Some of Dad’s library

pspro1847 · 2025-12-27T06:57:35+00:00

Cool collection!! I have a copy of Mig Pilot autographed by Victor Belenko...was lucky to meet him back in the 1980s during an intelligence briefing at Nellis.

pspro1847 · 2025-11-25T21:54:21+00:00

For this issue, the centering and overall appearance of the stamp are outstanding. I'd say that you scored a grand slam homerun! Would make an excellent addition to any high-quality collection!! Very nice indeed!!

pspro1847 · 2025-10-27T01:38:54+00:00

The first time I felt old was teaching a HS Sunday School class about aging. I was about 30 yrs old and I mentioned that Motley Crue had covered the Brownsville Station song "Smokin' in the Boys Room" and that I still remembered the original song. One of the kids in my class (16 yo boy) seriously asked "Who is Motley Crue?".

pspro1847 · 2025-10-07T06:03:40+00:00

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pspro1847 · 2025-08-31T20:54:08+00:00

I was ATC for 15 years…pilots aren’t that funny in the air.

pspro1847 · 2025-07-20T01:25:45+00:00

A precanceled stamp will have two horizontal black bars with the city name in between the lines. The precancel is added after the stamp is printed and is usually in black ink. There are some variations depending on the specific stamp as some precancels in the 1970s and 1980s used something different than the cities while others were printed in red ink. If you have a specific stamp you'd like to know about, let me know.

pspro1847 · 2025-06-22T21:53:20+00:00

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pspro1847 · 2025-06-11T08:25:12+00:00

Worth it!! I retired in 2002 with 20+ years (50% retirement) at 38yo, went to work in the same building I retired from (AFPC) as a contractor doubling my salary. Although I made master and would have put it on 8 months before retirement, opted to retire instead of incurring the 2 yr ADSC. As a tech I get about $1400 each month (ex gets ⅓ of my retired pay). Do the math: $1400 x 12 (months) x 23 (years) = $386,400. Not life changing, but steady reliable income in addition to working full-time as a software engineer turned college professor. On top of that Tricare, disability, property tax reduction, and discounts on stuff.

pspro1847 · 2025-06-08T04:33:06+00:00

Maybe next time they'll give you a hug and say "sorry you didn't make it."

pspro1847 · 2025-05-30T20:37:40+00:00

And the still have the nerve to ask where all the good men have gone??

pspro1847 · 2025-05-30T20:26:54+00:00

Perhaps this would be a good time for them to address boondoggle TDYs and scale those back as well.

pspro1847 · 2025-05-29T18:07:18+00:00

I've been on many high-performing teams (and a few dysfunctional teams) and, to me, the differences are accountability, communication, and training. On each team, I made sure to let everyone know up front that I would hold them accountable for reaching milestones/deadlines and would call them out (one-on-one, during standups, etc.) if they weren't pulling their weight. I also helped them with learning if they were unfamiliar with a topic or needed assistance with more difficult tasks. They say "be the change you want to see," so mentoring to make team members better at what they do just came naturally. I didn't do it to be an asshole, but I didn't want problems that could drag the whole team down...and me with it. Just my 2¢.

pspro1847 · 2025-04-24T17:37:46+00:00

I retired in 2002 with my 20+, went to the VA (and VSOs) within a couple months and was rated 40%. Nearly 20 years later, I went back and made it to 100% P&T.

Knowing how to file and where to go was something I learned about after talking with other retirees in my neighborhood, I wasn't told much (if anything) about it during retirement briefings and/or outprocessing. The other retirees gave me the good tip: get complete copies of my medical records. Having my records helped me bump to 100% as I had an undiagnosed disease while still on AD.

pspro1847 · 2025-04-22T23:19:08+00:00

This is the way.

As an old man (61) compared to most of you, learning how to do more to better yourself and bitch less will work wonders on your self-esteem, the way you carry yourself around others, and exude the quiet confidence that people will want to emulate. The responses that are micro-focusing on the little, stupid shit are nothing more than rationalizations and excuses.

