I'm currently babysitting a signal 87, who'll be out on bond in a few hours. He's really well behaved, except he's no longer wearing his shirt, but rather using it as a pillow.
I'm not even sure I would even touch those blankets without a hazmat suit. Ick.
I'm so freaking tired atm, and the phone has rang pretty steadily throughout the night.
The drama around this place never fails to amuse the hell out of me, I'm just glad there aren't many women working here :)
We have one female officer and she and I have gotten to be pretty good friends. I think she's relieved to have a semi-competent full time dispatcher lol.
The guys might disagree with her though.. :)
I'm on the 8 hour downhill slide, hopefully the rest of the drunks stay quiet, but with basketball tourneys winding down, there's a crap load of traffic on the road.
It will be fun!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Ouch..
they didn't get the damn pig til this afternoon. I'm working back to back 12s, probably tomorrow too. Our 2nd shift dispatcher is sick, so we're splitting the day - I say splitting, I'm the only one who's worked 12s so far, but I'm not complaining, it's extra monies :)
You can tell I haven't been on the early shift in a while, I had to readjust to officers who run traffic. I did it again... lol except I'm like, "Clear, standby" or wait, he's running traffic not asking for a tag return. Shit.
I just sat there, he's used to me, thankfully.
I walk in tonight and the one officer who is really pretty much useless, starts mouthing off about other people finally working 12 hr shifts. I'm sitting there thinking, I'm not sure you even know what actually "working" a 12 even means.
I tell the guys everything about police work I learned from Law and Order and the like. Thank God for USA channel, lol I can keep up with all the good ones, like House, NCIS, Law and Order, and Burn Notice. The only one I miss watching is Bones, thats the only thing I miss about the 2nd shift, lol.
I'm eating a wonderfully healthy dinner of Lays Potato chips and Junior Mints. People should definitely combine the two.
It's never too early for drunks :)
You can tell I haven't been on the early shift in a while, I had to readjust to officers who run traffic. I did it again... lol except I'm like, "Clear, standby" or wait, he's running traffic not asking for a tag return. Shit.
I just sat there, he's used to me, thankfully.
I walk in tonight and the one officer who is really pretty much useless, starts mouthing off about other people finally working 12 hr shifts. I'm sitting there thinking, I'm not sure you even know what actually "working" a 12 even means.
I tell the guys everything about police work I learned from Law and Order and the like. Thank God for USA channel, lol I can keep up with all the good ones, like House, NCIS, Law and Order, and Burn Notice. The only one I miss watching is Bones, thats the only thing I miss about the 2nd shift, lol.
I'm eating a wonderfully healthy dinner of Lays Potato chips and Junior Mints. People should definitely combine the two.
It's never too early for drunks :)
4 calls
I just received the fourth call of my shift about the dead hog.. lol
The people in this town have a strange sense of humor. Apparently it's a joke..?
Crazieness
The people in this town have a strange sense of humor. Apparently it's a joke..?
Crazieness
I Love Google...
And Live Maps.. it makes finding people so handy. In a rural area, finding people depends very much so on their directions. "Go 2 miles West on Rattlesnake Road turn North onto Camelback and we're the third house on the East side of the road. There's a black truck in the drive" ... I've actually used the GPS on my phone to find a road.. shh don't tell anyone.
I'm Being Ignored :)
God, I love cops... lol. I'm currently being ignored, which is better than being harassed, I guess. Today has been an interesting day, both at work and abroad. I'm slightly jealous and partly relieved ... and the minute I start writing this, the phone starts ringing. Thanks.
Okay, but now it's fun, because of all the bullshit calls. The bouncer at the local bar advised there was a possible fight in the parking lot ... oh wait, they're just talking. A lady wanted to see if her daughters car was home... it was, she just didn't want to talk to her mom.
It's great.
