Veterans Archives: Preserving the Stories of our Nations Heroes
In a world where storytelling has been our link to the past since the days of cave drawings, there exists a timeless tradition. It's the art of passing down knowledge, and for Military Veterans, it's a crucial piece of their legacy. Join us on the Veterans Archives Podcast, where we dive deep into the heartwarming and awe-inspiring stories of those who served, no matter when or where.
Here, Veterans get the chance to be the authors of their own narratives. Through guided interviews in a relaxed and safe environment, they paint their experiences with their own words and unique voices. The result? A memory card in a presentation box, a precious gift they can share however they please.
But that's not all. These stories find a secure home in our archive, a treasure chest of experiences for future generations to explore. The best part? It's all a gift to the Veteran – our way of saying thank you for their service.
Tune in to the Veterans Archives Podcast, where history, heroism, and heartwarming tales come to life.
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Veterans Archives: Preserving the Stories of our Nations Heroes
The Electronics Technician Who Became an Electrician (Bobby Rindom)
What does it mean to shoulder adult responsibilities before you've even finished high school? Bobby Rindom takes us through his remarkable journey from a childhood marked by instability to finding purpose and stability through military service and skilled trades.
Bobby's story begins in Florida, where frequent moves and family struggles meant attending 10-15 different schools growing up. By age five, he had already become the "man of the house" after his father's departure, later working full-time while still completing high school. All this while navigating undiagnosed ADHD, dyslexia, and dyscalculia that wouldn't be identified until adulthood.
His path led to the Coast Guard in 2006, where he specialized as an Electronics Technician, working with navigation systems and communications equipment at stations from Alaska to Massachusetts. The technical skills he developed there became the foundation for his civilian career, transitioning through the Helmets to Hard Hats program to become a union electrician with the IBEW.
Throughout his journey, Bobby maintained unwavering commitment to family responsibility, supporting his mother financially for years and navigating personal relationships with the same dedication he brought to his professional life. Now remarried and established in Michigan, he reflects with hard-earned wisdom on resilience and critical thinking.
For veterans considering their next steps or anyone facing significant life challenges, Bobby's story offers a powerful reminder that with determination and adaptability, we can build stability and success despite difficult beginnings. As he puts it: "I'm not a very smart guy, but I'm very wise because I learned from everybody else's mistakes to not make the same mistake or try to avoid them."
Today is Monday, August 18th. We're talking with Bobby Rindem, who served in the United States Coast Guard. So good morning, Bobby.
Speaker 2:Morning.
Speaker 1:I'm glad you found us, yeah, and so we'll start out very simple when and where were you born?
Speaker 2:Well, I was born in Florida, hollywood Florida or I guess technically Fort Lauderdale, and that was back in uh 87 okay, now I feel old.
Speaker 1:In 1987 I was in the navy, uh in, uh in the med.
Speaker 2:So thanks for that on a monday morning yeah so welcome so tell me, what was it like growing up in in florida.
Speaker 1:Did you have brothers and sisters?
Speaker 2:um well, I had asister who actually had a kid a month and a half after I was born.
Speaker 1:Oh, so you weren't close in age at all then.
Speaker 2:No, she was born 17 years before me.
Speaker 1:Okay all right. So essentially did you kind of grow up as an only child.
Speaker 2:No, because after that I had a brother who was a full brother, two years younger than me okay, all right.
Speaker 1:And uh, were you and your brother friends? Did you hang out together or how'd that work?
Speaker 2:we, um well, I never liked him, okay, I'll be honest. Um, we grew up together and I kind of had to raise him because, um, well, my father dropped out of the picture pretty early on. Okay, um, but yeah, we uh stayed in contact with each other one way or another, because a little bit forced, because my mom tried to push the whole togetherness thing between us, yeah, until about 2019. Okay.
Speaker 1:All right, well, let's talk a little bit about growing up then. Okay, it sounds like it might have been a little tough. Dad drops out of the picture.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Was mom working then?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:So kind of latchkey kids then.
Speaker 2:I'm not familiar with the term.
Speaker 1:Oh well, so that's a seventies term. Uh, my parents were divorced. My dad lived a block away, but we never saw him much and my mom worked all the time. So we actually had a house key around our neck and when we got home from school we let ourselves in and, uh, so we were called latchkey kids.
Speaker 2:Gotcha, yeah, um yeah, I just kind of when. Well, we moved a lot too, because my mom, being only um parent, didn't exactly make a whole lot of money as a waitress, yeah, so we wound up moving a lot um to people houses, like she would have move in with this person for X amount of time and then, when they were fed up with us, essentially we would move to another house, and so on and so forth. Okay, I moved a lot.
Speaker 1:Did that involve moving schools too, or did you stay in the same area?
Speaker 2:Yes and no Okay. It depends on when, where. Um trying to remember, I think I wound up going to like 10 or 15 different schools growing up. Totally wow, okay how?
Speaker 1:how was that for? How'd that impact you?
Speaker 2:um, honestly, me personally it didn't really bother because I was always kind of a loner. Um, recently I found out that, uh, I have adhd in that and one of them is possibly the whole, or is at what they used to call ashburgers. Yeah, so I guess it never really affected me on a personal level because I didn't really care to interact. Um, but, um, I was always the new kid. Which never really bothered me was just, I always was right, so right. A lot of the same questions all over and over again who are you? Where are you from?
Speaker 1:right and, and based on what you're telling me, you didn't really care to get to know those other kids anyway um, I got to know some like with friends.
Speaker 2:I was always really picky. Where I know some kids, they go to schools and have 20, 30 friends. I had like two or three maybe yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, so your friendships mattered to you, then the people you chose to be around.
Speaker 2:Yeah, at least at the time.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, and so how was school for you? I mean overall, how did you do in school?
Speaker 2:I was fairly well. I did pretty well up until sixth grade, which is I failed. I want to say english, which I found out now again when I got tested a few years ago that I have dyslexia. So that didn't make anything easier. But I failed that year, had to go to summer school, and after that I swore I was never gonna have to repeat that bullshit, right? So I was at least passing um all my other classes. When I got to high school again, uh, struggled with again english, um, but I at least did passing grades. So, um, for the most part I did fairly well. Um, I always kind of exceeded in math. I did do that, even though I have a little bit of dyscalculia too. But uh, yeah, I, because of the way I grew up, you know being told hey, you're never gonna have a calculator in your pocket all time.
Speaker 1:Oh, hey, cell phone right, right, I got the power of nasa in my in my cell phone now.
Speaker 2:But you're right, they told us that and so the way I grew up also was you know, do it through school is oh well, you have. If you can learn how to do mental math, you don't have to do show your work. So I took that almost to a challenge, and when I got to high school, my teachers hated me. They were always bitching about show your work, show your work. Well, I mean, I'm in the far back of the class, nobody's around me, so I couldn't cheat. And they were like, well, in case we you cheat, or in case there was a cheat or something. It's like how I always proved them wrong. And then it turns out that because I had to show work that they wanted the way, it actually screwed me up on math tests because of, again, this calculator. I would see, oh, this number, this number, have it right where I wrote it, but then fill in the wrong scantron bullshit yeah so.
Speaker 2:So no small feat, with all of these things going on, for you to make it through school yeah, and growing up that they didn't have that was kind of um help, unless you were very obvious right, and then you were a hyperactive disorder or whatever it was well, yes, but I'm the inattentive type, uh-huh. So the problem was they never noticed, right? I'm very low energy. And what?
Speaker 2:the term ash burgers, I think, only came out 15, 20 years ago, right, I was already out of school, yeah no, helping you there right, right so it turns out I had adhd and all that, but no one ever knew because I was so low tone, never hyper the only thing I could really notice is I never really sat. Still, I would always fidget, but never extraordinarily outside of what normal people would do.
