Viewpoint
My first baseball hero
Monday was a sad day for many people. I was shocked when I got the news, but I knew I had to deal with it one way or another. It literally almost brought me to tears and I’m sure I wasn’t alone in feeling that way, but when I found out that Yanni was arrested my jaw dropped. Okay, I’m kidding and in fact, I’m probably smiling, just like the guy who really got me in to baseball would want me to. When I was freshly 10-years-old back in 1991 (how old do you feel now), I was across the street from my parents house in South Georgia at a Halloween party. There were probably 14 or 15 kids my age there and maybe a dozen more a few years younger that were off bobbing for apples or something, but all the kids my age were gathered around the television watching the Atlanta Braves in the World Series.March 10, 2006
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Avoid those ‘payday pirates’
The fastest growing contributor to financial trouble is the use of the payday loans or predatory lenders. These “payday pirates,” as I like to think of them, are not interested in helping you out. Trust me on that. They are interested in one thing, making money and making it off of you and if you use them they will win and you will lose. According to the Federal Trade Commission, a cash advance loan secured by a personal check - such as a payday loan - is very expensive credit. Here’s how it works. Say you need $300. Payday lenders will lend you the $300 against your paycheck for two weeks.March 10, 2006
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Ever heard of Mirth Month?
The month of March is probably the most exciting month of the year. I love it because there are no birthdays, anniversaries, bar mitzvahs or anything in my family during this month, so I save a little cash. You may love it for St. Patrick’s Day, or the fact that March is Foot Health Month or you may be a fan of Mirth Month, which was created to help people turn their “Maalox Moments” into more mirthful ones. In the world of sports however, things are as regular as can be. Normally I think of the NCAA Tournament when I think of March, but that doesn’t start until later in the month (but man do I love that thing). This year is a bit different with all the talk of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement and the frightening thought of a lockout in 2008 and…forget it; it’s much easier to pretend football will be fine. With that in mind, free agency is supposed to begin today because March 3 marks the start of the NFL’s new year. So Happy New Year!March 3, 2006
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Drugs, alcohol … do impact readiness
What is the impact of drug and alcohol related incidents on readiness? Let us first talk man-hours. When we have a Sailor who has an incident with drugs or alcohol, the obvious loss of man-hours comes to mind. The time he or she is in custody, the time he or she spends being interviewed by everyone required to talk to the Sailor, the time he or she spends at NJP or courts martial, and possibly the time he or she spends awaiting separation from service.March 3, 2006
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I have lost my mind
I did something last weekend that I swore I would never do in my whole life. I’m not quite sure what came over me or what possessed me to do it, but I couldn’t help myself, the attraction was too strong. Dare I admit, I watched an entire NASCAR race? Honestly, it wasn’t as dreadful as I thought it would be (please tell me you know that I’m being sarcastic). I actually found myself glued to the television. As I’m sure many of you know, I normally care as much about NASCAR as Britney does about car seats. I still can’t pinpoint what drew me into even watching the Daytona 500 in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, anyone who can plop down for a few hours and watch constant left turns is quite simply a better person than me, yet I can’t get the word “idiotic” out of my mind. So I did the idiotic, but the Daytona 500 is a different monster than some random race in some podunk town in the middle of Virginia (I’m really just talking about Richmond). No my friend, the Daytona 500 is the Super Bowl of NASCAR, the top dog, the one everyone wants to win, the only race that matters.February 24, 2006
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Driving, insurance — they go hand in hand
Do you drive? If you do, you need insurance. Even if you think you’re a safe and responsible driver, accidents happen. What’s more, if you need a DoD sticker on your car, you must provide you have the state’s minimum liability insurance levels to obtain the stickers. There are no exceptions! Depending on your age and your driving record, automobile insurance can be quite expensive. Nonetheless, you must have insurance. I used to think there was no gray area here. That was, until recently. I’ve heard too many cases of uninsured Sailors turning to the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society for financial assistance either to pay a fine for lapsed insurance or to help cover the costs of an accident when they had no insurance. This has to stop.February 24, 2006
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Tape-delayed fun
Household update in 3…2…1… So it turns out that all that talk of bunk beds and the wife trapping me into having baby number two worked out. Valentine’s Day worked out well for us as we found out that we will be expecting a new addition to the family in about nine months or so. If all goes well, I should survive the next few months, seeing as how a two-year-old son and a pregnant wife is enough to kill a man. Perhaps folding laundry will get my mind off of this for a while. Oddly enough, I actually did fold laundry this weekend, which should lead you to believe one of three things. A) My wife has me wrapped around her finger. B) I was financially strapped from doing anything fun since the wife spent $150 on her hair. C) There was just nothing worth watching in the sports world. If you chose all three, you would be correct, but there were a few things I noticed while perusing through the channels.February 17, 2006
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Ugly crime: Sexual assault
Studies have shown that one in four women and one in six men will be the victim of a sexual assault in their lifetimes. This is one of the fastest growing violent crimes in the U.S. and we need to ensure we engage now to stop a shipmate from becoming a victim. Let’s take a minute and delve a little deeper into what exactly sexual assault is. Sexual assault is sexual intimacy that is threatened or forced on one person by another. That includes rape, date rape, marital rape (yes, a spouse forcing the other to have sexual contact is very much illegal), sodomy, indecent assault, and same gender sexual assault.February 17, 2006
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‘More coffee, sir?’
If a tree falls in your backyard and you’re not outside to hear, it still makes a pretty loud sound inside your house. Maybe that’s not the answer to the age-old question, but it scared the crap out of me last weekend. The Seattle Seahawks were crushed by a tree during Super Bowl XL, although this one had zebra stripes and a whistle.February 10, 2006
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Develop a degree roadmap — set yourself up for success
The Navy is more serious about education today than ever before. Beginning with the 2010 Senior Chief Selection board, Sailors will need a rating-related associate degree to move beyond the rank of chief petty officer. NAVADMIN 203/05 lists the requirements. It is extremely important that each of you become familiar with this NAVADMIN and that you develop a roadmap to attain your degrees on time. The NAVADMIN also includes some grandfather clauses for those sailors who already have a degree, or are enrolled in a college or university and have started a plan. I would like to discuss why you should have a degree roadmap. As you can probably guess, earning a degree takes time and hard work. It’s important for you to map out a realistic plan to attain a degree, rather than just start college and hope for the best.February 10, 2006
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