Bird House For Rent

I put up a birdhouse right outside the kitchen window. I thought it might be nice to attract some nice song birds closer to the house. I am turning into my mom more and more every year. Although, I still refuse to feed the birds. Mom feeds those freeloaders like they're starving.

While I was spying on my neighbor (don't judge me) through the kitchen window today, I noticed a nice song bird had taken interest in the new bird house! It was a chickadee and not a shitty sparrow, too!

My attention was diverted from spying and trained on this cute little guy:

 

He sat there on the roof of the bird house for nearly 20 minutes singing his little heart out. But did he ever go in the house? No. Not once. I got bored watching him do basically nothing so I went outside to get the mower prepped for the first lawn mowing of the year. It took me a hot second to get it squared away. I glanced at the bird house. You guessed it, he was still siting there. NOT in the bird house.

Maybe the chickadee doesn't understand the concept of the bird house. Perhaps I should entice him in by leaving delicious seeds inside. I bet that's what Mom would do!

The stupid bird will probably end up doing what they do every year-- try to make a nest in the grill. Regardless of the empty perfectly usable bird house conveniently located 3 feet away.

Spring?

I am quite aware the current season is Spring. However, I don't think Mother Nature got the memo. The Fort Campbell area had a very mild Winter. I gauge that based on the number of late starts and days off we had due to inclement weather. We had maybe 3 late starts.

So when I woke up today to a snowy Winter wonderland, you can guess I was shocked! And even more shocked that I had to go to work! This isn't the natural order of things. It snows, people freak out, post closes. That's how it's supposed to go. What the heck happened this morning guys? Someone really dropped the ball.

 

Bldg 7020: The 501st ASMC

This is the most snow we've gotten all Winter! It's also the most snow we've gotten all Spring.

It snowed all day and its supposed to snow all night. Of course, the temperature is hovering right around 32 so it's not sticking to the roads like I would like it to. I'm keeping my fingers crossed we'll get a late start tomorrow.

EFMB: Breakfast Is Important

Seriously? FML.

 

The EFMB 20k road march was this morning. I started it. I finished it. And I almost died along the way. I also did not pass it. You heard me, folks. I made it all the way to the final event of EFMB, and I failed. I am beginning to think the EFMB badge is not meant for me to earn....

 

I am not the type to point fingers or pass blame. But I will say one thing: If breakfast had been provided to the candidates the morning of the road march-- I whole heartedly believe I would have had enough fuel to complete the road march in time. Instead, at mile 10, I collapsed. My body just wasn't able to continue the mission. I was making good time and I would have passed if my blood sugar wasn't in the dirt.

 

I did walk the last 2 miles. It was torture being dizzy and disoriented. But I did not quit. It was futile-- I knew I would not pass. But I did not quit. I spent a few hours in the emergency room afterwards due to nausea, vomiting, dehydration and exhaustion. I was not the only candidate in the ER.

 

What can you do? Eat breakfast I suppose....

 

I'm embarrassed. I'm mad. I'm upset. I'm not going to let this define me.

 

I'm going to go back to EFMB again.

 

I am crazy but resilient.

EFMB: Showers Are For The Weak

It has been 7 days since we were bussed to use shower facilities. My hair is the greasiest I have ever seen it in my life. It has not turned to dreadlocks like my original assumption. No, instead it has become heavy and matted and stuck to my head. It stays in a bun all day and all night-- not just because that's how I wear my hair for the Army, but also because it does not move.

Today I tested out CTL 2. That's the lane with all the NBC tasks. I had to cover my face, neck and ears with charcoal. I will not get a shower to wash it off. Baby wipes can only do so much. I am filthy. The next shower opportunity for me is after I fail out or after I earn the badge in 3 days.

By the way, I only got 1 warrior task no-go on my NBC lane.

By the way again, I passed night land navigation last night. 4 out of 4 points! I made that course my bitch!

EFMB: Hope & Luck

My heart nearly broke yesterday when I saw a gaiter loaded up with land nav points drive by me. "Noooooo," said I.

They're changing the course. Same plot of land, but they're moving around the points for testing week.

I had been doing so well with day and night land nav, that I had the hope I would be able to pass. Hope! I should have known better than to have had hope! Now I'll have to rely on luck.

Luck, however, is on my side today. We took the written exam and I passed it! I was one of three people in my platoon to pass. I just barely passed. When I saw everyone's scores I didn't feel so bad about eeking by because those of us who passed all barely passed.

 

I really thought my luck had run out when I opened the test and read the first question and didn't know the answer. What a way to start off a test! But I pulled it off somehow, and passed that beast of a test!

I seem to have great luck when it comes to the written exam and zero luck when it comes to night land nav. So here's to hoping I pass land nav tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed.

EFMB: Refugee Camp

Today was my platoon's day to train on CTL 3 (combat testing lane 3). This is the lane with the majority of the evac tasks and takes the most physical effort.

Today was also the day it decided to down pour and be 35 degrees. We were all soaked to the bone, freezing our asses off, waiting for sweet death in a "warming tent". The warming tents were not hooked to a heater so there wasn't much warming going on in them. Also, there wasn't a floor installed in the tent so it flooded.

CTL 3 had a sweet obstacle where you have to crawl on your back under barbed wire-- which was completely flooded so you may as well have been swimming in near freezing muddy water. When I said that obstacle was sweet, I was lying. It was absolutely miserable.

Thank god training got indexed 3 hours early so we could go back to our sleeping stables, I mean tents, and change into warm dry clothes. But wouldn't you guess it!? The heaters were out in the tents, too.

So we got moved on to main post Fort Campbell and into the 86th CSH motorpool bay like relocated hurricane refugees:

 

It was so warm in the motorpool bay. However, it was strange to sleep on a wrestling mat.  The bay saved us from freezing to death, which I am super grateful for. And we got to shower! That was pretty rad-- although I'm sure it will be my ONLY shower in this 15 day event. I swear, every time I go to EFMB, the conditions get worse. I don't even want to know what crap I'd have to go through in the future if I don't get the badge this time!

EFMB: Miracles Do Happen

Guess what I did last night??

I passed practice night land navigation!! It was a miracle!

Historically, I fail night land navigation. I haven't successfully found my way during night land nav since I was stationed at Fort Lewis. Apparently when the lights are out, I do not find my destination.

Except for last night!

Truth be told, the course is one of the easier courses I've ever been on. (This is not a complaint.) Also, the course is very close to our living quarters which has huge spotlights scattered throughout the camp. It's like doing land nav next to an amusement park. (Once again, not complaining.) There was more loom in the sky than the moon could ever offer.

 

Holy crap, I found my points!

I passed! Damn it felt amazing. It restored my hope that I could possibly earn the Expert Field Medical Badge this time around. And at my home station, Fort Campbell.

EFMB: Getting Settled

Holy crap it's cold!

I'm out here at EFMB, the Fort Campbell edition, and it's cold as hell! It's snowing currently. It rarely snows here, and what do you know, as soon as I'm going to a 15 day field exercise, it dumps on us.

Our living accommodations are less than ideal. We have tents... with straw floors. It's kind of like being livestock and living in a stable. It smells like the fair, but with less funnel cakes.

 

Pallet path through the living stables.

It wouldn't be so bad if the site had been built on grass. Instead, it was built on dirt. Which quickly grew into a festering quagmire of mud once it started to snow. The mud is so thick that tries to suction off your boots or make you skid around erratically. I have not fallen yet, but I'm sure I will. I'm waiting for it.

 

OMG the mud is EVERYWHERE!

 

Another glamorous accommodation is the lack of shower trailers and the complete lack of a plan to move the candidates to a showering facility. 15 days is a looooong time without a shower. I'm probably going to have dreadlocks by the time this is over and have a thin film of EFMB covering my body.

Cheers to my 5th EFMB! And hopefully my last!