worked out how much I made in Afghanistan per Day
 

:mad:Well that was a kick in the crotch, after doing the taxes and figuring out the pay I made an extra 77 dollars per day overseas and a whopping $3.20 per hour based on a 24 hour period since we are always on call.

what a crock and that just proved I won't be going back to Afghanistan ever again. I will put my relase in if they do...

based on a 24h day that shure dont seem worth it, maybey if it was based on a 8 hour day but we all know you wernt doin 8 hour days and coming home

WOW!! That sucks A$$...... anyone who had ever been in the forces will tell you that you can not or will not ever work an 8 hour day when stationed anywhere. I don't blame you for being upset!! Perhaps the lesson here is not to do math.....:lol::lol:

I do commend you and thank you for doing what you do.

Cheers
Lawrence

That's kinda how I am paid. I am paid a day rate "based on a 12 hour day including overtime", but I'm on call 24/7, and usually work 17-18 hours a day.

I know that there is very little any of us can say as to those who put their life on the line. To you and your comrades you have my support and admiration.

Tom R

Doesn't seem like nearly enough considering everything you do and go through down there.

Wow, even for an 8 hour DESK day job that would be low...let alone a job where you risk your life and are on call 24/7 :(

Two of my cousins are in the US army and US Airforce respectively. One was recently killed on the ground in Iraq (after being there on and off for 5 years now) and the other was actually just telling me about how relatively little he gets paid as a pilot! ...so its not just a Canadian thing.

It really is pretty sad that you guy's are not paid better for the job you do.
Some how we have our priorities pretty screwed up. The part that really gets
me is if you are killed god for bid. How well is your family taken care of financially.
My brother was a Marine and it was Dang sad!!!!! Can you just up and not go!
Or is it called going awall????? At least your back in one piece.

This post is directed at the general population, not asmodeus in particular:

Sorry to point it out, but if you don't like your work's monetary compensation (talking to everyone here not just asmodeus), why don't you get a different job?

Honestly, I think there are too many people in this world that want everything for nothing. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to get what you want (whether that be monetary or otherwise). I gave up practically my entire life for the winter so I could work on the oil rigs and make some good cash so I can do a few things I've wanted to do for a long time (like travel). The winter has been long and tough with very few days off, little thanks, and I work crazy hours (one of many stretches was 13 hours sleep in 10 days), but it has paid off for me. If it didn't give me what I was after (in my case monetary gain) I wouldn't be doing it.

I don't believe the Canadian military should have a presence in Iraq right now, so I have a hard time supporting our government paying a large amount to the troops. I understand that asmodeus probably works physically quite hard, for this I have a lot of respect to anyone, and believe there should be decent monetary gain by doing so (just not in Iraq eep).

Oops, I think I opened a can of worms. :eek:

Asmodeus...by the looks of your tank and its inhabitants and equipment, (really nice!!) it doesn't look like you're doing really all that bad financially. ;)

aaanndd When you say you want to travel, travel where? I have a friend who left
the middle east and if you heard about all the suffering they indure. They are not
free to travel as we are. It is not safe anywhere, it is changing everything. And I
think it is good they go!! And when Canada is targeted by terrorist should we just
stick our heads back in the sand, and pretend it it someone else's problem? Yes it
is sad that they have to go, but thank goddess their are people who do.

what a joke?
considering anything could happen, even if you were sleeping, that it should be calculated at a 24 hour rate by AND for you.
at the very least, it seems from posts I have read from you in the past that you like your job and get some personal value out of it...
Unless I read them wrong, I think that counts for something.


some days I make a lot of money per hour, but I hate it 80% of the time....

Well my friend well said to a point however the Canadian army isn’t in Iraq, we are in Afghanistan
My tank is like the way is it due to the time and effort that i put into it over the last 7 years from watching other people make mistakes and not doing what they have done. And a lot of time and patience
To the money thing. I have 20 yrs in the Forces and put my self to the limits all the time. I’m 39 soon to be 40 yrs old this April 24th and I’m in a lot better shape then a lot of young soldiers in out unit. Now that where I'm at now my pay is pretty good. However I was stating that the Army does not get a lot of extra money for going over Sea's. Yes we don’t get to pay taxes for 6 months while we are deployed there. However the troops that are in battle there should see a lot more extra's for putting their life on the line every time that they are out side the wire. Making that little extra doesn’t make that much of a huge difference. Soyour comment about the tank really has no bearing on my over sea pay. A lot of civilian people don’t have a clue what training that we go thru to end up before deploying over sea for 7 months at a time. I’m not here to point fingers at you so you know that. It takes around 134 months to be operational ready to deploy of to Afghanistan. there is a lot of time away from your families too. But what I was getting at was for 77 dollars extra per day,
You are away from your family,
Alone,
Shot at,
Shitty boil in the bag food,
Showers may be 10 in 7 months,
Get blown up,
Killed
Watching a buddy get shot,
You get shot.
Having a life altering decisions to make
Having post dramatic stress disorder. AKA PDSD
All for that extra money
or 77 dollars per day.

