Earning my paycheck

Another full week here with administrative stuff, school work & the like. Then, yesterday got extended by several hours due to me getting a call for a large amount of Civil War ordnance recovered from a house. We get a decent amount here, due to the numerous battles in the region - and it always surprises me that most of the people have no idea it's still hazardous. For example - of the items I dealt with yesterday 90% of them were still filled with live explosives & had fuzes - meaning all it would have taken is some heat, a spark, or even a bit too much static electricity on the wrong day to set things off...

In other news, got a "jury duty pre-screening form" in the mail this week, as my name has been drawn in the pool. Given that block #2 on my form is "Occupation and employer" I predict I'll be hitting the "disqualified" list about .02 seconds after they open it.

Random weekend filler

- Took most of last week off for some time with the family before school starts again... ended up being "most" instead of "all" due to a campaign stop by a politician for which we had to do our normal pre-event screenings & standby. On the one hand, these visits are good for a chunk of overtime money every four years - on the other, I'm glad it's only every four years.

- One interesting thing has been the new County policy to bill the respective campaigns for the overtime costs etc. associated with these visits. It used to be something they just dealt with, but now both sides are getting sent the itemized "pay on receipt" letters. I agree with this, particularly given the level of things which get involved & how it impacts our other services.

- The wife & I took the kiddos camping to close out the week - not any kind of a backpacking trip, but still some time in the woods & having fun for them. Good time all around & glad the weather cooperated. I look forward to the day when they can help more though!

- Got a call from my boss's boss last night on a "mandatory social function" Monday night - it's one I don't mind actually, as a gentleman he knows who is very high up in some circles connected to my bomb work is coming to town for the day & wants to meet over beverages and chat about some opportunities. Helps him out, makes the department look good & helps me out down the road, so it should be a few hours well-spent.

- Another side project coming around involves some unpaid consultations I've been doing with a gear manufacturer and distributor who's based locally. So far I've been asked to give input on three projects they're developing or refining for certain specialized jobs, and then was able to submit two project ideas of my own that they're developing prototypes for. On the one hand, yes it would be great to get money & recognition for some of this stuff - BUT - on the more important hand, it's really a huge compliment to be asked for my opinions and ideas on stuff that is being used in real-world applications. Not that by any stretch I'm the world's expert or have all the ideas, but I've already had a few of those "Dang, why didn't we think of that?" moments in the discussions - and the word from the end users has been positive so far as well. Whether or not this leads to something more later, we will see.

That's it for now. My arthritis is acting up, so it's medication and schoolwork time...

Face palms

As mentioned, one of the recent draws on my time has been the fact I've returned to school - in hopefully my final progress towards my degree. Mostly doing it for post-police job opportunities, wherein many of my job offers have already said that a degree of some sort is required. All of my classes are online, with students from a variety of backgrounds and locations.

Which can be.... challenging. In the first place, quite honestly some of these people are not prepared for work at what I'd expect at a college level to say the very least. Leaving aside some generally poor writing and spelling skills, and a lack of ability to think critically or to express oneself - when a teacher has to say numerous times that "Internet speech, text lingo and other abbreviations are not appropriate for college work, and Wikipedia is not a source." it shows the general level many of these people are performing at. Add in the fact that a good chunk have very obviously had their educational backgrounds shortchanged along the way, and my wife is becoming very used to seeing me facepalm or rant at the computer while I am doing coursework at night.

But - I tell myself it's for a good cause, and it can only help me recognize the areas I can improve. Really, it's got to be true.

Death, not warmed over

I have been hit with a bug of something. Pray for my wife, as she is stuck dealing with the wee minions.

I'll be decomposing until further notice.

Never Forget

One year ago:

Our Fallen

NSWC

• Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Jonas B. Kelsall, 32, of Shreveport, La.
• Special Warfare Operator Master Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Louis J. Langlais, 44, of Santa Barbara, Calif.
• Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Thomas A. Ratzlaff, 34, of Green Forest, Ark.
• Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Senior Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Kraig M. Vickers 36, of Kokomo, Hawaii
• Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Brian R. Bill, 31, of Stamford, Conn.
• Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) John W. Faas, 31, of Minneapolis, Minn.
• Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Kevin A. Houston, 35, of West Hyannisport, Mass.
• Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Matthew D. Mason, 37, of Kansas City, Mo.
• Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Stephen M. Mills, 35, of Fort Worth.
• Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist/Diver) Nicholas H. Null, 30, of Washington, W.Va.
• Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Robert J. Reeves, 32, of Shreveport, La.
• Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Heath M. Robinson, 34, of Detroit.
• Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Darrik C. Benson, 28, of Angwin, Calif.
• Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Parachutist) Christopher G. Campbell, 36, of Jacksonville, N.C.
• Information Systems Technician Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Jared W. Day, 28, of Taylorsville, Utah.
• Master-at-Arms Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) John Douangdara, 26, of South Sioux City, Neb.
• Cryptologist Technician (Collection) Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) Michael J. Strange, 25, of Philadelphia.
• Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist) Jon T. Tumilson, 35, of Rockford, Iowa.
• Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Aaron C. Vaughn, 30, of Stuart, Fla.
• Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Jason R. Workman, 32, of Blanding, Utah.
• Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Jesse D. Pittman, 27, of Ukiah, Calif.
• Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 2nd Class (SEAL) Nicholas P. Spehar, 24, of Saint Paul, Minn.
• U.S. Navy SEAL Working Dog Bart

USAR/ARNG

• Chief Warrant Officer David R. Carter, 47, of Centennial, Colo. – Assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Aurora, Colo.;
• Chief Warrant Officer Bryan J. Nichols, 31, of Hays, Kan. – Assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan.;
• Sgt. Patrick D. Hamburger, 30, of Lincoln, Neb. – Assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Grand Island, Neb.;
• Sgt. Alexander J. Bennett, 24, of Tacoma, Wash. – Assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan.;
• Spc. Spencer C. Duncan, 21, of Olathe, Kan. – Assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan.

AFSOC

• Tech. Sgt. John W. Brown, 33, of Tallahassee, Fla. – Assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Pope Field, N.C.
• Staff Sgt. Andrew W. Harvell, 26, of Long Beach, Calif. - Assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Pope Field, N.C.
• Tech. Sgt. Daniel L. Zerbe, 28, of York, Pa. - Assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Pope Field, N.C.

Long live the brotherhood.

Split opinion

Spent the morning getting to roll-play the bad guy for a SWAT training scenario, which was fun. Got to enjoy giving a hard time to a few of our negotiators as things went on (all in good fun guys!), and wrapped things up with a nice handcuffing session... Who says this job has no benefits?

Then I went off to an "appointment to schedule a further appointment" at the local VA hospital. Which led to the dilemma of the day... During the pre-appointment interview with the nurse we started with the standard health screening questions, and then went into a series of questions regarding mental health, PTSD and such.

On the one hand, I think this is a good change - for far too long such things were ignored until it was too late, and there was a general stigma about even talking about this stuff. It's nice to see the VA system trying to address the problem, and hopefully it is reaching some of the men and women who need it.

On the other... listening to the way some of the questions were phrased, some of it just seems a bit too "canned checklist response puts you on a list" kind of thing. Not saying it in a tin-foil hat kind of way, but I can see how this system might over-diagnose such incidents the way far too many kids get the ADHD label these days.

Curious as to what everyone else thinks.

Does this thing still work?

Between school, work and a work trip - yes, I neglected this blog. One of those "I've been busy, I'll get to it soon - oh wait, where did the week go?" things.

Anyway, hope I still have some readers out there. See if I can get back to producing something and sharing my thoughts.