Another Day on the Lake

August 20th, 2010

I went to see the doctor about my ankle today. I was told he wanted to do another MRI. I am waiting to hear back that it has been approved by my insurance before setting up an appointment.

I worked Marine Patrol again today. I was working with the sergeant who will be taking over the marine patrol starting next month. It was a pretty quiet day on the lake. We made a couple stops through out the day and wrote a couple tickets. It was fun to get a chance to chat with the new sergeant. When I was done on the marine patrol I headed back to Pullman.

The trip went pretty well. I had no real problems with traffic which I was thinking I might run into with all the stduents coming back for school. I listened to the scanner and watched some TV when I got back. It was pretty quiet in Pullman for being the weekend before school started.

First Marine Patrol Shift of the Summer

August 19th, 2010

I worked on Lake Washington today. I worked with an officer I had not worked with before. I was pretty nervous because I haven’t been out on the water in a long while. But it was pretty quient for the most part. The weather was not that nice so we cruised around for a bit then parked the boat. I was driving the boat. It was a bit of a challenge to park it in its new spot, but I did pretty well backing it in.

I did a lot of reading of the boating rules and the EMS protocols for King County. It was a good day. We hit the water again around five. There were more boats out and we made some stops. We issued warnings. I did the boat safety inspections after the stop was made.

More Firearms Training

April 23rd, 2010

I headed down to the Renton Fish and Game Club for Marine Patrol training. We were doing our annual firearms familiarization. We shot the AR-Fifteen and Glock forty calibre. There is something about doing target practice that is fun. As you would expect, the more you do it, the better you are at it. I shot pretty well. We were there until about three o’clock.

I went home and hung out. I came close to taking a nap, but I didn’t. I watched some TV and had some dinner.

I went down to Jon’s and picked him up and then to a poker game. It is the monthly game they have in his neighborhood. I was playing well. I ended up winning eighty bucks. I got a Q-A in one hand and the flop was Q-Q-Q. I won that hand.

I had a couple other big hands. On one hand I made big bets making someone believe I had a good hand. On the river I bet the max amount., He folded. I was on a total bluff. I rarely do it, but this time I planned on doing it and it worked.

Another Shot in the Ankle

December 2nd, 2009

At my doctors appointment today he saw the swelling that still existed. He decided that I needed to have a shot of steroids in order to reduce swelling long enough to allow some of the tissues to grow back. Then the swelling would be reduced over time. I asked him about complete recovery time and he said it can take upwards of ten months.

This evening I was on the boat patrol. The ankle was feeling good because of the shot. I am a big fan of not having ankle pain.

While I was out on the boat I had a chance to drive for a while. I hadn’t driven the new boat yet. It went smoothly. The Christmas Cruise went off without a hitch.

Christmas Cruise Ought-Nine

December 1st, 2009

This morning I got up and started to get ready for my trip to Seattle. I was doing some stuff around the house. I responded on a call to the fire department, but no one else showed up for it.

I home and packed. Then I went to the bank to deposit a couple checks. I needed to stop by the fire station to get a photo of our new Training Officer, Ryan. I stopped and chatted with the guys there for a while. I stopped and got some pizza slices on my way out of town.

The trip itself was uneventful. I listened to a lot of talk radio, where the subject was mostly about the shooting of the Lakewood Officers.

I got into Renton. I stopped at my parents’ place and dropped off my clothes. Then I went to the Eagles for dinner. I forgot how far I was from Mercer Island. Normally not a big deal, but there was a major back up on Four-Oh-Five from Newport to Renton. So I had to take surface streets. I found my way behind all sorts of slow cars. I would finally get out from behind one only to have a new one move into my way.

I got to the police station with about ten minutes to spare. I got my uniform on and headed to the water for the Christmas Cruise. I was pretty tired. But the cruise was uneventful. We went to Lake Union. There were about fifteen yachts following along.

Marine Patrol with Matt

September 6th, 2009

I was tired when I got up this morning. It was raining and I thought my marine patrol shift would be cancelled. It wasn’t cancelled and I got to the Island in time to get ready and start the shift. I was working with Matt. That was great. He is a super nice guy.

We started out just waiting for the officer. He was out on the road. We were asked to go to the boat and kill the spiders and clean them up. We vacuumed to the boats, washing the windows inside and out. Then we got to spray killer and went on a killing mission. There were a lot of spiders around the boat.

We went back to the office and then left shortly after we got there to get lunch. We talked Cougar football. Matt was a starter on defense last season. I asked him about the no-shutout streak. He said we played USC to not injury the QB. The game plan was to go three-and-out all the team pretty much. We were just giving the game away.

We went back to the office and chatted with the officer for a bit before going back to the boat to wash them. After washing all the boats we went back to the office one more time. That was it for the day. We didn’t hit the water at all. Matt and I went to the lockerroom to change and we left.

I went home and just hung out watching the Trauma Life in the ER marathon and chatting on the computer with some people I know.

Big Photo Shoot

June 2nd, 2009

I have been wanting to do this for a long time, and finally I got my fire department uniform to my house so I could set it up. I wanted to take a photo of myself in each of my uniforms. Then I would put it all into one photo to make it look like I posed for the photos all at one time.

