firehawkordy

Well back in the day it was Marlborro red packs and at one point I was going through 4 packs a day. It was the only way to deal with the stress of working flight quarters hours on the flight deck. If I wasn't on the roof I was burning one to the filter and lighting the next of the last. BTW, I was 20 at the time. I quit cold shortly after my 31st birthday. Outside of the odd cigar I am tobacco free and I really don't miss it, well if I'm drinking or shooting dice but that's few and far between these days. The only one who gripes about my cigars is my grandson but I tell him that it's the one bad habit I'm allowed to have these days.

I had F-19 on my C64, and had all my "cheat sheets" taped to the top of the desk. Do you remember the maps that came with the game? I actually took a compass and drew two circles around the targets, one in blue for the max range of the radar and the other red for the lethal envelope of the SAM sites. It took a lot of recce flights to get that info. As for the unmarried nerd remark, at the time I was 30,living with my youngest kids mother who was at the time so hot that all she had to do was walk into the room and give me "that" look, the flight was handed off to my son and,well..... I guess I didn't take my simming that seriously after all.

Before I got into flight simming I was really into scale models. A friend owned one of the local hobby shops and I would help out sometimes doing things as holding workshops on basic modeling techniques or explain to a parent or new modeler what they would need in addition to their kit, paint/glue/tools, that kind of stuff. One day I brought in an F/A-18 to put in the display case. One of the "experts" got all whinny about how I messed up the paint job, it was the wrong shade of grey and there were patches of other greys that didn't even match around the panel lines and on some panels I must have accidentally dipped the brush into black paint and wiped it off with my thumb(it was with a Q-tip) and on and on. After listening to this he stated that he "knew for a fact" that the Navy would never let a Hornet look like this because that's not how they look at all the airshows he's been to. After I asked if he was done my reply was STFU, he'd never been in the Navy let alone a squadron and the bird I built was as close to one belonging to the unit I had been assigned to. Then I told him grey is grey and as long as the spray can says grey on it a sailor will use it. This little waste had never heard of weathering and admitted that he never built any of the kits he bought, he just put them on the shelf hoping that they would go up in value. After that day he would hardly show up at the store but since he hardly bought anything and usually got everyone else pissed off it was no great loss.

I'm still waiting for that mother to apologize and explain his lies that he spouted here. I remember going to his website and feeling more ashamed and dirty than the time I got my name in the local paper (she didn't look like a cop).

Well last week me daughter rushed into the house with a kitten in her arms. She said that it ran up to her at the Texaco. She handed it to me and the motor switched on. I now have a cat, actually the dog has a cat as they have been playing since I brought him home from the vet. I'll post a pic of him if he ever stays still. While he'll never replace my last cat, not having a cat to relax with that last few days was really depressing. Whats maddening about this cat is that he was abandoned, who would throw away a perfectly good kitten?

Something I learned as a child, Q- Whats the most dangerous weapon in the world? A- An unloaded gun. Somebody is going to pay big time for this one.... http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/30/poland.us.navy.shoot/ Thank God that it was 3 rounds and nobody was hurt or worse. Way to start a port visit guys. And if anyone thinks I'm harsh with this, I was the SELRES LPO for HCS-5's weapons shop. I and my active duty counterparts made sure that every time we worked on our small arms and M-60's we followed the checklists and pubs to the letter. In the almost four and a half years I was assigned to that unit we qualed a good portion of the unit in fire arms and never,ever, did we have an accidental discharge or other explosive mishap. I really hope they hammer not only the sailor that pulled the trigger but his LPO, Chief, DivO and Department Head. RANT OFF

After the attack on the USS Cole and 911, it cannot be assumed that a foreign port, even one belonging to a friendly country is safe. As for cleaning a loaded weapon, there is a check list that one is supposed to use that sets out in order the steps needed to clean the weapon. The first thing we taught our shipmates was treat the thing as loaded until you can physically and visually ensure the thing is not loaded. That means you have to open the feed tray cover look for rounds and I taught checking the breach with a finger. Something in the safety chain and training broke down, badly. Without seeing a report I can see two things that went wrong, failure to follow proper SOP and lack of proper training/supervision.

The kitten is doing fine. He and the dog spend most of their time playing with each other and by the time I get home from work they are on our bed sleeping next to the wife, she works the 2200-0600 shift at the same place I do. Both cats and the dog chase the laser I got for the kitten. As for a pic, if he would sit still for about 10 seconds I would get one, but you know how much energy one of those things has pent up inside.

