sparkomatic

I know... check this out, so today I had my annual physical check up. Dont be impressed, it is mostly a lot of questions and more questions, and someone taking your blood pressure, then making you wait for an hour for another person to ask you the same questions and say "see you next year". speaking of questions, on the health critique it asked "highest level of education?" just before "any history of heart disease in your family?"...explain that one wait, there is more. so it was time for my hearing test as well. sat down in the little torture booth and he asked me "do you wear glasses?"...I said "what?"...do you wear glasses?"...I asked, "this is my hearing test, right? what does that have to do with my hearing test? and since we are asking questions around here, why did your form ask my highest level of education? especially since the USAF paid for it, you think they would know". His reply, which will impress you, "sir, it is just a question we have to ask". I told him that I didnt know if I wore glasses or not, be back after my eye exam. Its funnier because they make a big deal about filling out a questionnaire online, then they ask the same questions when you show up, plus they hand a clip board with: those same questions. I like to answer some of the questions differently on each form, just to make them wonder, or see if any one checks the facts. I also learned to NEVER admit to ANY consumption of alcohol, tobacco, bacon, or fun...that will get your post box inundated with "helpful" pamphlets. When I was finishing my Master's Degree, I was an Executive Officer (again, dont be impressed, it means you do the Commander's paperwork and keep his schedule...sound like a secretary? No, they get paid by the hour and have something called a lunch break and holidays) and had a flying commitment and had mandatory-extra-curricular activities (I know that is an oxymoron, see title) and basically worked 13-15 hours a day plus weekends and had marriage problems (see first part of this sentence). So on one of the forms it asked to gauge my stress level. So I rounded way down and marked a 2 out of 10 (and was lying, it was more like 14 out of 10)...man, you would have thought I was climbing the bell tower...maybe they never had anyone dumb enough to mark one of those forms before, maybe his annual performance report was due, either way they sent me a rain forest's worth of paper pamphlets and brochures. None of it helpful by the way, not at all. Feel free to add your own experience with military logic. cheers

White squares after a large explosion, same here. cheers

I have SF2 Europe plus Exp2 plus NF4+...works great! Can imagine those updates will make it even better, but it is awesome right now. cheers

Know exactly how she feels...back in '97 was told I had a "cold"...two weeks and three "doctors" later found out it was really bronchitis and had developed secondary infection in my Eustachian tubes. And proof that someone else always has it worse, this old dude I knew had been an avid runner and he kept complaining of pain in one of his toes. Of course you know where this is going...the base docs assured him it was normal. It wasnt...he had stress fractures and since it was "normal" he kept running. Something went from bad to worse and to shorten the story it ended up with them amputating the last segments of a couple of his toes due to irreparable damage. I take the fam off base for care and only go on base for the mandatory annual joke...uh "PHA". Good luck and cheers

So the USAF has announced yet another cut in jobs...this time a full-up RIF (reduction in force). This year they will cut 2,300 officers. They are also planning on cutting people with restrictions (officers and enlisted), say if a person has a discipline file or medical issue. This will make some of you laugh, but last year the USAF decided to take physical fitness seriously (hold your jokes). But in typical USAF fashion, they went all or nothing. Going from a service which used to make people ride a stationary bicycle (taken from the Navy, before you get too cocky) to if you fail a PT test twice you can be discharged. No f'ing kidding. Hello DJ Whiplash! Now, read that along with the first paragraph again. We already lost one dude 3 months ago in the building I work in and the CC pulled two more dudes aside this week and gave them the option of taking the test or throwing the dice. So what is my point in this rant? Simply, if you are thinking about joining the USAF, maybe look at other options. Last time we did a full up RIF, it was UGLY. You never saw so many cut-throat people in your life. And those scars have never healed. Now, CSAF is cutting on the tender scar. This from a guy that instituted "Blues on Monday" and has Justin Bieber hair. There are three really sharp NCOs in aforementioned building who have all sought commissioning options and were told that the door is closed right now. Maybe you have a neighbor going to boot camp next week, sure they are not closing all off completely, but it is a very dicey time for us. Doesnt sound bad until you remember the 40,000 jobs that Moseley cut (plus 22,000 accessions that were snuffed). Consider this that sign in every horror movie that people walk past anyway... cheers

Well said, Gates announced that the Marines would be cut also, but not until around 2014 or so. Hey JM, depends on the O-5... Cheers

and I don't know why http://www.rathergood.com/laibach cheers

Maybe because my friend count is a negative number?

