Another Fundie Fam In An RV

[LeatherCouch]

They have six kids and appear to be of the fake Jewish flavor. The husband left the military, sold their house and moved them into a 30' travel trailer. They have been living off of the money from selling their house, and the husband has not yet found another job, so they are in a bad way.

savvyhomemaking.com/home/category/faith/

savvyhomemaking.com/home/rv-living-update/

[gustava]

I'm guessing that he was "sequestered" out of the military; he didn't have a choice. And I'm confused as to why she's driving the car behind the RV. If it's a 5th wheel, then they have a truck to pull the RV. It it isn't a 5th wheel, why aren't they towing the car?

[browncoatslytherin]

while i do sympathize somewhat with their position, that of a returning veteran getting little actual support once getting back, the thing is, from his post (which was linked in the first entry linked, i think) it sounds like he did a couple of things and kind of gave up.

so the police department didn't want him because they thought he wanted a federal position? then why not go for a federal position? some jobs do require travel, but i'm sure there are others that don't and still others that have minimal travel.

then he did the whole oil rig program. okay, cool, good. but something about his whole account isn't quite ringing true...he talks about hard skills and soft skills - i.e. he has the leadership ability and other stuff like that, but not all the technical stuff - and that potential employers were chuckling at his resume because of it...yet just a paragraph before or maybe even in the same paragraph he mentions the 40 or so certifications he got. certifications means you have the technical skills. so either he's lying about the number, or potentially lying about how well he did, or he made up the laughing employer story to make readers sympathetic. i DO understand that not every graduate of a program gets hired. one of my friends went through that after she graduated from an ma program and last i heard she went back to school for a nursing program. but that specific accounting of events...something just seems off to me. if he really got 40 some certifications, that means he has the technical skills, and i doubt an employer would laugh at that, much less laugh out loud in that situation as that would be very unprofessional.

okay, so, after he didn't get hired, then what? uhhh...nothing, i guess?

i understand the want for a specific kind of job, i do indeed. but there gets to be a point where you have to take what you can get, whether it's even related to what you want or something completely different, because you have to support yourself. and he has a whole family to support. so if he has to take a couple of part time retail jobs to do it, then that's what he needs to do, not sell their house and live out of an rv.

when i first moved to minnesota, without a job, i knew that i was taking a huge risk. i only had enough money to pay my car payment and insurance for one month with some money left over for gas and some necessities. i applied every day, averaging between 10-15 applications (monday-friday, the weekends i perused and applied more casually, but still put in 2-3 applications per day). it took me five or six interviews, and about a month to land a job, doing something i absolutely hated (phone csr work). but i took it and got paid, and kept looking, and i eventually found the job i'm at now.

so, i guess i just take issue with the fact that, from what he said, he applied for a few things, went through a program with no success, and gave up. dude, you have to try harder than that. and i understand it's rough as a veteran coming back into a civilian life, but you have to take initiative yourself and not try to depend on the government to help you with everything regarding transitioning.

[browncoatslytherin]

I'm guessing that he was "sequestered" out of the military; he didn't have a choice. And I'm confused as to why she's driving the car behind the RV. If it's a 5th wheel, then they have a truck to pull the RV. It it isn't a 5th wheel, why aren't they towing the car?

despite having a few military members in my family, i'm not hip with all the lingo...what does "sequestered" mean?

and i think she mentioned that she helps him brace for tractor trailers by driving behind him and telling him when they're coming up. there are benefits to traveling convoy style. it also doesn't sound like he's that great of a driver (from one of the entries detailing the woes of rv's...he almost took out a mailbox, apparently, i hope it really was "almost" and not "totally did"), so if they were to hook the car up to tow it, it might be even worse for him to drive.

