Day 8 Fort Pickett

Only one more day till I get sprayed with OC , YEAAHHH!!! I can hardly wait! (til its OVER) Today we learned more striking and blocking techniques, some with a baton and some without. It was great training, but boy what a workout! I feel like I've been tumbling around in a cement mixer for two days! This is short today because I didn't get over here til much later than usual because I ended up hanging around the barracks and getting to know some people a little better. That was the best time I've spent hanging out with people since I got here! I will be back tomorrow to talk about the OC course. Wish me luck!

Day 7 Fort Pickett

Complete meltdown. OK I guess thats a little dramatic, I have had worse meltdowns but this one was pretty good.
Today started off good cuz we got to sleep in a little(6:30!), but after breakfast we jumped right in. We didn't do PT because the training we were doing today was very physical. In fact I'm sure I got more of a workout today than from anything else we've done so far! At least I know I did a lot more sweating! We learned some basic moves for taking people into custody who really don't want to go to jail. It was a lot of fun but very hard work. By the time the day was over I felt like I got hit by a Mack Truck! We learned how to put on handcuffs and use a police baton as well as some unarmed moves, so don't even try to mess with my chocolat cuz I WILL get it away from you!
Oh yeah, I did mention a little meltdown didn't I? Well after a very long exhausting day somebody just said something very minor that totally hurt my feelings. We were all standing around waiting to get on the bus to go back to our barracks and she was talking to somebody else and reffered to me as "she" like I wasn't standing right there next her. Not really a big deal but kind of annoying and it made me mad. I allowed myself to steam about it the whole bus ride so by the time we got back to the barracks (about a 10 minute ride) I was all worked up over nothing. I got overwhelmingly lonely and cried like a baby! I think I'm a lot more worried about the OC course than I'm willing to admit. The OC course is where we will be tested on all the training we learned today. We have to show that we can perform the takedowns on a person but we have to do it AFTER we get sprayed in the face with OC (pepper spray/mace)! Yeah I'm little nervous about that. We have another day of practice and then we do the course on Mon. I can hardly wait!!!!!!

day 6 Fort Pickett

PT this morning was AWESOME! We did about 30 minutes of stretching and called it a day. My muscles could not have happier! I have a severe case of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) from our muscular endurance session the other day. Don't get me wrong though its a good soreness. The kind that reminds me every time I move or adjust my position that I've done something good for my body. The key is to keep it up. Otherwise all this effort will be a big waste!
The rest of the day was just as low key. We had a couple of classes on more forms and then off to the computer lab to learn how to put all the info from the paper forms into the computer based program. Piece of cake! We got dissmissed for the day and it was only lunch time! Usually that's a great thing and I still think it was cool, only thing is there is absolutely NOTHING to do here. I went to the laundry and did a load of clothes. Not that I needed clean clothes mind you, I just needed something to do. I NEVER thought I'd see the day when I'd be doing laundry just to pass the time! I honestly thought I was doing good with how light I packed for the trip, but I tried too hard. I didn't bring any reading material, deck of cards, NOTHING! Its been really good for me though, I've had lots of time for self reflection. I really wish I had at least brought my Bible. I think this is the first I've left home without it. I bought a semi-broken macbook for almost nothing. It needed a battery pack wich Jess put in the mail for me yesterday. So when it gets here I'll be able to play around with it. I've heard they are pretty cool pc's so I'm looking forward to seeing what the seller had on it. She said there were lots of expensive programs on it but she only ever used it for homework. She also assured me that she didn't put passwords on anything.
Well at least the computer lab is open every day, so I'm going to go get my daily fix of Mafia Wars.
Tomorrow we start combatives training so that will be our PT as well. You know what that means? Yeah thats right I get to sleep in! All the way till 6:30!!!!!! WOO-HOOOO!!!! Yeah I know, you're all secretely jealous!

