Do you believe in something so strongly that you would die for it? Think about it for a second and look over your life. What do you believe in? How did you come to believe that? What makes you believe so strongly in that position?
Many of the early Christians took their beliefs to the grave. It's kind of crazy really...many of them never got to see Jesus or hear him speak. They only heard of him through the teachings of the Apostles. But so many people decided that Jesus really was the son of God, and that his teachings were worth living for, and dying for. There was a quote in a book called "Blue like Jazz" by Donald Miller that I really like. It goes to the effect of, "Dying for something is easy. Dying only takes a second and then it's over. Living for something is harder. Living for something takes giving your all to it, day in and day out." I agree with that statement, but I also think dying for something would be hard too. I'd like to think that if someone held a gun to my head and asked me if I'd take a bullet for Jesus, I'd say yes. But it's easy for me to say that in the comfort of my own living room, typing away with no one to bother me. Maybe I'll get the opportunity to die for Jesus one day. Until then, I'll spend my time living for him.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
VA Beach Was Sweeeeeet!
It was great to return to VA beach again for...yes, another race! However, this time it was not I who was running, but various friends of mine. And also, running in her first half-marathon, my wonderful girlfriend! She had been training for this for months...and this was the big weekend where we'd see if she'd cross the finish line in glorious victory, or be carried away in a broken, dehydrated, nauseous heap. Only time would tell...
Friday night, Jessie called me and asked if it was cool if I drive, because Lisa got sick and couldn't go. I had some reservations, because my car needed to go in for some maintenance, and I didn't want to put all the miles on it. But I figured it would make it ok, so I agreed. When I got to her house in the morning, Jessie decided that she wanted to drive too, just in case something happened to my car on the way. I agreed, and we headed down there. We actually made great time, getting down there in a little over 3 hours. Once we were there, we met up with Corie, Matt, Joneil and Carla. After seeing Corie's new place and talking for a bit, myself, Jessie and Kasia headed down to the convention center to pick up Jessie's race packet and to shop at the runner's expo. I love those expos...there is always all kinds of cool stuff; makes me wanna run more races just so I can buy the stuff!
After picking up the packet, we headed down to the beach to do some exploring. We also met up with Kasia's friend Erin and the four of us walked around the boardwalk, exploring the shops and the boardwalk area. It was a lot of fun; Erin was really cool and fun-loving.
Eventually, Kasia left with Erin to get ready for their dates later that evening. Jessie and I headed back to the apartment, and we met up with the rest of the group, including Elaine and Shannon. We hung at the apartment playing Spades, one of my favorite card games. I had to teach Jessie, Elaine and Shannon how to play, but they all did very well once we got going. We were all just hanging out, waiting for the big dinner we had planned for that night. It turned out to be really crazy. I thought it would just be our group and some other people from the VA Beach church, but it turned out to be a whole BUNCH of people from the VA Beach church...our group ended up being over 20 people! This translated into a monster wait for our tables. Jessie did not want to wait that long, because she didn't want to be up really late, what with the race early in the morning and all. So she, myself, Roxy and Dave went to Long Star Steakhouse to eat. There was a much shorter wait there, and we got our food rather quickly and ate and had a great time. After we finished, they dropped off myself and Jessie at Corie's place, and Jessie crashed and I picked up my car to go to the household where I would be crashing for the night. I stayed with Kevin Roland and some other brothers from the VA Beach church. They had a nice place, and Joneil and Matt joined me a few minutes after I arrived. We all crashed and got ready for the race tomorrow.
