The one thing that really gets me is spelling and just general conversation. I am not the best speller, nor do I ever pretend to be a bright person. I didn't do amazingly well at school, in fact I was Mr.Average. But what baffles me are the following.
People who don't understand the simplest of English, like the use of the word Brought and Bought, it is one of those things that really gets to me. Or when someone has a rant but its one huge paragraph thats so hard to read that you don't bother in the end..
Only yesterday I was talking to a Linguist out here about my generation compared to previous generations. My grandfather could turn his hand to anything, he could pick up a saw and chisel and make perfectly square window-frames. As his family grew he built the house to accommodate them, building extensions etc.
Before deploying out on Ops, I had to attend a course on these generators. I got put in a group with two lads who are "technicians".. I use this term loosely. You see, out here, if you are in a FOB and your fan belt brakes you are expected to replace it yourself. This is the story of one of the techs....
To get to the fan, you have to remove the guard, 6x 13mm nuts. I handed him a 3/8ths Drive rachet, a 3 inch extension and a 13mm socket. He first of all couldn't get the extension onto the rachet, I showed him to press the back of the rachet to allow fitment. He then tried to put the socket end of the socket onto the 3/8th extension drive, rather than the square bit. Keeping my calm I showed him the errors of his way.
From here I showed him that the back of the ratchet has two possibilities, righty tighty, lefty loosey. Set it up before you go trying to find the bolts and it will be easier. I set it to loose and handed it to him. He began on the nearest nut. It got to the point where the tension was off the nut and couldn't provide enough force for the ratchet. He then switches to tighten and tightens it back up.. He couldn't get it into his head what was happening...Again I showed him to use one hand to brace the extension to provide the tension.. Same thing again..
In the end he left me to do it.. I would just like to point out that this Technician, is currently deployed on his own, in theatre, in a FOB with said generator.. Oh and he decided to lean on the turbo after the thing had been running for 2hrs, as you can imagine, arm was a mess!
These are the people I worry for, my first house, I picked up a book, read how to tile, I tiled. I wanted to change the light rose, knocked the power off and changed it.. I built a picket fence, each strip at an individual height to keep the uniform look around the garden...
Yet daily I see people around me doing the dumbest things..
