January transfer window spending slumps as - news.sky.com
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Transfer Deadline Day Discussion Thread
Haven’t seen one and there’s about 14 hours to go so (window closes at 11pm UK time) - saves people creating new posts to vent, as I have a feeling the rest of the day will see a progressive rise in anger. I don’t know about you lot, but personally looking forward to Aouar and Partey both joining later. I will look to update this summary where possible, but if I am resting my fingers momentarily from the trauma that is the F5 key, Arseblog are doing a rather good live update feed. Summary so far (this is the main feed - find Partey Watch below):
Torreira’s move to Atletico looks like it will go ahead.
Rumours linking Nelson to Southampton, and Saliba to Fulham and Rennes (as loans obviously). Saliba to Fulham seems off, as they have gone for Andersen from Lyon. Let's see if he therefore stays.
Ornstein has stated that moves for Aouar and Partey (as well as Jorginho) appear dashed, and it looks unlikely we can get any backup targets.
Gunnersaurus has been made a free agent, whilst some lovely people are insulting Edu’s son on Twitter.
FootballGhana and Sky Bet Compan- *sorry* Sky Sports News claiming Partey may still move. Charles Watts said earlier that there was no Partey development last night but if Arsenal pay the release clause, the deal would be wrapped up pretty swiftly. The player would've been keen to join & personal terms apparently wouldn't have been an issue. If we want to get really desperate, there is a hollow metal object on twitter who has claimed all summer that Partey will come.
There are some people claiming the Telegraph have said we are interested in a loan for Thomas Lemar (yes, our £80m man). I've yet to see where that is said though so take it with a pinch of salt for now.
From a distance I thought it was tap-in specialist Filippo Inzaghi, but turns out it's just Fabrizio Romano recycling old information for more interactions on Twitter. He says Atletico remain convinced Partey stays, as they have all summer. But 'let's see if someone triggers the clause'.
After an early flurry of news on outgoings and general disappointment on incomings, the current transfer scene for Arsenal currently is barren.
It's now almost 11, still barely anything in last hour.
Right, I'm assuming we must be preparing the Gunnersaurus statue, and that's currently occupying us, hence no news. As a fun exercise, why don't we name our favourite chocolate bars? I'll start, mine currently is that Dairy Milk one with popping candy in it, really rate it.
ALL PARTEY UPDATES WILL BE IN PARTEY WATCH THREAD BELOW. Saves me typing it twice, all non-Partey news is above.
I'm going to say this quietly, however Lyon are in breach of FFP currently following the collapse of Dembele to United (from Barca), and thus Depay to Barcelona. They need to sell. A private jet just landed in London from Lyon an hour ago. This could very well be Andersen to Fulham, but lets see.
Sky Sports hearing about an Arsenal departure that isn't Guendouzi or Torreira. More to follow apparently.
Rumours that Arsenal have now pulled the Torreira loan deal, and will pressure Atletico into making a permanent offer. I don't know about the origin of the source or where it was said, its just being floated around Twitter.
Andersen to Fulham is a loan without option to buy as per GFFN. I believe Lyon still fall short of FFP regulations. Interesting hours ahead, as I think Lyon are just under €30m in the red. They need a sale.
Kicker have said Kolasinac will not join Bayer today.
In one of the weirder rumours, according to Téléfoot, we rejected a loan offer for Sokratis from PSG.
Partey Watch (Tier 100 rumours will be posted here, didn't want it clogging the main feed above)
Ornstein stated this morning that a move for Partey is unlikely, barring a dramatic late change.
STRAP YOUR SEATBELTS, ALONSO IS AT THE WHEEL. THOMAS PARTEY'S REPRESENTATIVE JUST TWEETED AN AOUARGLASS. SURELY NOT. The hollow metal object on Twitter has just said that we rang Partey's camp an hour ago to confirm we will look to complete the deal today. My body can't take this. Just so people are aware, I don't think there is anything in this, but we've been starved of news for the past hour so I figured I would drop it in for all of you who are looking for anything. Please don't actually invest yourselves into Partey again, wait for someone with a bit more credibility.
COPE Journalist has said in the last hours Arsenal has communicated to La Liga its intention to pay Partey's clause. Apparently he is Tier 1 for Atletico. WHAT IS GOING ON.
Charles Watts: 'Legal team is at Colney now working on the transfer. Negotiations not needed with Atletico.'
Rumours that Arsenal have now pulled the Torreira loan deal, and will pressure Atletico into making a permanent offer. I don't know about the origin of the source or where it was said, its just being floatedaround Twitter. Yeah that was nonsense.
Sorry lads, went to the shops. Partey has completed his medicals according to various sources, and is on his way to London via jet. Race against time, but what a day its been.
Partey has landed in London
Charles Watts: La Liga have informed Atletico that Arsenal have met Partey's release clause. Neither the player or Arsenal have communicated this with Atletico. HUGE ARSENAL MOVE.
The Bell: Partey will sign a deal inclusive of bonuses at just over £200k a week.
Orny and the Bell both now saying that Partey is done.
Partey signs.
Rest easy boys, we did it, its been a journey. See you lads tomorrow for Buendia and Cantwell rumours.
Testing testing; check one two – DWT is live once again on Reddit! Terrific, terrific stuff Alas – promotion has remained minimal; concentration devoted to other important matters: the Big DWT T-Shirt Giveaway. The entrants remained steady at the fixed 5 folk - the decision thus taken to reward all those who made effort to type the hashtag. Within moments - one of those announced there was no need for a t-shirt (I'm at this time yet to respond to the young man) - coudnae make it up. Woke up this morn - and thankfully two claimed. Important to actually have a complete trail from start to finish. Indication created for evermore, that the franchise is able to deliver on its vows - something folks can place trust in. Not to be ignored - in the background this whole occasion; the shamed Good Ship DWT. Back from yet another complete failure of a trip. Unable to deliver a win pre-xmas as hoped and heavily alluded to. We did manage to grab a healthy double way back at the start of the month - for that we can at least be thankful. During those convos where vitriol is being spat right in ones face, there is the chance at least to fill any void of chat with a quip relating to this success. On second thoughts - maybe no haha ah no. No defeats last week either - the ultimate slap to the mouth. One wee goal from either the draw-ers and we'd be skipping along the path akin to Mary Poppins herself. Glee is never that far away - its just if one doesnae manage to successfully tip themselves over the edge, they tumble backwards into a big pile of dirty filthy shite. I mind once thinking a well placed dunt on the side of one of yon copper coin cliffhanger machines, would see me wee taken care of financially for a spell - instead the rings of alarms filled my ear as an angry permed worman pointed sternedly at the exit door. So close - now never again. Sometimes when you ride a bull, he manages to flick you off, then drive one of his dirty bastard horns up your bing bong. Fuck that. I'm no cowboy. I'd take an interest obviously - in much the same way as any new thing being presented to me as a potential option. Full of chin scratching and wide-eyedness I'd be; but longer term, there'd be a friendly exchange of waves and me driving off into the distance to pursue much the same pish as I always have. The directional changes - whilst evident - are subtle. Deviation - whilst extreme in the past; has now been settled for a fair old stretch. It has its ups and downs - these days I'm more about wee blips. A firm path - with a pothole to fill from time to time; but always that familiar feel, look and smell. Its important to reach down and touch what feels comfortable. When you land upon it; really take time to get to know - a wee finger in a puddle, a taste of the fluid following by instant spittling. Rich in nutrients - terrific. I've had a wee sample of that type of thing - not directly I must add alas; but certainly enough to have a sense of how wondrous the feeling of possessing land can be. A wee patch to call your own. The experience of observing that kind of relationship unfold is an interesting one. The events I watched, were often tinged with a level of discomfort - the owner was all too willing to get on his high horse about things. Right from the off - chest a puffed, air blasting fumedly from the corner of his scowl. He was generally the kin of cunt I gazed upon through furrowed brow - but no question, there was a degree of success to his game. His existence I reasoned, made those with more tact all the more appreciated. One can never underestimate the terrificness of warmth when faced directly with frost. Admittedly - one must confess a dropping of the guard and an allowance of acceptance in replacement from time to time. Effortlessly sitting back, gently ushering in the energy to spout summat in contest of displays of disdain. I always reason you need to let a wee blast through from time to time. Else the cold will frost over the controls, leaving us helpless in the face of aggressive and heartless behaviour. Leaving oneself raw here and there reminds folk of its existence. On the rocks we were from the week before; finally able to pluck ourselves free from the clutches of the Evil Bastard Rocks - we dusted the place down, tugged the sails back up the masts and got up to speed. Skip forward a few hours - there we were a fucking gain; smashed to fuck against the Evil Bastard Rocks - the slimey seaweed stench filling our nostrils akin to the odour of defeat and perish. Useless bastards - they were laughing at us were the Evil Bastard Rocks. Once - the fuel is transferred easily into the tanks of belief. No the first time at the Ridicule Rodeo. Twice - aye sure, hands held up - accepted. But no doubt ones eye was a twitching in recognition. Thrice - well lets no pay too much heed unnecessarily. Such a wretched time, its best no mused over until absolutely necessary. Concentration therefore on victory - as fucking always 😎. So to wrap up - with Xmas dealt with, Hellos to those relative - avoiding the negative, by popping a sedative. Reddit Running Total (RRT) currently sits at -£253.57. Ah no. I’m not promoting it in the slightest to be put on; it's purely to be completely transparent about where the beans I'm spilling are being pushed towards – this is after all, a Life Experiment: Can a useless old arsehole prosper under strict weekly gambling conditions? Word of warning; prior to this – not really.
The sticky clarifies - but just to reiterate - here's the format...DRS20 is Dads Recommended Spend: £20. This is a lot of money granted - and I would encourage absolute apprehension if this sort of money represents life altering for you personally if zero is returned. I’m lucky enough to be able to afford to lose £20 in a week; but confess that if I got no return for say, 20 weeks in a row - I would likely be without something I value (a streaming service or summat). I don’t take it lightly. Four bets are placed with this outlay; a £5 Treble (DWT) and three £5 Doubles. Generally if two come up, the bet is covered (up or down £2 or so). My gambling prowess is pretty much a joke; so whilst I advertise, I in no way qualify them as a given. I’m a prick with plenty bollocks to spout is all. This is how I frame it.
So here it is - the one that, in recognition the stretchiness of manys wallets - plucks some proverbial diamonds from amongst the manure: Its DWT31 https://i.redd.it/nsqznpolmj761.gif
34.53/1 we get for this selection – terrific. Over 57's last week; over 34's this week - no records this Boxing Day Edition being set. In its place a potential return that certainly still qualifies as a jaw dropping amount. At the very least - worthy of having one reaching for ones phone to text a few cunts the good news. Given the messages and calls will be pinging this way and fucking that; a nice wee sprinkling of magic dust added to the convo-cake with the announcement you bagged a hipful of bangers thanks to a terrific old cunts weekly wager. 'Whats this?' They ask - followed by a stretch of awkwardness no doubt haha - a hipful of bangers nonetheless; thats the focus. Claim it as your own - no cunt wants to tell folks they're taking advice off of a proven useless arsehole. But here - win the day and that perception will maybes update itself a smidge. Lets see what happens 😎 ROSS COUNTY were locked upon as soon as the managerial change occurred; you always expect a touch of joy early on in a cunts shot. Yogi Hughes it is; a chance to show he still has summat to offer after a strange moment over at Raith there. First game was Celtic away - so forgiven for perhaps saving the sheckels on that one. Today at home to st mirren; no disrespect to the quite frankly on fire sainties; but unarguably a much more winnable affair. An able team County are as a couple results thus far have proven; they've something to return Yogi at the very least in the short term. SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY are one I've gotten a smidge obsessive about; convinced I am the Pulis will turn shite around. And you know - as I say that, a wee glance at the form sheets and we see - oh ho - a win last time out for the Owls. Finally - a dollop of positive slopped into the ice cream bowl. Beating coventry a world beater does not make - I get it (hoo mama); but never underestimate the power of feeling - Tony will have harnessed it and swung it this way and that, licking it across the faces of all involved at Sheffield Wednesday. A new attitude - a new hope. With it - victory. DERBY COUNTY find themselves once more amongst my selections; now arguably a fairly obvious choice upon anyones sheet. Unbeaten now in 6 - pugface has steadied the ship and no mistake. Sure - still a ways to go; lots of draws, no many goals - the main encouragement being their most impressive performance was the most recent; a terrific 2-0 cunting of pretenders Swansea. A tone to set going into 2021 - theres an intent about the wee pricks the now. Lets see what they do with it. So there we have it – nostalgia, hope and determination all apparent in equal measure. This time we do it right; wind in the sails – and off across the ocean in search of new worlds. A powerful pirate ship hunting high and low for treasures. Raise the fucking flag - the good ship DWT is back and ready to provide for its crew. If you play; play safe. DRS20 as always people. Frustration at the amount won, is better than the heartache at the amount lost. https://preview.redd.it/sv5qxv4kmj761.jpg?width=630&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69d347843707277e586de44d54fa0fc95acda2e0
My First 6 Months in IT - What to expect in YOUR Journey - Featuring advice on CVs/Resumes, Interviews, Certificates and training, and how to handle being laid off.
