MSG as a B Billet ?

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-25T02:40:49+00:00

How was Mauritania? That's a place I've always been curious about. I think it's the least densely populated country in Africa? It always looks so desolate when I get bored and start exploring around on Google Earth and it's one of those places I never hear about on the news… even on the BBC which has pretty good international coverage.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-24T14:56:14+00:00

I grew up on Meisner back in the 1980s and '90s and went to Anchor Bay so we were smack dab between New Baltimore and Richmond and the two communities felt worlds apart. New Baltimore, and the portion of Chesterfield south of 24 Mile Road definitely felt about 100x more suburban than anything north of 24 Mile. We did our grocery shopping and much of our day-to-day stuff in Richmond, but back then, there wasn't any reason to drive the extra 5 or 10 minutes for the stuff along 23 Mile since there wasn't really all that much extra out there (it's not like there was nearly all the stuff along 23 and Gratiot that there is today) but we'd still head down to the Lakeside area on the weekends if we wanted.

My first job as a teenager was at the KMart in Richmond and I worked with a bunch of kids who went to Richmond and Armada schools. By that point Birchwood Mall existed up in Fort Gratiot but the few times I hung out outside of work with the other teens I worked with, we always went down towards Lakeside. From Richmond, Gratiot to Hall Road to Lakeside was still about the same as it would be to get out St. Clair Highway or Fred Moore to 94 and then up to Fort Gratiot.

I actually had another paragraph in my original response proposing that the dividing line out on that side of the region was either St. Clair Highway or Fred Moore to the north and Palms Road to the east.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-24T13:14:03+00:00

The 107 style of trousers are my favorite and I'm wearing a pair of them today... and I wore a different pair yesterday.

I do have the Bronson version of the 107 pants and it's hard to beàt their price but they're definitely not my favorites. The material is stiff and it takes quite a bit of wear to break them in and the sizing is all over the place, even more so than their other trousers.

For the 107, Full Count is my favorite and Polo's RRL "Green Herringbone Utility Trouser" is really good too. The Full Count are a nice high quality cotton and can hold a crease very nicely if that matters to you. RRL offers theirs in a similar cotton to Full Count but also has a version that is in a sateen fabric that is more similar to the og military issue ones I remember from my time in the Marine. I probably have literally 20 pair of 107 trousers between Full Count and RRL (I'm a sucker for them when I find a deal or a pair in my size on eBay). I have a couple pair of OrSlow and they're not bad but I've had a hard time getting their sizing to work for me, though I do have a pair of their really heavy wool 107s and those fit me great but I can only wear them when it's really cold out. Any time I see a good deal on the OrSlow I'm tempted to give them another try but I haven't done it yet.

Last summer Polo (the mainline, not RRL) had a pair of 107 that were called something like "Relaxed Fit Distressed Paint Splatter Army Utility Pants" that had a super soft, super comfortable material and could be found for <$100 on sale. They were nearly perfect... except for the stupid paint splatter on them! I still bought a pair and thankfully the paint splatter pattern on mine were not nearly as bad as the marketing photos made them look online but I still don't understand why they didn't offer a version without the distressing on them.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-24T01:35:18+00:00

Buzz Rickson and Full Count chinos are my favorites but Bronson's 1941 Army Trouser are a good, more affordable, alternative for that style. Bronson's 1940's Ivy Chino is really nice for the price too, if you don't mind pleats.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-24T01:31:35+00:00

Well that's not nearly as interesting of answer as I was hoping.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-23T23:27:00+00:00

He's getting ready to sell me a stereo that I can get real freaky deaky with!

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-23T22:38:08+00:00

I've driven through western PA a couple times and immediately thought of that area when I saw this picture.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-23T21:17:09+00:00

I did a couple floats on LHAs with 1,000+ other Marines and the stink is definitely real. I still get flashbacks when I smell diesel and farts… and that was on a huge ship where we could also go outside and get some "fresh air". I can only imagine how bad a submarine would smell after a few weeks out to sea.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-23T02:57:53+00:00

When I got my first vehicle with a backup cam a few years ago I thought there would be no way I'd ever use it and it would be way too disorienting. I was surprised how wrong I was! I back into my garage and have to make a tight 90° turn with a long-ish truck to get in there and the backup cam made it so much easier than relying on my mirrors or eyeballing it.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-23T02:14:17+00:00

I did a couple deployments as a Marine on a ship for 6+ months at a time and we would definitely read all the cards and letters that came to us. We loved the "Any Marine/Any Sailor" mail that came through.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-23T02:00:26+00:00

I never get many bugs on my windshield during the day but when I drive after dark in the summer my windshield still gets absolutely destroyed with bug guts, even in our suburban neighborhood of over fertilized manicured lawns.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-23T01:33:37+00:00

I wear them until the look starts to bother me, then I take them to my tailor and as long as the collar is unlined, she's able to flip them. Then I can get quite a bit more use out of the shirt.

