Forward, March! in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Seeing as how this is the first MMP for March of 2014, let’s share our personal marching experiences.

I’ll start. As you all better know, I was in the Navy. Naturally, bootcamp means marching. One does not simply walk to the chow hall or the training building or the gym - one marches with the rest of the company. So I did a lot of marching in the late summer of 1973.

The coolest part, tho, was not so much when I was marching but when I made everyone else march! :smiley: Every week, we had Pass In Review, when the entire regiment turned out for a ceremony with the CO. It was run by the companies who were a week away from graduation.

Because of my vocal projection abilities (OK, yeah, I had a loud mouth) I was selected to be the recruit commander of that event the week before we graduated. That meant when we were all assembled out on the parade field, I had to run the regiment thru its paces, culminating with the parade past the CO (or in my case, the XO.) I had to memorize the order of the program and all of the things I was supposed to say. There was extra pressure on me by my company because the week before, the recruit commander screwed up and EVERYONE knew it.

But because I’m S-M-R-T, I nailed it, :smiley: and it went off without a hitch, and at my command, hundreds of women marched past the reviewing stand. And everybody heard me - even at the farthest corners of the field. No mics, just voice, because I’d learned in choir how to project. Boy, howdy, did I project!

I also marched in 3 Mardi Gras parades in 1977 carrying the Navy Flag. My memories of the festival are much more vivid than recalling miles of walking in the color guard. Worst part was where the flag harness hit when the flag was placed in it - just a bit low on the belly - ouch!!

There was also marching when I was in OCS, but by that time, I was among a big group of enlisted folks who were going to be officers - we kinda had attitudes, and our marching songs reflected it. I was just a peon, and it suited me fine - in the grand scheme of things, marching is just walking in a coordinated group.

So, marching band? Parades? ROTC? Close order drills at family reunions? Do share!!

Happy Moanday!!

2

I was in marching band in high school. I loved it.

How’s the weather, FCM? RT is in Jessup and that makes me nervous.

3

Blurf.
I’ve been in various bands over the years, but never a marching band.
It’s cold enough to freeze the ears off a grass donkey, and I still gotta go to school. Many people have a week off this week, but not my school. :frowning:

4

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffienatin’. YAWN ‘Tis a cloudy 55 Amurrkin out with a predicted high of 73 and rain. Still better than what a bunch of y’all are gettin’. If you have to be out, be careful.

I’ve never actually marched. Ok, supposedly in high school we “marched” from the gym to the field durin’ PE. Except we didn’t really march. We sorta ambled along. PE coaches at my school were all like, just get down there so’s we can get this over with already. :smiley:

Today I travel to the south forty. I shall leave from da cave so I can slack a bit before headin’ out. Except I do need to get myself ready I suppose.

Now I need more caffiene and rumbly tummy demands to be fed. Then, alas and alack, 'tis Moanday and the south forty beckons. Sigh. Purtification for irk must commence sometime soon.

Happy Moanday Y’all!

5

**Sticky **- we’re about 90 minutes south of Jessup and it’s icy and treacherous here. I just posted a pic of my back yard in FB - it’s all white, but snow hasn’t started yet. From the weather radar, it looks like Jessup is in the snow band, so it shouldn’t be nearly as bad as it is here.

**FCD **is still asleep. Higgs wants to go back and join him, but my poor sweetie needs peace and quiet. The main pump on the aquarium seized up last night and he had to take it apart, clean it, and reassemble it - poor guy missed Columbo!!! :frowning: But he got it running, because he’s good that way, and the fishies are happy - that’s what it’s all about, right?? :smiley:

Meanwhile, Higgs wouldn’t pee outside - she saved it for this room. Stoopit dog.

6

Snow has started. Winter sux. I’s hongree. Stoopit weather.

7

Staying home today. Brought my pile o’ stuff home soes I can irk from the comfort of my den. So predictably, Loki and Freya blamed me for the sleet when I sent them outside to do their morning things.

Most of my marching experience was from when I was a Boy Scout.

Got a used washer/dryer set over the weekend and set them up. Dang near ruptured myself getting the washer up the step and into the house. Front loaders must be made from neutron star material or something. :eek:

Vunderkind turned 26 yesterday, and moved to new and bigger digs Saturday. I suspect FDiL will be joining him soon. :smiley:

8

All weekend they were telling us it was going to snow. First it was going to be a foot, then no, maybe 4-8 inches, no, 3-6, no, maybe 2, and the end result was that it didn’t snow at all. Weather people are jerks. I thought I’d maybe get a snow day today. But it’s just as well, we’ve got nowhere else to put it, anyway.

I was in the marching band in high school; I played the flag. I can’t remember why I did it, I guess just because two of my best friends were already in the color guard. I didn’t like it very much. But I did get a bitchin’ varsity jacket out of it.

This weekend was extra-furniture-to-storage time. We’ve emptied out the house but good, and Roomie is kind of sad because we’re stripping our home of everything that makes it ours. (Well, except for the Iron Throne decal behind the toilet, because I don’t think that’s coming off easy.) She got a little weepy because she says this was the place she’d been the happiest in her life, so I got a little weepy, but I pointed out that we’ll be even happier in the next place. :slight_smile:

There’s still a lot of boxes that I could get down to storage, but I was so exhausted by lunchtime yesterday that I just couldn’t bear the thought of lifting one more thing. Tonight we have to finish getting things ready for the painters, and then it will feel really really real.