My Experience in IT after 6 months, What Can You Expect? Hi all, I recently read a on r\ITCareerQuestions about being frustrated with all of the posts asking for help. This in part, is a response to that. Fair warning – this is going to be a long one (slightly over 5000 words), strap yourself in or get out while you can, you have been warned! I have tried to break it up into sections, so feel free to skip to parts that interest you. I will happily answer all questions, PLEASE feel free to DM me. I will help anyone with resources that I used, and advice on best career pathways. Who is this post for? I think this post is going to be for you if you fit into any of the following categories. If you are looking to break in to IT and you haven’t even taken your first step, if you have been studying for certificates and you want to know if it is all going to be worth it (is there a light at the end of this tunnel). Maybe you want to know what your first 6 months in IT are going to be like. Maybe you want realistic salary expectations and you don’t want to ask a salesman or the guy driving an expensive car. Maybe you have been a lurker on this thread and you’ve seen all the conflicting advice. Perhaps you have sent out 400 job applications and had no bites. Maybe you have had 20 interviews and no one has given you a chance. My point being there are many steps you need to take to take your “first step” or to get your foot in the door. If you are someone who is taking any one of those steps, I do recommend reading this. My Journey, two jobs, one lay-off, sleepless nights, a global pandemic and an incredible wife. When I was 28, I decided I wanted a stable and steady career. Something I didn’t have to fight 30 other younger and hungrier people for. To put this into context I once applied for an entry level market research position and I don’t mind telling you that interview experience was something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I hadn’t applied myself at university, I studied Biology, something I had no passion for and the competition in scientific research was something that you would never survive without passion. I was always exceptional at exams/learning/studying, to that end I was first in my year at university for exam results. And for that great honour I was awarded a £1000 cash scholarship prize. And being an irresponsible student I spent the entire thing (and some student overdraft) on my very first PC. I spent hundreds of hours watching Linus tech tips, and Jays2cents and how to build a PC. I was hooked, I built that PC, booted her up, and realised…. I still want to watch build videos. I genuinely found out that I loved learning about hardware. I didn’t know that about myself. I know I see a lot of backstory posts asking for help that all say “I am tech savvy, I am the techy one in the family” etc etc. So, I think these people know what I mean. By the way if you are worried that being the “techy one” isn’t valuable then you are dead wrong. It means you can learn technologies quickly and interact with user interfaces with ease. These are going be all you do for a long time in IT. You will have many user interfaces thrown at you that are custom to your company, but more on that later. Well, unfortunately, years pass me by while I take a job in biology I have no passion for, I didn’t hate my job, I got to work at a university helping students with disabilities cope with every day life. But I didn’t feel excited or driven. And then one day I was watching the UK version of the apprentice, absolute trashy TV at its finest for those that don’t know what it is. It is a competition in which people present a business plan to a billionaire and that billionaire decides if the business plan has legs. So I am watching this guy with perfect quaffed hair and teeth that would blind you, (you know the type, he works is sales and thinks the world would collapse without him) and he is pitching a Cyber security recruitment company. And he has the leading experts in the country critiquing him, and I heard the same thing over and over. IT is desperate for people, for every 10 roles in IT security, there are only 1 or 2 qualified people. I have to admit I got a little excited, nervous excited. I did something that changed my life. I googled it and made a phone call. That’s right, I spent all of 2 minutes before I was on the phone to a salesman. Let me tell you, if I could go back in time a slap myself for buying in to this pitch I would. “The average person in IT security in the UK earns £72,000”, Booom, I am hooked. You are telling me I can earn £72K and they will be desperate to have me? I won’t have to compete? It won’t be a dog fight… Where the hell do I sign up? Well spoilers for what is to come later, but no, I didn’t end up as CIO of a small company making silly money in year one. So, what were they offering me and what did it cost me? I signed up for a course that included a Microsoft Technical associate (MTA) in server fundamentals and an MTA in security fundamentals. I signed up for a Comptia certificate in Network+ and in Security+ and finally an EC council certificate in ethical hacking, called CEH. All for the price of around £3000. “Not bad” I told myself for a £72K/year job. “Not bad” I told my wife (who supported me through every single step). So, when did I first begin to have doubts? That is easy, I remember it like it was yesterday. I had this awful procrastination habit (I bet almost ALL of you do it too) I would google jobs for whatever certificate I was going to study. For me, this was the CEH. A simple “CEH Jobs” search was almost all I ever googled back then. And there were hundreds of them, decent pay too. And then one day I saw it “we are looking for real candidates, no offense to those with a CEH”. It was like a punch to the gut, but worse as my heart raced with fear. What the hell did they mean?! It was at this point I realised I might be in trouble. I am sure a lot of you feel that way now. Have I just been swindled by a Nigerian prince who just needed my bank details so he can transfer me my millions? Well yes and no. Yes I had been swindled by the promise of £72K, and yes I had been swindled by the CEH, it is one of the most expensive certificates you can get and it does make you look like an idiot to anyone in field. But no, I had not been swindled out of a career just yet. I kept my head down and I nailed my first ever certificate and I have to admit, it was the hardest things I ever studied. I would say that knowing hardware helped a bit with the server fundamentals certificate, but only for about 5-10% of the learning objectives that were focussed on hardware. The rest was like information overload. I had to learn about how servers worked and communicated. I had to learn Microsoft’s branding too, which is a feat of its own. But I did it, I finally got an IT certificate. I powered through my security MTA full steam ahead knowing I could achieve it with hard work and consistency. And that is when things got interesting. I began studying for my network+, and let me tell you, I fell in love. I began feeling like the curtains were being drawn on the way the world worked. I understood how if I sent an email, that email was carried across the country to my friends and family. However, the instructor kept saying the same thing over and over. “And if you take a CISCO course you will learn all about it”. I mean if I had a £ for every time she said it…. Well, I did it again ladies and gentleman. I went back to the same person who sold me my snake oil. And I asked if they did CCNA courses. Of course they did, for the cool price of £800. What the hell I thought, the CCNA is a “real” certificate finally. Finally, I won’t feel worry and despair at the thought of this all being in vane, because I, Jacob Smith will be a network engineer. The course was mediocre, and I found myself frustrated, so I did the unthinkable. That is right, I spend £10 on an Udemy course. I mean obviously it was going to be terrible. You would have to be an idiot to think a £10 course could be better than an £800 one. Well Neil Anderson spared no time showing me the error of my ways. His course was phenomenal. I bought the course for the first half of the CCNA, then I bought the course for the second half, and then I thought why the hell not, its only £10, I will buy the course that comes as whole package just to support him. This is the lesson I learned that day. A person can sell their 20 hour course for £10 if they know it is good enough. And then they can make more money than the predator who sells their course to desperate people for thousands. Let’s skip forward a few months. It is the last hour of the last day in which I can sit the CCNA before they retire it and change it completely. The exam went amazingly, and for those interested I used Neil Anderson’s course, and Boson netsim and boson exsim for the tools. I am done. I have finally sat the last certificate I am going to sit before I start applying for Jobs. I no longer want the CEH as I know it will just make me look bad and I don’t want to commit the hours required to learn something that will hurt me. Advice on Resumes/CVs I fire up google again and waste no time typing “professional CV templates”. Wow, CVs look incredible these days, look how pretty I can make my application. I have dedicated sections for skills, work experience, school etc. Here is lesson number two, and more important than you realise. Do NOT use these templates ever. Every recruiter that you send your CV to has some sort of CV filter on it. These CV templates are terrible for a number of reasons. Firstly, the format cannot be read by the CV filter, it doesn’t know what it’s looking at so it just bins it. If you are using one and you have sent hundreds of applications and had no bites, then I strongly recommend you read this part and do what I did. Secondly, these templates are designed for people with work experience and skills. Unfortunately that wasn’t me, I was breaking in to IT. This meant that the focus of my CV HAD to be biology, there was no way to change this. My CCNA was at the bottom of my second page under “other”. So if by some divine intervention my CV did get through to a recruiter, there was no way they would ever read I had 5 certificates. I had some of the worst and most sleepless nights of my life for the next 2 weeks. I applied to 20-40 jobs a day and heard nothing. Not a peep. It is at this point my beautiful wife lets slip that her sister is in IT recruitment. Mixed emotions is an understatement, I bounced between desperate joyous relief and utter disbelief that at no point did she think to mention this. Here is what I learned. You are not applying for a social media job, you are not applying for a graphic designer job. A recruiter reads a hundred of these a day and there is nothing that annoys them more for IT people than a fancy looking CV. Put this CV in black and white, have literally nothing but words. Don’t even break the page up with horizontal lines. Put everything IT related at the top, have a strong and promising professional statement. Focus on your certificates, focus on your lab experience. And cram that CV full of skills that you know about. You want something like this in there. DHCP, DNS, IPv4, IPv6, AD, NTFS, Switching, Routing, Wireless, STP, RIP, OSPF, EIGRP. Hyper-V, VMWare. Windows 7/8/8.1/10, Windows Server 2008/R2, 2012/R2, 2016, 2019. iOS, MacOS, Android. This along with your certificates, your goals and your passion. Along with (briefly) anything transferable from other non-IT related jobs, I am talking about customer service, high stress jobs and time sensitive roles. These skills will be valuable but they should be secondary and again I cannot stress this enough, make it brief. Your education, and non-IT related jobs should make up a small portion of the CV that follows at the end. A recruiter is going to pick your CV up and see your skills, see your certificates and personal statement and then just put it down and give you a call. I doubt they ever get to the part where you describe what working at Pizza hut was like. Round 2 of applying for jobs Once I rewrote that CV (annoyingly I had already applied to a lot of the jobs in my area with my poor CV) I sent it out. The difference was life changing. I got a call back the next day actually I got three call backs the next day. Over the next 2 weeks I got roughly 12 recruiter calls, I got three interview offers. I did 2 interviews and got offered to the next stage. The first was with a large corporate company with 1000s of employees. They IQ tested me and they told me that I would be drug tested at my interview. This was a huge red flag to me. I have never done drugs and nor would I want to. But if these people are going to greet me at the door with a mouth swab, then I hate to think what working for them would be like. I turned down their offer for a second interview. Instead I went to interview at a nearby (well not nearby 90 mile round trip commute) MSP. This was mid-March and I have never enjoyed an interview experience more in my life. The culture was very much this is a place where we have a laugh and you will love working for us. I didn’t have any red flags at the time, I just was so pleased this was all finally happening for me. We joked about football, we talked about hobbies, some IT related questions, typical interview stuff. He even joked we had a bromance going on and said, and I quote “F**k me, you know an interview is going well when its been over and hour and you haven’t noticed”. Honestly, I think my older age was an advantage here, I was 30 at this point and I am at a stage in life where I am able to hold a conversation well without being nervous or self-conscious. There are obviously going to be downsides to being 30 and starting out too, but I was happy this worked in my favour. I got a full day and a half of training (sitting behind a guy and watching him work), okay some red flags cropped up at this point. The people here didn’t seem to care very much, nor did they know a huge amount. The way the cases distribution worked was everything went to 2nd line, and they trickled down anything they didn’t want to 1st line and they pushed up what they needed to, to 3rd line. So, I got all the “my webcam isn’t working” calls, which was fair enough, I was grateful to have the job. But I had nothing in my queue that I thought “omg I have no idea what this is”. That might sound like a good thing, but it is the worst thing that can happen to your career. How are you supposed to learn how to install SSL certificates if you never have a case for it? Well I doubt it is any shock to any of you crazy enough to still be reading, but I after a mindblowing 14 days, I was put on furlough (not sure if Americans have this, but it means temporarily laid off). It seriously makes you question why they hired someone that they laid off 14 days later, but that follows with the “everything is a laugh” attitude I suppose. I spent the first half of April not knowing (but having a bad feeling) what was going to happen next. And then our prime minister announced the first extension of the lockdown. And when I woke up the next morning I had been completely locked out of all my accounts and I had a “whatsapp” message waiting for me. You read that correctly, Mr fun and games decided it was appropriate to give me bad news over whatsapp. He told me he really liked me and to look out for a message from him when this all blows over, as I will be the first person they call. But he had to let a lot of staff go permanently. I spent all off April preparing for this, but it still didn’t help me through what this felt like. Try and imagine working your ass off for 18 months to begin a life you never once dreamed was possible, to have it given to you and then taken away in the space of a month. I was let go on a Friday and I didn’t sleep a wink that whole weekend. I did get a phone call from my recruiter which I thought was nice. But it turns out they were only calling me because the company that let me go were claiming it was because of poor performance. They didn’t want to pay the recruitment fee, and they were willing to damage my reputation and relationship with the recruiter. However, it turned out to be the best thing that happened to me. Them refusing to pay the recruitment fee, drove my recruiter to immediately look for a job for me. It is Sunday afternoon that same weekend and I get a call saying “I have an interview lined up for you tomorrow, can you make it?”. I could not believe what I was hearing. I have an interview lined up and I may not even miss a pay day? I felt like crying. But what was that he said? I must have misheard, did he say it was for tomorrow? That’s right, after having no sleep and being in a state of emotional and physical exhaustion I now had less than 24 hours to prepare for a job I had no idea about. How to prep for an interview I worked my arse off. I learned everything I could about the company, I read their testimonials, I studied their customers, I looked at the solutions they provided. I like to have all my certificates with me, along with copies of my resume. I like to have prepared questions to ask the interviewer. I like to have a separate document that I can pass to them with all of my documentation from my labs. (this obviously means you have to document all your labs). I dressed as smartly as I could and gave it everything I could. I watched youtube videos of typical helpdesk questions, I learned the tricks to the questions they ask, e.g. The owner of your company says his printer is broken at the same time you get a call from a customer saying all 200 staff have lost connection to the internet. What do you do? The trick is to communicate with your team, with a team you can do both at the same time. These videos are an amazing tool to prep with and they give you really good answers that you don’t have to think too hard about. They also take away some of the nerves. So how did it go? Well of course I just didn’t sleep. I mean who would have been able to sleep after what I had been through. I thought about postponing it but I still went for it. I can’t begin to describe the difference in management style. This man was a manager, he was an IT professional with 25 years experience, and he had owned, ran and sold his own successful MSP. It was both refreshing and worrying. He expected nothing of me, he didn’t really care about my technical knowledge. I didn’t know this at the time, but it was because everyone at this company was driven and knew their stuff. Everyone held 10+ certs and had years and years of experience. This was a different company, with serious people and incredible opportunities to learn. I thought I had bombed, I was tired and a little defeated. But I got a second interview, and with sleep was able to completely turn it around. I turned my weaknesses in knowledge into opportunities to ask my manager to showcase his knowledge. I was far more engaged and I was offered the job at this far more serious role for the same money I was originally on and I cut my commute in half (well technically I am work from home). What to expect from a serious MSP? At my new company, cases come in to 1st line and you are expected to work on everything, and only after you have exhausted your ability can it go up to second line. It is also worth noting the main difference between the two companies is that the first one only provided services for their customers and they had monthly rolling contracts. My current company is a cloud provider and they host all of their customers infrastructures and endpoints, as well as having 1-3 year contracts (much harder to pull out of during a pandemic) it didn’t hurt that a lot of their customers are hospital related. I have been at my new company now for 4.5 months and learned more there than I could have ever learned at the first company. I put my money where my mouth is. It wasn’t long before my first manager called me and offered me my old job back. This time with a 33% pay increase. I flat out told him no (respectfully of course) but firmly. It was a lot more money than I am on now but that wasn’t the point. I would not want to stymy my career by working at such a poorly managed company. In the UK, they could have just left me furloughed (it wouldn’t have cost them anything) and I would have received 80% of my salary. But they terminated me and then expected me to come back? I wasn’t going to repay my new manager’s act of saving me from that hell with disloyalty (I know loyalty can be looked down upon in this sub, but that is how I was raised). What can you expect in your first 6 months? Enough about me, let’s look at you. Let’s look at what you can expect. You can expect that certificates can take between 2-6 months each depending on how much time you dedicate to them. You can expect your first job to pay a little more than minimum wage. However, most places now pay for your training, pay for your exams and give extra time to study during work. You can more than likely expect your first job to be helpdesk. You can expect to have to apply to hundreds of jobs to get your first one. However, if you follow my previous advice you should be getting call backs from recruiters at a minimum. If not, then it will be your CV that needs to change. If you want to be successful you will have to sacrifice. I get up 3 hours before my shift and I study. Every single day, and I work longer on weekends. I offer every single time someone needs to stay late or come in early. I often stay late after work finishes to tidy up cases and prepare for the next day. I work through every single lunch. The reason for this is because I take twice as many cases as the other person that started 3 months before me, lets call this person “anon”, anon is my direct competition and he drives me to be the best I can be. The results of my hard work are that I am sitting my exam in half the time that Anon will take (honestly I doubt he will take it when he says). I have closed more cases than him and he has been at the company for 7.5 months vs my 4.5 months. I was asked to go to site to setup a switch for a customer (twice) over anon. I have been “selected” by my manager to work directly with on a fileserver project. It looks like he has taken me under his wing (which I highly recommend, if you can get someone to teach you that is half as smart as my manager then do it). I have had multiple people tell me they notice how engaged I am during meetings, and how well they think I am doing. I have had a number of times a 2nd line ask me if I want to be shown something that typically only goes to 2nd Line. I have learned that hard work, determination and a willingness to learn does not go unnoticed. What are some of the negatives to expect? But it isn’t all fairytails, there are downsides too. I don’t spend as much time with my wife or doing the things I like. I feel guilty if I watch a film instead of study. If you take twice as many cases you are going to make at least twice as many mistakes. Making mistakes is normal, and you have to learn from them, but if you take them to heart like me, then you are going beat yourself up twice as often. Ultimately, the sky is the limit, how hard you work will depend on you and what drives you. I have my foot in the door and I have no intention of taking my foot of the gas anytime soon. If you think that once you get your foot in the door that the hard part is over, then that simply isn’t the case I am afraid. How to give yourself the best opportunity in your career (tips no one tells you). I push myself out of my comfort zone many times a day. I do this so that these things become my comfort zone. I notice how often my manager trusts me to do something that he wouldn’t normally let a 1st line support engineer do. You can expect to have a highly stressful working environment. You are going to have many fires to put out at the same time, and you need to organise yourself so it doesn’t overwhelm you. I think something that no certificate teaches you, or that I have yet to see, and it is easily the most important thing I have learned, is to have a to do list. First thing in the morning, before you do anything, fire up notepad or onenote and write down everything you have to do in that day. It doesn’t have to be in order, just get writing. And then anytime you complete a task look at notepad and start working on the next thing. Also, if anyone asks you to do anything ever, fire up notepad, and write it down. You can be albert Einstein himself, and you are going to forget to do a good chunk of that stuff if you write it down. And remember, you are going to make a lot of mistakes, but forgetting to do stuff is a terrible mistake to make and can be easily avoided. If you have to stop someone mid flow because you realise they are telling you to do a multistep thing, then stop them and fire it up and ask them to start again. Annoying but better than having to call them later and ask them to say it all again, or worse just forget it. You can expect a relatively thankless job. There will always be those people who remember to thank you and make you feel like you are appreciated, but more often than not you will get someone who the second the thing works, they want off the phone. Get used to goodbyes being a tad rushed/awkward. You can expect that you will need a lot of help. But try to be smart and kind about it. Try speaking to those people about things in which you don’t ask for help and ask them about themselves. Develop relationships that are meaningful. Also, try and vary the people you ask for help from, don’t take advantage of someone because they are polite and never let you know that inside they are frustrated because they too have a big to do list. Spread your help out and try and make up for the fact you are going to be a big inconvenience by offering to help in other ways. Make the coffees, make the teas, offer to take dogsh*t menial tasks that need doing. These sorts of things are good way to pay it back to someone that you won’t be able to help technically. Advice to avoid serious mistakes. Always think about what you are doing. Always. Is this something you should be doing? Is this something that needs approval? is this something you should check with someone first? Checking with someone is not the same as asking for help and it has saved my ass more times than I can count. Don’t be the person that causes a service outage because you didn’t check if something is right. It may feel obvious, it may make you look dumb. But if I was to be shown 100 tasks and asked what my gut tells me is the “proper protocol” for each one, I would get most wrong. Don’t try and guess what is best for the customer or company policy. This is what I like to call good old-fashioned Arse-covering. It covers yours and your employers. Those £72K jobs exist. And people do them. You could be one of them, but it will take years of dedication and sacrifice. If that sounds like you, if you can be driven, passionate and determined then nothing will stop you. Thank you for reading. If you are crazy enough to still be reading this, then thank you. I wish you all the luck in the world. TLDR: Hard work and self-belief pays off. Nothing is going to stop you except YOU.
which particular thought kept you going forward during the hardest moments of your fights? what would you advice to someone with 23 years old?
Hmm.
When in action, your objective is both defense and aggression. An activity in each is such that you have thoughts for little else. If you're aiming at a target, your one thought is to get it. And at the same time, being prepared for the next one. And you can't be thinking about last night's date or anything else. Your thoughts have to be zero'd in on what you're doing because if your mind wanders, your enemies are going to take advantage of it.
Concerning the future and regardless of your aims and ambitions, your principle activity must be study and education. Education in your chosen endeavor is always good because nobody can take it away from you. I feel that education is the answer to almost anything.
The military also looks favorably on education too. The Kimmell family's first doctor after WW2 was a guy that got all of his training and education through the army and he had the same qualifications and certifications that any civilian doctor would have. In my case, every sailor is given a battery of tests and the navy determines what his qualifications are -- how smart he is, his IQ and so forth. I went to two schools before I ever went to sea. Specialty schools to study fire control equipment -- all electrical type stuff. The big guns were controlled by electric hydraulic systems -- that's what moves them and so forth. The computers and the like were all handled by the fire controlman. It's one of the things that if you get this kind of training in the navy, you can go into almost any electronic-type work after the navy.
My brother Earl went to two universities studying electrical engineering and became an instructor in aviation radar.
You have seen a lot of changes in your 96 years across many countries. What has been your favorite innovation? Not necessarily the best or most amazing, but your favorite.
Heaven's sakes. What's an innovation? Uhh
There's been so many changes! I think it would have to be...
See one problem we had being overseas and plans being drawn elsewhere, if there was a change in plans we had to put a guy on an airplane with a roll of drawings and send him there. Now, all you have to do is punch a key on a computer and it goes over there.
I think it would have to be the internet and the ability to transfer information. For all of those projects, for every one of them the design drawings, the conceptual drawings were prepared in the US. In most cases, the development of construction drawings was done by an architectural engineering firm in Europe. We had a firm in Italy, one in Germany, and one in Greece. And all these documents that were used in construction were made out of the country, so any time the job changed the work was done in a foreign country the person had to hand-deliver drawings.
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Let's not forget that for a long time, every technical drawing was completely hand-drawn. They still teach these skills, but today must designers use computer software to perform the same tasks. I've had to hunt down 30-year-old drawings of equipment in a plant. My boss and I spent about half a day just finding it. When organized properly, computers are simply faster than we are, for the same reasons you mentioned. You might not realize how incredibly ready it has become to go from concept to fan drawing today. For a basic design, I can get a working drawing in a matter of minutes. At a previous job, my boss had to compile sales reports from hand-written till reports. After we got an old computer, I helped us move to Excel tracking. It wasn't perfect, but it helped him move from needing a week to compile the report to just a few hours. Needless to say, he was pretty happy with that! Computers are absolutely amazing, and I don't envy the tedium you dealt with during difficult jobs.
I've always hand drawn all my plans. In fact, I wouldn't want to necessarily admit this but I've never made a computer drawing. I never learned how to use CAD. I had advanced to the point where I was telling other people what to do with software.
And see even the time preceding the computer drawings, many of the drawings for important projects were put on linen and drawn in ink. I made several of that kind. One was a seating layout for a college basketball stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
What did you do to pass the time on the ship in WW2? Was there time for anything lighthearted or was it work 24/7?
Laughs
There was little free time. Our task force was an offensive unit and our free time was occupied mostly by preparation for the next action. What free time was available for the most part the crew would play cards, maybe have a chance to write a letter home, and just shoot the breeze.
From these comments you can assume there was little free time. My task force participated in five invasions and was task force 77.4.3 at the Battle off Samar. Our unit was known as Taffey III.
This invasion was beyond the range of the airforce's land-based airplanes and the navy, through the use of our aircraft carriers, provided air cover for the protection of the land forces during the invasion. In addition, we had surface action with units of the Japanese Navy to prevent them from having access to the invasion beaches and our soldiers.
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Taffy 3!!?? The battle off Samar! OMG!! This is so incredible. And you were fire control! Front row seat for the entire action. Question; Why hasn't a movie been made about this action yet? I've been reading about this since I was 12 years old in the 80s.
A lot of people are asking that question actually. Supposedly there has been a script written, but they're searching for funding. I heard about it here or there maybe at one ship reunion.
the below is another reply to the original answer
Aj_Caramba: Sorry for probably stupid question, but a while ago I read about fight of Taffy 3 with Japanese navy (The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors). Is it the same unit you mentioned? fatruff3: That is the Taffy 3 he mentions. His ship he mentions above is DE-341 the USS Raymond. His ship was a destroyer escort and was part of the actions. It landed some hits on a cruiser and also launched torpedo at the Japanese force. The Raymond was also targeted by the Yamato's secondary batteries at some point in the fight but from what I have read was not hit. I only respond since I would suspect Vern is done with the AMA. If he has anything to add or correct me on feel free!
Yep, that's all right.
Yes, this is that unit. In fact, I've met the author of that book.
Do you have a favorite project from your days as an architect? If so, what made it particularly memorable for you?
Definitely the monument to Thurgood Marshall. I'm trying to think of how to word the "why" though...
