The Life and Times of Adam Hinds

You know what I hate about the middle east? Guess! You may think it’s the instability in the region. You may think it’s being on the other side of the world from my life, you may think it’s just so hot, or you may think it’s adapting to a different environment. And while all of these things do make me ill to my stomach, I don’t truly hate them. No, what I really hate is that the internet is SO FUCKING SLOW! I can’t download a song off iTunes in less than two hours. Someone call Cox and get these people some freakin’ internet already!

I, right now, am at an internet cafe in Kuwait, so I wanted to drop in on my oh-so-glorious blog and update my readers (all 2 of you) on my status. I’m good. I miss my wife, dog, family and friends an unimagniable amount, but I am coping. The mission I’m working with is enjoyable and worthwhile, at least from my perspective. I don’t know that I am allowed to go into much detail about it though. I am learning a lot. A lot about my boat, my shipmates, my navy, and in a small way, my country. As much as I complain about who I work with and about the war, I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better group of people to serve with. It’s a challenging role I’m filling, but I think I’m filling it well. I’m currently pursing my ESWS qualification as well. I think I should be completely qualified by the end of September, if not before then. Other than that, I’m just pressing on.

Well I’ve been on deployment now for just over a week, so I wanted to give a bit of an update on how things are going. It’s starting off rocky, which I suppose is to be expected. We are all trying to find our niche and get everything the way it needs to be, make the boat “our’s” and get used to being on deployment. One in-deniable factor (which is a real drag on morale): it’s fucking hot. OH MY GOD IT’S SO HOT. You can’t even walk outside without getting soaked in sweat. Talk about having to adapt to your environment. But that is making me want to drink more water instead of Pepsi or Fanta, so there is a positive side. We’re preparing for our first patrol and everyone is nervous. At least I’ll get to wear desert cami’s. Overall I would say this: things probably couldn’t be worse right now, but they are starting to look better. That’s all I can say thus far without breaking operational security.

Oh yeah one more thing: I blew out my power adapter for my X-Box because the adapter only takes 100V and over here the voltage is 240V. DOH!