<p>1 and a butt days to go - can't wait!</p>
<p>Maybe I'm being dense, but how many days is one and a butt?</p>
<p>It's two days I believe.</p>
<p>One and "part of" another.</p>
<p>can someone please explain the whole butt thing to me? I heard someone say there was a "butt and a half" of a serving left- had absolutely no idea of what they were talking about- what is a butt worth anyway? and if one-and-a-half butt is worth 2 days, what is one butt? this one is flying over my head!</p>
<p>the way I have always heard it is "1 and a wake-up" as in a day and then a wake-up and the event is at hand! Maybe the butt is just the opposite part of the day! Or maybe the Navy just says it right! ;)</p>
<p>A butt is the leftover of a part. For example, if you have one and a butt days then you have a day and part of another day. If you have 2 and a butt hours, then you have 2 hours and part of a 3rd hour to go. When cadets count days until graduation, A-Day, Ring Day, or until Army beats Navy, and other events, they count in x and a butt days.</p>
<p>I found a site last year or maybe we received something in the mail after the appointments that had all kinds of cadet lingo included. If anybody has it maybe you could post a link. I looked but can't find it. Thanks.</p>
<p>Hate to digress from this "heady" discussion of "butt", however, I wanted to alert parents attending PPW to make sure to pack a rain parka to protect their rented tuxs during the weekend activities. The weather forecast is pretty dismal for Friday-Sunday with the nicest weather forecasted for Monday.</p>
<p>Just got a call from my folks who intended to drive to West Point from the Buffalo area today and tomorrow. They drove about an hour in pouring rain and decided to turn back since additional heavy rain is forecasted for today and tomorrow (1-2 inches). </p>
<p>Shogun, obviously a rain parka is not an issue for you if you wear your water-repellent green polyester leisure suit. If fact, a pair of those 70's high heeled disco shoes will probably keep your feet dry as well.</p>
<p>To steal the post back from Aspen, if a "butt" is part of something, how come "a buttload" means a whole lot of something? One of lifes little mysterys.</p>
<p>So, from the original post I guse PPW starts tomorrow. Good luck and have fun. Spoil those cadets something terrible. And it's truly a buttload of days until Army ever beats Navy again!</p>
<p>Cougar, Grrrrrrr! But thanks for the good wishes for the weekend.</p>
<p>thanks for the explanations....hope the rain stops soon before eveyone heading for WP gets washed down the Hudson.....everyone enjoy parents w/e.....and cougar, you are too funny! Thanks for the chuckle!</p>
<p>Spoke with our son at USMA last night. He says the rain has been a mixed blessing.</p>
<p>Good News: Plebes haven't had marching drill all week due to rain.</p>
<p>Bad News: Plebes marching skills for Saturday review "stink".</p>
<p>Real Bummer: Drill is scheduled for early morning Saturday.</p>
<p>Cadets dread marching the muddy "Plains" Saturday since they know cleanup of their shoes and white trousers will be a real chore. </p>
<p>Hope everyone attending PPW has safe travel and a great weekend.</p>
<p>I am chuckling over this thread BUTT I hope everyone stayed dry and warm up there! Ya'll better have gotten some great photos to share cause I pout (or so I'm told) Sorry about the weather. I put in my order for it to be nice and sunny. Guess I didn't have the pull I thought I did. Bet all the kids looked great and hope they were all well and happy. And that they didn't fall down on their BUTTS in the muck during the review!</p>
<p>Omigosh, it was a blast! We were so drenched from the rain on Friday that my jacket weighed about 40 lbs. Our feet were like prunes and it was amazing that people didn't even complain. We had the chance to visit with academic depts and saw some incredible profs and projects. (A major highlight was getting to meet shogun at the chemistry open house.) The Cadet Uniform Factory Tour was so interesting. (I know, I thought it sounded like it would be lame, but people kept talking about it so I thought I'd go and wish I could go through it again.) And the best news for the cadets was that the parade was cancelled.</p>
<p>Hey, Jamzmom. I bought a Git R Done Army tee shirt. Yes, really!</p>
<p>Are you serious!?!?!? HA! HA! HA! Wonder how much money they made off those t-shirts over the week-end! I can just see ya'll cracking up when you saw them and just know you thought of me! LOL Kinda hated to hear that the parade was cancelled....I bet that would have been something. Nasty old rain anyhow...Did you get to see their rooms as well? Were the kids attending the classes while you were visiting? Did you get to eat with them? Did any of you notice all that "looking around thing" where they are talking to you but always checking out who or what is coming near? HA! HA! Lets get those photos posted!!!! And expand on some experiences here will ya! We want ALL the details! How much did you cry momoftwins!? I told you to pack lots of kleenex. Its ok if they all got wet. No one probably noticed due to all that rain on everyone's heads. Sorry that happened to you guys. I can just well imagine what an incredible week-end it was. Wished I could have seen it! So proud of all these kids! PHOTOS PHOTOS!</p>