Well... He was the first black justice on the Supreme Court. He was very active in equal rights programs, especially the Supreme Court's overturning of "separate but equal" education which was a culmination of his work prior to being appointed to the Supreme Court.
Here in St. Louis there was the Dred Scott case and it was chaired by Judge Taney and Judge Taney was a resident of Baltimore, MD and so was Thurgood Marshall. The state of Maryland had recognized Taney's accomplishments and the African American community disfavored the attention given to Taney because of the Dred Scott decision. And it was a long process before recognition was given to Thurgood Marshall by approving the funds to build the monument to him.
What was working in Libya like? In the times you spent in Muslim countries, were you ever single and if so what was the nightlife like?
I guess as a foreigner, you must consider yourself a guest in the country in which you're working. You have to live by and respect their rules and regulations without sacrificing your freedom. I was able to do this without any problems. Things like their holy day being a different day of the week than your own, it isn't always acceptable that people of Christian faith worship in public there. These things can be done but you must be thoughtful and adapt on how to do it.
The construction in Libya was a challenge because of language difficulties and scarcity of materials and skill of the workforce there. There are solutions to all these issues and they can be overcome. Solving these problems is what makes it interesting in working in a foreign country.
I was never single during the period of my career when I worked in the Middle East. Nightlife in Muslim countries varies depending upon the country and how strict they follow their religious beliefs. Generally speaking, in most countries, nightlife is negligible. Private clubs are available. For the most part, in my situation, fraternization was not advisable for political reasons.
Social relationships were questionable because you never knew the background of the person, who their friends were -- what they believed and so forth.
Whose leadership did you admire serving in the war? Whether it was at the time or now looking back. Thanks!
Admiral Nimitz in the Navy and General Patton in the Army.
Nimitz because he took the disaster of the attack at Pearl Harbor and developed and fought the Japanese ending up in our victory.
Patton had a drive for victory that he would absolutely never accept defeat.
What would you tell your younger self?
I guess this question almost gets at "what would you do differently if you could talk to your younger self?"
I guess it almost sounds conceited to say that I wouldn't change a thing.
Do you feel superior to people who have already lost their wits by age 77? Or is it more of a “there but for the grace of God” type of situation?
Laughs
Hell, I don't feel superior to anyone. I advocate taking life serious, but see the humor in everything.
opinions on biden and trump ?
The two names shouldn't be spoken in the same breath. Mr. Trump, I wish him well, but he was never qualified to be president of the United States.
And really for that matter, I don't think Joe Biden is really the right man for the job right now either. We need a younger man with imagination and fire and passion for the job. If you ask me who would that be, I don't know right now. I just have to know that Joe will surround himself with the right team.
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is that bernie sanders ?
Maybe, but the stuff he's been preaching for years is what's being adopted now. Bernie has the skills necessary, however we must remember that there's no "I" in team. I think even more important than the one single person running for president is the people they appoint to their cabinet and the people on their team. He needs a team.
Given all that is happening in our world, it's obvious that history repeats itself. What do you think about what is happening and how can we solve it together now that we live in a digital age? Thank you for your service – I am a filmmaker as well as photographer (my username is because I actually photograph cannabis full time for a living), and I have done documentaries and I wish that I could sit and interview you! I bet you have so much knowledge to share with the world.
You know what I think about is just pretty much a canned answer. We have to regain our respect in the world, re-establish relationships with our allies, and, by fully understanding the events of history, plan accordingly for the development and maintenance of our weapons systems. We have to establish skilled R&D teams to satisfy our defensive needs.
You grew up in some pretty uncertain and scary times (through a lot of events that take up most of our history classes....) How did you make it through the Great Depression, WW11, the cold War etc. without losing hope? The world today feels like its spinning out of control and only getting worse, but looking back, your years growing up had some major world crises too... so I guess I'm wondering if it felt like the world was ending, how you got through, any advice for this 22 yr old...
Well I was a baby during lots of that. I was in kindergarten during the depression. We didn't really realize it was so bad because everyone was in the same boat. We always found something to play with, though it may have been a tin can or something we found around.
Living was tough because money was scarce. Money being scarce it was handy to have a pear tree in the yard because -- well like now if you want a snack you go get a bag of potato ships and a soda or whatever, but back then if we got hungry we'd go out back and get a pear off the tree and that was our snacks. Since pears were a main item on my diet and since now I'm old enough to make choices, I'll always pass up pears. They're still tasty and that kind of thing, but I have a choice and I exercise it and I get me a ripe peach.
In elementary school years, the main item of dress for boys at least seemed to be blue jeans or bib overalls. I was so tired of that attire that once I was in the position where I, as a young adult, I could purchase my own clothes, at that point in time, I scratched blue jeans or denim off my to-do list. So, to this day, I've never worn blue jeans. Though in the navy, we did wear dungarees. But I wasn't satisfied with just the straight-leg military issue dungarees, so I'd take them to the tailor and make them into bell-bottoms. So even then at that time, I never thought high of blue jeans. Back in the periods of hard times during the depression, it was the poor kids that wore the blue jeans.
As far as the political atmosphere in later years and what conditions I experienced like political unrest on a world-scale, I've always been optimistic. I knew my from military experience, that if you worked as a team and had good equipment you can pretty much turn back your foe. And while these activities ran on, revolutions and wars and whatnot, I was concerned and I kept current as to what was happening and I had learned to cope with that. In all honesty, had it been necessary I would've put my uniform on again, but I had already made my commitment to spend the rest of my life doing constructive things rather than destructive like in the war.
I did have one experience in the field where a revolution was taking place because I had been building in the area in Iran when the Shah was overthrown. I had to get my team out of the area, which we just managed to do. But then the world went on and so did we.
So out of all the corvettes you’ve owned, which one has been your favourite? and what’s your thoughts of it going mid-engined?
My favorite is the C7. Everything about it. Of all the cars I've had including a Mercedes and the other US manufactured cars, the C7 is the best automobile I've owned. The workmanship, the quality, the fit of the body panels, the sound of the engine. It's just a winner, as far as I'm concerned.
I like the mid-engine. But my hang up is I think the purchasers of the car during the first year's run are really the ones who are testing the machine and if there's any blip here or there it'll be fixed. So I never buy the first year's run.
Given all the crazy things you have seen happen throughout your life, what do you think is our country’s biggest challenge going forward? Also, what’s your favorite WW2-related movie (one that strikes you as the most accurate)?
Because of the current conditions and what this country has endured the last 3 years, our major task is to re-establish our position in the world and try to regain the friends that have been lost or at least the friendships that have become tainted. So our biggest challenge is just taking the necessary steps to re-establish our position and try to regain the confidence of our neighbors.
Then on the work that our country and other countries have to do is to deal with the issues of climate change. Here we need to get right with race relations. We have many many problems that we can cure, if we only have the right team in place that's so motivated to do it. I think these are solvable problems and these issues are just a few of the major ones, but there is no problem that if we as a country cannot solve. I think we have the ambition and the ability to push forward and resolve them. It's not going to happen overnight, but we have to dedicate ourselves to it and work at it. I contend we can deal with these issues and that we can resolve and it's based on what I've already experienced. As a country, we fought two wars -- one in Europe and one in the Pacific -- at the same time. Not only that, we as a country provided all our allies with the materials to make war against our enemies. We fed our people, we made the materials, and united with our allies we won the war. If we can do that, we can do many many things. We've proven that when we sent a man to the moon. The space program is amazing all that it's accomplished. What's on the planning table now is amazing, going to outer space, mars, and the like. I firmly believe that all we have to do is review our history and apply the same initiatives to these current problems, then success will be ours and all the countries of the world will be much better for all of it.
As far as the army movies are concerned, I like Patton. I've always been a champion of his and I think that movie was well done, factual. Hollywood didn't play too many games trying to turn it into fiction. There are several Navy pictures. One that represents the destroyers in the submarine warfare is Enemy Down Below, I think. But there's a long list of exceptional war movies. In large part I think it was because I think 5 or so of lots of major motion picture directors were involved in the battles. While it's never possible to show the true horrors of war on film, you can see that good attempts are made to show facts without glamorizing it.
If we want to think about war movies from an entertainment standpoint, there's Kelly's Heroes and then of course there was Mister Roberts. The Midway film was good. I liked Saving Private Ryan.
Thank you for your service. Do you feel like you’ve had enough time? I’m only 36 but time already feels like sand running through my fingers and I can’t seem to grasp enough.
Well you know in that regard, I'm 96 but I feel like I'm 39. So I hope there's still some more time for me. Life is interesting and there's more projects that I'd like to do because my mind is still active, I still have a good imagination, and I still know what looks good and what looks bad architecturally -- I don't have to go out and buy a bunch of ivy to cover up what I've done so nobody has to see it.
I hope there's lots more sand in the hourglass, so to speak.
Now, as in that past, I've always been very concerned about my diet, how I spend my time. It's not that I've been fanatical about it -- it's just that it dawned on me that the Lord gives us a good body at birth and it's up to us to take care of it. So I've always been concerned with diet, exercise, and the like. And it's made me what I am now, which I guess is why I feel 39.
So I hope that whatever it is you do, I hope you stop and think about food, what you drink, exercise. All those things in moderation is what it takes -- you don't have to go crazy and become an olympic star or anything like that. You can have a good productive life just by taking care of your body with healthy living.
Who’s your favorite president?
Oh heaven's sakes.
Huh.
I think as far as favorite president, I'd have to cast my bet with John Kennedy. Because being a navy man, we have to stand together. I was on a destroyer, he was on a PT boat. He was in the Guadalcanal, I was in the area too later on. He died too young -- we were never able to get a true measure of his contributions to the country. John Kennedy actually chose to serve. Unlike some others who may have had a bone spur or something of the like...
What is your normal diet like? How do you stay healthy?
Oh gracious sakes.
Laughs
My diet... To a large degree, I've eliminated red meat. I know I'm not a rabbit, but I eat a lot of vegetables. I try to get regular rest. As far as the content of the food I eat, for the most part it's heavy on the vegetable side. Occasionally I'll have me a martini or a bloody mary or two. Because you know with your solid food you have to have some liquid ;).
Now getting back to the serious issues... I have been blessed with good genetics and I have no serious medical problems. The blood pressure and cholesterol, all those things, are as they should be and I have increased my exercise routine. At this point in time, I just try and take care of it and just live correctly as far as food intake and everyday activities. I don't really TRY to do anything, like I'm not going to get up and play touch football. In order to maintain proper exercise, I do have a trainer who comes to my home 3x a week and I don't know that I'm being conditioned for a marathon or anything, but I think I'd rather spectate than participate there.
Hi Vern, thanks for the AMA. I was wondering if maybe you knew my grandfather, Jerry Woods? He was a boatswain in the Navy and was supposed to be on the Oklahoma when it was bombed, but he was on leave visiting my grandmother. He was also stationed in the Pacific after the attack, and reading his diary his handwriting gets shakier the farther into the war it gets. Even if you never met him, I thank you for your service. I wish I could have met him before he passed in ‘86
I would like to have met him, too. But I never had that opportunity. One source of information related to your granddad, you may be able to obtain through the USS Oklahoma reunion group. Just about all ships have such an organization, but there should be information about the Oklahoma and its crew members.
How do you feel about the current generation? I see news that many veterans dislike how the flag+anthem is treated, aswell as how our age acts/goes about our social life. Tiktok especially.
I don't even know that much about TikTok but...
I believe that the younger generation will respond as necessary whatever the conditions are, I believe they'll come forward. I believe the future is with them. What I've experienced recently as far as the political activities here in the country, it seems like in 90% of the cases it's the younger generations trying to get us back on the right track. It seems there are many issues that the older generations are tolerating or not having the guts to stand up and say "no".
So I have all the faith in the world in the young folks. I know their entertainment is a little different than what I've experienced, but every generation thinks that way about the youngers. If we give the young people a chance, we'll be headed in the right direction.
Hi sir! As a Filipino who grew up in Saudi Arabia, I guess my questions are where in Saudi Arabia did you work and how was your experience there? Also, thank you for your service! 💙
I had two projects in Saudi Arabia: one was a university in Riyadh and the other was a hospital addition for a hospital in Taif. Prior to that point in my career, I had built 5 hospitals so it was because of that since it was a hospital for the Royal Family in Taif. It was a good experience. Of course the unusual thing about working overseas is that not everyone speaks English so it's a challenge to conduct business when you have multiple languages on a production site. But we all speak language and that's through drawing. And frequently if there was a question and you didn't have the words, all you had to do was take your pencil and draw a picture. In that regard it was fun.
I had one project, might've been in Iran, it was almost like a meeting in the UN. We'd call a meeting and we'd have just about every nationality around the table. Luckily, the language you didn't know, somebody else did. I was lucky to have an architect on my staff who went to the University of Berkeley who knew Farsi. So I'd ask him something in English, he'd translate it into Farsi, somebody would translate it into French, and so forth.
Thank you for your service. We owe your generation a tremendous debt, and I’m personally grateful for your military service and your life’s work. How did living through WW2 change you? Did people think the world was going to end? Were there any signs to you that the US was going to pull through okay, or was it unclear what the outcome would be?