We got up early (around 5am) and got ready to head out. Joneil was running the race, as well as some of the other guys who lived in the house. We packed up and headed down to the boardwalk. After an adventure of trying to find parking, we found some spots and headed to the starting line. It was great to see all the people out there ready to run, even though it was pretty cold and windy outside. There must have been thousands of people there. Some were dressed in really cool costumes...races always draw people in great costumes! Since it was St. Patrick's day weekend, I'm sure you can guess what lots of people were wearing. The race started on time, and myself and Matt saw everybody off. Then we went on a quest to find a clean bathroom to use. We wern't trying to use the port-a-pots, and all the hotel bathrooms were NASTY. Finally, we broke down and used the pots. Then we went out on the beach and prayed. I tell ya, even in cold weather, the beach is beautiful. So peaceful and tranquil. It would be sweet to own a beach house someday. Even to rent one for the summer would be sweet.
A little over two hours later, Jessie and Corie finished the race. By then, Joneil had finished and he, myself, Matt, Kasia, Carla, Elaine, Kasia and Erin had gathered to cheer them on to the finish. I was so proud of Jessie...she finished the race with no problems and made a really good time (a little over two hours I think). After the race, Jessie met up with a couple of her college roommates who had come down to watch her run, and myself and everyone else went to the VA Beach church for service. After service, it was time for the celabratory post-race meal. We had it at Fuddruckers. Mmmm mmmm good!
After Fuddruckers, it was back to Corie's place for a nap. A few of us had to rest up for that long drive back. Overall, it was a fantastic weekend. I had a great time, and I hope my race (yikes!) in Charlottsville will be as fun!
Friday night, Jessie called me and asked if it was cool if I drive, because Lisa got sick and couldn't go. I had some reservations, because my car needed to go in for some maintenance, and I didn't want to put all the miles on it. But I figured it would make it ok, so I agreed. When I got to her house in the morning, Jessie decided that she wanted to drive too, just in case something happened to my car on the way. I agreed, and we headed down there. We actually made great time, getting down there in a little over 3 hours. Once we were there, we met up with Corie, Matt, Joneil and Carla. After seeing Corie's new place and talking for a bit, myself, Jessie and Kasia headed down to the convention center to pick up Jessie's race packet and to shop at the runner's expo. I love those expos...there is always all kinds of cool stuff; makes me wanna run more races just so I can buy the stuff!
After picking up the packet, we headed down to the beach to do some exploring. We also met up with Kasia's friend Erin and the four of us walked around the boardwalk, exploring the shops and the boardwalk area. It was a lot of fun; Erin was really cool and fun-loving.
Eventually, Kasia left with Erin to get ready for their dates later that evening. Jessie and I headed back to the apartment, and we met up with the rest of the group, including Elaine and Shannon. We hung at the apartment playing Spades, one of my favorite card games. I had to teach Jessie, Elaine and Shannon how to play, but they all did very well once we got going. We were all just hanging out, waiting for the big dinner we had planned for that night. It turned out to be really crazy. I thought it would just be our group and some other people from the VA Beach church, but it turned out to be a whole BUNCH of people from the VA Beach church...our group ended up being over 20 people! This translated into a monster wait for our tables. Jessie did not want to wait that long, because she didn't want to be up really late, what with the race early in the morning and all. So she, myself, Roxy and Dave went to Long Star Steakhouse to eat. There was a much shorter wait there, and we got our food rather quickly and ate and had a great time. After we finished, they dropped off myself and Jessie at Corie's place, and Jessie crashed and I picked up my car to go to the household where I would be crashing for the night. I stayed with Kevin Roland and some other brothers from the VA Beach church. They had a nice place, and Joneil and Matt joined me a few minutes after I arrived. We all crashed and got ready for the race tomorrow.
We got up early (around 5am) and got ready to head out. Joneil was running the race, as well as some of the other guys who lived in the house. We packed up and headed down to the boardwalk. After an adventure of trying to find parking, we found some spots and headed to the starting line. It was great to see all the people out there ready to run, even though it was pretty cold and windy outside. There must have been thousands of people there. Some were dressed in really cool costumes...races always draw people in great costumes! Since it was St. Patrick's day weekend, I'm sure you can guess what lots of people were wearing. The race started on time, and myself and Matt saw everybody off. Then we went on a quest to find a clean bathroom to use. We wern't trying to use the port-a-pots, and all the hotel bathrooms were NASTY. Finally, we broke down and used the pots. Then we went out on the beach and prayed. I tell ya, even in cold weather, the beach is beautiful. So peaceful and tranquil. It would be sweet to own a beach house someday. Even to rent one for the summer would be sweet.
