Browse By

All posts by Wayne

5 Questions To Ask Before Joining The Military

If you are thinking of joining the military, you should probably read this before you speak with your recruiter. Keep in mind that your recruiter is doing their job by making the high points of the military sound good, and downplaying the low points. It is also part of their job to divert your attention to the well-known things about your branch, and not to tell you about the many questions that he or she had before entrance. Maybe after reading this, you will have a little more insight into your chosen career. Always ask about an open contract. When I joined the military, I had a specific job in mind. But when I joined, I was told that job had a 20-year waiting list, would I be interested in another? I scored very high in the medical field on my ASVAB, as well as the sciences. So I could choose just about whatever I wanted. I chose medical lab technician. Or at least that’s what I thought I chose. The man at our induction center left my contract open. That means that you are required to do whatever job Uncle Sam puts you doing, like cleaning latrines for your whole 4-year tour.

Ask to see any videos that are available. They give you a little better understanding of what daily life in basic training will be like, rather than a watered down version of what your recruiter remembers from years ago when they went through. Pay attention to the looks on the recruits’ faces. It’s not a happy look; this is what you are going to look like when you ship out.

Ask about the buddy system, and credit for having others join with you. If you have a friend that wants to join with you and be battle buddies, you can join at the same time and both of you receive a higher rank. You both will be an E-2 in the Air Force, before even entering basic training. So this gives you a raise in pay, and it’s easier to climb the ladder when you’re one rung above the crowd.

Ask what you will be paid, and how long you must serve to be eligible for your Veteran’s benefits. You are entitled to college tuition reimbursement, health insurance, aid in purchasing a home or vehicle, among many other things. But in order for you to get those things, you must serve for at least 6 months, not including basic training. So if you are in the Air Force, you must complete basic training, and then work 6 months of active duty and then be discharged honorably or uncharacterized in order to get these benefits. You are paid on a card given to you during your induction onto base once you begin basic training. This will be linked to an account that has your monthly pay, and you can do as you please with it.

Lastly, ask about your options during wartime. The job you choose may not have a huge calling during war time, but with the war mongering that has gone on in recent years, you seriously need to consider the thought you may go to war. If your job is going to be greatly involved in a war, and you are not comfortable with that, DON’T sign a thing. Once you sign, that is it; you are now property of Uncle Sam. If you even get a tattoo now you can be court marshaled for destruction of government property. So really think over your decision before you ever sign a paper. Once they have that piece of paper, yore recruiter gives two shakes about you. They just made quota for the month!

5 Legal Matters that Don’t Require Lawyers

Lawyers might be in every town and city in the country, but that doesn’t mean they are a necessity. It can cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars to hire a lawyer for just a few appearances and meetings. For most people, a lawyer isn’t an affordable option. Fortunately, they aren’t always needed to handle a legal matter. Here are some legal issues and cases that don’t require an attorney.

Small Claims Cases

Virtually all small claims cases are done without lawyers. In fact, they are typically barred from representing someone in a small claims court because parties are supposed to represent themselves. Lawyers shouldn’t even be considered in the first place because small claims cases usually have limits of only a few thousand dollars per case. Hiring a lawyer for such a case would be completely pointless. Therefore, you can’t use an attorney for a small claims case and you wouldn’t want to either.

Traffic Violations

For most traffic violations, there is no reason to get a lawyer involved if you committed the violation or don’t want to fight it. We’re talking about smaller violations, such as speeding or parking illegally though. Using a lawyer for DUI or DWI cases is always a good idea. Otherwise, you don’t really need a lawyer to walk into court and face the fine for a speeding ticket. The same applies for parking violations, texting while driving, and all the other things that are illegal. There’s really no point in spending thousands of dollars to fight a ticket that may be anywhere from $100 to $600.

Changes of Name

To change your own name, you will have to go through a somewhat lengthy but simple process that doesn’t require a lawyer. You can do the entire process by yourself from start to finish. The only tricky part about the whole situation is updating all of your accounts and whatnot with your new name. Still, lawyers aren’t necessary. You just have to fill out a bunch of paperwork, advertise your name change, and then wait a few months for the change to become official. People change their name all the time for whatever reason, so the process is fairly simple but can take a long time to process.