At the declaration of war, I personally, and anybody I was associated with, had no doubts that we would win. We didn't care how difficult how might it be, but we were optimistic and convinced we were going to win. You can find something wrong with anything, somebody would probably complain after finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that the pot wasn't big enough. But I never doubted it for a minute.
My experience in the war really set me on my career because it was at that time that I decided I was specializing in destruction and the like and that when we won and I got out, I was going to spend the rest of my life doing constructive work. That led me to architecture and engineering. That was a change that sent me on how I would spend the rest of my life. Really in that regard, in my career, I had every type of project. I've probably had about 10 churches of every denomination, lots of schools. I did do work for our Defense Department and built Navy Bases for Iran and, during the Vietname war, a basecamp in Cambodia. So I did have some work that the only way it could be justified was that it was defense and trying to win a war and set things straight. But all of my work, private and commercial, benefitted society.
At any point during the war did you fear that the axis powers would win? And hitlers generalplan ost would be implemented. Also how aware was the common soldier of the large scale "liquidation" of the jews, poles, slave etc.?
The war was worldwide and a serviceman could be in one area and not be aware of what was going on on the other side of the world. In my situation, I was in the navy and we were fighting a pacific war. So the only thing we knew were the things that we would get in a little newspaper that we would pin around the ship. And the source of that information was from our radio operator. So I didn't have knowledge of what was going on as far as Hitler, Patton, and the war in Europe. I didn't know until after the war about the concentration camps and the ill that the Jewish population had suffered.
It wasn't until I was discharged back in the US and started reading up on the history that I'd missed that I found out what had happened in Europe. Then I became aware of the concentration camps, slave labor, Holocaust, rocket projectile attacks on Europe, and the so forth. Because I was in the part of the world were the atomic bomb was dropped.
Was there ever a point where you really hated your enemy? Did you reconsider your views on them and change? If so, what made you change?
I have some difficulty answering that because never in my life have I hated anything. I went to war because I felt it was my responsibility that we had to defend our country, defend our families in the like. I shot at him because he shot at me. Luckily for me, I was a better shot than he was. My war in the pacific was against the Japanese and I didn't hate them. They were coming after us we had to defend ourselves. The object is to win and so, in that vein, that's why I performed firing those guns and the like. I guess you'd say I was firing at an enemy I didn't hate. I sure didn't approve of his actions and so on and the guys on my ship had the same attitude.
Course there wasn't much we could do to a kamikaze airplane because his one motive was to destroy us and himself with us.
What was Iran like before the revolution vs after?
I was in Iran prior to the revolution. Prior to the revolution, I feel it's a good country. Good people and so on. And so often happens, the wrong people get in command and lead you down a wrong road. The Shah had his problems and his people rebelled. Rulers who develop an oppressive atmosphere for the people, they don't have a fair and reasonable distribution of the country's assets and alike, trouble is ahead. And it was for the Shah. And my team and I were able to get out of the country just as the revolution was happening. I haven't been back since, but it's a good country and good people. In civilian life back in the US, I've had several architectural teams with several Iranian architects on it. My relationship with the Iranian people is great.
What made you want to join the navy? Did you always have a desire to fight for your country? Or did other factors force you in to service?
I joined the service because I felt it was my obligation. I volunteered and my father had been in the navy in WW1. It seemed that our family had always been navy-minded. I was a senior in highschool when war was declared. I wasn't drafted -- I volunteered. I went into the Navy about 9 months after my older brother did too. The navy was my first choice then and it still is now for any person as far as service to their country for service to their country, discipline, and physical betterment. In my case, I gained an education there, learning to follow orders -- while it's sometimes not pleasant, it's something everyone needs to learn.
What skill would you insist on being taught to our youngsters?
It's hard to select a single skill... Because if you're into automobiles there are certain basics that you need to know: change oil, change a wheel, know the basic laymen's items and so forth. If you're thinking about education, I think more attention must be given to the history of our country so that the younger generation can be well-steeped in history and understand what's gone before them and what they might do at some point to defend their country.
I believe firmly in immigration but I believe firmly that the people who immigrate here must learn our history and our language. Once they're here, they're Americans. History has shown what contributions immigrants can make if the door is open, but their knowledge of our history is important as well.
Who was the bravest person you ever knew and why?
It's difficult to single out one person in particular, but I know that the group would have to include the fella that taught me how to fly. We made one flight from Evansville, IN to Kentucky for some customers that were going to the Kentucky derby. After the derby, we were going to take them back to Evansville. At the race track, a storm developed on our flight path. We had to make a determine whether or not to fly, stay on the ground and wait until the next morning. Our passenger wanted to get back to Evansville so the decision was made that we would fly that night. Since this was an area that we frequently flew in, we made telephone calls to people on the ground along our flight path to ask them about the weather. When all their answers were favorable, we were able to make the trip. On the way, we encountered the cell of the storm -- the airplane was all over the sky, up and down and all over. We really experienced Newton's law of motion that every action has an opposite action. The storm was so bad that the water was coming in the ports that normally bring in fresh air. We were right in the storm and the lightning bolts were such that we had to turn the lights on in the airplane because our eyes couldn't adjust fast enough to see the instrument panel.
But that pilot was certainly a very brave person who kept his thoughts together, was well organized, and was able to control that airplane when it was going every which way. For everything, I believe there's a humorous side. During that incident, the lady who was a passenger had had a quite a few juleps at the race track and she thought she was on a rollercoaster! She was having quite the time rolling all around.
But this guy was brave and kept a clear head and brought us back fine and dandy. During WW2 he had been a sailor and had been on a submarine and had also gotten through that with his life and there he was tempting fate again and came through with flying colors.
I turned 40 on Friday and never knew either of my grandfathers growing up. I feel like I've been missing sage wisdom and the enrichment only a grandparent can bring. Will you be my grandfather?
Laughs
Sounds great. Let's have at it. See what kind of trouble we can get into.
What do you like on a pizza?
I like meat pizzas. Italian sausage, pepperoni. I like green peppers. I guess the pizza I like is the one that the local pizzamaker calls Farouk. Bobe's pizzeria in Vincennes. Some people would call that supreme. It's just got all the meat and everything on it.
How did you feel when you first heard about the attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
The reaction was one really of satisfaction. Because you have to remember: we had those kamikazes that were deliberately flying their airplanes into our ships and killing us. We didn't have many favorable feelings towards the Japanese and we had been notified that we were part of the invasion force going into Japan. We all wanted to get it over with and go home.
Our first reaction was one of thankfulness that it had happened. Then later in life we had a chance to think the whole thing through about the number of people that had been killed. At the same time, we were betting men that we would get out and that we would get to go home.
How do you feel about the new C8 Vettes?
Well I know it's a good automobile and I have all the confidence in the world in it. I know it's going to take over and continue on building to the records established by the C7. In fact, as I understand it, thats' really the reason they built a mid engine car instead of a front engine car. I like it, but at this point in time, I haven't been able to examine the car and I look forward to doing that. But I think it's going to be a good one and perform well on the racetrack.
I vote aye.
Hey I go to school in Vincennes! Small world. Are you originally from Indiana?
Yes! I was born in Vincennes, Indiana June 6 1924!
After the war, I went to Vincennes University then transferred to Washington University in St. Louis.
I was associate architect on the first permanent building built on the new campus there at VU. At that time, it was the student union building but it's become something else now, not sure what.
Would you say that your life was good?
Yes. When the war was over, I set my ambition and goal and I think that I've accomplished that. I tried to make my life one that would be pleasing to my family and I think that's the case, I don't know if I'm being flattered or not. All in all, I'm pleased and I've accomplished what it was I set out to do. I'm proud of what's happened and what I've done with my time here on Earth.
What’s your favourite childhood memory?
You know I don't think I have one...
My favorite childhood memory were the frequent visits I had with my grandfather. He was a good storyteller and as a little kid I ate up every word.
Reading through your replies makes it very clear that you have kept a very open mind and continued to stay critical with your thinking. In recent years both my Grandfathers have trended in the opposite direction (aka become Fox News fanatics) which has been disappointing to say the least because they were at one point very tolerant people but have lost that. Do you have any advice on how to stay plugged in/open minded/critical (as you clearly have) even as you age and the world changes more around you?
Oh boy. Now that's difficult to answer. Well I don't know what my answer would be to that really.
I have just always tried to see humor as part of life and, in my own way, determine what war I could win because of what battles I selected to fight.
I chose really to see the good in people and activities and happenings and so on and I intentionally divorced myself intentionally from anything that didn't fit that profile. I discovered that worry got you nothing, that you weren't making a contribution, and you're making yourself miserable. So I guess to that extent, I made a conscious effort to stay open minded.
And I was that way in my youth, so in my senior years it just became my way of doing. I just sort of fell into that way of thinking because that was just me.
Additionally, my profession was to "create new". We'd start with a blank piece of ground and at the end we'd have a building. So, my life since 1946, has been a sort of manifest of that attitude. Building hospitals, schools, churches, you name it, so there was always the satisfaction of contributing and walking away with something to be proud of.
I sure do notice that "Fox News-iness" happening to some of my peers. At that point, there's no turning back. It's just ingrained and they see the worried side of life and haven't determined what contribution they can make to make things better. It's just all around a more negative attitude than a positive and happy one.
I don’t really have a question, but you remind me of my Grandfather♥️. He was a POW in Berlin in WWII that led a successful escape...he was in the Army, 78th infantry, “Lightning Strikes” division. After returning stateside, he worked as an engineer & electrician for RF&P (railroad). He passed away almost 10 years ago, but he will always be my hero. Thank you for your service & your willingness to do this AMA...& thank you for reminding me of the admiration I still feel for my Papa. Actually, I do have a question, what habits did you pick up while in the military that you still have today? My Grandfather was early to everything & his shoes were always matte black, like his combat boots, & polished daily. He also taught all of us grandchildren how to kill someone with our bare hands which highly pissed off my grandmother.🤣
I'm happy that I can generate some memories! I'm sure your grandpa was a great man. One thing I formed a habit of is being punctual. Never late. Generally 5-10 minutes early. The thing early that stuck with me the longest, which I experienced when I sat down to do this. At this point in life, I do my own laundry. It's a chore you just have to do. When it comes to putting clothes away, we learned to roll our clothes in the Navy. So to this day, any day I do my laundry I always roll it the same way I did in the Navy back in 1942. So that's a few years ago, but it's been with me all these years. And when it comes to packing, in the Navy we had a sea bag, you could get the most clothes in that bag by rolling clothes a certain way. All the travelling I've done, travelling in a suitcase I still roll the clothes as I did in the Navy days.
Did anyone else read every OP response in their head with their best 90+ year old man voice?
Laughs
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
My interest had always been in drawing and art. I was interested in that field, but being young there was nothing specific. I just liked the area.
I was always drawing pictures or whatever. Even to the point where my teachers at school would get on my case because I'd be drawing pictures instead of focusing on my lessons.
