How to feel better when having a crap day...

Wednesday started pretty good - I had a briefing with the General, which went extremely well.

The rest of the day went downhill after that - fighting bureaucracy, one of my civilians in tears, and receiving orders from someone at HQ that I don't have any respect for (I did, however, resist the urge to tell her that if she wanted to give orders, she should get some stripes on her shoulder and get her ass down here to work for a change rather than swanning about drinking cappucinos at the cafe down below her office - yes, apparently I am able to exercise a little bit of diplomacy from time to time!).

But the day got significantly better when one of my military friends stopped by my office and said "grab your IBA [individual body armour], we're going to the range."



After a very involved safety briefing, which included tips like "keep the weapon pointed in that direction" and how to load the magazine and where the safety was located, I went out on the range and fired off 30 rounds at a very small target.



The Alpha Marshmellow was suitably impressed with my shooting ability - 11 out of 30 rounds hit the (very) small target - not bad at all for my first time firing a gun.

And I went back to work covered in dust/sand (from kneeling and lying in the dirt), but in a much better mood.