Decided to go for the civvy job. I figured the short term money would be much better. Kinda sad about ditching the other option though. Would have probably enjoyed it more. Damn shame they don't pay so well.

Wait what, you got a job? CONGRATS!!

And screw the army man - taking orders from retards isn't the way to go. Just grab that cash and run.

What will you be doing? When do you start?

heh, I'm not so anti-military as our friend Oxy-cotin here is. But hey, you made your decision, congrats. And congrats on getting a job. I'm still looking for a new one.

Thats pretty much what everyone does that has ever worked a normal job in the history of working. Doesnt matter if you in the military or civ work, your going to be taking orders from said tards.

That's what i was thinking, only too lazy to type it out.

True dat.

Keep in mind though that folks in the armed forces generally have their head screwed on tighter than civvies living on a cotton wool cloud. Being exposed to hard times has a way of stripping away the BS from ones character. Of course, that's not a universal statement but there is a rugged honesty I appreciate in the armed forces that sometimes doesn't exist in civilian jobs.

As for the job I took, it's back at the *leading CPU company* I was at before. It involves analysis of our service to major clients I worked with last time round, but this time I have 10 x the scope and facilitation to actually get things done. I started Monday and so far it's great. Getting to grasp with the stakeholders at the moment and also catching up with some familiar faces. It's permanent too so it looks like ill be able to move out again soon.

Just a point on managers in general... I don't mind sucky managers, so long as their pay reflects that. In the army, a corporals salary is capped at £32k but so is a 1st Lt's. In civilian jobs, managers often earn more than non-managers, but at some modern corporations this is changing. The armed forces are pioneers of the concept that management / leadership is primarily just a different skillset, but no more valuable than those a non-manager has. The difference in pay starts to kick in when responsibility becomes a burden, which is seen mostly in higher officer ranks. The civilian sector is lagging behind this concept since managers are often generally always paid more than non-managers. There are some exceptions (like my corp) but it's still nowhere near the same as the armed forces. The distinction is that the civilian sector is free and therefore malleable. Managers have found it easier to ask for more money therefore the misconcepted norm is that managers deserve more money.

This problem of pay is also why we have sucky management. Someone is promoted with the expectation that a superior salary somehow grants them the necessary skills. People therefore choose to seek management careers primarily for monetary purposes, not because the line of work suits them.

Freedom is sometimes a drawback.

In my experience, the people that want to be managers are the people least qualified for the position. On the other hand, the people best qualified to lead others typically don't want to. Just one of those things, I guess.

While I'll admit that retards rule the planet outside of the army too, I'm pretty sure the army is pretty thick on them in the lower ranks (not REAL retards, I know they can't get in). You're welcome to believe that many highly intelligent people opt for army careers and army pay when they can be making a lot more in private business, but that doesn't really seem very likely. As for the army 'hardening' people...sure, in some cases. But afaik many soldiers who've been in an actual war (not warplay) come back pretty fucked up.

Let it be clear that when I'm making assessment of the general intelligence of "army people" I'm talking about career soldiers. Clearly, contractual servicemen and -women tend to have other reasons for joining the military than a need to die in some godforsaken war nobody at home gives a shit about, like no financial framework to support their college studies or a wish for independence. It's those that stay that I question.

Ugh, fucking work commute. Was sleeping in the train to work while some crazy motherfucker who I suppose forgot to take his pills (he looked normal enough, not your typical crazy hobo, just acted crazy) came into my cart talking really fast, at this insane pitch, into his phone, all the while walking along through the cart. When he came at the end he got off the phone and started yelling "Sieg Heil" for no apparent reason, followed by some maniacal laughter. Then he went on to the next cart. I heard him scream sieg heil 2 or 3 times more when the train halted at the next station, I presume he'd gotten off there.

Seriously though...I don't like crazies. I already get red in front of my eyes when people are talking on their phone for 5+ mins or having annoying or loud conversations on a train, let alone a complete nutcase like that bothering me. I sometimes wonder why I even bother bringing a book cause I can't read when i'm annoyed. Maybe to beat someone to death with it one day.

P.S. before Satis tells me to get a car: driving up and down from the centre of Antwerp to the centre of Brussels every morning is not really a good idea.

Nah, I wouldn't have recommended a car. If we had public transportation that worked, I'd probably use it too. How about some noise-cancelling headphones? Or wear a t-shirt in the morning that says "I kill motherfuckers" in big red letters.

My stare usually says enough, only it doesn't work on cats who're actually crazy. And yeah, good point on the headphones. I've been meaning to get some of those...that or just a good MP3 player so I can listen to music instead. Meh. Damn socially unadjusted train talkers.

You don't have an mp3 player? Seriously? Jeez man, go buy a cheap $30 one... hell, my phone can play MP3s. I swear, I think I'm used to how backwards you are and then you drop another bomb.

Hahaha...well I tend to gravitate between nerd and incredibly cheap bastard (you have no idea) so I don't really have that many gadgets.

I used to have an MP3 player but it got lost moving. You're probably right that I should get a new one, I got gift certificates of 25 and 10 € for an electronics store anyway.

Are you sure it wasn't one of those Trigger Happy/Tragger Hippy/... things Ox? It sounds like it from your description, but i guess there are enough weirdos around that could do the same shit.

I bought my wife a mp3 player a few years back, which she hardly uses atm, but don't have one myself. I'm not exactly a gadget guy either.