. So any time you had to work on that thing you had to get a rachet strap and tie the panel to the overhead pipe to keep it from smashing the back of your head. (We used to use simpler means until someone got a good crack on the back of their head)

It was then I decided that if this was the bar for competency that I'd make a lot of money in this field.

Its only now over a decades later that I realize it's not the engineers making those decisions. It's all budget and "engineering project management" who don't have a technical bone in their body. Once someone commits stupidity to a list of design requirements you're committed, God save your soul.

This is a truth. I had to drag a project manager out into the datacenter at one point to make him understand that the density of switches demanded in a rack for 'efficiency' was physically impossible because network cabling takes up physical space.

# ? Jun 4, 2023 14:08

shame on an IGA: Apr 8, 2005

goatsestretchgoals posted:

This is no poo poo. We had to throw away a shitload of non-aerospace parts because we were testing internal diameter hot (literally) off the lathe. Fucker closed in by .001� when cold.

One of the best days of my machining apprenticeship was coming in on second and discovering third and first shift had both been running a 20 micron location tolerance wrong by a full millimeter for 16 hours because the needle on the dial gage wrapped all the way around after a tool change and they hadn't noticed that the one they cut in half and sent to the CMM lab came back clearly labeled "15.080" instead of "14.080".

The guy operating that machine on first was the setup technician for the entire line of 5 machines, I still chaos dunk on him about it sometimes

# ? Jun 4, 2023 14:24

lightpole: Jun 4, 2004; I think that MBAs are useful, in case you are looking for an answer to the question of "Is lightpole a total fucking idiot".

shame on an IGA posted:

One of the best days of my machining apprenticeship was coming in on second and discovering third and first shift had both been running a 20 micron location tolerance wrong by a full millimeter for 16 hours because the needle on the dial gage wrapped all the way around after a tool change and they hadn't noticed that the one they cut in half and sent to the CMM lab came back clearly labeled "15.080" instead of "14.080".

The guy operating that machine on first was the setup technician for the entire line of 5 machines, I still chaos dunk on him about it sometimes

I looked at a lot of stuff in grad school to understand this and look for a way to break people free. Only if you are in slow thinking mode and putting in a lot of effort will you really be able to see it, once you put it in mental cruise control its extremely difficult to switch back. And trying to stay in slow thinking mode has its own issues like mental fatigue. I assume its tied in with stuff like lateral thinking as well, it worked last time or in a different situation so I'll just assume everything is going to work the same way again.

# ? Jun 4, 2023 15:48

goatsestretchgoals: Jun 4, 2011

lightpole posted:

I looked at a lot of stuff in grad school to understand this and look for a way to break people free. Only if you are in slow thinking mode and putting in a lot of effort will you really be able to see it, once you put it in mental cruise control its extremely difficult to switch back. And trying to stay in slow thinking mode has its own issues like mental fatigue. I assume its tied in with stuff like lateral thinking as well, it worked last time or in a different situation so I'll just assume everything is going to work the same way again.

Normalization of deviance is a fucker of a thing. We are trying to get better at this at my shop but there are a bunch of old heads who have been doing this (badly) for years. I don�t care how long you�ve been machining, someone else needs to check your parts because a 2nd pair of eyeballs is going to see something you missed.

E: Don�t get me started on putting bad parts in a labeled scrap bucket. Motherfuckers leave 10s of parts on their cart and clock out. Are the parts good or bad? gently caress if I know.

goatsestretchgoals fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Jun 4, 2023

# ? Jun 4, 2023 20:23

shame on an IGA: Apr 8, 2005

goatsestretchgoals posted:

Normalization of deviance is a fucker of a thing. We are trying to get better at this at my shop but there are a bunch of old heads who have been doing this (badly) for years. I don�t care how long you�ve been machining, someone else needs to check your parts because a 2nd pair of eyeballs is going to see something you missed.

E: Don�t get me started on putting bad parts in a labeled scrap bucket. Motherfuckers leave 10s of parts on their cart and clock out. Are the parts good or bad? gently caress if I know.

It's easy to be certain after they all just happen to fall on the floor

# ? Jun 5, 2023 00:36

EvenWorseOpinions: Jun 10, 2017

"We never used to do this, I'm not going to start now" says only shop where escapes happen regularly

# ? Jun 5, 2023 17:25

lightpole: Jun 4, 2004; I think that MBAs are useful, in case you are looking for an answer to the question of "Is lightpole a total fucking idiot".

goatsestretchgoals posted:

Normalization of deviance is a fucker of a thing. We are trying to get better at this at my shop but there are a bunch of old heads who have been doing this (badly) for years. I don’t care how long you’ve been machining, someone else needs to check your parts because a 2nd pair of eyeballs is going to see something you missed.

