Sewing

... one's chevrons is a trickier business than getting them, I find out. To clarify: in the IDF, unlike any other military force I know of, rank is given by seniority, not by merit. After so-and-so months/years in one rank, you are automatically promoted. This makes for much fun in human resource planning, since each outfit must at all times have a precisely calculated number of people of each commissioned rank (enlisted men and women are a bit easier to juggle, though professionals are not: getting an extra coder is almost as hard as getting an extra lieutenant. Having an extra major is a catastrophe (you must either transfer or discharge one of the others). Thankfully, the insanity stops there: lieutenant-colonel and higher are merit-only ranks). This all means that I hadn't actually achieved anything but surviving long enough, and taking the fact that the most dangerous thing that ever happens in my office is a computer crash into consideration that isn't all that much. More trivia: they aren't exactly "chevrons" either, because they're straight straps. The V-shaped thingies are used for shoulder-worn insignia for NCO ranks, meaning I have about four more years till I get those (and they come with prettier uniforms).