Timewaster's Guide Archive

Myself, and I'm sure many other people in these forums would like to say:

Prove it!

I'll take mine Medium Rare, thank you!

Just for fun, I figure I'll talk about ALL my usernames/Character names.    (Also, small Japanese lesson... and because I'm bored and procrastinating from actually writing... damn internet)

Strider/StriderA - Already covered.
fates_endless_destiny - Yahoo IM - I had [email protected], but linked it to a SBC Global account (which is run by yahoo) back when I was stationed in Monterey, CA.  When I moved, I canceled my account, and they canceled my username... even though I had it for a good 5 years before linking it.  Grr.  fates_endless_destiny was created when I joined some poetry writing groups on yahoo groups, and it's stuck ever since.  I still can't get stridera back... :/

All my other names were first thought up in games... well.. even Strider was my first character on a Mud.
Utaboshi - Current protagonist in my book.  Japanese for 'starsong'  Started as a Everquest Bard->WOW Pally
Kuragari - Utaboshi and his sisters last name.  Japanese for Shadow/Darkness.  Rogue in WoW
Gishiko - Secondary Character in my book.  Gishi is japanese for Feigned death, and ko is added on to mean child.  Basic idea was Child of Feigned Death/undead child. or something similar.  Started as a Death Knight in WoW.

Other (relevant) WoW characters.
Hikari - My main WoW character.  Tauren Druid.  Means Light in Japanese.
Samui - WoW Frost Mage.  Means cold in Japanese.

(Note:  I quit wow a while ago after spending 4 nights a week raiding for really nice equipment and then having it all turn to crap overnight when a new patch came out.  Decided that when it became a second job, it just wasn't much fun.)

Old MUD Names:
Rhuarc - Warrior.  Stolen from WoT;  Gonff - Thief.  Stolen from Redwall Series; Trider - Cleric.  Hacked up Strider.  Majix - Mage and Braveblade - Warrior... no imagination there.

Other.. non-cool usernames...
6506437 - icq; mjones - work alias;

Wow, you actually read all that?

Added!

Most people call me Strider whenever they're talking to me.  

I sent an email to my paralegal friend so hopefully she'll respond with some actual job-related info.  As for my description, I included only the 'fun' stuff, as you say.  I was enlisted for 6 years.  1 year was spent in basic and linguist training (I was a Arabic Linguist for a year, but hated it so I switched to trans.)  The other 5 years, only 1 was spent deployed.  While in the U.S., I had to do PT in the morning, and the rest was like a normal office job.  On nights/weekends, I would go into the shop, pull up my laptop, and play WOW all night.   (Or, study for my B.S./Masters degrees.)  Most of the time, the Air Force feels like any other 9-5 job, and I'm guessing that would be the case for JAG as well.  (In trans we had fun jobs of going out to downed planes, driving out in the middle of drop zones to pick up paratroopers, etc, but JAG would be all paperwork/courtroom stuff... Boring.

So, I was Air Force Enlisted... so a lot of my experience will be different.  I was also transportation, which is another difference.

1)  Go army if you want to get a more military feel.  Air Force if you want a corporate feel.  When I was in Iraq, we worked for the Army.  Out there we had to form up before duty, do weapon inspections, rank and file kinda stuff.  In the air force, the only time we form up is for ceremonies and other special circumstances.

2) If you choose army, you'll do 6+ months of basic training/commissioning/job training.  Air Force will be about 3+ months.  Getting dressed in the morning is really easy, especially with the new boots that don't require shining.   As an officer, you'll have to salute every single person you meet.  Some people like that, some don't.  Every morning you'll have to do Physical Training.  Air force PT is 1.5 mile run, jumping jacks, sit ups, etc.  Not sure what the army does.

3)  Again, I only know air force, but I'm guessing the army is somewhat similar.  We generally went to PT at 5:30-6am, ran for 30-40 minutes, went home to shower and had to arrive at work by 7-7:70am.  From there you work until 3-5am.  Since I was trans, we worked 24/7, but the management flights generally worked usual business hours.  When you're deployed, be ready for 12+ hour shifts.  Deployments suck, but that's expected.  (I did convoys throughout iraq, so my 'shifts' were however long it took to drive from point a to b... be it 4 hours or 24.

4)  Army generally have huge bases while the AF usually have smaller bases.  When I was in Iraq, I was stationed at Balad Air Base/Camp Anaconda.  It was a giant army base with a smaller (more fortified) AF base in the middle of it.  AF usually have better places to live.  We had our own washer/dryers.  Our 'moral' area had computers, tvs, etc.  And it wasn't as overcrowded as the army side.  Army side didn't get washers/dryers, but they contracted out with Third Country Nationals (TCN's) to do our laundry for us.  They folded them for us too.  (A perk of being AF working for the army is I got the perks of both worlds.)  If you're army, you'll be carrying a weapon and at least one magazine of ammo anywhere you go.  I had a M4 when I was deployed.  Most air force are given a weapon to deploy with but it usually ends up in an armory and they don't see it.  The army is expected to be ready to defend the base if attacked, the air force lets others do it for them.   Oh, and the biggest difference.  Air Force usually deploys for 4 months (but I hear they were extending it to 6) and the army deploys for a year+.  I was out there for 6 months plus a 4 month convoy/heavy weapon course in Texas/Kuwait.  Some officers are expected to go for a year regardless of your unit since you'll be working with other forces/leading.  Also, the army brings their own gear with them and takes it home with them... the air force buys new gear for deployed units and you hand it down to units as they arrive.

5)  You do qualification shooting every other year.  In the Army, you'll probably do the whole shooting/grenades/rocket launcher thing at basic training.  In the AF, I never got to do the grenades/rocket launcher.  (We had some assigned to us while in Iraq, but I never got to detonate them.)  Being transportation, I was able to shoot a wide range of weapons.  (We did gun trucks to protect the convoys.)  My favorite is probably the 50cal See me with one here   also more pics of iraq there  but the SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon... read: machine gun) and MK-19[/url were fun as well.  The MK-19 would have been more fun, but I only got to shoot the inert training rounds.  That being said, as a lawyer, you'll probably be trained in 9mil (to protect secret docs) and the usual M16.


So, all in all, AF is easier, less work, more perks.  Army is tougher, more military oriented, etc.  Depends on what you want.

If you want the view of someone in legal, let me know.  I'm good friends with someone who was a paralegal (enlisted) that can tell you more about what the officers had to do.

Ryos, thanks for the feedback.

As for stridera.com... I've had the domain since about 1998 which is why I've been keeping it.  Also, all permutations of my name are already taken for the .com  (Matthew Jones).  I don't mind putting my name on the website and might do that.  I still have a while before I need to even consider looking for an editor/publisher.

As for the site looking like a game site... I guess that's only because so many games incorporate fantasy elements.  I've just been looking at making a website that looks fantasy oriented over professional.  While being professional does have it's place, I'm still trying to figure out how I want to balance it.  We'll see I guess...

Wow, I'm surprised I missed this.  Penny Arcade already covered this...

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/8/19/character-assassination/