A wise Captain1 once counseled me on the importance of being in the right place at the exact time. As one might expect when flying a fighter, being on target on time is generally critical to 1) the success of the mission, 2) protecting the folks you are there to support and 3) improving the odds that your butt doesn't get blown out of the sky. Which is a very real possibility of it being "friendly" fire in training.
So, yes, I took that message to heart. And yes, nowadays, my BP still goes up quite a few digits when it looks like I (or we) are going to be late. Late being defined as less than 5 minutes before the event begins. 15 minutes early is my desired TOT (Time over Target, Beans). In war, that isn't desirable at all. IIRC TOT was +/- 10 seconds for conventional munitions and +/-30 for those mushroom shaped crowd pleasers.
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Gratuitous Pic since I ain't got nothin' |
That last I just didn't get for a while. I mean, really, who is going to fly over a target within one minute of one of them going off? A week later maybe, but 30 seconds? It was finally explained to my Lieutenant self, that this was a peace time constraint because range time was limited and somebody else would be coming through to drop his practice ordinance, and would you please yield the playing field?
Oh!
But the training was good, hard and close to perfection was the minimum allowed. So, hitting a TOT is still part of my psyche.
That helped in my job at the school district as I would be in place and starting the lesson before the bell stopped ringing. Students soon learned that being in place when the bell started ringing meant on time. Anything else was tardy. They may have bitched, moaned and complained, but they learned and voila' they frequently would finish the assignment early and that was basically free time to explore the internet.
Get your mind outta the gutter, Beans!
Another place that being On-Time Juvat style is important to me is Sunday Mass. I like to be there NLT 5 minutes early, 15 is better. Give me a chance to settle in, say hello to some friends and discuss things that are concerning to me with the Big Guy in his house.
Not that there are many of those things going on in my life right now. No Sir!
So, Mrs J and I go to the Early Service on Sunday. It starts at 0730. The next Service starts at 0900 and the one after that starts at 1130. Now, our current Priest, well, to be charitable, likes to hear himself talk. Even at the 0730 service, when the service is finally over, there are folks that have been waiting outside for 15 -20 minutes . My attention span isn't that long and while nodding off is not condoned, I have had several others in my vicinity doze off with me.
So, 0730 it is. Our alarm goes off at 0600, Travel time is 15 minutes from Rancho juvat to church. Meaning in the car, engine on, transmission engaged NLT 0700. So, having accompanied Mrs. J to mass for ~45 years now, I realize that "Thou shalt not lie" requires a bit of interpretation. I give her the 15 minute warning ("Hey, Hon, need to leave in 15 minutes") at 0645. With accompanying 5 minute count downs.
That also gives us a bit of cushion to drive a tad slower than the speed limit in the dawn darkness when Bambi and Family are out on the road also.
Since yesterday was the first day of Standard Time, it was daylight and I was able to see just how many Bambi's there were between us and the highway. Good thing yesterday was also the first day of Deer Hunting Season in Texas as there sure were a lot of them.
Both hunters and deer. Going out to the car sounded a bit like a war zone, or maybe just a normal Detroit Day.
Peace out y'all.
1 He was my first operational Flight Lead and was also my Flight Commander. So, had my attention both in the air and on my Officer Performance Report. His Call Sign was "Flick". Learned a lot from him in that first year.
Grew up in a household where being on time was considered late, always, ALWAYS got there early, can't break this habit even now. This past Saturday was firearms deer season while archery deer season opened mid-September.
ReplyDeleteNylon,
DeleteYeah, me too. Dad was TDY a lot, and Mom was born and raised in San Francisco, so the timeliness training sorta depended on who was doing the training. While I was pretty much on my Dad's thinking, it wasn't until I found myself in Flick's gunsight that I truly learned the path of good, right and on time.
Re: Deer season, as Sarge has shown us in his current story line, archers are not only deadly, but quiet. The rifle deer hunters tend to announce their presence more than the Archers. Which when translated means, we probably were in archery season for a while also.
juvat
You, Nylon12, me, and I'm sure other commenters will state the same rule. Early is on time, and on time is late.