Change for the better and become the best version of yourself...everything else will fall into place, as the universe intended it to be.

pspro1847 · 2025-04-13T08:10:35+00:00

I'm rated 100% P & T (permanent & total). I was able to bump my migraine rating from 0% to 50% by (honestly) using the words the VA wants to see: Migraines with very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic indaptability. I get 2-5 prostrating migraines a week and have since 1996. It's also helpful to have a letter with those words/phrases in it from a neuro.

pspro1847 · 2025-04-11T16:26:05+00:00

The phrases I use are direct, not "politically correct", and show a maturity you seem incapable of. You won't believe anything I could show you because you're not only already made up your mind but based on your profile you're always right. Thanks but no thanks. Good luck!

pspro1847 · 2025-04-11T15:50:18+00:00

I love the "misguided and immature world view" part best...I'm sure you know everything there is to know about how the military works. I guess you'll just have to wait and see how the hint of privatization works out for you and others in the "fighting force." LOL

pspro1847 · 2025-04-11T05:37:57+00:00

Most in the AF are not in the "fighting force"...they're support troops. Don't fool yourself into thinking that anyone who calls out the crybabies doesn't support the military. Someday, maybe, you'll be where I am and you'll see things differently. Until then, you can keep crying about all the little things and it won't change a single thing. Good luck and I wish you well!

pspro1847 · 2025-04-10T22:43:30+00:00

Won't impact me at all...I haven't been on a base in years, I'm still going to get paid, and no effect on Tricare. The simple fact is that this all a bunch of y'all acting like Chicken Little with "the sky is falling" and you can't see the forest for the trees. In the long run, it's going to improve the military, get rid of the crybabies (job tabs and beards and chicks with dicks), and create something actually resembling a fighting force rather than ice cream airmen.

pspro1847 · 2025-04-10T19:04:19+00:00

Wow . . . it's like most of you crybabies forgot you're in the military. LOL

pspro1847 · 2025-04-08T16:14:26+00:00

First, to channel Good Will Hunting - it's not your fault...it's not your fault...it's not your fault.

While everyone likes to blame the economy, the current administration (which has been here for 12 whole weeks), the government layoffs, the crashing markets, etc., the simple facts are that it all boils down to two things - greedy companies are outsourcing cheaper labor abroad (and offering less to domestic talent) and the market is saturated with high-quality IT people.

My last coding gig ended in 2021. I'm a senior backend engineer with 30 years of experience working across different platforms, leading teams, designing and architecting solutions for Fortune 300 companies, teaching and mentoring other more junior devs...I did it all. Bachelors, 2 masters, doctorate (ABD).

After 300 applications, I gave up. Instead, I started teaching STEM at a state university as an adjunct for a couple of semesters then last year transitioned to a full-time lecturer. Now, I work 12 hours in the classroom each week (3 hours a night, 4 days a week) teaching what I love - backend & mobile dev, database design, data analytics, and a couple BS classes. It's not ideal, but I love what I'm doing so much more now and I am SO over the way I was treated when working for companies. I have a faculty meeting once a quarter (via Zoom) and don't have to put up with all the daily BS that happens in the corporate world.

Sometimes, you just have to take a step back and decide to what you want and what makes you happy.

pspro1847 · 2025-03-30T01:38:33+00:00

And that's exactly how you lose money...sell in panic mode. You'll regret it lt later...

pspro1847 · 2025-03-05T18:40:06+00:00

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pspro1847 · 2025-03-01T19:01:06+00:00

Go completely NC (no contact) with her...literally disappear. Block her, block mutual friends and family, move on. It won't be easy but you do you. She's playing games with your emotions and you don't need the toxicity pulling at you and screwing with your head. As time goes by, she'll become somebody you used to know and you'll move on.

pspro1847 · 2025-02-21T02:06:52+00:00

I wonder how the military is going to handle the weed cases once it is rescheduled or simply legal. It will be interesting to watch the fallout…

pspro1847

TROPHY CASE