Speaker 1:So you never acted out. Right. Okay, yeah, very easy to be kind of bypass or fall through the cracks If you, if you're not acting out, if you're not demanding that attention.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, in fact. Uh, I was the other way. It was like don't give me attention, I don't want to be bothered.
Speaker 1:Leave me alone. Yeah, yeah, so you make it through high school. Yep, get your diploma. And what happens next?
Speaker 2:Well, actually, because I was born 10 days after the cutoff down in Florida so I was always the old kid in class. Oh, because, you would have been a young five then, if you Well. So the cutoff, at least when I grew up in Florida, was September 17th. Okay, I was born on the 27th, oh yeah, so you weren't. Yeah. And again, they cut off in September, which I found out later on when I moved to different states and that the cutoff was like December of that year. Okay.
Speaker 2:So I missed um starting kindergarten when I would have turned five. So I basically started when I turned six Right, and from there um I went through school. Um so senior year 18, I had already signed up for the Coast Guard and was doing what they called the debt program so what made you decide to join the Coast Guard?
Speaker 2:honestly, it was one of those. I was already working 40 hours a week while in high school. Yeah, um, I actually started when I was 16, going into 17, so junior year I had already gone through going to school and working. I think it was six days a week. Uh, I think my days off were like Wednesday so, which obviously I had school right in the day, so it wasn't even really a full day off.
Speaker 1:She's just working seven days a week, Basically basically. Wow, that's, that's tough.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I definitely have made the joke. Uh, yeah, I've already done the whole two job thing and I wasn't even 18 yet. Right now they got paid for one of them, right? Yeah, that's why. Uh, you know, when people say, oh yeah, I would love to go back to high school, I'm like, fuck, no, I, I don't want to relive those years no, no, you well, you know.
Speaker 1:And so many parents tell their kids today oh, you know, high school is gonna be the best time of your life and I call bullshit. Yeah, maybe it is for some people.
Speaker 2:It's not for everybody, though well, it's for those jocks that live their life till they're like 80 and still recall every day of high school like, oh yeah, that was the greatest. It was like, oh, that's great, you were rich and popular. And that where everybody else wasn't right, maybe you peaked at 18 right kind of sad yeah yeah, definitely so, yeah.
Speaker 1:So you decided to join the coast guard. You're in the delayed entry program. When did you uh go to basic training?
Speaker 2:uh, so I graduated in june of 2006. I went to Basic October 3rd. Okay.
Speaker 1:And what was it like? So it's kind of like limbo right. Did you continue working then until you actually went to Basic?
Speaker 2:Yeah, pretty much Actually. After high school I wound up getting another job.
Speaker 1:Okay, and what were you doing?
Speaker 2:So, as I put it, my main job that I had already had for two years, I was a dishwasher slash prep cook, and sometimes they expanded me to where I would also bus tables, but I hated that part. Yeah, um, and they tried to get me to learn to line cook, but I just wasn't good at it. I couldn't focus on that many things all at once, right. But, I did learn up some tricks for cooking in general. Okay.
Speaker 2:So after that I actually worked at Jimmy John's as well. So I would most of the time work at Jimmy John's in the morning and then in the afternoon work at the dishwashing job okay, so you're still doing two jobs, right basically, um come, I think it was the week before my birthday, or yeah, the week before my birthday I quit everything.
Speaker 2:It was like you know what I'm gonna have two weeks of myself before I join the coast guard, because the day I joined was actually one week after my 19th birthday okay, okay, yeah, probably a smart move, because you're not going to have the ability to do that much once you get in. No, yeah, did not so where was basic training at? Cape May, New Jersey.
Speaker 1:Okay, so definitely not Florida. No, and Cape May, new Jersey, at that time of year is probably a whole lot different than Florida.
Speaker 2:Yeah, actually, I had moved to Michigan in my 10th grade year. Okay, uh, junior, no, yeah, sophomore, that's it.
Speaker 1:Okay, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior Yup, you're right.
Speaker 2:So, freshman, I finished high school, or I did high school in Florida. Okay, and then that summer, uh, my mom's at the time boyfriend boyfriend kind of, I'd say, con artist-ed us into moving to Michigan. So I did the last three years of high school in Michigan. All right so where'd you live in Michigan, dearborn Heights?
Speaker 1:Okay, Now, when you got to Michigan for those three years.
Speaker 2:did you pretty much stay in that one spot or did you still move around quite a bit? I still move around a bit, but it was generally like that Dearborn Heights, dearborn and then more Dearborn Heights. Okay, but the day I actually after I finished moving was when the giant blackout was.
Speaker 1:Okay, I remember that I was working for the power company at the time.
Speaker 2:That was the day I had the first morning I had actually been in Michigan.
Speaker 1:Wow. So you were like oh great, here we go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, basically.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yep.
Speaker 2:So did you, did you, did you enjoy being in michigan? Uh, I don't know yeah I can understand that it was one of those like not really, because most of the time we were living with my mom's boyfriend and he was a prick okay just plain out simple he was a prick no dad of the year plaque for that guy yeah, no, okay he, he hated my guts
Speaker 2:okay because at that point I had already been, you know, since I was five, the one my mom looked to right you were, for all intents and purposes, really the man of the house oh yeah, definitely she'll. She'll even say I was um since I was five.
Speaker 1:Yeah, uh, or six years old so I could see where you guys might butt heads, because now he wants to be the man of the house yeah, I mean he got along with my brother yes I guess my brother was always looking for a type of father.
Speaker 2:Figure me not so much, did you, pretty much given up on that what having a father figure? Yeah, at that point, or this point, at that point in your life, I never even really thought about it.
Speaker 2:Like I knew, knew my father and occasionally I might see him, but I, I don't know, I never really thought of it now did he live in florida he did okay, all right, so you moved up here now you're even less connected to him then well, at that point it was only very, very occasionally that I would see him, okay, like a couple times a year. All right. If that and that was after the um like five or six years of no contact at all.
Speaker 1:So so when you moved up here, did your mom, did your mom live with this guy for the whole three years that you were in high school did your mom live with this guy for the whole three years and you were in high school?
Speaker 2:no, not the whole um majority, because in senior year, that's when I got essentially my first apartment sort of it was still under her name, but I was the one paying all the bills, right thus the job and everything else right, yeah, okay it's, you know, even goes to show that, like I, was making slightly above minimum wage of six, like 50 uh-huh, and able to afford an apartment that's a lot of hours yeah, I mean still I was working.
Speaker 2:I mean, yeah, about 40 to 50 hours a week on top of school, yeah, but the point is I was able to pay for an apartment myself. Basically, right Now was your mom working then at all.
Speaker 1:Not really Okay.
Speaker 2:Like maybe two or three days a week.
Speaker 1:So you're in school. You're still a kid, no matter how old you are, you're still in school and you're taking care of the family. Yeah, okay, is your brother living with you too? Yep, okay, I got you. So it's time to go to Cape May, new Jersey, right, and it sounds like maybe Michigan prepared you for that move then somewhat. But so you get to basic training. Walk me through what that was like for you to step off that bus and and and walk in. What was your first impression?
Speaker 2:Um, okay, like it was just like, okay, I didn't know really what to expect. Um, so I guess I was like well, at first, when I was first on the bus, it was like okay, I guess this is what those like overnight field trip kind of deals are. Of course they come on the bus yelling at you, yes, but to me that didn't really do anything like. I don't know if that would spark fear in others or intimidation, but at that point I've been yelled at so much it didn't even register to me so this really didn't get the effect that maybe they were looking for no, actually.