I feel your pain, as you are aware I had to put Marty down last month. He was ancient compared to your Mack, but take comfort in the affection he gave you.

Rambler, you have to set up a key or controller button from the assignments menu. I haven't done it in a while but I think that I had an CFS2 OV-10 set up to drop tanks, but that was when I was flying on the Bio Hazard server.

Already caught him thinking outside the box, lucky for him I tossed his little but into the box at the last minute.While he most definitely has his own personality some traits from Marty are there also. I wonder if he found a way home. Right now my wife made the comment that her dinner won't be the same because Marty used to sit next to her and get his share of chicken. Well Kyon, the kitten, will be in her face making his demands known. I'll post a shot of him if he ever stays in one place long enough.

Team speak can be run off of your PC as well as Ventrillo. There is also a VoIP called Mumble and Murmur. To see whats right for you just look at the FAO's for each along with any info on the developers site as to how it installs and runs.

I am so sorry to hear of this loss. One of my sons was hit in Iraq with an IED and it F**ked everyone in that Bradly up bad. He's home now but with PTSD and other problems. Take comfort in the knowledge that every Vet and Service member worldwide grieves with you. Jarhead, you and I know that as long as there are young men and women willing to serve their country chickens**t politicians will hide behind them for their political and monetary gain. I didn't always feel like this until my own kids and squadron mates went to war.

My and daughters keep me more or less grounded. My greatest joy is the look of wonder on my grandson's face when I show or have him experience something new. For my simple enjoyment just passing time with a cat on my lap listening to it purr.

Oh God, a movie based on a comic book that was based on one scene at the end of the second Predator movie. For those who don't know what I mean, at the end of the flic, in the Predator's ship there is wall of trophy skulls. Right in the middle of the wall is a skull of the Alien. I think it was an inside joke or a nod to the Alien franchise. The only movies worth watching are the first two Alien movies. And can you think of a scene better than Ripley climbing into that spacesuit?

While I am not a Franco-phobe I have never been impressed by them either. I had a lot of bad encounters during my MED Cruise,both with civilian and military, in 1980 to ever want to socialize with them. That said I have met Legionaries who I hold in high regard. I found that to get a good fight going in a bar with the French all you need to say is this.... The French military is only as good as it's worst German, now probably Russian, Legionarie! And there is a grain of truth to that statement.

The new season of Gunslinger Girl came out on DVD this week. Although Falcon hates the eyes, the animation is better than average and the best part is the voice actors from the first season are back. I know Falcon and I go back and forth on this series but it is one of the better dystopian stories via anime out there.

They were but the Hedgehog isn't tall enough and gained too much weight.

Congratulations Nesher,err, MSgt.Nesher. I'll have a beer for you this weekend.

looks like a scene from a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

My wife liked his movies more than I did but I was starting to get into his series The Beast earlier this year.Shame that he got worse and the series got canceled. I wonder how far they would have gone with it had he not relapsed. RIP

I have cat named Marty and soon he will be gone. I've had him for 19 years and four months. He is my friend and confidant and has stood with me when human friends turned away. In return I kept him safe and warm and fed. Once when a girlfriend said "me or the cat" I replied "Lock the door on the way out." Marty was pampered but never spoiled, okay, just a little. And we have always been together. But right now his kidneys are failing, he has lost most of his hearing and is going down hill fast. So tomorrow we will make a drive to the vet so he can stop hurting. I never wanted a cat when he came into my life, now I don't want a cat to leave my life. But he and I talked and he let me know he was ready to go. Tonight I will put him in bed like always and hold him tight for the last time. If there is a place for cats in the afterlife that's where I want to be for they are have a dignity far greater than their size. If you are fortunate to have a cat accept you, you have a far better friend than the ones on two legs and they know how to keep a secret. Everyone here that has a cat hold him a little tighter for me because Friday night my best friend will be gone. BTW I don't have any pics of him, he never liked cameras and had too much pride to be posed.

I can honestly that I never took an ugly chick to bed. I woke with ugly ones, the must have been switched when I was sleeping.

Can't belive I missed this thread. First combat flight sim was F-15E Strike Eagle followed by Jet 2.0 and Stealth Mission. Later on I got Gunship,F-19 Stealth Fighter and Super Huey. I also had on that used a Hughes 500 airframe for various missions but I forgot the name. And these were on my C64. Now do I feel old.