/Jessrage » Lady Jess

Another Rant on Defense Spending Cuts

Jan 192012

I know I rant alot about military budget cuts. But people need to know what they are supporting! And at the moment? Where I live? Those who have fought for and won the defense spending cuts that have been applied, have assisted a burglar and his crew to terrorize the post I live on. And, he is now armed with a stolen shotgun, and benefitting from stolen narcotics.

Where are the MP’s you ask? Well, budget cuts are preventing anymore from being hired. You see, MP forces have been reduced due to the past and recent force reductions, and we depend on DoD police forces (contracted civilian position) mixed in. And they can’t HIRE anymore because guess what? Hiring freeze due to cuts in the budget.

I know cuts have to be made, but they can me made with a lot more wisdom and intelligence. I am a civilian, wife, and mother. I have no training in government, or economics. I’m going to college, but my first degree will be an AA in Liberal Arts. And even I can think of smarter ways to reduce spending. I can list three off the top of my head. Watch…

1. All the equipment that is issued at EVERY duty station, that sits in our closets and is never used even in combat deployments. Stop issuing that crap! And the stuff that is issued and used, that gets turned back in when we move from that station? Half of it gets written off and trashed. Even though we are required to turn it in in clean and useable shape or pay to replace it. Friggin RE-USE it!

2. Stop moving us around every two years! They’d save billions just by slowing down the PCS rate, since all packing and hauling is paid for by the DoD, as are travel costs. Either let us stay in one place for a careers length (not optimal), OR change the rate of moving us around to 4 or 5 years instead of two or three.

3. Stop tolerating and keeping troops that can’t pass their PT tests because they are just plain lazy, stop wrist slapping those DUI’s and troublemakers. Get them OUT and off the payroll. And on that point, stop taking 6 months to chapter out your soldiers that ARE being discharged for failure. They’re sitting there collecting a paycheck for NOT doing their jobs, and failing to adhere to standards. That’s pretty stupid.

So when you next hear about how desperately we need to cut defense spending. Please keep in mind, before you jump in with your support, what exactly you are supporting. They reduction in the safety and essential services for thousands of women, and children, who’s husbands are risking their lives for their country. The safety of troops that when at home, should FEEL safe.

We sacrifice enough, our safety shouldn’t be OPTIONAL. Does a family need to be murdered as a result before people actually get it? Me? I’m going to exercise my 2nd amendment right to bear arms. Walther .380 here I come. Don’t fuck with Mama Bear.

STUPID is STUPID Stupidhead

/Jessrage, In The Army 4 Responses »

Apr 082011

Look at that, I gave you a new twitter to follow AND blog to read in ONE quote! Proving once again that Jess is Awesome. Yes? Yes! Right, anyhow…

Stupid Politics. Stupid Government. Stupid no pay check coming next week. Stupid bills due anyway. Stupid Congress. STUPID. –tweeted by myhomemadehappy

Jess has some rage today. This government shutdown bullshit. Holy crap. I looked at my husband’s pay for the 15th. Half. HALF! That’s not right. Now, before I go any further, YES I am just as pissed off about planned parenthood and Head Start! I’m a woman after all, I have daughters that may one day depend on planned parenthood for THEIR care when they are no longer military dependants. Believe me, I CARE! And my Mother in Law works for Head Start! My children both benefitted from head start as little darling girls. Not that you can TELL now that they’re *darling* teenage girls. (* denotes sarcasm in case you need to know).

tx_001 But I’m A LOT pissed off at the president. YES. I know it’s not all on his head. Yes I know it’s party politics bullshit. BUT when he made his little speech last night, he mentioned those 800,000 Government employees living paycheck to paycheck. He mentioned that a few times. He mentioned loan and passport problems. He mentioned other things, but not once did he mention the 2.2 million Active and Reserve military that are being required to report for duty without pay!

Let me repeat that. TWO POINT TWO MILLION TROOPS. Required to report for duty. Fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. REQUIRED TO REPORT but only receiving HALF their pay on the 15th. Oh they keep saying they’ll continue to EARN their pay, but they won’t GET a paycheck until this is settled. That doesn’t put food on the table, or cash in the bill collectors’ pockets in the mean time. “Eventually” isn’t going to cut it. it’s not going to bring comfort to troops fighting overseas now worried whether their families are making it when they shouldn’t have to.