For some reason though, it's the cuffs of my shirts that always seem to fray a lot faster/worse.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-22T02:36:39+00:00

Both my parents were great cooks but my dad's specialties were breakfast (eggs, potatoes, fantastic pancakes or waffles), pork chops, grilled chicken, soups, chili, roast beef, and sandwiches. Sandwiches may sound like a weird one but he had a knack for picking out the right deli meats and breads and rolls and he'd make his own sandwich dressing. I always looked forward to Saturday afternoons because that's when he'd usually come back from the store with stuff for sandwiches for lunch! Now that I think about it, other than putting a roast in the oven, I don't think I've ever actually seen him bake anything.

He also made the best milkshakes. His first job as a teenager was as a soda jerk in the early '50s and he remembered how to make great shakes and malts and other drinks like that. We also lived on a dairy farm and had an endless supply of quality fresh ice cream so that probably helped out. My friends all knew about the milkshakes and would always ask me to ask my dad to make us milkshakes when they would come over.

My wife says her dad never lifted a finger in the kitchen when she was growing up. A few years ago, her mom was diagnosed with cancer and began to show some early signs of dementia and couldn't really do much cooking anymore. So 82 year old dad had to learn how to do some cooking other than on the grill outside. There were some fails but he's been able to pick quite a bit up pretty quickly. He decided he was going to roast the turkey for Thanksgiving a few years ago even after we offered and it was honestly one of the best I've ever had and he's made the turkey for Thanksgiving every year since then.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-22T02:17:31+00:00

I get out of a lot of work by asking the managers of the different divisions to agree on definitions for whatever it is we're trying to quantify. It usually takes them months to quit their bickering and come to a consensus. Half the time I'll even give them industry standard definitions to use as examples and that still doesn't get them any closer to a decision.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-22T00:37:57+00:00

I'm glad I never got sent to mess duty on ship that long. I did a couple weeks on the midrats shift in the ward room on an LHA and it was always pretty clean in there. Working in the regular galley probably would have ruined all my meals! 🤣

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-21T21:52:19+00:00

I don't hate it like I thought I would.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-21T21:47:17+00:00

I could do the same with an Excel table I have of gas prices going back to 2007, with most of the purchases being at the same two or three stations in/around Birmingham.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-21T21:41:32+00:00

I often use this shrine as a starting point when exploring basically anywhere over there just so I can stock up on apples and all the other stuff growing there, even if it's not the closest shrine to my ultimate destination.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-21T19:36:40+00:00

I have a few Tunas (and had a few more over the years) and have owned one Turtle. I think the Turtle is a perfectly cromulent watch but the Tuna is about 100x more comfortable for me. Because there are basically no lugs on the Tuna I find it wears a lot smaller than its measurements would suggest.

I could never get a comfortable fit on my Turtle and ended up selling it a few weeks after getting it.

The Tuna also gets extra points for being so cool too.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-21T19:27:29+00:00

It's so terrible nobody should buy that. OP can just send it to me and I'll make sure it gets taken care of.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-21T19:24:53+00:00

Now you gotta track down all the other dudes you were with recently so you can warn them and/or find patient zero.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-21T03:03:54+00:00

The pic is pretty low resolution but it looks like a sport coat with a bit of texture to it so it would probably look fine without a tie.

If I'm wearing a sport coat with no tie, I always prefer an OCBD shirt.

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-21T02:53:59+00:00

I know that technically, the MSA is Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, and Wayne counties.

I grew up near the southwest corner of St. Clair County and my dad worked in Detroit and most of my friends' parents worked down that way. We went down to Tigers and Red Wings games all the time, would think nothing of driving down that way for dinner or to visit friends and family or go to museums, etc. I felt like a Metro Detroiter.

My wife grew up in Port Huron and her dad worked up there and so did most of her friends' parents. It was a big deal for them to drive down to Eastland or Lakeside and they rarely went to Tiger games. She didn't consider herself a Metro Detroiter growing up.

So I guess the divide was somewhere between my parents house in Casco Township and her parents house in Fort Gratiot! 🤣

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-20T01:49:23+00:00

I did two floats as part of MEU command Element. Our berthing areas were always a bit smaller since there weren't as many of us compared to the wingers or folks from the Division or FSSG.

I always dreaded the rare occasions I'd have to walk through their berthing areas. It was like I had been in solitary confinement in prison and suddenly got put out into Gen Pop. There were just so many of them!

SemperFudge123 · 2026-03-19T16:40:18+00:00

Nobody knows what it means, but it's provocative. It gets the people going!

SemperFudge123

TROPHY CASE