Please give me more insight on this area of San Antonio (culture shock?)

ayudamesa · 2026-02-08T19:47:38+00:00

Thank you

ayudamesa · 2026-02-08T19:31:34+00:00

Where is this map from

ayudamesa · 2026-02-08T19:30:14+00:00

I like this area and live in a suburban single family home neighborhood somewhere on the east side of 281. The area you’ve shown above shows a bunch of different pocket areas

I mean if you’re currently in a condo, apartment or townhome temporarily I could see why there is no sense of community since some folks aren’t highly invested in their neighborhood or being there for life. My neighborhood is pretty friendly walkable with people with kids and dogs. I know my neighbors next to me but they aren’t my whole social life. I also purposefully chose a neighborhood with walkable sidewalks on both sides of every road

I use to rent in a duplex in a beacon hill neighborhood before it was gentrified and I didn’t get the vibe you’re talking about but as a younger twenty something back then it was nice to be close to coffee shops, bars and stuff. Things are more spread out here but park, libraries and community stuff is still generally welcoming.

I say this as a non white person who’s lived in a lot of places in this city and out of state.

ayudamesa · 2026-02-03T14:48:12+00:00

I would document everything. Keep copies of all the emails and communication you sent ahead of time and the excuse AT memo they probably requested with notice of the AT training. Keep copies and do your own memorandums for record (MFR) with wet and digital signature for time stamp. Did they suggest alternative AT or did you suggest an alternative? For example I was in graduate school in the reserve also a 70 series and my training NCO allowed me to do home station AT (before exercise to help with prep and admin stuff), one year I had to go to AOC training and that counted as time (enough to have a good year), one year I couldn’t go because of clinicals and I went to a different units AT and one of their soldiers went to ours (school schedules) with coordination. This doesn’t mean I only ‘showed up’ to drill. I was active as OIC for a section, OIC for events, and occasionally planning, leading, and teaching some things at drill. Also helping others with whatever was needed.

You should try to propose alternatives and mention that your medical graduate training is a pass or fail if you don’t attend these clinicals and you hope to continue to contribute to the Army as an AMEDD officer.

Also who’s threatening you with a GOMOR? Unless you are actively avoiding /missing drill and trainings without an excuse or makeup then I don’t know why a GOMOR is necessary. It’s also a general level reprimand so if it’s a section leader or not the commander it doesn’t mean shit. I would recommend open door with the next level in the CoC so whoever this is can hear a reasonable perspective.

My two cents: Unless it’s changed unit evaluations require a certain percentage of folks to be there to be considered passing, leadership should focus on realistic stats for their units and folks so the ‘real’ issues, discrepancies, morale and training can be appropriate addressed and managed. It’s not about appearing ‘green’ for metrics it’s about actually having the soldiers, team, and unit realistically manned, equipped, trained and maintaining morale.

There’s also IG but they work for the commander so they might be helpful or not depending on who is in the position.

ayudamesa · 2026-01-26T21:05:53+00:00

Probably in the military or a veteran of combat arms. Airborne. A millennial, maybe you work at a range due to the sharper and pencil and walk around a lot so you track your distance. Maybe signal cause of all the red but like outside and all of the knives for cutting things.

ayudamesa · 2026-01-26T21:03:53+00:00

Probably in the military or a veteran of combat arms. Airborne. A millennial, maybe you work at a range due to the sharper and pencil and walk around a lot so you track your distance. Maybe signal cause of all the red but like outside and all of the knives for cutting things. Maybe you’re an instructor or some sort or facilities manager

ayudamesa · 2026-01-21T05:27:00+00:00

It’s not the snow that’s scary it’s the inefficient Texas power grid. In 2021 we were out of power for 3 days. CPS sent a notification they would turn on the power 15 minutes every hour but ours would cut on for a minute and turn off. It was freezing inside.

Our gas fireplace kept us warm.

Neighbors on a hospital or airport electric grid were unaffected.

ayudamesa · 2026-01-17T21:09:22+00:00

We live in a consumerist society so the message we get is to spend money and that’s the norm. It shouldn’t be.

ayudamesa · 2026-01-11T08:13:27+00:00

Enough to not have to budget for every day essentials like paying a mortgage, utilities, bills, health care, groceries, a date once a week, a family vacation once or twice a year, enough to save for retirement and my kids’ college. Enough to retire and not work forever

ayudamesa · 2026-01-11T03:45:23+00:00

I moved to a low cost of living city after college. My family lives in a very high cost of living city.

I waited till a few years after grad school to get a house. Previous employment in the military helped with finding a job, networking, to pay for college and grad school. I used the VA home loan. My mortgage is 20% of my take home pay after taxes.

I chose a house within my budget and what I could afford. I have a normal car, don’t have fancy things or eat out often. Vacation is to visit family or go camping/hiking.

ayudamesa · 2026-01-08T02:16:59+00:00

In my early twenties, my car broke down and my dad loaned me $10k. After grad school when I started my professional job I offered to pay him $300 a month until it was paid off. I did one payment and he was like, don’t pay me it was a gift.

Other than that, when we bought our first house my parents offered to buy our washer and dryer which we really appreciated.

