Come to ME, and NH, and what the heck, VT ;) as well. The three states of Northern New England are especially nice for a summer or fall visit. Avoid black fly season (now) from Mother's Day to Father's Day.

DD214? A firearm? Come on guys, fill us civilians in!

A DD214 is the discharge paperwork from the military.

For some reason, the government requires discharged veterans to "register" at their county courthouse, like some kind of paroled felon. So, when you get done serving your country, you can almost immediately start to distrust it, hah. I've never been able to find out exactly the reason, since 90% of vets probably move to other addresses, anyway. If it had something to do with benefits (and likely that is part of it), I'd comprehend. You trust the system, and perhaps it's for a good reason.

Anyway, it was my first introduction to the lack of accountability in the civilian system. You stand in line so someone who has little, if any, accountability, figures out what they are supposed to do with the person who was ordered to be there, and what to do with the piece of paper that represents your life over the previous years. You wait through the stages from being ignored, to "huh?" to "what's that?" to "I'll be right back." (which isn't true) to "just leave it here, and you can go." (NOT). Eventually you get them to make a copy, give you back the original, and you leave, wondering what the heck that was all about.

Then, you go to DMV, since your license expired, as did your tags, and inspection. And you get a ticket, or a warning, since your license expired, as did your tags, and inspection, while you were off in some strange place where things didn't always make sense, but were clear as a bell compared to this....

Then, you have to visit the VA, so they can tell you that the education money you put away for years will be available, perhaps, about the time you go broke.

Then, you visit the campus, where they register you with ease, since you paid that money up front.

Then, as you wait for your money to come back from the VA, and are about to go broke, you go to financial aid on campus, get in line behind the guy with the new Toyota MR2 (who leaves with a check) and are told to sell your car, move into public housing, and apply for food stamps. You find out the guy in the MR2 gets a check because he has a 3.8 GPA and your 4.0 doesn't quite meet the requirements?

You don't worry about it, because you can always go back to the system that seemed to make sense, and heck, you're on a college campus, and it's better than Disneyland.

It all works out in the end, because it's supposed to, and generally does. You just have to get used to a new system that often neither penalizes nor promotes, and hope most of the people do most of their job most of the time. And they do, it seems.

I noticed those too. I have a few Tamiya kits of various types. No time to devote to those and my son is railroad oriented.

Kitsap is a beautiful but rather wet area. Spent time up there doing work for LockMart on the sub base. Good riding when dry. But then you knew that if you were stationed at Whidbey.

Welcome back! As others mentioned, your bikes integrate nicely into the home (or apartment) decor. My Lady just gets confused when I decorate similarly.

I look forward to the pictures of the gold Mexico -- and be sure to let some of us New Englanders know if you ever make a trip to the east coast.

Best.

Did you ever go to the Whidbey Island Kite Festival when you were there?

Also, talk to your county Veteran's Service Officer- they'll be able to help you out with any county or state Veterans benefits you may have in addition to federal VA Benefits. Regardless of whether you're planning on getting your care there, it probably would be worthwhile to do the means test and get all registered with your local VA hospital.

I was going to ask, "but where is the workshop".. apparently that is the deck. Not such a bad place to wrench in the summer. Better than a basement anyway, which is where I work. Glad to see you reunited with all your horses. I have been separated from three of mine for almost three years now.

When I was discharged, I didn't get the impression that registering your DD214 was mandatory, but that it was a really good idea in case you lost track of the original. They told us of a guy who got hauled in because he was mistakenly listed as AWOL and didn't have his DD214 to prove he had been discharged. I lived in a small town, so it only took about five minutes and $2 to enter it into the County records.

Welcome back Dude.

My boat was one of the first ones ever at Bangor - they got the base done before they had any new (Ohio class) subs to put there so they moved some old ones in to get things moving.

And they told me to file my DD214 with the county recorder at the city I moved to when I first got out - didn't say it was any kind of legal requirement. The recorder kept the original and gave me back a certified copy. The County Recorder was an elected position so I actually knew somebody on the ballot the next voting day (she was an office of one). The only time I ever needed it was to get a VA loan on my house and those guys accepted an ordinary Xerox copy of the Certified Copy. I have it scanned in my documents folder now if I ever need it again.

I don't understand the appeal of model cars, but that's why they make chocolate and vanilla... enjoy.

I shall do that in the future - one of the areas of the country I've not yet had the pleasure to visit. From the pics I've seen in the locales you mentioned, it looks like a cyclist's dream :)

I see Robbie filled in the blanks as regards the DD214; yeah, basically a resume, if you like, of a military career. One only gets two certified originals and they serve a big purpose. If I were to lose them...

DD

Uh-huh - but it sure is beautiful when it's not raining. Same with Whidbey, yes - although for a time the hills were really killing me (corncobs on most of my bikes). That all changed when I converted the Davidson to 8-speed Ergo.