Speaker 2:Um, so within the first week, you would go to your. Like the first two or three days, they do what they call like the in process, and after that you go to your company commanders and all that and um, it was like after that they started assigning jobs. I don't know if, like they said, they were able to look into your facebook. Well, no, sorry, facebook wasn't myspace or social media. Yeah, I didn't have any of that. Like, I had an email at that point. Uh-huh, that was it. So they had nothing to look at. Pretty much.
Speaker 2:So I don't know you weren't giving them anything either, because you weren't really responding to their I mean, I did the appropriate reactions to like do this, do that, but I didn't really show any signs of anything right. So they also gave like jobs in that first week. Um, they actually chose to not give me any kind of whatever you want to call it extra job, like no laundry crew, no, this, no that, nothing. They were like sit down, we don't want you to do it.
Speaker 1:So I'm like okay, don't touch anything, just do do what we tell you to do, right?
Speaker 2:something like that. I mean, I don't know if it was because they had seen that I'd already worked so much or gone to school and work. I don't know if they had that kind of record, cause I mean, obviously they had my high school record and probably my work history, cause you have to sign that up, right. But, um, I don't know if they were either feel cause they I know what they said was they didn't trust me to do anything, but I don't know if they were giving me a break from right or messing with you or what yeah, what's going on here?
Speaker 1:so yeah, and how long was basic training?
Speaker 2:uh, so the coast guard actually has like the shortest yeah of uh, eight weeks. Okay, but the time I went in which which, like I said, it was October 3rd 2006. Graduation they normally did on Friday. Well, it worked out that week was actually Thanksgiving week, so technically we only did seven weeks, or seven in a couple of days.
Speaker 1:Seven and some change yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, cause we got out on I think graduation was Tuesday and so this way we got to be home. But that also meant, you know, normally they give you, I think, it's 10 days of leave time. You had to start it that two or that Wednesday because of um. Normally you would get to start it on that Monday following Right, but didn't get that. So okay.
Speaker 1:So you did you come home then for Thanksgiving? Uh, I did. What was that like? And the reason I asked this is because you know I, my family dynamic was different, right? So coming home for the holidays was was different for me, I think. So I'm just curious, like for anyone listening to this what was it like for you to come home for the, for the holiday?
Speaker 2:Um, well, my mom was still living with um, her boyfriend, at the time, so I can't say super great in some ways, but my mom was definitely overjoyed to see me because that was one of the longest times she had ever spent apart, right, especially with no contact, like um. So growing up, uh, I had usually gone to, like summer with my grandparents, which now, like I said, I lived in Hollywood, florida. They lived up in Okeechobee. Okay, it's not a short distance, it's like six hours by driving, but she could still call my grandma or my grandpa and get updates on a regular. And then there was a two-year period where I lived with my paternal grandparents, but even then she could contact us let's pick up the phone and right and talk, yeah where, um, with camp.
Speaker 2:The first time she got to really talk to me was week six Weekend, like one day. That was the first time you get to use the phone. They did on Liberty or on base Liberty the weekend, uh, of six week or week six, and then week seven you got to go off base Liberty. So the first time she had heard from me at all, really other than like letters or postcards, was week six.
Speaker 1:Okay, and they? You didn't have family show up at your graduation then no okay, so you graduated and then you, uh, came home. Yeah, hopped on a plane or a bus or something and came home, right, a plane okay and um, do you think that your absence helped?
Speaker 2:helped your mom get independent, or no, nothing, nothing really changed then no Cause, I mean, I'll be honest, she's still dependent on me. Okay.
Speaker 1:Um all right, we'll. I'm sure we'll talk about that as we go through this. So you, yeah, yeah, so you come home the holiday's over it's time to go back. So you come home. The holiday's over, it's time to go back. Where do you go to after that?
Speaker 2:So after that, uh, I had done uh, what they call guaranteed a school, Um. So I know other places call it like a MOS, yeah, um, but for me it was just called your rate. So for uh, coast Guard and Navy, excuse me, uh, they call it your rate, so I went to guaranteed a school okay to be a electronics technician.
Speaker 1:All right, I was a fire controlman in the navy, so we worked a lot with the ets.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, yep, yeah now that's actually a combined rate, at least for the coast guard oh, really, yeah, that I didn't know well, yeah, fire controlman, because I think those were the ones who did electronics but mostly worked on like the big cannons. Yep, yeah, they combined that rate. I want to say just a few years actually, before I joined. Oh, okay. Because when I got the book it still said fire control men as an option, but the Coast Guard had combined those rates.
Speaker 1:Which I think kind of makes sense, I think.
Speaker 2:Because I know a few guys who were in my class who actually went to like a Mark 92 school.
Speaker 1:Okay, and so you get to your A school, and how long is A school for you?
Speaker 2:Well, so first I started with what they call the um. Uh, I forget now, but it was like the early program, where you're there before school starts because I didn't have a permanent unit at that time, Right, and did what they like cleaning and all this other stuff. But on the very least I didn't have to do duty, because that was only for the guys who were already in class. So I got to kind of hang out for about a month for just cleaning during the day and other than that I got my time after.
Speaker 2:All right Now. Like I said, I was getting to the ET school, though is the longest school in the Coast Guard, or at least it was when I got there or when I was there. I think it was like 28 weeks, yeah, if I remember. Yeah, the next school was actually the ITs which was like 27 weeks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if I remember. Yeah, uh, the next school was actually the it's, which was like 27 weeks, but yeah, so the et's actually had the longest school. Uh, we jokingly started counting time by uh, the fs school. It was like, oh, food's good, food's, good food's good, uh, not shit, and then build up again yeah.
Speaker 1:So you can kind of like oh, we're a quarter way through, we're halfway through, that kind of thing yeah now, how was so? You're still undiagnosed, though, right? Oh yeah so how, how was it going through et school? I mean, it's not, it's not an easy school, um you know, um, what was that like for you?
Speaker 2:um well, I don't do well with testing, right, I'll be honest. But um, it was mostly math based, so I did well that way okay, oh yeah, because I yeah, as I recall, everything was formulas.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because, for people who haven't been in the military, who might be listening to this, when you go to a military school, you just learn your trade, you don't. You know, you're not going to english classes and in art history or any of that garbage, you're just learning what you hit it.
Speaker 2:So 28 weeks of solid electronics right, uh, first I started with like ac I don't dc AC theory Um. Then it was analog and then digital and then it got a little more technical with specific radios and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:Okay, and um did you do like you did a lot of practical application then, while you were there too?
Speaker 2:So I don't know about a lot, a lot, but some.
Speaker 1:Now, how does practical? Does that work pretty well for you, like actually just applying what you've learned?
Speaker 2:that's why, like after um, I did the helmets to hard hats program and became an electrician okay so for me, hands-on is the best way, because I've had people explain things to a book, like from a book to me, and it's almost like charlie brown, exactly like I need to be able to see and touch to grasp things. Well, right.
Speaker 1:So how did you do in school, in, in, in your et school?
Speaker 2:I would. So I think we had like 20-ish kids overall. Some got moved back, some moved to our class, but I think it was overall about 20. I was somewhere maybe in the top 10-ish, like lower of the 10, but yeah, because we had some guys who were like all practically geniuses when it came to that right.
Speaker 2:Um and again, my test taking skills not exactly the best, but I was well maybe slightly higher than average but pretty close to maybe the higher tier of normal average kind of deal okay and I think, but for your uh challenges taking tests you probably would have even done better yeah now people recognize that there's different ways to test um, maybe even the military, I don't know.
Speaker 1:So so you're there for like 28 weeks.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um now, where. Where was this? That was in Petaluma California.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, so you get to see a little bit more of the country. How'd you like California?
Speaker 2:Well, I was in the Northern half. Uh huh, um, I was in the middle of fuck nowhere, and it's not like cow shit every day oh, okay, well okay. That's such a great experience there then I mean it wasn't bad, at least, um you know, pretty mild winter, yeah yeah, well, it was california.