Sorry, I failed geography, but I did well in political sciences. I couldn't even name all the countries in the Middle East and Asia. :o

I am glad there are people willing to be a part of the Canadian Forces, and risking your life should definately be worth something, but I can't support the decisions our Canadian government has made to support the USA in their fight. That is the US's fight, and they are quite capable of dealing with it themselves. The only reason Canada is there is brown-nosing for the USA because we need the USA for protection from the rest of the world. Why do you think no countries have ever tried invading Canada?

What you do is NOT what I am against, what you do is priceless, BUT it is also a decision you have made. If it is not bringing in what you want from it, don't do it. You can't be complaining about work you have chosen to do on your own accord. If you weren't willing to take the risks, you wouldn't be there. I don't have much sympathy for people who complain about their field of work, no matter what it is. If you don't like it, change it!!

134 months is well over 10 years, I know people that are in Afganistan (and Iraq actually) right now that are in their 20s, so I don't know how you can say it takes 134 months to be operational ready to deploy??

As far as your tank goes...it is not 7 years old. You may have 7 years of research, but that didn't pay for it, and it didn't take you 7 years to pay for it. My point about that is simply that the Canadian Forces are paid well.

I for one applaude Asmodeus and others that chose to serve. I also think he has every right to vent some frustration here.
To put in in prosective, imagine your boss (whoever you are and work for) telling you that you will be getting a 3 dollar and hour raise, but the catch is, you and your co workers must work around the clock and at any time may be killed. Your boss also informs you that you must wear heavy gear and he will be playing with the temperature so it will range anywhere from below 0 to 40 or 50 degrees. And he will be throwing anything he can think of at you to make your life miserable
Would you want that raise??

You just figured this out now ?
I assume you didn't join the military to make money.....did you?

If you join the military you sort of ask for it...it would be like working for a boss without finding what they were going to pay you first....because it is the military it just not take away any responsibility from him....just makes it seem more honorable (stupid word) than the kid being ripped off at McDonald's....it is however not

IMO firemen, police, military, etc. are grossly underpaid compared to many other government paid employees. These people put their lives on the line for the safety of others. I don't know what any of the above are paid but I'd guess less than say any municipal inspector, school principal, etc. And another thing: a welder for example in the military working for the army in Afghanistan I think would earn far less than if our government had to send civilian welders over to do the same job. Is this right? I applaud these people for the risk they take to make our country safer.

JOINED THE ARMY...duh

Myka shame on you
how can you compair anything we do in Cananda for work to those in the military
you should just say thank you and keep your opinion to your self or at the verry least Donot voice them towards someone who has put his life on the line for your freedoms
i mean really how can you compare drilling a hole in the ground to being shoot at if it wasnt for our brave men and woman you wouldnt even have the chance to have a reef tank how many afgannis have a fish tank or for that matter a computer
now i'm shure this will be edited becouse any other time i have voiced my opinion someone seams to take ofence but i in good conchence cant let anyone rag on a man in the army all you should do is say thank you and is thee anything i can do to make your life easyer now that you have made it home alive
war is NOT a video game

So THANK YOU Asmodeus and welcome home

Yes and it's those that joined, fought and died that ensure your right to voice your opinion, live free and have every right entitled to a Canadian citizen. Some how I don't think "Duh" quite lives up to that.

Yes, we all thank Mike and his team for what they do, however the point made above is that when joining the military, you knew you were going to get paid your pay, and that people we're going to try and kill you. Not a job I would take, so ya, thanks, but if you took it, enjoy it. right? :)

I think the whole point here is that Mike is trying to get us to send him money so he can buy yet another skimmer. So let's all have fun, feel bad for Mike and hope somehow he can get his new skimmer.

(good try Mike)

:)

I hate to say it, but that kind of had the ring of a whine...
that didn't sound like someone who loved their job, it sounded like someone who was left with a choice of making lots of money, or being comfortable and happy...:question:

I am in agreement with you about some of your stances on the us and our ties to them but I also detect a note of hypocrisy here in regards to both of you seem to do what you gotta do to get by (getting by being of different strokes for different folks)....
and whats wrong with trying to voice your frustration with a community of friends?

Sigh...