[Mango]

A fair number of the RVers who work full time on the road that I know have a car that travels alongside the RV just so the family has access to two vehicles at each destination- especially if their RV is a 5th wheel that requires a super heavy truck that eats fuel like crazy. It's a little weird but not really unheard of. (Most of the people I know who do this are doing travel nursing and stuff like that, where they go to a place and work a job there for 6-8 weeks, then move on.)

[DGayle]

I'm guessing that he was "sequestered" out of the military; he didn't have a choice. And I'm confused as to why she's driving the car behind the RV. If it's a 5th wheel, then they have a truck to pull the RV. It it isn't a 5th wheel, why aren't they towing the car?

It's a fifth wheel being towed behind a truck. They've got 8 people, and I don't know of any trucks that seat more than 5 or 6 people. So they have to have a car to drive everyone safely.

To that family's credit, they're driving the kids safely, and aren't trying to make it all sound like wonderfully wonderful good times. Jill tries to make everything bad sound romantic. Julie and Mark are being far more real and admitting the tough things, but also saying what they're doing to try making it not as bad. They're real.

[LadyPriss]

Sequestration is part of the Budget Control Act measures brought forth a while ago. The military was told to cut its budget, so troops were released from service. This started in March 2014, and is still ongoing, if I recall correctly.

The Canadian Military did a similar thing 20 years ago called the Forces Reduction Plan. Fast forward a few years into that, and many people who released were back in.

Edited cause spelling is important...

[browncoatslytherin]

Sequestration is part of the Budget Control Act measures brought forth a while ago. The military was told to cut its budget, so troops were released from service. This started in March 2014, and is still ongoing, if I recall correctly.

The Canadian Military did a similar thing 20 years ago called the Forces Reduction Plan. Fast forward a few years into that, and many people who released were back in.

Edited cause spelling is important...

ahhh, okay. thanks for clarifying!

[JesusPony]

At least they "only" have 6 children who look healthy and are pictured eating? My standards of parenting have dropped so much on FJ.

[FundieWatcher]

I have heard that most military translators never become fluent in their language. It is possible his Russian is only elementary level.

I actually feel for him. He did try. He just doesn't seem to know what else to do. His post says he walked away from the military because it was too much time away from the family. I can imagine that reason didn't go over to well in the police interview.

What is strange is that, after 13 years, he doesn't have a larger professional network. It like someone he knew in the Navy could give him a job lead.

[nelliebelle1197]

I have heard that most military translators never become fluent in their language. It is possible his Russian is only elementary level.

I actually feel for him. He did try. He just doesn't seem to know what else to do. His post says he walked away from the military because it was too much time away from the family. I can imagine that reason didn't go over to well in the police interview.

What is strange is that, after 13 years, he doesn't have a larger professional network. It like someone he knew in the Navy could give him a job lead.

As with all these people, there is more to the story than we are getting.

[JMarie]

Kind of sounds like the plot from Promised Land imdb.com/title/tt0115325/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

[Eater of Worlds]

On Jan 8, when it was 19F out, they ran out of propane and basically have no insulation. They were sitting in temps of 54F.

[browncoatslytherin]

I have heard that most military translators never become fluent in their language. It is possible his Russian is only elementary level.

I actually feel for him. He did try. He just doesn't seem to know what else to do. His post says he walked away from the military because it was too much time away from the family. I can imagine that reason didn't go over to well in the police interview.

What is strange is that, after 13 years, he doesn't have a larger professional network. It like someone he knew in the Navy could give him a job lead.

i do wonder what his exact skill set was upon leaving the navy.

i dunno, though, from what he wrote, it seems like he tried a couple of things and gave up. when you have a family, you can't afford to try just a couple of things and give up. i have no doubt that there is definitely more to this story that what has been written. there are parts that seem a little overly flourished and dramatic - like the laughing employer i mentioned upthread - that just seem jarring and written to make the reader sympathetic to the writer, not written as a true account of what happened.

[FundieFarmer]

I can't tell where they are but they said it was 19 out.

They need to take a page out of the R-Book and head south.