Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Phase 3 recap - Wrapping up FTO

Kev just picked his schedule for post-FTO and guess what? DAY SHIFTTTT.

Three months of day shift start sometime in January. He was right, looks like the senior officers selected the action packed night shifts first. Fine by Kev and I! The only bad part is that he will be working weekends, both Saturday and Sunday. He just bought his first Tahoe season pass with me this year too! He couldn't come with me when he was in the Academy last season because it wasn't worth the risk that he could possibly get injured and not be able to continue with training. So, I was pretty excited to improve his snowboarding skills this season. With my flexible time off though, we are hoping it shouldn't be a problem getting up there together.

Until then, we are still currently enjoying day shift for phase 3. He has been a little tired at night, but he is home! He wakes up at 2:30am and is usually home by around 6pm. We are in bed by 9:30pm. Kev is a morning person and I am a bit of a night owl, so I can be a little restless but I don't mind adjusting to his schedule. Forcing myself to get extra sleep has been pretty nice and I've felt better too, I've had a lot more energy at the office.

In summary, Kev has had mostly day shifts. We are still waiting to see what he is assigned for phase 4 which will start sometime in the next couple weeks. He hasn't been assigned swing shifts (12-10pm) yet. We have heard those can be tough because it can be a much later night if you catch a drunk driver at the end of your shift. Nights weren't bad other than the fact that our schedules made us miss each other entirely during the week and when he had to work weekends, he would be sleeping during the day when I was home. He did have more energy in the evenings when he was home with me though. With day shift, he is beat and ready for bed pretty early. It's almost humorous, you really can't win, you just have to go along for the ride. Take what you get and make the most of it. It keeps life interesting and makes you be creative. You also appreciate your time together more, even when there is a lot of it! Sometimes it can be exhausting, but it's good to know each shift is only temporary and you have a shot at a better schedule with the next phase. If they are all not ideal, well it can only get better.

Hopefully for those of you reading this has helped close the gap between the Academy, FTO period, and that first time your officer takes the car out on their own. I think I'll likely write up until that day and then wrap up this blog - that will be the whole first year of life entering the CHP. I remember as Kev inched closer to grad day I was so worried about FTO being just as bad as the academy. It is no where close, it's just a lot of constant change that takes time to adjust to. Road trips also consist of hitting every apex on a turn while pointing out to you why they would pull over almost everyone on the road. Enjoy ;)

- Mimi

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