Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Hooah!

The good news:  My checksheet is complete and I have a spot on the flight!  It won't be leaving til Thursday or Friday.
 
The bad news:  Well, not exactly bad, just the stuff that has to happen to get to that point.  So yesterday was the day they issued our gear.  About $3500 worth of gear stuffed in a  duffle bag weighing about 70lbs.  Whee...I shouldn't need to use any of it, so I'm hoping to just leave it in the duffle bag and never open it.  Body armour, helmet, gass mask, etc...  Best part is that if for some reason they didn't give me something they said they did (or I lose something) I get to pay for it when I go to turn it back in.  I have *no* idea if it all got in there or not, but a nice guy next to me who was former air force assured me everything got in.  He also showed me some basics like how to close the dang thing, and how to assemble the straps.  It is *heavy*.
 
Today was Medshed.  At 0630 we were shipped off to the medical place where we waited in lines for hours, to wait in more lines for hours.  Blood was drawn, records checked, dental confirmed, then it was immunizations time.  Turns out I needed 5 plus the TB test.  Among those were anthrax and smallpox.  Ug.  After I got all my tests, I was waiting for my paperwork to be given back and I started to feel lightheaded and woozy.  I sat down.  Started sweating.  A guy asked me if I was feeling ok...I said I wasn't sure.  The nurse started fanning me and a doctor was called over who called for a wheelchair and I was wheeled off to a stretcher to lie down while they monitored my BP and oxygen levels.  I was fine...just needed some time to recover.  The doctor said there is some nerve that runs up and down the whole body and sometimes shots will trigger that nerve and cause that kind of reaction.  Otherwise I feel fine now, just a sore right shoulder (anthrax I believe).  The smallpox one is a pain cuz it's contagious and we have to keep bandages on it, can't wash it or touch it (apparently it will start to itch).  I was lucky as I had brought what remains of my immunization records and that took a few off the list.  I heard they don't do more than 5 at a time though.  One surprise on my physical was that apparently I've had hepatitis B in the past.  Didn't know that.  It's inactive now though.  I can't remember what it was, but I know as a little kid I had something fairly serious that landed me in the hospital for a while.  Maybe that was it.
 
Now there are a few hours til next final formation at 1830.  I got back to CRC from this morning at 1430 so missed lunch, but we were given some MREs to munch on.  Good thing as the one I had yesterday I goofed up and tossed in favor of a sausage from the miniPX.  Today gave me another opportunity to practice.  There is this plastic bag with chemical heaters inside that you put the sealed package of whatever (today it was Beefsteak with Mushrooms) into, then add some water and stuff it back into a cardboard box for 10 minutes.  It gets very hot, and when done, you have a pretty good meal for something vacuum sealed.  There was also a strawberry shake powder that you just add water to and shake...it was pretty good too.
 
Tomorrow is all day powerpoint slides, 11 hours worth.  More MREs for lunch!
 
But everything else is A-OK...just gotta get to bed early for that 0600 formation time...hooah!  (yes, we all say hooah in response to the sergeant)

6 comments:

Kerri said...

Seriously, you have to say Hooah? Can you do it with a straight face? I suppose since they are in control of your future at this point you do what they tell you to. But hooah? For real?

Unknown said...

HoooAh Master Sergeant!!

Just don't let them call you Gomer-Pyle! Maybe Private Joker tho...

Congrats Have a nice flight!!

-DD

Anonymous said...

I remember you getting truly deathly ill with smallpox as a baby - and I nearly died from it too, says my mom. You were hospitalized with Dengue Fever before you were 2 - you were bleeding internally. The Hep B comes from the time Mameng got it (our housekeeper) and we all had to have immunizations, so now we test positive. I discovered that for myself when I was working in the DD Rehab last year and the doc had to decide whether to call me positive or not cuz I was borderline. Sure hope you do not suffer much from the smallpox.

Hey, Kerri - was thinking of you today between classes - this must all be kind of tough on you at the moment. Hope youre finding plenty to keep you busy.

Love, Mom

residentfunk said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Jesse said...

You bet I hooahed with the best of em! It's actually a very effective way of ensuring people are tracking with you. It's actually more of "hwa" with the emphasis on the "ah"

Jesse said...

Jeremy, I deleted your comment to remove your email address, not cuz I don't love you too.