UTAH (and Surrounding Areas) BS Thread

Just for the record, I love my 3rd Gen. It hasn’t let me down yet. With the caveat of the ABS sensor .

 

From a three letter agency to an accountant, interesting. Do tell more.

 

Yeah, the tundra is long in the tooth as well. I agree on dropping the sequoia. I don't know why they don't just offer the 4Runner in a V8 again.

Drop the sequoia, bring back the FJ, OR figure out how to get a 7x series LC ute over here.

 

Or make the LC more affordable instead of $90k and drop the sequoia all together. Then an FJ with a V8..

 

Oh boy, story time:

Well, I started working in the intel community in 2013 in the finance section, doing budgets, etc. I absolutely hated it because my section had asked for 1 new hire in each of the 5 departments and long story short, we all ended up in the same department, playing musical chairs all day. I also had no aspiration of ever being an accountant in life. I studied finance at VT and couldn't care less about accounting policy, etc. Finance is forward looking and subjective, and accountants are pinheaded 4 function calculators, but I digress.

Through the power of selective bitching and a network of friends, I ended up transferring to an asymmetric warfare group rather quickly. We specialized in finding bad guys through the money trail and finding how they might move money in the future since trying to defeat an insurgency with a conventional army is pretty much impossible, esp in Afghanistan. Actually, if you watch "Jack Ryan" on Amazon streaming, the first 10-15 minutes of ep.1 is part of what I did. That series way oversells the role, but makes for good TV.

Anyway, right as I started to get comfy, the Obama era sequestration budget cuts hit...hiring freezes were enacted, budgets were slashed because we were drawing down from Iraq and AFG, and the GWOT fueled endless budgetary buffet was over...(but look how that turned out ). I walked into the office one morning, and all 4 of us new hires in the asym group got called into the boss' office.

"I just submitted our budget for the year, and I am only allowed to keep 2 of you. How you decide amongst yourselves is up to you. Give me your answer by end of day"

Now I loved my job and the "higher purpose", BUT I was living in one of the most expensive areas in America, making 35K a year. I had 3 roomates in a 2 br apartment. I also commuted 1.5 hours in the morning and 2 at night. If someone's head was getting chopped anyway, that was an easy choice. I volunteered to leave the group as did one of my friends. I did drop a package along with our answer to volunteer to be a spooky guy doing spooky things in the nether regions of the world, but that got shot down pretty quick because I am a type 1 diabetic.

Anyways, I went to a VT job fair not long after since our boss was cool and let us find a new job on the clock before our term date came, and an arm pulled me into a company booth. Turns out it was one of my classmates from high school 7 years earlier. Got an interview for that afternoon, and had a much better offer in hand 2 days later. It was for a financial analyst role. What they don't tell you in school is a lot of companies in order to save a buck make their finance guys ALSO be their accounting arm.

And that's how I went from 3 letter agency to an accountant.

I've had thoughts about dropping a packet with some folks and getting back into the game, but then I look at what I make now, and what I would make as a bottom of the ladder federal employee again, and I shake that thought out of my head pretty quick.

 

We could defeat the enemy if our ROE was set like how warfare is suppose to be. Rape and pillage, kick ass and take names, comply or die!

 

On an unrelated note: anybody here have their dive cert and willing to be a buddy? I really wanna go to Blue Lake or the Midway crater and get a few dives in.

 

That's how you seize territory for an empire, not win wars where you are toppling a corrupt governmental system (Taliban and AQ) and seek to establish a secure and sovereign nation.

Look at West vs East Germany for stark examples between the 2.

 

We are an empire. We're not securing a sovereign nation, we are securing a nation that will serve our interest at our becking call.

 

I feel like this is a conversation to be debated over a case of beer and a campfire.

 

It is. It's a good conversation to have. Fun to explore what others think.

 

This ^

 

Is there anything you don’t do?

 

I’d be game, but substitute beer for Irish whiskey

 

I do have a buddy that does rescue diving and has trained out at Blue Lake, but he hates camping though. Let me ask him if he is going diving anytime soon.

Update: Sorry, my buddy says he has no planned dive trips at this time. Future dive trips will be in Idaho and Boston.

 

Other people's taxes, and letting people borrow my truck to move

Motion seconded

This whole diving out west thing is totally foreign to me. Gonna have to see what's up in Idaho now!

 

Don't forget the scotch.

 

Next meetup idea: A few tacoma jackasses have a shitty Burning Man in the desert.

 

Oh boy! We must be related. I have two bottles of this at home.