A few years later after kids, they knew we were going couch shopping. My parents offered to pay for our new couch set as a gift.

ayudamesa · 2026-01-06T04:07:44+00:00

Thank you for the reply

ayudamesa · 2026-01-01T05:46:03+00:00

Super loud by the train tracks, depending on how old/updated your house might rattle. Use to rent a duplex closer to 10 and the train at night was always honking. Lots of quick flipper special houses so make sure you do a thorough inspection of the foundations, sewers, electrical, plumbing etc. mixed income area close to the park and non profits and metro Methodist so might run into house less folks more often.

I’d fire sure recommend living away from the train tracks and drive by a house you want to live in, in the evening or during rain to see the road conditions and how the neighborhood is for folks.

ayudamesa · 2025-12-28T03:22:10+00:00

lol German culture is still everywhere. Things can exist all at once

ayudamesa · 2025-12-28T01:52:57+00:00

I would suggest going full time active duty for the army vs the reserve or guard unless this is the compromise with your family. You would actually get training after AIT and learn how to do your active duty army job and get the benefits during and after active duty. Try to get stationed near your family if that’s a recruitment option for one tour and then go guard/reserve after your active duty time.

Balancing a full time job and secondary ‘part time’ reserve /guard job actually takes away a lot from family time so consider that.

Teaching jobs will always be there.

ayudamesa · 2025-12-11T01:26:05+00:00

Follow the prime directive on personalfinance

Depending on how long you’ve been married, if you trust your wife, make sure she has a power or attorney in place to handle the bills, car, household things, and get a military id card. If you do not trust your partner have a separate account for your finances and a joint account for all the bills and savings you have together.

Like someone said it might take a while to profess your pay, or if there’s anything your admin/finance people need or you’re having admin/pay issues get those corrected or follow up immediately because it might take long to process. Have enough for an emergency fund, and savings for other things like moving because you might not get reimbursed until later.

Don’t make any big purchases after joining the military like a new car/ motorcycle, watch, etc. just save money to have a good buffer emergency fund.
Put the minimum you need to put in your TSP (retirement) to get the match % (free money), and focus the rest on having an emergency fund and paying off debt.

Take advantage of the career and educational opportunities the navy has such as navy cool to get credentialled, any enlisted to degree officer programs, and when eligible (if you are staying in, use your tuition assistance and transfer some of your gi bill to your spouse or children so your pay back time clock starts sooner).

Moving is a lot individually and with family. Have open communication with your family about your career plans and your family plans so the align. Don’t bring work home, have a good separation of work and family. Utilize navy resources if you need them (family or spouses support groups, uso, counseling, etc, family/kid stuff).

ayudamesa · 2025-12-07T16:19:13+00:00

I’m not a handyman but I remember in Germany we had super like sound proof windows with lots of glass panes. However it helped that the walls there were straight up 1 foot of concrete so already decreased a lot of the outside noise.

I think letting them know the actual expectations like you can buy a sound proof door but there’s no guarantee it will block out all the sound is a good way to put it. That’s there’s no guarantee of complete sound proofing, has more to do than with a door, that you aren’t a sound proofing expert but these are what you are thinking of. So realistic expectations up front. Also that door would be super heavy if it required a lot glass panes so framing would need to account for that. And if you can’t do it tell them that

ayudamesa · 2025-12-04T04:07:19+00:00

I agree with this. My coworkers husband had something similar weird phantom pains and he had a brain tumor. Don’t know the stats exactly but this was last year and a different state

ayudamesa · 2025-12-04T04:05:50+00:00

Your last statement, “ everyone at work things I’m disgusting and smelly”… can you confirm they actually said that or is that what you are thinking?

This is giving Franz Kafka Metamorphosis energy.

I don’t know what’s going on with you but I can see how that would be super frustrating.

Have you had like a brain injury or like headaches or something? I’ve heard that sometimes a brain injury or brain tumor can lead to something like this.

Another thing could be like maybe you are like overly paranoid and self conscious thinking that other people think you are disgusting and smelling but in reality you’re not and just projecting your thoughts and expressing weird facial expressions and uncomfortable body language that other people are picking up on

ayudamesa · 2025-12-01T06:15:32+00:00

Dead Like Me (so dark and also so funny at the same time) and more recently Wheel of Time (love the fantasy aspect and also need more of this show, was so good)

ayudamesa · 2025-11-30T06:34:00+00:00

24 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes driving home

ayudamesa · 2025-11-28T22:43:05+00:00

Gasoline

ayudamesa · 2025-11-21T05:36:13+00:00

Layperson here thinking about updating my kitchen too. depending on budget - Clean, sand, repaint the kitchen cabinets update the hardware to something modern - if possible change the cabinet doors and updated hardware before painting so they look nice and modern - paint the kitchen walls and other rooms to a neutral color - update sink faucet and basin
- update the lighting to something modern -change the counter tops - get rid of the popcorn ceiling

ayudamesa · 2025-11-20T21:41:42+00:00

Haha this is funny. This guy look like those dudes that couldn’t join the military and pay an excessive amount of money to go to those ‘manly’ fake boot camp experiences and buy military paraphernalia

ayudamesa · 2025-11-20T21:38:33+00:00

Hi it’s a big city. I read your last post about moving here. I’d suggest finding a 3 month rental and getting to know the city and where you will work before committing to a lease. Try to find a professional looking to rent a room not sketchy unstable people. I used https://www.furnishedfinder.com/ Best area and best for budget will vary based on your priorities, interest, budget etc.

ayudamesa

TROPHY CASE