Speaker 2:So what I um a little bit cooler than what I was familiar with, but still more familiar with what I was, how I grew up, yeah, yeah, okay, so you, uh, you get through, you get through your training, uh, and then is it time to go to the fleet.
Speaker 1:Did you come home again? What, what?
Speaker 2:um, so I got to go home, but that's when I picked up my mom and, well, brother and uh actually went to my next uh duty station so they came with you yeah, they uh. Well, my mom eventually became my dependent okay so all right, but um, from there I had actually gone to uh shoal cove, alaska oh, wow, okay, big change.
Speaker 1:I want to ask this question. I have an answer. You don't want to. So your mom became your dependent? Was that for, like, medical or mental health reasons? Or I'm just trying to get a grasp on on on why?
Speaker 2:if you don't want to share that, that's fine, it's fine. Uh, so my mom had a rough life. Yeah, um. So by the time I was in high school and started working, she basically retired just due to physical ailments. I mean, she had her back broken several times, um, once was because of her ex-boyfriend and the other was because of my father, which is why they officially split apart. Okay, um, yeah, it was you.
Speaker 2:You know, I grew up rough yeah, that's, that's awful yeah, uh, I definitely don't wish it on anyone, but, um, yeah, so my mom had pretty much was solely dependent on me. Um, monetary wise, right, uh, health wise. She never got that benefit of being a dependent, but monetarily wise she was okay.
Speaker 1:So she always lived with me at that point, um, as a dependent okay, and so when you, when you moved to california, or when you moved to alaska with your mom and brother in tow, your brother was out of high school at this point, or close to being out of high school at this point um, he would have been going into his senior year okay um, but he he, well, he was an asshole okay he chose not to go to school and blamed it on me for moving him from high school oh okay, they don't have high schools in alaska, oh no, they do.
Speaker 2:He just refused to go because he didn't have his friends okay, I got you.
Speaker 1:So now you're. You moved to alaska. You got your mom and brother with you. Um, were you able to get like off base housing or on base? How did that work for you when?
Speaker 2:you got there, I had gotten off base housing. Okay. Um at the time. So while I was at a school, I was working on getting my mom as a dependent Um. I think I was able to get her dependent as a dependent, like just before I left okay. So then I was getting um bh with dependents and dependents. If you had dependents you didn't have to be on base. Got you okay at because shoal cove it is the most southern city of Alaska, so it's not like where you picture Alaska being frozen tundra.
Speaker 1:Right, not the Denali mountain there right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, it's actually considered a rainforest. Okay, it rained so much it's, I don't know. It took a three-day ferry drive or ride from Bellingham, but my understanding is other than it being colder, not much different than seattle okay kind of weather and raining like 300 days of the year constantly yeah, yeah but um.
Speaker 2:So the other option for those who didn't have the pendants would have been you had to be a bear in the barracks, yeah, so I just found um, cause that was the only base housing they had, so I had um off base housing.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right. So you uh get everybody moved in Now. Were you assigned to a ship at this time?
Speaker 2:Uh, no, actually I was stationed at a Lororan station, which is a long range.
Speaker 1:Aids to navigation okay, loran radar basically, or um navigation says yeah yeah or um, because most people don't actually know what loran is. It's uh old school gps yeah yeah, exactly, and I think people still, it's still out there, nope, it's gone now?
Speaker 2:Yeah, actually in 2010, they got rid of it.
Speaker 1:Shows you what I know.
Speaker 2:Well, I think it might be for other countries, but the US got rid of it. Okay, 2010.
Speaker 1:All right, yeah, so that was like cutting edge stuff back in the day though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like 40s, yeah, yeah, as cutting edge as it could be, um, and then they did eventually add on, like in the 90s, they added uh, it for airplanes to help with their timing and everything um, and it was actually way more reliable than gps, because, uh, gps can be up to like a quarter of a mile. Uh, off loran was like within 100 feet, yeah, so wow.
Speaker 1:Well, maybe that's why it took them so long to get rid of it. Who knows?
Speaker 2:well, that and it was like in. Like I said, in the 90s they had actually integrated in with uh flight paths to help uh air traffic controllers, yep.
Speaker 1:All right. So um how long were you in Alaska then?
Speaker 2:Uh, for about two years.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, and uh, you did your time there and then, so where'd you go from there?
Speaker 2:Uh, from there I went to actually another radio station, but not a Loran station, a communication station in. It was called Comstay Boston, but it was actually in Cape Cod.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, and your mom and brother come with you there.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Off base housing again? Yes, that kind of thing. And what exactly? Did you do when you were there? Come with you there, yeah, uh, off-base housing again, yes, that kind of thing. And what? What exactly did you do when you were there?
Speaker 2:um, I worked on radios from the 80s. Uh, more tubes. So I'm I can honestly say I was probably one of the last people to actually learn uh loran, uh, what's it? 44 bravo f orPNN, 44 Bravo radio Loran state transmitter, which still use tubes. And then I went to a communication station which also wound up using some tubes.
Speaker 1:Wow, if it makes you feel better. When I was, when I was working on guided missile systems, our computer systems were from the 40s and the 50s. Yeah, so yeah, I think we're always. They worked though. I mean, they did a great job, so I understand why we didn't get rid of them.
Speaker 2:But my goodness, they were old, yeah, super old At the Loran station they still had a computer that actually predated function keys Wow yeah, keys, wow yeah. It was like one of the first computers kind of still had a uh, if you didn't have the five and a or five inch floppy.
Speaker 2:The computer wouldn't work so you had to up make a new one every I don't know, uh, six months to a year, but problem was that 2006 or no, 2007, 2008, 2009 you didn't exactly go to the um radio shack get those no, uh-uh, no.
Speaker 1:And people are people right now listening to this are going. They're scratching their heads like what the hell's a floppy disk?
Speaker 2:it's the save file. It's the little picture of the save.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I don't think people know what, they know why that's there, but they know that's the same actually the funny thing is that was the three and a half floppy disk, but yeah, the little hard one yeah which you know, granted, uh, I went to school, or I started elementary, in the um 90s, early 90s, but I actually one of the first things I'm uh in kindergarten I remember, when we first went to a computer class, was like, okay, this is what we call a floppy disk. This is also a floppy disk and showing the three and a half by compared to the five inch. And they were like, this is what we call the uh floppy floppy disk, this is the hard floppy disk which, you know, at least at a well, five and six year old comprehension made sense right, right, I don't know why we just call it a hard disk.
Speaker 1:Oh, because the hard disk was actually on the computer, right? Yeah, well, that makes sense yeah rigid. They could have called it the rigid disk, I guess. But it's got, it's all gone now, so who cares?
Speaker 2:well, that's why we called the one the floppy disk and the other the floppy floppy right, right, the one that actually flops on, the one that doesn't that's basically how I uh distinguished the two all right, and so how was, how was your duty station for you?
Speaker 1:I mean, what was like, what was a typical?
Speaker 2:day like so at the loran station. Um, when I first got there, it was six days there, one day home, because you couldn't just take a car even though it was a land-based unit, that one you had to take a like hour boat ride to and then another half-hour drive up this logging path in the middle of the woods which is where they um had it. Yeah and um, so when I first started until I was qualified, it was six days there, one day off. But then when, once I was qualified, it was four days on, three days off. So, um, me being an electrician now, um, you know a lot of and being in the union, a lot of people hate four tens, right, but I'm like I want those four tens because, well, first off, I mean I guess that's part of how I started off, but, um, it lets me have a day to do stuff, a work day to do stuff.
Speaker 1:Right, right. And if you're on a rotating shift too, I mean that that day off could be in the in the middle of the week, which can be an advantage.
