Physical Exam

Yesterday I had my physical exam for the WPD. It was pretty interesting. I had to pee in a cup….then is when they treat you like you are a criminal. The waters off, you can’t wash your hand; you have to watch them pore your pee from the big container to the little one. Then, with my unwashed pee hand, I had to initial the little pee container. It was super. Then, I got to work with a physical therapist. She did some ergonomic testing. First was a grip test. It showed that I was 100% ambidextrous. I pulled the same number on both hands. Then, there was this peg board. It had pins, spacers, and washers. In 1 min. I had to build as many Pin/washer/spacer/washer things that I could. I think I built 9. It helps to be ambidextrous cuz I can use both hands. Then there was some squatting to make sure my knees worked. Then she wanted me to bend over and touch as far as I could. Once I flopped down with my palms to the floor she said….I don’t see that too often. Then I had to do some various pulling movements. I know I passed all that stuff because she showed me where I fit on the WPD scale. That was the hardest part of the day. Next was blood work…I was starving so I was glad to get that done soon. I brought a bag of chips to eat. Then I had my hearing tested. She said I have great hearing even though thru the whole thing all I could hear was the ringing in my ear. Then, I had to do a lung capacity test….blow real hard and keep blowing until your eyes pop out and you have slobbered down your face. I saw a Dr. for about 5 min. He did the usual ear, nose, lung, heart, hammer to the knees, and spine test. Then they x-rayed my back. Three different x-rays. The first time they came back bad so they had to do them again. Then I did the treadmill test. They hooked up 10 electrodes to my chest to monitor my heart. They said I had to get my heart rate above 160 for 1 min. I knew that wasn’t going to be a problem. The treadmill started at a nice slow walk at a huge incline. Then it inclined some more and went a little faster. I never got to a run just a brisk walk at a steep incline. The test took 8 minutes to finish. I never broke a sweat or even breathed hard. That was it. I was in and out in 2 hours (they weren’t that busy). So, I assume I’ll get a call by the end of the week from Det. Giffin about the results….or I’ll call her.

Busy past few days

This weekend was pretty eventful. On Saturday, I played with Cherie on her family team at Watson Park. We played rec. We ended up doing pretty well. We played 3 different 3 team pools. So, basically we got 12 games in. They went off points to decide how everyone was seated for the tournament that was on Sunday. Our team ended up getting 13th with an 11-1 record. I guess there were a few undefeated teams and he said the difference between 7th and 15th were decimal points. Our team, however, decided not to show up on Sunday to finish out the tournament. Cherie and I decided to play sand doubles on Sunday. We always play together in the grass so we figured it would just be a matter of adjusting to the sand. We did pretty well. There were 5 teams and we all were in one pool. So we got to play everyone once. We ended up splitting with every team. So our record was 4-4. We ended up getting 4th. They decided that the 5th and 4th place teams would play a best 2 out of 3 match to see who goes on. After we lost the first game, we decided to give up for the day. Most of the teams that played on Sunday, didn't play 12 games the day before. We were wore out. Mom and dad came out and mom took some pictures.

Also, Saturday night a few of my friends decided to get together and go down to the fireworks. We fought the throngs of people and found us a nice little spot on the east bank. It was right in front of the speaker, which meant we definitely didn't miss any part of the music to the fireworks. Thanks BOB for blowing out my ear drums. We parked pretty far away so we didn't have to deal with any traffic. Here are a few pics from my cell phone. Not that great of quality, but I thought my blog needed to be spiced up with some pics.

Then this morning I had my psychological exam for the WPD. I was pretty wiped after this weekend, so getting up early to do this test really sucked. I had a bunch of stuff to write out...a biographical info sheet. Basically, the same stuff I've already told them. Then I had a 300+ True/False test. Then I had another 575+ question True/False test. All in that Iowa basic Skills test bubble answer sheet. I swear, if I get asked about the voices in my head one more time, I'm gonna go postal. =) Tomorrow morning I have my physical exam. Thankfully it is at 10:30 a.m. so I will have some time to sleep in. I am taking tomorrow off work too because I won't be able to even get 4 hours in with the physical scheduled the way it is. Hopefully I can use my afternoon to do something productive since I haven't been home much.

Command Staff Interview

I had my command staff interview today. I guess it went really well because they offered me a job. It is still contingent upon me passing the physical and psychological exams that I have scheduled for Monday and Tues of next week. Then I do my Cooper Run on June 12. This was definitely the most stressful thing I have ever done in my entire life. So, tomorrow I go in in the morning and get finger printed. Then Monday I have my psychological exam. They said it should take about 4 hours. Then Tues. I have my physical. That will take about 6 hours. Not sure what they are going to get out of me in 6 hours. Sounds like it should be a good time. The orientation is June 30. Then the class will start on July 7th.

Command Staff Update

Just an update, I have moved up my command staff interview to this Thurs. They had an opening and wanted to get me in. So, Thursday, on my birthday, I will have my meeting with the Chief. Hopefully doing it on my birthday will be lucky. Keep your fingers crossed.

First Weekend of RiverFest

I had a pretty eventful weekend. Friday night I went to a Tastefully Simple party at one of my friend’s house. Nothing better than going to a party just for the free food. Then Saturday, I ran in my first River Run for the River Festival. I started the race with Cherie, Rachel, and about five thousand other runners. After the first turn, I had to let Cherie and Rachel go on. I haven’t really done much since a few weeks before my surgery in April. So, needless to say, I was a bit out of shape. I finished the 2-mile race in about 23 minutes. Then, that afternoon, I went out to Goddard to watch Nathan’s baseball scrimmage. He only had 4 kids from his team actually show up, so everyone in the family got to play. Dad, Austin, and I all played outfield. Rebecca caught for a few innings while Nathan pitched. Willie played short stop and mom got to be the first base coach. I got one at bat. I swung real good at the first ball….that small ball is hard to transition to after years of softballs. I did get a hit, but it went straight to the pitcher and I got thrown out at first. However, I did advance a runner, so we will call it a sacrifice. We had a huge front come thru and we decided to end the game because of the dust bowl. Then we went back to Rebecca’s for our Mother’s Day BBQ. On Sunday, I had a volleyball double header. We went 3-0 in our first match and 0-3 in our second. I wasn’t really moving so well because my muscles were very sore from my run on Saturday.

May is always a very busy month for me. This week we are having dinner with Andy’s mom on Tues. for Mother’s Day. She had to work this last Sunday. Then on Thursday is my birthday, so we are having dinner with my parents and Andy’s mom and brother at my favorite restaurant, Sal’s. Then Saturday I was coerced into playing on my friend Cherie’s family team for coed sand volleyball. However, I made her play doubles with me on Sunday.

Command Staff Scheduled

Det. Giffin called today to schedule my command staff interview. It is scheduled for May 19th at 1:30 p.m. in the Chief's office on the 4th floor of the city building. It will be with the Chief, the deputy chief over training, the Captain over training, and the Lt. over training. After the command staff, if I pass, they will offer me a contingent job interview. I will know that day. She told me she didn't see any reason that I would not pass the command staff. The job offer will be contingent upon passing the physical, psychological testing, and the copper run (1-1/2 miles in 14 min). Once I get thru all of that I will be in the class in July. So, wish me luck.