ReplyDeleteJiP,
DeleteYeah most likely. Maybe that's another reason we get along so well.
juvat
My Dad had a bad case of tardephobia (fear of being late) or chrononeurosis (afraid to take his eyes of his wristwatch for fear of not being on time). It was so bad that one time he arrived for a dinner party when his hosts were still in the shower.
ReplyDeleteBoron, thanks, that was funny! However…could it have been the Host that got behind the timing curve? Asking for a friend.
Deletejuvat
My high school band teacher was the one that drilled it into my head - mostly to the detriment of everyone that has had to do anything with me since then...
ReplyDeleteTHBB,
DeleteSo you're on the side of the timely, now, I presume? But...If you're early, you can be on time. If you're late, your late.
juvat
Ah yes - "Answer the original question instead of pontificating (something I am often guilty of)". My band instructor was very much the early is on time, on time is late school of thought. I have been known to rock back and forth in the car when we are "iffy" in timing...
DeleteTHBB,
DeleteI have a similar habit. I tend to imagine a gunsight on my windshield and the sound of a 20 MM cannon going off beside my left earl.
Very calming...you might try that.
juvat
As a retired Master Sergeant, I still believe that being on time is the hallmark of a civilized being. The Missus Herself does not share that belief. Yes, it has made for some interesting times.
ReplyDeleteSarge,
DeleteInteresting. Having met your wife, I would not have thought that. She seems to have her life (and you) in an orderly package. Ah well, no one's perfect. (Frankly, that would probably be boring.)
juvat
She refuses to accept that someone else's schedule should impact her own activities. I don't ask, I humbly nod and say, "Yes Dear."
DeleteSarge,
DeleteI am very (very, very) familiar with that comment.
juvat
Having as an extreme case of tardephobia as my Dad, I was often asked, what would happen if I got stuck in a procedure and were going to be late for the next patient (and it could and did happen). I, personally, went out into the waiting room, peformed my obeisances (never, ever did I ask my front desk girl to apologize - it wasn't, after all her problem), ready to fall on my sword, and begged the patient to forgive me but circumstances were such that... and I would see them at the next convenient opportunity (I usually left some blank spaces for such situations, as well as emergencies).
ReplyDeleteEmbarassing, yes, but everyone understood that such situations could arise - well! nearly everyone (the usual suspects, y'know).
Boron,
DeleteYeah, I do make allowances for Acts of God (e.g. Austin Traffic being worse than usual. My current padding for getting from home to College Station is 1 extra hour.). However, explaining the problem in person is an excellent technique to reduce stress all round. Well done, Doc!
juvat
We have an 8:30 and a 10. There's an 1130 as well, but mi tres semestres en mi collegio was a long time ago. I would much prefer the 0830, but alas, my wife finds that to be an ungodly hour, so the 10 it is. I lector 2x/month so that helps me get her out the door so we're there 10 minutes ahead, but our commute is only about 7 minutes and there's no deer in sight. Homeless druggies are common, but they don't often wander into the street.
ReplyDeleteTuna,
DeleteWe just got our second priest. He's from India. Speaks pretty good English with just enough accent to make you concentrate on what he's saying. Our pastor has him on the early mass schedule. This of course has the advantage of an extra hour or so of sleep and a longer mass with which to bore the parishioners with his sermon. This guy used to be a real estate agent before he became a priest. I'm sure you can imagine those sermons. With a childhood on military bases followed by a military career and now 25 years here, I've seen/listened to a lot of different priests. This Pastor, IMHO, is the worst. So...I'm liking the guy from India, he's only been here about a month but seems to be settling in well. We'll see.
juvat
Our pastor is from Africa and has a little too much accent for me to pick up what he's saying. It depends on the speed of his delivery though.
DeleteInterestingly, in our case, I think it's the mike. When he gives his sermon from the pulpit, his speech is much more understandable. Maybe 95+%. When he's speaking with only the lapel mike, it's down into the 60's and 70's. Gotta figure out a way to bring that to his attention without offending him, or otherwise causing trouble.