A little over two hours later, Jessie and Corie finished the race. By then, Joneil had finished and he, myself, Matt, Kasia, Carla, Elaine, Kasia and Erin had gathered to cheer them on to the finish. I was so proud of Jessie...she finished the race with no problems and made a really good time (a little over two hours I think). After the race, Jessie met up with a couple of her college roommates who had come down to watch her run, and myself and everyone else went to the VA Beach church for service. After service, it was time for the celabratory post-race meal. We had it at Fuddruckers. Mmmm mmmm good!
After Fuddruckers, it was back to Corie's place for a nap. A few of us had to rest up for that long drive back. Overall, it was a fantastic weekend. I had a great time, and I hope my race (yikes!) in Charlottsville will be as fun!
Friday, March 17, 2006
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Why my volunteer FD is so much cooler than my work FD
So since my probationary tests are done, and I'm pretty much done with probation, it's time to start going back to my volunteer fire house! I went over there today to try and get myself back in the flow of volunteering. I found out that they've revoked my membership there, since I haven't showed up in such a long time. But I'm sure I can get that worked out. Anyway, I got there and saw Emery (he's still the same) and some of the career guys that I knew from before. It was a cool little reunion.
I had planned on riding the ambulance with some of the guys I was more familiar with if they were there, but there was a new career guy on the ambulance along with another career guy that I knew but not that well. So I hopped on the engine (the engine is more fun anyway. ;) ). We went to an apartment/condo complex on Metzerott road to do a building inspection. I think they inspect that building once a year, and I just happened to be there last year when they did the inspection. Coincidence??? Probably.
After getting back to the station, we got a call for one of the dorms at the University of Maryland. It was to investigate an odor of smoke in one of the elevator rooms. The fire alarm had gone off in the dorm and all of the students were outside. I remember being a student and having to evacuate several times when the fire alarm went off. It was pretty sweet to be on the other side of the situation today. We got there, took the elevator to the 8th floor and went up to the elevator room. Sure enough, one of the elevator motors was smoking a bit, but that was about it. No fire or immediate danger. The elevator repair guys came and took over, so our job was over.
Later, we went out to get some lunch and Popeyes. While we were there, we got a call for someone who had stumbled into our fire station after being stabbed. We raced back to the station and found the guy lying there, being attended to by a medic unit, the county police and a few guys who had stayed behind at the station. The guy had a HUGE open wound on his upper right arm...you could see into his arm, all the way down to the bone. He was obviously in pain and screaming that he couldn't breath. He also had a stab wound on his right side, near his stomach. We got him on the cot and into the medic unit. The captain told Emery to go down to MedStar hospital in DC where they were taking him, so he could pick up our career guys who were riding along in the medic unit. Emery wasn't technically allowed to do that, but hey, in some emergency situations, you gotta do what you gotta do. I rode along with him and helped navigate. It was great!
We got to the hospital and I went in to let the career guys know we were here. When I got there, I couldn't believe what I saw. The doctors had the guy spread out on an operating table. Apparently, he had stopped breathing when they got him on the table, so one doctor opened up a hole in the side of his chest and was massaging his heart, trying to get blood to pump. They also intubated him and were basically breathing for him. The hole in his chest was huge and I could see the guy's heart and lungs moving! I don't think I would see this kind of thing in Glen Echo if I was there for 10 years. However, that's just your typical day down in good ol' Langley Park.
We picked up the career guys and headed back to the station. Man, I can't wait to get back in the swing of things there!
