10 Feb 2009

The Bad News:

Well I talked to Chris yesterday. It would seem that the plant is in a hiring freeze right now due to lack of orders coming into the plant. So even though they have work right now, things are slowing down a bit, so they’re holding off on hiring any new people. He said if things pick up they’ll hire me right away.

The OK News:

I went over to the VA yesterday and talked to the HR person there. The “combat” medal that I need to be eligible for “Status Candidate” is actually a “campaign” ribbon for being in the military during Desert Storm/ Desert Shield. The reason I don’t have one already is because it was awarded retroactively after I had already been discharged.

So obviously that ribbon would not be on my DD214 from the time of my discharge. Well, the bitch of it is, it could take 2-3 months to get this corrected.

I should explain what I mean when I talk about a “DD214.” That is the “Certificate of Release or Discharge From Active Duty” form that most people accept as proof of claim of military service. It gives a basic rundown of the job specialty, time of service, decorations, medals, military education and type of discharge.

In the decorations and medals area I should have a “South-East Asia Campaign” ribbon, but instead it just says “Member served in support of Operation Desert Shield/ Storm”.

So, to make a long story short: I’m trying to get that ribbon.

Other OK News:

So for now I’m going to be pursuing a part-time job. My plan is to get on at someplace like Lowes or something like that. I want a place that’s big enough that I won’t have the boss breathing down my neck and the schedule will be flexible. I plan on going back to school and do some basic welding classes, but the booger of that plan is college classes started a month ago so now I have to wait until the summer semester to get in.

At least with some basic welding classes I can do some welding here at home for both fun and profit. I have some project designs in my head that I want to try out, and if I promote them, I could have some custom work for motorcycles on my hands.

So my projects for today is to research classes, get the forms I need to change my DD214, and clean the house. Wish me luck… On cleaning the house.

I’m Alive… So Far…