European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 4, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday March 4, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 11 ? letters dear Ann Landers i am a 17-year-old girl a senior in High school. My parents were divorced seven years ago. I stayed with my Mother. My father moved out of the House and my sister went with him. At first my parents divorce was t difficult for me to accept because i saw him three times a week and talked to him almost every Day. A couple of years ago dad remarried. Since then i Haven t seen him much. Last year i took a nurses aide course at night. When i came Home i did my Home work and went to bed. The course lasted four months. During that time my father never called. Not even once. I decided to test him to see How Long he could ignore me. Nearly 10 months passed and i did t hear a word not even on my birthday. Finally i decided to Call him. He was so Happy to hear my voice and invited me Over to his new House. We watched football. I hate football but i was so thrilled to be with him. I d have looked at anything. I asked about All those months of silence. He said whenever he called and mom an swered the phone she would Chew him out for 30 minutes. So he quit calling. I told him i did t like to Call his House because his wife was always so Nasty and sometimes she Hung up on me. He said he loves me a lot and wants to see me and hear from me but i must Call him. According to dad the reason his wife is unpleasant to me is because she is jealous and feels threatened by anyone who is a part of his former life. How can a one Way relationship like this work i really want to see my father but is it fair that i must Call him All the time please Tell me what to do. Looking for an answer in Illinois dear Illinois accept the relationship on your father s terms. His explanation about his wife s nastiness should not be difficult to under stand. Rise above it. As i see it you lose nothing by calling him and you gain a great Deal. Remember Pride goeth before a  dear Ann Landers May i say a few words to the senior Citi Zens in your audience of do any of you have unfulfilled dreams or ambitions if so go for them. It is not too late yes after All these years. All my life i wanted to play in an orches tra and never did. Three years ago i began to take clarinet lessons. I was 64.1 now play second clarinet in our Community orchestra. It is one of the most thrilling experiences of my life. There have been other benefits. My blood pressure has dropped dramatically and my medication has been Cut in half. My breathing has improved too. It is no exaggeration to say i have never been heal Thier happier or More energetic in my life. And the Guys in the violin Section flirt with me. I can t Tell you what this has done for my self esteem. Tootsie in Canada dear Tootsie Beautiful i love it. You sound like a terrific can do woman. I Hope your letter encourages others to take on new Chal Lenges. Age is Only a number folks. Readers wishing to write to news America Syndi Cate columnist Landers May address their letters in care of the stars and stripes Apo 09211, . Forces writers give thanks to ski instructors firefighters i have been Reading the stars and stripes for about 1 a years and always try to read the letters to the editor. I am amazed at How Many people complain about their jobs or about the Job someone else does. There is one Squadron you never hear about and that is the fire department. In a Way that s Good at least no one is complaining about them but there is never any credit Given either. I guess i m writing to Tell you your Job in t so bad and the hours so Long when compared to the firefighter s. They leave the House at 7 . And return at 8 . The following Day. They work 24 hours on and 24 hours off. But their Job does t end at 4 30. They Are there in Case you need them. They ride the flight line All during the night. If maintenance has a fire they can be there in three minutes or less. So next time you turn the heat up in your House because it s cold outside think of the firefighter who s in the truck Riding the flight line or the firefighter who s in the station just waiting to help you in Case you need them. Name withheld Ramstein Germany our family spent a ski week in Garmisch through arc and i want to say thanks. Not Only did we learn to ski but found All the accommodations far above what we expected. We knew the ski instructors were All Ca Pable and Well trained but did t fully real ize How Well until the last Day. After a week of classes Many of us la adjustments explained i found the recent letter on cola adjustments very interesting. My question deals with living quarters allowance la for civilians. Neu Ulm is an unrated area so we get the minimum la. In the last several years we have tried to get Neu Ulm rated but have been unsuccessful in even initiating action. What must we do to get the Ball rolling Nicholas she Stople Neu Ulm Germany editor s note Elizabeth Reid he. Usa eur office of the Deputy chief of staff personnel civilian person Nel division replies the question seems to be what can be done to make Neu Ulm a rated area for living quarters allowance the Short answer is that department of state Dos makes the decision based on analysis of quarters and related costs for the area. To clarify Neu Ulm is currently an unlisted Post covered by the Germany other category. This category has higher maximum rates than some listed posts in Germany. Dos determines the maximum payable rates and whether the Post should be listed based on analysis of reports. Annually each civilian personnel office co in Usa eur submits an of 1190 to Dos for each