On a different note, two of my picks in the NCAA men's basketball tournament are already out. It's so hard to pick winners in this thing; literally everyone has a shot!! Hopefully GW will go all the way...I have a feeling this is their year!
I had planned on riding the ambulance with some of the guys I was more familiar with if they were there, but there was a new career guy on the ambulance along with another career guy that I knew but not that well. So I hopped on the engine (the engine is more fun anyway. ;) ). We went to an apartment/condo complex on Metzerott road to do a building inspection. I think they inspect that building once a year, and I just happened to be there last year when they did the inspection. Coincidence??? Probably.
After getting back to the station, we got a call for one of the dorms at the University of Maryland. It was to investigate an odor of smoke in one of the elevator rooms. The fire alarm had gone off in the dorm and all of the students were outside. I remember being a student and having to evacuate several times when the fire alarm went off. It was pretty sweet to be on the other side of the situation today. We got there, took the elevator to the 8th floor and went up to the elevator room. Sure enough, one of the elevator motors was smoking a bit, but that was about it. No fire or immediate danger. The elevator repair guys came and took over, so our job was over.
Later, we went out to get some lunch and Popeyes. While we were there, we got a call for someone who had stumbled into our fire station after being stabbed. We raced back to the station and found the guy lying there, being attended to by a medic unit, the county police and a few guys who had stayed behind at the station. The guy had a HUGE open wound on his upper right arm...you could see into his arm, all the way down to the bone. He was obviously in pain and screaming that he couldn't breath. He also had a stab wound on his right side, near his stomach. We got him on the cot and into the medic unit. The captain told Emery to go down to MedStar hospital in DC where they were taking him, so he could pick up our career guys who were riding along in the medic unit. Emery wasn't technically allowed to do that, but hey, in some emergency situations, you gotta do what you gotta do. I rode along with him and helped navigate. It was great!
We got to the hospital and I went in to let the career guys know we were here. When I got there, I couldn't believe what I saw. The doctors had the guy spread out on an operating table. Apparently, he had stopped breathing when they got him on the table, so one doctor opened up a hole in the side of his chest and was massaging his heart, trying to get blood to pump. They also intubated him and were basically breathing for him. The hole in his chest was huge and I could see the guy's heart and lungs moving! I don't think I would see this kind of thing in Glen Echo if I was there for 10 years. However, that's just your typical day down in good ol' Langley Park.
We picked up the career guys and headed back to the station. Man, I can't wait to get back in the swing of things there!
On a different note, two of my picks in the NCAA men's basketball tournament are already out. It's so hard to pick winners in this thing; literally everyone has a shot!! Hopefully GW will go all the way...I have a feeling this is their year!
Probation Testing, Part Deux
Below is the journal entry I wrote for my probationary packet. It pretty much explains everything I did today. I figured, why type the whole thing twice?
0700-1200
- Line up as usual at 0700. The ambulance got a call early in the morning, before 0600, but it was back in time for line up. Jake took the call in.
- After line up, we had another drill on the pump panel and hose line flow pressures. We went over the lines on E112 because E111 was taken in to the radio shop to get the MDC fixed. We reviewed all of the flow pressures for each line on E112 except the trash line.
- After the drill, we did our apparatus checks. It was time for the weekly checks on the utility vehicles, so Jake and I took care of that.
- I didn’t PT today because I was scheduled to go up to the academy today for the second part of my probationary testing. We left our station at approx. 1145. We went to station 10 to pick up some shoes for a firefighter that was already at the academy, then headed up there.
1200-2400
- We got up there close to 1230 and the first thing I did, along with three other of my classmates, was don our SCBAs in 60 seconds or less. We all did that fine. Then we went up to the hill to do the rest of our fire evolutions.
- The first thing I did was pull a line off the engine and advance to the back door of the burn building and get ready to enter an IDLH. I finished that with no real problems. I just had to watch for kinks in my hose and not check for a seal in my facepiece with the wristlets still on my hands.
