500

Wow, so I completely failed to notice that my last post was actually my 500th. Quite the milestone, and I'm amazed that I didn't know it. Anyways, onto something else... I found these stats on the net, they are a few years old but I am certain that things haven't changed that drastically since their publication. I've always had a weird preoccupation with population rates and these rates come as a bit of a surprise to me, and I'm not sure why.

The latest data from the Population Reference Bureau shows that
there are twenty countries in the world with negative or zero
natural population growth.  This is unprecedented in history!
This negative or zero natural population growth means that these
countries have more deaths than births or an even number of
deaths and births; this figure does not include the impacts of
immigration or emigration. Even including immigration over
emigration, only one of the twenty countries (Austria) is expected
to grow between 2006 and 2050.  The country with the highest
decrease in the natural birth rate is Ukraine, with a natural
decrease of 0.8% each year. Ukraine is expected to lose 28% of
their population between now and 2050 (from 46.8 million now to
33.4 million in 2050). Russia and Belarus follow close behind at
a 0.6% natural decrease and Russia will lose 22% of their
population by 2050 - that is a loss of more than 30 million people
(from 142.3 million today to 110.3 million in 2050).  Japan is the
only non-European country in the list and it has a 0% natural birth
increase and is expected to lose 21% of its population by 2050
(shrinking from 127.8 million to a mere 100.6 million in 2050).
The streets of Tokyo won't be as crowded in a few decades as they
are today! Here's the list of the countries with negative natural
increase or zero negative increase in population... Ukraine: 0.8%
natural decrease annually; 28% total population decrease by 2050

Russia: -0.6%; -22%
Belarus -0.6%; -12%
Bulgaria -0.5%; -34%
Latvia -0.5%; -23%
Lithuania -0.4%; -15%
Hungary -0.3%; -11%
Romania -0.2%; -29%
Estonia -0.2%; -23%
Moldova -0.2%; -21%
Croatia -0.2%; -14%
Germany -0.2%; -9%
Czech Republic -0.1%; -8%
Japan 0%; -21%
Poland 0%; -17%
Slovakia 0%; -12%
Austria 0%; 8% increase
Italy 0%; -5%
Slovenia 0%; -5%
Greece 0%; -4%

It's been a while....

Yikes, so I guess I haven't been as diligent in my blogging as I would have liked to think but I am here now so lets get on with it shall we?

Happenings in the last few months have been sparse I work, I go to the gym, I eat meals, I visit with people... it's a nice way to live. But seriously, I'm not sure that I am really explaining how much I do enjoy it. When I do go to work (and I say that because military life affords quite a bit of vacation time, and paid vacation at that!) I get to deal with all sorts of problems and people and really get into the thick of it. My training has been so useful, and I do know that if I ever do leave the military, or put it to the side temporarily I can always use the experiences in civie street as they say.

In other ways it can be a bit tough living away, but they do try to help out with perks like extra money to help offset the cost of a plane ticket home - sadly as Calgary is so close my offset money is only $270 so it doesn't quite cover a ticket home at Christmas. This year my Christmas will actually be in Jan, and only for a week, but at least its something.

Last week the course catalogue came out for the reserves and it looks as though my LOG course will be in Quebec City 8 Jun - 31 July. This is great news as I can probably extend my contract here in Victoria to the end of April, or May, whatever I feel is necessary and then look for something in Sept or Aug... I love that the reserves lets me pick and choose what I do next. I might have the opportunity to come back to Victoria to help out with the Olympics in Feb 2010, or find a contract in Ottawa, or really wherever Pete and I end up. Just now its a toss up between the RCMP and the Ottawa Police... I might be persuaded to pick Ottawa Police but in reality the RCMP has phenomenal potential to be a great career and I can find military work almost anywhere in the country, plus I have a few more courses to go on and some French training and University courses to complete before promotions so anything will do really.

Pete was able to come out and visit for a week after his course in Quebec City. He left Thursday morning bound for Toronto and luckily the snow wasn't too bad at that point. It did get much worse though as the weekend came. Funny thing is that the island did get a lot of snow.. almost 3 feet in a week and for crazy islanders it was far too much. I was even having trouble driving as I did not bring my snow tires with me and my car is very little so i slid around a bit and had to dig it out a few times. Pete is due back next Monday, just in time for New Years and hopefully the snow will have melted a tad. We are due for some above zero temps for the next week so I am sure that the island will return to it's green state.

