Thank you all

[Christcorp]

Nothing wrong with a cookie bribe. (IF IT WORKS). My wife and I are never home until after 4pm, so mail is either there or it isn't.

I've noticed that webguy is mentioning posting more pic and vids in the gallery. I haven't seen any of my son in the general area. Guess I'll have to consider spitting out the $180 for the super duper deluxe members area. LOL!!! It's for a good cause. My luck, with 1300+ cadets in BCT, my son will ALWAYS be the one turned away from the camera and we'll never see him.

Hopefully he's gotten our letter and will be sending a card back soon. The idea of putting a self addresses/stamped post card in the letter you send him is definitely a good idea. They don't have a lot of time to write letters. Being able to write down a few minutes note and drop it in the mailbox is much more convenient. They will do that. I know that when I was in Basic, I might have actually written 4 letters in 6 weeks. of course I really enjoyed RECEIVING letters. Just my selfishness I guess. Also, it's hard because in basic we hear from home how everyone misses us and loves us; yet we feel a little guilty because while we still love everyone, we don't have time to miss you. Maybe it's more of a "Boy" thing. But that was the hardest thing to convince my mom; now trying to convince my wife that if we don't hear from him a lot, it's not personal. That's why postcards included in the letter is a good thing. Quick and simple. All the hard work is done. All they have to do is say something witty like; (Enjoying camp, made a lot of friends, wish you were here). They'll do that a lot easier than writing 20-30 minute long letters, addressing envelope, stamping, etc....

Anyway, I think I'll talk the wife into baking some cookies for the postman. I'll leave a note to the mailman saying that every day we receive a letter from my son, the next day will be a package of cookies for him. It might work. (My luck he'll write letters himself and pretend they are from my son just so he can get cookies) Later... Mike.....

 

[ds52262]

I still have all of potterfans letters (there were only a few). They kept them so busy I resorted to sending self addressed stamped envelopes with paper inside. For Everyone please send a note out today telling your cadet it is OK to eat the treats and burgers thrown to them from the wall during the 4th of July fireworks. They maybe to timid or afraid the Cadre will leap on them. The Cadre will look the other way. Just dont bring anything back.

 

[Christcorp]

Well, a few days ago I decided to support the AOG and pay for the 4 year membership. Plus, with webguy putting the vast majority of pics and videos in the private area, maybe I'd get lucky. Plus, the AOG is a worthy organization who helps a lot of people. Especially being a non-profit.

Well, it finally paid off. After almost a week of looking through every picture posted, I was able to find my son. 5 Pics. (Basically, all the same pic, just different angles while in formation). I have to say, the $180 seems like a lot, but for 4 years it's reasonable, and seeing his pictures made it much more worth it.

I have to say, my son looks pretty intense. I know it's not really funny; but I've been there and know what he's going through. I know he will do fine.

I was talking last night with our state regional rep in charge of all the state ALO's for cadets. She said that on last thursday, she received a message, as well as others in her job, stating that there were 5 candidates during inproccessing that wouldn't get on the bus. Apparently, they had been pushed more by their parents to go than they really wanted. It's a shame that they didn't change their mind last month when another applicant who hadn't gotten selected might have had a chance. Oh well; that's all factored in and they know it. That's why they give out 1600-1700 appointments. They know they will only get 1300-1400 who actually show up.

Anyway, it was worth the AOL membership to see my son "having fun". 1 week down and 5 to go. Later... Mike....