Curious - How Old Is Everybody?

[Sisyphus]

My wife (a month older than me) has always been young looking, which was a problem for her professionally for a while. Like when a patient was coding and they wouldn't let her in a room because they thought she was the medical student and they were waiting for the attending physician (her, that day) to show up... I've also been taken for well, not her dad, but maybe her Matt Gaetz figure...

...but I digress.

We were in a bar in Annapolis a few years ago during the boat show, meeting some SA folks. I ordered drinks for my wife and I, and the bartender asked for her ID over the bar noise.

Me, Mr. Sensitivity, won the prize that night when I shouted back at him "What do you need that for, she's like FORTY..."

My wife also looks younger, but not as young as me apparently.

Another great night was when we were out at a nice restaurant, the waiter carded us both, looked at our IDs, saw the same last name, and said “It’s great when siblings can hang out, me and my sister don’t have a relationship like that.” I hope he didn’t, it was our fifth anniversary. Then I got carded for an R movie.

 

[boomer]

First time in the Army 1975-1976. We got C Rations manufactured during the Korean War. Them Ham and Lima Beans were awful but of course some folks loved 'em. They would trade their little 4 pack of Marlboros for it. I thought the scrambled eggs were the worst. The eggs were almost as green as the can they were in. The Pork Slices in Gravy were tolerable but it you ate them cold, it was best to remove the congealed 3/8" of fat off of the top of the meat slices first.

Went back in the Army 1988-1994. Everybody complained about the MREs. I told them if your bitching about MREs, you never had to eat C Rats cold out of the can. You even got a chemical heater pouch and a baby bottle of Tabasco with your MREs FFS. Throw the Tuna Noodle Casserole in the heater pouch and in a few minutes, empty the Tabasco into the hot food and your Livin' large.

Yes the green eggs were universally disliked, and got healthy covering of Tobasco. I recall the beans and franks, pork and beans, the spaghetti o's, meatballs, pound bread, the cans of fruit and chocolate the most liked or traded for. Yeah maybe one or two guys at the most in a squad liked Ham and mofos. The Marlboros were the most sought after smokes, the Chesterfield followed by the Lucky Strikes the least liked, though I liked the Lucky Strikes, Camel and Pall Mall unfiltered the best. If we didn't have sterno or a dallop of C4 explosive to heat our C-Rats, we often heated them on the flat of the square manifold of inline 6s and 4 cylinder engines.

The main body of the 500-man battalion arrived at Camp Shjelds, Okinawa, just in time for Reversion Day on May 15. The Japanese flag was raised alongside the Stars and Stripes as the government of Okinawa was returned to Japa nese jurisdiction after 27 years of American administration since the end of Wor1d War II.

Detail Hawk went on to the Philippines to put the finishing touches on the house moving project that Detail Clydesdale had started the previous deployment and to build a rinse rack to wash planes at Cubi Point Naval Air Station.

Detail Raven traveled on to Taiwan and began rehabing a barracks at the Headquarters Support Activity, Taipei. On Okinawa, the main body started the final stages of work on the new officers club and BOQ. The FIVE Seabees also began constructing an addition to the Crash Station at the Marine Corps Air Facility, Futema. a perimeter security road around Marine Corps Ammo Supply Point Two, erecting a five-mile long fence around it and installing a water distribution system.

The men had barely unpacked their bags and settled into their new jobs throughout the Western Pacific when the call came to "mount out." Within 48 hours, the battalion's 100-man Air Detachment had staged nearly 5 million pounds of equipment and materials at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, for shipment to an undisclosed site. It was an "all hands" operation, with many men working an day and all night to successfully meet the mount out requirements.

The first flights of C-141 I jet cargo planes began carrying the men of NMCB-5's Air Detachment, their equipment and materials from Okinawa. The Air Detachment's destination was classified and rumors ran rampant throughout the battalion. When we were told that we were not going to extend a small CIA runway at Nam Phong, Thailand, everyone heaved a big sigh of relief. The airfield was used by covert Laotian and Thai Special Operations Forces as part of Project 404 (aka-Palace Dog) and Project Unity from 1969 through 1975. In June 1972 Nam Phong became a concurrent base of operations for United States Marine Corps air operations by Marine Aircraft Group 15, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. Nam Phong became known by Marines and Seabees as the Rose Garden and later the Royal Thai Airbase.