I spent some time trying to get the lighting and other set up things just right. Then I put on one uniform after another. It took a long time to go through all the uniforms. One by one I had to put it on and use the ten second delay to take three photos. Then sometimes I had to change out the badges and other brass to other uniform parts for another photos. It was a long process. But the photos all turned out well.

I then started to go through the photos and chose what post to use for what side of the photo the pic would be on. It took a lot of time to cut out the background even though I was using a solid colored background. The whole process to make the photo took about six hours.

I then had to run off to the softball game. We were playing against Spellman’s team. It was crappy because we couldn’t hit the ball. Some of our best hitters didn’t have a hit on the night. We ended up losing after only scoring five runs. Spellman’s team scored twelve in the first inning alone.

I ended the night by watching Rescue Me. It is the first episode I was able to catch in the last three weeks.

More Taser Training

May 13th, 2009

I did my training for the boat patrol today. We started down at the Renton Gun Club. That was great. It is close to my moms house so I am able to get there quick. I was going to get some pop. When I went to the local store I found they had closed. That sucked. So I went to Hop In. Their pop machine was down for the morning. So I had to go all the way to Safeway. I was thinking that I was running late only to find that I was thirty minutes early.

I got to the training site and we sat around chatting for a tiny bit before getting started. We were doing most of the shooting from five to seven yards out. I was hitting the target with great accuracy. My grouping was about the size of a fist with a couple thrown rounds. I thought I was doing some good shooting.

I did really well with the AR as well. We didn’t through all that many round through the AR’s however.

Following the training at the gun range we went to the office on Mercer Island. I picked up my FOB to get into the building. No more knocking on the back door all the time. I am happy about that.

At the office we went over the tasers. It was the same training that I had at the SO and PPD. So there was nothing new. But I got to see Dearth and Matt both get tased. That was funny to watch. As it normally is fun to watch when it is not you.

More Hybrid Research

December 23rd, 2008

I went to a Dodge dealer in Kirkland to talk to them about getting a hybrid Durango. They don’t want to charge me a premium like Bellevue wants to charge. But we are trying to figure out a price that will work for me.

After I went to the Dodge dealership I headed out to Mercer Island for Marine Patrol. I was working the Christmas Cruise. It was a nice night overall. It wasn’t as crowded as it was last year. That is probably due to the weather. It was cold, but really calm.

Seeing Keith

November 9th, 2008

I just didn’t feel wonderful at all today. I got into work and started to help with the rig checks. But I was just a little blah. It caused me to move along ever so slowly. I was able to help out, but I just didn’t feel like I was worth a darn.

Once we were done with everything I still hadn’t eaten, but I didn’t have much of an appetite. I had some soup. Then I went to my room to lay down and watch some TV. I did that for most of the afternoon. I spent some of the time do photos for all the new reserves.

I got a page that someone was here to see me. I went walking out to the kitchen and it was Keith from the Marine Patrol. I had not seen him in months, maybe more than a year. He was impressed with my weight loss and commented that I was looking good. He was in town to talk to some of the criminal justice classes and he was going to talk to the reserves about the marine patrol as well.

I went back to bed and watched some more TV until dinner. I ate pretty well at dinner then back to bed after everything was cleaned up. But the problem was I was tired enough I missed some of the Sunday night shows I was hoping to watch.

Second Marine Patrol Duty of the Year

September 14th, 2008

I got to the station and got ready for marine patrol. I was working with the same guy as yesterday. I also spent most of the day on the boat with Dearth. It has been great working with him. He has taught me a lot over the weekend. We started by fueling the boats.

We cruised all over the lake working on stopping people and doing boat safety inspections. I also got to drive the boat around a little bit in one of the coves. I was practicing using only the engines to move the boat around. We were telling everyone in the area they couldn’t anchor in. So I drove from boat to boat so we could tell them.

I left from the marine patrol and came straight back here. It would have been a day that I would be working but I was on an Ollie day. We were dispatched to a call and a callback was done. I came in for the call back. Following that callback I was leaving when I got called back again right away. I ended up getting a couple hours of overtime this evening when I got back.

I Got Sprayed

September 13th, 2008

With very little sleep I needed to drive out to Mercer Island to work. I hit the road and cruised on over there. I was doing well on the time. I was worried about being tired, but it wasn’t that bad on the way there.

The first thing I had to do was jump into the water and get myself up on to each boat. There were three of them. The cop I was working with wanted me to do a cannonball. The first one was pretty bad. The second one went a lot better. The last one I made a big splash. He liked it. I was able to get myself on to the boat each time just fine.

I changed into my uniform and started the day. Dearth showed up and he walked through several things on the boats with me. It was nice to see him. He said that I am half the man I use to be. He said I am looking great. It was nice to see Dearth.

We spent most of the day working on different boats. We were going to do a boatside chat with the boat Dearth was on. The cop I was with told me to go to the bow of the boat and ask what side they wanted us on. All of a sudden I saw the master stream fire up. It was coming right at me. I was going to try to get away but it was too late. I got sprayed. They all thought it was funny. Dearth said I have been initiated. Then it was the cop I was with was in on it. It was all good.

Later on Dearth got on my boat and we all worked together. I learned a lot working with Dearth for the couple hours we were out there.