I know how much I personally am going to be affected by this. I just blew my savings on my dental work, (not by choice but when your doctor says “this is bad, no more waiting your health is at risk” you don’t dick around) I have a little left of the pay from the 1st, and a call into my bank about my car payment. My kids are awesome and fully OK with eating Ramen and Mac n Cheese for a while if we have to. But what about these young, newly enlisted soldiers on a private’s pay trying to support a family of four? I can’t even imagine it. Wait, yes I can, and it’s ugly.

What most people do not realize is it’s not JUST the troops and families affected financially. ALL of our support resources are govt run too. Our health care, Army Community Services which provides education and information to the spouses and soldiers. EVERYTHING on an installation is basically government run. And A LOT of those paid employees are being furloughed as well. Sure we have many volunteers, but these jobs are important, and often cannot be replaced by volunteers. Child care centers, gyms, teen centers, are possibly affected as well. The doctors in our hospital and clinics, and nurses are not always soldiers, they are mainly civilian providers. I realize med staff is critical but we’re still looking at a slow down of a system that already takes more than two weeks sometimes to get an appointment. It took me 3 days of calling at 6-7am to get seen for illness this week.

And let’s remember the fact that my husband is off at school. He is waiting on the money to pay his room and board that’s due to arrive on the 28th. This is a payment (travel pay) that gets screwed up quite enough on it’s own, what happens to that? Am I to support his room and board (Roughly $1k just for a month in the room) along with ours on HALF of his paycheck?

I have so much homework due this weekend, and I can’t even think straight or read the texts. So if you see me flailing on twitter. Don’t assume I don’t care about planned parenthood, head start, or npr. I do. Especially Planned Parenthood. But right now it’s personal, it’s survival, it’s my LIFE and my entire community, and support network, my friends…no my family. It’s literally my WORLD being affected by this right now, so maybe I get to be a little selfish yes?

I’m Going On a Rant Here

/Jessrage, OEF 2009 14 Responses »

Jan 252010

Nothing on earth bugs me more than people blatantly assuming that we have loads of cash just laying around because he’s in the Army. News Flash…it doesn’t pay that well. Yes we are a hundred times better off than we were eight years ago. But that doesn’t mean we’re rolling in the dough around here by any means. We can’t impulse buy plane tickets, or computers or whatever.

On the other end of the spectrum, are the people that know we don’t make alot and base assumptions of of that, that we are permanently poor and should never EVER buy anything extravagant.

Every time I get something with a fairly high price tag this comes up. It happened when I got my first digital SLR camera and had mentioned a few months earlier we couldn’t afford the Army’s monthly fee for family dental (which we DID start at the same time as I got said camera), and now with this computer combined with his Harley Down Payment, because SIX months ago, I used AER (Army Emergency Relief) to get a no interest loan for $400 car repairs. Oh and let’s not forget that because I don’t work I’m using “his money” and making no contribution to the household finances myself.

Yeah I supposed handling all of our finances, meal planning, cooking, cleaning. And of course the fact that I provide a ton of support so my husband can go and DO his job without worrying about a damned thing back home is no contribution either. When exactly did marriage start consisting of “his money” and “her money” rather than OUR Money? When did it start being a game of who does more, who provides more, and who’s not pulling their Lose Weight Exercise? Silly me thinking marriage was a lifetime relationship built on love, trust, and commitment in the eyes of God and each other, with someone you love for better or worse, richer or poorer. Apparently now it’s a business partnership, what happens if you’re poorer instead of richer? Do you like get fired now?

I would love to let some of these people walk in my shoes for ONE month. Just one. And I’ll even be nice and let it be when he’s not deployed, or away at training, or working crazy hours, or too tired to enjoy time together until the weekend. I’ll gladly hand over his normal monthly pay, and our bills, and watch from the background. Show them how anything more than what we can afford has to be planned out a year in advance, and show them just how to pray that nothing unexpected pops up before then.

They don’t take into consideration, that maybe these large purchases, happen once per year in a normal year. Or that every few years there are two times it happens.

1. We get a tax REFUND. That happens once per year. All larger ticket items are saved until that time. We have kids, and therefore get Earned Income Credit. It’s a nice treat once in a while. AFTER any major things are taken care of.