Speaker 2:Yeah, actually. So when I first started it was, um, my work day was typically um Friday, saturday, sunday, monday, and then we got to go home Tuesday, so my days off were Tuesday, wednesday, thursday. So I started, like they did swap you weekends to weekdays, but I actually preferred working on the weekends, right One, it was a lot less, whatever you want to call it, authority, right like we didn't really have too much authority during the weekends, which was kind of nice, especially me being, um, well, at that point, a junior petty officer, right like I. So it was a lot less, uh, rigid it's always nice when the boss isn't there.
Speaker 1:You can get.
Speaker 2:You can get actual work done right actually we only ever had a warrant at that station. Oh, okay, so, and he was actually at that station in like the 90s as a second or third petty officer, you know, et, et two or ET three.
Speaker 1:So he understood them oh yeah, so it was.
Speaker 2:so you know it wasn't like where you have to deal with officers of some lieutenant that just went through the Academy and never actually did work.
Speaker 1:Right Right, we called those guys ring knockers. Did you call them that too? Um, they would. They would take their Academy ring and they would always tap it on the table so you knew where they came from.
Speaker 2:So the funny thing is, um, both at my loran station I think I only dealt with one officer when they came to visit like once a year. Oh, other than that, I mean we had our warrant uh-huh but, um, but he was one of the guys. He knew the system inside and out, just like we did.
Speaker 1:Right yeah, warrant officers are a special breed. Officers are scared of them, and enlisted people are scared of them. It works out perfect.
Speaker 2:Well see, or the other hand is, warrants are best friends with the enlisted, which actually makes the officers even more scared.
Speaker 1:That's true. That's true. And a lot of people don't know what to do with the warrant officers. You know it was perfect for them.
Speaker 2:Right. So I mean we, yeah, we saluted him and all that. The few times we were even outside, the way our unit was, it was all inside, so we never left the building. And then, you know, a few times when we saw him, it was mostly in civilian clothes because we didn't travel in uniform right, right, no.
Speaker 1:So no, saluting in civilian clothes.
Speaker 2:So you're, you're all set, so most of the time it was just um, yeah, he was our supervisor, but that was about it yeah, very civilian like right, pretty much, yeah, I mean, and that's kind of the way he ran it, to be honest, uh-huh, um, I was lucky enough where at least him was the whole uh way through my first duty station okay, and, and so how long were you, oh, there then? Uh, at the loran station that's a two-year, that was a two-year billet, considered semi-isolated okay, and then the communications that was a uh, four years um duty, uh-huh, and that one was actually ran by a senior chief, okay.
Speaker 2:So I mean, was it?
Speaker 1:a crusty old senior chief, or was it just a senior chief? You know I'm talking about right uh, actually.
Speaker 2:So the first one I had was, uh sorry, lightheaded for a second. Uh, that's fine. Brain does that sometimes. So the first one I had was on his twilight tour.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, so he really didn't care just don't hurt yourselves, don't kill anybody, we'll yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the next one. He was still pretty cool, like he would make jokes and everything with us is again mostly a site of ETS, right, so he had been there.
Speaker 1:Okay, and so you did your four year tour there then.
Speaker 2:Yeah, maybe minus a few months, okay, cause technically I was already on an extension, okay. So when I first signed up I had signed for six years, so this way I could start as an E3. And then with that you don't graduate from boot camp, which normally a lot of people do, so then through A school. I well had my time covered for the six months that you need to be as an E3 before you become a petty officer, or an e3 to become before you become a petty officer okay, all right, so you're.
Speaker 1:So you're still on your initial enlistment, then?
Speaker 2:uh, yeah, with an extension, yeah, of one year, got you when I left the lorraine station okay, all right.
Speaker 1:And then now, how long did you stay in then?
Speaker 2:um well, like I said, a few months shy of a total of six years okay, so it was like part no seven, give me a second. Okay, so six and a half years active duty okay, all right.
Speaker 1:And then you went into the reserves after this. Okay, so you uh, get ready. You're all done with your enlistment here. You're getting ready to special needs. Uh, she, I was like, even though.
Speaker 2:I was a low priority. I was even at the uh comm say. I was actually the lowest of the low priority. So when, um, my time came and I was are looking at rotation, they were like, okay, well, we can give you ESD Cape Cod, which would have been a no-cost move, or ESD New Orleans, I chose Cape Cod, I chose Cape Cod and then, like two weeks maybe later, I was like, oh, actually, you're going to a boat in Washington and I didn't want to be on that side of the country. I was trying to stay either East Coast or Central, because, well, that's where everybody I knew was. And at the time I was married with my um well, now first wife, um, and she was also from Michigan. Now, I didn't marry her, I married her in Massachusetts.
Speaker 1:So did you meet her there in Massachusetts, where'd?
Speaker 2:you meet her. I met her online, okay, although she was in my high school, so it's kind of a I met her in high school, but we connected online after no communication for like four years, okay so you met online.
Speaker 1:You, uh, you got married. Did you have kids? No, okay, how long were you?
Speaker 2:married About seven years.
Speaker 1:Okay, and so did your mom and your brother live with you during that time, or just your mom, or how'd that?
Speaker 2:work, so my mom lived with me maybe for the first six months of my marriage. Okay. At that point.
Speaker 1:I had already kicked my brother out when my then or my ex moved in with me. Okay, massachusetts. Okay, so you were able to have like a.
Speaker 2:It's just you and her well, and my mom right or, I guess, part of the relationship, but then before we got married she was on her own okay.
Speaker 1:Was she living in the area then near you? Yeah, okay, so your mom stayed local.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, and so you got so. So you're married. You've got your mom that you're taking care of as well. Yeah, how was your wife with that?
Speaker 2:She was fine at the time.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right. So all this happens, you're not getting to go where you would like to go. So then, at that point, you decided to get out.
Speaker 2:Well, I was like. So they had a thing where he was like I would have had to re-sign up for the job in Washington, Right, and I chose to not re-enlist. So then they gave me my 30 days and out okay so me kind of um scrambling at that point.
Speaker 2:Um, I wound up making some calls, found out about the hard hats to our helmets, to hard hats program, but um, I had called around anyways and I was like, well, all the stuff I had worked on as an electronics technician was 30 or 20 to 30 years old, right and outdated. So I figured, you know what, I'm not too far from an electrician, I could go do that, because electricians are always pretty much in demand so this is something people don't understand, right?
Speaker 1:so I may have worked on electronics yeah right, like you did. But all of the basics, the basic electronics and electricity are the same across the board. Right, you're doing, like some of the calculations you have to do, ohms wats law. All of that stuff, it's the same whether you're applying it to wiring a home or whether you're applying it to electronics right, um, actually basics.
Speaker 2:The funny thing is, um, so, when I started working in the union after because so working in the union after, because so, um, getting to your point will be a second. But so, after my 30 days and out, I called ibw, tried to figure out how that worked, and they were like, oh yeah, we have a backlog, you wouldn't be able to get in until next year. Well then, I specifically called the helminstahardats program and they gave me the same number, right, and I'm like well, and he's like, oh, why didn't you tell me you were military? We can get you in this fall. It was march at the time, okay, or end of march okay or middle of march.
Speaker 2:I hadn't been out yet, but it was. I got out at the end of march, so it was like september, it's not too this is like 2013, 2014 then, 2013.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm just want to keep the timeline so, um with that, because originally they said I wouldn't be able to get until 2014, got you, but because of the fact that I was military, they could get me in that fall of 2013, in september. Okay. So after that I got out and, uh, joined the reserves the following day because, yeah, we got out of active duty. It was. I didn't have to go through any program other than signing a paper, right, just like I would have for re-enlistment, except for reserves. Now, right, so that made it easy on that behalf, because I did it within the 48 hours. And then I actually got a job at home depot in my interim okay, now did you move back to michigan.
