Not the best week I’ve had……………………………………………………………

As always, first the chronology:

03/09/25 – Sunday – Up at 8AM. Cleaned up and over to put the bed cover on the truck. Picked up Kathy at the house and off to church. Over to Shelbyville and Cattleman’s for lunch. Home, loaded the truck and off to Richmond, KY and the Department of Criminal Justice Training Center for 4PM orientation. Finished orientation, got a little tour and our room assignments by 6:30PM. Got my stuff out of the truck and set up the room, showered then to bed.

03/10/25 – Monday – Had a heating/cooling unit in the room that started making noise around 12 or 12:30 and continued for about 20 minutes. Did it again around 3AM so we didn’t get much sleep. Up at 5:30AM, washed up and off to the firing range/amory to check in our weapons. Finished up there around 7AM. Grabbed a bite of breakfast then to class at 8AM. Class was brutal for the most part. Lectures all day. Had a break for lunch and got off at 4PM. Back to the room and did some cleanup after the HVAC guys left and to bed.

03/11/25 – Tuesday – Up at 6AM this morning, showered and off for some breakfast. To class by 8AM. Again, lectures all day. Had a break for lunch and didn’t get out till 4:30. Back to the room and Cheese and Peaunut butter crackers for dinner. Did some computer work then to bed.

03/12/25 – Wednesday – Up at 6AM, breakfast and off for the first day of firearms training. Had a break at 11AM for lunch and was back at 12:30. Finished up around 4PM. Back to the room and some rest. Then out with my roommate for some BBQ at a local place in Richmond.

03/13/25 – Thursday – Up at 6AM. Blew off breakfast this morning since we had a big dinner last night. Spent the morning at the range then lunch at 11AM. Back at 12:30 and started evolutions and was unable to stand from a kneeling position. Legs just would not do what I wanted. So I washed out. They gave my gun back and took me back to the campus to pick up my books. Then to the dorm to gather my things. Took the linen to the desk that I checked out and gave them my keys, etc and headed home. Got home a little after 3PM. Spent the rest of the day talking to the boss at work and getting things explained.

03/14/25 – Friday – Got settled down a little and made some decisions. Sent a message off to the PA at the pain and spine management folks to get a referral to Physical Therapy. Boss want’s me to continue to work so I agreed to some days next week. Otherwise just cleaned things up and put things away.

03/15/25 – Saturday – Up a little late this morning. Spent the morning chatting with Kathy and doing my Saturday morning routine with pill containers, etc. Had lunch then down to the shack and finished up fixing the flash light Kathy found in her car that was all corroded from the batteries leaking. Cleaned up the gun that I took to the Academy. Had dinner then usual evening routine.

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Now the particulars:

The biggest news for the week is my washing out of the Department of Criminal Justice Academy. I had practiced the bit about getting on my knees and standing up without losing control of my weapon but that was not all the story. The campus consists of several buildings. Three were interconnected but about 500 yards from one end to the other. Our dorm room was on the 3rd floor, the classroom was on the 2nd floor and the cafeteria we ate at was in the basement. So, a lot of walking I was not used to and a lot of walking up and down stairs. Then the firing range/armory was about 1/4 mile from our dorm in the opposite direction from the classroom and cafeteria. So, the result was a lot of walking including up and down stairs. Then it wasn’t just one time I had to get on my knees and get up, it was several evolutions. You had to do it several times in different scenarios so it consisted of about 20 or 30 times. I managed the first couple times both Wednesday and Thursday but by Thursday afternoon my leg muscles were so fatigued that I couldn’t do it. The result was getting washed out of the class.

I thought that would be the end of my employment with the agency but I was wrong about that. I sent a text immediately to my boss and apparently she called the Chief Deputy and he and the Sheriff called me wanting to know what happened. I explained the situation and they told me to hang on to my gear and I would not lose my job. They got back to me later and said they would try to get me into a class in June. You can work for one year without passing the academy before you lose your job. I told them I would reach out to some people and see if I could get in for a PT evaluation and see if they can do anything for me by the middle of June. It was very humbling with all the people in the agency supporting me and going out of their way to help me. Anyway, that’s the scoop on that.

Other than getting back home and settling down, that was about the extent of the week. I was fortunate to have gotten a class A room mate. He was prior military. Put in his 20 years and just retired about 4 years ago. He was a tremendous help and just an all out great individual to room with. We had some good laughs and talks.

Well that’s about it for this week. As always, hope this finds you safe and well. Stay that way and I’ll blog at you again next week.