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July 31, 2004
I need to recover from vacation
It would have been so nice if John and I could have just hung around the house today - blog nekkid, have a drink, relax. Relax some more.
But we couldn't. We have responsibilities.
Many of you will not understand this, but here goes.
We are fortunate enough to be able to board our two horses, Willie and Petey at the Ft. Leavenworth Stables. This is an MWR Activity. We are able to do this because John is a retired Army guy. But, because it is the Army (or, I'm sure any branch of the military), we have to make sure that the Stable Activity makes a profit, while keeping costs down.
One of the ways we do that is to hold two horse shows a year. The proceeds help keep costs down and profits up, so the Army doesn't raise our boarding fees.
Several years ago, I wrote an Access/Visual Basic program to track all the riders, horses, monies and classes in a horse show. I need to run the office at all of our shows so we can keep track of the money the Stable makes, and so the Show Judge can keep track of who is in what class, etc.
It really does make life easier for the folks at the stable - we used to need 4 or 5 volunteers just in the office to run the financial stuff for the show, now we can do it with just 2 people.
However, everytime I teach someone how to do the software part, their spouse ends up getting transferred to Germany or something, and they can never help again.
Therefore, I am the computer person for all shows. I don't mind, because the Stable needs our support.
Today, though, we only had an announcer until 11:45 in the morning, and we ended up having a larger turnout for the show than normal, so I called John of Arrggghhh! to do the announcing. He had had a lot of experience doing speaking things, but this was his first horseshow.
If you have met John, like Rosemary and Dean Esmay, you know just how wonderful his voice is. Well, I suspect that now that the other members of the Ft. Leavenworth Riding Activity have heard John's perfect delivery, he will be a permanent member of the putting on the Horse Show club along with me and my good friend Sgt. Linda Day - who is the Paddock Master.
Anyway, we had a long, hot day, but we did well, and the Stable will be allowed to exist for another year.
But I'm still pooped from vacation!!!
Posted by Beth at July 31, 2004 8:01 PM
Comments
One of my many avatars... Pompous Announcer Voice Guy.
For those of you who reeeeeely know your trivia (Army types, anyway) I am the voice of "The Breach and Assault," among other things.
I apologize in advance.
Posted by: John of Argghhh! at July 31, 2004 8:57 PM
Congratulations on a successful event!
I had to laugh when you said he is a permanent part now. That is great!
Posted by: Boudicca at July 31, 2004 9:02 PM
Actually, I should take this time to explain MWR. The initials stand for Morale, Welfare, and Recreation. MWR is responsible for running the recreation and morale-building activities for the services. It is a NAF agency, where NAF stands for Non-Appropriated Funds, meaning that congress appropriates no funds to support MWR activities. The military Post/Base Exchange systems are the major provider of funds for MWR activities, which include libraries, craft centers, auto repair centers, recreation centers, theaters, stables, bowling alleys, etc.
The key point I'm making is: you, as the taxpayer, aren't paying for the military's recreation facilities. They are paid for essentially by taxing the entire military community who uses the PX/BX and via the fees assessed for MWR activities.
During the Cold War, this system worked very well, and provided excellent services in many respects.
With almost half the military deployed to austere locations, the system has come under some severe stress - as Congress still apropriates no funding to support MWR activities for deployed units.
We raise those funds through donations, whether of cash or services (such as the comedians who tour overseas at much reduced fees) or by taxing ourselves - in this case in the form of surcharges (generally 10% or more, depending on the stress on the system above and beyond the regularly assessed fees.
In other words, aside from charity - we take care of our own - and don't ask you non-military people to subsidize us directly.
Of course - we appreciate every tax dollar you send our way for all the other stuff!
Posted by: John of Argghhh! at July 31, 2004 9:28 PM
congratulations on your good work, both in conducting a successful show and in providing the software infrastructure to keep the stables in the black. supporting MWR activities are truly an example of doing well by doing good.
Posted by: rammer at August 1, 2004 5:04 PM
Thanks, Rammer and Boudicca. The last two years John was on active duty, he was moved to Ft. Sam Houston - I stayed here in Leavenworth because we had the horses, dogs, cats and a son doing well in the Leavenworth schools. And .. I had a good job.
The Ft. Leavenworth Stable kept me busy and sane when I got home from work and on weekends. Andy I spent every spare minute there. I can't imagine how much more important the stable would have been if John had been sent overseas instead of just to Texas!
I know from the stable friends that I have made that the MWR activities have made all the difference in the world to families of Soldiers who are posted in other parts of the world. It is kind of like a family support system.
And I will probably run the computer stuff at every show until I die (-:
Posted by: beth at August 1, 2004 8:00 PM
Sh*t. Now we'll never leave and head for the mountains!
Posted by: John of Argghhh! at August 1, 2004 8:27 PM
there is a hill in Leavenworth, and a fine restaurant at its summit. think of the mountains when you dine there.
Posted by: rammer at August 1, 2004 9:31 PM