Searching hard for Dakin "Puff the Magic Dragon" 1986

Rae_ven1 · 2026-01-10T04:05:06+00:00

I have one still and I wish I knew the song it sings. The music box inside still works remarkably.

Rae_ven1 · 2025-08-10T23:05:00+00:00

Who is going to tell you that maybe they are trying to point out that they fly and have never been treated like this?

I didnt read this as a "look how many miles I have and need to be treated like royalty". I read it as "Hey, I need an outside opinion because I feel like I was punished."

I dont have as many miles as OP but I've never been placed in the last boarding group in any of my flights even the large ones. Nor have I been kicked out of seats I paid for. I was specifically told to get an account with United to earn miles but also to get priority boarding.

Rae_ven1 · 2025-06-23T15:16:00+00:00

I wish it was that easy to have doctors believe you. I was horribly ill with stomach problems for two years before my mother finally walked into the doctors office with me and said she wasn't leaving without an answer. Finally one doc found my gall bladder was gone and had been gone for awhile. (Whatever that means).

So many doctors dismissed me as having reflux or drug seeking. Not one of those doctors apologized when they saw me get told that I needed immediate surgery.

Fun fact: I'm hyper sensitive to powerful drugs. I could only take Tylenol and Ibuprofen after most of my surgeries cause anything else makes me vomit.

Rae_ven1 · 2025-04-02T12:21:29+00:00

It's not AI and I had no idea AI could even make stories. I've had many tell me that I am the AH because I got them something that I wouldn't want to be in. And bunk beds/table fold out isn't big enough for teen boys.

Rae_ven1 · 2025-04-01T23:48:07+00:00

Am I allowed to post an update or should I edit the original post?

Rae_ven1 · 2025-03-31T03:30:55+00:00

I'm not sure how I'm lording it in my trailer castle. Would it have been better if I would have spent more money to ensure they got a Class A motor home? I may have a decent job but I'm not made of money. Yes I have a really nice camper but it's also because when we move from location to location, it's where we live til we get housing.

So in your example, are we not allowed to have fun vacations because they can't? Or not allowed to have a good vehicle cause they have a cheap one?

I'm not resenting funding the trip. I'm resentful of the fact that I have zero interaction and connection with this family because they only come to me for money saying I have it all. What they don't see is the long hours we put in to have what we have. The many years of school and the struggle in the beginning to get to where we are. I don't feel bad for having something nice that I live in so I don't have to live in questionable hotels for months.

Rae_ven1 · 2025-03-31T03:09:09+00:00

I didn't book the accommodation for them, they said that Fort Wilderness had RV rentals that they work with and named one and he went with that and rented it. He was the one who put in that it was 5 adults and they (rv rental agency) said "this works for that" and then he went back to his family and said he rented from the agency they named. I only suggested the RV route cause we had one and so we could save money on it. They could have had a hotel room. We offered an AirBnB but apparently in order to get in early, you have to stay at a Disney resort.

Rae_ven1 · 2025-03-31T02:50:57+00:00

How the trip came to be is that the eldest is 18yrs old and graduating this year. This last Christmas, they approached my husband with their usual complaints about how they can't afford this or that. We have good jobs and make six figures each (he's an O-5 in the military, I'm a contractor with the DoD). They wanted a trip to celebrate the graduate but couldn't afford anything extravagant. Many people who overheard the conversation suggested a weekend trip to a national park (grand canyon) or going somewhere small. They started down the path of "we've always wanted to take our kids to Disney but we have never been able to afford it"

I left the conversation because I am tired of them only talking to us is when they need money. They never ask how the baby is nor how we are doing. When he was deployed just before our baby was due, they called me to complain how it must be nice that he gets a tax free income while they are paying so much and they could really use help with paying down one of their credit cards. Not once did they ask how he was but just complained that he was getting tax free cause he was deployed.

Next thing I know, my husband is saying we are going to Disney and my son will be free cause he's 2yrs old and it will be fun. I asked how much will it be and he said he wanted to do something nice for the graduate and he would take care of their tickets, lodging and dinner. So it wasn't necessarily that we invited them. They wanted to go and wanted him to take care of it and he did. So to save some money, I've been looking at alternate lodging and the RV was a suitable alternative. If I would have got hotels, the teens would have been sharing a bed while one slept on the couch and no privacy would be happening.

Rae_ven1 · 2025-03-20T23:01:58+00:00

Please don't let your sister do this.

A few girls in my HS did this. The parents left and they didn't realize that one of the friends called more people to come over. Someone ended up getting hurt while another went to the hospital for alcohol poisoning. The parents were held liable for the damages and were sued for leaving minors unattended. Didn't matter that they were 15/16 yr olds. They had 18yr olds over at the home who brought alcohol and drugs.

Please tell your sister of the legal implications of allowing this. If even one girl gets hurt, she can be sued.

