I got a splinter

I haven't had much to write about, things here have remained much the same as in the last post. Yesterday and today bring two important exceptions. First, I got a splinter. Second, I leave today for Kuwait (last stop before Iraq). The splinter is really big though, it went all the way under my cuticle. I got this while cleaning my M16, when my pinky (shown below) and finger next to pinky (does it have a name?) slid across a weathered picnic table. It was also a gun-cleaning table, so it follows that cleaning guns is a picnic. The nail is partially removed from trying fruitlessly to get the plank out, most of the intruder still lies under my nail, waiting...

As for my pending departure to Iraq, that unremovable splinter remains firmly lodged. We packed out bags of equipment and getting all of the stuff: body armor, helmet, sleeping bags/pad, uniforms, chemical/biological protective suit, etc. is no matter to take with ease. And these are bags you have to lug around until you arrive at whatver your final destination may be, for most it is Baghdad. There are a lot of pictures circulating that people took while they were here, I only took a few, I'll put some of them below. Once I get my computer set up I'll get those other pictures from Kent and put them up on picasa.

The flight to Kuwait will be about 18 hours. A few of the days we spend in Kuwait will be enjoying a showerless facility designed to take from children the little hope they have left after years of senseless war. Actually it has nothing to do with children, and everything to do with shooting. I should be able to make an update about that once I'm there though, because while that site is barren, Kuwait also has an immense base where I should be spending the rest of my week or so there. Kuwait, positionally, lies as Rhode Island next to Massachusetts. There is a map in one of the earlier posts.

This picture is of one day shooting at an Army qualification range. There are two white targets in the picture, they pop up and you knock them down with bullets. Sometimes one comes up and sometimes they act as teams of two. The target distance varies from 50 to 300 meters, and they stay up for a shorter amount of time the closer they are. These white targets are easy to see through the sights; but the day before we fired at green targets. The sun was strong and the shadows dark, and those green plastic buggers were playing lots of hiding games.

With little shooting comes much waiting. This is best not thought of as time wasted, however, but rather time for searching your inner self for peace. Or perhaps intently searching the backs of your eyelids, other times enjoying a good book, or working on your forlorn stare. I got in three solid naps that day, then we got up, lined up, and crawled though pine needles and cones. What wonders brings the United States Army!