The duh was part of the I joined the army certain things are expected...
Stop putting fought and died for in messages to somehow try and add weight to your argument. The simple fact is everything he listed in his message as "army life" ie food in bags being shot at etc is part of army life. If one joins the army not knowing these things are going to happen as a result of recieving your paycheck...frankly your ill-informed....being ill-informed is the sole responsibility or lack thereof...of every soldier in every army in the world. The duh was simply meant as "you joined the army and didn't know what to expect"

Please take your blind support for military personal...shelve it....pay attention to what you read....define things in the world for yourself....\

No where did i say the military was bad....simply that being uninformed of ones decisions is no ones fault but your own. Had asmodeus joined the military and been promised more money and they reneged...find....but somehow i think this is not the case....given his SURPRISE at finding out what he caught paid. If anyone else had come on saying they worked for a company and were surprised at their pay...most would question whether they knew what they were going to be paid before they started....it being the army or being shot at doesn't not change this fact....he chose the job, anyone for that matter who complains about a part of a job they knew they would have to put up with and don't quit that job...the onus is sort of on them.



on a side note...a conscripted army is far different than a volunteer army...no one deserves to die...but joining and being made to join are different...i use this example to please get you to seriously consider the "VOLUNTEERED" part of asmodeus's problem.....

I can't buy a bubble king skimmer....even on 77 dollars a day....

Don't worry about it, get a good ol' ER.

I do :)

er


I Did :) a few of them....

We all have a right to voice our opinions. I did just that as you have. I truly believe what I wrote and did not embellish to add weight to my arguement.
Also, I would not call my support of the military "blind." After about 1 year of research and life changing thought. I am proud to say, my paperwork has been submitted as to my joining the Canadian Forces Reserves.
And no, not every soldier in the world chose their job. In fact, I'd say a very large number had it thrust upon them.

I can't wait to fire up my RS250, poor thing has been sitting out in the shed for a couple of months now :neutral: It must be lonely out there all by itself in the dark.

Alternatively I would have liked to try out one of the ReefFlo Orca skimmers, I was looking at the 250 which is rated for 200-800 gallons. But its external and that kind of freaks me out a bit. The Octopus Extreme 250 is an in sump model, has gotten good reviews and is like half the price.

I suppose ultimately the best deal was the RS250 as I got it used and it looks brand new and has the gate valve mod done already.

Has anyone looked into those cone skimmers? I see Progressive Reef has some Octopus Hurricone Category 2 skimmers. They look interesting.:biggrin:

Myka, its not called brown nosing to the USA, its called out commitment to NATO. Thats the force that there. Its just to bad that the other NATO countries, {except for Britian and a few others}, wont let their troops peek out from behind their protective barriers. As far as I,m concerned, the next time one of them need us, {being Canada, Britian, & the USA}, we should tell them sorry.

Thats the really sad thing about us being there. That and the USA troops being in Iraq instead of Afganistan, but thats another story and not for a Canreef lounge.

:lol:

K, so you need to get that new house, so you can set up the new tank, so THEN you can fire up the new ER. Get 'er done!! Pretty soon Mike is gonna try to buy it from you! for cheap cheap -lol

You should really put it on your night stand and sing lullabys to it at bedtime then.

I know, working on it!!!! We need to sell our house first and man the market is incredibly slow here.

I'm hoping Mike buys the reefflo skimmer, then eventually I can talk up the ER and we can do a trade or something. Then again I might just love the ER so much I'll never part with it. I do love my CS6-2, it rocks my world!:mrgreen:

Well ,you know that whatever he buys, he's going to sell, so just wait him out. Although the ER is probably going to do it for you!

1. Again...we are not talking about every soldier in the world...
2. I was in the reserves...never combat but...i got to drive a nice western star....and as a civilian contractor...quit went to university
3. By blind i meant the way in which it seemed like you agreed...being in army does not deserve special treatment ie. he joined he shoulkd have figured out his pay before....(again asumming no one reneged on wages...the responsibility lies with them) by bringing up the "fought and died for our country" part you came across as the military deserve special status because of this, as such it would seem you think because they fight and die they deserve special status..ie looking past the fact it is volunteer, their pay rate is known to them etc etc...by overlooking this fact i agree with my statement of "blind". It is not a personal i think anyone who fails to see the whole picture should be called blind....

But whatever...join or don't...be careful if you do...now anyone who has read this thread can't complain when they get meals in a bag and shot at if they join the military and are deployed in combat...

I don't feel sorry for someone who can keep acrylic in a shed in the winter and not have it crack :)

I am of course assuming an un-heated shed :)

No its heated but now I'm thinking about going home at lunch to check on it. Jeez thanks a lot :razz:

Nah, all my acrylic is outside unheated. You're fine. Although it might look good on the coffee table instead of the shed. Just sayin'...

Besides if your nose is too close to an american it comes out red white and blue....not brown :)

NATO and the UN....hmm...that brings up the question of whether or not support should be given to a country who does not keep their commitments to the UN or NATO...(i personally think these organizations are bigger than one persons refusal, I also think the middle east is beyond the scope of NATO....UN yes...NATO no.)

I dunno, I guess it would make a great conversation piece. People coming to look at the house might think it a bit odd though. Maybe if I took the collection cup off and put some flowers in it or something :wink: