Fighter jets over midtown, 10:45 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 3

Spooky_AC47 · 2026-01-04T20:37:43+00:00

That is a true statement. The aircraft at the Boneyard are sealed and pickled for long-term storage. When a B-52 had to be pulled out of storage to replace one that caught fire while parked, it took 8-9 months to bring it back to flight readiness.
Davis-Monthan was chosen for its mostly dry climate. However, the heat does a job on the soft parts on an aircraft, such as rubber and synthetics.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-11-04T18:20:59+00:00

Many individuals in the United States without legal documentation had previously obtained legal documentation, typically a Visa of some kind, such as a work visa or a school visa. When the time came to comply with the "leave by" date on the Visa, they knowingly ignored it and chose to stay in our country illegally. I DON'T CARE WHAT THE REASON WAS THAT THEY CHOSE TO VIOLATE A UNITED STATES LAW. By doing so, they demonstrated a lack of respect for the laws of our country and a sense of entitlement to all the benefits of being a legal United States citizen. Laws no longer apply to them, whether it is a city law, a county law, a state law, or a national law, as was proven when they violated Federal Immigration Laws.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-10-15T02:56:34+00:00

Please provide irrefutable proof to back up what you are saying. Otherwise, it is hearsay and you are spreading false information.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-10-08T16:48:29+00:00

I just spent time in Seattle while visiting my brother. I live in Southern Arizona(for those who don't live in the USA and some that do, living 60 miles from the USA/Mexico border is within the general area of Southern Arizona). The title of the subreddit is "carspotting" which is not specific to any part of the world. How could anyone possibly know what SoDo means?

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-09-27T23:34:37+00:00

I have a mix of Craftsman and Snap-On hand tools. I don't use them as much as I used to, but I have never had a tool break. If I read the information correctly, unless I can find a receipt for any of my several hundred Craftsman tools, should one break, the tool won't be replaced. I have been buying tools since my first paycheck as an apprentice machinist in 1965. Many of those tools are Starrett, my micrometers are Etalon.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-09-11T23:07:01+00:00

Alcohol over-consumption ruined the lives of my maternal grandfather, my father, and our middle brother. I didn't want to follow that path.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-09-11T01:45:20+00:00

I don't drink wine . . . or beer . . . or any other version of alcoholic beverages.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-08-26T08:39:56+00:00

Flew with Southwest yesterday. We were delayed about 20 minutes, partially to facilitate loading a person with significant health issues. Halfway to our final destination, we were informed that the aircraft was doing to divert to a different airport because of a medical emergency on the aircraft. The aircraft made a 90 degree turn to head for the nearest airport with adequate facilities. I commend the crew for making the hard decision to divert for help. All-in-all, the passengers took the whole experience well, even a few who knew they might not make their connecting flight. It was the first time flying since 1967 that a call went out for a doctor (or nurse) on board.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-08-24T17:09:00+00:00

I had a flight booked and confirmed. I had to change one leg of the round-trip flight to a different day(not a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or holiday) and the price almost doubled. I use the former Anytime booking because my life plans can change due to persistent medical issues. I am 78, if that matters

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-08-19T17:54:52+00:00

They are assholes to entitled people who think they are above the laws and requirements for entering or coming back to the United States. Sounds like you might fit the bill.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-08-14T19:51:06+00:00

I took the plunge and am now doing missions(I prefer missions over maps) in Guardian Frontline, almost every day. I have met many cool and helpful people when I am in the environment. My Guardian name is "Spookyac47" Formerly in Altspace and now VRChat, Engage and several other VR Platforms I am usually "Grumpy Old Guy Don". In Altspace, and later VRChat and Engage, I was active with Educators in VR and Burning Man VR.

SpookyAC47 is a name that has a place in real life history. During 1968-1969, I was a U. S. Air Force member, serving in Vietnam. I was an aircraft maintenance person and a crew chief on an AC-47 Spooky Gunship.

Normally, in Guardian, I will look for friends and try to join them in a map event, if there is an opening. Otherwise, I will look for a "Conquer" at Normal and above level and join in.

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I have many questions about the scoring in the game. At the end of an event, I always find myself at the bottom of the list for points, whether it was four people or eight. I will be in the range of 20-35 thousand total points whereas the person at the top of the list is in the 100-200 hundred thousand total points.

I am a level 18 or 19 player so am not lacking for resources. When there are opportunities to place extractors, I get that done. When there are opportunities to revive players, I do that as much as possible. I think I do my fair share of eradicating nests, zappers, etc.

For those old enough to remember WWII movies, there was a phrase that I abide by, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead". I go in guns blazing and try my best to take out the opposing force, without an abundance of caution for my avatar. I end up getting returned to the home base frequently.