- The next event was taking the standpipe pack to the top floor of the burn building in 90 seconds or less. I did it in about 55 seconds; no problem. I was breathing pretty hard at the end though.
- After that, myself and the captain raised a 24-foot ladder using the beam raise. No problem with that either.
- After the ladder evolution, we came back inside the academy, dropped our gear and prepared to do the EMS portion of the test. The first scenario for me was treating a patient with an Albuterol inhaler. No problems there. Second scenario was treating a patient with an Epi-Pen auto injector. No problem there. Then it got interesting…
- Third scenario was treating a patient with a broken femur. That required me putting on the Hare Traction Splint. I thought all was well when I put it on, but Capt. Pegler pointed out to me that I needed to apply the ishial strap BEFORE I tightened the ankle portion (it would make a lot more sense if you saw the device). So he allowed me to try again, and this time I did it right.
- Finally, I treated a patient with chest pains who took Nitroglyceran pills. I was doing fine until I gave him the pills. I forgot to check his blood pressure and pulse! So he slumped to the ground and turned into a working code. I started CPR on the CPR dummy and applied the practice AED. I couldn’t figure out why the AED wasn’t registering, until I saw that the pads weren’t connected to the device. After fixing that, everything went fine. My instructor was kind enough not to fail me because she saw that I knew I made that mistake and actually knew what I should have done. So fortunately, I passed everything!
- We came back to the station after picking up E111 from the shop. In the middle of dinner, the engine got a call for fuel leaking from a car. We got there, put some absorbent on the fuel leak, and left. Turned out an elderly lady had backed her car into a tree and smashed it up pretty bad. The back of the car looked like a wrecking ball hit it.
- We got back to the station and did our housework. I can’t believe probation is pretty much over! The time truly has flown by.
0700-1200
- Line up as usual at 0700. The ambulance got a call early in the morning, before 0600, but it was back in time for line up. Jake took the call in.
- After line up, we had another drill on the pump panel and hose line flow pressures. We went over the lines on E112 because E111 was taken in to the radio shop to get the MDC fixed. We reviewed all of the flow pressures for each line on E112 except the trash line.
- After the drill, we did our apparatus checks. It was time for the weekly checks on the utility vehicles, so Jake and I took care of that.
- I didn’t PT today because I was scheduled to go up to the academy today for the second part of my probationary testing. We left our station at approx. 1145. We went to station 10 to pick up some shoes for a firefighter that was already at the academy, then headed up there.
1200-2400
- We got up there close to 1230 and the first thing I did, along with three other of my classmates, was don our SCBAs in 60 seconds or less. We all did that fine. Then we went up to the hill to do the rest of our fire evolutions.
- The first thing I did was pull a line off the engine and advance to the back door of the burn building and get ready to enter an IDLH. I finished that with no real problems. I just had to watch for kinks in my hose and not check for a seal in my facepiece with the wristlets still on my hands.
- The next event was taking the standpipe pack to the top floor of the burn building in 90 seconds or less. I did it in about 55 seconds; no problem. I was breathing pretty hard at the end though.
- After that, myself and the captain raised a 24-foot ladder using the beam raise. No problem with that either.
- After the ladder evolution, we came back inside the academy, dropped our gear and prepared to do the EMS portion of the test. The first scenario for me was treating a patient with an Albuterol inhaler. No problems there. Second scenario was treating a patient with an Epi-Pen auto injector. No problem there. Then it got interesting…
- Third scenario was treating a patient with a broken femur. That required me putting on the Hare Traction Splint. I thought all was well when I put it on, but Capt. Pegler pointed out to me that I needed to apply the ishial strap BEFORE I tightened the ankle portion (it would make a lot more sense if you saw the device). So he allowed me to try again, and this time I did it right.