The day shift had some excitement today, definitely tragic though and not something I would want to happen on my shift. A man barricaded himself in a house, set it on fire then proceeded to shoot himself. Sad situation all the way around.
Anyway, one of my favorite things to do has been done, now I'm just being ignored.
You know this job is hard, especially when you kinda like one of the guys you work with, then when things go quiet you wonder what you did to make them do that.
Beyond that, no personal relationships at work!!
I'm working a 12 tonight and I won't get off work til 11 tomorrow morning. Which is okay with me, I like overtime (just in small amounts).
I'm having some trouble staying awake for some reason, maybe because I picked up Sprite instead of my usual Pepsi.. no caffeine will do that to you... Maybe I'll be breaking out the Redbull sooner than I thought.
Okay, but now it's fun, because of all the bullshit calls. The bouncer at the local bar advised there was a possible fight in the parking lot ... oh wait, they're just talking. A lady wanted to see if her daughters car was home... it was, she just didn't want to talk to her mom.
It's great.
The day shift had some excitement today, definitely tragic though and not something I would want to happen on my shift. A man barricaded himself in a house, set it on fire then proceeded to shoot himself. Sad situation all the way around.
Anyway, one of my favorite things to do has been done, now I'm just being ignored.
You know this job is hard, especially when you kinda like one of the guys you work with, then when things go quiet you wonder what you did to make them do that.
Beyond that, no personal relationships at work!!
I'm working a 12 tonight and I won't get off work til 11 tomorrow morning. Which is okay with me, I like overtime (just in small amounts).
I'm having some trouble staying awake for some reason, maybe because I picked up Sprite instead of my usual Pepsi.. no caffeine will do that to you... Maybe I'll be breaking out the Redbull sooner than I thought.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Second
Obviously, I'm either bored or things have actually happened that warrant a second entry this morning.
Well, I fulfilled two of my three favorite things :) I actually got to wake up the EMT on call and tick off the cop on duty.
Don't get me wrong, sometimes I don't think I'm ever happy - I complain because it's slow and I complain because it's busy. Either way, I'm really okay with the situation. When it's slow, homework gets done and people get annoyed (by me).
In the last two days, I have written a three page paper over Plato and censorship, read all of my required reading, which included Plato's critique of democracy and Federalist #10.
However, I did something tonight I've never done before - called an officer by the wrong number.. oops.
I'm pretty good with keeping up with who is who, until the last two weeks. A lot of the day shift has been coming in at three or staying til three because of shortages on the graveyard shift. So, I'm dispatching officers I've never dispatched before, hence the mistake.
Sad thing is, I almost did it twice in one transmission.. lol
"Return 108... I mean 10... uh 6, yeah it was greeat!
I finally broke open the Redbull tonight, (I brought it wednesday when I only had two and a half hours of sleep). There are still many things which I wonder about, one of them being bathroom breaks. Yes, I know dispatchers don't get many of them, I average about one per night.. maybe.
We recently acquired in the office this nifty little handheld radio. However, whether I can operate it has yet to tested.. I've wondered about how to let them know I'm not going to be immediately with pen and paper for tag numbers... "Uh, such and such, I'm gonna be 10-6 on the handheld" ... Five minutes later "I'm back".
lol I don't tell them and they don't ask. Normally if there's an officer in the station I tell him I'm running away - their reply "Don't be gone too long".
Yeah, that's total excitement in a nutshell.
Well, I fulfilled two of my three favorite things :) I actually got to wake up the EMT on call and tick off the cop on duty.
Don't get me wrong, sometimes I don't think I'm ever happy - I complain because it's slow and I complain because it's busy. Either way, I'm really okay with the situation. When it's slow, homework gets done and people get annoyed (by me).
In the last two days, I have written a three page paper over Plato and censorship, read all of my required reading, which included Plato's critique of democracy and Federalist #10.
However, I did something tonight I've never done before - called an officer by the wrong number.. oops.
