Riva

Or...what do you wish your significant other would give you?

(Please do not list sexual favors because I consider those part of a healthy relationship not a gift)

Top Ten facts about my BF:

1. He is a sergeant in the army reserves and his birthday is June 14th, which is also the Army's b-day.

2. He is going to BNOC in June (since he's been in the army he's always had orders on his b-day)

3. He is from S. Chicago, is a huge Bears fan and works at a bank downtown.

4. His favorite color is blue and he is really into his giant fish tank.

5. He is into cars, especially imports. He drives a subaru.

6. He is really freakin smart. He is an intellectual, but also has common sense.

7. His first language is Spanish and he has a HUGE family.

8. He has a great sense of humor. He's always laughing and joking.

9. He has a degree in art and worked as a jewler for a while. He appreciates nice stuff.

10. He can drink more than anyone I have ever met, but at the same time is a wine and beer snob.

So we are in a long distance relationship and because I am deploying soon I will only be a few hours from him because of training. He's a really great guy who is tough, but also is refined at the same time. I want to get him a great gift but don't know what I should buy. I need help from someone with present-ESP.

I grew up in a trailer park and I sometimes forget that I have very middle class tastes.

Especially when it is a technical question in an area that they have no expertise in.

I volunteered for this S shop because no one else in our BOLC class would step up and take responsibility for the job. I asked our SGI for guidance and he told me to take a look at a continuity file on AKO that turned out to be caca.

Can anyone who has had some experience planning operations give me some general advice, tips or hints that will help me be a good S-3?

My sister (who is now pregnant) has a boyfriend who already has three children by two other women and was divorced at 22. He's now 24, has no education, has some drug problems outside of just smoking pot once in awhile, and has trouble holding a job. He can't make his child support and the state is threatening to toss him in jail.

When they have showed up for family functions they have blown off our relatives to go out and do their own thing rather than spending time with us. They also talk all cutesy and engage in excessive PDA which makes everyone around uncomfortable.

I am going to visit a relative who is dying of cancer for what will probably be her last birthday and asked my mom not to tell them since they acted so badly the last time they made an appearance because I don't want to be put in the situation of having to apologize for them again. Plus they only live three hours away versus my 1,500 miles and they can visit whenever they want. My mom told them anyway and didn't bother to bring up the subject of their poor manners.

Since then I have had to call my sister and tell her that I'm not trying to hurt her feelings but that she needs to act like a grown up. I have asked my parents for help talking to her, but they just make excuses as to why she won't listen to them.

The flag is folded poorly in the first place as there is a bunch of white showing at the corner of the triangle. However, I would think that your car is not exactly a respectful place to display a flag.

My boyfriend of a year started asking me about my ring size a month ago and indicated that he wanted to get engaged before I left for military training for a year since I am commissioning soon. I am supposed to be stationed at Ft. Hood next March and he was planning to move there with me.

We are both 30 and are in a long distance relationship. He lives near Boston and I live in Madison Wisconsin. Neither of us have ever been married before or have any children. So those things are not a consideration.

These are the following factors that have me decide that he is not really ready to get engaged:

1) His mom found this 2nd property and convinced him to buy it soon after he announced his plans to move to Texas. The property seems like it isn't a very good deal and his finances are already pretty thin.

2) He wanted to back out of getting engaged soon after for financial reasons, but changed his mind when we decided to cancel our vacation plans together for a cheaper option with me coming to stay with him.

3) Has stated that he didn't want to get engaged because he hasn't met my parents, however, he had a couple of opportunities to that he passed up.

4)He has told his friends, father and brother-in-law that we are getting engaged but hasn't told his mother or sister. When I asked him why he hasn't told them yet when my whole family knows he couldn't give me a reason.

5) Keeps dragging his feet and going back and forth over the whole issue.

I didn't mean to pressure him into getting engaged and tried not to be too demanding about doing this even though it was important to me. I feel like I have made a huge mistake and want to back out of getting engaged because I don't want to force him into anything and he obviously seems like he's not ready.

But I don't want to break up with him. I decided not to bring up the issue again and hope that nothing comes of it. But if he does come up with a ring how do I back out of getting engaged?

How helpful would using an Airsoft rifle for target practice be in terms of preparing to qualify on a military rifle range.

I'm in the guard so I only shoot once a year if I am lucky and I want to improve my marksmanship but don't have access to a rifle range or an EST room. Even though an airsoft rifle obviously doesn't have the recoil of a real weapon, would it be helpful in helping me improve my shooting?

I'm just finishing a paper on the Rani of Jhansi and in several books that I used for sources say that she wrote all of her letters and petitions to the British in Farsi and then had them translated into English.

I thought maybe the writer might have been mistaken at first, but then I saw her personal seal and it was all written in Farsi.

I'm confused. Why would a Hindu woman in central India speak Farsi as her first language. I guess she had a lot of Afghan soldiers too. What's up with that?

My boyfriend and I have been in a long distance relationship for a little over a year. I had planned on moving in with him next month because I was told I would have to wait 9 months to a year before I would be able to go to follow on training after I commission as an officer.

However, I got orders that are sending me to school only six days after I become an officer and my boyfriend started talking about getting engaged before then since we were going to ostensibly be apart for another year. I am going to be stationed at Ft. Hood (he's in Boston) but he's planning to move down there when I finish with my training.

I was really excited because it's a huge step in our relationship, but also because I just turned 30 and would like to get married soon.

However, shortly after I made arrangements to have his band made by a local jeweler he said that he wanted to postpone getting engaged because of travel expenses and because he didn't want to buy me a cheap ring. He also said that having to get a ring on a limited time table was stressing us both out and he didn't want either of us to be unhappy. I told him that I didn't care how much the ring cost because we could always buy a better one in a few years but that didn't sway him.