9

Happy Moonday!

It’s SNOW!
Sah-dog took one look out the door and refused to go out. He wouldn’t go out on the deck either. It’s his bladder, I guess when he is ready he’ll let me know.
I’m not going out if I can help it, there is already several inches of accumulation and it’s still coming down hard.

I got a full 8 hours sleep last night and it feels good. I had some weird dreams that woke me up but I went right back to sleep.

I’ve never marched, unless we were play marching as kids. My friends father had a video of all us kids with little plastic buckets on our heads for hats and little plastic shovels for batons.

Happy Birthday Vunderkind!

10

I marched in boot camp also, back in 1983. I moved from the regular boot camp company into the performance company, nicknamed Triple Threat (band, service, and drill team). The performance companies were formed every three weeks, IIRC, and we would perform at the weekly graduations. I was on the drill team, doing the choreographed routines with rifles. Our company performed at three graduation ceremonies, including our own, before we graduated Boot Camp. That was pretty easy duty, except for the time I got hit in the ribs with a bayonet during practice.

Good morning all. Stayed up too late watching the Oscars last night, and it’s supposed to start raining ice in the next couple of hours here. Why did I even come to work today - the place is about half empty, and most of the area school districts announced closures for the day.

11

I have never marched anywhere for any reason.

It’s not freezing stuff here, just raining and that’s moving out. I may be able to go out and get laundry done. I have a feeling I’ll be doing household chores according the the poem from the Little House books this week. You know, wash on Monday, iron on Tuesday, etc. etc.

I had pancakes a day early this week. El Cheapo Grocery doesn’t have my favorite sweet potato pancake mix anymore so I had to make do with buttermilk. It’s not the same. :mad:

Judging from all the sirens outside, somebody’s kitten got stuck up a tree again.

12

Afternoon!
Feeling decidedly under the weather today, probably 'cos I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep due to my skin being stupidly itchy and flaky again. I’m really sick of this now, I wish I could work out what’s causing it…
Oh well, I don’t have much to do today anyway- the plan was allotment gardening, but despite the dry forecast forecast, clearly the rain neglected to check the date, and showed up anyway.
Possibly the met office was just sick of predicting rain, and thought they’d mix it up a bit.

I could go down there anyway, as it’s not exactly heavy and continuous, but the plan was to cycle, and I haven’t sorted mud guards for the bike yet, plus I’m not sure I’m really up for the heavy work that needs doing.

I might do some washing later, if I can stand the excitement, though I have noted the muppet soon-to-be-ex housemate’s washing that I took out the machine still unwashed last week is still there, in the basket where I left it, waiting for… something. Possibly Godot.
:rolleyes:

Oh, and I’ve never marched- I’ve never been one for organised group activities- apart from a little precision drilling :wink:

13

There’s a load of towels in the washer, and 3 or 4 more loads of stuff sorted and ready to go. Needless to say, I won’t be hanging anything out today.

Temp has dropped to 21° and there’s still a little wind. We’re in the thick of the snow band, but it’s hard to tell how much longer it will last. I’ve had enough, KTHXBYE!

14

I started marching in my hometown’s Memorial Day parade as a Brownie Scout in 1965. I marched as a Brownie again in '66, and as a Junior Scout in '67. Then, in fourth grade, I joined a Band. Not a rock band, but a woodwinds, reeds, brass, and percussion band. I played trombone. We performed on stage, and we marched at the USMMA football games. And of course we marched in the Parade.
We rehearsed every Saturday all school year long. In April, we started practicing the marching in rows thing. Keep in mind these are grade school students, who were trying to keep the rhythm, read the music, and play their instruments at the same time. We practiced on the oval drive in front of the school. We were fine on the straight bits, but at the curves, well, do you remember this Warner Bros cartoon? We were the hounds you see starting at 1:05. But somehow we managed to make a good showing on parade day.

also Blurf!

15

I mostly marched to my own drummer, he played swinging shuffles, mostly.:cool:

Caffeine, Moanday and Blurfity blurf blurf.

Jim

16

Much sleet last night and 15F.
My Dark Satanic Mill is closed, but Mrs. Plant’s is not. We got her car thawed about nine, and she went in four hours late.

17

The snow has stopped, I wonder for how long.
It’s not much out there, just a few inches and I guess a plow went through because the road is visible. I hope this is it and we are done.

Other than not nothing going on. I’m just cleaning and organizing today. As much as I can with a houseful of people.

18

I can’t march, I just sorta shamble. I’m up and caffeinated. it’s rainy and cold now, the school system is letting out 3 hours early, when it’s supposed to start sleeting.

19

Morning all,

No marching for me evah! We being kicked out of irk due to snow. Joy!

20

Second load in the washer, first in the dryer.

Our snowflakes are getting bigger - what does that mean? I don’t recall it being discussed when I took meteorology 30+ years ago.