I'm pretty good with keeping up with who is who, until the last two weeks. A lot of the day shift has been coming in at three or staying til three because of shortages on the graveyard shift. So, I'm dispatching officers I've never dispatched before, hence the mistake.
Sad thing is, I almost did it twice in one transmission.. lol
"Return 108... I mean 10... uh 6, yeah it was greeat!
I finally broke open the Redbull tonight, (I brought it wednesday when I only had two and a half hours of sleep). There are still many things which I wonder about, one of them being bathroom breaks. Yes, I know dispatchers don't get many of them, I average about one per night.. maybe.
We recently acquired in the office this nifty little handheld radio. However, whether I can operate it has yet to tested.. I've wondered about how to let them know I'm not going to be immediately with pen and paper for tag numbers... "Uh, such and such, I'm gonna be 10-6 on the handheld" ... Five minutes later "I'm back".
lol I don't tell them and they don't ask. Normally if there's an officer in the station I tell him I'm running away - their reply "Don't be gone too long".
Yeah, that's total excitement in a nutshell.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The best thing about this job ...
Is I really can't decide. I really like pissing off people, by telling them that their complaint is completely asinine and trivial, I really enjoy waking first responders and fire fighters up in the middle of the night, and the highlight of my life ( be it ever so futile) is the pissing off of officers (one in particular) by doing welfare checks.
This consists of simply saying over the radio "Such and Such, 10-90?" to which they should always respond, "I'm 91, or Code 4" both of which mean they are good. One guy hates this, but it's my job, right? Far be it from me to slack on the job!
Right now I'm trying to figure out why someone called the City Hall nonemergency number to make a complaint/report and I'm watching hockey. I'm a Dallas Stars fan, and right now they are getting beat by Vancouver. Actually I think I know why he's pissy, I may have inadvertently hurt his feelings.
My boss feels the need to harass this officer and myself about having a 'thing'and I very succinctly told him that was crap tonight when I got here...unfortunately, this officer was standing right around the corner. Oops.
I went to Wal-Mart this morning after I got off work, it's kinda great to walk in and only have to dodge old people and employees. I'm waiting in line and there's a 'wonderful' specimen of a man standing at the bank line, whose jacket reads SECURITY in large letters.
I had to roll my eyes, this kid was probably all of 21-23, fu-manchu gotee, total cocky asshole. It made me laugh...
I have to get fingerprints done at some point, for training. I asked them this morning when I could do it, they told me to have one of the night guys do it. That's not exactly what I wanted to hear. You gotta understand, when you get fingerprinted, whoever is doing them is ALL up in your business. There's no such thing as personal space and it sucks. I have a few people who get that close in my space - the rest gotta back off. Now, there's one I wouldn't MIND doing them, lol, but that would just be odd. :)
So, I'm avoiding it at all costs until I'm forced to do them, which makes perfect sense, right?
This consists of simply saying over the radio "Such and Such, 10-90?" to which they should always respond, "I'm 91, or Code 4" both of which mean they are good. One guy hates this, but it's my job, right? Far be it from me to slack on the job!
Right now I'm trying to figure out why someone called the City Hall nonemergency number to make a complaint/report and I'm watching hockey. I'm a Dallas Stars fan, and right now they are getting beat by Vancouver. Actually I think I know why he's pissy, I may have inadvertently hurt his feelings.
My boss feels the need to harass this officer and myself about having a 'thing'and I very succinctly told him that was crap tonight when I got here...unfortunately, this officer was standing right around the corner. Oops.
I went to Wal-Mart this morning after I got off work, it's kinda great to walk in and only have to dodge old people and employees. I'm waiting in line and there's a 'wonderful' specimen of a man standing at the bank line, whose jacket reads SECURITY in large letters.
I had to roll my eyes, this kid was probably all of 21-23, fu-manchu gotee, total cocky asshole. It made me laugh...