After dusk we started to stop boats left and right for navigation light problems. We left the water around eight. I got home and stayed up for a couple hours, finally going to bed around eleven at night.

One hour of sleep
jumping in the water
sprayed with master stream

SCBA Training

April 3rd, 2008

My day pretty much revolved around marine patrol training. We were going over the new SCBA’s that we will be using on the boats plus we covered several other items. It took about three hours total.

After that we went to dinner for Mom’s dinner. We had mexican food. I planned on leaving right away after the dinner to head back to Pullman.

The trip went along nicely. Without icy roads and snow I was able to move along around the speed limit the whole way.

Grandpa Patterson’s Funeral

February 15th, 2008

I started the day off at a swimming pool on Mercer Island. I had to do a swim test for the boat patrol. We started with a two-hundred-and-fifty yard swim, but they ended up having us swim five-hundred yards. That wasn’t that big of a deal because that is what I have been doing at the rec center. After the swim there was a thirty minute treading of water. When that was done we practiced some recovery swimming techniques. It lasted a total of two hours.

I got home and cleaned up for the funeral. We went to the Greenwood Cemetery for the funeral. We had the service. Jon and I were pallbearers. We went out to the gravesite for a graveside service as well. The VFW was there they did a gun salute for him. When that was done we all went back to our place for the wake.

Later in the evening Dave and I went to see Rambo. When it was over Dave and I sat in the parking lot for about an hour talking about my efforts to make life changing habits that will lead to a more healthy life for myself.

A Job Offer

January 11th, 2008

I lost some sleep last night over what E-mail I got from the marine patrol. I was angry over the whole thing. It feels like we are going to be tested on something, but we don’t know the standards. I am told that everyone should be able to do it, yet we were all given warning to prepare for it. So what is it, should we be able to do it without preparation? Should we have to do some workouts to get ready. All this was floating in my head.

That is when I decided that it shouldn’t be causing me any stress at all. I do that for the fun of it. Something to do to keep busy. I got to the point that if that is how he felt, I would just turn in my stuff. I don’t need a “fun” job cause me any kind of stress like that. So I finally felt good about the whole thing, because I put it in perspective. I got to the point where I was willing to just let it go. I got to the point where I am ready to walk away if that is what is needed. I am relaxed.

I got a call today from the CEO of the company that is buying mine. He said I should be getting an e-mail with an intent to offer me a position with the new company. There wasn’t a lot of questions that I had, that I wanted to ask at that juncture, but I have a lot of questions. I am not sure what this will mean to my work-from-home status. I don’t know about pay, benefits, stocks, etc. I am sort of excited to do some negotiations.

I made some rounds today, getting some stuff done that I needed to complete. Including getting the glass ordered for my picture frame. I got my checks dropped off at the bank. I exchanged the shirt Jon got for Lisa for a larger size. I also picked up some new windshield wipers for the truck.

Most of the day was pretty quiet. I spent a fair amount of it on the computer. I also responded on a couple daytime calls. I had planned on working on the frame, but without the glass I don’t want to make any cuts or holes until I know how the glass will fit into it.

A Difference of Opinion

January 10th, 2008

A while back I was sent an E-mail from the Sgt in charge of the marine patrol. The marine patrol techs were told that we needed to do a swim test coming up. We were told that we should start to get ready for it. This was some cause for concern as I wasn’t sure what it would include in the test. Normally you practice for a test to make sure you’re going to pass it.

I wanted to know what events would be needed, but I never really got a good response from the Sgt. So I started swimming and doing some stuff to get ready for the test. It had been scheduled last week. So I knew it was going to be in the middle of February. That meant that I was down to crunch time.

So I wanted to see how much more I needed to do in order to pass the test. I sent an E-mail to the Sgt. I really wish I hadn’t done that. He responded to it saying that he is concerned over my concern about the test. He went on to explain what is expected out of the MPA’s. I don’t know how you can expect someone to be at a certain level, then warn them to “get in shape” for the upcoming test and not tell them what the test is. Then when I ask about it, I become a concern. He wanted to meet with me again. I am not sure what he wants to meet about, but he asked when I was next coming to town.

It caused me some stress, but I responded to the E-mail. I re-read and changed it around until I only had about three lines in the E-mail back to him. I much told him I believe I can do the things required of me, that I wont fail. I also told him when I would be back there. That was a bummer for sure.

I was on duty for Pullman tonight. I went down early for rig checks. I got two of the guys’ SCBA quarterlies completed. We went down to Station One for the fire critiques from the Earthtone apartment fires. That took about two hours total.

I took two guys out to the bay there and got them through the SCBA Quarterlies.

Then we went back to Station Two. I had one more person to get through the SCBA Quarterlies. I got that knocked out. I spent some time with the new guy, Clark, to go over the response codes and when to show up and when not to show up.

Looking Back on the Last Year

January 1st, 2008

Jan Joining the CISD Team – I started the evening off going to Colfax for a CISD team meeting. They were looking for new members, so I thought I would see what it is about. Now it seems that I am on the team and they are looking at having a training class come in soon to get the new people trained.