I was the first volunteer when Bravo was called to supply 12 volunteers for Detail Buford, who'd be going to Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam to dissemble and prepare for shipment to Diego Garcia, the concrete batch plant left their by Seabees for construction of the Cam Ranh Bay Base. Then load pumps, piping and building material left, to be used for humanitarian building projects in New Guinea and Micronesia. That sounded way more fun then going to the jungles of Thailand.

The little job for our Detail Buford, was fairly straight-forward - to go down to Cam Rahn Bay - Dissemble a concrete Batch Plant and load it, pumps, piping, other material and furnishings on the ageing LST Vernon Country to be transported to Diego Garcia and be reassembled, then a to Australia, then to the former Port Moresby Flying Boat Base in southern New Guinea, from where we took a Seaplane to Buna, New Guinea, to meet the LST Vernon Country again, which had brought other material we had loaded - pumps, piping, other material and furnishings - air conditioners, desks, refrigerators, and other furniture along with windows, doors and corrugated tin roofs from the buildings left by the left by US forces at Cam Ranh Bay.

I'd never heard of Buna, New Guinea before, but apparently a area where a months long battle was fought in the area during WW II. It so was humid and wet there, us Seabees did our work barefooted, rather then risk getting severe trench foot. Then on to Truk Atoll, where pumps, piping and building materials was unloaded, with the rest headed to the other islands of Truk Atoll to be distributed. After this Vernon Country took us to Japan, and the ageing LST retired shortly thereafter.

Then, via the great circle route to Elmendorf AFB our detail boarded a Air Force MAC C-141, then McCord AFB, then Point Mugo NAS where we bussed back to Port Hueneme, CA. I then requested an island sea duty command, and was offered two choices Guentamano Bay or Adak, Ak - I choose Adak. I was hoping my next couple years would be a a bit more relaxed, then my first year. I arrived on Adak island on January 10, 1973, right after a blizzard, and as they say, the rest was history.

Back in 1972 Diego Garcia was more similar to a penal colony then today's vacation resort. The newbs talk centered about partying every night and the daytime heat. Many of the Seabees just out of high school - becoming young men from their life and death adventures on Diego. At that time they all hated the place, but I believe it changed all of them, most guys off of Diego Garcia could handle most anything thrown at them on Adak.

The few things the guys talked about - was long hard hours in the sun during the day and then the last evening's party - which was just about every night. Drugs and booze were cheap and available. Stationed on any other Seabee base, if a Seabee got caught with just a joint more then once, and they got kicked out of the Seabees and sent to the fleet. To this very day I still cannot believe the Federal Government and US Navy turned a blind eye to the drugs and booze, then sent everyone to Bangkok for R&R. Some said they thought it was part of a government experiment studying how young men can survive addictions and sexual diseases. I stayed away from the infected whores in Bangkok.

Luckily they survived - I hope all my fellow SeaBees are as lucky. What's more surprising is that everyone I knew from back in the day in the Seabees is still alive, with the exception of one, and he'd probably still be alive, if he learned to stop partying.

Two other Seabees and myself and didn't smoke pot or get schitt faced drunk every night on Diego Garcia. The three of us hung together and Comshawed a skiff from Ships Division, added leeboards, and a Kon Tiki type of a rudder, got a whole roll of canvas and sewed a mainsail, got some parachute material for a headsail, comshawed a roll of nylon and built some nylon covered outriggers which didn't work to well, so we got some polyester, we doped up to shrink and seal, and wa-la we had a sailing tri, which we sailed to the old Copra Plantation. We'd have a couple beers, for the most exquisite buzz, especially on Barbecue Friday and Saturday nights, but other then that the three of us didn't drink the warm beer much. Did get drunk once with my older brother who came up from San Diego after our return stateside, New Years of '72/'73, but never was much into getting schitt faced drunk at all.

 

[Sisyphus]

I feel like there is a segue to sailing as a declining sport in this thread, but I forgot what it is.

 

[boomer]

Hey I'm only 47 and I wore greens for my first year and a bit before we got cams.

