> news:9cvup8hjmmvsloici...@4ax.com...
>> On Fri, 24 May 2013 09:32:50 -0500, George Leppla
>> <
geo...@cruisemaster.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Our defense budget is way out of proportion compared to the rest of
>>> the world. There is nothing in the Constitution about spreading
>>> democracy throughout the world or being the policeman for the
>>> entire planet. But it is easier to talk about taking money away from
>>> entitlement
>>> programs and "unpatriotic" to talk about military cuts.
>>
>> What's totally crazy is the military doesn't even *want* all the
>> money we're shoveling their way, but we're doing it anyway and
>> against their wishes.
>
> It's crazy working for the DOD, which I did in 1984. Our department
> was on a shoestring budget despite Reagan's vastly increased defense
> spewnding. Our offie space was crumbling and literally the paint was
> peeling off the walls. Our desks were pre-WWII. We could not get a
> dime for repairs. Yet the DOD blows billions on useless crap if it
> means some defense contractor gets a juicy purchase order.
Yep! I hate going into any military building. They all look similar.
Cement walls, bare bones, outdated stuff.
We had to stay in the military "hotel" on Cape Cod while they were packing
us to move. Horrible experience. I didn't want to sit on the furniture or
sleep on the beds. And there was no AC! Hotter than the hubs of Haiti in
there and I had a newborn. I kept going back and forth between the grocery
store and the golf course where I used to work just to take advantage of
their AC. And the bathroom? Looked like it was put in, in 1930 and had
never been updated.
Our house was torn down after we moved. It took looked to be built in 1930
and I was told that it was a mistake. They had sent the plans for houses
slated for Florida for there. So I had a flat topped house (horrible in an
area with lots of snow), tons of windows and hardwood floors. That house
never ever got warm in the winter despite my cranking the heat up.
Some Coast Guard base in Florida got the houses with the carpets, peaked
roofs, smaller windows and fireplaces.
Our house was torn down because it wasn't up to code. I already suspected a
problem with the wiring and I had problems with the phone lines. But it was
the structure itself that was dangerous. The beams or whatever they are
called were far smaller in size than they were supposed to be, meaning that
we had an unsafe structure. Lovely! Although it was a large house as
houses go, I always felt that living in it was just one step up from camping
in a tent. It was that bare bones and bad.