Feb How Many Really Know? – When I got home I wrote back and forth with Matt and Monte about the call from yesterday. I told Matt that I was not offended and that he could not offend me. I asked both to keep the information secret. I also asked Monte how Tom knew about it. It was Tom who told Monte. Monte said he heard about it several years about and it was a non-issue to him. I was surprised to hear that Tom has known about it for three or four years. Monte said “remember it is a small world”.

Mar The Start of What was to Date my Best Softball Year – Then there was another play where I had to go hard to my right, more or less a dive and scoop a ball. When I came up with it I looked down at home where someone was running, but I did not think I would be able to make the play, so I held on it the ball. We were playing A Bunch of Old Guys, which use to be Don’t Care. We lost to them by three runs. It sucked.

Apr My First Shift Patrolling with the Marine Patrol – Then we went to the boat. We went through some things about the boat and then we were underway. We made a couple stops of people who were breaking the wake zones. I saw him do an inspection. Then on the next stop I did the inspection. We spent some time driving along the shore line of Medina, Hunts Point, and we were working our way to Yarrow Point.

May A Police Officers’ Funeral – At about 10:00 AM the procession started. It was long enough that as my vehicle was pulling into the parking of the Kibbie Dome the last cars were leaving Tidyman’s. Along the route people were standing on the sides of the streets and police officers on Motorcycles where blocking intersections. There were people who had their hand over their heart, American Flags, signs of support, and cub scout troops along the way.

Jun An Incredibly Fun Softball Tournament in Waitsburg – But we had an eight run lead going into the seventh inning. They were the home team because they were undefeated. In the bottom of the seventh all we had to do was to get three outs and go to the second game. But they started to hit the ball. I knew our team was hurting when after the inning the jumping back slaps that Kelly and some of the other would do turned into just back slaps. The jumping was over with. In my second to last at bat, there were two outs and I was on first base. My quads were sore and I did not want to run. But I brought up my positive mental attitude by thinking about the fact that I want this. That I had gone this far and I just have to do it.

Jul Final Men’s Game is a FFT – Tonight the records were supposed to fall, however, when the other team could not come up with enough players to fill the team, we would end up getting a FFT. That sucked because Michael B, Bill, and I were all up for records to be broken. I needed one walk to tie Skyler. That was my goal. I did not want to beat the record because it has been around for so long.

Aug Ryan Gamble Get Married – Once that was done we were back at the hotel, the time was counting down for the wedding to start. People started to file into the Davenport hotel. The wedding started and it lasted around thirty minutes total. I was the best man and stood next to Ryan. It was neat to see the whole thing.

Sept Bought a Lightly Used Truck – By this time in the day I realized that I did want to get the truck, but only if I got it for twenty-one-five. A while later the sales manager called back and said I could get it for twenty-one-seven, plus a full tank of fuel. I said I would do it.

Oct Introducing the Next Coroner of Whitman County? – Pete said he was happy to hear that I would like to do it. He said he plans on not running in twenty-twelve. So that would be when I would need to run. By then some of the other guys would be a lot more trained and may want to run as well. So I figured I would talk to Pete right away and have him start to groom me to be the next coroner.

Nov A Night of Arson’s in Pullman – On our arrival to the scene I could see a five inch across Spring Street. We parked in such a way to protect the hose. We walked up to the scene. While walking up the road a man asked us if the smoke coming from his garage was a normal amount. Because he was a neighbor of the fire, he figured some of the smoke was from the fire. But it was pouring out, and I could tell it was not from the other fire.

Dec Ankle Operation Part Two – I walked into a room with a table for me to lay on. I got up there and the anaesthesiologist started to prepare me to go under. Before I knew it I was asleep. Later I woke up not feeling well. I was being wheeled out to the recovery room. I heard one of the nurses talking to someone else, saying “you’ll have to break it to him.” I still don’t know what they meant by that.

It is always hard to put this list together. There was the day at the jail when I found out that Poff and Capt, as well as everyone else, has known about me for years. Or November when the boys made their first trip to Pullman to see Cougar Football and Basketball. There are many other examples. As usual. If I were to do this another day I am sure some of these choices would be different, but some of them would be the same for sure.

Most of today I responded on calls at the station. But most of the time no one was showing up to go with me. So I stood by on most of them. One of the calls Gecas showed up and we went on the call.

We also got a couple calls during the evening hours. I couldn’t find my pager. I looked around the house for it, I looked around the station, I checked my truck as well. I couldn’t find it. I am a little worried that I lost it on the call I went on with Gecas.

I worked on getting my E-mail inbox cleaned out. It took a while to go through all the messages. I really should go through everything again and reorganize it some more. But I am probably not going to.

Online Comments

December 23rd, 2007

I got an e-mail today from someone who was a professor of mine. I related a story about something that happened several year ago. However, he doesn’t remember it happening at all. So he got very upset about the comments that I made. I wasn’t trying to degrade him.

During the course of our e-mail exchanges I pointed out that I never referred to him as being homosexual, one of the charges he leveled at me. After he re-read what I wrote he saw that was the case. Then I also tried to talk to him about the other incident. He swears that it didn’t happen about gay marriage. That event in question took place about gun rights.

