Oral Board Interview

Well, today I finally got off the couch and got out of the house. However, it was my oral boards that I had to get off the couch for. The pain from my surgery is pretty much gone. Now I’m just dealing with weakness and lightheadedness from doing nothing for 4 days. I tried to get out this morning and walk Samson since it was so nice. I made a loop around one apartment building before I had to come back in and rest. Then I got around for my oral boards. It was pretty stressful. I feel like I was pretty much prepared for all the questions they asked. In order to pass, I had to get 30 points out of a possible 65. I got a 52. The detective working my file said they were very impressed with me. She said I did a very good job. I have a few things to work on for my command staff interview. That one will be with the chief and probably deputy chief. She said they will be doing those between now and the first of June. I’ll keep you posted and let you know when that interview will be. That’s it for now. I will go back to work tomorrow. I have 2 weeks before I can start playing VB and working out again.

Surgery Update

Well, I had my surgery yesterday. I was back in surgery for about 40 minutes. They were able to find some spots of endometiosis. They also found a fibroid in my uterus. He said it was small. You can see from the attached picture. I guess everything else was normal. I am in some pain still, but am up and moving around. Andy has been real good about taking care of me. He also got up this morning and took Samson out for me. I have another hole in my belly button. I have one more hole lower, that just went thru my old scars. I have a new hole on the side of my abdomen next to my left hip. I was out of the surgery center pretty quick. I got there at noon and I went home around 5:00 p.m. So, here are some of the pictures that the Dr. took while he was in there. Viewer discretion is advised. =) You should be able to click on the picture to enlarge.

Ride-a-longs, surgery, oral boards...oh my!!

Well, the last few weeks for me have been pretty crazy. I am in the process of moving. Actually, I'll be out of my old apartment by tomorrow. I have moved in with Andy. He lived in the same apartment complex so I didn't move far. This last weekend I went on another ride-along. This time I rode out west with one of Andy's buddies from the academy. It was very interesting. I know that area so well since I grew up on the west side. It felt very comfortable. However, I did run into a few people I know. That may be the hardest thing about working out west. If I get thru the WPD academy, I think my first choice will be the west side substation. Not that what I want really matters. I think they may take it into consideration.

I have my surgery Wed. of this week. I scheduled it for a day that Andy has off so he will be around. His mom, who is a nurse, is also taking that day off for me. I'm sure everything will go OK. I'll keep you all posted.

I got a call today from the Det. at the Law Enforcement Training Center. We scheduled my Oral Board interview for Monday, April 14th at 2:45 p.m. Hopefully I won't still have to be too doped up. I am sure I'll be functioning fine by then. She said she really wanted to get me into this oral board because they are probably not going to be doing too many more before the July class, and she wanted to make sure I got in in time to be considered for the July class.

Polygraph

Today I had my polygraph. That was one of the most stressful things I have ever done. I don’t think it matters if you are the most honest person alive, it will still rattle you. I know I didn’t have anything to hide or lie about, but you start to psych yourself out. You think…well, what about this or that. I was sitting there with those things around my chest and I could just feel my heart thumping against them. My ears were buzzing. I can’t imagine how people can be calm when hooked up to that thing. I did pass. So, my next step is the Oral Boards….again. This will be with a panel of 3 commissioned officers and 1 civilian. It is a little different than the SO boards. They score you based on 9 categories. He rattled some off, but I don’t remember too many. Basically, everyone comes in ranked at a 5 in each category. As you answer questions, your score goes up or down based on your answers. He said I have to have a 5 in each category to pass. I will know as soon as it is over if I passed or not. The next step after passing oral boards is the command staff interview. That is the one I am dreading most. I tend to get a little nervous and intimidated around people of high authority. That interview will be with the Chief himself and a few other high ranking officers. The guy that did my polygraph today said that they are planning on having a big class in July. They are looking at 30-35 people. That is mainly because they are anticipating the creating of the new Central substation. This will add 93 new officers to the roster. I’ll let you know when they schedule my oral boards. It will probably be the week after my surgery.