As per usual, expect these things to change by the start of the new season, especially if a new forward is signed. As a guide, (?) means that the player is in the Manchester City squad but not in the game and (??) means that the player is a rumored signing for the Sky Blues. TLDR: De Bruyne and maybe Foden if you are feeling spicy. Goalkeepers: Ederson (£6.0): Although the city stopper claimed his first golden glove for the club since Joe Hart, he still returned his lowest amount of FPL points last season. At 6.0, He is still a premium goalkeeper who will likely still face problems getting points unless a player like Koulibaly is signed. Key errors in games such as the Manchester United and Lyon illustrate that Ederson is not 100% trustworthy. However, a more direct approach from Guardiola can benefit Ederson in terms of potential assists. Verdict: .5 too much, avoid for now but keep an eye out for him Bravo (£4.5): Not sure why he is still in the game, he's going to be off in the summer Verdict: Avoid Steffen (£?): The U.S.A. international is set to return from his loan spell in the Bundesliga. Although he impressed throughout the season, Steffen will surely be #2 to Ederson in the pecking order throughout the season. He will likely be priced at around 4.5 as well but he will only have value if Ederson goes down with an injury Verdict: Only viable if Ederson gets a long term injury Defenders: Walker (£6.0): Oh Kyle Walker. A great footballer in real life but provides questionable value regardless that he scored miles ahead of any other city defender. His spot in the starting 11 should be the most nailed on amongst outfield players next season. If City strengthens their defense, he will provide additional value with his clean sheets. A true lack of contribution in the final third hampers Walker's potential, but he will likely rank amongst the top-scoring defenders at City next season. Verdict: Too expensive for his value due to his lack of end product. Avoid Otamendi (£5.0): I bet most Manchester City fans already thought he left the club. Although he was the 2nd highest FPL scoring defender for City last year, expect him to put up a fat 0 points this season. Verdict: Avoid!!! Ake (£5.5) After Laporte's less than impressive game against Lyon in the Champions League, Ake has become a more intriguing prospect. That being said, the odds of him beating out the Frenchman to the starting left center-back position is unlikely, especially at the start of the new season. If Laporte happens to go down again with another injury, Ake would be a great player. It is also worth noting that Guardiola may deploy Ake at left-back and defensive midfielder throughout the season, but he will largely only serve a rotational purpose. Verdict: Avoid for now Mendy (£6.0): Perhaps one of the most overpriced players in the game. He recently lost his place in the starting 11 to an out of position Joao Cancelo. Mendy will likely only be a rotational left-back this season, splitting time with both Cancelo and Ake. Adding into account his injury risks and lack of consistency just makes this problem worse. Unless Mendy has a true breakout season, 6.0 is far too expensive for the leader of the Shark Team. Verdict: Mostly likely avoid all season Laporte (£6.0): The heart of our defense. Although he has a few bad games a season, he is by far the best defender at the club at this moment. An early injury ruled him out for several months and took away the possibility for a great season. This season, however, Laporte could prove to be an effective choice in the Man City backline. This is largely dependent on who will partner him come the start of the new season. Verdict: Only for those with lots of faith in City's defending. Fernandinho(£5.5): The ever-present Brazilian in the Manchester City lineup for the past few seasons may be taking a step back this season as additional competition complied with his aging limbs will likely deem Dinho fantasy irrelevant. The same price as Ake, I expect Dinho to play fewer minutes than his new teammate this season, although a greater proportion of them may be in midfield. For FPL, Dinho has never been a viable option. This season, I expect the trend to continue Verdict: Only a lunatic would pick him. Zinchenko (£5.5): Things do not look good for the Ukrainian rapper. Not only did he lose his spot to both Mendy and Cancelo, but additional competition in Ake (and in theory Angelino) will only help plummet Zinchenko's stock. As a traditional midfielder, Zinchenko may prove to have value if he gets loaned out to another team should they choose to play him further up the pitch. As for now, I wouldn't place my bets on Zinchenko to have value this season. Verdict: Look out for a potential loan. Cancelo (£5.5): Joao Cancelo. The right-back turned left-back that only recently has proven to be trusted by Pep Guardiola. Not trusted enough, however, to avoid extra competition with the signing of Ake. I expect Cancelo to start the season for Manchester City at left-back barring any new left-back signings, but I am skeptical of his ability to put up points for our fantasy teams. Verdict: Risky and expensive differential Garcia (£5.0): Before the news broke out that Garcia has desires to go back to Barcelona, I believed that the future looked bright for the young Spaniard. Garcia started in most of Manchester City's games following the resumption of the league and although he had to be babysat by Laporte in those games, he showed enough for me (and Pep) to rate him over Stones, Otamendi, and Dinho at that position. Should City fail to sign another center-back, they will likely refuse to sell him to Barcelona this transfer window. If so, he would have great potential at 5.0. Verdict: Solid investment if City keep him + Don't buy Koulibaly/Other CB Stones (£5.0): I won't go too in-depth on this one. Stones' City career is likely coming to an end unless they decide to sell Garcia and keep Stones as their 4th center back. Even so, he wouldn't produce much value. If Stones goes to another top half team in England, he could have some potential. A loan move to Arsenal could be best for both the Gunners and the Sky Blues. Verdict: Only viable if he gets a move to another top half Prem side. Angelino (£?): Quick special mention to Angelino, who will likely leave the club this summer. Verdict: Avoid Koulibaly (£??): Technically not a City player, but after City's disappointing loss to Lyon, he should surely be a Sky Blue this transfer window. If so, he could provide value along-side Laporte. At 6.0 Koulibaly would stabilize City's defense and probably play more minutes than Laporte next season. As a result, he would likely be one of City's highest-scoring defenders. Verdict: Depends on transfer and price Midfielders: De Bruyne: (£11.5): The first name on my FPL team. De Bruyne scored the most points amongst all players last season and is still priced less than some of them. The Belgian midfielder has been wonderful in his time at the Etihad and his attacking returns should only continue to be magnificent next season. With more determination than ever, and possibly another striker to assist, De Bruyne should offer amazing value next season. If you can only find room for one City player, make it KDB. Verdict: Immense value, easy pick. Sterling (£11.5): Sterling, if he could stay consistent, would have been the highest-scoring play in FPL last year. After an amazing start to the season, Sterling lost his form. Now with Sane gone and only a young Ferran Torres in to replace him, Sterling has more responsibility on his shoulders than ever before. His recent form and insane miss against Lyon may raise some red flags about the Englishman, but he should still provide the 2nd move value amongst City midfielders next season. Verdict: Less value for money than KDB, but keep an eye out for how he starts the season Mahrez (£8.5): Another player who gets trapped in Pep Roulette. Mahrez played brilliantly last season but with the emergence of Phil Foden (who likes to play out wide) and the signing of Ferran Torres, Mahrez may see another significant cut into his minutes next season. Should he start the season strong, however, he may be able to nail down a spot in Guardiola's team for the first few game weeks. Verdict: Risky differential Bernardo (£7.5): After his breakout season in 2018/19, hopes were high for Bernardo Silva. This season, however, he failed to impress and was largely omitted from the starting 11 for the games following the resumption of the league, including crucial Champions League games. With his desire to stay at Manchester City made public, Bernardo can offer amazing value-for-money if he can hit the ground running next season. The absence of David Silva now opens up the possibility of Bernardo playing centrally more often, which can only benefit the Portuguese international. Verdict: Great potential but Pep doesn't seem to trust him in big games Rodrigo (£5.5): Defensive midfielders never really provide great value in FPL. Verdict: Avoid Foden (£6.5): The English wonderkid that took the Premier League by storm following the resumption of the league looks set to fight for his chance to play consistent minutes. His start in the crucial second leg against Real Madrid further proves that Pep has confidence in the young man. If he can nail down a spot, either centrally or out on the wings, Foden can easily be the best asset to own given his price. Ambitious managers looking for a differential may look Foden's way, but that largely depends on what happens between now and the start of the season. Verdict: Could be the gem of the season, although he could also largely spend time on the bench. Gundogan (£5.5): See Rodrigo Doyle (£4.5): Tommy Doyle is an exciting young prospect but he is a few seasons away from a real impact on the first team. Verdict: Avoid Torres (£7.0): Although he has been priced relatively cheaply for a City winger, I would urge caution with it comes to the Spaniard. Guardiola will most likely use the same approach he did when bringing Sane to the squad in that he will only really fully integrate the player after the end of the 2020/2021 season. If there was no redraft every year, Torres would be a good pick, but for this upcoming season, he shouldn't have much value. Verdict: Wait for 2021/22 season Braaf (£?): Braaf may be implemented into the game later this season, but he will likely fail to have any value once he is in. Along with Torres and Doyle, Braaf is one to watch out for a few seasons down the line. Verdict: Wait a few seasons Forwards: Jesus (£9.5): A whole million cheaper than Aguero, Jesus offers a potential entryway into the City attack. However, I believe that there are better options given his price tag and his rotational with Aguero (or another striker) will likely hinder any breakout season for the Brazilian. If Jesus can improve on his end product, he will have value. As for now, however, it seems too risky to pick him given all the transfer rumors surrounding a new city striker. Verdict: Keep an eye on him, but avoid for now. Aguero (£10.5): Every year, Aguero scores an absurd number of goals given his fitness problems and rotation with Jesus. That being said, Aguero may face additional competition if City sign another forward. With 12 months left on the Argentine's contract, this may be the last season we have the forward in the game. In my opinion, his pricing makes him a huge risk this season, although I'm sure he would love to prove me wrong! Verdict: Club favorite, but may not be an elite FPL option anymore for that price. Messi (£??): Just kidding. Unless... Thanks for taking the time to look at my guide, I will be updating it over time throughout pre-season. I would greatly appreciate it if you could either upvote or leave a comment with some feedback as this is my first ever preseason guide. If you disagree with any of my comments, send me a message as I would love another viewpoint on this.
Welcome to the Summer Transfer Megathread 2020! Here you can discuss rumours, confirmed transfers and also which player you personally would want to sign and how you would like to integrate them into the squad. Of course transfer rumours can still be posted as their own separate posts but you are free to post them in here as well. I will keep this updated as new rumours come in, but only those sources that mention us directly. If you believe a rumour should be added, just PM me or post them down in the comments. If you want to know how reliable a source is, just take a look at our Transfer Tier Guide.
I’d never heard of a thundersnow until I was in college. When you live in the midwest weather can be chaotic, but this particular storm came up quickly, even for us. On Thursday morning there was a normal snowstorm coming, by Friday morning, they were preparing to shut down the city. Businesses began announced early closings. Even the mall was closed by 3pm. The college I attended even ended classes at noon. A group of friends and I decided to take advantage of the early release by going to a restaurant by the mall for lunch. We were only inside for an hour or so, but by the time we got out, there was easily an additional six inches of snow on the ground. On the way home, every time we stopped, my friends would have to get out and push the car until it started going again, including pushing to get the car going so I could manage to drive off after dropping them off. I decided to gamble and stop at the gas station closest to our apartment on the way home. If we were getting snowed in I was going to pick up a pack of cigarettes and some basic supplies. I managed to park under the canopy by the gas pumps where a patch of bare concrete would provide enough traction to get going again. The gas station is a larger chain gas station in the heart of a college business district. Basically it’s bars, clubs, pizza places, head shops, and at least one hipster coffee shop. Locals referred to the whole thing as “The Hill.” My point is, we were at this gas station at least once a day, often two or three times. The same was true for the hundreds of students who lived within blocks of the area. I wasn’t the only one stopping in for supplies. It was filled with people, most of whom had stories similar to mine. I was standing in line holding some frozen pizzas, soda, and chips when I heard the clerk talking to the other customers about the coming storm. The forecast had escalated significantly. Behind the counter a small tv was playing. The weatherman came on, standing in front of a map of the midwest that was basically a giant purple blob that covered our entire state. “Jesus Christ,” I said. The clerk reached over and turned up the volume. A hush fell over the people near the counter as everyone listened. “ . . . Highway Patrol has issued a statement. Do not leave your homes. Do not travel.” The interstates and highways had been shut down. Rescuers in snowmobiles were shuttling people trapped in their cars to the nearest rest areas. Plows had been called in for the night. “Please, everyone,” he said. “Stay home. If you don’t, you will be on your own.” The silence hung heavy and felt . . . ominous, I guess, would be the right word. “Well! I guess I better go!” said the person at the front of the line, breaking the tension and prompting a few laughs from the growing number of people in line. “Well I’m not going anywhere,” said the clerk. “I have to work all night anyway. Besides, my apartment is right next door.” She gestured toward the window, but instead of the blue apartment buildings we should have been able to see, the window was nothing but solid white. Just then the doors opened and two of my roommates ducked in. “You guys have the same idea as me?” I said, gesturing at my pizzas and snacks. “No,” A.J. said, “Blazer’s stuck in the bookstore parking lot.” “I thought the blazer had four-wheel drive.” I said. “It does,” chimed in A.J.’s girlfriend Jenna. She’d shared his room for months, and for the most part, she was pretty cool. “Damn that sucks, let’s get our stuff and I’ll drive us home,” I said. Even though I’d been in the gas station less than ten minutes, the small patch of concrete I had carefully parked my back tires on was filled in with two inches of snow. The tracks from where I drove in were almost completely filled in with snow. I was glad we didn’t have to go far. By car, it was two blocks. Most of the time we walked, and from the back door to the gas station it was more like a half a block. Going slow and occasionally getting out to push, we managed to not only get home, but get the car in the driveway, as well. My third and final roommate, Trevor, got home just after we did, pulling his tiny car in right behind mine. Making our way into the house, the snow was so deep had to walk in each other’s footsteps and try not to fall over along the way. By the time we got inside, we were laughing and happy to be home. In the foyer that we shared with the apartment upstairs, we paused to stomp the snow off our shoes and brush it off our clothes and coats. “Holy shit it’s crazy out there!” A.J. said, stepping carefully out of his wet shoes onto the