E: Don’t get me started on putting bad parts in a labeled scrap bucket. Motherfuckers leave 10s of parts on their cart and clock out. Are the parts good or bad? gently caress if I know.

Don't get me started on centralization, efficiency, and process at the cost of flexibility and responsiveness.

# ? Jun 6, 2023 02:52

GD_American: Jul 21, 2004; LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY AS IT'S INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT!

Watch a world-famous idiot take command of a CA Battalion.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=188186184200862

# ? Jun 6, 2023 04:54

Casimir Radon: Aug 2, 2008

Really nice that a traitor has better upward mobility than most people who are actually good at their jobs.

# ? Jun 6, 2023 05:06

Guest2553: Aug 3, 2012

I'd throw in :10bux:

to buy her staff some forums accounts, the stories they'd have to tell will probably be wild.

# ? Jun 6, 2023 08:06

Scratch Monkey: Oct 25, 2010; 👰Proč bychom se netě�ili🥰kdy� n�m P�n Bůh🙌🏻zdrav� d�💪?

Just don't get her a war thunder forum account

# ? Jun 6, 2023 22:46

Punished Ape: Sep 17, 2021

Update 2.35 "Secrets of the SCIF"

# ? Jun 7, 2023 03:14

Moon Slayer: Jun 19, 2007

https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1668402199792082947

It's been a banner year for US military intelligence units.

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:45

Kith: Sep 17, 2009; You never learn anything
by doing it right.

this mf name coomer

# ? Jun 13, 2023 00:57

Icon Of Sin: Dec 26, 2008

The one named �dodge dale� sounds like what someone was yelling at Dale Earnhardt before he hit the wall.

# ? Jun 13, 2023 01:05

A.o.D.: Jan 15, 2006

Kith posted:

this mf name coomer

Look Gordon, a rope! We can use those to cli- HELP ME GORDON!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGPutamuOT0&t=151s

# ? Jun 13, 2023 01:06

ASAPI: Apr 20, 2007; I invented the line.

Icon Of Sin posted:

The one named “dodge dale” sounds like what someone was yelling at Dale Earnhardt before he hit the wall.

I thought the same

# ? Jun 13, 2023 01:55

Scratch Monkey: Oct 25, 2010; 👰Proč bychom se netě�ili🥰kdy� n�m P�n Bůh🙌🏻zdrav� d�💪?

Or a surf guitarist

# ? Jun 13, 2023 13:46

Jaguars!: Jul 31, 2012

Or a failed 1970s compact car

# ? Jun 14, 2023 21:50

GD_American: Jul 21, 2004; LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY AS IT'S INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT!

Folks, I give you the Ur-Dependa.

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-germany-relocation-american-move-disappointing-2023-6

I moved to Germany and regret it. I've felt unwelcome by the people, and not even the great healthcare can convince me to stay.

quote:

Stephanie Vollmer moved to Germany from South Korea about 18 months ago.
Vollmer is from Sacramento, California, and said that she experienced culture shock in Germany.
She said that she also experienced weekly microaggressions and missed being closer to family.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Stephanie Vollmer, a 34-year-old freelance marketer from Sacramento, California, about her experience moving to Germany. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I was teaching English in South Korea when I met my now-husband in 2021. He works for the US military, and I'm a freelance marketer who also runs a travel blog. We're both originally from the US. In January 2022, my husband got restationed in Germany, at which point we decided that I would follow after he moved.

When the opportunity arose, I was excited to start calling Germany home � to travel to other European countries and experience the local culture. Unfortunately, I now completely regret my decision to move abroad to Germany. It's been one of the most difficult culture shocks I've experienced.

After 18 months, I still feel completely unwelcome in Germany

I feel seen and treated as an outsider. I'm half Korean and half white, and I'm unfortunately treated differently based on my looks. I also experience weekly microaggressions in the form of rude looks and comments about my shaky German � even though I still know enough to understand when I'm being talked about. And I feel almost no support from the country as an expat, especially in my access to resources for handling taxes and other residency matters.

Although many Americans have found remote work viable in other countries, my husband and I are already planning to head back to the United States by the end of this year or early 2024. I can't wait to feel welcome again in my home country and leave this experience behind.
I feel like I'm straddling two worlds, and I don't belong in either of them

I feel like a trespasser here, like I'm straddling two worlds. The first is the US-military community, which my husband belongs to, but I don't. The second is the German-resident community, which I'm reminded on a daily basis I also don't belong to.

We live in a small German town called Otterberg because of my husband's job. Also, we can't afford to live in a city like Berlin or Frankfurt, which have more young people and other expats.

