Re: [TCLUG:13980] notebooks

["Carl Wilhelm Soderstrom" <carls@agritech.com>]

>Do they really mustard-gas grunts? Do the soliders get gas-masks? What
>does mustard gas do, exactly?
        yep. friend of mine went through it. they put you in a concrete
room, with gas masks on; fill the room with mustard gas, and then you take
your mask off. 
        the gas is an irritant. it makes the mucous membranes swell. so it's
hard to breathe, your lungs burn, and you have 6'-long boogers coming out of
your nose (no lie). supposedly, the trick is to breath shallowly, so you
don't take as much of the gas into your lungs; the problem is, when the air
is foul, you reflexively breathe deeply. :)
        people completely panic. absolutely insanely panic. however, it
generally won't kill you; in fact, the drill seargeants supposedly just
waltz right through the stuff.
        the object of the exercise is to teach you that you *can* survive
it. however bad it is, you *can* survive. it also teaches you what *real*
panic and *fear* is; without being too lethal.

builds character. it's good for you. :) 
my dad went through it, and a friend of mine described in great detail what
it's like.

Carl Soderstrom