dry carpet in the living room. “It’s pretty when you look at it from in here,” Jenna said, peering out the window at the houses across the street. It was definitely one of the prettier types of snow. The kind with big fat sticky flakes. Still, the uneasy feeling lurked in the back of my mind. We weren’t strangers to winter or severe weather, but this was unnerving. The weatherman wasn’t even trying to guess how much snow we’d get anymore. He just kept saying it was impossible to predict how much snow we would actually get. Local news was an endless stream of businesses that had closed early and warnings not to travel. At the hospitals, staff were staying over because the replacement staff couldn’t get through. What else was there to do? We did what every college student does when there are four people in the same room. We played cards. It was close to 4:3O in the afternoon when there was a knock on our door. One of the guys upstairs poked his head in. We didn’t know the guys upstairs real well, but of the four, he was by far my favorite. His name was Metal, which I had been pretty pleased to find out was his actual last name. He was a bit of a power stoner, but was generally cool to be around. But to be fair, he was also a little bit crazy. “Guys! Anyone want to go to the gas station with me?” He asked, in a wide-eyed excited tone. “Not possible,” A.J. said, not looking up as he carefully arranged the cards in his hand. “Roads are all fucked.” “I’m not driving, dude. I’m walking.” Metal said, as if he had thought of the most innovative weather problem solution of all time. “Anyone wanna come with?” “What are you getting?” I asked. “Smokes, certainly. Toilet paper definitely. Beer probably. Pizza possibly.” I shrugged, “I’m in.” I got up and rummaged through my room for my warm coat and gloves. When I came back out of my bedroom, my roommates were holding out cash in my directions. “Hey, would you bring me a pack of smokes?” A.J. said first. “And me!” Jenna added. “Yeahhhh, me too,” said Trevor “No way. You can come with us and buy your own,” I said in a joking voice but he right well knew I was also serious. “I’ll send enough money for two and you can have the other one,” he offered. The others agreed. “Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, cinco, seis,” Metal sang, doing a strange little dance in the kitchen by the back door. “Good enough,” I said, taking their money. Of course, at this time smokes only cost $1.87 a pack. So the “payment” wasn’t as big as it would be today. We frequently made deals like this, especially when the weather was bad. Now before you chastise me for going out, you need to remember a few things. First, it was only about 7pm, so it wasn’t overly late. Second, if we walked through our backyard, the gas station was only about a half a block away. Finally, we walked this route not only to go get smokes and snacks, but also to get to classes. I’d personally walked this route in every possible state of mind and influence. This was twice as true as Metal because he’d lived upstairs for twice as long I had and had definitely done twice as many drugs. It was because of all this, that I didn’t worry too much about making the trip. It’s also why none of my roommates worried too much for us. Honestly, I thought it would be kind of novel. I’d never seen a storm like this, and I was kind of looking forward to checking it out. Nothing about going to the gas station felt unsafe, to any of us. Just as we were getting ready to go, an odd yet familiar sound rumbled through the house. My brain couldn’t quite register what it was right away, because it was so out of place. “Was that . . . thunder?” Jenna asked. “I think so. I heard it too,” A.J. confirmed. “That’s crazy,” I said. I didn’t think much of it at the time. I do remember looking over at the window where Jenna had been marking the rising snow by scratching lines in the frost on the window. They were low on the house, so the fact that we saw snow at window level wasn’t alarming, but I was a little surprised to see that the snow was now about an inch above the line she’d drawn not five minutes earlier. When you’re 20 and in college, well, you’re damn near immortal, or at least you think you are, so we finished getting ready and made for the back door. “If we’re not back in 30 minutes send the sled dog,” Metal said laughing, referring to our landlord’s dog Charlie, who was a notoriously aggressive ankle-biting chihuahua. The back steps were a mound of snow so we just sort of trudged our way blindly through it until we were on the ground level. The snow wasn’t actually too bad. It was up to just above our knees which required us to lift each leg up out of the snow to take each step forward, but it was doable. We paused when we got to the alley at the end of our back yard. The snow had gotten noticeably thicker. I looked up at the security light up over our heads. The light was visible through the snow but I couldn’t make out the details of the fixture at all. Across the alley from us was the chain link fence that bordered one of the houses we walked between. It would be helpful to hold onto as we walked through the snow. Only about a foot and a half of it stuck up out of the drift, but we were able to keep moving. The whole time we walked, Metal chatted away, generously peppering stories and observations with top shelf profanity as we made our way through the deep snow, with the help of the chain link fence. We were losing visibility, but we could still see individual street lights lining The Hill, like glowing orbs in the night. Suddenly the snow around us filled with a barrage of flashing light followed by the unmistakable sound of a thunderclap. The glow of the streetlight faded away as we were suddenly hit with the weight of a massive amount of snow from out of nowhere. “Fucking wind!” Metal shouted at the sky as we shook the snow off of our shoulders and hats. It had blown off of something nearby and directly down on top of us. Or at least that’s what we thought happened. At that point, why would we have thought it was anything else? One big step at a time, we followed the chain link fence until we made it to the front yard of the house. From here, all we had to do was cross a small street, walk around the bank, and the gas station would be right across the street. I didn’t say anything to Metal, but I was starting to get a little nervous. He didn’t seem to notice as he yammered away about all the things he always yammered about. Music. Drugs. Pulp Fiction. Music and drugs. Drugs and music. Drugs and music, and Pulp Fiction. All we could do was keep moving and get back as soon as we can. I was kind of regretting the trip, but we were already half way there, it would be stupid to turn back at this point. From here I could just make out the overhead glow of the streetlights again just on the other side of the bank. The snow on the street was as deep as the snow by the chain link fence, but here there would be nothing to hold onto. We’d just have to walk in the direction of the bank. I could tell Metal was starting to feel uneasy too, when he got quiet and walking closer to me. I didn’t mind. It was getting harder and harder to see and that was unnerving enough. The thought of being out here alone, was more than a little unpleasant. We began to make our way across the small road. Halfway across the lightning flashed again, followed by a crack of thunder that ushered in another “blanket” of snow that fell heavily on our heads and shoulders. There was nothing we could do but stand there until it eased off. It took longer for the snow to lighten this time. When the streetlights came back into view, it seemed like they were softer and farther away. We didn’t hesitate, just continued moving toward the bank, straining to make out its shape in front of us somewhere. Even though it was dark outside, the snow seemed to have its own sort of light. It swirled around with the snowflakes and dazzled your eyes. Almost hypnotic. But if it was actually as light as it seemed, we’d have been able to see more than we could. Just as I was pretty sure we were almost at the bank the wind began to howl. I’d heard the expression before, but I’d never truly understood how real it could be. It was a terrifying scream that seemed right next to me, making me shudder not from the cold, but from a deep, penetrating fear. “What the fuck!” Metal shouted and started pushing harder toward the bank. I had to struggle to keep up with him, but I knew he couldn’t go far. The bank didn’t have a parking lot. It was a small building with just enough room for one car to drive around to the drive-thru. It served mostly college students who were almost always on foot. Metal was getting farther ahead of me and I could barely make out his black parka. “Metal!” I shouted, but the words seemed muffled by the snow and swept away by the wind. I kept moving in the direction he had gone, even though I couldn’t see his coat anymore. He wanted to get to the bank and I didn’t blame him. I knew feel a whole lot better when I was touching that wall, too. Another flash of lightning and another shriek. This time it sounded like it was right in front of me. I cried out in fear. The thunderclap hit, and the snow that followed knocked me off my feet. I came up sputtering, trying to clear the snow from my mouth and nose. “Metal!” I shouted again and this time I thought I heard him reply from up ahead of me. I kept moving in the direction of the bank, and after a dozen or so trudging steps, I was blindsided by an arm that darted out of the swirling white wasteland, grabbed my shoulder, and yanked me hard in their direction. It was Metal. He was standing with his back against the wall of the bank. If he hadn’t grabbed me, I’d have probably kept walking. Who knows what would have happened if I’d have missed the bank. It wasn’t easy navigating around it. On this back side where we were, the snow had blown up against the wall, so it was deeper and harder to walk through, but neither of us wanted to leave the reassurance of the wall, even though the snow was harder to get through. I tried to shout to Metal that we needed to head for the foyer with the ATM machine, but I don’t know if he heard me. The snow was quiet but also took the words out of your mouth as soon as you said them. It was just like talking underwater. Muffled, and dull. Metal’d had the same idea as me though. On the other side of the bank, there was a 24 hour ATM that was located inside a small glass foyer that was always unlocked. We could stop there and get out of the snow for awhile. By this point, we were fighting for forward momentum. It had been a bad idea to try to walk to the gas station, and I regretted it with every step. God it was great when my gloved fingers found the front corner of the bank building. I was way beyond wanting to be home or at the gas station. All I wanted was to be inside and not in this storm. I’d have climbed in a doghouse if we’d come across one. The door to the foyer was covered in snow. Metal and I had to spend five minutes kicking the snow out of the way before we could get the door to open enough for us to squeeze through, but inside felt like a paradise. I didn’t realize how all of that snow around my face had made me feel like I was suffocating. I ripped my scarf off and opened my coat so I could “breath” again. I was so preoccupied with that, it took me a minute to notice Metal was frozen in place, staring into the corner of the little foyer. “What is it?” I asked, my eyes following his gaze. “I thought I saw something,” he said, in a puzzled voice. The snow in the corner swirled in and out. But for a second I did see something. I think I did. Something like a face, but gray skin, gray eyes. You mean snow colored? It was not a stretch to see things in the swirling snow, especially after straining to see in the storm. Metal shrugged and began foraging inside his coat, pulled out a pack of smokes and a lighter. He pulled out a cigarette and then offered me the pack. I took one.“We probably shouldn’t smoke in here,” I said. “Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures,” he replied lighting his cigarette and sitting down in the middle of the room. He was quieter and more serious than I had ever seen him. When he finally made eye contact, I could see that he wasn’t just serious, he was scared. I’m sure he saw the same look on my face, too. The bank foyer wasn’t warm, but it wasn’t nearly as cold as it was outside. I took off my gloves so I could smoke less awkwardly. We smoked that first cigarette in silence. As soon as I stubbed out the first one, I fished out my pack and offered one to Metal, which he took. He lit it carefully and then said in a quiet voice, “What are we gonna do, man?” I shrugged. “We could keep going,” I said. “We could go back or we could stay here. That about sums up our choices.” “If we keep going, we’re staying at the gas station until tomorrow,” he said, lights flickering overhead. It wasn’t ideal, but I had to agree with him. I couldn’t imagine making the whole trip back after getting to the gas station. “Either way, I think we need to stay together,” I posited. He nodded slowly. “Maybe we should stay here.” I couldn’t deny it was tempting. It felt good to be out of the storm. But though it was warmer in here, it wasn’t fully heated. “We feel warmer now,” I said. “But is it actually warm enough to stay here? And if we wait too long, will we even be able to get anywhere else?” I asked. Overhead the light flickered again, ominously. Metal considered this. “If we head back home, we could probably make it to the chain link fence but after that, I’m not sure. The backyard was uphill. We may not be able to get to the back door. If we can’t, we’ll have to go around.” “So we are stuck deciding if we should try to camp down here or keep going to the gas station where at least we would have food and bathrooms . . . and cigarettes,” I concluded. In the end it was the flickering light, threatening a power outage, that made our decision for us. Without power, the foyer would become cold dangerously quickly. As we bundled back up, a gap in the snow revealed a bright glow in the direction of the gas station before the storm rushed back in again and it disappeared in the swirling chaos. It bolstered both our moods. I was glad we were leaving the foyer. The longer we sat, the more the swirls against the glass seemed to resemble faces, staring with dead eyes of white swirling snow. Dead eyes that looked at me. Dead eyes that saw me. I don’t know if Metal’s eyes were playing the same tricks on him. I thought about asking, but he suddenly stood up, pulled his last smoke out of the pack. He lit it with a flair, zipped up his coat, and saluted, cigarette hanging from of the corner of his mouth, just below one squinted eye. “Soldier!” He shouted. “We will go out in that snow! We will walk across this street! We will acquire snacks! Those are our order’s maggot, get your ass out there!” He threw his scarf over one shoulder with a flourish and kicked open the door. The jovial moment ended as the snow hit us like we’d never left it. Metal grabbed me before I could start walking and I realized he was standing with his back to the bank window to orient himself so we walked in the right direction. It was smart, because the gas station was catty corner from where we were standing. The road we had to cross had two lanes with parking on both. From the bank to the door of the station wasn’t more than 60 feet. Even though it was dark outside, the swirling blizzard creates the illusion of visibility, but that’s all that it is, an illusion. The reality was that we could not see more than a couple of feet in any direction. We knew there was a car parked in front of the bank, but beyond that, it would be the last physical landmark until we made it to the pumps of the gas station. We moved carefully forward to the parked car, edging our way around it to the right. Something in the snow banged against my leg causing me to jump back and fall on my ass in the snow. When I got back up I reached out to find a parking meter buried in the snow next to the car. That was going to hurt later, and probably leave a pretty nasty bruise, too. I thought at first Metal hadn’t noticed that I fell. I shouted his name and felt the panic start to rise up, when his outstretched hand appeared in front of me. We clasped hands and started moving forward again. I felt no shame in holding a guy’s hand at this point. I just didn’t want to be alone. It’s hard for your senses to cope in that sort of environment. Sound is muffled, directions become elusive, you can see but you are also blind. But even though everything is hidden to you, you can’t stop trying to see and to hear just in case, for one brief moment, you can get your bearings. I’ll be honest. I was starting to get pretty freaked out. The panic I felt was threatening to boil over. Being in the storm felt like being underwater, slow and foreign. Pretty, but deadly. I ran into something again, this time with my right leg. “What the fuck,” I said, reaching down to see what I had hit this time, but