I asked him if he remembered the paper I wrote about gay marriage and the photos he found objectionable. He said he didn’t remember that. So not remember that, it is possible for him to not remember that we also had a discussion. I am not going to push the issue. He has threatened to sue me for slander. I have no idea what the level of his burden is to prove that it happened nor what my level of burden is to prove it didn’t happen. But I would think that it would be easier for him to prove that I harmed him. I don’t have a specific date that I can point to. No witnesses were present that I know of. So it is my word against his.

The bottom line it is that it was not a big deal to me, but others are seeming to make it into a big deal. Due to that, I just want it to go away. I meant no harm in the comments that have come from them. So I sent him an apology.

Maybe some time down the road when this is water under the bridge I can show him my paper and talk to him again. It may jog his memory. I just wish he would remember that event.

In other news I did the last Christmas Cruise of the year. We went to Lake Union. One stop was Gasworks Park. One more was just out of the Mountlake Cut. That was so packed with boats and the wind was blowing enough that no one was able to sit still. Boats were constantly moving about. The second show at Gasworks was much better as far as elbow room went. We really didn’t do a while bunch other than help clear the way for the ship as it moved about.

Christmas Cruise

December 21st, 2007

Tonight was the first time in a very long time I got to do something with the marine patrol. With summer over there is not a lot of stuff going on out there.

I got to work this morning after waking early. I knew I had the doctors appointment, plus marine patrol. With doing Shawn’s project I was going to have to get some stuff done while I was there incase I ran into some problems.

When I was in talking to Barb I told her what I want for Christmas is for Shawn to show up. He had been unreachable for more than two weeks. I went to the doctor. I was cleared to do stuff. I was given a prescription for Physical Therapy should I need it.

When I got back to work I saw Shawns rig there. I was so happy. The rest of the day was easy around the office. Did some meetings on some of the database stuff. Then it was off to Mercer Island.

We took the boat to Kirkland to meet up with the cruise ships. We helped them cruise to Bellevue. There were a lot of yacht’s that were following along. They all had decorations. It was pretty neat. It took about three hours total.

When we were done I went to Sharis in Fairwood to meet up with Dave. I haven’t seen him for quite some time. We talked about my job prospects. He talked about his work as well. It was great to see him.

Road Trip Cancelled

May 31st, 2007

I had thought about finding someone to cover my shift tomorrow on the boat patrol because I did not like the idea of going to bed late tonight and getting up early tomorrow to drive to Seattle and then work the boat all day. Then I finally got settled in with that idea and was okay with it. But a while later Keith called and said that the boat I was going on tomorrow was cancelled. With my trip cancelled I was a little more at ease.

We had a softball game tonight. I was two for three with two RBI and a double. I am working towards taking the record for doubles in a season. I am more than half was there. It is not like I look for hitting doubles. But I just do. On my double in this game, I saw the right-center and right fielder were playing in a little bit on me. I hit it over the right-center fielders’ head. When I strolled into second the shortstop for Bomb Squad was mad and looked at McCoy and asked why they played me in so far. The know I can hit it out there.

We went on to lose the game. I went to My Office with the team and we had some shots and I had my pitcher of pop. We went to Pullman Grill and Bar afterwards and played some Golden Tee Golf. Joe beat the rest for us. But it was pretty fun to play.

No Patrolling

April 30th, 2007

I stopped in at NU for a while before I had to go to Boat Patrol. I didn’t really have much to do, so everything was all good. I headed out and got to Mercer Island. I got my uniform on and then as it turned out I just sat around the office reviewing the County EMS Protocols and the book on safety rules and laws for the water. Keith had so much stuff to get done around the office that he was unable to get out and patrol. I spent about five hours going over all the book stuff.

Finally he said I could head home. When I got home I got some dinner. Then just mainly hung around the house. There was not much to do after that in the evening.

My First Marine Patrol Shift

April 29th, 2007

I was excited about working today and I was also nervous. I drove to Seattle. I then went to my mom’s house and got my uniform. Then it was off to Mercer Island.

I put on my uniform. I met up with the officer I was working with, John. We spent some time getting my duty belt put together. I got a new belt with cuffs, peperspray, and a glove pouch. I also got a new set of keys with additional keys.

We spent some time talking about what he expected out of me and what kinds of things I needed to do. He talked about what he likes to do and how he likes to patrol.

Then we went to the boat. We went through some things about the boat and then we were underway. We made a couple stops of people who were breaking the wake zones. I saw him do an inspection. Then on the next stop I did the inspection. We spent some time driving along the shore line of Medina, Hunts Point, and we were working our way to Yarrow Point.

Then we got called to a boat that was stuck in the water. We towed it back to Mercer Marina which is next to Newport Shores. We dropped off the guy. Then we went back to port and tied up. We drove to get some dinner. After dinner was done we were near the end of the shift so we went back to the boat and got it all secured.

We went back to the station. That was the end of the shift. We had some time to go fast in the water. That was fun. I can’t wait to do some more.

Firearms and OC Training

March 28th, 2007

The morning started when we went to the Renton Fish and Game Club for firearms training. We used the AR-Fifteen and the Glock Model Twenty-Two. We got a run down of how the guns works and got a chance to put a couple magazines through them both. It was good training. I was doing pretty well with the shooting.

When we were done we went to the PD and did some OC training. I only had to do a refresher course. I helped the one guy who had to get sprayed. He did not like it at all. He took a while to decontaminate.