Speaker 1:Are you still in?
Speaker 2:I'm still in massachusetts okay, okay. So you're in massachusetts, so you're in the reserves, you're working for home depot and you're waiting to get into the ibew gotcha, um, and then, like you were saying, uh, I was actually able, so I had still had my notes from when I started my a school yeah so at least during my first year, I was actually able to pull up that sheet of all the formulas that made all the sense to me.
Speaker 2:Yes, pull up my notes for DC theory. Um, and I was able to actually use a lot of that notes to help refresh, because at that point it had been six years since I had thought of it. And right, with a school, as you know, you would know it's a very fast it's all a blur.
Speaker 1:That's the way I look at it, right.
Speaker 2:It was a very fast program of okay, well, you got AC, dc, this, that. Okay, well, you learn the basics. Here you go, right, right, yeah, yeah. So when I was in, uh, when I started the union, it's a much slower process still pretty fast, but slower, um, cause at the time it was a five-year program for an apprentice. Now the granted there was also like pipe bending and this and that circuitry. Yeah, a lot of stuff I was able to use piggyback from my electronics experience.
Speaker 1:Right, made it easier for you then. Yeah, okay.
Speaker 2:Cause, like when, um, I started my second year and we did AC theory, um, teacher, I had which, granted, the way they do it is you're supposed to learn on your own technically and then go over it in class after right. I looked at ac and I was like I don't, I don't remember any of this. Like I knew I had learned it, but I had no idea what the fuck I was looking right. So I actually had to look back in my notes from a school when they would actually teach it to you. I was like, oh, that's right, that's how you do, like your inductance, your capacitance, all that stuff yeah, all the important things that get tucked back in there, right pretty much it was, like you know, brushing off an old grave right, so you're in.
Speaker 1:You're in the apprenticeship program. For how long then?
Speaker 2:well, now they they just changed it to four years within the last uh year. Okay, but so, but it's a five-year apprenticeship, so you were in the five-year program did you do all five years in in in massachusetts, then okay so so what point do you end up back here in michigan?
Speaker 2:so it was after my second year. So they, they were much more following the school year, uh-huh. So during summer break of um first year I had talked to my wife because, well, I'm not from massachusetts, right either. Is she exactly? Everybody I had known was in florida, right? She was from um, michigan, right and um. So I did kind of promise her that I would try to get her back to michigan to be close to her family, um, so I kind of looked at different options. Uh, following the first year, because before I even joined I made sure I could transfer right, which you could a little harder than, let's say, when you're in the military, but it's still possible, there's some steps, yeah yep.
Speaker 2:Um, so I found out I could. And then, um, at first year, I found out that or I had made a decision to move to michigan and the only part I had an issue with was which location? Uh, I came just before my the start of my second year of ibw apprenticeship. I came to michigan and kind of toured a couple of locals. Okay, my first choice was actually ann arbor, but the apprentice director there had told me oh yeah, even though you're already in and helmets to hard hats and all that, it might be hard for you to get in. So I actually chose Lansing as my local because they said no problem to get you in. Okay.
Speaker 2:So I finished my second year in Massachusetts and then came to Michigan after that. Okay. And this whole time I'm still in the reserves as well. Right, so you're still doing that, right? So when I was switched over from the reserves, I was actually at an electronic support attachment, or ESD, in Boston. Okay. Well, I switched from that to ESD Detroit and still as an apprentice going to, because you know, the joke is you, you go in once a week or once a month and play military Right.
Speaker 1:Right, one weekend a month, two weeks in the year, however they, however, they do that, so okay. So did you move to the Lansing area then? No, actually right. One weekend a month, two weeks in the year, however they, however they, they do that, so okay. So did you move to the lansing area then?
Speaker 2:or no, actually. Um. So I first started in dearborn heights and lived with, uh well, my at the time mother-in-law okay um, lived there for maybe about six months and then moved out to the brighton area afterwards, which was significantly easier on me because all my even though I was in lansing, I was also living in dearborn heights right, so that was like a two-hour drive and it's not a nice drive either.
Speaker 1:That's a that can be a tough one it actually wasn't too bad okay, because it was all 96 for the most part, right, but it was still a two-hour drive in and out right well, and I guess you were going opposite of all the major traffic, right like because in the morning people are coming in on 96 and in the afternoon they're leaving on 96, so you were doing the opposite um you're going to lansing in the morning.
Speaker 2:I mean, my job was also at seven start time. Okay, because people also go into lansing too. But you know, generally I uh would show up at.30 and kind of take a little nap in the car, but so at my time it was too fucking early for anyone to even be on the road anyway.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's true, Either direction at that point.
Speaker 2:Well, actually in the afternoon is when it got difficult, because I got out at 3.30. So by the time I got close to Detroit it was already almost 5. Right.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, so you moved to Brighton. Which is about a halfway point Right and is your mom still kind of with you, then Where's she at?
Speaker 2:We had set her up in actually Lansing.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Because of me working out of Lansing, I figured I'd be in the area a lot and being able to visit her quite often, all right, so in your apprenticeship, you're back in Michigan.
Speaker 1:Things are chugging along. Now, at what point did you and your wife split up?
Speaker 2:you and your wife split up. Um, well, that was, um, I'm trying to think just so it was kind of a long process. Uh, it was in 2018.
Speaker 1:We kind of first were dealing with it okay and this is the last year of your apprenticeship too, right 2018?
Speaker 2:yeah, okay, um, so 2018 and again last year, my apprenticeship. Um, we were dealing with it, it and basically we just wanted different things from life, right? I was very clear from the very beginning that I had wanted a family, mm-hmm. She was all on board with that up until I got married to pretty much and then she didn't want kids pretty. Pretty much.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, I mean fair enough, right? I mean, so was it an amicable split.
Speaker 2:Pretty much Okay. Um, for the most part, I just walked away from everything like stuff and, uh, the only thing she didn't touch was my, uh, retirement, or my retirements at that point, right, cause at that point, I had actually, um, been medically retired from the coast guard. Okay, which was also in 2018.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So that's a busy year, yeah, yeah, yeah, cause also, technically I was supposed to graduate in 2018, but due to time delay, bullshit I didn't actually top out officially until the beginning of 2019.
Speaker 1:Okay, Alright, Now by that time are you and your wife done?
Speaker 2:pretty much. I mean, we were already living separate, completely separate lives. Where I'd work during the day, she made it where she worked at night okay and so we never practically saw each other. Um, and, to be honest, I don't think she ever wanted to work it out. She wanted a situation where she was living with me but not with me. Yeah, I can understand so.
Speaker 1:So did you stay in the brighton area then did you stay in the house? Did she stay in the house?
Speaker 2:she stayed in the house, I walked away, but I still chose actually a, basically a house a few blocks away. Okay, um, just because it was an easy area for me, because for me personally, uh, professionally, I work out of lansing but then I do what's trap? Considered traveling in the local and I have ann arbor Flint, detroit, if I really want to push it, saginaw and Toledo.
Speaker 1:Oh, so Brighton's not a bad spot.
Speaker 2:No, it's like the mesh point of everything.
Speaker 1:Right. If you were to triangulate all those cities, it'd probably be right there. Brighton is the middle right.
Speaker 2:Pretty much. Actually, it's where several of those cities combine Right when the jurisdictions meet. Okay. So for me it's where several of those cities combine, where the jurisdictions meet. So for me it made sense to stay that area because I don't want to drive more than really half an hour to work, but I'll go as far as like an hour and 15. So anywhere from a half hour to hour 15 is my kind of okay spot for working.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, and so you're remarried right, yes. Okay, well, what happened there?