2. The Army pays pretty well when you reenlist…especially in a combat zone. And did you realize, when reenlisting in a combat zone, you get said bonus in a tax free lump sum rather than monthly taxed installments?

tx_001 This laptop, his bike down payment, and his laptop are all coming out of those two things. And by God we have earned them. Him especially. But there’s always that person ready to throw in your face that you couldn’t afford such and such a couple months ago, but yet here you are with a new computer and talking about a Harley (did I mention he has been waiting 17 years for this??)!

This computer was not planned. Mine wasn’t supposed to go belly up on me. I just got damned lucky with the timing.

What’s even worse, is when they know the life you lead, and the hurdles you have to jump every day without landing face first in the mud on the other side, the sacrifices you have made to get here, and will continue to make over the years. They know that you don’t dare get excited about the light at the end of the tunnel, because too many times it’s been the train. But the one time you’re so excited about something finally coming to fruition…they can’t be happy for you.

Rather than celebrate with you, they’d rather stew in the juice of their own sour grapes, or tell you that you have alot of nerve spending “his money” that way. Well excuse me for being excited about these things. They’re a big deal to us. And guess what Buttercup? He knows about every penny I spend. He has the ability, to say “please don’t” if he chooses, and I respect him enough to accept that. You know what happens nine times out of ten when I run this stuff past him? If the word Harley isn’t in the sentence, he asks why I’m telling him.

Now, about those shoes…

IMG_0955 copy

Here ya go. Have at it, walk a mile! On second thought no. I don’t want you getting grape juice on them. Besides, the awesome that is my Husband…is too good for you.

I’m NOT a Grownup I’m a Princess!!

/Jessrage, OEF 2009 6 Responses »

Jan 212010

It's going to be another one of those days ya'll. We have discussed my lack of patience before. But I'm not sure I actually can get across just how profound it really is. Seriously, I should have stock in "instant gratification"…you know, if that was like, a real company and stuff. When you try and think of me trying to be patient, just go straight to that bratty 5 year old you saw at the store in her pink princess outfit, stomping her patent leather clad feet, and shrieking at the top of her lungs that she DEMANDS that $25 lollipop!

Only for me, it's a laptop that I"m still waiting for. I'm actually waiting for ALOT right now. I can wait pretty well for one big thing, or one small thing. But when the list of things I'm waiting for gets to a certain point…I crack. I'm at that point. And you know what the stupid thing is? I am the worst about waiting for the "little things". Sure, I am excited as all get out for my Husband to be here for R&R, but waiting for that, I'm doing well. Same with the end of the deployment. BIG things here, and I can be patient about that.

But a laptop that I ordered? I want it yesterday!

My Nook E-reader? I want that now! (maybe to distract me from the laptop wait)

However, I am accepting no responsibility for my impatience at this moment. I'm blaming it solely on this computer. All of my hobbies, and mini projects are tied to it. Blogging, photography, scrapbooking (gotta print the photos!), gaming. And it refuses to let me do any of that. In fact, when I try to do more than simply browse, blog, and twitter, it totally turns it's ~~back on me~~ power off, ignoring my demands and pleas. It is the Mom keeping me from getting that lollipop! And I blame Dell for teasing me with purple glowing awesomeness then holding it hostage and making me wait.

I'm stomping me feet, and flailing about, and getting nowhere with it. I'm driving myself up the wall but it's not stopping me. Dammit, I want it all, and I want it now!!!

Oh, look there's my ride. It looks like a huff. I think I'll leave in it.

*Edited to Add: I no sooner hit "publish" and my status changed to shipped. Maybe I should have thrown my temper tantrum sooner eh? Yay for rewarding bad behaviour!!

You Want /Jessrage?

/Jessrage, Jessmyn 2 Responses »

Aug 252009

I mentioned a few posts ago that I’m a dual specced Boomkin these days. I’m enjoying it much more than I thought I would actually. But what really makes me happy is this talent in my solo spec called Owlkin Frenzy. The first time I saw it proc, and heard the sound effect I cracked up. Nothing like a big fluffy bird beast RAWRSMASHING a mob over the head with glowing orange wing tips! And omg the sound! I hereby rename that talent /JESSRAGE!!