I am finishing the main Communications Equipment training at work this month. Then, I am being paid to learn to drive including a Trailor license, and will be doing survival type things in some fields somewhere suitably cold, before I finally get to join a "working" location, meaning somewhere where I'm actually doing stuff.

This means I'll be moving to mainland Europe for three or four years. I'll be back frequently though, but in all honesty a lot of that will be pretty much purely to see my girlfriend.

Mobile reception: I still have next-to-none and am mostly unavailable at work or during evenings. If I'm out of work (i.e., in London) on the weekend I have reception.

Internet: Still offline.

Self: Things have got tedious, but are progressing. I've taken up Judo again, and am doing good.

Tags: army, army training, offline, telecommunications

I was rumaging through some drawers the other day... and found a collection of Orange and BT bills dating back a cool three years! Wow! It DID enable me to make a chart of my Orange Text Message usage and Call Times across 6 months. Cool. Geek. I then threw them all away.

I've been doing boxing training. So far it's just basic fitness (no skills) in order to find out who really wants to do it. As such, the training sessions are three times a week, at 5am and 6am. Which means up, dressed, watered & shaved by then. Very early. Have been doing runs and outdoor training. I do very well. After some running we done situps, pressups and squat thrusts. I done 85 squat thrusts in 2 minutes, the highest out of everyone there! That's my best achievement... in other areas, I'm just a good runner. I doubt I'll be a good boxer... but the training is good.

This weekend I am going to Salisbury plain to a training village for a fun weekend of urban assualt courses, climbing through sewers, being taught how to make and throw molotov cocktails and clear a house with grenades and rifles, military style. Fun fun fun... all paid for by my work! On the downside it's also been described as physically demanding (which sounds like hard work, ick!), and as a sleep deprivation exercise. Hmmm.

I will have news, soon, about where I will be spending the next four years! Although IN that four years I will be going on extended periods abroad, doing my actual work rather than just training and doing repair work.

I've spent this week fixing VERY OLD telegraph machines. They're like a combination typewriter and morse code device. Very old, very stubborn and clunky. But very satisfying! Based on old 8080 processors, circa 1985!

Tags: army, army training, boxing, finance, fitness, salisbury plain
Current Mood: happy

I'm in London for a week as of Friday!

Yay, rar!

Have got a fair few things and am spending time with my girlfriend, but hopefully will get to catch up with people and get some proper shopping done!

Got a week off as I've completed a major part of training. Basically, electronical engineering theory and practicals is done, along with computers & networking and stuff like that, and next few months I'll be playing with lots and lots of exclusive kit, breaking it and fixing it, yay!

Tags: army, army training, london, sam
Current Mood: happy

The "COs Run" is an event where the entire staff and students of my work location go for a 4-mile run, including the big boss of the premises. It's more like a 4 and a half mile run. Anyway, 800-1000 people run it. I came in with a time of 29 minutes, in position 95th. Woo! That's quite a respectable run time per mile over four miles!

I got 100% on a practical electronics test involving construction, debugging and measurements of various AC circuits. Two or three others on my course got 100%, two or three failed the test.

We then done the main, bulky theory test on Thursday. I got top marks in the class, with 85%, the next highest was a lad with 75%.

Overall, for the second part of my training, which we've all just completed (excepting four who failed and need to resit, or be put back a month), I got best student! *beams*

I'm busy this weekend so wont be around London... got a public relations event tomorrow.

Tags: army training, fitness, running
Current Mood: happy

This is a post-dated entry that should appear as the first entry when my journal is viewed.

I am offline for three months from late November, 2003. I will not be able to respond to LJ comments, emails, etc.
( Read more... )

Tags: army, army training, london, offline, satanism, websites

I've been notably offline for a number of months living in obscure places on training... many times in places so distant that there's not even a mobile phone signal at all... (what a dilemma in the modern world, eh?)

Well on Thursday I formally finish this very antisocial part of my training... I'm now somewhat fitter than I used to be and have basic weapons training, and many new skills completely unrelated to computers, programming, theology, philosophy and dancing.

Anyway, for about half a year from 2004 April 04 (Sunday), I will be living mostly in Dorset. On the plus side I will be online more, will be able to get out on weekends and get to London. I'll be doing specialist communications training in IT (a breeze for me!), some hacking (again a breeze, probably), satellite and radio construction, powering, installatioa and maintenance... random stuff...

And I can start doing sports again and get paid for it :-) Rugby and basketball...

Tags: army, army training, dorset
Current Mood: lazy
Listening To: "Bullet" by Covenant

I back for the weekend... just had a highly stressful week... exertion piled on intense mental stuff, then, endurance jogging and long distance loaded jog/run/walk type stuff. Have done rock climbing, cycling, lots of orienteering/mapreading, weapons training, lots of gym agility and resistance training.

Have done lectures and tests on all forms of first aid, injury, survival in extreme cold/hot/mud/rain/humid/dry conditions, etc.

Out of the 50 people who have passed through our training group, a few have been sent to other less advanced groups, ten or so have quit and fucked off, a few have been sent home, and a few have been unrecoverably injured (i.e., a back injury that prevents them continuing this level of heavy work). Nearly all people have taken at least a few days off with injury... except me!

But don't get me wrong, I'm not particularly excellent, just doing fine. Others are fitter, others are better at looking after their kit, others are more energetic, others are friendly, entertaining charismatic natural leaders... I'm just a person who gets on with the task at hand.

I disappear again on Sunday, but now the training changes in tone and becomes more professional and a little less manic... (except I'm spending three days living in mud, again, which will be very busy and manic), so starting from end of next week hopefully on the weekends I'll be able to wander into local town and find internet cafe, etc, and have some personal life back!

Love ya' all.

Tags: army, army training, fitness
Current Mood: accomplished

I just spent two hours cleaning the kitchen! This house is the best I've lived in (and it's still strange that Orin is back in the same house!), even the student here is cleaner than most my previous housemates! I've been here a year and some months, and we still don't want to kill each other! (Except one feminine type who wants to kill *everyone* once a month of course, but she's always forgiven and I was exagerating anyway)

I'm on the last quarter of the Cisco CCNA course, learning about all kinds of interesting geeky things that I never knew existed. I should finish the course in three weeks. Should. Which is cutting it close because on 2003 Nov 24 I'm going away for three months and will be completely offline except for a weekend or two. I'll be 20 miles North of Birmingham. Staffordshire doesn't count as "Northern" or "Southern", it's one of the "Middle" counties. You've got "Nothern" accents (I spent 6 years in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire!) and "Southern" accents, but what are "Middle" accents called?

Anyway, they'll be training me to kill people with efficiency and confidence and training me to survive under any circumstances whatsoever. Oh, and they'll be lots of boot polish and ironing too. In a few more days I'll post a post telling everyone that I've joined the army! (Surely no-one reads this far down boring household journal entries?)

Tags: army, army training, cisco, cisco ccna, cleaning, housework, kitchen, staffordshire