DD

Thanks! As for visiting out in your neck of the woods, I'll definitely do that - probably next summer as this one is all filled up. As for the Mexico, I put the latest bling on it last night so photos are for sure on the menu :)

DD

I sure did:

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September 2010 - took the Mondia out that day. Gorgeous weather at the tail end of summer!

DD

Golden Boy: I will do that - thanks for the tip!

Cycletoine: Here's hoping all my wrenching is done before winter sets in - or I'll have to lay out a tarp in the living room! I'm going to have either astroturf or seconds carpet laid on the deck, too, to make it a little plusher (the tenants before me left a big stain from their grill), plus it will save my knees while working on the bikes :)

Pompiere: Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the basis of registering it with the County. I'll probably end up doing it twice as I'm currently on the edge of two counties and don't as yet know where I'll end up.

Diablo Scott: You were on a boat out of Bangor back in the day? Cool - my hat's off to you (and thanks for your service, too) because no way would I have been caught dead on a sub. I have to get up topside at least once a day to see either the sun or the moon! As for the model cars, well, my dad started me on aircraft, but I gravitated to cars since I was always crazy about them. In the end, it speaks to my enjoyment of detail and hand-work; there's an awful lot of scope for detail in one of those 1/12 scale monsters.

DD

Colnago Mexico pics, as requested. I got the wheelset w/ engraved OMAS hubs from Ebay while over on The Rock.

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DD

My daughter used to compete with sport kites made by a Whidbey Island local named Dick Barnes. Long Beach is as far north as we ever made it for Kite festivals.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...0/845/br3o.jpg

Welcome to retirement from the military. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I also see why it was so hard for me to find a 312T2 kit as you may have 30% of all the kits made. Those Hasegawa kits are really nice.

So, I got the opportunity to meet up with Patrick (SJX426) today in Fremont. We met up in front of Recycled Cycles on Boat Street - I was calling him just as he rolled up! - and we got caught up a little and talked Jeep Cherokees for a bit before heading just down the road to Wright Bros. Cycle Works. I introduced him to Charles and we all talked bikes, guns and a little politics, too :)

Got some nice pics across the board today.

Patric (L) and Charles (R):

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2895/...17bf2756_b.jpg

Shop front:

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Maintenance courses of instruction:

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Maintenance instruction area (the normal maintenance area is in the front of the shop):

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Some vintage steel hanging from the rafters:

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Typical Fremont:

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Patrick's daughter graduates SPU mid-June, so he'll be coming back out for about 4/5 days and we hope to get a ride in; maybe we can link up with Alex Moll (Patrick rides some big bikes) and do a short jaunt on the Burke-Gilman.

Had a really fun time today hanging with you and Charles, Patrick - looking forward to doing it again in June :)

DD

Welcome back, Jeff! :thumb:

Spring has been kind to us lately up around the Lower Mainland - and down the West Coast, too, I guess...

Andreé-Anne has recently been remarking on how much fun the Atala is to ride (especially compared to her winter-commuter MTB!) now that it's suitable to get the nice ones out on the road regularly.

Glad to see the bikes back with you; all wonderful (especially those two orange ones, to my eye), and deserving of a good Spring workout after a bit of rest.

Those engraved hubs are quite the find - I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that, though I admit not being a real aficionado of such things. Very little milling, engraving or drillium in my collection, all told - though I might have to see to that lack one of these days!

Looks great, you must be pleased!

Mike, I'm happy to hear that AA is enjoying her Atala - truly nice to know that after too long just sitting, the bike is getting the attention she deserves :)

Yeah, weather's been good to us, eh? I'm hoping for a little of the same tomorrow as I want to do my first ride since I've been back after I pick up my car from service. Think I'm going to dial in the Davidson.

The wheelset was a lucky accident, and even with shipping was under $300 - that included a spare pair of tubs, too. I think the black anodized hubs set it off just right :)

DD

Thanks! Oh, yeah - they're just what I needed to cap off the pantograph theme. I have to get the rear trued just a tiny bit, but other than that I couldn't be happier with them. We'll see how they hold up at Cino in September!

DD

It was great meeting up with you and Charles. He has a great shop and a lot of fun parts and bikes! I may be staying a few extra days next time to help my daughter move. We will need to take a break with a ride!

I am going to make a shameless plug. I know this crowd probably isn't into romantic comedy books, I have never read one until now. The reason is my oldest daughter is now published. If your significant other, or anyone you know, is into them, have them check out her book on Amazon. It is called "The Lucky Charm". It is her first book, and being crazy about baseball, specifically the Red Sox, it is includes baseball.
The Lucky Charm (The Portland Pioneers) - Kindle edition by Beth Bolden. Romance Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com..

So far, she has good reveiws and and sales has been very good for a new author with a new book.

This thread is about new beginnings, isn't it?