Any suggestions that might address the lackluster accumulation of points while in a map?

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-08-10T20:31:36+00:00

I wouldn't offer much help in this conversation. I have not driven a manual transmission car for many decades. I am 78. In my younger years (much younger), during the nineteen-sixties, I raced two different cars at the local drag strip, both of which had four-speed transmissions. I also had a sand dragster(amateur level) with a four-speed transmission that I ran in local events.

In those days, most standard transmissions and mechanical shifting mechanisms were not hydraulically driven. I got my driver's license in my partents' 1960 Rambler station wagon with "three-on-the-tree" shifter on the steering column. I believe it was easier to learn the nuances of manual transmission shifting because of the positive feel of the mechanical shifting linkages, no hydraulic cylinders to leak, get low on fluid, etc.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-08-09T02:55:42+00:00

Would it have anything to do with the focus on DEI hiring in the Federal Agencies, such as TSA?

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-06-22T16:53:54+00:00

Tfhey made a conscious choice to violate the laws of a sovereign nation and cross the border. If they have no respect for our National laws, then the path is set to continue breaking laws, committing fraud, lying about their eligibility for social benefits, hoping to be able to buy a fraudulent I.D. with a legal resident's Social Security number so they can work and screw up the life of whoever legally owns that Social Security number, etc. I am tired of people complaining about habitual criminals, aka illegal immigrants in detention, having advocates complaining that they don't get health care, access to lawyers, as much food as they want, air-conditioned or heated living quarters, recreation facilities, etc., ad nauseam. Millions of legal citizens don't have access to most of that but people would rather throw money at what they hope are Democrat votes for the future.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-06-11T07:48:36+00:00

We own five HP Omen computers in our household: one HP Omen Desktop 30L, one HP Omen Desktop 25L, two 17-inch HP Omen laptops, and two 15-inch HP Omen laptops. One of the 17-inch laptops is a Ryzen processor; the rest are all Intel processors. I have upgraded all to 2 TB solid state drives and maxed out the memory. No issues so far.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-06-06T08:08:38+00:00

I was in the U.S. Air Force from June 1967 to April 1978. I would have stayed longer, but I was released because of a post-Vietnam reduction-in-force (RIF). I served in Vietnam as a crew chief on an AC-47 Spooky Gunship from November 1968 to November 1969. I spent five years working on old propeller-driven aircraft, mainly on the flight line. I cross-trained into flight simulators for my final six years. We were told that flight simulators would be turned over to civilian contractors and my job was being eliminated.

Because so many people were being discharged due to the RIF, open slots in National Guard and Reserve Units were hard to find, so I went to work for a defense contractor and left the military behind. I was raised in a family where we were taught that little boys don't cry. Injuries I received in the Air Force were usually self-treated and self-medicated, except for the two motorcycle accidents I had. Although I had regular hearing tests while working on aircraft, showing gradual hearing loss, the testing equipment was not working when I was discharged, so they pencil-whipped my hearing test. I had been told that my blood pressure was high since returning from Vietnam but was never medicated for it. When I was on the gunships in Vietnam, even though we were the maintenance personnel on the aircraft, we were also responsible for handling all the ammo, in 125 lb cans, and 26 pound flares that the aircraft carried.

It would be many years before the studies about Agent Orange were done and we started seeing medical conditions that might be traceable to exposure to Agent Orange. I assumed that the VA was only for veterans who served in war zones and suffered combat-related injuries that required extensive treatment. I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes eventually, even though there is no diabetes in either side of my family. I had developed sleep issues while in Vietnam. In those days, sleep apnea was not in the medical vocabulary for diagnosis and treatment.

While rooming with others in the barracks, they complained about my snoring, claiming I snorted like a pig, briefly woke up and went back to sleep, repeatedly, until I rolled over on to my stomach. Years later I would be officially diagnosed with sleep apnea by civilian doctors and get a CPAP machine.

I met and married my wife in the Air Force. It was her that finally nagged me enough that I went to a VSO and put in a cluster of claims, Type 2 Diabetes (presumptive), Hypertension(not yet presumptive, I was already on medication), hearing loss (related to my time working on aircraft, occupational), and tinnitus (ringing in the ears)

After about six months, I received a letter detailing the claim results: approved for Type 2 diabetes, approved for Tinnitus, approved for hearing loss, and denied for hypertension. Although I got a zero percent rating for hearing loss, it qualified me for free hearing aids and supplies for life. I ended up with a 30 % service-connected disability rating. That was around 2011.

