V'Roy

"This heavy gun would be a lot easier to balance if I had my other leg."

But it's the state meat

by-product

in Hawaii; they just can't get enough of it.

No kidding. They even have Spam Sushi in Hawaii. I've seen it and it's disgusting.

(and now for the reason I posted)

Why do we get excited when a movie we like is on cable even if we already own the DVD and can watch it any time?

"I told you guys we shouldn't try towing that plane out of the water!"

This has been a long time coming. In some ways it was inevitable since the sudden departure of First Lieutenant, now Lieutenant Commander, Terios and my brevet promotion to his old position. When a subordinate moves up to take the place of the boss it almost always creates conflict with former coworkers and colleagues. Such was the case a few minutes ago.

I held the same rank as Terios before his departure. In fact I was promoted to that rank by the Captain himself. Naturally I was the logical choice for Acting CAG until we could rebuild the 420th. When I approached the Captain with this some time ago he had to reluctantly agree.

Unfortunately not all of our pilots saw it that way, Lieutenant Angel in particular. He may have felt that his skills as a pilot qualified him for the position. He is a good pilot, and he has been on the Reaent as long as I have, but the CAG position is a lot more administrative. It takes more than simply being a skilled pilot. The CAG is responsible for setting maintenance schedules, billeting and pilot welfare, continuous training and development plans, mission planning, and effective use of fighter and pilot resources.

The only area where being the best pilot is relevant is training. Angel is a good trainer. I’m glad he took to training our new pilot Ensign Nansk without objection while I attended to other duties. However, when our mission orders came down, Angel wanted to take the shuttle mission for himself, citing his experience.

I had to think of the development and effective use sides of the equation. How would Nansk gain experience for himself if the senior pilots took every mission? This was to be a shuttle pilot mission, certainly not a large stretch for someone who was already a trained pilot. My own first mission on the Reaent was piloting a shuttle as well. Angel’s plan would have left Nansk alone in the squadron with nothing to do. Besides, it would be a waste of resources to turn a veteran pilot like Angel into a shuttle service.

Had it ended here then there would be no problem. It didn’t. Angel protested when I handed out everyone’s orders in the flight simulator room. He can do that with V’Roy. He can do that with the captain of his Highlander Guard. Even doing that with his supervisor behind doors would be considered acceptable. However, to do that with his CAG in front of a rookie pilot is unacceptable.

I share part of the blame. Things were more relaxed and informal when Terios was our CAG. It was “good buddy” this and “old buddy” that. Given our many missions, battles, and the virtual decimation of our squadron this was understandable. I let this attitude continue after my appointment.

For this I owe Angel an apology. However, this is not an excuse for Angel’s behavior. If I simply let it go then I am equally derelict. When my shift at Tactical is over I need to let a certain pilot know who is wearing the pants now.

Why does the 7-Eleven up the street from me carry razors and blades but not shaving cream?

I've read those same articles. However, you have to remember that they are at best based on non-canon sources. The only true canon sources we have are the 6 movies and perhaps related media (The Clone Wars cartoons, the Star Wars Holiday Special, and maybe the Droids and Ewoks movies / serieses) that Lucas had a direct hand in. Anything else is speculation. In Star Wars canon Lucas never addresses how lightsabers are made.

What if lightsabers are not really made of light at all? What if what looks like an energy beam is really a metal filament wrapped in a coil that extends outward when it becomes superheated? That would explain both the glowing appearance and the blade coming to a fixed point. The "light" in lightsaber might have a double meaning in that it might also mean something that is lighter than a normal metal saber.

After this contest entry KBear decided to stick to dog shows.

What the heck is so exciting about a small red X?

I have to rent my kilt by the day you know. :)

Is somebody protesting this happy union?

Well I am protesting the fact that I have to wear a *^($& kilt! In February!

Proper dress attire requested. No weapons allowed.

How the heck can I put together a proper Highlander Guard without swords?