I first tried MREs on exercise in shoalwater bay with the US and I couldn't believe how much waste it produced. And for one meal. Made our 24hr ratpacks look like some kind of genius effort when they were far from it. Don't get me wrong, they weren't too bad really

But we did have biscuits in there called Biscuits, Cereal ... We referred to them as Biscuits, Brick ... good for hammering tent pegs in for your hoochy

Edited to add: cams were a godsend. Greens needed to be starched and ironed properly but cams, no iron required! WOOHOO!

Stateside in Seabees or during Quartley Greens inspection we starched greens, and bloused our green trousers with springs. Green eight point covers/hats also had to be blocked and starched. Didn't recall they wore them that recently. Indeed, the Seabees NMCB 40 upon return from Somalia in 1993, was the first battalion to wear the Camouflage Utility Uniform (CUU), which replaced the vintage “Greens” the Seabees once wore. So you got in when you were 17 or 18, eh?

NMCB 40 first to change from green fatigues to CUU

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

With my disease fractures are one of the things that worries me the most (other than dying of course). Myeloma eats bones. Spontaneous fractures are not uncommon. I’m doing all the things and taking the meds to avoid that because I need the time I have to remain very active. I wouldn’t do well “sitting”. It’s one of the reasons I gave up several activities. Still swim (just finished 1400) and golf and archery and pickleball, walk/hike (carefully) and bike ride.

I could post my mom's Xrays but I'll just say get a trike. Falling off a bike is for kids.

BTW, I lied earlier about being 29. I'm really 80, but think I look OK for my advanced years.

Still not dying my hair!

 

[ShortForBob]

3” heels was my max…no way could I ever walk in 5”, and had no desire to be 6’ tall. When retired, I donated 75 pair to a women’s shelter, kept 3 pair.

Uneven pavement calls for athletic shoes or boots .

Heh, I was just winding Ed up, he has a bit of a shoe fetish
I had a few pairs of platform soles that would have been 4" back in the day

 

[sunseeker]

I could post my mom's Xrays but I'll just say get a trike. Falling off a bike is for kids.

BTW, I lied earlier about being 29. I'm really 80, but think I look OK for my advanced years.

Still not dying my hair!

Nice fish. Is that your tinder profile picture?

 

[shaggybaxter]

54 and I'm learning how photons have no mass yet can't pass through solid objects, whereas neutrinos have mass yet pass through any solid object.
All because there has to be a reason why cuntfuckingfuckcunt two stroke engines will only fucking start when they're fucking good and ready.
Spark, fuel, air my fucking arse.

 

[Grizz]

I can honestly say I have never been that hungry.

Spent a season in ‘72 purse seining mackerel on Cape Breton Island. Lunch was often mackerel boiled on the exhaust manifold. I would have killed for spam!

 

[tybee]

You got nothin...

damn, LB, what did you do to yourself?

 

[Ease the sheet.]

I feel like there is a segue to sailing as a declining sport in this thread, but I forgot what it is.

The pay was better then than now...

 

[veni vidi vici]

MRE = Meals Requiring Emesis

At least that was the consensus among the firefighters. The fire line brown bag lunches assembled by the crooks in jail always scared me. Bologna or ham on white bread with some mystery sauce……you couldn’t tell me the crooks didn’t spit in them. I never ate a sammie out of those things. The candy bar (hopefully a Payday) and the chips were the only things I ate. On the big fires that lasted weeks or more, once fire camp got up and running the camp kitchen wasn’t bad most of the time so breakfast and dinner were okay - although you never got both. I always had a little stash on the engine to get you through initial attack day or two before camp got set up. That allowed me to skip the MRE’s in favor of my stuff the highlife of which was a can or two of spam heated on the engine block. That was actually pretty tasty.

Crats in the Navy were just as Ed described. I was okay with the pork and beans. Once I got aboard ship the food was often edible but I did skip meals in lieu of a PB&J on white bread. That never disappointed.

Bwahahahahaa

 

[130lights]

Heh, I was just winding Ed up, he has a bit of a shoe fetish
I had a few pairs of platform soles that would have been 4" back in the day

Shoe addiction =me!
I worked with many women that wore the 5” heels, who also had knee problems.

👠 and a nice fitted dress…take me back!

 

[veni vidi vici]

Heh, I was just winding Ed up, he has a bit of a shoe fetish
I had a few pairs of platform soles that would have been 4" back in the day

 

[Not My Real Name]

My wife also looks younger, but not as young as me apparently.