I have to get fingerprints done at some point, for training. I asked them this morning when I could do it, they told me to have one of the night guys do it. That's not exactly what I wanted to hear. You gotta understand, when you get fingerprinted, whoever is doing them is ALL up in your business. There's no such thing as personal space and it sucks. I have a few people who get that close in my space - the rest gotta back off. Now, there's one I wouldn't MIND doing them, lol, but that would just be odd. :)
So, I'm avoiding it at all costs until I'm forced to do them, which makes perfect sense, right?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
It's Monday...
Or Wednesday, it all depends on what day of the week you go back to work, right? It's interesting, to call certain days of the week 'Friday' when in reality it's like - Thursday or something.
Good news, Dad's home from the hospital, no blockages revealed in the tests, so I'm very very very happy :)
Tonight will hopefully be a slow evening, we had enough excitement last week to last me till the end of the month. So, tonight is going to be a homework night - yay me. This paper is comparing Plato's ideas of morality in entertainment to the standards of today. I think there's gonna be a very large gap.
Had some storms come through earlier in the evening, I was afraid they would continue one into the morning. I was seriously praying the electricity would NOT go out, since this town has citizens who are not above calling 911 to inform me they have no electricity.
This office has about a half dozen lines not including the 911 lines, and every last freaking one will light up - and they all have the same complaint. It's hard to be sympathetic after the 80th call.
Sunday night was a little crazy, in the middle of a fire page out, my computer monitor died. Yeah d-i-e-d. I panicked just a teensy bit. Luckily, there was a computer in the pd that they didn't use, one of the officers brought it over and helped me pull the old one out and put the new one in. ( I say he helped, he did the whole damn thing).
Plato awaits, so no more facebooking or farmvilling :)
Good news, Dad's home from the hospital, no blockages revealed in the tests, so I'm very very very happy :)
Tonight will hopefully be a slow evening, we had enough excitement last week to last me till the end of the month. So, tonight is going to be a homework night - yay me. This paper is comparing Plato's ideas of morality in entertainment to the standards of today. I think there's gonna be a very large gap.
Had some storms come through earlier in the evening, I was afraid they would continue one into the morning. I was seriously praying the electricity would NOT go out, since this town has citizens who are not above calling 911 to inform me they have no electricity.
This office has about a half dozen lines not including the 911 lines, and every last freaking one will light up - and they all have the same complaint. It's hard to be sympathetic after the 80th call.
Sunday night was a little crazy, in the middle of a fire page out, my computer monitor died. Yeah d-i-e-d. I panicked just a teensy bit. Luckily, there was a computer in the pd that they didn't use, one of the officers brought it over and helped me pull the old one out and put the new one in. ( I say he helped, he did the whole damn thing).
Plato awaits, so no more facebooking or farmvilling :)
Monday, January 18, 2010
Introduction
Little or no introduction should be needed to understand the concept of this blog. Truthfully, little or no intelligence is required, either.
I've been here for over a month, a true rookie, definitely not sure what the hell is going on or what I'm doing, which is scary. However, I haven't cussed anyone out on the phone, I've been amazingly diplomatic, which surprised me. :)
I work the third shift, 11-7 and its amazingly weird and boring.
Something I've learned very quickly, especially this week, is the impact that personal issues can have on work performance.
Two days ago, the man I call dad was rush to the emergency room with textbook heart attack symptoms. Sure, he's been sick before, but it's never been life threatening. However impartial and disengaged you are, it's hard to be completely objective when this happens, namely due to that sneaky little bastard known as stress.
I guess I should clarify, this may be the first time I've been an emergency dispatcher, but stress isn't an unknown - promise. I'm also a fulltime college student. Finals are enough to push anyone over the edge.
I still have my moments, paging out a fire to a 'museum' which was in reality a motel - go figure. I'm a big fan of never saying the same thing twice on the radio and cleared traffic on nearly every officer before getting it right.
It's been an interesting experience for sure, hopefully one that will last.
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