Well, blogger and I seem to have some disagreements about when to post things, so I'm just gonna try this once. If it takes four days for Blogger to realize I posted, oh well.

Just a quick note to let you all know I have arrived at my destination.
E-mail access is somewhat restricted owing to demand, so if you send me a
note it may be a week or two before i can get to it, but i plan to try to
keep current.

If anyone wishes to contact me via good old fashioned snail mail, send it
to the following:

James M. Hinton
B co. 193 AVN FWD (AVIM)
APO, AE 09355

Well, how about some quick impressions.

It's different here. Just as dry, dusty, and brown as the TV leads you to
believe. Not quite as hot though. Only upper 90's today. Still, the
dust is everywhere, gets into everything.

Living in a tent city, but that was expected. Still, it's not
unreasonable. They have A/C and wooden floors, so they're almost
comfortable. I've certainly lived in worse. Food is merely so-so, but
what can I say? It's Army food. So-So is high marks. The locals look
just like you'd expect from the pictures on TV. Kind of trippy, first
time you see some of them and catch yourself thinking, "Hey! Aint those
some of the... Nah. Not if they're here." Course, you still find
yourself looking over your shoulder at them.

Anyway, I'll put together over time a much more complete impression and
picture for you. Probably take me several days, what with the limited
time and all. Just thought you all should know I'm alive and doing well.

Sgt. J. Hinton

- posted by Sareth @ 4:06 PM

 
Recent e-mail I sent. As usual, if anyone wishes to recieve these e-mails, contact me at jhinton@rmci.net

Well, I figure one last ramble from me before I cross the pond. Been a
bit, figured you all were wondering.

Well, first, let me get this off my chest, cause it's been bothering me.
Last night a large group of us went to a bar for a while. The bouncer at
the front door scrupulously stares at the ID of the gal in front of the
group, the guy behind her, the guy behind him, the guy in front of me...
takes one look at me and waves me through without checking mine.

Ouch. That really hurts.

Was rather a fun evening otherwise. I was the Designated Driver, so I got
all the free soda I could swill, and had a good time watching all the
drunks suddenly discovering they were actually funny, attractive, and
excellent dancers. Heh. Good times.

Anyway, pretty quiet for the most part. Spent quite a bit of time sitting
around waiting for others to cut my orders, get my travel plans arranged,
etc. Then all of a sudden things kicked into high gear. Next thing I
know folk are running me all over to ensure we had all our orders, gear,
shots, equipment, etc. Good thing, too. Turns out someone dropped the
ball and had forgotten to process our requests for the chem suits. Got
that fixed, but had to step on a few toes to do so. /shrug.

Anyway, we're good to go, have a date to get over there, and everything.
Next note the Mad Man sends from Asia will actually come from Asia.

-Sgt. J.


- posted by Sareth @ 11:29 AM

 
Another e-mail I just sent out. If you wish to be added to the e-mail list, contact me at jhinton@rmci.net

Well, I figure one last ramble from me before I cross the pond. Been a
bit, figured you all were wondering.

Well, first, let me get this off my chest, cause it's been bothering me.
Last night a large group of us went to a bar for a while. The bouncer at
the front door scrupulously stares at the ID of the gal in front of the
group, the guy behind her, the guy behind him, the guy in front of me...
takes one look at me and waves me through without checking mine.

Ouch. That really hurts.

Was rather a fun evening otherwise. I was the Designated Driver, so I got
all the free soda I could swill, and had a good time watching all the
drunks suddenly discovering they were actually funny, attractive, and
excellent dancers. Heh. Good times.

Anyway, pretty quiet for the most part. Spent quite a bit of time sitting
around waiting for others to cut my orders, get my travel plans arranged,
etc. Then all of a sudden things kicked into high gear. Next thing I
know folk are running me all over to ensure we had all our orders, gear,
shots, equipment, etc. Good thing, too. Turns out someone dropped the
ball and had forgotten to process our requests for the chem suits. Got
that fixed, but had to step on a few toes to do so. /shrug.

Anyway, we're good to go, have a date to get over there, and everything.
Next note the Mad Man sends from Asia will actually come from Asia.

-Sgt. J.

- posted by Sareth @ 9:32 AM

 
E-mail I just sent out. Once again, anyone interested in being added to my e-mail ramblings from overseas, drop me a note at jhinton@rmci.net

Well, I figure one last ramble from me before I cross the pond. Been a
bit, figured you all were wondering.

Well, first, let me get this off my chest, cause it's been bothering me.
Last night a large group of us went to a bar for a while. The bouncer at
the front door scrupulously stares at the ID of the gal in front of the
group, the guy behind her, the guy behind him, the guy in front of me...
takes one look at me and waves me through without checking mine.

Ouch. That really hurts.

Was rather a fun evening otherwise. I was the Designated Driver, so I got
all the free soda I could swill, and had a good time watching all the
drunks suddenly discovering they were actually funny, attractive, and
excellent dancers. Heh. Good times.

