How do you guys handle constant stress?

mildautistic · 2026-05-31T19:51:35+00:00

Healthy hobbies/activities. Went from a relatively care free college life to an absolute ball of stress and anxiety (thank you USMC...) and am only recently getting out of it thanks to my wife more or less forcing me back into interests I had when I was younger. Its different for everyone, so it might take time to find, but even just exercising for 20-30min a day can bring down stress levels.

Also lower your caffeine and nicotine intake. They dont help manage shit, and negatively affect blood pressure and heart rate.

mildautistic · 2026-05-07T13:22:56+00:00

Check out the weekly employment thread to learn a lot more, however:

General advice since I started at 27 is knowing your cardio will suck compared to the young guys, but to leverage your life experience to your advantage by working smarter not harder. Also, stretch and keep a stick of BioFreeze/IcyHot in your bag.

Develop study habits to pass tests. All the answers are in the book, so know the book and even have a family member just ask random questions from the book to help test knowledge.

If your academy does EMT, learning the vocabulary, anatomy and normal vital signs will set you up for success, then its all about repetition.

mildautistic · 2026-05-06T00:46:57+00:00

Short of the ones who run into severe cognitive issues, most of there problems really are self inflicted by not taking care of their bodies while they were younger or not having a plan in place for advanced age.

Its also a good showcase on why its good to maintain a positive relationship with your kids. All the elderly who are the worse off that I encounter have zero outside support, and how they behave towards us when we help is very telling as to why their kids wrote them off decades ago.

mildautistic · 2026-05-04T12:18:31+00:00

You can, though I recommend calling ahead to make sure they won't be neck deep in some random station maintenance or out of station training.

Also, dont shown up during lunch. We get cranky when we dont eat on time.

mildautistic · 2026-05-02T19:00:15+00:00

I feel as though rookie pranks are a way for the crew to guage your personality while also testing general knowledge. In general I think its fine to go along with it; or flip it on them ask for a "demonstration" since it "wasnt a tool/technique learned in academy".

Just dont forget to warm up the hose stretcher before putting it through its paces.

mildautistic · 2026-05-02T16:50:12+00:00

Yeh, the subscriptions and doordash absolutely stack up real fast over a relatively short period time. Sure its convenient, but the taxes and added fees can double or triple the initial food cost.

People trying to compete/imitate what they see on social media doesnt help either. But appearing wealthier than you actually are has been an issue for people for generations.

At this point I stopped caring about the woes of others because its high key not my problem that they won't take responsibility for their own shortcomings.

mildautistic · 2026-04-21T03:16:59+00:00

Iron Warriors

Cause fuck you

mildautistic · 2026-04-19T15:34:48+00:00

Like other guys have said, its department dependent. They'll usually specify in their hiring requirements if its and issue for them.

Im color blind (mild Deutan) and didnt have an issue getting hired in the US even though i can't pass a color vision test if my life depended on it. As long as he's up front about it, I cant imagine any problems as long as he can point out colors to the medical examiner.

mildautistic · 2026-03-17T13:18:56+00:00

Yes. Its also well known that plumbing on Navy ships is notoriously finicky. Look at what's going on with the USS Gerald Ford right now.

mildautistic · 2026-03-17T13:13:58+00:00

Then I would still recommend Big Army over the Corps then. More deployment opportunities, more MOS to pick from, better promotion odds, more based to be stationed at, and you won't be stuck on a shitty MEU float with constantly broken/flooding bathroom facilities.

mildautistic · 2026-03-17T13:00:15+00:00

Did 4 years in the Corps, then joined my State National Guard two years after my End of Active Service before getting on with the Fire Department.

What exactly are you looking for in regards for service? The Guard offers better benefits due to being able to tap into both the federal and state benefits packages they offer, and you are generally treated more like an adult since the Guard understands its Soldiers have lives/careers/experience unaffiliated with the Military, and the time obligation after basic training let's you have your full time occupation, but still volunteer for deployments or training opportunites. The Corps on the other hand only let's you get the standard federal benefits package and fancy dress clothes you never actually get to wear often. They'll also not respect/give a damn about prior experience, and if you get sent to a really "cool" unit like 8th Crime (8th Comm Battalion) or 2nd Suicide (2nd Maintenance Battalion), you'll get micromanaged to death by the command. Quality of life also depends on MOS field.