At long as it wasnt the Cowboys or Jets. Still, it would have been awesome had the Steelers won in that shiny new "I-Love-Me-Jones-Mahal" cheers

Worse part of facebook is ex-girlfriends cheers

So thanks to some sage advice and saintly patience from cool dudes here, managed to get back into SF2. To wit, a little SF2E plus expansion pack 2 (but first for SF2E) plus nato fighters 4+ with the Jan 2011 patch. Set up as a Tornado IDS going after a generator complex with Mirage F-1C200s as escort and CF-18s as SEAD support. Have been playing SF-series since like 2002...but when the 8x MiG-23MLDs engaged and the escorting Mirages locked them up there were 4 frakkin radar guided missiles passing over my virtual canopy to welcome the Russians...while the Hornets called "shotgun" and started working the AAA...one hopes and works for moments like that in a game. It was frakkin sweet...the AI worked like it was supposed to, the details were cool, and the ensuing furball didnt require anything from me but to tell my wingman to break as the escorts merged with the defenders...frakkin Braveheart in classic jets. To TK and especially the dedicated team who made NF4+ happen (and the kind gentlemen who suffered through my complete lack of computer skills to get it all running while mildly intoxicated), seriously thanks! If you havent tried NF4+, you should, period. Thanks and cheers!

Go with this option, its like adding another game!

Train for a marathon...its free to train (outside), you can get solid guidance on the internet (from free websites), and it is a milestone in one's life. If your back hurts, try one of the exercise bikes, park it in front of the TV and make a pact with yourself: only can watch TV while sweating. Another TV trick: when commercials start, commence push ups / sit ups /sets. It will make you hate commercials more, but it definitely keeps one from snacking while watching TV. You can even do it with the PC: however much time you spend on the PC, break it up and use it as a reward. Let's say you can spend one hour on the PC today, before you even turn it on (or sit down), knock out some push ups / sit ups. Then every 15 minutes, hop out of the chair and crank out a set. That will motivate one to walk / play outside. Take up a martial art if you want to spend money. I took Tae Kwon Do, and man that is a work out. If it isnt, then you are at the wrong do jang, find another. At the one I practiced at, the one and a half hour class always ended with pt and there literally was sweat dripping on the floor when we were done. Personally, bikes are cool, but I dont see how that makes one loose weight, unless you have to push it. By the by, everything you read in this post I have done, so it is not "advice", I know it works. Cheers and good luck!

With "Homeland", "Dragon Age 2" and "Mass Effect 3" will it really matter? Think the time has past, unfortunately. cheers

So I installed the sf2 weapons editor, opened it, pointed it at the sf2 folder in the "my documents" folder. Then I made a test M-117 GPS (just for giggles). For some reason it only shows up in the loadout options for add-on aircraft, not stock. The M-117 should be showing up in the F-100, et al but it doesnt. Yes, I used search. Cheers

thanks Wrench! just found the article...Google is an amazing thing, sorry for being vacuous. Cheers!

thanks, do they need to be extracted as in SF1 and does the same extractor work? cheers

man...you are correct...can the SF2 aircraft loadouts be edited like the SF1?

maybe this is why:

Nice, for all of their talk, check this out: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=66700 Cheers

Very nice! cheers

Is there somewhere that tells us all that has changed? Like, why am I an E-9? Just curious... cheers

didnt your knee like explode not that long ago? good luck with that...playing football is like riding a motorcycle, its not if you will get hurt, but when. cheers