- Finally, I treated a patient with chest pains who took Nitroglyceran pills. I was doing fine until I gave him the pills. I forgot to check his blood pressure and pulse! So he slumped to the ground and turned into a working code. I started CPR on the CPR dummy and applied the practice AED. I couldn’t figure out why the AED wasn’t registering, until I saw that the pads weren’t connected to the device. After fixing that, everything went fine. My instructor was kind enough not to fail me because she saw that I knew I made that mistake and actually knew what I should have done. So fortunately, I passed everything!
- We came back to the station after picking up E111 from the shop. In the middle of dinner, the engine got a call for fuel leaking from a car. We got there, put some absorbent on the fuel leak, and left. Turned out an elderly lady had backed her car into a tree and smashed it up pretty bad. The back of the car looked like a wrecking ball hit it.
- We got back to the station and did our housework. I can’t believe probation is pretty much over! The time truly has flown by.
Monday, March 13, 2006
First Day of Probation Testing
So today was the first day of our probationary testing. Obviously, it's been several months since recruit school ended, and we've all been out in the field, working at our various stations since. I've been at station 11 (Glen Echo), which is in a part of Bethesda. It's a fairly suburban area, with lots of rich people with HUGE houses. There are also lots of old people; we have one nursing home in our first due and several apartments that are in our ambulance first due, but not our engine first due (TRANSLATION: If a fire breaks out in those apartments, my station is not the first engine that's supposed to get there. However, if someone is sick in those apartments and needs an ambulance, we're the ones that show up first). All in all, it's a very nice neighborhood to live in; no trouble makers, no drunks and definitely no arsonists. All that translates into not a lot of calls for us. So for these past several months, I've been going to work and...sitting around. Well, not entirely. I have a probationary packet to work on, and most shifts I bring my computer and just work on the packet assignments. Needless to say, I don't get interrupted much in doing my work. My station averages about 3 ambulance calls and one engine call per day. Most days, it seems like a lot less than that. So the work days definitely are not filled with any "Ladder 49" or "Backdraft"-type exploits; I haven't even been to one fire the whole time I've been there. But it's still a great job and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
ANYWAY...back to probationary testing. So my whole class (minus a couple people who were no-shows for various reasons) met up at the academy today to do the PT and written portions of our testing. If you followed my recruit school entries at all, you may remember the 4 PT tests we had during the whole of recruit school. Today involved doing those exact events again (1.5 mile run, push-ups, curl-ups, pull-ups, etc.). The written portion was a 100-question exam: 50 fire questions and 50 EMS questions. When we all met up, everyone seemed happy to see each other again, for the most part. Spirits seemed high and everyone probably felt a little nostalgic (I did). People shared stories of life at their stations, how the people on their shifts were, and calls they had run. I was happy to see a lot of the people there; a lot of them I hadn't seen since we graduated. So it was cool.
We started off the day with our 1.5 mile run. We all piled into the training academy bus and headed over to Quince Orchard High School, were we would run six laps around the track. People joked how they weren't looking to break any records...they just wanted to finish in under 12 minutes (the cut-off time). I felt the same way; I wasn't looking to get any personal bests today. I have been running...mostly training for the marathon coming up, but not doing any speed work, so I was a bit nervous as to how I'd do. At the start of the race, everyone joked for the first 200 meters or so. Then all joking stopped and everyone just concentrated on finishing. That first lap was rough for me; my stomach felt a bit upset and I didn't know if I'd make it without having some sort of "accident." But fortunately, after one good cough, I felt a lot better. I finished the run in 10:47. I was definitely happy with that time. A few people, unfortunately, didn't pass. One of them was one of the ladies of our class. She was pretty upset, and as she walked around the track, she was obviously really upset. I said a little bit, but then just walked around the track with her, both of us not saying a word. Sometimes it's better just to shut your mouth. As we approached the rest of our classmates, she told me something that I won't repeat here, but let's just say I was shocked to hear it; she hadn't even told her fiance what she told me.
