Reversed my postings

I had previously written down some stuff on my career in the Air Force but when I copied and pasted, I reversed the order of the posts.  I've now corrected them.
Sorry

Air Force Career #1

At the time I went into the Air Force, there were still many career fields not open to women.  I truly wanted to be a load master but was not allowed.  They didn't have any women flight crew at the time and those planes flew over hostile areas so that was out.  I was however allowed into my second choice which was jet engine mechanic.  I went in with a guaranteed job which was just beginning in 1976. 


Basic training was a hoot.  Just a mind game.  Again, at the time they were just beginning to integrate the men with the women.  Our "utility uniforms" were completely different from the men.  We were NOT allowed to shoot the M-16or have gas mask training and our obstacle course left out "the manly things". 


From there I went to Chanute AFB in Illinois for my engine training.  That's were things got a bit interesting.  We had about 400 airmen in various stages of training and there were only about 25 women.  It wasn't intensive training just really knowledge about general mechanics and tools.  At the time I did not realize it but I found out before I graduated that of the 25 women approximately 15 were gay.  This included my roommate.  She was extremely smart (an honor grad at both Basic Training and at Engine training.  She was one of my best friends as we went through basic together.)  Having never been around "gay" people, I had no idea what all the fuss was about.  The quickest way to get discharged if you didn't like what you were doing was to say you were gay.  lol
The women were treated differently in Engine Training.  We were the butt of many subtle jokes and the instructors were a bit condescending.  Of all the instructors, there was one female and she was a civilian.  She actually went in the other direction and favored the females in her classes.  One of the prerequisites on the career field was that females has to able to lift at least 50 pounds.  The first thing they did to us was test us on the weight limit.  The males didn't have to prove they could lift their weight limit.

I had no real problems at training except for the single instructors hitting on me.  I did date one on the sly.  We weren't supposed to but hey, whatever.  He could have lost his instructor status but nothing would have happened to me because I was the poor dumb female airman who didn't know any better.  He was never one of my instructors so that didn't play into anything.  I found out after I graduated that he kept a score card on how many trainees he could date and bed.  We lost several women from my class.  Not due to anything but they were found out.  We had 7 girls in my class and 4 admitted to being gay.  My roommate did not admit anything and as far as I know served her enlistment.

A Reader's Dream

What's your biggest dream as an avid reader?  Maybe to meet your favorite author in person?  Have an autographed copy of one of their books?

I recently got to live one of my dreams as a reader.    In August 2011, I was looking for something to read as usual.  I don't know about the rest of you but I don't just pick a book at random and read it.  I have to figure out what kind of book I'm in the mood for and go from there.  This one book kept popping up on my recommended list on Amazon, Blood Wager by Connie Suttle.  The cover caught my attention more than once but I don't buy my books based on the cover.  I read the synopsis and was a bit intrigued.  I really thought it was gonna be one of those fluff vampire books and a quick read.  I downloaded to my Kindle but for some reason didn't read it right away.  Fast forward to the middle of September and I finally started reading, and reading and reading.  I was totally hooked on the Blood Destiny Series. 

I do most of my reading at night after the hubby hits the sack.  Since I'm a book junkie, I limit myself to reading after 7 pm.  If I didn't, I'd read most of the day and nothing else would get done.  There will be the occasional book that I even though I want to, I can't finish due the eyelids closing of their own volition.  I'll usually polish it off the next morning after breakfast.  When I finally started reading Blood Wager, Ms Suttle had already released the next two books in the series, Blood Passage and Blood Sense.  I would think about the books most of the day.  Kinda like a song you can't get out of your head.  I was ready to send my husband to bed with his dinner so I could read. 

This series is not a quick read for me.  There are so many different things going on and so much information that I didn't want to miss ANYTHING.  Plus, I wanted to make them last.  When I got to the end of Blood Sense, I realized I was gonna have to wait two whole weeks for the next book.  Oh, the horror!  Readers get antsy waiting a year and I was craving the next installment, Blood Domination.  I did something I haven't done very much up until that point, I left a message on Ms Suttle's blog.  She was more than gracious and through some means or another, we began to send an email here or there.  Me, cheering for her success and she, thanking us for reading her books.  I felt like I had a bit of a connection and hoped she didn't think I was stalker.  No, not really.  Anyway, through whatever reader fairies there are, I ended up with a "Thanks" in the dedication of her last book, Blood Queen.  Just a few words that meant the world to me.

I actually thought things couldn't get any better in my reading life but I was wrong.  I began blogging for Pure Textuality.  I could talk about books anytime I wanted.  Jena wanted to know if there were any authors that the reviewers wanted to interview and I immediately thought of Connie.  I contacted Connie to see if she was interested and found out I was going to do her first (and mine) interview.  Excitement could not be contained!!  Jena helped me with some of the questions and we were off and running.  Jena, then threw me a curve ball.  Connie has a new series release coming up on the 1st of February and Jena wanted to see if I could get an ARC and do the review for release with the interview.  I should have been ecstatic, but I wasn't.  Connie's next book release, Bumble, is the beginning of a young adult series.  If you read my bio, I don't do young adult books.  Tried, couldn't get into them.  Connie sent the ARC and I was afraid to even start reading.  I shouldn't have worried.  When Connie writes, she must write with folks like me in mind.  By the end of the first chapter, I was in love with Ashe.  Gotta stop there on the book.  Review coming the 1st of February.

