Man's best, and sometimes only, friend

[SaltwaterServr]

Found this on a friend's FB page. Thought I'd share.

 

[lane]

Hi, this is Lane's wife, Kim, and it's no secret to some of you veteran Zoners that I am on here more than he is. lol. Well, it is a standing rule in our house that I am not allowed to post on his account, except for computer emergencies (with all the computer whizzes on here), and believe me, there have been many I wish I could have! But I had to post on this one. Hope I don't get in too much trouble....

But this is a most heartbreakingly beautiful photo. So sweet and utterly full of love and conviction and "my life/your life". Salt, your title speaks epic volumes for this pic. Props, man. {{ BTW, while I'm on this post that I'm not supposed to be on, can I tell you that my son, Joseph is also a hardcore Weather guy?? I am trying to push him into a meteorological life path, or some career that focuses on weather patterns and elevations. You seem to know so much about so many things, I'm really not quite sure what it is that you do, maybe Military?? Don't want my son to die in the MiddleEast, though, so that is out.

Anyway, I really love this picture. Thank you for posting it, Saltwater.

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Great picture I love dogs, but I hate cats and they hate me to!

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Hi, this is Lane's wife, Kim, and it's no secret to some of you veteran Zoners that I am on here more than he is. lol. Well, it is a standing rule in our house that I am not allowed to post on his account, except for computer emergencies (with all the computer whizzes on here), and believe me, there have been many I wish I could have! But I had to post on this one. Hope I don't get in too much trouble....

But this is a most heartbreakingly beautiful photo. So sweet and utterly full of love and conviction and "my life/your life". Salt, your title speaks epic volumes for this pic. Props, man. {{ BTW, while I'm on this post that I'm not supposed to be on, can I tell you that my son, Joseph is also a hardcore Weather guy?? I am trying to push him into a meteorological life path, or some career that focuses on weather patterns and elevations. You seem to know so much about so many things, I'm really not quite sure what it is that you do, maybe Military?? Don't want my son to die in the MiddleEast, though, so that is out.

Anyway, I really love this picture. Thank you for posting it, Saltwater.

Thanks!

I'd see what his real interests are within the field of meteorology/climatology.

Is it emergency response or early warning? System prediction? Purely scientific/I want to know the how and why? More technology based? Does he prefer some types of systems over others, ie is he a hurricane afficiando (for lack of a better term) like myself or does his interests go towards everyday weather?

If you can figure that out, you can possibly get a better grasp on where you can develop his interests while looking at college and/or military. To the best of my knowledge, each branch of the military including the Coast Guard and National Guard maintain their own meteorological forces, but I could be wrong.

I, for one, would never rule out the military as a starting point in life. Yes, Afghanistan is a hot, dirty, and violent place. You have to also look at the billions of man hours we spend there compared to the casualty rate in our forces. Heck, it may be in the tens of billions of man hours, if not more. That said, your son might not ever leave a secured area if his MOS ended up in the environmental side of things.

That may help to assuage the anguish of a concerned mother, to what little degree a concerned mother can ever be comforted when a child may be in harm's way.

 

[Hostile]

Related, but only because of the dog's color. I got weepy.

http://wimp.com/rescuedriver/

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Related, but only because of the dog's color. I got weepy.

http://wimp.com/rescuedriver/

Same here. Not an ounce of energy left in him. The yelping was just as plain as day, "Please help."

 

[kmp77]

Nice picture but I don't know. When I see a homeless person or these "goth" homeless people (not sure what you call them, they wear combat boots, and are relatively young, etc) here in Austin, I'm always sad for the dog. I think, "That dog doesn't deserve that!" Maybe they rescued the dog from a worse situation, that's possible. But when a homeless person or beggar willingly brings a dog into their world....I hate that. I guess I like dogs too much. Tied up to a pole and in the sun all day....walking all day on pavement...no life for a dog When I look at that picture I'm thinking, "Why make that dog live that life like that? He should be in a yard chasing birds and keep the yard free of squirrels."

Of course I kinda feel the same way with these people with big dogs and live in apartments with no yard for them to run in but that's another story I guess :laugh2:

 

[lane]

At the total risk of getting banned by my husband from this site, lol, I will respond. Oh Lord help me...Oh wait, that's not allowed. Oh, Yehoshua, help me. (system probably doesn't know his real name, eh??) Or Krishna or Bride help me. I am not particular. {Just love Spiritus.}

Anyway, his interests in weather patterns center on everything from everyday to hurricanes, to water and elevations, jet streams, you name it. He could tell you far more than I could on everything to do with "weather". I could see him on The Weather Channel someday, if he wasn't so shy. I told him not everyone has to get in front of the camera, but...you know. That's all he sees. He has been referred to by a group of my friends as the Weather Mage. Weather seems to go the way he predicts it will. Strange. But he is our weather guy, and we always ask him for the forecast, not the TV guys. He tends to follow the Farmer's Almanac and his own inner feelings, with "reading" the atmosphere and nature, and he is right more often the the guys on TV. The other day he predicted about 4" of rain, and that is exactly what we got. TV guys predicted 1" to 2".

