Well now you have to
Well now you have to
The only name for them
This story concerns war and death, if you want to avoid those kinds of things.
I was 18 years old. I was an Infantryman in the US Army and had been in Afghanistan for a few months, when my platoon responded to an IED strike on another platoon in my company, while they were doing a dismounted patrol.
A guy riding a donkey laden with explosives made his way to the center of their staggered column formation (effectively two spaced out lines on opposite sides of the street), before detonating the explosives. It was particularly effective, because walls on either side forced the column in tighter than normal.
This point begins my memories, which are mostly a disjointed collection of visual snapshots.
The first thing I remember is the smell, which I can’t accurately describe, but burned meat, chemicals, and some kind of feces is the closest I can get. It is easily the clearest part of the memory.
The next thing I remember is seeing the severed foot of the man responsible laying in the middle of the road and my immediate and overwhelming impulse was to kick it, since it was the only tangible evidence of a ‘responsible’ party. There were also two generally recognizable bodies in the ditch, as well as several casualties receiving medical care.
From this point it is a series of vignettes. One, I was setting down my radio pack and very clearly telling the lieutenant where it was, since the medics needed extra hands. Another is seeing one of the casualties smoking a cigarette. The last, and clearest visual memory was holding the hand of one of the casualties as we waited for the medevac bird, and trying to keep the mood light be telling him “hey, at least you don’t have to walk back to base”. I have no clue if he responded.
I have absolutely no memories following that day, for probably months, until another, somewhat less traumatic situation took place.
But yeah, that is the day that pretty much all of my emotions died. On my wedding day, I felt just a flicker of happiness. The only emotion I feel with any intensity whatsoever is occasionally anger.
That’s about all, I’m willing to answer questions of anyone is curious.
I’ve never seen those, but it sounds fun
This was a wonderful comment to read and video to watch, thank you
Untreated 4x4, which I think cost like…$10-$15 maybe? Then carpet adhesive was like $20, some wood screws, and more staples. I’ve probably got $60-$90 in it, but it would be pricier if I didn’t have the brackets already.
It’s hard to say exactly, but I will say that if you bought everything you needed from, say, home depot, it would be very expensive, probably 2-3× a similarly sized store bought model. But the store bought ones are small for large cats, so your mileage may vary
We’ve got some of those on the opposite wall, actually. The cats like them, but shelf-type things are better because we’ve got some fat, declawed cats, so acrobatics aren’t their strong suit
I think if I did put in a run, it would have to be as unobtrusive as possible, so floating shelves are more or less mandatory.
But I’m probably not gonna end up actually doing it, so the point is moot
I’ve wanted to do this so badly, but just haven’t gotten around to doing it. Partially due to not wanting to spend the money for floating shelf hardware, that stuff is unreasonably pricey
Dr. Disrespect, there was a couple year period where the insane, over-the-top masculinity shtick was entertaining to me. Eventually I drifted away from the games that brought me to him in the first place.
Very recently, news broke that he had sexually explicit conversations with a minor on twitch.
I drilled two holes at the ends of the post. Tied a knot in the top end, wound my way down, then ended with a clove hitch to maintain three tension, and put the excess through the other hole and tied another knot just for extra security
The other one I made has lasted more than a year, and that was not made as well as this one. I’m planning on chopping this one up and tossing it whenever it gets worn out
I’d recommend using something like 3/8 ply, instead of the 3/4 I used, you’ll save a ton of weight. For joining vertical and horizontal surfaces I used a few, small L-brackets and a couple blocks that doubled as reinforcement
I use staples, too. I use them for the primary attachment of carpet, while the adhesive cures. Clamps, too, depending on how aesthetically pleasing the surface needs to be
I didn’t really plan it, so sequencing building the frame vs attaching the carpet was a little annoying, but overall not bad at all.
This isn’t the first one I’ve made for them, but I used spray adhesive on the first, which wasn’t nearly effective enough. This time I used carpet adhesive, which was more cost effective and seems to be much more effective. Downside to that, though is that I had to wait 24 hours after carpeting a piece to attach it
I’m completely unfamiliar with this, can you elaborate?