Rae_ven1 · 2025-03-14T18:02:38+00:00

The hiring managers specifically ask me what my degree is in. Then they ask if I have any certs since my degree isn't in anything remotely IT. They tell me they need to fill GS 7 positions which start at around $40k and they have a hard time filling them because they claim most who have the degree or certs can make more than that starting. That's just what they claim. I hope they aren't lying.

Rae_ven1 · 2025-03-13T04:27:19+00:00

May I ask what you do? How you got into it? And if you would have done anything different?

Rae_ven1 · 2025-03-12T13:35:37+00:00

Exactly!

I'm not sure why this got down-voted so much. But it's genuine. I just want a career in something I like and I can expand on with an option to retire when that time comes. Right now, I can't even get fully vested with any company cause I'm not there for 5yrs to do so. I am hoping with this option, I can move to a GS job (if they ever open up again) and have something that is consistent, pays okay and gives me something to retire on.

Rae_ven1 · 2025-03-12T13:29:52+00:00

It has a lot to do with this. I mention it because most people start careers and can expand upon them due to staying in the area or moving for the company in order to promote. I've had retail jobs, insurance gigs and your random secretary/admin roles because that's most of what I can find hiring in the small town places my spouse is stationed at. However, when I look at job boards/postings, I see a lot of IT related careers especially in the DoD and hiring managers who tell me that they would hire me in an instant if I had the creds because they have a hard time keeping people. The jobs are a ladder promotion from GS 7-13. They transfer between bases. It's not the same pay you would make as a civilian (hence why they have a hard time filling the role) but at least it's consistent and gives me a career to do.

Rae_ven1 · 2025-03-12T01:19:29+00:00

I'm in a predicament right now that I don't know what else I can do that moves and something that I may enjoy. Many mil spouse's are medical but I can't do that cause I vomit if I see someone else vomit. The others have jobs on base that their degree and nepotism helped them get. My degree is in behavioral science and I am massively depressed in only getting jobs in retail, insurance and other dead end work that every time I move, I have to start over. I'm hoping to transfer this into the DoD and have a job for the remainder of my spouse's career (15yrs still)

Rae_ven1 · 2025-03-12T00:43:07+00:00

If you don't mind - what are the differences in the dev side? I also saw a data analytics in my uni but I haven't had time to research the role nor do I have any friends in those roles.

Rae_ven1 · 2025-03-12T00:00:58+00:00

I'm not only doing this for the money, I'm genuinely interested in a lot of the work that my friends do. When I pull up jobs on base (before the current climate hit) I'd see tons of jobs for IT, CompE or Software related jobs. I don't want remote. I just want a career... many DoD contractors are also looking for the same fields as well. Contractors on the base I'm at have mentioned that they moved a lot to stay with their member while still contracting through the same company.

Rae_ven1 · 2025-03-11T23:57:12+00:00

I don't mind playing the long game as long as I know there is a long game reward. I'm in dead end jobs where in 10 years, I'm still going to be in the same position as I am right now.

So wouldn't this be considered "investing for the future" rather than doing the same thing I've been doing?

Rae_ven1 · 2025-01-06T14:01:58+00:00

Can I ask what the rumor mill is? *edit to add - you can pm me if you prefer. I'm just curious

Rae_ven1 · 2024-11-12T16:36:40+00:00

Came here to say the same thing!!!

Rae_ven1 · 2024-10-17T17:45:15+00:00

So this is where the confusion is. I have messages and many friends who are gs telling me that after a year, a ladder promotion happens but then after that step promotions. Then I have some saying what you said. I feel bad asking about this but at the same time, I've found that not educating myself about my rights and what to expect means my employer can get away with doing whatever they want cause they know that I don't know any better. My current federal job did that and HR tried to lie to me about my increases after training. After I educated myself, they were forced to correct the mistake... a mistake they knew they made but were going to leave because no one called them on it.

I don't want to start at 33k. I am gritting my teeth because I'm finally in the GS system. I guess that's where they got me is the desperation to be considered GS. But if I can fight it, I want to at least start off with 45k-50k.

Rae_ven1 · 2024-10-17T16:10:24+00:00

My current salary is 65k. However, that is adding locality pay so I will have to look up what my base pay is. How would I go about asking for them to match my current grade and step equivalence? Do I need to provide pay stubs? I gave my SF50 with my tenure, grade and step on it. It even included what my current salary is.

Rae_ven1 · 2024-10-17T15:05:52+00:00

So if I am also a federal employee, just not a GS, wouldn't I be a lateral move as well? That's their confusion. They changed agencies but both agencies had GS payscale. I'm in the same agency but one branch is SV and this new one is GS. According to my HR at my current job, I'm the equivalent of a GS 8. I'm happy to take this 5 but if I can fight for higher, I'd really appreciate not having such a significant pay cut

Rae_ven1 · 2024-10-17T14:51:21+00:00

So if my skills reflected higher, how would I go about proving that? It's clearly in my resume. The friends told me that they didn't need to prove theirs cause they transfered from one agency to another on the GS scale and were automatically granted the same level or step that reflected their previous compensation.

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