after fishing around for whatever it might be, I came up empty. “You okay?” Metal said, shouting with his head close to mine. Even a few inches away he sounded muffled and distant. “Yeah!” I shouted back and we continued trudging forward. There was no point pretending we weren’t pretty thoroughly run down at this point. I mean, we were both young, but we were also smokers. We were much more likely to be found playing guitar on top of the student union, than in an intramural football game. At this point, the snow was closing in on waist deep and it was almost impossible to step over it anymore. I worked to make a simple rhythm of it. Pick up your leg, like you’re marching. Pull it up and slide it back down in the snow. Then bring your other leg up to meet it. I would lead with my right foot for awhile then alternate to my left. We walked and walked and time stretched out behind us. Any sense I had of our position and pace was long gone. How long had we been walking? We left the house around seven, but neither of us were wearing watches. The more I thought about it, the harder it was to figure out. I decided it had probably been a half hour or so when you factor in the two cigarettes they had at the bank. How long would it take to get to the gas station? I concentrated on my footsteps. How many steps would it have taken me on a regular day to get from the bank to the gas station? I tried to pace it off in my head as I forced my legs to push through the snow. It was maybe six steps from the bank to the car, eight steps around the car to where I got whacked by the parking meter. Probably about fifteen steps if we went directly across the street. So cross-ways across the intersection would be, say thirty, maybe even thirty-five paces. From the curb to the gas pumps would add another fifteen or so. If I counted two snow steps for every good weather regular step, that would put me at about 130 snow steps to get to the pumps. But you see, I honestly thought my snow steps were larger than regular steps based on how I had to put my foot down, but I was trying to be as conservative as possible. Was Metal doing the same? I hoped so, because at this point, any energy I had left after walking was being used to keep me from losing my shit. I counted in my head as we went. “One . . . and . . . two . . . and . . . three . . . and . . .” When I got to 150, I knew something was very, very wrong. I was about to try to ask Metal what he thought when lightning flashed all around us, revealing swirls of blues and whites in thick patches like clouds, but with no visible boundary between the falling snow and the snow on the ground. Thunder cracked loud overhead and seemed to echo around us. Like the thunder before, the snow that followed landed on us like a blanket. It was up to our waist now. We fought to shake it off our arms and shoulders, but we could both feel it. The storm was gaining on us. I moved in front of Metal and took the front for awhile. He had been forging the path for long enough. He had to be exhausted. I leaned in and shouted in his ear, “We should have been there by now!” I got a quick glimpse of his eyes, a few inches from mine. He only gave a small nod. There was nothing we could do but keep walking. “157 . . . and . . . 158 . . . and . . .” Just then I tripped over something and fell forward, face-first into the snow. I panicked and flailed. The snow was packed in my mouth and ears. It was hard to breath and for a second I couldn’t get away from it. It was like being underwater without any buoyancy. Metal’s hand had been ripped out of mine when I got knocked over. I finally found my feet and felt around with my arms until I bumped into him and we clutched each other in the darkness. Before I could take another step I ran into something else and suddenly realized, I wasn’t running into something. Something was running into me. This time it was Metal’s turn to fall on his ass, and my turn to help him up. But as I was pulling him onto his feet, the snow rippled around us and without warning, Metal’s hand was torn out of mine and he disappeared back down into the snow. I felt wildly for his hand and managed to get ahold of it it, but Metal hadn’t fallen. Something was pulling him. I could hear his thin terrified screams being swallowed by the wind and snow. “Don’t let go!” He cried. I pulled my right glove off with my teeth and got my bare hand up under his sleeve, wrapped around his bare skin for traction. His warm skin felt hot and prickly against my cold fingers and but I held on as hard as I could. Even when I knew that it had to hurt him like hell where I was pulling. Whatever had his legs yanked harder. The storm thickened. I could hear Metal screaming but I couldn’t see his face. Whatever had him pulled over and over, until I felt like my arm was going to get ripped out of its socket. Lightning blew up the sky around us. For a moment, I could see Metal in front of me, his face pale with exertion and pain, his eyes wild with fear. I wish that was all I had seen, but the flashes of lightning showed so much more. Around us, in the layers of the light bursts, huge pale eel-like creatures swirled through the falling snow like water, the snow swirling like eddies in their wake. I could tell that Metal had seen them too. Then I felt it again, the movement under the snow, bumping hard against my leg. Jesus Christ there was something alive out here with us. The next time the lightning flashed, I watched as white tendrils of snow slithered up from the snow behind Metal and wrapped themselves around his arms and then around his neck. The force of it made his eyes bulge and his skin began to turn purple. I shouldn’t have been able to see any of it. Or at least not as much as I saw. I know it sounds crazy but it felt like the lightning kept flashing to make sure I saw the thing taking Metal. To make sure I saw him die. Because there’s no way he could have lived. I wanted to believe he could, but deep down, from that moment I knew. The thunder cracked and the storm went black and Metal’s hands were violently ripped from mine in a white hot sheet of pain that tore through my shoulder as my grip on his arm was broken. All I saw after that was a flash of black as Metal disappeared into the ocean of snow. I clutched my now useless arm against my chest and tried to look around. Tried to see anything in the darkness. The snow was deeper now. In a little while it wouldn’t matter what was out there, I wouldn’t be able to keep going. My good hand was numb and my feet felt like blocks of stone I had to drag along underneath me. My eyes were tired from squinting and trying to make out anything in the darkness. For awhile, every time I contemplated giving up, the things in the snow would nudge me, toying with me, like a cat with a mouse. But a person can only keep moving for so long in those conditions. no matter how determined they are. I just kept pushing forward in the direction I thought the gas station was. By that point I had stopped counting steps. I could only concentrate on one step at a time now. If I could just keep going, I still had a chance, right? A wild shrieking suddenly whipped in the wind around me just as something struck me hard in the face, nearly knocking me off my feet. A hot wetness trickled down my cheek and onto my coat. Suddenly brilliant white light flashed and flooded the world around me, followed by a turbulent slithering around my legs and waist under the snow. But this time, the lightning revealed something else. The gas station. Metal and I had gotten off course and I had nearly missed it. I lunged in the direction of it had been in great flailing strides, that felt like running underwater, a slow-motion escape more frustrating than any nightmare. But I had seen the gas station. I knew I could make it. Instead, I was knocked violently forward, face first in the snow. Before I could get my knees under me, an ice cold tendril wound around the wrist of my bad arm and yanked it back, brutally, causing pain to cut through my consciousness like a white hot blade. The adrenaline gave me just enough energy to take a few more steps. Blood was pouring down my face, and I was dragging my now useless arm behind me in the snow. The thunder boomed right above me and I knew the snow was coming and that would be the end. I knew deep down, I could not shrug off another dumping of the heavy snow. Not that I didn’t try, but as it hit me, I fell forward, limply. The things swirled around me in the snow, rubbing against my legs, then disappearing, only to be replaced by another one. Then a sharp pain bit through the haze I was in. Something had sliced the back of my leg. The jolt of surprise and the new pain helped me to get to my feet again, even as I could feel more of them swimming through my legs and around my waist. The lightning flashed one last time, and there, in front of me, were hands and arms that reached out to me, pulling me out of the snow. Behind me, I felt the tendrils wrapping around my legs and ankles, the sharp slicing of the skin on my thighs and calves. I screamed in pain from the cuts and being torn in two. I kicked at the things swirling around my feet and suddenly, my foot made purchase with something hard and resistant. Very much like packed snow. But I felt it give, and then the thing holding my feet loosened its grip just enough to allow the hands and arms to tear me free of it. Human hands and arms that were real and warm and alive. It was there, on the concrete just outside the door of the gas station that I closed my eyes and everything went quietly, mercifully dark. It was around 3am when I woke up and found myself lying on the floor behind the counter of the gas station my head resting on a package of toilet paper. I tried to sit up and was instantly blinded by white hot pain like I had never felt before. I cried out and was quickly surrounded by the clerk and two other girls. All three had extremely concerned looks on their faces. “Are you ok?” The clerk said nervously. “Of course he’s not okay,” said the girl on the left. “He’s inside and he’s alive. That’s ok enough.” The girl on the right said grimly. She screwed the cap off a bottle of Captain Morgan and handed it to me. “Take these,” she said holding up two pill and then putting them in my mouth. I was too surprised to really resist. “Drink,” she said, pushing the bottle of rum toward my face. I washed down the mystery pills with the rum and while it burned going down, it was warm and everything warm was good. “My friend. He was with me. Have you seen him? Did he make it here?” I asked. The two girls shook their heads. “You’re the first one, since we got here. Our car got stuck. It wasn’t bad then. But we were going to try to get it unstuck, only we didn’t get to the car.” The girls looked at one another and were quiet. “There are things in the snow,” I said. No use pretending it wasn’t true. Tears rolled down one of the girls cheeks. “I need to call my roommates,” I said. “Phones are out,” the clerk replied, frowning, then she shrugged. The four of us sat behind the counter for the rest of the night. The girls names were Sarah and Braden. The clerk was Jill. I told them some of what happened, but not all. It turned out the pills Braden gave me were serious pain killers she took for “monster cramps.” The slices on my legs were wide but not dangerously deep. I was able to move around once the pain ebbed a bit. “What time did I get here?” I asked, at some point, trying to pin down the sequence of events. Jill brought over three hot chocolates from what my roommate called the crappuccino machine. Braden topped all three off with rum. “7:15,” she said. “That can’t be right,” I said. “We didn’t even leave until seven. And we stopped at the bank for at least ten minutes, probably more.” “No, that’s right,” Sarah said, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. “When we got you inside, I looked at the clock so I would know how long you were out. I know it was 7:15ish because I remember thinking my sorority sisters would all be in the tv room watching Friends.” “It can’t be right,” I said quietly and the girls didn’t contradict me. For the rest of the night, we stayed behind the counter on the floor. It was better not have the windows to look out of. Better not to be where you can be seen if something was looking in. Sarah and Braden eventually fell asleep. Jill and I smoked and endured the flashes of lighting and thunder in the snow. I tried not to think of what was out there, but I never succeeded. I guess we all must have fallen asleep eventually. When I opened my eyes the light from outside was bright and clear. The snow had drifted halfway up the window, but above the snowline I could see the bars and pizza places half buried in a fine powdery snow that was perfectly smooth and flat and glittered like diamonds. We still couldn’t go anywhere, but we did eventually get phone service back. When we did, I called my roommates to tell them I was ok and to ask if Metal was there, but he hadn’t returned to the house. I even made them look upstairs. Over the next few days, there would be a lot of questions, and a lot of heartache. I tried to tell people what happened, but I couldn’t get anyone to take me seriously. They nodded and gave me a pitying look. To them it was just my traumatized mind making up a story to cope with the horrific event I had lived through. And who knows, maybe I am. But there’s one thing that makes me think I do remember things the way they actually happened. They eventually found Metal. Found his body, anyway. The day after the storm, the owner of the bar across the street went to drop his deposit at the bank. The dropbox is in the foyer by the ATM. As he turned to go, he noticed, down in the corner window, by the floor, he could see a pale face, with white that stared off into nowhere. It was Metal. He was found lying next to the window with his face pressed up against the glass, completely frozen. The authorities declared it was death by exposure, but I’m betting they found a lot more in that autopsy than anyone was ever told. Once the storm had cleared, four people had gotten “lost” in the storm and suffered the same fate as Metal. I wonder how many of them suffered the same fate. I’ve never really been one hundred percent ok, since then. Physically I’ve recovered as much as I am going to. My right arm is moderately functional but I’m a leftie now. I transferred to University of Arizona for my junior and senior year. After graduation, I did outreach work at the equator. I don’t go where it snows any more and I’m ok with that. But a few weeks ago I happened to run across a headline about thundersnow predictions in the midwest this winter. I know midwesterners are brave and sometimes reckless, but this is not a normal kind of storm. As one midwesterner to another, If you hear thunder in a snowstorm, run.
The Sky Bet Championship's in-form team meets the Premier League's in an intriguing FA Cup fifth-round tie. Joe Townsend looks at the betting. Everton face Tottenham in an all-Premier League clash January transfer window spending slumps as COVID pandemic hits football finances. The window saw about half as many Premier League transfers as usual, with a similarly subdued picture across Europe. Sky News - First for Breaking News, video, headlines, analysis and top stories from business, politics, entertainment and more in the UK and worldwide. Sky Sports Football - Live games, scores, latest football news, transfers, results, fixtures and team news from the Premier to the Champions League. Sky Bet Championship news. Huddersfield have signed goalkeeper Jayson Leutwiler on a short-term deal until the end of the season. Canada international Leutwiler, 31, joins as a free agent after Stay ahead with Sky Sports. Our Transfer Centre has the latest football transfer news, details on done deals, and speculation from the rumour mill. Get the latest odds and sports information from bet365’s sports betting team. Read the latest news, keep up-to-date with scores and prices, and view the great range of promotions on offer at bet365. Sky Bet, Title Sponsor of The Football League, are launching the Sky Bet Transfer Fund, which gives one fan the chance to win £250,000 for their Football League club to spend on new players in the January transfer window – and collect an individual cash prize of £5,000! In order to use the live chat functionality you need to opt into live chat cookies. To do this click on the cookie settings button below. Alternatively, please email [email protected] - note that live chat is recommended for the quickest response on a matchday. Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football: £18 extra a month for 18 months, cancellation requires 31 days notice. Prices may change during this period. Standard in-contract prices apply (£22 for Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football) after 18 months. General: UK, Channel Islands and Isle of Man residential customers only.
FOOTBALL MANAGER 2019 - SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP TRANSFER ...
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