employee receiving la. Additionally pos provide a retail Price schedule report for each serviced Community. Dos analyses these reports to determine the adequacy of the quarters allowance for each area. Based on last year s annual review 55 percent of the employees renting quarters in Neu Ulm were under their authorized maximum. Only 1 percent exceeded the Maxi mum by 10 percent. Of those that were scarcely Over the maximum 13 percent were new rentals. When the quarters allowance is sufficient for the preponderance of employees it is unlikely that Dos will change Neu Ulm to a listed Post. The Germany other rate has increased significantly during this past year. The new 1986 annual review for Germany is due in Dos mid March. Employees with other questions about living quarters allowances administration should Contact the technical services of fice allowances staff at your local co. Thank you for the Opportunity to explain How living quarters allowance rates Are determined. Clean up your act Reader says this is a letter to All occupants of govern ment housing. It took me a Long time until i finally said now it s enough i can t stand it anymore. Our laundry room is a Pigsty. Even a Pigsty is cleaner than this laundry room. It s really  Don t you feel the same sometimes soap in and on top of washers fuzz and dirt in washers and dryers soap in the fabric softener dispenser Jelly sandwiches trash and much More. In Short it s a mess. Most of the time even before starting laundry i be got to clean washers and dry ers just not to ruin my clothes. Cleaning out those washers and dryers sometimes takes More time than doing laundry itself. I Don t know Why people can t clean up after themselves. Where will our society end if this goes on like this where did you grow up where Are your manners it does t take even five minutes to wipe Down washers and dryers after using them. People might say but that s Why we be got a cleaning  right but would you like to clean somebody s mess that makes you almost sick even if you do have a roster if anybody cares about tit makes it that much easier for the person whose turn it is to clean up. Sometimes i feel people who can t take care of government property should t live in government housing. Better that they live on the Economy. Then they might learn to appreciate having All the privileges the government gives. So please take care of government prop erty. Don t misuse your privileges. It s Al ways you and your neighbors who get Hurt. Take the first step. Good understanding makes living together much easier. Name and location withheld pen pals please publish our names in your pen pal column. Rosallnd r. Agape 22 Blenda Malolot 18 Raul r. Agape 16 Pontod Lar eng siquijor Philippines i am 28 years old and would like pen pals. Nancy Boyles co Boyles & sons pm 31 Panambo Davao Del Norte Philippines i would like pen pals. I am 27 years old. Raymond r. Agape . Lar eng a Fullor Philippines i am 28 years old and would like to correspond with people All Over the world. Conchita b. Enrera provincial Hospital Dumaguet City Philippines i would like to have pen pals. I am 26 years old. My hobbles Are collecting Stamps singing and Reading magazines. Crusty Camero co new Hass Arams dept. Store or. V. Locsin Street Dumaguet City Philippines 6501 i am 20 years old and would like to have some pen pals. Perla Banquerigo Bong to Valencia Negros Oriental Philippines i am 35 years old and would love to have my name published in your pen pal column. Waneta c. Mate Pulan Tubig Dumaguet City Negros Oriental Philippines 6501 stayed Over to ski on our own. My daughter and i planned to ride the Cable car Down when a terrible windstorm came up closing Down All the tows and Cable cars. Only a couple of instructors remained with 40 younger children and the rest of the begin Ner adult skiers. An hour later the winds had t ceased and soon it would be dark. The Only Way Down was the expert slope lots of ice. A tracked vehicle managed to bring up several More instructors and we were quickly put in groups of 10. Given final ski tips we followed our instructors slowly but safely Down the slopes. The instructors were amazing. Some car ried kids Down on their shoulders some in their arms some had several skiers together in a Row with the instructor skiing Back wards to keep them slowed Down. On very Steep Hills the kids took off their skis Slid on their rears to a safer level and the instructors carried All their skis to them. It took a Good two hours to get everyone Down. Despite Many Falls nobody was seriously Hurt and we can All remember an exciting adventure. Thanks again to All those ski instructors who helped out in a very serious situation. Sharon Pechacek Aschaffenbur Germany people sometimes ask us Why we Don t run thank you letters. It is because we receive so Many we would not have room for any other letters. But we be decided to share one or two of the More interesting letters once a week. De. The St is and filpes xes Stu of european edition capt Dale k. Patterson us editor in chief cmdr Jeffrey s. Zakem us Deputy editor in chief . Blackwell m. Proctor . Mcdermott production manager managing de. Circulation manager this newspaper is an authorized unofficial publication for members of the military services overseas. Contents of the stars and stripes Are not necessarily he official views of or endorsed by the . Government the department of defense or the . European command. The appearance of advertising in this publication including inserts or supplements does not constitute endorsement by the department of defense or the stars and stripes of the products or services advertised. 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