I've jumped 2 years in time from my last post and will briefly describe the happenings during this time period.
Mindy and I dated, got engaged (I hurt Mindy with how I did this :(), and we spent a lot of time getting to know each other and working.
Mindy continued to work two jobs, go to school, and hangout with me. I went from being a Park Ranger Aide (translated: Emptier of Trash Cans in local area parks and Bathroom Cleaner of those parks) to a supervisor of 30 personnel that would take inventory of all kinds of stores in off hours. You know, those people with a counting machine attached to their waste by a belt going around and counting everything.
I did well at the counting and computer work, so they put me on salary/staff and I led about 100 employees with their schedules, counting, and drove them to stores. Due to my computer capabilities and calm demeanor, I was the field and office manager at 20 years old. I did this for about a year and half and got really tired of the hours, time-frames, personnel, and low pay. Due to holidays and adding new stores, my staff made more money than I, because they were hourly and their overtime was really adding up. Signing employee checks that were higher than mine was an interesting time. :)
This was about the time that I started having dreams at night that I should inquire about seeing a military recruiter and see what was available to me. On a few occasions, I woke up out of a dead-sleep and sat up in bed sweating after having a "join the military" dream. If you had known me at the time, you would have told me I was crazy for even thinking about the military. I was overly anti-establishment and rebellious towards most, if not all, authority figures; let alone the government.
I shared a few of my military dreams to Mindy and she was surprised as well. A part of me was interested, because I saw my job and hers going nowhere and I wanted a chance to build a resume and learn some skills. By the way, there are other ways to do this, like finish college and internships, but I wasn't wanting to attend school any time, soon, like may never. :) Despite my rebellious outlook on life and unwillingness to finish school, inquiring about military options continued to be at the forefront of my dreams and thoughts.
Mindy and I were married for about 6 mos before the military thing got serious. I was working all hours of the night and didn't know if I was coming or going, most of the time. The time Mindy and I got together at our apartment, usually centered around eating some fast food at our place late at night. We were so very tired.
I eventually listened hard enough to the promptings to join the military and decided to meet with an Army recruiter. I went down to the recruiter on a freezing day, with my "punk rock" attire, rebellious attitude, and pulled on the recruiters door. It was locked, so I waited a bit for the recruiter to show up. Well, he didn't show up and I decided that I'd pace around and chain smoke for awhile.
As I was doing my usual pacing and mad-dog face, I looked in the direction of the Marine Corps recruiter's desk/office. He flagged me with his hand to get my attention, then we motioned me to come inside. I hesitated a bit, because I hadn't considered the Marine Corps, and I didn't like being hand-gestured to. :) I reluctantly entered the office and gave him a "what's up?" nod.
He asked if he could help me with something and I told him the Army recruiter didn't show up for our appointment. This is the exact moment where his "hook" started and the rest is history.
To be continued............
Jay
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