Blogged on a mobile phone.

Normally, I write my week in camp and adapt from there to write my blog entries. So, this week, I forgot my notebook and I used my phone instead. Thoughts are all over the place, I'm still radiating heat from this morning's exercise. Let the long post begin.

** Monday **

Its an interesting concept. I believe I couldn't be more satisfied with where I am, being in the course I am. It has its days, good and bad. Somedays, I feel like I can't keep up with the training. Constantly, I remind myself of how I need to be fitter for the people I have to save. It is truly an interestingly foreign concept. What happened? Another day filled with BTM. W7, W8, W9, W10, S3, S4, S5.

[As I blog this, I don't seem to remember the btms. Which is bad. I will digress from the phone here to explain the btm] S3 was soft suction to pump ladder. Means we connect one 100mm hose direct from the triple pillar hydrant to pump ladder. S4 and S5 were the.. Interesting ones.. S4 was hard suction to portable pump.. I've always questioned the use of the word portable. Especially when it refers to a 100kg pump. 120kg when its filled with petrol.. not to mention the suctions are heavy. 2 suctions for this task. S5 is hard suction to pump ladder. 4 suctions. Heavy things. Needless to say, I did not want to have to do it again. Back to the phone.

--- Felt an immense ache all over when I started the btms. Maybe its just hazmat week rearing its ugly head. One week without much bunker gear. Weather was good though, not much sun. Its the sun thats immensely draining. Hopefully, the weather will carry on till friday's heat and humidity. My mindset has to change about friday that I can actually do it. I'm just worried about physically fainting this week. I don't feel physically ready for friday. Need my weekend for jamming with the boys, learning the new stuff, lunch with friends. Its one of the few things keeping me sane. Can't wait for december, friends cousins family coming back. Its about time we had everyone back. Too long has passed since we've had a decent family dinner and a decent family photo. Especially since I'm slimmer now (: till friday!

** Wednesday **

Surely confinement has a bittersweet taste. Surely it will be a new experience although its more a case of an innocent wronged. Basically we're being confined for something that wasn't our fault entirely or perhaps at all. Sigh. BTM's covered, L6, L7, S1W2 and S1W3. L6, Ladder leg lock fire-fighting. Basically, a ladder. One guy goes up, leg locks and fights a fire in the middle of the ladder. L7, over the parapet using the ladder. Its the combined tasks that were the awesome btms, not that they were easy but they were fun. Different sections had different ways of doing the same task, like my section split the task into S1 and W3 with 2 men doing two jobs each. Basiclly, a guy operating the hydrant has to double up to hold the nozzle after he's turned on the hydrant supply while the pump operator has to lay and proper the hoses for the hydrant supply. Was a test for my guys physically and mentally. When we mixed the sections up, it was chaos. Because all the jobs were not clearly defined. I realize how difficult it is to work with people you've never worked with before. Well, two more days to H&H. Sigh.

** Thursday **

Sentry duty is a great time for blog entries provided you don't get caught using your phone on duty which reminds me, I probably shouldn't be doing this now. But hey, its 2:24am, I'm bored, the gates are locked and almost no one comes in. Except I just let in one supply truck. Which is now proceeding to go out. Thursday, interesting. One of the best days. Did my impulse fire extinguishing gun or IFEX. Totally wasn't ready for it the first time. IFEX is one of our two weapons, think of it as a water shotgun that shoots air and water at an immense speed with immense force. Completely decimated the leaf someone else put on the ground. I wouldn't want to be hit with the silver barrel shotgun. The first shot shook me, threw my hand back. Apart from that, we also did the mist gun. Its funky, the mist looks good, feels good, doesn't hit hard and sprays really nicely for extinguishing a fire. Two guys just got rejected by the duty officer to enter the camp during after hours. Cool. After lunch, we did this huge foam monitor thing. It looked like an artillery except probably not as heavy. But the procedure was a bit taxing. Smoke gets in your eyes, but if foam does, you become a goldfish. Thinking more about H&H, clearly knowing it will be one of the toughest exercises and doing the exercise after guard duty. I know I'm not ready. I'm sure it will test me. So much. I need friday lunch so bad.

** The calm after the storm **

So, I survived heat and humidity. Obviously. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Sure I went 700m carrying a load of my shoulders with my section. Sure I climbed 9 storeys in 3 minutes. Sure I rolled and unrolled 2 hoses. But the defining moment was the sauna room. Oh, I got to see other sections do it after I finished it and I'm so glad my section was good. In essence, it was 15 minutes in a 70 degree celcius room with full gear doing light exercise and having to think. Tied knots, moved water containers, was asked questions. I'm just glad my section finished everything and turned out alright. If I was asked to do it again, I'd think about it pretty hard. No pictures or videos, sorry! Next week, LPG training.

survive day by day, week by week, month by month.
-josh

oh, still 76kg.