Another great night was when we were out at a nice restaurant, the waiter carded us both, looked at our IDs, saw the same last name, and said “It’s great when siblings can hang out, me and my sister don’t have a relationship like that.” I hope he didn’t, it was our fifth anniversary. Then I got carded for an R movie.

Back in 1996 when my wife was finishing her residency in OB/Gyn and had accepted a job up in RI, we went up for a weekend of house hunting. It was memorial day weekend, and happened to coincide with our college's graduation weekend up in Providence. So we're both 29, going on thirty and had been married for three years.

Graduation weekend is also reunion weekend, so we decide to go to the big "Campus Dance" event on Friday night even though it wasn't an official reunion year for us. We dressed up to go out. It's a semi-formal thing, so I wore one of my work suits and my wife wore a pink dress that was suitable for this sort of event. If memory serves it was a bridesmaid's dress that was reasonable enough to re-purpose.

We went to a pricey restaurant, supposed to be one of the best in the area we were looking at houses. And we proceeded to get treated by the waiter exactly like I was some creepy twenty-something dude taking a young high school girl to her junior prom. The waiter pulled up a chair and turned it around to talk to us at the table, when I ordered a bottle of wine he only brought one glass, etc. etc. We should have walked out, but by then things were showing up at the table and it took me a little while to catch on to what he was doing.

This restaurant was right next door to the yacht club we joined when we moved up there, and we never set foot in it again. One of the few bad tips I've left in my life.

 

[Trovão]

58

 

[LB 15]

54 and I'm learning how photons have no mass yet can't pass through solid objects, whereas neutrinos have mass yet pass through any solid object.
All because there has to be a reason why cuntfuckingfuckcunt two stroke engines will only fucking start when they're fucking good and ready.
Spark, fuel, air my fucking arse.

Mate never give a two stroke any love. I have a 8hp outboard that I call ‘Meli’. It hasn’t been serviced in years but it arks up at the first pull.

 

[LB 15]

damn, LB, what did you do to yourself?

Not that, but I am clearing my search history.

 

[tp#12]

Stateside in Seabees or during Quartley Greens inspection we starched greens, and bloused our green trousers with springs. Green eight point covers/hats also had to be blocked and starched. Didn't recall they wore them that recently. Indeed, the Seabees NMCB 40 upon return from Somalia in 1993, was the first battalion to wear the Camouflage Utility Uniform (CUU), which replaced the vintage “Greens” the Seabees once wore. So you got in when you were 17 or 18, eh?

NMCB 40 first to change from green fatigues to CUU

I joined as an Army Apprentice when I was 16 in 1992. Did all of my interviews the previous year and signed on the line when I was 15. I was the second youngest at the Apprentice Battalion in Bonegilla, near Albury/Wodonga and the Hume Weir. The Army ditched the apprentice scheme shortly after. I was a 47th class apprentice and they stopped at 50 and now everyone joins at the same time, does their basic then off to trade school for a traineeship.

My first two years were learning electronics and milskills/IMT (infantry minor tactics) before we were Corp allocated and sent off to Corp schools. I went into Signals and did telecoms and crypto repair before moving over to IT. I only did 7 years in the end; the Army wasn't for me.

Some great times and great friends, though. Most of the apprentices are still pretty tight with all the classes having reunions etc taking the piss out of each other on social media.

 

[boomer]

I joined as an Army Apprentice when I was 16 in 1992. Did all of my interviews the previous year and signed on the line when I was 15. I was the second youngest at the Apprentice Battalion in Bonegilla, near Albury/Wodonga and the Hume Weir. The Army ditched the apprentice scheme shortly after. I was a 47th class apprentice and they stopped at 50 and now everyone joins at the same time, does their basic then off to trade school for a traineeship.

My first two years were learning electronics and milskills/IMT (infantry minor tactics) before we were Corp allocated and sent off to Corp schools. I went into Signals and did telecoms and crypto repair before moving over to IT. I only did 7 years in the end; the Army wasn't for me.

Some great times and great friends, though. Most of the apprentices are still pretty tight with all the classes having reunions etc taking the piss out of each other on social media.

That must be rare to get in that young. The youngest they're allowed in the US is 17, with a parents OK and signature.

Australia Army - age and gender