Good Day - Getting Close!

I tried to make this title something like "T minus three and counting" but truth be told, I do not understand that expression. What is "T"? Time? Probably. Anyway, I gave up. :) Three days until my surgery!

This morning I had an acupuncture appointment bright and early. She gave me pins and needles in all the places to prepare me for surgery, along with some yummy smelling aromatherapy oils applied to my ears, palms and tummy. It was nice! I have an appointment to go back next Saturday, to get post-surgery healing treatment. Does it work? I think so! And it feels good to lay on a heated massage table and relax. :)

I volunteer for the police department, going out on domestic violence calls and providing assistance to the victims. I did that today - it was a good shift. We were called out to a couple locations and I think provided some help and comfort. It's a good thing, too, because I was a terror on the police radio today!

1. I would make the world's worst police officer. I am claustrophobic, and wearing all that gear would drive me i-n-s-a-n-e. Just wearing the belt and radio is enough to give me fits.

2. Plus, I have a terrible knack for pushing the buttons inappropriately. I have not pushed the orange "EMERGENCY" button in awhile (I have pushed it twice, though: well, once me when I was juggling too much stuff in my arms, and once when we were watching a two-year-old at the precinct until CPS came. I knelt in front of her, she saw that big orange button and pushed it in the blink of an eye!). Dispatch  does.not.like.it when you push that button.

3. I did not push the orange button today, but I did push the MIC button, which they don't dislike as much, but still don't like. That one is just for if you are ready to speak. If you are not ready to speak, why are you pushing the button?? Because you are bad, that's why!

4. I logged us in as the wrong team this morning. Then figured that out mid-day and had my partner (who was radio) call us by the correct team number. Which did not exist, because we were logged in as a different team. Sigh.

5. The woman and children we assisted in the afternoon did not have a safe place for us to sit and talk, so we drove her to McDonald's. And I had my partner radio, "We are transporting two to McDonald's at (intersection)." Then when we got to McDonald's "We have arrived with two at McDonald's." When we got back to the precinct, later, the cops were asking us how we enjoyed the trip to McD's. This was silly, but then when I called to log us out and the next team in (the ones whose team number I had used) I was told we were still logged onto a call (McDonald's) and could not be logged out. So yes, I should have had her radio a third time, "We are all done at McDonald's!" Sigh. And then there was the matter of logging in the next team when I had stolen their number, and you can't log out one team and log them back in immediately!

6. I confessed to the dispatcher that I had been feeding her lies and misinformation all day long, and I would strive to do better next time. ;)

It was a good day, we worked with several nice officers and the domestic violence victims seemed to benefit from our services. I coaxed my partner out of her shell: we had never worked together but did our initial training together in 2009. She has been coasting, letting whomever her partner is take the lead, rather than handle the interventions herself! This is easy to understand, but puts you in a bad situation if both you and your partner are inexperienced leading interventions. They can be pretty tense: going into people's homes right after a violent fight, helping with children who have witnessed all this, etc. So I urged her to lead both interventions and handle the radio all day. She was nervous and stressed but did it very well. I told her that once I had come to terms with my role - I am there to help as best as I can, but cannot change her situation, and cannot "fix" things for her, I was so much more comfortable and thus able to enjoy the work. At first, though, I put such pressure on myself to not forget to tell them anything, to "save" them in such a short visit, etc. I think that only comes with experience, because now I don't get nervous before the interventions and don't stress about it.

Now I'm home and should be getting ready for the surgery! My kids will be home tomorrow afternoon, I work on Monday and check into the hospital at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday. (Ex- is taking the kids back Monday night.) Going out with friends after work on Monday for my birthday. That will be interesting since I can't eat, haha. So this is really my small window of opportunity to get packed and get the house ready so it's clean when I come home. Undoubtedly, though, I'll spend the time kicked back on the couch watching TV. :) It's been a long day!