When he was done I went to work at NU. There is not a lot going on right now because our product is getting ready to be shipped.

Poker with Langely

March 21st, 2007

Everything was going well until I got a message asking me if I had heard about what was going on with the ASP.NET applications. For some reason something was discovered and it was causing the GFE and all ASP.NET applications to stop working. That was bad. I spent a lot of time with Brian today trying to figure out what was happening and how to fix it. In fact I spent most of my day doing that. But I had to get to the fire station to do rig checks and get ready for being on shift.

I was at the station for a while. We were hanging out down there chatting about random things, like normal, until around eight o’clock pm. I was at home with Loren got a hold of me to invite me to come over and play some poker. Several other guys from the football team came over. They were not great players, it looks like they just played for the fun of it, but they threw around money. I ended up winning about twenty-five bucks on the night.

It was midnight when I got to Russell’s for our Wednesday night get together. I got dished up some chicken and rice. The tones went off for a call. I was able to eat the food and I was heading to the station. By the time we were done with that call I went back to Russells. This time I was there some time longer, but before I was able to really get relaxed we got toned out for something else. I was off to the races again, but it was getting near two in the morning, and by the time the call would be done it was going to be late. Top that with the problems with the stuff at work I told them I would not be able to make it back.

Got My Letter Finally

March 13th, 2007

I got the letter that shows my OC training was completed. I am going to send that off to Mercer Island so I don’t have to get sprayed with OC again.

I delivered the laptop computer to Poffenroth today as well. At Colfax Fire we had our Board and Business training.

I did some more research on the camera for the coroners office. I am hoping that we can get them. It is a Kodak camera with a twelve-x zoom.

Poker at a New Place

February 19th, 2007

With today being President’s Day I did not have to work. I started by making me way to Fife to get sized for my shirts for the Boat Patrol. Then it was off to Seattle for the shorts and pants. But when I got they were closed. I guess I will be going there tomorrow.

I got home and just hung out until dinner time. I was just waiting until it was time to head out for the poker game. I was playing with a bunch of people I have never played with before. After reading the house rules I realized that it was going to be a lower level of players. When I got there that is what I found.

I was about even for the whole night. Then on the final hand I was in a couple bucks and then I ended up going all in for another eight bucks. I won with a flush. I took down about thirty bucks from that pot and walked away up a little over ten bucks. Not a bad night for playing with new people.

A Year in Review

January 1st, 2007

JanI Have Problems with Vomit – I was dealing with the patient when the patient fell over and started to puke. I was doing well until about the third time puke came flowing. Then I started to dry heave hard core. My second one was so bad. I was facing a cop who jump and got out of the way because he thought I was going to puke. After having my dry heaves keep going, Chris got there and saw me. He asked if I was okay. At first he thought I had gotten hit or something. Shane told him what was going on. Chris said I should just go downstairs. My pride was hurt hardcore. I did not feel really bad, it just sucked going downstairs with people watching.

FebGrandma Dalen Died – After about thirty minutes of trying to sleep the pager went off for a call. But it was about seven in the morning so I decided not to go. I was way too tired. About fifteen minutes later I got a phone call from Mom. I had a feeling what it would be. I was correct. My grandma had died over-night. So now I had to figure out how to get to North Dakota.

MarMariners Spring Training – You can get really close seats at Spring Training. We got to see a lot of the Mariners players. It is a pretty neat experience. Everyone is very laid back. We were always sitting close to the field. Close enough to hear the umpires and players speak. Very strange in deed.

AprChampionship Game – We got to the South Fairway fields into for our game. Don’t Care is our opponent. They are a very good team who have not lost a game yet. We had to be on our A-game. We started off well. And early on had a small two-run lead. But as soon as we got it, they went to work, coupled with several errors, cost us eight-runs. So we were down by six. After that it is like the team gave up a little bit. We could not hit the ball and ended up losing the game. We are the number two team in the competitive league this year! So we are happy about that.

MayI Have Sleep Apnea – Dave and I left around midnight. We had chatted through out the day about the CPAP machine and his situation. He also has a CPAP machine. I got some distilled water for the humidifier. I went home and had it all set up.

JunTory and Brandt Died – I thought about Tory. He fit all the descriptors. He lived on Merman, he had past medical problems and he is about twenty-nine. So I got this sinking feeling in my gut…I met Brandt through Garrett a couple years ago out boating. I have written about him in my blog before. He loved to go balls to the wall on the tube. He was fun to have around boating. I have been trying to find out when he is coming back to the area to get him out boating again.

JulBecoming an Engineer – We went to the tower and pumped water for about an hour and a half. I took a hydrant. I flowed water and simulated the foam. I set up the relief valve and calculated friction loss and the whole works. I passed the test so now I am an engineer.

AugSold My Colfax House – I got a call today from my real estate agent. He said the paperwork is signed and I can start to move my stuff from the house. I have set the plans in motion with renting a new storage place that is larger. I also sent out an E-mail to a lot of people looking for help. I am willing to throw a kegger with a free-roll Texas Hold’em tournament for those who help.

SeptCrew Leader Anderson – I will forever remember the day I became crew leader. It is “the day.” September Eleventh. Five years after the terrorist attacks on America.

