them darn cats...

SO... after spending some quality time in the Medical tent last night, I found out that my cold is actually part of the allergic reaction that I am having...yay for only 2 problems! Of course the rash is worse! Why would copious amounts of anti-itch cream/meds make it go away? It is a persistent jungle rash...just realized I do, in fact, have jungle fever...ugh... the only good news is that everyone just thought I was sunburnt and/or hit my face on something :)

Tomorrow I get to finish inprocessing and go back to medical. I will demand more free benedryl and hope that it helps. If anyone has any suggestions on how to heal myself, that would be great... as I'm sitting here with my mouth hanging open, trying to breathe, literally catching flies. I forgot to mention that my crooked hooch has a crooked door with about 2 free inches that any number of things can crawl through. Isn't that some sort of nursery rhyme? I think I mixing up the old lady and the shoe and something about a crooked lane...sorry mother goose...

My nursery rhyme would go something like this...

There was a lieutenant that lived in a hooch,

She had so many termites, she didn't know what to do,

So she sprayed some ant-killer all around the door,

But she forgot to close her mouth while spraying now her lungs are sore....

I could go on and on, but that would just be to darn depressing. I have decided to try to stay positive and make the best of my situation. So I play hopscotch around all the piles of poop on the sidewalk :)

Now, about the cats...

B&L, I'm sorry for what I'm about to say, as I know you both like cats, but those darn things are EVERYWHERE! You know its serious when they get mentioned in all the briefings from medical. "DO NOT FEED THE CATS! THEY HAVE DISEASES, FLEAS, etc! I believe the slide actually said, "NO PUNTING THE CATS!" Curious sign, so I thought, until I was chased to and from the bathroom by one particularly angry kitty. I haven't had nightmares about pet cemetary in years, but I'm sure those will come back to haunt me after all is said and done. The doc actually thinks that these cats are what caused my terrible rash because they run in all the buildings and, I believe, they are trying to irradicate humans from the base. Cats may even be responsible for the coup down here...I'd believe it.

Jane...out

bad things come in 3s too...

So all those great fun things I got to do yesterday...I'm glad I got to have a little fun before plague struck...

...I have decided that one day of fun does NOT make me love this place...not only did Montezuma's revenge find me...but I woke up with a red itchy rash all over my face...and a head cold. I hope I don't have goat or chicken flu. Pigs are just about the only animal that doesn't roam wild on the base...so swine flu is right out. Goats, chickens, cats, dogs, HUGE iguanas and all kinds of nasty bugs are everywhere here... and there is absolutely no escape...from them or their poop.

I got to move from one termite poop-covered shanty to another this morning...woo hoo...I didn't know how much we were really going to deserve the "substandard living" allowance the AF is giving us... but now I think we should get a "hazard to your health" pay too.

Once again..can't find the cord to my camera (Liana, could you please check the cammo backpack and see if it's still in there?) but once I locate it I'll send a picture of the goat, Billy as I call him...I guess he is a "goat guard"...not "gate guard"...hahaha...:/

Jane...out

You know it's gonna be a good day when...

...when you show up for morning formation and your troops say, "Hey ma'am, how would you like to go blow stuff up with Special Forces?"...I love this place!

...so I did. These guys are so righteous. They don't wear rank or affiliation, only woodland cammo and a name tape. As the Navy Lt Commander said, "He's north of specialist...but that's about all I can guess..." Apparently they had several hundred pounds of ammo they had to use up so they asked for help from anyone who likes to shoot...my only question was, "who DOESN'T like to shoot?!"

When you shoot in the Air Force, you get a very limited number of rounds, everything is regimented, and it's really not all that much fun. The Army...is WAY different. Talk about cool, we got rapid-reload rounds, all we could handle, and I got to shoot an M-16 for the first time ever. What a weapon!

As the only female and a 2Lt at that, all the Navy, Army, and AF guys kinda scoffed when they found out I'd never shot an M-16 before. The 2 Special Forces guys pantomimed fear and stayed well away as we fired off our first 2 clips. When they saw my target, they didn't scoff anymore. "They teach you how to shoot in college ma'am?" one asked as he checked out my tight grouping of shots clustered inside my 3-inch target (which is what they shoot at). "No," I said, "my Daddy taught ME how to shoot!" After that, they stood behind me TRYING to make me miss...but it didn't really work...;)

...so back to the 3-inch target...this is used because, as SPEC OPS says, its the "off-button." It corresponds to the 3 inch area from the bottom of your nose to the top of your eyebrows in the middle of the face. They aim for this area because the target will have no reflexive response when shot in this area...this is the type of thing I wish they taught us in the Air Force!

I didn't realize how much they were going to make us shoot, though. After about 300 single round shots (that's 10 clips) from 6 different positions my arms were shaking and I had a blister on my trigger finger. Then they said, "Fill 'em back up"...ugh!

But, we kept shooting anyway and by the time they backed us up to 25 meters, I could hardly hold up the weapon. Last 2 clips...fresh target..."Let's see if any of you improved since the start!" I put all my shots inside the 5 (bullseye area of an FBI target for you marksmen reading this...).

Needless to say, the 2 special forces guys where quite impressed and actually offered me a job! haha...but then they let me put it on full auto and blast away...Rambo style! Talk about fun! I was so stoked when I left there that I didn't mind walking around smelling like gun powder the rest of the day.

I plan to post some pictures as soon as I locate my camera cord...this place is crazy...but can also be quite fun, as I found out today...I hope it's just as fun next week when we go to the island for the weekend!

Jane...out...

Today is the day...

Today is the day before the day before I leave for my jungle adventure. I have already turned in my keys to my apartment, said goodbye to my stuff in storage, and signed out from work. I'm looking forward to the future, but I know I'll miss my family and friends, especially Aidan, the 1-1/2 yr old son of my friends Ben and Liana (whom I will refer to as B&L from here on out) who is currently scratching his diapered heiny on my foot...

6 months is a long time, but I have goals I want to achieve and I hope I'll have the time and resources to accomplish them. I'm not sure how exciting this blog will be as the base is locked down and there's not much to do...but I'm sure I'll make my own fun. Anyone who's known me for more than 10 days can tell you...there aren't many dull moments in my life :) So for all who are interested in keeping up with a Jungle Critter...this is the spot to check for news! Stay tuned...

Jane...out...