Thursday, July 31, 2008

Monday, July 21, 2008

Quotes About the Military

Here's some interesting quotations about my fellow warriors. Some, you may have heard before, while others might be new to you:

"You cannot exaggerate about the Marines. They are convinced to
the point of arrogance, that they are the most ferocious fighters on earth- and
the amusing thing about it is that they are."
Father Kevin Keaney, 1st MarDiv Chaplain, Korean War

“The Spartans do not enquire
how many the enemy are, but
where they are.”
Agis II, 427 B.C.

"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.”
General George S. Patton Jr.

“I LIKE MARINES, BECAUSE BEING A MARINE IS SERIOUS BUSINESS. WE'RE
NOT A SOCIAL CLUB OR A FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION AND WE DON'T PRETEND TO
BE ONE. WE'RE A BROTHERHOOD OF "WARRIORS" -- NOTHING MORE, NOTHING
LESS, PURE AND SIMPLE. WE ARE IN THE ASS-KICKING BUSINESS, AND
UNFORTUNATELY, THESE DAYS BUSINESS IS GOOD.
COLONEL JAMES. M. LOWE, COMMANDER, MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, 2004

"When you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him
in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she
knows she's dating a pussy."
Attributed to General Tommy Franks

Thursday, July 10, 2008

The JCI Scam Begins Again


JCI, or Japanese Compulsory Insurance, is a term that often instills fear in the hearts of many a servicemember here in the Land of the Rising Sun. The insurance itself isn't a big deal; it's a simple fee to be paid every two years. Unfortunately, the government of Japan also conducts a vehicle inspection and collects a "weight tax" at the same time. This is a sort of shell game that has the "customer" running all around to various locations in a feeble attempt to complete the scavenger hunt before the registration offices close at 3pm.

Here's the odd part: If you pay your inpsection fees and weight tax, it's only good for that day. If your vehicle fails to pass the inspection, and the repairs cannot be made prior to 3pm, you'll have to start the process from scratch (and pay the fees and tax again) the next business day (yep; you can only eperience this rectal raping during working hours). Nobody seems to have an intelligent answer as to why there is a "weight tax," in addition to the "road tax," or why the weight tax certificate is only good for one day.

The inspection itself is a sham that the perpetrators barely make an effort to disguise as legitimate. They always find something wrong, whatever they find wrong always involves a defective part that needs to be changed, and the garage right down the road from the inspection station always has that part in stock. The garage will not, however, be able to complete the repair prior to 3pm (ever), and customers will get to experience the JCI joy again the next day...guaranteed.

All of the local garages, including those on base, will complete this obstacle course for you...for a huge fee. Most people pay this outrageous fee, just to avoid the hassle of being screwed in person. They have no idea how obviously shady this whole process is, because they simply don't get to see it up close. I've gone through this procedure with two previous vehicles, and I get to do it again next week. Doing it myself, instead of getting indirectly screwed (with the help of a local garage), will save me a couple of hundred bucks. Wish me luck.

More Japanese Signs

I cannot take credit for spotting these...I only spotted them on engrish.com. Priceless...

What's for lunch?


They'll take care of that for you too...



What kind of party are they throwing tonight?

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Week In Review



This was a fun, and seemingly short week. It was certainly a short week at work, as we only had to be there for three days. We were given Thursday and Friday off in celebration of Independence Day.

We stayed home last night (the 4th) and grilled some meat (animals; it's what's for dinner!) after a day at the beach. We'll head out tonight to watch fireworks at Torii Station.

We made a trip out to Ikei Island to go geocaching and see the sights. You can see a couple more pics on my geocaching blog.

Work was surprisingly busy, with preparations for an upcoming field exercise taking up most of my time. I also had a few hoops to jump through in order to get my transfer to the SNCO Academy in motion. Thankfully, my incompetent administration section will have almost no role to play in that evolution.