Anyway, pretty quiet for the most part. Spent quite a bit of time sitting
around waiting for others to cut my orders, get my travel plans arranged,
etc. Then all of a sudden things kicked into high gear. Next thing I
know folk are running me all over to ensure we had all our orders, gear,
shots, equipment, etc. Good thing, too. Turns out someone dropped the
ball and had forgotten to process our requests for the chem suits. Got
that fixed, but had to step on a few toes to do so. /shrug.

Anyway, we're good to go, have a date to get over there, and everything.
Next note the Mad Man sends from Asia will actually come from Asia.


- posted by Sareth @ 5:08 PM

 

"Sweet Dreams" (by Eurythmics)
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
Travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused


Which 80's Song Fits You?
brought to you by Quizilla


Thanks to Lauren.
- posted by Sareth @ 10:47 AM

 
Oops. Noticed I forgot to post my latest rambling earlier this week. So here it is. Again, this was originally an e-mail. If you wish to be added to the mailing list, contactme at jhinton@rmci.net

Well, first let me start with a big whoops! I meant to hit Bcc instead
of Cc on that last note, so sorry for those of you who prefer your
e-mail address not attract spam. Heh.

Anyway, a quick little update. I'm still here in the states. We're
pretty much ready to go, simply waiting on a ride at this point. That's
being worked on.

Hmm... Ok, how about some amusing little notes. First, I am now Combat
Life Saver Certified. That means I can now stick people with needles
attatched to IVs. Those of you who know me know my opinion of needles
and should be duly impressed as a result. And poor Specialist Wheeling
only lost perhaps half a pint of blood while I tried to get that darned
IV hooked up, too. (He got even. He had to stick me twice.)

Oh, and I'm sure most of you don't care, but I shot a 36 out of 40 at
the M-16 range. (It only takes 23 to qualify, FYI.) Just thought I'd
brag.

My small pox vaccination has been very entertaining. For those of you
not in the know, they essntially infect you with cow pox. (I remember
studying this in Junior High Biology.) The stuff can survive in the
human body, but just doesn't do too well. Which means you only get one
big ugly nasty sore. It's Big. It's Ugly. And it's Sore. Ow. Makes
the glands in your arm swell up uncomfortably. Fortunately it looks
like it's starting to shrink (at last!) Doesn't hurt as much as it did,
too.

Anyway, aside from class after class after class during the day, not
much to do around here. There is a small lake that makes for popular
swimming.
Went down there the other evening to cool off (get's warm and humid in
this area.) But that's about it for entertainment.

Well, that's about it.

Need one thing from y'all. Rumour has it the location I'm headed does
not have e-mail access. I have been unable to confirm or deny that, so
I have a request. Anyone interested ihn continuing to hear from me,
even if it takes snail mail to do it, get me a good mailing address and
I'll see what I can do if it proves there is no e-mail. (For close
friends and family, don't assume I have your address. It can't hurt to
confirm what few I do have.)

Thanks all.
- posted by Sareth @ 9:51 AM

 
(Another e-mail I sent)

Well, first let me start with a big whoops! I meant to hit Bcc instead of Cc on that last note, so sorry for those of you who prefer your e-mail address not attract spam. Heh.

Anyway, a quick little update. I'm still here in the states. We're pretty much ready to go, simply waiting on a ride at this point. That's being worked on.

Hmm... Ok, how about some amusing little notes. First, I am now Combat Life Saver Certified. That means I can now stick people with needles attatched to IVs. Those of you who know me know my opinion of needles and should be duly impressed as a result. And poor Specialist Wheeling only lost perhaps half a pint of blood while I tried to get that darned IV hooked up, too. (He got even. He had to stick me twice.)

Oh, and I'm sure most of you don't care, but I shot a 36 out of 40 at the M-16 range. (It only takes 23 to qualify, FYI.) Just thought I'd brag.

My small pox vaccination has been very entertaining. For those of you not in the know, they essntially infect you with cow pox. (I remember studying this in Junior High Biology.) The stuff can survive in the human body, but just doesn't do too well. Which means you only get one big ugly nasty sore. It's Big. It's Ugly. And it's Sore. Ow. Makes the glands in your arm swell up uncomfortably. Fortunately it looks like it's starting to shrink (at last!) Doesn't hurt as much as it did, too.

Anyway, aside from class after class after class during the day, not much to do around here. There is a small lake that makes for popular swimming. Went down there the other evening to cool off (get's warm and humid in this area.) But that's about it for entertainment.

Well, that's about it.

Need one thing from y'all. Rumour has it the location I'm headed does not have e-mail access. I have been unable to confirm or deny that, so I have a request. Anyone interested ihn continuing to hear from me, even if it takes snail mail to do it, get me a good mailing address and I'll see what I can do if it proves there is no e-mail. (For close friends and family, don't assume I have your address. It can't hurt to confirm what few I do have.)

Thanks all.

Sgt. J.
- posted by Sareth @ 9:21 AM