After the run, we headed back to the acadmey for the written test. It was a bit challenging...partly because we never got any direction as to what we should study to prepare for it, and partly because even if we had studied, some of the questions on there none of us had seen before. I feel confident that I passed though.
Finally, we all went to the gym to do the final portion of our PT test. This included the tests for flexibility, grip strength, vertical jump, pull-ups, push-ups and curl-ups. Some of my classmates only did the minimum for most of the events. I didn't try to max out on everything, but I had to do more than the minimum. I'd feel like I was cheating myself if I didn't do my best. Fortunately, I passed everything.
After we were all done, I had some brunch at Panera Bread with Price, Keen and Martin. It was good to catch up with Price and Martin (I see Keen every day at work; he works at my station on the shift after mine). Camposano came after Martin left, and we chatted some too. All in all, it was a good day. All week groups of us will be going back up to the academy to do the fire and EMS practical portions of our tests. The fire I'm not too concerned about, but some of the EMS stuff...we'll see.
ANYWAY...back to probationary testing. So my whole class (minus a couple people who were no-shows for various reasons) met up at the academy today to do the PT and written portions of our testing. If you followed my recruit school entries at all, you may remember the 4 PT tests we had during the whole of recruit school. Today involved doing those exact events again (1.5 mile run, push-ups, curl-ups, pull-ups, etc.). The written portion was a 100-question exam: 50 fire questions and 50 EMS questions. When we all met up, everyone seemed happy to see each other again, for the most part. Spirits seemed high and everyone probably felt a little nostalgic (I did). People shared stories of life at their stations, how the people on their shifts were, and calls they had run. I was happy to see a lot of the people there; a lot of them I hadn't seen since we graduated. So it was cool.
We started off the day with our 1.5 mile run. We all piled into the training academy bus and headed over to Quince Orchard High School, were we would run six laps around the track. People joked how they weren't looking to break any records...they just wanted to finish in under 12 minutes (the cut-off time). I felt the same way; I wasn't looking to get any personal bests today. I have been running...mostly training for the marathon coming up, but not doing any speed work, so I was a bit nervous as to how I'd do. At the start of the race, everyone joked for the first 200 meters or so. Then all joking stopped and everyone just concentrated on finishing. That first lap was rough for me; my stomach felt a bit upset and I didn't know if I'd make it without having some sort of "accident." But fortunately, after one good cough, I felt a lot better. I finished the run in 10:47. I was definitely happy with that time. A few people, unfortunately, didn't pass. One of them was one of the ladies of our class. She was pretty upset, and as she walked around the track, she was obviously really upset. I said a little bit, but then just walked around the track with her, both of us not saying a word. Sometimes it's better just to shut your mouth. As we approached the rest of our classmates, she told me something that I won't repeat here, but let's just say I was shocked to hear it; she hadn't even told her fiance what she told me.
After the run, we headed back to the acadmey for the written test. It was a bit challenging...partly because we never got any direction as to what we should study to prepare for it, and partly because even if we had studied, some of the questions on there none of us had seen before. I feel confident that I passed though.
Finally, we all went to the gym to do the final portion of our PT test. This included the tests for flexibility, grip strength, vertical jump, pull-ups, push-ups and curl-ups. Some of my classmates only did the minimum for most of the events. I didn't try to max out on everything, but I had to do more than the minimum. I'd feel like I was cheating myself if I didn't do my best. Fortunately, I passed everything.
After we were all done, I had some brunch at Panera Bread with Price, Keen and Martin. It was good to catch up with Price and Martin (I see Keen every day at work; he works at my station on the shift after mine). Camposano came after Martin left, and we chatted some too. All in all, it was a good day. All week groups of us will be going back up to the academy to do the fire and EMS practical portions of our tests. The fire I'm not too concerned about, but some of the EMS stuff...we'll see.
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