OctMercer Island Boat Patrol – While at work today I got an E-mail from Heston regarding employment on a Mercer Island boat patrol. I jokingly asked Heston if he would miss me this summer. He sent me contact information for the Sgt in charge of the boat patrol. I called him up and he wants me to meet with him when I got to Seattle next week.

NovBuying a House – Following the show Peter and I went to Moscow to get my boat. We took it to my place and put it into the garage. It fits in there. I was happy about that. Peter and I went around the house. He thought it was a nice looking place. I think over all I am going to be happy with it.

DecThirteen Deaths on the Roads – I got on scene of a truck that had rolled pinning the victim. I did my photos and investigation. Following that I went to the funeral home to complete the investigation. I also went to the coroners office to do my paperwork and print the photos. Pete showed up there and we went over the case and the photos.

This was pretty hard there were about four different things I wanted to post about in September, but I think the longest lasting is my promotion to Crew Leader at Pullman Fire. Over all one thing that has been big the final three and a half months is the high number of traffic fatalities in Whitman County. We were averaging about one death a week. I also had my chance to be the IC on a major call for Colfax Fire.

It has been an interesting year that has allowed me another job with Mercer Island. I also got a lot of experience with the coroner’s office on two suicide hangings and many car accidents as well as other deaths.

Today, to start off the new year Brian and I were on Rescue running some calls today. We started with three calls for the night. We broke the ought-seven ice for both EMS and fire calls. But they were all pretty minor calls.

Boat Patrol Training

December 26th, 2006

This morning we started out with boat training. We were working on the Jason’s Cradle and other items that we may need to use. Dearth, as well as a couple of the other new guys, a two cops, and two new Mercer Island firefighters were all there. The firefighters were ten-six-sevens. One of them had a brother at WSU. He had come over here for the Apple Cup.

The equipment was pretty cool. The Jason’s Cradle was really neat in its operation. It is used to get people out of the water, and you don’t have to get into the water to get them out. It doesn’t matter if they are conscious or not.

We were on the water for about three hours doing the training. When it was done I went back to the office. I was there getting the bugs fixed and completed. I was able to get one done that had been causing me troubles for a while. But when I got it fixed I was thinking about how easy it was. I just had to get on the right track.

Another Christmas Cruise

December 4th, 2006

The day was a short one at work but I did get some stuff accomplished. I also had the radio show. I was invited to lunch however and I went there while the show was on, so I only did the last hour of the show.

I went to Home Depot and picked up a power tool set that has a drill, sawzall, circular saw and other tools. I am excited about getting a chance to break it out and use it.

I got to Mercer Island and ready for the Christmas Cruise on time. I was a little worried about traffic at first. But it was not as bad as I thought it would be. We went over to Seattle and met up with the ship. This time I was able to be the guy driving the boat for most of the time out there. We also made a stop on a yacht that did not have running lights. The skipper did not know how to turn them on. I spent most of the time keeping my boat from hitting the yacht. At one point when we were leaving I thought I was going to hit it. But we didn’t.

Christmas Cruise

December 3rd, 2006

Today was the first Christmas Cruise and my first day doing real work. I got to Mercer Island around two-thirty and got ready to go to the boat. Our role was to make sure boats kept a distance from the cruise ship and to make a pathway for them once the concert was done at each location.

We first went over to Seattle and hung out there for a little bit waiting for the boat to get ready. I was working with Jeff and Dave. They were both very nice guys. Jeff went over a ton of stuff with me. I had some time to play around with my boat skills.

We made our way to Renton for the first concert. They are about twenty minutes long. People on the ships got to see the singers. Hundreds of people lined up on shore and listened in over the ships speakers. It was very loud. Following Renton we went on to Newcastle. I was driving for the second one after I saw what we were supposed to do.

I also ended up docking the boat in the darkness. I did a lot better than I thought I would. I was a little nervous but Jeff said I did a good job out there today and he was going to E-mail Keith and let him know I did well.

Indepth Boat Training

December 2nd, 2006

Today’s boat training was more indepth in the running of the boat. I had a chance to practice the maneuvering of the boat a lot more than the other day. There is a learning curve. It is going to take some time to get the hang of it.

We cruised around and Keith would quiz me on areas that I am in. At one point I was having a hard time remembering where some things where. Then he pointed to a house and asked who built it. I said Kenny G. He said you can’t remember were this is, you can’t remember where that is, but you can remember where Kenny G lives?!? Dan, the other guy on the boat started to laugh.

We were on the water for about four hours before calling it a day. The rest of the afternoon I spent at my mom’s house relaxing as much as I could and watching some TV. I thought about going to Fry’s because I do need to get another HD, but I failed in getting out of the house. I probably should have done that so I could use what is left of my store credit and get the HD.

Whoops! Chief’s Interview

November 29th, 2006

I got to Mercer Island around seven-forty this morning, but I had to wait to meet up with McDonough before we could get out on the boat. When I got back to his office I found out that I had to have a chief’s interview before I was officially hired on. I was a little nervous about that.

We went out to the boat and got going. He explained several things about the boat to me and how to drive it a little bit. I got a chance to drive it around for a little bit. It is bigger than my boat by eleven feet. I am a little nervous driving it. We went through a couple of the bays that we serve.