Most people in our town are older Germans who don't seem to enjoy chatting about the weather with a beginner speaker like me. One time, when I was at a government office doing some paperwork for my first visa, the man behind the counter said that my German should be much better even though I had been there for only a month.

It's a comment I've gotten from many people. I'd heard Germans were blunt, but these kinds of interactions feel different. In the US and South Korea, I was used to people being friendly toward visitors trying to learn the language.

While I feel physically safer in Germany than in the US, which has seen a rise in anti-Asian violence over the past year, I feel distinctly less welcome. At times, I've even felt like a failure.
The benefits aren't worth the hassles and high costs of living

Germany is beautiful. When we go for a drive, I look forward to the rolling green countryside in our town. What stings is the price of admission. I mainly earn US dollars from my freelance marketing gigs, and the exchange rate to euros leaves us with less buying power.

For example, gas is the equivalent of $7 to $9 per gallon in Germany, depending on what kind of car you drive. And public transit isn't very accessible in our rural town. It feels like a lose-lose situation.

Also, learning German is incredibly expensive and time-consuming. Few people in my small town speak English, so I've taken it upon myself to take classes and learn the language. Each course in the sanctioned six-course program can cost upwards of $500 apiece and requires almost as much time as a full-time job. This high cost of time and money has prevented me from learning it as quickly as I'd hoped.

In other countries, such as South Korea, state-sponsored integration programs offer language classes for free.
Then there's the inconvenience of daily living

In-person shopping takes forever because there aren't big-box stores, and online purchases � excluding Amazon � take up to a week to arrive. Coming from the US and South Korea, where same-day or next-day delivery is more common, this has been an adjustment. And while food doesn't cost much more, certain products, such as electronics, cost considerably more than in the US. Taxes here are extremely high compared to Korea and the US.

Last but not least, I miss being closer to my family. When I lived in South Korea, I was much closer to my dad and my stepmom, who lived in the Philippines. I was also in a more forgiving time zone relative to my family in California. Here, the overlap window is quite inconvenient, and after all these months, I'm ready to be only one or two time zones away.
I'm excited to experience the comforts of home again

One aspect of living in Germany that's been nice is the healthcare. I spend next to nothing on insurance, and I can expense most of my visits and prescriptions so that they're essentially free. This is undeniably better than US healthcare, and I'll miss it. But coming from South Korea, where the care is even better than in Germany, I recognize it's the care, not Germany, that I'll miss.

I've heard it's nice to have kids in Germany, too, but my husband and I don't plan on having any children here because we're planning to move back to the US by early next year. I miss the comforts of being surrounded by people like me � English-speaking working professionals from diverse backgrounds� and the foods from those mixed communities.

Germany offers cuisines from other cultures, but it's nothing like the Asian or Mexican dishes I grew up with. These familiarities are hard to replicate abroad, and I'm grateful my time in Germany has reminded me of what I value most. The experience was worth it in that regard, but it's just not the home for me.

Correction: June 13, 2023 � An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the person who moved to Germany. Her name is Stephanie Vollmer, not Bollmer.

# ? Jun 14, 2023 22:12

MarcusSA: Sep 23, 2007

GD_American posted:

Folks, I give you the Ur-Dependa.

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-germany-relocation-american-move-disappointing-2023-6

I moved to Germany and regret it. I've felt unwelcome by the people, and not even the great healthcare can convince me to stay.

I don't think this lady would be happy anywhere.

# ? Jun 14, 2023 22:19

mllaneza: Apr 28, 2007; Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1993-1952

MarcusSA posted:

I don't think this lady would be happy anywhere.

And we have some very bad news about being half-Korean near an awful lot of Army bases.

# ? Jun 14, 2023 22:23

pmchem: Jan 22, 2010

GD_American posted:

Folks, I give you the Ur-Dependa.

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-germany-relocation-american-move-disappointing-2023-6

I moved to Germany and regret it. I've felt unwelcome by the people, and not even the great healthcare can convince me to stay.

"I also experience weekly microaggressions in the form of rude looks and comments about my shaky German � even though I still know enough to understand when I'm being talked about."

the article says she's 34, but are we sure she's not 17? goddamn, yeah germans can be pissy sometimes. did she expect a participation trophy from everyone she talks to?

# ? Jun 14, 2023 22:32

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Freelance marketer and travel blog?

I'm assuming that means instagrammer

# ? Jun 14, 2023 22:38

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# ? Jun 1, 2024 12:48

Saul Kain: Dec 5, 2018; Lately it occurs to me,

what a long, strange trip it's been.

Travel influencer

# ? Jun 14, 2023 22:39

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