Deletejuvat
Fortunately, in the mating game, I chose wisely, as Mrs. Andrew and I are both "If you're 15 minutes early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late." people. Yay, us. Which means we both sit and fidget for half an hour before it is time to leave, we know within the minute of all travel times to all our destinations near and far, and we get there 15 minutes early.
ReplyDeleteWell, we used to.
We have started adjusting our arrival time to take in effect the arrival time of our destinations' persons of interest. Like doctors' offices. We used to fret and she'd call said office as we were driving there if we were running late (it occasionally happens, which tosses the stress levels out of the roof) to tell them we're running late, which, of course, being usually doctors' offices, perplexed said receivers of messages of lateness.
Now? We factor in the reception lateness and have adjusted our TOT (time to target) to reflect the minimal wait time we have had per office. Which means we still sit in the lobby waiting and waiting. Worst offender? Her pain doctor. We've waited up to 2 hours to see the pain doc, which, of course, increases the pain.
We stopped doing group 'friends' events like going to movies because our friends had 'Insallah' levels of being on time. Like maybe even miss the actual movie and show up for the following one levels of time sense. Which stressed us both out until we realized, hey, we can watch a movie in silence if we don't go to one with the perpetually late seagull people (fly in, poop on everything, constantly talk loud all about themselves, yada yada yada.)
Now, I did learn from my father not to show up too early as that is also bad. When reporting to advanced flight training, he showed up 2 hours before reporting time. When questioned about showing up early, he said he was just hanging around. At which time whomever was in charge of the office at the time told him if he was to hang around he'd better be hanging, so dad ended up having to hang by his hands from a pipe in the office (military bases loving having the pipework exposed at ceiling level, of course, which I like, as you can see them, fix them, clean them.) Needless to say, he never showed up too early again in his life.
And mass? Always the early one, without singing (usually) as both wife and I are unfortunately gifted with perfect pitch and imperfect singing actually hurts. Really hurts. There are recording artists we won't listen to because they don't sing properly as it hurts...
Beans,
DeleteLiving in a smallish town sometimes has its own advantages. Most of our Doctors are pretty punctual with appointment time-actual start time. Enough so that when it's not, they get the benefit of the doubt.
I haven't been to a movie in years and one of the key non-motivators of changing that is that talking in the movie crap. Who do they think the are the President?
A singer huh? A hidden talent, I'm impressed. IMHO, I'm pretty good myself, when singing in the shower.
Just sayin'
juvat
Mom: "Ten minutes early is five minutes late!" (WW2 USN); Dad: "Fifteen minutes early is on time." (WW2 USA, USAAF)
ReplyDeleteSWMBO: "We don't have to be early at all. Stop worrying!" (And we're late and who gets blamed for the bad seats? Yup. Change her behavior? Ha!)
HTom,
DeleteFortunately for me, Mrs J is also a retired USAF Officer and so has an understanding of "On Time". However, retirement has loosened the constraints for her regarding that. My response is usually "Yes,, Dear" and the message from that Simon and Garfunkel tune tends to emanate.
juvat
Growing up with rural school buses (and later taking flights for work travel), Being early means waiting. Being late means "missing the bus". I show up early early (I carry a crossword puzzle book).
ReplyDeleteDon,
DeleteI carry my iPad with me always. Bloons TD6 is my go to game. Sarge's site is my internet home page. My iPad Kindle App has a boatload of books to read, So, waiting isn't usually a problem for me.
juvat
Being on time means at least 5 minutes ahead of that time. Yup, I was trained that way when I was young as well. And the count down to departure time is VERY helpful to getting me out the door on time.
ReplyDeleteAfter having lived in both Upstate NY, and in West MI, where deer season is absolutely an event city dwellers will never understand. In MI, which does have waaay more deer that in NY, the opening of rifle season is an unofficial state holiday. Schools are closed for crying out loud!!
I have noticed in both states, you can always tell the opening of gun season as all the deer are on the road side. ALL of them!! Told a whiny frustrated hunter (he worked with me) that one day. He complained he hadn't seen a deer all day, after having them walk across his back yard for months. Told him he wasn't looking in the right places...that everyone heading into the woods drove all the deer out on to the roads. That I had seen a least a dozen, several very nice bucks, that afternoon on my way home. He wasn't very happy with me, but he changed where he was sitting, and sure enough, came home with his buck.