At around ten-thirty I had my chief’s interview. One thing about the Mercer Island chief is that he seems really young. I also had a high ranking captain or some other type of person in there. I think I did well on the interview. I went back to McDonoughs desk to wait for him. I was so nervous because it was taking a while for him to get back to me. But I found out he was also talking about other stuff with them. So I am now officially hired. We set up a couple more dates for me to do some boat patrol and training. I am going to work a couple events coming up as well as do some training on Saturday morning.

After that I went to work where I was until around six o’clock in the afternoon. I went home and got on my computer. It has been a long time since I spent a fair amount of time posting on the Shack. It was neat to post a whole bunch. That was about it for my day.

First Day on Marine Patrol

November 28th, 2006

It was seemingly a long road to get to this point. After all was said and done, I got up nice and early this morning and made the drive across the state, which had snow covering more than half of the roads. It was a longer drive than normal, where even roads without snow still had ice.

I got to Mercer Island around nine o’clock am. I was listening to the radio as I was getting closer. It was clear some snow fell and it crippled the area. Sure enough people are staying home from work and everything due to the snow.

Greg and I spent most of my time this morning going over the location of equipment. We did not really go over many of the details on usage. That took a while to get through everything. We also dealt with a guy who went speeding into the no-wake zone. We had him come over to the dock and we dealt with him. He got a ticket for expired registration tabs.

When I was done there I went to work and found only four people there. So I hung out for about two hours and then went home because I was so tired. My commute went quick. My quad still needs to go to the Honda dealer. I was going to see about doing that last night only to find that I could not get it out of the shop because of the truck parked in there.

I pretty much spent the rest of the night watching TV and going to bed early so I could get to work early as well tomorrow.

I was Hired!!!

November 13th, 2006

The PES today was great. Peter and I were on fire. We were talking about a lot of the big issues that have happened over the last week. We really fed off each other well and it was great.

Following the show Peter and I went to Moscow to get my boat. We took it to my place and put it into the garage. It fits in there. I was happy about that. Peter and I went around the house. He thought it was a nice looking place. I think over all I am going to be happy with it.

As I was dropping off Peter I got a call from the Sgt from Mercer Island. I was not sure how my polygraph came back. So I had been nervous all weekend. He asked if I had a few minutes to talk. I said that I would in a few minutes. I wanted Peter out of earshot when we talked in case I had to explain anything or whatever.

I went to the office and took care of some stuff online while I waited for the phone call. He called up and said the polygraph and my background came back good so I was being offered a position! I set up some times in late November and early December to do some training and even work a couple shifts. That is pretty neat.

I had fire training tonight with Pullman. We are doing more extrication training. That was taking place at the Deuce. Before the training I asked E. Dearth how his hiring process went with Mercer Island. They were interested in hiring him. It turned out they did hire him, so I will be working with him over there too. I don’t know why, but he is going to have forty hours of different kinds of training before he is going to be able to work, where all they are doing with me is some boat drive time and equipment familiarization. It could be my background that is moving me along faster. When the Sgt. heard I was a corrections officer and whatnot he was very excited about getting me hired.

So far I have not told anyone that I have been hired by Mercer Island. I think I will leave that unspoken. Not that I am trying to hide it or anything, it will just be a fun little thing that no one will know about.

Training went until nine o’clock in the evening. Then we had to fill some air bottles and get Rescue back in service with the things we used. By the time we were done it was after ten-thirty. I got some pizza from Pipeline and then went to Mike’s to play some poker.

I was going to play for about an hour and leave, but it turned out to be a couple hours before I left. It was nearly two in the morning went I finally got to sleep.

All the Marbles

November 9th, 2006

I went to my Polygraph appointment this afternoon. I was very nervous about doing so. I knew that I would now be telling the whole truth and KNOW that it is the truth, but being that it was so new, I did not BELIEVE it was the truth.

I went to his office which was way up North in Seattle. I sat in the office and started to fill out my first form. Then we went into a room and he started with questioning me about a ton of things, including drugs, misc crimes, etc. When it was all said and done I told him that I feel like I live a good life until I do something like that.

One thing he asked me was if there was anything I was worried about in the test. I told him briefly about the whole Michelle thing. We went into the exam room. He hooked me to the instrument and gave me some final instructions and then started with the questions. I was trying to keep a breathing rate that was constant and clam. But when he asked me the question about sex I was not able to keep the rhythm that I had going. After the first set of questions he said he was going to ask me the questions again this time in a different order. Then he asked me one about stealing as well as the sex one. He had not asked me all the questions then he deflated my BP cuff and that was it.

I was sort of confused and then he asked me what I was thinking about when I answered the question. I told him that I had answered everything honestly. He said that he was not asking that, he said “what were you THINKING about?” I drew a blank. Then he asked me about another question and I told him that I was worried about that question just as I told him in the pre-test interview.

He wished me luck and I left. I was worried about it all the way back to work. I went over what I was thinking when the theft question was asked. Finally I realized that the beginning of the question is worded the same as the sex one and that is what caused me to answer it weirdly.

I am very nervous about how this will all end up. The bad thing about me being nervous is that I was honest and truthful, yet I believe that I did not come across that way in the test.