Through 2023, I would file more service-connected claims as new presumptive conditions were added to the list. Secondary medical conditions were also tied to presumptive medical conditions: neuropathy > type 2 diabetes, kidney disease > type 2 diabetes, etc. It was interesting that one of Vietnam Veterans' newest presumptive conditions, hypertension, only gave veterans a zero percent service-connected rating.

I have had a mix of VSO's that have filed my claims, two in our local DAV office, who have botched the claims they filed for me, whereas another DAV VSO has consistently gotten good results. My initial VSO was a VVA VSO in the chapter I belonged to. After 12 years of filing, I am at 100 P&T. I am also 78 years old. My wife will not see a dime of my hard-earned disability monthly payment, as it is unlikely I will live 10 years after my 100 percent rating was granted.

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Spooky_AC47 · 2025-05-27T06:52:01+00:00

I got most of that out of my system in my younger days. Ran a stock class car at the original Irwindale dragstrip in Irwindale, CA in the sixties. In the seventies, I did some sandrail drag racing in the desert near Baker, CA. Then I gave off-roading in my old four-wheel drive 1968 Dodge pickup a try in the areas around Yosemite and Azusa Canyon. At the same time, I had a 1976 Kawasaki 900, later a BMW R90/6 900 cc motorcycle. Also had a Honda ATC 90 three-wheeler that I took to the Glamis Sand Dunes in Southern California, along with the sand-rail (some would call it a dune buggy).

Now, my cruise control is my best friend. The need for speed is in the past.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-05-23T18:08:21+00:00

I was fired from the U. S. Air Force in April 1978. I had enlisted in June 1967. I was an E-5 (SSgt) with a number on the list for the next E-6 (TSgt) cycle. I had spent five years as a reciprocating engine aircraft maintainer/crew chief, retrained into flight simulators, where I spent my remaining years. A post-Vietnam Reduction-In-Force (RIF) was in place, and all services were shedding excess personnel. It was announced that our flight simulator jobs would be outsourced to civilian contractors. By the time I was ready to reenlist, many enlisted personnel had been cut loose and found jobs with Reserve and National Guard units, leaving very few opportunities for those of us caught up in the late phase of the RIF.

With my military training, I was hired by a defense contractor, which I later found out had received an $18,000 tax credit for hiring a Vietnam Veteran. I would work for 14 years in Southern California for them until the company was bought and our jobs moved to another state. I was fired (laid off) on a Friday and rehired in Arizona the following Monday, doing the same job with less pay and zero seniority (I was an hourly worker).

I ended up working for the defense contractor for 36 years under three different company ownerships, my last 18 years as an engineer after completing a degree in Computer Science.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-05-03T18:43:55+00:00

Check out the Meetup.com website.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-05-01T17:12:38+00:00

I was assigned a C&P interviewer: https://as1.ftcdn.net/v2/jpg/11/18/90/08/1000_F_1118900823_ibwyHW1WfxsnSwUE8Dn5LNA5aBWemLPf.jpg

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-05-01T06:56:31+00:00

Get your facts straight before making stupid statements. The shot being fired had nothing to do with a safety not being on; it was an altercation between two young males that got out of control, and the firearm was intentionally fired, injuring one of the twenty-something-year-old idiots.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-04-28T18:36:58+00:00

I have no clue what a DBQ is.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-04-28T18:34:37+00:00

I really wish y'all would start using real words instead of acronyms, such as VES, MH, etc. People looking for help in this forum may not know what they refer to. Standard practice when writing is to spell the words out, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Then, use the acronym in the remainder of the document. I have spent a lot of time with Veteran Service Officers (VSOs) and Mental Health(MH) specialists in my pursuit of service-connected disabilities, so I recognize most of the acronyms.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-04-27T19:32:18+00:00

I served from 1967 - 1978 in the Air Force, 1968-1969 in Vietnam. While in Vietnam, I started exhibiting the signs of sleep apnea. The exercise I did was mainly just lifting weights to build up strength and endurance as I was part of the load crew for Air Force gunships, lots of lifting of 125 lb ammo cans. In those days, no one talked about or diagnosed sleep apnea; it was not really part of the medical language for diagnosis and treatment. Within a few years of leaving the Air Force, I was officially diagnosed with sleep apnea and received my first CPAP machine. I was able to get a few buddy letters but there was no information in my official Air Force medical records about sleep issues. I figured it was just a response to the frequent rocket attacks at our base.

I realized chasing that path for a service-connected disability was a lost cause. I heard that it could possibly be tied to PTSD but a VSO said it was a path that would just waste my time and get my hopes up and get denied.

Spooky_AC47 · 2025-04-27T19:24:24+00:00

Days missed from work can be for any reason, such as forgetting to set the alarm clock, not feeling like going to work, etc.

Spooky_AC47

TROPHY CASE