The cadets aren't a part of the actual services, though, so although the flight sergeant rank may unofficially stand him in good stead (at least with some people), if he enlists he'll still start at the same point as the other recruits.

From what I remember him saying, don't listen much since its not one of my interests, he should be starting at a point higher than normal recruits. Though I might be talking outmy [censored] here, but like you said he may stand out more than the rest because of past experience (though he isn't persuing a career in the military, it was just something to keep him off the streets)

Unless things have changed, it won't make any difference to the point where he starts; that can vary depending on exactly what one enlists as, but AFAIK prior experience doesn't count for anything. It may make him stand out (though how much is mostly down to him) but that can be good or bad depending on the nature of the staff member in question: whilst most are excellent, some have risen to the peak of their ability and tend to get rather bitter and insecure as a result.

18 to buy it, 16 to drink it in a pub with a meal, and you have to be at least 5 to drink it at home.

You need to be with a responsible advlt at 16 and younger otherwise it's illegal, and you can't purchase it if you are in a pub the advlt must do it.

Can you go explain in-depth your experience? I am considering joining up to learn a trade too.

Dunno where I got 14 from, then. And a minimum age of five sounds entirely unreasonable! What about giving booze to babies to stop them crying?


It was mostly positive, except for a couple of things: first is that I was really too young, and... well, that was probably it, really. I think life was a bit miserable because my staff sergeant was one of the "bitter and insecure" types I mentioned and picked on me a lot, but being a bit older would've probably ameliorated most of that. So make sure you have your life completely together before enlisting otherwise it could be problematic.

The other thing is that I was advised to enlist as an officer, advice that I ignored, which probably wasn't such a good idea in hindsight.

In terms of what I did, I really only got as far as doing the first stage of basic training, but aside from the aforementioned staff sergeant I had a thoroughly good time. It certainly got my fitness together, and I learnt all sorts of useful odds and sods that are still good to know just for day-to-day life ("enlist now and learn the martial art of ironing!") 6:30am starts were hard to get used to, but swimming in the Atlantic on a cold November morning was invigorating! And the food was invariably excellent. The people I was with were mostly a good bunch, and pretty much ensured that those who weren't didn't become a problem. The shirts are every bit as itchy as they say, though.

Oh, and I was an absolutely dreadful shot with a rifle, though I was actually pretty good with the unaffectionately-named "small metal gun" (the Sterling SMG, better known these days as the Imperials' blaster in Star Wars!)

Most babies get some whisky on their dummies to help with teething and to help them sleep. I was the proper little drinker as a child, there's a video of my being held by my Granpa on my 3rd birthday. I took the beer from his other hand and started drinking, when he pulled it away saying enough I cryed/throw a tantrum and got some more and my dad stood there with the camera laughing saying "like father like son, no one messes with our drink eh?" and I look up, smile, and run away with the beer can
The video then changes scene so I don't know if I kept it or it was returned lol

Thanks.

Isn't it supposed to be bitter?

That's one component of it, yes, but people's tastes vary. Personally I find that too much bitterness detracts from the overall flavour.

Milk for black tea / breakfast tea. Just like Arthur Dent. Every other tea, I have plain - no milk or sugar. Except Yerba Mate. Lots of sugar in that. Yum.

And coffee needs sugar. Unless you have no taste buds.

To anyone in Asia: What's your opinion of cheese?

Two tests to get your license in the U of K. A theory test and then a normal driving test. I failed my driving test 3 times!

Heh, U of K was my location listed on here for ages, until Old Andy pointed out that it referred to the University of Kentucky.

3, if you decide you want to learn how to drive automatic cars. You need to sit the manual test as well if you ever want to drive said type of car. But if you pass the manual test it qualifies you for automatic anyway

I don't see why anyone would like to just take the automatic test, instead of taking the manual and qualify for both cars no matter what car you're planning on driving.

The norwegian process of getting a drivers lisence seems so different compared to other countries.
We have LOTS of driving hours, and many required ones, for example long distance driving (Me and another student drove from Norway to Sweden and back) and other "special" lessons we must take in order to get our lisence.
We've also got the theory test. We buy ourselves a book and study until we feel we're ready to head to the Traffic Station (where you get your lisence) to take the theory test. The test consists of 45 questions, and 7 wrong answers is the limit. If you fail you must wait for 2 weeks and each test cost 90 USD.

So after spending 3500 USD on everything (average price to get your lisence in Norway), and drove over a period of 2-4 months you can finally take the last test.

The thing that bothers me the most is the ridiculous price we have to pay in order to get our lisence. I've asked some other non-norwegians and I'm pretty sure they didn't spend a small fortune on it.

I think I had about 20 lessons way back when, but even adjusting for inflation, it cost nothing like that amount. I forget exactly how much my driving instructor charged, but it certainly wasn't expensive considering I could finance it on my meagre funds as a student.

Its just too bitter llike that.

Here you need to be 18 years old to drive. You need to pay an "auto-school" and take both a "practical" (driving) and "theoretical" (questions) test.

You need to be 18 years old to buy and consume alcohol and it's "okay" to let teenagers drink some soft alchool at holidays (a glass of wine or champagne). And while the government prohibits the consumption of alcohol until 18 year old some families let their sons drink at younger ages, like 16.

People are eligible to vote at 16 and are obligated to vote when they reach 18.

Here you can be a "apprentice" with 13, work a part-time job with 16 and full-time jobs with 18.

Men are obligated to enlist in the army with 18 years old. But they don't need to "serve/train" (starting as a recruit) if they don't want to (We have one of the biggest armies in the world... So.. If Brazil enters a war, there will be hundreds of untrained soldiers, enjoy!)

I've had 15 lessons and just ordered another 10, they're ￡21 each, so even factoring in test costs and stuff it shouldn't be any more than ￡650-￡700, hopefully.

In California, US, you can get your driver's license at 16 only if you've had the provisional license for 6 months and have taken hours of driving training. Even then, it's what they call a Restricted License. You can't get a Full license until 1 year after you get your Restricted License or when you're 18, whichever comes first. I think restrictions include not being able to transport passengers under the age of 20 and not allowed to drive late night/early morning (11pm-5am I think?) for one year or age 18. I don't know how enforced restrictions are in practice. It's very different from when I got mine...it was Full license at age 16, if you had some paltry driver's ed, which most public schools provided as matter of course. (commercial license is 21/different category)

Also...i've had milk with dark teas. It's not really any different than putting milk in your coffee. Either you like milk in such drinks (for flavor reasons or to cut down bitter/acid) or you don't. But milk in tea is definitely not a common thing in the USA.

Milk in cola is actually pretty good, too. Altho I'm more into the cola & vanilla ice cream "freeze" - like a milkshake only not as creamy/no added milk, just the ice cream/cola.

What do you mean obligated? You're legally bound to go out and vote? Here it's just a right, although we're taught it's also a "moral" obligation.

Yes, voting is mandatory, there is a penalty for not voting and you need to present a valid "excuse" for not voting or else you will need to pay a fine.

What if you don't think any of the parties are worth voting for?

I dont know how much I spent on driving lessons. I stopped having them eventually for other reasons. But I was not really interested in driving. Now when insurance can cost more than the bloody car. How the [censored] do they expect people my age to afford that [censored] ?