<p>momoftwins: sounds like you had a great visit despite the inhospitable weather....NY this time of year is usually at it's best! Thank goodness the rain has finally stopped! I remember a while back hearing how all the uniforms of the "long gray line" were made on-site...including those incredable overcoats and capes....how terrific that you got to see it for yourself! Hope they make that stuff out of wool though and not some cashmire blend...hate to think Bill the Goat is in further jeopardy....they already have him under lock-and-key far away from the cadets in prep for the Army-Navy matchup! Poor goat....well, hopefully he won't suffer the fate of that Airforce plane...would hate to see his hair all dyed army-kacki or something!<br>
Looking forward to the photos!...hopefully you even got one with that tee shirt! Go figure!</p>
<p>Just returned home this afternoon after a great weekend at West Point. Here are a couple of thoughts and observations I thought you might find interesting.</p>
<ol>
<li>Shogun is everywhere!! I met him and his wife at my hotel Monday morning. He was still excited about his daughter's CC team beating Navy on Friday and USC's win over Notre Dame on Saturday.</li>
</ol>
<p>2.The WP instructors we met are first class and exude a level enthusiasm about the cadets and their subject matter that I certainly never enjoyed during my schooling. WP's intimate teaching structure contrasted with my university where english-as-a-second-language, marginally-motivated teaching assistants read their notes to 300+ students in a theater-style classroom. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Seeing our son in his grey wool jacket with white pants dress uniform for the first time on Saturday evening will always have a special place in my memory book. It looked like a scene out of the Nutcracker Suite when the 1000+ cadets escorted their parents/guests into the gothic Washington Hall for the PPW banquet. To the command "charge your glasses" the cadets filled everyone's wine glass(with sparkling juice) in anticipation of the formal toasts to Our Country, Our President, the US Army, the Corps of Cadets and, finally, the Class of 2009. For me, the banquet was the highlight of night.</p></li>
<li><p>After dinner, most of the crowd walked over to Eisenhower Hall for the receiving lines(one per regiment) and the Hop(dance). The lines were long and the dance hall crowded. I don't particularly like big crowds so my wife and I left the dance pretty early. Our son stayed behind catching up with some of the plebes he knew from summer basic training that had been assigned to different companies after Acceptance Day in August.</p></li>
<li><p>I realize that West Point is now our son's home. He will "visit" us on leave. He is legally and emotionally emancipated - as it should be. Certainly less traumatic than departing WP after R-Day, it still brought a tear to my eye when we dropped him off Monday and watched him walk back to his barracks with a newly-acquired stride that projects an aura of pride and confidence he didn't possess a few months ago.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>aspen- it sounds lovely- congratulations on a job well done, and thank you for sharing with the rest of us! </p>
<p>ps...Let shogun enjoy his day- will be short-lived however, come 12/3! Oh well, all good things must come to an end at some point! (only kidding!) Glad u had such a great trip!</p>
<p>OMG! This whole place has gone mushy today! I had to walk away from the computer once already in a different thread! I could NOT have held myself together for #3. No way. No how. It just had to be so overwhelming to see that many kids in those uniforms. I would have been in a puddle on the floor. Hope you got lots & lots of photos for the scrapbook! It does make you feel a little bit of awe when you get to see first hand what goes on in your kid's life there. Remember that first bike ride without the training wheels? Well you were the training wheels and now he's riding alone and well. You can sit back and savor the memories of this last week-end forever. It sounds so wonderful. So so so glad you loved it. And hurry up Shogun! Waiting on your notes next. Hey, if he TRULY was everywhere, then I guess he was over at the t-shirt place getting his GIT R DONE T-shirt too! </p>
<p>Navy2010 - Lets go get the Goat. He'll be safe with us. GO NAVY BEAT ARMY!! and oh yeaaaaah baby, Go USMMA Beat Coast Guard!!!!! Oh my. Look! The keyboard was typing on auto pilot again! Just hate it when that happens... :)</p>
<p>P.S. to Cougar. I have a buttload of cans to feed the goat!</p>