If you're wondering, I liked the book on it's own merit, not because I'm a devoted fan.  I was concerned about that coming through in my review but, no worries, the book stands on it's own.  Now I wonder if I shouldn't go back and try some other young adult books.  We shall see. 

My Reader's Dream came true in more ways than one.

Book Review - The Secret by Julie Garwood

This is one of my all time favorites.  It’s a historical romance set in the 12th century.  I do believe this is one of the first romances I read that actually contained humor and not the stereotypical heroine.  Most of all, this book is about the true friendship of two women who shouldn’t have been friends at all.  During the 12th century, England and Scotland did not get along, but for two young girls at a gathering, the animosity was incidental.  Lady Judith and Frances Catherine become fast friends and get into all kinds of difficulties over the years.  At one of their gatherings, Lady Judith makes a solemn promise to Frances Catherine.  Judith will be there when Frances Catherine (always the two names together) has her first child.  Too many women died in child birth from some pretty archaic beliefs and Frances Cathrine does not want to be one of them.  In addition to the story of friendship this book shows how different people with different belief systems can truly get along.

Of course there’s a love interest for Lady Judith but the road isn’t easy.  Laird Ian Maitland cannot believe this little English woman is turning his beliefs and his clan upside down.  Not only is Lady Judith an English woman in Scotland but she’s keeping a big secret from everyone involved except Frances Catherine.  It’s a secret that could tear the Highlands open, pull Clans apart or mean heartbreak for Lady Judith and the love she’s finally found.

When I think of true friendship, this is the book that always comes to mind. 

I hope if you haven’t read it, you’ll give it chance and if you have, read it again just for fun.  If I had a daughter this would be a book on her must read list from her Mom.

5 Stars (are you really surprised?)

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Julie-Garwood/dp/0671744216/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327554262&sr=8-1

Self Published Book Release/Review Website

You would think with all the self published books being done today there would be a central website where readers could go to find out when new releases are due out.  I know I find it difficult to keep up with some of the books I'm waiting to release that are self published.  Sometimes I don't find out till many days after the release.
Without the marketing of the publishing houses, the authors are on their own to get the word out.  The readers bounce from each authors' websites to find out when the next release will be.  I asked Jena, the owner of Pure Textuality, if she knew of any such websites.  Might be an idea for me to develop.

My Air Force Career #2

Before I go into my first duty assignment, a little background is needed.  I'm a military brat.  My Dad did 20 years in the Air Force also.  My Mom was a homemaker until my youngest brother started school, then she worked just to work and help with the finances.  My Dad ALWAYS worked two jobs.  He had to have a part time job just for them to make ends meet.  We were a family of 6.  I had 3 brothers, I older and 2 younger.  My Dad and Mom were really upset about me joining the military.  Most of the time my Dad was in, "good girls" didn't join the military except as nurses.  But, I was 20 years old and didn't want to be stuck in Massachusetts for the rest of my life.  I wanted Warm weather.  One other thing.  At the time I joined the Air Force, I was 61 1/2 inches if I stretched it and weighed a whopping 98 pounds.  Not the ideal build for a mechanic but I'm stubborn.  Indicating you don't think I can do something is like a triple dare.

I got the warm weather or should I say, HOT weather.  I was lucky enough to get my first choice on my "dream sheet".  Tuscon, Arizona, here I come.  I drove from Massachusetts to Tuscon in 3 days and 1 speeding ticket later.  Oh what we can do when we're 21 years old.

My sponsor met me at a truck stop to help me find the base.  You should have seen the look on his face when I got out of my car.  He was this pretty muscular dude and he looked at me like I was a foreign species.  He was a really nice guy actually.  He picked me up at my quarters for my first day at work and took me to the shop.  I walked in and you could have heard a pin drop.  About 20 guys and me.  The shop boss just shook his head.  He took me to the break room to give me a run down.  To get to the break room we had to go through the in-shop area.  There are two ways to work on jet engines.  The major work is done on the engine when it's removed from the aircraft; some work can be done on the engine while still in the plane.  Walking through the in-shop, I saw all kinds of women.  I guess about a third of the 30 or so were women.  Also, in-shop work is only done on day shift (7am to 3pm)

His first words were, "you're gonna be our experiment".  I thought okay, that's interesting.  The engine shop currently had no females working the flight line (working on the planes with the engine installed).  They were trying to accept that they had to appear to be giving females the option.  I was pretty excited.  I was gonna work on actual airplanes.  There was a lot of paperwork required to get me the security clearances and basic flight line safety.  I was going to be around planes with engines running, planes moving, all kinds of vehicles driving around on the flight line.  So, my first month at my new job, I ran the snack bar when I wasn't in training.  They didn't even let me work in-shop as they thought it would confuse me since flight line work and in-shop work were so different.

Enjoying Life

Had a bit of a bad day yesterday.  Felt sick and had a migraine.  Even went to bed at 10:00 pm which is 2 hours early for me.  Got up at 4 am full of energy.  I wanted to get some stuff done around the house.  I'm okay if I do it in small batches and don't try to do too much at once.  Today was a day of accomplishment and I feel good but tired, which is a good thing. 

Off to hopefully finish a wonderful ARC, I hope.  My eyes are getting a bit heavy but the book is so very good.

Still Learning

Well, I'm not much further along than I was when I started but at least I'm no longer afraid when I make a change it will delete everything I've already done.  I've been looking at a bunch of other blog sites using blogger.com and still can't figure out how they've arranged some of their gadgets.  Hey, this is free so what can I say.
The first play-off football game just started and I have supper premade so maybe I can get some of my "to do" list done.
Off to do