G'Day

I am thinking of starting a blog for the whole enlistment/navy process. But I don't want to jinx it and make something go wrong and get me DQed, so I think I may wait until I sign my contract.

I'd be cautious about that sort of thing. It'd be really easy to give out information the Government doesn't want available on the Internet. Even if you didn't know they felt that way about X, it could still cause some trouble.

Nah, there are plenty of blogs about enlisting. As long as you're careful not to get into any OPSEC issues, you're fine. No discussing exact deployment dates of ships or subs, no discussing exact locations and no discussing any classified material (nuclear propulsion details, etc).

It's perfectly fine to discuss the basics and details of certain jobs, talk about RTC (boot camp), etc. The Navy doesn't censor your opinions. If you talk about stuff you don't like about the military, they aren't going to discipline you. There are some very clear guidelines that tell you what you can and can't talk about. It's called Operations Security, or OPSEC (or OpSec). As long as you keep those guidelines in mind and don't cross them, it's all good.

Oh, okay, well that's good then.

Arg. The processing station had its power taken out by the hurricane, so now I have to wait another couple days to hear back about my medical approval for my Lasik. Hopefully, I'll still be going up to sign next week. The closer to the beginning of the month, the better, since the jobs open up the first of each month. The longer you wait into the month, the fewer jobs there are available.

Oh, I did not know that.

Here's hoping you get a kick-arse job!

My book ("Watch Out For Me") got its general release in bookshops across Australia today - yayyy!!!!

Here's the publisher's linky (it's also on kindle) - and you can read the beginning of it by scrolling down here

Omg that is awesome, congrats!

Congratulations mccardey! You are living the dream

Way to go! I didn't even know you'd had a book accepted.

I'll keep my eyes out for it.

And OMG, Allen And Unwin? They rejected me about a year ago. *tips hat to the better writer*

mccardey said:

My book ("Watch Out For Me") got its general release in bookshops across Australia today - yayyy!!!!

Here's the publisher's linky (it's also on kindle) - and you can read the beginning of it by scrolling down here

Click to expand...

congratulations!! woohoo!!

Can you give us a brief overview of the timeline that it took you to get an agent and get it published? I'm always interested in hearing about other author's experiences - feel free to PM me if you don't want to share publically.

Awww... you're all such darlings. Thank you Tarkine, when I'm on my writing 'puter I'll have a look at my emails and see how long it all took. My memory is that it was quite speedy, but I think that's just because it's over now - although the whole process is a lot quicker in Australia, I think.

There were revisions, I do remember that!!

I'll be going shopping tomorrow, and I'll be looking for your book in either KMart or BigW. Unfortunately, there aren't any book stores in my local shopping centre. Do you know if your book is available in the stores I've listed?

Aaaand, my military career is over before it started. Hurray.

So sorry.

What happened?

Well, I'm not totally sure it is. But I have some debt issues and a medical issue that are apparently disqualifying for a lot of people.

Oh. Bugger.

Hope it all works out for you.

Hi everyone.

**contents of pity party**
My computer power supply has died, so I'm using the better half's laptop - ugh! It's horrible. I have a ton of whinges about it, but I shouldn't complain because at least it works.

To top everything off, I've had viral vertigo and almost deaf. I've been so tired the last three weeks that I've been going to bed at 7pm - and I'm still not over it

Wah! Poor me. Okay I'm over it.

***The pity party has officially ended.***

How's everyone else doing?

Sorry to hear that tarkine. I have vertigo whenever I look down at a sink. I've no idea why, but it freaks me out sometimes. Definitely scared me the first time it happened.

I also have a hearing problem, so I feel your pain!

As for how I'm doing, I haven't heard a thing about my job yet, but I've started a new WIP--my first novel in a long time (I got about halfway through the last one and it got lost in the shuffle of a hasty move). I'm pretty excited about it. It's a lipogram.

Hope you get better soon Tarkine!

Congrats on the new novel PoP!

I'm still trying to make headway on my essay. I keep finding things to distract me from working on it. Such as cleaning the house yesterday, or going shopping when I have nothing I need to buy, or, and this is my personal favourite , finding a 3-year-old book of puzzles (crosswords etc.) that my sister left in her old room when she moved out, and doing puzzles for about 4 hours.

But today, I will write a first draft of this essay!! I will I will I will!

The efforts of the last week or so have given me 8 quotes that I can use, and I'm going to turn those quotes into an opinion. I don't actually have a strong opinion of my own, so I'm going to borrow one from whatever facts I was planning on using.

PoP, bummer about not hearing about the job - woohoo on the novel.

Cliff - I'm the queen of procrastination and distraction. I always find something else that doesn't really need doing but I do it anyway.

Yep the ears. I'm over it. At least I've got a work around for bending over (i.e. not getting up quickly) but this hearing thing is really peeing me off!

Cliff Face said:

But today, I will write a first draft of this essay!! I will I will I will!

Click to expand...

Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!

tarkine said:

Yep the ears. I'm over it. At least I've got a work around for bending over (i.e. not getting up quickly) but this hearing thing is really peeing me off!

Click to expand...

I have central auditory processing disorder, which basically means if I can't see the lips moving, I can't really hear what's being said. I worked in an operating room for 5.5 years with this, which means it was a real struggle to hear anything the surgeons were saying. Fun times!