Thank you for responding to me, Salt. Makes me feel good.

Edit: Wow, Lord wasn't filtered out.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Nice picture but I don't know. When I see a homeless person or these "goth" homeless people (not sure what you call them, they wear combat boots, and are relatively young, etc) here in Austin, I'm always sad for the dog. I think, "That dog doesn't deserve that!" Maybe they rescued the dog from a worse situation, that's possible. But when a homeless person or beggar willingly brings a dog into their world....I hate that. I guess I like dogs too much. Tied up to a pole and in the sun all day....walking all day on pavement...no life for a dog When I look at that picture I'm thinking, "Why make that dog live that life like that? He should be in a yard chasing birds and keep the yard free of squirrels."

Of course I kinda feel the same way with these people with big dogs and live in apartments with no yard for them to run in but that's another story I guess :laugh2:

I would hope, again for lack of a better term, that the dogs are strays they take care of that would end up left to their own devices. Knowing the attachment we have to our pets, and the loneliness that the homeless may experience sans their dogs, that those dogs have on occasion eaten before (and possibly better by comparison than) their homeless masters.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

At the total risk of getting banned by my husband from this site, lol, I will respond. Oh Lord help me...Oh wait, that's not allowed. Oh, Yehoshua, help me. (system probably doesn't know his real name, eh??) Or Krishna or Bride help me. I am not particular. {Just love Spiritus.}

Anyway, his interests in weather patterns center on everything from everyday to hurricanes, to water and elevations, jet streams, you name it. He could tell you far more than I could on everything to do with "weather". I could see him on The Weather Channel someday, if he wasn't so shy. I told him not everyone has to get in front of the camera, but...you know. That's all he sees. He has been referred to by a group of my friends as the Weather Mage. Weather seems to go the way he predicts it will. Strange. But he is our weather guy, and we always ask him for the forecast, not the TV guys. He tends to follow the Farmer's Almanac and his own inner feelings, with "reading" the atmosphere and nature, and he is right more often the the guys on TV. The other day he predicted about 4" of rain, and that is exactly what we got. TV guys predicted 1" to 2".

Thank you for responding to me, Salt. Makes me feel good.

The talking heads on TV get the publicity, but those in the know generally lampoon them a bit. They've got the personality/purdy face to be in front of the camera and sometimes the brains as well, but the real work gets done behind the scenes.

Don't tell him about http://www.hardcoreweather.com/forum.php

I check in there several times a day during hurricane season. That website has saved lives.

Have him take a look at these pages and see where he might want to go with a college major. Depending on his age get him into the toughest math courses you can; he's going into a math/stats/computer intensive field. I'd bet the farm that he's going to gravitate to the last link based on what you've said, but I figured I'd put a pair of related majors up there as well.

http://www.collegeboard.com/csearch/majors_careers/profiles/majors/40.0402.html

http://www.collegeboard.com/csearch/majors_careers/profiles/majors/40.0403.html

http://www.collegeboard.com/csearch/majors_careers/profiles/majors/40.0401.html

And if he does start taking harder math courses, get him a TI-84, but make him earn a TI-89. The math geeks will make him their leader if he has an 89 Platinum, which is about the most advanced calculator you can use for standardized SAT and ACT testing. Not even sure if the ACT allows it, come to think of it.

I gave the one I had to a friend's daughter who ended up at Cornfield County University, better known as Iowa State. It was like I gave her a new car or something equivalent.

 

[bbgun]

That poor unfortunate soul is in no position to take care of a dog.

 

[lane]

I would hope, again for lack of a better term, that the dogs are strays they take care of that would end up left to their own devices. Knowing the attachment we have to our pets, and the loneliness that the homeless may experience sans their dogs, that those dogs have on occasion eaten before (and possibly better by comparison than) their homeless masters.

That was where my line of thinking was running. For every Pomeranian with a nice cumfy family to love, there is a cold and lonely homeless dog (actually more like 200) who would love nothing more, under the circumstances, than the love of a cold and lonely homeless human, who in turn would love nothing more than a cold and loving dog to warm and be warmed. A true friend, in whom he can trust. And love. A circle of nothing but utter love and trust in each other. The way it Should be in this thing called Life. Love is Love. No matter where from, or from what begets it. Love. And food. Whether steak or thrown out hamburger. Food is Food and Love is Love. And doesn't it beat the hell out of a cold, damp, and lonely cage in some local pound? Which is where that doggy would most likely be without that homeless man? How long do they live in the pound before they are euthanized?? Not every community has live-forever sanctuaries, and even those are so over crowded they can't let anymore in. Been there done that. This picture is what Love and Life are supposed to be IMHO. Helping each other. Soul to soul. Not a bunch of bickering over meaningless things, rather, keeping it simple.