Try spending most of the day out on a missile site in -73 wind chills in a diesel crew cab, while maintenance is down below in +70 temps. I think we got the truck up to 5 or 10 below running the front heater, rear heater, putting it in gear and setting the parking brake, and placing an M-16 on the gas pedal

Is that how you shot your eye out?

There is no way that the kid in Superman Returns could have been Superman's. It isn't that they are different species, it's that as soon as the pregnant Lois Lane stepped into the yellow sun's rays Superbaby (or Superfetus or Superunviabletissuemass depending on how you see it) would kick right through her innards.

Superman: "You know, I used to enjoy having X-ray vision and looking through clothes. But now..."

A friend of mine in another forum went and wasn't too impressed. He said the props were cheesy (even by Star Trek standards), the entire tour takes about 40 minutes, and was not worth the time. Worst of all, the background music they play during the tour is the theme to... Galaxy Quest!

Under Construction is a strange name for a Star Trek movie.

I see Kroells still has his driver's license.

Oops, I thought Zombie Butts from Uranus would fly, guess not.

Actually, Flying Zombie Butts from Uranus is the sequel.

I remember that episode, and the ending made absolutely no sense.

There is Picard in his Dixon Hill costume, he has just spoken some weird alien greeting, they answer him in English, a new day supposedly dawns between the two civilizations... and then nothing happens! The conversation just ends and they never see each other again! What's the ($%&*ing point?

Maybe it was the Death Star.

There are three ways to solve this:

1) Let everyone take whatever religious or secular holidays off that affect them. The problem is companies will want proof that you are of that religion or that holiday applies to you. For example, if you want Labor Day or Memorial Day or Veteran's Day off you must be able to prove to HR that you are a member of a union or have a friend or relative killed in a war or be a veteran. The problem with that is companies aren't supposed to consider these things in their hiring decisions but if HR knows about it you can bet they will at least at a subconscious level.

2) Let everyone take everything off regardless of affiliation. The problem is every day is a holiday to someone, so someone could claim every day as a holiday and never work. People will always want a day off if they can get it with pay so our economy would come to a halt if this was implemented.

3) The only way to protect everyone's rights is to increase everyone's vacation allotment and let everyone have whatever days off they want, no questions asked, but they must use it as one of their vacation days (if salaried) or simply not be paid that day (if hourly). This will allow people to celebrate whatever holidays they want, not force anyone to take days off they have no intention of celebrating, and people would not take holidays for frivolous reasons. If the holiday means that much to someone they should be willing to sacrifice a day of pay to celebrate it. Everyone's rights are protected since it is a matter of individual choices and tradeoffs.

But when we're declaring a national Holiday for Christmas, but not for Chanukah Kwanza or other religious and cultural celebrations that occur around the same time. The only way you can be truely equal is to either celebrate them all or none, seeing as how anything else would be political inncorrectness if we're going to view things as black and white as we do now a days.

I kinda wish Christmahaunikwanzaca was made a holiday. Remember those stupid commercials from a couple years ago?

Bring some friends along and enjoy the songs.

If Star Trek fans actually had friends do you think we would be home on a Saturday night?

Oh, yeah, try to make your first contact the person you would actually be reporting too, not HR. This is where networking and membership in professional organizations can help - even if you are still in college.

When I was in college I applied for an internship and got no response from HR after several weeks. Then I just happened to have dinner at a student-alumni banquet with one of the hiring managers. I gave him my resume and the next day he called me for an interview. I went on the interview, got an offer that day, and met with the HR VP for the basic paperwork. When I got home from that interview and checked my mail I got a postcard from the very same HR VP telling me there were no internships available (meaning it had been mailed a couple days before).

Also, HR people don't always know the particulars about the jobs they are screening for. A couple times HR really liked my resume and they showed them to the hiring managers. When I got to the interview and they described the job it was obviously something I wasn't qualified for.