Speaker 2:Well, so 2019, we had already been, as far as I'm concerned, split yeah, that was like March Although the divorce hadn't gone through. Finally, I actually met my now wife in 2019 as well, Just before I had officially gotten divorced. Right, let's be clear she is not the cause of this divorce. It's just the timing I didn't meet her until August.
Speaker 1:Yeah About. Let's be clear she is not the cause of this divorce. It was the timing.
Speaker 2:I didn't meet her until August, yeah, about two weeks before my divorce was actually signed in Um. Actually that year or the year before we there is a new divorce in Michigan that was, like you know it doesn't involve necessarily as many lawyers a very clean and easy break, as long as everybody agrees to everything Right and instead of like the long drawn out process that people are familiar with divorce. That was the first like year that they made this new one, whereas if you are pretty much amlypical and everything, it's a pretty much just easy sign.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you fill in the blanks as to who gets what. Everybody signs it and you're done pretty much yeah, okay, so you got done with that. So how did you meet your current wife?
Speaker 1:uh online okay yeah, you know, it's funny because you say that in in people listening to it don't see your face, but a lot of people. So I know people who have been married for 20, almost 30 years that met somehow online. It's not, uh, it's not the stigma that it used to be, you know. I mean, like a lot of people will be like, oh my god, they met online. That's gonna crash and burn. But um, that's not so anymore. I don't believe anyway. So was she a local girl?
Speaker 2:Kind of Okay, she was actually from Toledo. Oh, all right, I mean, to me that's still kind of local, that's Midwest.
Speaker 1:That's not. Toledo is almost Michigan. Anyway, let's be honest.
Speaker 2:It was an hour drive for me, so I didn't even care if it was Ohio or Michigan. It was an hour drive, right, you're all about.
Speaker 1:Uh, how long is it going to take me to get to pretty?
Speaker 2:much like outside of three hour. Well, three to five hours. I would consider that at that point a long distance. I know some people who consider long distance 20 minutes away, right it's just, it's all perspective way I look at it is, if I can drive there and back within a reasonable amount of time, spend time there like I'm not traveling the entire day. That's pretty much local, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So you meet her online and you're like, oh well, this seems like a connection.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So you start dating, then I'm assuming you make that hour drive once in a while.
Speaker 2:Uh, yeah, actually she moved in pretty quick as well, okay, but, um, you know, but but yeah, we were doing the dating thing for a bit, um, and then uh, covid.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, folks, if you're listening to this 100 years from now, if you listen to any story that happened between 2018 and 2021, at some point someone's gonna say and then covid happened although, you know, the same thing could have been said 100 years before that with the spanish flu. Exactly actually if you look back, every about thing could have been said a hundred years before that with the Spanish flu.
Speaker 2:Exactly, Actually, if you look back, every about every hundred years there's a pandemic anyways.
Speaker 1:Yes, exactly, so, yeah, so do your. If anyone's listening to this and you're like what's COVID, do your research.
Speaker 2:You know, the funny thing is I found out during COVID like everybody was so against masks. Yeah. Like so heavily against it. Everybody was so against masks like so heavily against it Back in the whatever.
Speaker 1:the teens 19, 1921, I think is when that happened.
Speaker 2:It actually started before 1918,.
Speaker 1:I think it was.
Speaker 2:World War One. Yeah, and actually the only reason it was called the Spanish flu was because Spain was the first to acknowledge it. People were already dying in the trenches for like two years. It was really like 1916 when it started, but nobody else in the world was willing to acknowledge it until Spain acknowledged it.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:It was a pandemic.
Speaker 1:So masks during that pandemic? What happened there?
Speaker 2:You can see pictures. They even had them on pets. Yeah, and the whole idea is, if you didn't wear a mask, they were going to shoot you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we didn't shoot anybody this time around, but yeah, there wasn't it was quite the threats. Quite the debate Wasn't there.
Speaker 2:If you, yeah, if you went by people. But yeah, you can actually see signs of like 19, 18 or something whole families in masks. There's one picture where the guy's holding a cat, also wearing a mask, near a sign. If you don't wear a mask, we will shoot.
Speaker 2:Wow wow, and we thought we had it tough well, it just goes to show you hit the different mind, uh mentality, right, people were so aware of what uh viruses could do 100 years ago. And then you get people now it's like well, it's fake, it's all done by the government. It's like masks are fake.
Speaker 1:It's like not really well, we have the internet to tell us how to live our lives, so we're good, right.
Speaker 2:That's a whole different discussion yeah, you know, because I it makes me think of the uh commercial that they had a few years ago of um, the guy who, the woman who would meet the guy on the street and be like, oh yeah, I'm dating this fashion model of from france and he was just like some fat bearded dude lived in his mom's basement most, more than likely, but he just uh would come and he would just go bonjour, oh yes, yeah, like if you I think it was a phone commercial or something and it was like don't believe everything you see on the internet, or something no, I, I, yeah, I told you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I told you, because people would say, oh, it must be true, it was on the internet, but yeah, so I mean, that's the same as in the news network.
Speaker 2:to be honest, Right, right.
Speaker 1:You got to be careful, you again, you got to do your research. So so she moves in. Then COVID hits yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh you really, we COVID hit for sure. So how did that all work out for you? Um, it went all right for a while. Um, at that time I was also trying to uh figure out more of the VA stuff. Yeah, because at that time I had also been um medically retired with um 40% disability.
Speaker 1:So, if you don't mind me asking, were you medically retired? What?
Speaker 2:happened. Well, so I want to say in 2017, when because reserves, you still have to do the yearly physical and everything right one of the things that they finally looked back on my medical records, or one doctor finally looked back on my medical records and realized, oh, you should have never been able to join the reserves with how damaged you already are. Oh neat, yeah, so at that point I'd already been in the reserves for four years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're kind of stuck with you well, they were like, oh, you shouldn't have been able to join. So at that point, you know it was all a process of basically dismissal, right, but they had to figure out. So I was a what they considered a very rare case of. I was retired from reserves but, as an active duty, are considered from active duty, right, because, like, they had this whole list of my medical, I mean, I think before I even joined the reserves, it was probably about two to three inches thick my medical record, and that was after they had tossed things, because I think in 2012 or 10, somewhere between 10 and 12, they took out like half of my medical record. Oh, the way they were condensing it now. Yeah, not putting the like, not worried about they were omitting things that didn't need to be in there, right, my record was still like two to three inches thick.
Speaker 1:Okay, so they determined that, and then they they medically retire you at 40. But that's 40 isn't necessarily what your pay is. Right like that's it. There's some kind of weird thing when you military math yes, it's military math. So so during covid you you start working through the va system, then, because you're in, you're're entitled to certain benefits as a result of your service.
Speaker 2:And not to mention um, also during that time, I was actually being really heavily taxed because I was getting it specifically from the Coast Guard right, even though I'm well before retirement age. I was getting really really heavily taxed on that Whatever percent check. I was getting really really heavily taxed on that whatever percent check I was getting Right right, so it's time to start figuring that out.
Speaker 1:So are you done figuring it out Like have they got you set up yet?
Speaker 2:No, I'm still working on it. Okay, Just curious For those who are wondering like military math does not work the way math works Right, Like I'm at 90% disability now, Um, but if you actually add up the percentages I'm somewhere like 150%.
Speaker 1:You and me both brother, I'm at 80%, but I've got 50 with this and 40 with this and 10 with that and 10 with that. It adds up to more than a hundred. But right.
Speaker 2:But the way military math works is they'll take okay, like the way best way, I was described as a pie and let's just say your biggest percentages. We'll just say easy numbers 50%. So now you have your half able. So 50% able. Well, now you have another 20. But they're going to take that 20 from that 50 able and then it just keeps going. From that they don't do. Okay, well, you're 20 plus 50 should make 70. No, they do 20 from the 50 that you're able, then 10 from what's left and so on and so on, and so on right, it's.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I, my brain hurts every time I try and figure it out it's basically to the point where uh, if you remember the old uh disney cartoon of uh, when they had one slice of bread to split between the three of them, yeah they're like slicing it and it's like literally like, uh, actually transparent right all right, I know exactly what you're talking about.