Well, I suppose I shall leave it at that for the time being. I will do my best to report back in a few days with any new happenings. In the meantime, stay warm and play nice in the snow!

Little Belgian Lad Salutes Canadian Troops

This is precious

Lest we Forget

Kids Zoned Out on Remembrance

I found this on the Military Network, originally published by the Calgary Sun - it's a story about how kids these days know nothing of the sacrifice that our War Vets and current Soldiers have made, it's rather disgusting actually....

Kids 'zoned out' on remembrance

Among hundreds of high school students invading the northeast food
court, only a handful of red poppies could be seen.

"It's because people don't like paying for them," said one Grade 10
teen.

If Remembrance Day's future isn't completely bleak, it's certainly
confused and disconnected.  Sure, it was only a small snapshot of
Remembrance Day's relevance to youth, but it turned out to be an
amazingly consistent glimpse of what they believe and don't know.
These students, who just happened to attend Lester B. Pearson high
school, all understood the gist of the occasion, that we enjoy our
freedoms through the sacrifice of soldiers.  And they say it shouldn't
be forgotten. But press them further and they don't know much about
what they've forgotten.

"Which war? Two, right?" said 15-year-old Tyson.

The words Vimy Ridge, Ortona, Dieppe, Kapyong, Medac Pocket,
 even Passchendaele whose name is now celluloid currency draws a
total blank, a universal F.

"Vimy's in Ottawa, it's a place where people go and remember -- it's
a guy, I think," says Gina, 17.

Uttering Stalingrad provoked mention of a Russian czar, a revolution
and other zany detours.

"Bloody Sunday -- wasn't that involved?" says Nathan, mistaking
Northern Ireland's 1970s troubles with a Second World War turning point.

Says Sequora, 17: "I remember learning about Vimy but I can't remember
 -- they do teach us but it just doesn't have as much of an impact."

In other words, they're just not that interested and increasingly distant
history doesn't resonate.

"We still do one minute of silence but I don't think it has as much of an
effect on us as it did on people before ... like the deceased," adds
Sequora.

Maybe 50% of her classmates "actually think about it, the rest are zoned
out,"  says Romeena, 16, who insists she's never "learned about Hitler
at all."

Some say they're aware of the Holocaust and 16-year-old Rhea recalled
what she'd been taught about the trenches, presumably those of the
First World War.

Jolene says she has military veterans in her family, but hasn't a clue what
they did or where.

Youths of south Asian or African backgrounds at the ethnically diverse
school are virtually identical to their European classmates in their responses
and attitudes.

The Afghan deployment of Canadian soldiers not much older than them
adds no contemporary relevance to Remembrance Day for these teens.

If anything, at least among the youths with an inkling of the Second World
War and nation-gobbling Nazi aggression, the West's occupation of Afghanistan
is completely
disconnected from Nov. 11.

They seem startled to hear the two sharing the same breath. It's easy to
see why.

"They're not saying they're going to come invade our country," says Melat,
16, of Canada's Afghan foes.

Not a single one interviewed in the food court supports the mission, though
a couple of them think Canadian troops are also helping to pacify Iraq.

"I don't think it's our deal to be in Afghanistan, it's not our problem,"
says Nathan.

Others say they believe Canadian troops in Afghanistan are being exploited
by the Americans -- hardly a Flanders Fields moment.

There's some awareness of Canada's peacekeeping heritage, which stands out
starkly in young minds from the more recent warmaking.

"I don't think our soldiers are making any peace -- they're dying," says Gina.

Regardless of the bravery of today's Canadian soldiers, we've come far from
one conventional army expelling another occupying one.

And the kids know it, even if they're hazy on the more distant history. 

That's History!

Wow, it's finally over, the votes have been tabulated and the winner declared. Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States of America. It's an amazing time in our lives and I truly do think that the next four years will be a better period of history for the Americans than the previous 8 years. His speech was both wonderful and inspirational and I am glad to have heard it - well done Mr. President...

It really is in you to give!

I was perusing the CBC website in search of my new Defense Minister (It's still Peter McKay by the way) I found this story

So there it is Canada - lets get out there and donate some blood... I did mine last week!

