Day 45/194

Wednesday, Week7!
We are halfway through the week! On Tuesday, I took a day off work to go snowboarding in Tahoe after that long weekend of snow fall. I drove up just for the day with a girlfriend, so it was a nice break in the week. I'm missing Kev so much this week though. The academy turned out to not be as bad as I expected though. I talk to Kev all the time and Friday's are starting to come fast! As much as I miss him, I am more comfortable with my own time again which really helps.

Wednesday started with a new kind of PT for Kev, the swimming pool! Instead of running after squats and pushups, the cadets changed into their swim outfits (black trunks for the guys, not sure about the ladies) and headed to the indoor pool. Kev said they lined up at the pool and one after another dove in, swam to the end, got out and walked back to the line. They did maybe 6-7 laps for about 20 minutes. Kev said he really enjoyed it because it was a nice change and was easier on his joints compared to running around on concrete. After laps, they lined up to jump from the tower. In the book, "Cadet Blues", Krider talks about how intimidating the tower was for some cadets. I asked Kev if he noticed the same with his class and he confirmed that a few guys were a little psyched out. We joked for a bit on the phone about what rock these guys have been living under before the academy. They want to live a "life of danger" but have never cliff jumped, skydived, or even jumped off a high dive! Anyhow, they lined up, climbed to the top of the tower, requested permission to jump so the officer could confirm the water was clear, and yelled "CHP" as they jumped off feet first.  Kev said it was a blast, I think he really liked his pool day! ;)

After the pool they changed and went to class, followed by PMA and handcuffing techniques. Kev seems to enjoy PMA. I swear he likes the academy more than he is supposed to! After PMA, Kev had his first mid-term. He thinks he did pretty well and we are eager to hear what grade he received!
Lastly, he had a report writing class. Kev said the point of the class is to instill attention to detail in you for incident report writing. He said to begin class, the officer walked into the classroom and began making a peanut butter sandwich. After he was through, he asked the class to write about what he did. Kev said some of the retreads had really detailed descriptions and others were too vague. The officers proved how important detail is by remaking sandwiches based on the description of some cadet's reports. Kev said some were so vague, that the officer stuck his hand in the peanut butter and spread it on the bread. Kev also said that out of all of the classroom instruction at the academy, he loved this way of teaching and really thought it drove their point home. He saw why attention to detail is important and how a report can be misunderstood if it is lacking detail.

In the life of the seniors, they are working on scenarios and are set to graduate in April, however they still do not have senior status! I wonder when/if they will ever be granted the status.

I can't wait until Kev is that close to graduation! Until then, one day at a time.

- Mimi