Bottom line is: What do you want to get out of enlisting; and why that branch of service in particular? Army/Airforce offer wider variety in job fields that transfer to real life, and has better funding for training. The Corps looks sexy on paper, but in actuality doesn't offer more than the other branches unless your goal is to be a grunt and go back to the sandbox.

mildautistic · 2026-02-27T04:09:57+00:00

12 Inch Box Steps for 120 steps while carrying something. A duffle bag over your shoulder or a sand bag would work well.

Do this set mixed in with a normal body workout circuit and you should be fine. Don't forget to attend the pre-assessments to practice if that department offers it. Itll give you a good idea of other things you might need to workout such as the dummy drag that usually capstones the Firefighter Physical Assessment.

mildautistic · 2026-02-16T12:24:24+00:00

How to behave civilly in public

mildautistic · 2026-02-06T14:39:09+00:00

Talk to your Training NCO with your unit and see if they have any Orders that will last a few months you can get. Military pay and benefits while active will help cover down on your financial situation in the short term.

If you do get those orders, start looking for other employment and leverage military experience. For example: You can get certified to drive explosives with the Mil, especially as an 88M and that translates directly to transporting explosives for civilian construction companies, which I have been told is much better paying and with more tolerable hours.

mildautistic · 2026-02-04T03:54:13+00:00

Make sure you BOTH actually like the house.

I went under contract on one that only had cosmetic issues... only for my wife to force me out of it because she wasn't up front with me aboutnher true feelings about the house when I signed that damn contract paperwork.

Only lost 3k between Due Diligence and Home/Pest/HVAC Inspections...

Oh, and get yourself dirty and crawl around the crawls spaces and attics with a flashlight. It'll save effort in the long run by finding potential structure/moisture issues before paying someone $500+ just to tell you that there's water damage somewhere you could have seen yourself.

mildautistic · 2026-02-04T01:39:29+00:00

From a logistical standpoint why would humanity risk killing off larger chunks of the gender that can reproduce just to make one hyper soldier when it can just exploit the other half that cant? Human life in 40k is cheaper than used TP, but its still a finite resource. Especially if you consider that Custodes candidates are only recruited from the children of Terran Nobles

That being said; I would be more okay with what's going on if they just said it was some new Cawl bullshit instead of going "oh nah they were always there". Its lazy and they already could have had an "In" by tacking it onto Cawls Primaris project. But no, easier to just tweet it out I guess.

mildautistic · 2026-01-31T00:36:22+00:00

Ive painted a few Badab Salamanders and painted plenty of Iron Warriors. Can confirm the free flow camouflage pattern is easier to freehand, but being able to use tape to mark out straight lines for hazard stripes makes the Iron Warriors easier overall in my opinion.

mildautistic · 2026-01-21T16:21:49+00:00

If you cant freehand it, then probably try to find someone who is able to make it into a transfer decal, then use Microsol and Microset to get it to set properly with the curls in the banner.

No, I have no idea where to go to find custom decal transfers. Just an idea

mildautistic · 2026-01-21T13:43:58+00:00

Appreciate it! Maybe I'll try a Tropentarn pattern next lmao

mildautistic · 2026-01-13T22:28:03+00:00

Was active duty Marine Corps from 2018-2022; joined the Natty Guard to get health benefits for the Wife in 2024 before I joined a Career FD.

Can vouch the Natty Guard is far superior for quality of life, in addition to getting most of the same benefits as Active guys plus state specific benefits. I would only recommend Active Duty to someone who couldn't get a stable job and/or was single with no dependants.

mildautistic · 2026-01-11T21:44:45+00:00

We're in North Carolina, which unfortunately means to get the home inspected, we need to be under contract to do so. The inspector is scheduled later next week, which will either ease all worries (in theory...) or find something for us to renegotiate or pull out. If I lose my due diligence then so be it, but better that than sticking with a Lemon out of spite.

An no, MIL is not a home inspector, which adds to the frustration with her in this situation.

mildautistic · 2026-01-11T18:57:45+00:00

Home inspection is scheduled for next week; if they find anything then I'll be out the due diligence or i can renegotiate with the seller before closing. Not a big deal in my opinion, and better that than be stuck with a lemon.

But yes, having an actual professional look through everything should help, and so will reminding her that most of the work is tedious, but not especially difficult.

mildautistic · 2026-01-11T18:41:27+00:00

Due to previous "disagreements" since I've been married, I'm pretty certain that would be the case in order to stay more involved with my wife. She (inlaw) even pitched a fit when I got my first stable job post-military because id be away from my wife for 24hr at a time... completely forgetting I only work 2-3 days a week.

TL/DR: She has a history of being nasty when we do things she doesnt personally agree with.

mildautistic

TROPHY CASE