I am upset because now I have to call this jeweler back and cancel my order before she does anymore work which is so embarrassing. I'm going to have to all my friends that I bragged to that I'm no longer getting engaged. I'm also upset because having a solid commitment from him made me feel so much more secure in my relationship. I'm also concerned because his mother is convincing him to buy a second property which I think will prove an obstacle to him moving.

I am just so heartbroken. I have been through a couple of really bad relationships and had given up on ever finding a decent guy until I met him. He made me change my mind about never getting seriously involved again and I really want our relationship to work out. I'm trying not to put any pressure on him, but him going back and forth is making me have serious doubts about us and my first instinct is to bail. I really do not want to get hurt again and I get the feeling this is what is going to happen.

Can someone please tell me what to do?

I am getting engaged next month and I want to put am inscription on the inside of my boyfriend's engagement ring. My Farsi isn't very good though and I am too embarrassed to ask people I know for help.

I was thinking about putting the following line on the ring: "Thank you God for what you have done for us in this world." But I don't know how to translate that into Farsi and was also worried that it might be too long.

Can anyone suggest a translation of this phrase or a practical alternative if it is too long?

I am getting engaged next month and I want to put am inscription on the inside of my boyfriend's engagement ring. My Farsi isn't very good though and I am too embarrassed to ask people I know for help.

I was thinking about putting the following line on the ring: "Thank you God for what you have done for us in this world." But I don't know how to translate that into Farsi and was also worried that it might be too long.

Can anyone suggest a translation of this phrase or a practical alternative if it is too long?

I branched chemical corp and was doing a little reading on GoArmy.com about CBRN stuff that soon-to-be 2LTs care about like BOLC, etc. Under the heading of "Related Army Positions" Civil Affairs Officer was listed. In fact, it was the only position listed as related.

I am absolutely dying to know why Chemical Corp would be considered a feeder branch for Civil Affairs. If anyone could cast some light on this I would be quite delighted.

Whenever I see movies that have scenes somewhere in modern Eastern Europe (Borat, Wanted, Everything is Illimuniated, etc) They always seem to show the same exact make and model of car. I have looked at pictures online and it appears to be a Lada, Trabant or maybe a Dacia from the 1970s.

Is there a certain make and model that is common in rural areas and if so what is the actual name of the car?

I am switching from the reserves to active duty in May when I commission and have not lived on an installation as an adult except for BCT/AIT which doesn't really count. (My dad retired quite a while ago and doesnt have a clue how the army works now) Is it hard to get on-post housing since there seems to be a waiting list?

I looked at the Ft. Hood Housing Office website and they only have information about on-post housing for enlisted soldiers as far as I can tell. They also said that they no longer provide Bachelor Officer's Quarters anymore. I assume that BAH will be provided and that I will have to go find an apartment in Killeen.

Obviously I can get guest housing during the three-days of inprocessing, but will I have any time after that to find an apartment or housing before I am expected to go to my unit and start taking over my duties?

I am single and currently have no pets. (I would, however, like to adopt my Mom's cat if it is possible to have a pet a Ft. Hood) Whatever advice, information, or personal experience that you would like to share would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

No seriously, I really have. I wish I could say that it was due to a lack of effort on my part. But....it's not. I just suck.

Should I lower my expectations? Or should I just keep failing until I either die or somehow manage to get things right for a change?

I left home when I was 16 and am 30 years old now.

My father always used severe physical punishment to correct bad behavior (10-20 lashes with a leather belt for getting out of bed at night) But when I was about 10 the punishment turned to full blown beatings. I was thrown down stairs, dragged by my hair, kicked and thrown through furniture and hit with objects like broom handles. Some of the beatings were so bad that I can't remember them. I only know of them because my sister told me that they happened.

I have always had anger and emotional problems over the years. I have been going to counseling off and on for over a decade. I feel like I go through cycles of improvement. I go to counseling to work on certain issues, but after a while I feel like I hit a plateau where the improvement I am seeing tapers off. When I feel that my progress has stopped I end my treatment. When I get to a point again where I think I have identified an issue to work on I go back to counseling and repeat the process. It's almost like peeling off layers of an onion.

I feel at times that I don't really function on the level of a normal 30 year old woman. I have a degree, I don't have any kind of alcohol or drug problems. I'm not a total loser. But I feel like I struggle to maintain normal relationships with people in my life on a casual basis. It's not the people close to me either like my fiance, friends or sister that I have trouble with, it's the people that I'm not close to that I have issues dealing with.

Is having an expectation of normalcy unrealistic? I feel like I will never be completely normal no matter what I do? How close to normal is it reasonable to aim for?

I am currently enlisted in the National Guard as a SGT/CSR. I commission in May and was selected for active duty. I currently have active duty orders sending me to Ft Knox to be cadre over the summer for LTC. I have been given a BOLC date and should find out soon where my permanent duty station will be.

I signed my lease a year and a half ago while enlisted in the guard. At that time I asked my landlord for a clause in my lease that would release me from any obligations that might become difficult to meet due to military service. My landlord who was renting to several other service members including his niece that had just returned from Afghanistan assured me that he valued my service and would terminate my lease with no questions asked if I had military related reasons for moving.

In the meantime my landlord who has proven on several occasions that his honesty is elastic just sold my apartment building to another property management company. I contacted the new company and explained the situation and they told me that they need something in writing from him documenting our verbal agreement. He says that I am covered by the Soldiers & Sailors Relief Act and doesn't need to provide any such documentation. I have until Friday to get him to sign an affidavit.

Can I break my lease because I am switching from the Guard to Active Duty? I have read the SSRA and it is unclear to me if my lease is covered.

and why are there so many instructions on how to make them on the internet