Been Busy...

So for the past few days, I've been busy day and night learning how to drie a military humvee. That's correct. A humvee.
It's pretty good knowledge (for a change) since there's a great chance that I'll be in one many times during my deployment. I'll be doing stories on groups that go "outside the wire" and also be taking convoys from one location to another to gather news stories. So, this training was pretty good. I also got to use night vision goggles (NVG's) while driving, and I want a pair! Kidding, but they are pretty cool as well.

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My tooth is still missing. My dentist moved my appointment to Friday at 1pm, so I have a little longer to wait befor eI can speak clearly again. Luckily, I'e been taking care of myself, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem for the doc to either give me a fake one, or at the ery least, a temp to get me through the rest of my training.
Sinc eI'll be getting something to correct my tooflesssssnesssss, I will probably still be able to deploy. My dentist in Germany will make that ultimate decision. If things go with him the way they hae in the past, he'll send me. so, it looks like I'm still tapped to go.

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Today...oh today...
I got in last night (this morning) from night driving at 2am. I looked at the schedule for the next day (today), and it showed that I had briefings all day - starting at 7:30 and going until 4pm. So I got what little sleep I could, and got on with the day. THESE. BRIEFINGS. SUCKED.
As if the 6 hours of powerpoint wasn't bad enough, every single one was on subjects I had to train on before I could come TO this training! It's so redundant. We hae a l-o-n-g checklist of training (online or physical) that we HAVE to accomplish before we can travel to our CST, and then when we get here, we do the same exact training all over again. It's ludacris I tell you! Finally, when the long and drawn out torture was over, I got to come back to my bed, curl up, and just as I was about to fall asleep, I was awakened by one of our leaders telling me to suit up (put on the 70 pounds of protective gear) and prepare for weapons quals. DIDN'T I ALREADY DO THAT?!? "Wait, this time it was with closer range pop-up targets?" "Oh, I see, well then, I guess I hae to go." -- You all aren't going to believe this -- When we all got there (46 of us total), the instructors told us (verbatim, I kid you not), "You all really don't need this training. We just had the range aailable, and went down the name list."
Do I really have to say anyhting else????

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On a lighter and better note, there are only 7 days left before I (hopefully) leae this place. I say hopefully, because I still hae training to make up from days I missed due to dental appointments. Here's hoping I can ge tit all done by the 29th.

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Photos are coming, I have to find a way to transfer them from my phone to my computer.

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Vanessa is a wonderful and strong young lady. I miss her, and I doubt I could carry on like she does, given the situations she's put in. I Lub her soooo much.




ULI