Thanks for the links. Joey will have to man-up on Math, Salt. He is doing great, but not his favorite subject.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

That was where my line of thinking was running. For every Pomeranian with a nice cumfy family to love, there is a cold and lonely homeless dog (actually more like 200) who would love nothing more, under the circumstances, than the love of a cold and lonely homeless human, who in turn would love nothing more than a cold and loving dog to warm and be warmed. A true friend, in whom he can trust. And love. A circle of nothing but utter love and trust in each other. The way it Should be in this thing called Life. Love is Love. No matter where from, or from what begets it. Love. And food. Whether steak or thrown out hamburger. Food is Food and Love is Love. And doesn't it beat the hell out of a cold, damp, and lonely cage in some local pound? Which is where that doggy would most likely be without that homeless man? How long do they live in the pound before they are euthanized?? Not every community has live-forever sanctuaries, and even those are so over crowded they can't let anymore in. Been there done that. This picture is what Love and Life are supposed to be IMHO. Helping each other. Soul to soul. Not a bunch of bickering over meaningless things, rather, keeping it simple.

Thanks for the links. Joey will have to man-up on Math, Salt. He is doing great, but not his favorite subject.

I hate math. I love biology, chemistry, physics, and astrophysics. The five are not severable, unfortunately.

My last math course in college combined Calc II, a bit of III, Discrete, and Differential Equations. None of those should be attempted in whole or part without a rock solid foundation in Algebra. To be perfectly candid, if he can take a refresher in algebra the summer before he starts college at a local community college, do it. It'll help tremendously down the line even if it seems repetitive. Not to mention comm college classes are a drop in the bucket cost-wise compared to the dollar amount/opportunity cost of taking or repeating a 4 year college class.

EDIT: A meteorologist might find a bit of solace/irony in one of the basic principles of discrete math. Therein the irony is that to that point in your math studies there has generally been a correct answer all of the time so long as you could define the system you were working on. Calculus has "impossible" answers in the abstract until you apply it to a real world application. You discover in discrete that you can never, ever, under any circumstances, be right all of the time no matter the precision by which you analyze a system. There will always be impossible variables you can't account for. Beautiful part of mathematics, I thought, when I first realized the concept in an otherwise absolutely defined discipline.

 

[lane]

Yes, 4 year college is not in our kids' future, unfortunately. 2 year or technical, that's the way to go in today's economy. Got me through nursing school, hey.. You know CCR's song, Fortunate Son. Yeah, that's us, that's our boys. The way I see it, can't everybody have everything, or the ones who have it all won't know it.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Yes, 4 year college is not in our kids' future, unfortunately. 2 year or technical, that's the way to go in today's economy. Got me through nursing school, hey.. You know CCR's song, Fortunate Son. Yeah, that's us, that's our boys. The way I see it, can't everybody have everything, or the ones who have it all won't know it.

The military might be a very viable option for his education. One of my great regrets is not serving. Not everyone will agree with that line of thinking, but it's an option that is available. Have a talk with your son's high school counselors on a one-to-one basis and then talk to recruiters.

Be warned ahead of time, recruiters wear a very unique pin on their lapel.

 

[Bigdog]

Thank you for sharing.

 

[Cythim]

Hi, this is Lane's wife, Kim, and it's no secret to some of you veteran Zoners that I am on here more than he is. lol. Well, it is a standing rule in our house that I am not allowed to post on his account, except for computer emergencies (with all the computer whizzes on here), and believe me, there have been many I wish I could have! But I had to post on this one. Hope I don't get in too much trouble....

But this is a most heartbreakingly beautiful photo. So sweet and utterly full of love and conviction and "my life/your life". Salt, your title speaks epic volumes for this pic. Props, man. {{ BTW, while I'm on this post that I'm not supposed to be on, can I tell you that my son, Joseph is also a hardcore Weather guy?? I am trying to push him into a meteorological life path, or some career that focuses on weather patterns and elevations. You seem to know so much about so many things, I'm really not quite sure what it is that you do, maybe Military?? Don't want my son to die in the MiddleEast, though, so that is out.

Anyway, I really love this picture. Thank you for posting it, Saltwater.

Kim, joining the military was the last thing I thought I would do while in high school but I ended up in the Air Force after graduation and it was the best decision I could have made for myself. I only spent 6 years in but it started in 2001 and we were at war for most of my enlistment. Most airmen do not end up in a combat situation and time spent in a combat zone is brief compared to the Army or Marines.

Air Force training is transferable for college credits and the Air Force will pay 100% tuition to aid in obtaining a degree. It is a hard decision to make and not everyone should do it, but I would advise looking into the Air Force. I'll add some more links you might want to look at to get an idea of what weather people do in the military.

http://www.afweather.**.mil/index.asp
http://www.dosomethingamazing.com/careers/detail/weather-specialist/
http://www.dosomethingamazing.com/careers/detail/weather-officer/

 

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Damn my homies dog died, really feel for him cuz dogs are like family.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

That poor unfortunate soul is in no position to take care of a dog.

Who says it's the guy who's looking after the dog and not the other way around?

 

[YosemiteSam]

That Golden looks just like my Gracie.

I hate math. I love biology, chemistry, physics, and astrophysics.

lol. Yet each one of those that you love, are based in math! :laugh2: