All in

So - now it's gonna get busy. With less than 2 months to go, I'm planning on several fronts from logistics to physical, emotional, spiritual strengthening and conditioning, to drumming up the business. FOX News.com has signed on by the story, and I expect to finalize with FOXNews Radio next week. I still need more clients - local newspapers, maybe a more specific angle for a network like Bloomberg or AP. So - if any of you know editors/news directors at small stations that I could pick up the phone and call, propose a rate and method of transmission - that would be great! Basically, the biggest push now is looking for clients and stories. My current clients have already asked me to begin developing story ideas so I can get them pre-approved. This is a huge hurdle (or so it feels) as I am not completely aware really of what I'll be witnessing within my unit. So, feel free to throw those my way too.

TRAINING
I am borrowing everything I need from a recently retired SF guy who has made me his project. This is saving me gobs of money, and giving me army issue stuff which is great quality. I started training in my flak jacket this week - an additional 18 pounds. I need to add the helmet and the gloves, eyewear and boots soon to get a real feel for it. I hope to do that Sunday afternoon after I return from a trip out of town to see my cousin graduate high school. My SF friend has promised to work up a work-out schedule that will at least help build my endurance since the heat and lack of good eating really can take a toll on concentration. And again -this is my first time solo. I've always been in collaboration with someone, so I need to be in the best shape I can be. I'm now getting up every morning at 6am, and either walking in my gear or running about 3-4 miles. I'm hoping that I can keep this up - so feel free to check in and see how I'm doing. I can always use the accountability. The last week of the month - I'm signed up to attend a Centurion Hostile Environments and Emergency First Aid course in the Shenandoah Valley - about 90 miles from here. It's taught by the Navy Seals, and designed to better prepare me to assess risks and orient me for the battlefield. This course costs about $2500, but there's a scholarship in the UK for freelance war correspondents that I've signed up for - and I think I stand a good chance of getting. I so hope I do, because it would pay for 2/3rds of the course, leaving me with $700 to come up with -- relatives - I'll be hitting you up ;-) Watch out!

The next step will be buying/training on all my equipment. I'm planning on buying a MAC, need to load it up with editing software, and already have my radio kit picked out. I just need to settle on still/video cameras at this point, and it all gets so expensive so fast! But honestly - at every turn of this, God keeps dropping these angels into my lap to help with expertise. It's really great! Then - it's just practicing with the equipment -- need to know it as well as possible because again, the conditions won't be the best. The great news is that they'll be a lot better than they used to be. Most FOB's have working Internet, and the country has cell service, so I can purchase a local cell phone, and it works like a track phone (my one in France 10 years ago did the same. You just buy cards.) A friend has just been made bureau chief in FOX's Kabul bureau, and he's done all this already - so he's walking me through a lot of it.

Well, that's it for now. I'll let you know my finalized dates. And try to continue to update this so you'll know where I"m at. I suspect I won't have a snail mail address, so the best way to keep in touch, unless you catch my work -- is jessicathereporter@gmail.com.
My website - www.jessicaweinstein.com will have my work updated (I hope.) Most of all - please keep me in your prayers. This is the hardest thing I've ever done.
Yours,
Jessica