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To: Myrddin

I had a sort of similar, but different experience. No moving every two years (although my cousins and friends whose fathers were in the military did so, and I was keenly aware of their plights).

My Dad was a “super scientist” and we lived overseas on a scientific exchange program sponsored by the US government during the Cold War. My Dad did great things for our country and for the whole world with his science. For one thing, he invented a way of encapsulating nuclear waste in little gel bubbles so that even if a nuclear waste container was broken open, no radiation would escape to endanger anyone, even if it happened hundreds of years from now. He was teaching allied Western European countries to share and use this technology under the direction of our government at the time (even though at the time, during the Cold War, all this was secret and I did not know that then.)

I took the SAT early and scored high and started college at barely 17. Why? Because the stupid American bureaucratic system would not accept the credits I earned at my Swiss school.

Good for you that you did similar! Our youth is shamefully wasted by our “educational” bureaucracy, and it is worse than ever.


129 posted on 04/04/2023 6:49:25 PM PDT by CatHerd (Whoever said "All's fair in love and war" probably never participated in either.)
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To: CatHerd
When my family returned from the Pentagon billet to San Diego, my dad had options to be XO of USS Arlington or a billet in Japan where we could move for the duration of the assignment. That's the closest we ever came to a foreign country opportunity. Arlington was the choice, so our family remained in the San Diego area. We never had to move again. That was actually a good development. Condolences on having a problem getting the Swiss school credits recognized. The education garnered there was probably better than what a US public school had to offer in the same context.

The Idaho National Lab is 90 miles from my current home. Lots of neighbors have jobs there. A bus leaves the local parking lot at 5:30 AM and returns by 5:30 PM. Lots of bright people doing important research and putting on the Idaho hayseed persona at home. It's a necessary alter ego as work isn't a topic of conversation outside of the office spaces.

I learned a bit about nuclear waste disposal in the time frame of the post tidal wave disaster in Japan. The use of concrete encasement isn't as permanent as hoped. At the atomic level, the waste is undergoing decomposition with the emission of high energy particles. The particles pummel the concrete and covert it to a fine powder over time. Worse, some of the "greenies" forced "sustainable" material substitution for the concrete. An organic substance was substituted. It broke down faster and generated explosive gases. Many of the containment barrels have exploded in the underground storage areas. Oops. Letting politics (green policies) override competent scientists like your dad leads to disastrous consequences.

130 posted on 04/05/2023 9:14:27 AM PDT by Myrddin
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