Suz
Keeping prayers going up for all your clan. Hoping that He Who Is Un-Named Yet is doing well, as is his Mom and Mrs J.
Suz,
DeleteLast first. The callsign committee has not received final from the overarching approval authority. However, the nominating committee is leaning towards León. He is indeed doing well and at a little over a week, is back up to birth weight. Mom is doing well also and MG is settling in well as the "Big Sister". So, that aspect of life is indeed going well.
As to the other, MRI was done today. PET is scheduled for tomorrow. I have a few post-physical tests later this week, None of which I've been notified are critical, just precautionary. Mrs. J should begin actual chemo early next week. The two Docs are still "discussing" Chemo or Radiation first? Quite frustrating.
Just as a question, one Doc has the staging as SIIA on his form. The other as SIIIA on hers. As a Data Guy, that's a mortal sin. Someone looking at that data and seeing one will start to plan for that treatment. If it happens to be the other, my brain tells me that's probably going to be problematic. We have appointments with each late this week. I' m going to ask about that. Depending on the answer, I may not be very pleasant in my response. An "Aw Shit!, we'll fix that!" might be BP lowering.
I will be polite, I promise. But...I want a straight answer.
juvat
Be patient,(I know, hurry up and wait--boo-hiss) and the docs are continuing to gather intel to come to agreement on what stage she is at. See what the results of the MRI (which shows soft tissue VERY well) and the PET scan (which shows how metabolically active the cells are--cancer cells are the always over-caffeinated, super-hyper active ones--and where those little suckers might have spread too). Amount of spread is one of the parts of what makes up the Staging formula. Stage 2 colon cancers are still contained locally, the Stage 3 cancers have spread into the lymph nodes, or into nearby tissue. The MRI and PET scans can show how far that sucker has spread. All of which determines what type of chemo/radiation/surgery combo is needed to obliterate the tumor and any friends/cousins/relations it is bringing to the party.
DeleteSo, the "initial" staging is based on what the doc has seen so far, these scans help focus in the final determination.
It's like going on a bombing mission--they need to have excellent intel before they send in the pilots cause they need to know what the weather will be, how big a payload ya need to carry, exact location, how many AAA sites there are, etc, etc. You get where I'm going.
Keep the faith, and we will keep the prayer lines open...
Suz
Suz,
DeleteThanks,
All the pre-reqs are completed and Mrs. J's first treatment is this Friday. It'll be a chemo infusion, with the pills starting Friday alsona d running 28 days, then a 7 day break, Rinse/repeat. No word yet about radiation scheduling. Last meeting with the Lead Doc is tomorrow, so that should be cleared up.
Neither of us is looking forward to this, but at least the finger twiddling will be up and something's being done to make her better.
Keep the faith, Aye! Doing quite a bit of praying myself.
juvat
30 minutes early was/is 'military' on time. I still shoot for 15 minutes early as my norm. And yes, TOT was just as important to us Navy types too! :-)
ReplyDeleteOld NFO, I flew a lot of missions with both the Navy and Marines in them. Never doubted their aviation skills. However, in the O Club....
Deletejuvat
Two guys sitting in the pointy end of a Boeing Bus, both looking at their watches and the dash clock, the time arrives and the front door closes, "call for push-back", release the brakes, etc., etc.
ReplyDeleteMy point? It doesn't work when you bring this mindset home to three kids, two cats, a dog and a loving wife.
I can remember TOT and toss-bombing blue blivots somewhere in the Mohave Desert. Actually, some I knew used the same maneuver to toss-bomb some "iron for peace" into someplace called China at the time. He had been a POW in Korea, so nobody cared.
LtFuzz,
DeleteI agree. That's why "On Time" is 15 minutes early. One uses it to cajole, bribe, threaten or otherwise encourage the others in your crew to hasten as times a wastin'
I can understand your squadron mates thought process. I'd have agreed with the squadron's reaction. Knew quite a few who spent time under the "kind care" of our opponents. That status scared me more than KIA.
juvat