Speaker 1:So you, so you're going through that, you're um, she's moved in with you. When did you actually get married then? Uh, actually earlier this year okay, all right, so you've been together for a while before deciding to get married yeah, I mean there was a little bit of um where she left as well.
Speaker 2:She had a break in service, yeah, yeah, but um, she kept essentially coming back because she knew um, you know I'm somebody who she can rely on, somebody who she trusts, who she feels comfortable with Right.
Speaker 1:Maybe she loves you, that kind of thing yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely feelings towards it. Yeah, um, so yeah.
Speaker 1:Any kids yet? No Okay.
Speaker 2:No, unless you count a cat and dog.
Speaker 1:Oh well, you know, for some people that does count.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I definitely so the way, like I know some people distinct don't distinguish the difference. I do, but also they are, as I'd like to joke, the children's this is the way I joke saying it. But uh, yeah, so, yes, but no part of your family. There are kids, but not our human kids. They're pet kids, right, which you know. Some people don't distinguish fur babies, as they call it, compared to normal babies. Yeah, I do, but they're just as important, but they're just different right, right, because they're not humans.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, they're never going to be self-sufficient, right, they're not going to talk well, okay, that is debatable. My daughter has a dog, I think talks well, I have a corgi, okay, and if you're not familiar with a corgi, they tell you well, how, what they're thinking, yes, in one way or another, what they are saying, I don't know, but they will tell you non-stop yeah, my brother and sister-in-law both had it.
Speaker 1:They had a corky, so, yeah, familiar with that.
Speaker 2:And then my cat also does it.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, do they communicate too with each other?
Speaker 2:Somehow, I don't know how necessarily. Yeah, um, sometimes the cat just slaps the dog right.
Speaker 1:Sometimes that just works.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's like get out of my spot. I want to be there, even though the the cat. You will usually want that specific spot on the couch Right, even though the couch is big enough. I mean they're a cat and a Corgi. I mean it's not like they're huge, right, the Corgi is only about one and a half times bigger than the cat. They can share. They can share a couch cushion right, let alone separate, but no, he wants that spot in particular, so he'll slap the dog while he's sleeping uh-huh to knock him out, make him get up and leave as with children.
Speaker 1:right, so you're. So you're, uh, you're out of the service, you're working on your um stuff, the VA, you're married now. Yep, things are kind of chugging along. You've topped out, you're a journeyman electrician then. Okay, so you're doing that. And is your mom still living in Lansing?
Speaker 2:No, she actually just moved to Florida. Okay. About two months ago, okay.
Speaker 1:Still keeping tabs on her, though, making sure things are going well.
Speaker 2:I Two months ago. Okay, still keeping tabs on her, though, making sure things are going well.
Speaker 1:I'm still supporting yeah From across the country. Wow, okay. Well, good on you, though. I mean, I don't know, some family members might just walk away from that, but you didn't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, um, I've always kind of felt um a little bit of an obligation to take care of her. Yeah, well, she's your mom, yeah, but she did have a hard life and it sounds like maybe you're kind of breaking that, uh, that mold too. You mean, you're, you're uh successful, um, you, you take care of yourself, you can take care of your family and uh, now are you still thinking of children?
Speaker 2:yeah, I mean. I mean, I know I'm on little on the older side at this point. Um well, I'll be 38 next month.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, I went to OCS when I was 38. So, uh, you're never too old. Well, at some point you are too old, don't get me wrong. But my, uh, my cousin actually, uh, wife just had a baby, and he is, I want to say, 62, so I don't think I want kids when I'm that old.
Speaker 2:But uh, to each his own. Um, actually, one of the guys I knew when I was active duty, uh, his father, when he was born, was 70.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, I can't even imagine.
Speaker 2:I mean and his mom. I mean just the dynamic alone. It's like so your mom was probably like in her 20s or 30s and your dad's 70 yeah, that's a, wow, that's a whole.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a different. That's a, that's a that's a whole podcast all on its own right there, brother. Yeah, so I mean it sounds like things are going well for you. Um, as we kind of wrap up the conversation, uh, really two questions okay. First question is is there anything we haven't covered that you wanted to talk about?
Speaker 2:um, I mean not too much that I can think of, okay all right.
Speaker 1:The second question is a little tougher um, but I ask everyone this okay, um, you know, people will be listening to this years and years and years from now, after you and I are both gone. Yeah. What message would you like to leave with people? What would you like them to take away from this?
Speaker 2:Well, you know, I would say definitely always think through things logically, know your sources, um, find out as much information as you can on things. Don't always take things for face value. Like you know, I grew up a very hard life. I was very much exposed to everything and I think that helped me learn to live life without just being blindly accepting everything. You know my wife, who's actually she's 10 years younger than me, so she didn't grow up as exposed to everything, so she I'm showing her things, and then there's the whole. Like you know how, we'll just say COVID, you found out.
Speaker 2:A lot of people, um, you know, had a lot more exposure to things these days than they did, say, 20, 30 years ago, right ago, because everybody has a voice on the internet. But you know things I'm still learning with my own family because I'm dealing with my mom and my mom's dealing with her sister, who will say, oh, yeah, this and this and this and this. It's like, yeah, no, actually, if you look into things, life isn't any necessarily crime, isn't worse than what it was 30 years ago per se. It's just now more well-known, things are more well-known. So learn to, um, find out your facts, do your own research. Don't take everything so blindly, because yeah, I could tell you, you know, I'm some sort of millionaire rolling in the bank, you know, and I know the next 20 year profit or whatever. I mean, I like history so I can't tell you how many times I've heard of profits, right, knowing everything what's going to happen. Well, I mean, look at haley's comment.
Speaker 1:You don't see those guys, the the haley bopp guys that killed themselves, those guys, yeah.
Speaker 2:And you know what. You look into it more. That happens every 20, 30 years of some guy who knows what's going to happen. Right, nobody knows what's going to happen. But you can take things from what you learn and do your own research, because, I mean, I don't know how people these days still think the earth is flat. 10 000 years ago we knew it was round and that's actually how a lot of obelisks were designed. Is for the time I mean otherwise than that. Look at the first clocks, the sundial. We wouldn't have been able to use a sundial if the earth was flat. But now you have people who are convinced the earth is flat. You have anti-vaxxers who you know.
Speaker 2:I understand some people who want to say deviate from your normal um vaccinations schedule. Like me, I was. I actually got sick a lot as a kid and my kids, I imagine, would probably do the same. So I'm not gonna not vaccinate them, but maybe less vaccinations. Especially like, as I put it and I'm sure you did the same when you went to boot camp go through the gauntlet where you line up in a row and two people on each side are just shoot you. You take a step forward. Shoot in the arm. Take another step forward. Shoot in the arm. Yeah, I was sick from that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was sick for days after that.
Speaker 2:Now they do something called the concrete mixer, from what I've heard, where they just put it in one big shot. Oh and I couldn't do that. But at the same time, I'm not going to not vaccinate. But at the same time I'm not going to not vaccinate, I'm just going to let things go through my system.
Speaker 1:So you know, these things have been around a long thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Basically like learn. Don't just take everything for value. Learn from a lot of things and you know, one thing I will say is I'm not a very smart guy, but I'm very wise because I learned from everybody else's mistakes to not make the same mistake or try to avoid them, yeah, so.
Speaker 1:All right, well, thanks for that and, um, you know, bobby, thanks for coming out this morning and spending some time with me, and I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no problem.
