Still have a cold, but today wasn't too bad. We did bayonet training and got all psyched up. The DS calling the moves was funny... (thrust, high block, throw down your weapons, gloves, and bust a a karate move on your opponent, or slash, low block, parry left, meow!)

The Pit! It wasn't too bad, roll left and roll rights suck. The nasty part is washing all that stuff when nobody will help. Played with our M4's and did pullups, etc for PT. PT again tomorrow. I just want to sleep and eat. Southard, my battle buddy is cool, as are half the guys in my bay. Half are sleeping though instead of helping clean. They need to get their acts together!

Today sucked, we got smoked a lot and had a lot of stupid classes. We did osme DNC and did pretty well. We seem to have problems as a company but the platoon seems to do OK. The DS are real bastards, I can't wait until the next phase and getting some personal time that doesn't cut into our sleep. We get our M4's tomorrow. Hopefully we won't be screwups and have a good day. DS Maximus has already written a recommendation for an article 15 (91). In one smoke session we did 50 military presses, 75 overhead claps, and 30 flutter kicks. Chow was about the only highlight although DNC wasn't bad. DSM is a lot friendlier when he's alone with us. Need to write family/friends. I didn't think I would care but I kinda want a letter now. Got a little choked up when I talked to Mom the other day. Before bed and just after waking up are the worst parts of the day. I've got a cold and cold sores, it sucks. In short, it was a bad day.

No PT in the morning, but we got smoked as a company a few times. BTW, There's a set of twins here (the Dollmans), nothing much to say yet but it's interesting anyway. We got our LBV's and Kevlar and other gear today. During inspection Delgadillo asked DS Maximus 'What makes a tank catch on fire?' Another stupid question, right? Well DSM (my shorthand for DS Maximus) answered it like it wasn't dumb, but 5 minutes later he yells 'Where's Delgadillo?' Delgadillo answeres 'Here Drill Sergeant!' DSM just walks by and says 'Just checking for assholes.' ROFL. Has a UCMJ class in the morning. DSM showed us how to setup part of our LBVs and Kevlars. Had a 1-1-1 PT test, did 8 PUs, 19 SUs, and 1 mile in 9:20.

Went toy Mass today. It was just like a real Catholic church. I figured it would be more laid back but it was legit. I'm going to try another denomination next week. The rest of the day was relatively easy. In other words we only got smoked a couple times. ;) No PT tomorrow either.

Went to the PX and spend $94 on stuff I mostly laready had. Finally got a watch!!! That has been driving me nuts, not knowing what time it is. Had a class on uniforms and got yet another speech on being good and flying straight... and they wonder why we fall asleep in class. That's something I have a problem with, haven't been smoked for it yet though.

They assigned squad leaders and a platoon guide. The PG is a recycle so he knows his stuff. The squad leaders are hit and miss. My bay (1st squad) is high speed. We kick everybodies ass. Went around helping people organize their lockers. "Attention to detail" (one of our mottos and what we say on the downward part of pushups) is something a lot of people have problems with. I like to help and lead but I don't want to be a PG or Squad Leader. I pretty much took charge during team building yesterday and we kicked ass.

Fire guard at 0300.

Day 2. Day 1 was pretty rough. They yelled a lot and generally abused us. There has to be a better way to train new soldiers. I suppose for the 18 year old punks it's a good way, but it's not working on me. My motivation is what will make me succeed. They make us do and say silly things, like if a DS says D O D O we have to say 'Doodoo!'. If he says '5 fingers to the face' we say 'SLAP!'.

We have a short 1-2 mile road march to a team building course today. I was surprised they would have us do something fun so early. My team won both courses we did with only 1 casualty each.

We have no free time unless we use our sleeping time. One of the worst things to deal with IMHO. We've had classes, PT, chow, random formations, DNC, road march, team building and various other things inflicted upon us so far.

One of the 5th Plt (Reapers) DS used the name Private Dumbass in an example. When he had a real private demonstrate, the poor guy said he was Private Dumbass instead of using his real name. We all died laughing, including the drills.

Shipping day. Had Copple cleaning duty last night. Sleep time 2130-0400. D'oh! Rumor has it that we have to do the initial PT test today. I hope I can do the 13 pushups.

Just got out of the mess hall. My field jacket doesn't have a flag. D'oh! Supposedly shipping tomorrow. We are to exchange items that don't fit, etc today. Nervous about going down range.

Fire guard 6556 3rd Floor. Got ehre on time thanks to brock loaning me his watch. This shift is going to be a long one. Laramore owes me another 20!

Well, the woman doing the bank accounts was stunning. Her name was Natasha and she had this enchanting Russian accent and delicate features. Anyway I got my bank account, my photo ID, and most of the paperwork done. We are going down range on Thursday. I got my 'used' field jacket today. I'll have to start sending some mail soon. The food here is really good, I hope the BCT DSs let us eat whatever we want. Nogle may be held back because of all his broken teeth. That will suck.

I'm waiting to get a bank account because I left my wallet in the barracks. I hope they don't need my driver's license. I am really sleepy right now and my head keeps nodding. The woman, Natasha, from the bank is really good looking. She has this awesome Russian accent.

My relief (Laramore) isn't here yet. I woke him up myself and asked FG to make sure he's awake but he's still not here. Nogle came by looking for his relief and I asked him to get him up too so hopefully that will do it. I'm in the building with the DS and I hope he doesn't see me pulling two shifts. He finally showed up at 0020.

The DS just had us sweep and mop the stairwells, I am sweating like a pig!

Door guard duty. The guy I was supposed to relieve woke me up instead of the fire guard. I had to rush to get ready. Anyway, today we went to get our smartcards (cash not ID). Saw the eye 'doctor' and dentist. We also went to the mini-PX and got only what the DS said. I am really missing my watch. We also moved some guys from our room because we didn't have enough lockers.

Accounting. One of our privates (Barnett) apparently forgot his name and had to mop the floor of the bay we were in. Everybody was laughing at him. We have wakeup formation at 0445, lights out at 2100.