Day 5 Fort Pickett

Day 5 and it already feels like I've been here forever. That may sound kind of negative but actually its kind of a good thing. It sorta feels like home, and that's a pretty good way to look at since I have 25 more days to go. This mornings PT was great! The instructors set up a type of scavenger hunt for us. They put us in teams of 4 and gave us a map of the post with 5 points on it. each point had part of a phrase and the first team back to base with the entire phrase got a prize. I kinda felt sorry for my to be stuck with me cuz everyone knows by now that I'm the slowest runner in our class. They were great teammates though, encouraging me till the end and helping me stay motivated to push myself. We finished third out of 5 teams so I was pretty with that. Its been my goal ever since basic training to just not be last!
After PT it was back to the classroom. Today we learned all about the different forms we need to be familiar with. OH THE PAPERWORK!!! Who ever might think that police work is exciting and dangerous has probably never spent a day in the life of a Police Officer. Yes it is all those things but for every 20 minutes of excitement there are several hours worth of paperwork to document everything! For our home work tonight we were given a scenario with end result and all the info on suspects, witnesses, and complainants and have to complete all the paperwork from start to finish. WOO HOO! Its a five page report just to start with. Well I better get working on it. Oh but don't feel bad for me, its a group assignment. YEAAH! ok then see you tomorrow.

First days at Fort Pickett

Well here I am at Fort Pickett, Virginia, Military Police Academy. It was a long journey just to get here! First I had to leave home while Josh, Rita, and Jacob were still at my house. That was hard! Then I waited so long to leave that I had to drive much later than I wanted in order to keep on my time schedule. I finally made it to the halfway point about midnight and started looking for a room. I didn't have a reservation anywhere because I wanted to play it by ear and see how far I could get. That was my second mistake. (In hindsight, my first mistake was deciding to drive rather than fly in the first place.) Who knew that ALL the hotels would fill up just because it was Friday night? by the time I found a place with a room left, the only one they had was a deluxe jacuzzi sweet! Those of you who travel probably have some idea what those cost even at a Super8. The guys upstate are probably gonna get a good chuckle when I submit my travel voucher, I just hope they pay it! What a waste of a really nice room. I didn't even use the jacuzzi. That was ok tho, I got a good nights sleep so I could travel without worry to my destination. It was actually quite a nice drive thru the West Virginia mountains, I even stopped at a scenic viewpoint where you could see the entire valley! BEAUTIFUL! At some point I realized I was being a little too leisurely on my journey and was behind on my time schedule. I was starting to get a little anxious because I was having difficulty with my gps going thru the mountains. I did have maps with me so I knew I would find my way, I was just counting on Maggie (yes I named my gps cuz she talks to me) to get me there via the quickest route. Next thing I know I'm sitting on the side of the road getting a SPEEDING ticket!
Well thats enough complaining! I've been here 4 days now learning how to be Militery Police Officer. Today we started the day at 5:30am with muscle endurance training. It was much better than yesterday which was a 2 mile run. I haven't been running several months and it was quite obvious when after about a half mile at sprint speed I ended up on the side of the road puking my guts out! But back to today. We did riot control formations and stances which was pretty cool. The afternoon was spent in class learning Military Law. That was quite interesting but way too much info to absorb in one afternoon. Yesterday we did role playing to practice interviewing witnesses. That was cool. Tomorrow is cardio for PT again, I hope it goes better than yesterday.

Trying to understand selection

Why do non christians experience such deep void and despair? Are they "selected" and denying the call, searching but looking in the wrong direction? God draws the selected to Himself. He gives the desire to know Him. Does He not then give that desire for deeper meaning of life? If they are not selected why then are they created with such desires?

Just the beginning

Wow, I am really surprised and also a little intimidated by the thought of people actually reading my thoughts. I know thats kinda the whole point of it I just didn't think there would be anybody interested in actually reading it. So since your reading this now let me ask one thing of you: please keep in mind that what you read here will sometimes be a confusing jumble of thoughts that I am trying to sort out. Sometimes I need to reflect on thinga to figure out what I really believe or how I feel about something. Feelings and opinions change but I will always be me, and whatever I put on these pages is not the whole of who I am: but just a small glimpse. A wise person once said: " You try to process what little information you have about someone, and you think you know that person, but we are all deeper. And we are all bigger." Thanks for reading.