Well, what a balls ache that exercise turned out to be. For pretty much the whole of January, I was in the middle of nowhere on a training exercise. It was my first time actually doing my job as a new tradesman. Although I won't go so far as to say that I enjoyed it, on the whole I think it was a good experience. I learned a few new systems, got to brush up on my trade skills and I got introduced to the kind of support I'm going have to give once I get out in theatre.

I'm actually a little nervous about this deployment. My last tour was a piece of piss, and I did little to prepare for it. I didn't really have to prepare, either. Even if I screwed up, I was doing a job outside of my trade. If anything went really wrong, I could just wing that as an excuse (and had to at a couple of points). This time around, the expectations are a lot higher, both my own and others. I won't be out there alone, but I'm going to be working a lot harder than I did last time.

I'm being a lot more careful this time. I have personal accident insurance (one that covers soldiers in warzones), and I've written a will. I'm desperately trying to work myself into some kind of fit state, though I've yet to work off the damage from my last tour (I got lazy out there. Lazier, anyway).

I was planning on buying a flat once I got back from tour, and renting it out to students and the like. That way, I'd have something worth having once I get out the army. Unfortunately, what I want I won't be able to afford. I'm twenty grand short of the kind of place I'd like to have, and the buy to let market is apparently already extremely overcrowded. Still, if I have to wait a little longer, so be it. I should make a good bit of money on tour saving up. If I can get fifteen grand in savings, I should be sorted for SOMETHING.

Because the exercise was so utterly boring, I had time on my hands. I've been playing around with UnrealED again. Although what I have isn't brilliant, it was sorta fun. I may finish it, if I can find time. There isn't long left before I go away, and somehow I doubt I'll be having much time to waste once I get out there.

It may seem odd, but I'm kind of looking forward to it. My life's been on hold with this tour hanging over my head. I just want to get it out of the way so I can start making plans again. Once I get back, I'll be able to get decent internet, and I can start looking into edumacation stuff. Although I'm not really very academic, I'm thinking of having a go at getting a degree in computing through the Open University. If nothing else, it doesn't hurt to look.

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