Copyrighting

You don’t need a lawyer to copyright something either. In fact, you automatically own the copyright to anything that you write or draw. Otherwise, you will need to apply for a copyright for other items. The entire process involves some forms, some fees, and then the issuing of a copyright certificate. You can but do not need to hire a lawyer during any part of the process. For the most part, people shouldn’t have a problem copyrighting something that they created or they own the rights to.

Removing Your Own Works from Another Unauthorized Website

For writers or poets, it is fairly simple to police where your work gets published and where it doesn’t. You hold the license to your works in most cases unless you have given partial or full rights to someone else. Therefore, you can get an unauthorized publication of your work off the Internet through various steps. You can start out by e-mailing the webmaster with a demand to remove the content. After that, you can appeal to the host of the website, which is normally obligated by law and terms of service to shut the site down if the content isn’t removed. None of this needs to involve a lawyer.

No Lawyer Necessary!

Lawyers do serve a necessary and good purpose, but they are just so darn expensive for the average person. On top of that, not all legal matters require the representation of an attorney. A regular person still has plenty of ways to deal with their own legal matters. Of course, a lawyer is suggested for more serious matters, especially when a person doesn’t have any legal experience.

“Green” Wedding Favors

A wedding is a great time to share your joy of helping the environment with your guests. There are many different kinds of “green” wedding favor ideas that will be a delightful gift and also work to help the environment too.
Tree Seedlings

Tree seedlings may be purchased at www.ArborDay.org. You may put them in a wrapping of white lace or tulle to make a pretty presentation of the tree seedling.

Basket of Flower Bulbs

A white basket full of flower bulbs for tulips, lilies, or daffodils is a lovely green wedding favor. Most people love to see colorful flowers in bloom. This wedding favor will provide much joy to guests as they enjoy planting the bulbs and then watching the flowers grow and bloom.

Victory Garden Basket

Provide a basket with seeds or plants for a victory garden to help guests grow their own summer vegetables. Small tomato plants and basil plants or seeds are popular ideas, as are seeds for pumpkins, radishes, peppers, and cucumbers.

Bulbs for Day Lilies

A day lily garden is a colorful and exotic sight. Give your guest day lily bulbs to give them the joy of watching the lilies produce abundant blooms. Day lilies are a spectacular flower that will delight most guests.

Rose Bush

Wrap a rose bush package in white or pink fabric and tie it with a ribbon in a contrasting color. Roses are a delightful gift. Most guests will adore a rose bush and think of the bride and groom every time they see the roses in bloom.

Basket of Hummingbird Related Items

The hummingbird is a beautiful guest in any garden. Encourage guests to attract the hummingbird to their gardens with a wedding favor basket full of seedlings for red bee balm flowers that hummingbirds love, a hummingbird feeder, and seeds for other red flowers that will attract this lovely bird.

Bottles of Flower Seeds

For a fall or winter wedding you may want to create bottles full of seeds from flowers from your summer garden. This lovely gift will help guests plant a wonderful garden the next summer.

Packages of Sunflower Seeds

Tie together several different kinds of packages of sunflower seeds with a bright yellow ribbon for a fun green wedding favor. Sunflowers help feed the birds and bees. They are also a beautiful and cheerful flower.

Guests will be delighted with the chance to grow their own sunflowers and will think of the bride and groom once the flowers start to appear.

Bulbs for Iris Flowers

The Iris is an unusually beautiful plant. They add a lot of drama to a garden. These beautiful flowers bloom in the colors of purple, yellow, and white among other colors. They are easy to grow and provide a stunning focal point to a garden for very little effort.

So delight your guests with a lacy bag full of bulbs to grow Iris flowers. This gift will be a wonderful addition to any back yard flower garden.

So be creative. There are many wonderful wedding favors that may be used as gifts that will help the environment and wildlife. Stop at a garden store and browse to get ideas for green wedding favors it will be an enjoyable way to get ideas for wedding favors.