Finally, Some Recognition!

British news paper salutes Canada . . . this is a good read (and a big THANK YOU to Ronnalie, she emailed me this wonderful article!)

HOW TRUE THIS IS

British news paper salutes Canada . . . this is a good read. It is funny how it took someone in England to put it into words... Sunday Telegraph Article From today's UK wires:
Salute to a brave and modest nation - Kevin Myers, 'The Sunday Telegraph' LONDON :

Until the deaths of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan , probably almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops are deployed in the region.

And as always, Canada will bury its dead, just as the rest of the world, as always will forget its sacrifice, just as it always forgets nearly everything Canada ever does.. It seems that Canada 's historic mission is to come to the selfless aid both of its friends and of complete strangers, and then, once the crisis is over, to be well and truly ignored.

Canada is the perpetual wallflower that stands on the edge of the hall, waiting for someone to come and ask her for a dance. A fire breaks out, she risks life and limb to rescue her fellow dance-goers, and suffers serious injuries. But when the hall is repaired and the dancing resumes, there is Canada, the wallflower still, while those she once helped Glamorously cavort across the floor, blithely neglecting her yet again.

That is the price Canada pays for sharing the North American continent with the United States , and for being a selfless friend of Britain in two global conflicts.

For much of the 20th century, Canada was torn in two different directions: It seemed to be a part of the old world, yet had an address in the new one, and that divided identity ensured that it never fully got the gratitude it deserved.

Yet it's purely voluntary contribution to the cause of freedom in two world wars was perhaps the greatest of any democracy. Almost 10% of Canada 's entire population of seven million people served in the armed forces during the First World War, and nearly 60,000 died. The great Allied victories of 1918 were spearheaded by Canadian troops, perhaps the most capable soldiers in the entire British order of battle.

Canada was repaid for its enormous sacrifice by downright neglect, it's unique contribution to victory being absorbed into the popular Memory as somehow or other the work of the 'British.'

The Second World War provided a re-run. The Canadian navy began the war with a half dozen vessels, and ended up policing nearly half of the Atlantic against U-boat attack. More than 120 Canadian warships participated in the Normandy landings, during which 15,000 Canadian soldiers went ashore on D-Day alone.

Canada finished the war with the third-largest navy and the fourth largest air force in the world. The world thanked Canada with the same sublime indifference as it had the previous time.

Canadian participation in the war was acknowledged in film only if it was necessary to give an American actor a part in a campaign in which the United States had clearly not participated - a touching scrupulousness which, of course, Hollywood has since abandoned, as it has any notion of a separate Canadian identity.

So it is a general rule that actors and filmmakers arriving in Hollywood keep their nationality - unless, that is, they are Canadian. Thus Mary Pickford, Walter Huston, Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner, Norman Jewison, David Cronenberg, Alex Trebek, Art Linkletter and Dan Aykroyd have in the popular perception become American, and Christopher Plummer, British.

It is as if, in the very act of becoming famous, a Canadian ceases to be Canadian, unless she is Margaret Atwood, who is as unshakably Canadian as a moose, or Celine Dion, for whom Canada has proved quite unable to find any takers.

Moreover, Canada is every bit as querulously alert to the achievements of its sons and daughters as the rest of the world is completely unaware of them. The Canadians proudly say of themselves - and are unheard by anyone else - that 1% of the world's population has provided 10% of the world's peacekeeping forces.

Canadian soldiers in the past half century have been the greatest peacekeepers on Earth - in 39 missions on UN mandates, and six on non-UN peacekeeping duties, from Vietnam to East Timor, from Sinai to Bosnia.

Yet the only foreign engagement that has entered the popular non-Canadian imagination was the sorry affair in Somalia , in which out-of-control paratroopers murdered two Somali infiltrators. Their regiment was then disbanded in disgrace - a uniquely Canadian act of self-abasement for which, naturally, the Canadians received no international credit.

So who today in the United States knows about the stoic and selfless friendship its northern neighbour has given it in Afghanistan ?

Rather like Cyrano de Bergerac , Canada repeatedly does honourable things for honourable motives, but instead of being thanked for it, it remains something of a figure of fun. It is the Canadian way, for which Canadians should be proud, yet such honour comes at a high cost. This past year more grieving Canadian families knew that cost all too tragically well.

Lest we forget.

Randomn thoughts on a saturday night

I'm currently sitting at my fancy desk on base, pulling the 4th night of my watch rotation. It's been a nice change from my day job and I can say quite honestly that it is a much slower pace. I'm grappling with the whole staying up until 6am bit though. And the fact that as of tomorrow morning I have to switch to a normal sleep at night schedule... that might be tough. Anyhoo, enough with the boring bits.

Last weekend I zipped off to Quebec City for Thanksgiving. I had never been east during the fall so it was really fantastic to see all the colours - and the red leaves to be exact. I've never seen a red maple leaf so this was a real treat for me. Well, that and the fact I got to see Pete which is always a good thing ;) . The flights there were quite crap, Victoria to Vancouver, Vancouver to Toronto, Toronto to Quebec city.... 9 hours in all.... but at least it as over night and I got to sleep a bit. The weekend itself was really laid back... we chilled mostly, walked a bit through the old towne and had a few nice meals. Our Thanksgiving dinner was at L'Astral which is the revolving restaurant at the top floor of our hotel. The restaurant itself was great, the food was tasty as well but somehow I as slightly disappointed in the fact that there was no Thanksgiving themed anything... not even pumpkin pie! As a person who adores Turkey Dinners you can imagine how crappy it was not to get the official Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving but I guess that means that all the pressure now rests on Christmas Dinner... Maybe I'll go and buy myself a box of stopetop and cook it up in the microwave to make myself feel better.

Living in the Big House on the Hill

Firstly, my apologies for the long wait - I've been awaiting my Internet to be installed chez moi and the Internet cafe was all the way downtown... and it's rather tough to park downtown sometimes. But enough of my excuses.

Here's the update: I moved back to Victoria as part of a contract with the Navy that was drawn up for me to help me fill time until I have a course in Quebec City. This wasn't quite what I had in mind, in fact most of us thought I would be back in Calgary working at the ship's office, but here I am. My current position involves Port Security and my tasking is to Coordinate the BASF or the Base Auxiliary Security Force - a daunting task for someone with only 6 months in, but I am trying to do my best.

Other than work I try to keep my time occupied with eating - mainly at the fancy dancy dining room downstairs - complete with white linen table cloths and silver cutlery... a rather posh place reserved for officers. It's nice, but a bit scary as I am usually the lowest rank in the room and are therefore very careful how I conduct myself. Not that I don't have any manners, but sitting in the same room as 5 different 4 bars (Navy Captains) is a bit scary at times. After the meals, which quite honestly are pretty tasty, I usually zip off to the gym on base. It's nice, and the cardio theatre is well equipped but I have yet to visit the weight room as it is filled with hulking Navy boys who although are most likely extremely sweet their muscles are larger than my head! My solution to this problem is to transfer my membership from my Calgary gym to one in Victoria - that will be a task for next week I think. The reason for my crazy workout regime is that I have somehow agreed to run a half marathon next May... another scary task but I have something like 36 weeks to prepare so hopefully the mild weather this winter will allow me to train outdoors for most of the season.

On the friends front, I have several buddies from basic who are still in town waiting on their next course to start as well - these peeps however are all reg force MARS officers (think the guys who drive the ships). Luckily for me they are all really awesome people and I love to spend time with them. On a timeline note I think I may be here until June, unless I can convince the CF to offer another Logistics course next year, keep your fingers crossed!

Alright, I'm getting sleepy and I have to be off to work tomorrow morning. I have a Sig Sauer shoot on Tuesday so I am sure that I will have some fun things to tell you then.
Good night!

Finally..

So I am all moved in in Victoria now... it was quite the wait but I've checked into my wardroom room - aka my hotel room, eaten my meals at my fancy dining room, checked in at work, got my desk, found out I am the Coordinator of a Emergency / High Profile Security Force... and have finished my "In-routine"... I feel rather like a real life Navy person now... saluting all the way from my room to my office and having people to coordinate.. it is all very scary though!

This poor blog has been quite neglected in the last few months but I have called Shaw and they are coming out to install my internet on Thursday. SO that means that I can start to regularly update you all on my life... yeah!

The final word is...

Ah yes, after a few weeks of nail biting and wondering what the heck is going on.... I have word that I am to return to Victoria for a bit... working on base... until my course in Quebec City is ready... now that means I could be going to Quebec in Jan, if I can orchestrate a course then, or I could be in Vic until June... who knows... but the fun thing is that I will be back and forth between the two cities for about 2 years. So I think we need another farewell party for me.

The really crazy thing is that I leave again on the 23rd of August so we need to do this party quick... I'm thinking the 22nd... whose in?

You can't go home again

This may seem rather depressing, and it very well could be, but I've just come to that realization. I've been back for a whole week and while I've tried to regain my old routine - as much of it as I've been able to recoup - nothing really seems the same. I think it may be due to the whole in limbo, homeless, jobless situation, but nevertheless I feel rather like home has escaped me and I don't quite belong here.

I do think that I will go ahead with the new minimalist Linda (this will be quite the change from the old pack rat Linda) and start going through everything tomorrow... well that, and the fact that I am not going to be in Calgary very much in the next 2 years, or longer is I go through with the reg force move, should help to motivate me.

In any case, I'm suffering from a case of the blues tonight and not too pleased about the whirlwind that will be my life for the next 3 weeks. So, here we go - get your time in while you can... I won't be in town long I'm afraid.

That's a lot of stuff!

So I've been back for almost a week now and have just today decided to venture out to one of the areas holding the majority of my stuff from my beloved Kensington Palace. I thought I would poke through a few boxes and see what I could find in the way of sunglasses and perhaps some clothing. What I did find was a plethora of random things that made me wonder how on earth I accumulated that much stuff. I now know that I do not have to by any sort of toiletries or makeup for years, I have enough books to last my lifetime, my kitchen knick knacks are out of control and I have boxes upon boxes of tea. Now since the state of my future is somewhat unknown I think what I will do while I have the time is to de-junkify myself, and that my dear friends will take me a good long while I expect! I do believe that from now on I will be playing more navy than civvy and thus should really start living quite barebones, that is to say - easily packable and movable.

When I do know where I am or when I am headed somewhere I shall let you all know, but in the meantime call me and if I can tear myself away from my junk pile I'll arrange a visit cause I think I'm leaving again quite soon.

The End

Well that's it, that's all - I m fini with the basic training aspect of my military career. The goodbyes were awful, there were tears - a lot of them - and more tears. In the end Jamie and I were able to get off base and off the island. Our facebook status' are all filled with sad messages, and we are all suffering from disconnect and reintegration back into regular society. I have a million pics to post, sadly I am stuck in a hotel room in Kelowna and have no desire to go through the 500 or so that I've accumulated so you will all have to wait a few days or so.

As I mentioned before I am in Kelowna so I should be home tomorrow. Funny thing is that I have no home - I think I've secured something in the way of accommodation for the time being and perhaps something for the near future but who knows where I will end up. As for my employment - that is also up in the air. I thought I would be working at the ship's office for the 8 months before my next phase of training in Quebec City, but I've just received an email asking me if I would like to go back to Victoria for an 8 month stint with the Port Security Unit. I also tried to look into moving to the east, Ottawa or Quebec City with the military or even just with a good job.

So, now I have a huge decision to make, and I need to make it fast - crap! I hate this all so very much. If anyone out there has a nice paying job preferably in Ottawa or Quebec City let me know - I'm game for almost anything!

Alright, I'm off to play more on facebook. We can catch up later.

Jamie and I in the hall outside my room - we were told to be out there at a specific time and much to our surprise we waited there for a good 1/2 an hour before anything happened. But, hey that's the military's motto - "Hurry Up and Wait" so we did. (We are wearing our greens - aka our combats)

Jamie and I in the field - I am sitting on my cot (this was the 3rd time in the field so we slept in mod tents on cots unlike the first two times where we slept in Hootchies in the dirt) And yes, that is my rifle.

I am giving it a bath after the field (I named it the QE II) - they told us to take it into the shower but I thought to take it one step further.... Gehlert almost killed me when she saw this.... hahahahaha!

The aforementioned Gehlert and I on grad day in the hallway - we look so fancy! (we are wearing our DEUs )

Davis and I in the hall before grad - he looks so daper!

Jamie and I at the Gun room after the grad parade - Acting Sub Lieutenants at last!!!
In the Navy at last!!!! Jamie and I on the sweep deck the HMCS NANAIMO for our day sail - see our fat stripes on our shoulders... wicked! (here we are wearing our Naval Combats)

Week in the Field

Well, I did it!!! I managed to get my ass in gear and work through the most grueling, scariest, most nerve wracking weeks of my life... I passed my final assessment in this damn course I'm on. The week started on Monday with the departure for the "field"... basically we packed up our rucksacks, got on a bus, drove into the woods and hunkered down for a week of hell. We were up at 5, running 3 hours taskings(missions) for 2 days in preparation for the assessment taskings starting on Wednesday, eating random things out of these god awful things called IMPs - individual meal packs... stuff made 4 years ago and vacuum packed into foil packets.. with some extras like fruit drink crystals, chocolate bars (in the lunches), compacted bread, peanut butter and cookies or crackers... so I pretty much ate chocolate bars, crackers and canned fruit for the entire week.... then it was off to bed nearish midnight. After were were all asleep and recovering from our long long day we got to do this wonderful thing called a "stand - to" where someone (people caleld Fed Platoon who attack us during our taskings) comes and attacks your camp with crazy amounts of blank ammo and the ENTIRE camp has to get up and defend it for an hour or so... it was great! (I'm only being half sarcastic)

Wednesday came and our assessments began - we had 16 members in our group and each one had a 3 hour task to lead. Fun thing was that we had to create a complete set (15 steps) of written orders (that were marked) to support our leadership and get briefed from the Officer in Command - this was also very scary and realistic! So Wednesday came and went, 7 members got their turn to lead and I became a lackey for the day, I shot when I was told to, screamed "Yes IC (stands for in charge, that's what we refered to them as) a lot... and then ran around the woods attacking people, looking for downed pilots, conducting reconnaissance missions, setting up camp security, setting up observation posts etc etc etc... it was tough work. Then it was Thursday and it was my turn (you didn't know it was your turn until 2 hours prior). My mission was search and rescue and I was scared to hell that I could fail and then get kicked off the course... as this was it, your entire military career hinged on this one bloody task... anyhoo, I managed to draw a really funny assessor and got through it with a really good mark... After me we had about 6 more missions left plus 2 re- tests, and 1 re-re-test (if you failed they gave you 2 more chances to pass). Needless to say with 3 hours of sleep (if we were lucky) and crazy amounts of running around in full gear with rifles and helmets shooting at people all day we were all quite tired.

Yesterday (Saturday) came and we were on our 13km rucksack march. Now for those of you who don't know what a rucksack is... it is a giant backpack full of gear that has several things strapped to it... like an air mattress and a bag containing 2 sleeping bags, a ground sheet, a bivy bag (the waterproof bag that your sleeping bags go into) and a wash basin shoved into it. In any case, it weighs a lot.. like 40-50 lbs and we had to wear this, and our combats plus webbing (a belt thingy that has several packs attached and a set of cutlery and your magazine pouches(think bullets) and your water bottle) and your helmet and your rifle (the picture to the left is the rucksack without the sleeping bag and air mattess attachement which would be on the underside of it)... while wearing combat boots. The march started at 6 am and ended about 8:26... I was within the front 12 people for the entire thing and was ridiculously, even deliriously happy when I finished... my feet took quite a beating but I can still walk and am still smiling.... so I guess it isn't all bad!

Graduation parade is next Saturday and my mom and sister plus some others are on their way out to see me receive my Queen's Commission... I can't hardly WAIT!!!

I'll be home at the end of July so we'll all have to celebrate then!!!

DEATH FORCE 5000

I just got back from the field and have decided that I am in no way cut out for the ARMY. Good thing I joined the NAVY!!! The field is like bare bones camping without any fun. We get up at 5 and go to bed at 11 or 1 am. We work non stop and eat cold, prepackaged IMP meals that were made 4 years ago and look and taste like dog food. We never have any time to brush our hair, or bath so we use baby wipes to keep clean and our fire team partner is with us at all times... our Hootchies (basic tent - think 2 tarps attached together to form a small, small triangle tent) are awful and cold and we spend the entire week outside without any fire to keep warm.

You will all have to excuse me for my grammar as my mind has melted from the stress and lack of sleep. I'll try to list off what happened to us in the field so you can all understand...

Monday we arrived in the field. It was cold, and wet - alternating between raining and pouring all day - we worked hard doing all sorts of missions until about 1 am, meaning we had been awake and running around for 20 hours. It was COLD and we were all on the verge of hypothermia... it sucked big time... Tuesday was better weather wise, I had my assessment for my mission, which I passed - thank god!!!! But we worked hard all day and when we finally went to bed at 11:30 we were woken up at 12:30 with a fake fire alarm and the "bad guys" shooting at everyone in the camp... we all had to jump out of bed, get dressed in full combats with helmet, webbing, rifle etc and try to defend our camp.. then we were hauled out onto the road and screamed at for not doing well enough... GREAT TIMES!!! Wednesday was better still, we had a long day but luckily there was no raid in the night and we had a moment to nap in the afternoon. Thursday was stressful as the people who didn't pass their first attempt had to try again and it was tough to be enthusiastic and energetic as we were all quite worn out. Friday was the 7km rucksack march and obstacle course (affectionately names the DEATH FORCE 5000). The march was awful. The rucksacks were heavy, our boots were giving us blisters and the pace was fast, plus my rifle is getting rather tiresome to carry around... The obstacle course was suppose to be fun. Last week when we ran it we did so with only our combats and helmets, this time we had our rifle and webbing (belt type thing that goes around our waist and holds all sorts of goodies like magazine (think bullets) and canteen etc). Needless to say most of us were injured as it was hard to navigate 10 foot walls and 2 story cargo nets with all the equipment on us. I fell from a 12 foot wall and didn't hurt myself too much, I went over the cargo net and bruised the bejeezes out of my arms and legs, and also managed to slink along a rope suspended 20 ft in the air all without too much trouble.... However, when it came to doing the Tarzan rope I caught my heels on the 4 ft wall and fell on my ankle so I am now hobbling around like an idiot... My entire platoon is wondering who beat me up and my entire body is covered with enormous bruises that are quite disgusting... GREAT TIMES!!!

Now we are all running loose in Victoria trying to relax and prepare for the next phase... scary stuff I tell you!!!!

Alright, I know none of that made any sense but I'll try to re-iterate it sometime when my brain is not shut off.

Thanks for the good thoughts and letters.. As I am back at the base for a week I'll try to write back to everyone that sent letters..

Love you all!!!!

Naval Cadet Spencer (AKA Lady Spencer, aka Linda!!!)

HOLA!!!

I scammed more internet!!! YEAH!!!!

Lots of fun stuff is going on here... I learned that I can shoot a rifle quite well and that it isn't much fun... I also learned that I can now get dressed in full combats including boots and full fighting order (rifle, helmet, webbing, ammo etc... ) in less than 3 minutes... good times for all!!!

I've also met a kazillion new friends. most people here are wonderful, and we hang out 24/7 so that's a really good thing. Like Eleni posted I go in the field next week and that should be somewhat interesting... we'll see how I survive. But I should run, I've gotta run some errands. No pics as of yet, we JUST got our cameras back... bastards!!! anyhoo, love you all, we'll chat soon!!!!

LINDA ALERT!

Hey everyone.. I've been busy lately... lots of things going on in my life... but I got an e-mail from Linda that I needed to share!!

I"M HERE!!!!! I scammed internet for 1 minute so here I am...... basic is going well..... it's tough... I carry a rifle everywhere I go - even to the loo!!!! And I've discovered that I can shoot things form far away quite well....Next week we have war games in the bush.. should be fun cause I hate camping... miss you all oodles... YEAH!!!!!!

THANKS A MILLION LOVE, ME!!!!!

I'll share again if I hear more news!

Blog....

Hey guys.. I don't really have a Linda update. I'm not sure if anyone is even reading this...

Anyway.. I SUCK at blogging.. so, bear with me if you want to hear updates on Linda. I have lost her schedule... (or temporarily misplaced)... so I'm not really sure what she's been up to!! Yikes.. she's so going to kick me when she comes back.

If you want to send her mail at the base.. write a comment on here and I will e-mail you her mailing address.

Take care Linda fans!

E$