Soreness I never knew before

This is the Kaiser Sled. It hurts. 8lbs sledgehammer, 165 lbs block you have to move from one end to the other... it's hard to write :-)

One Week Down.... 21 more to go...

*sorry no pictures this time* First week down. 21 more to go. Mark your calendars, though - February 15 is Graduation day! whoo!! Basically all we did this week was orientation lectures, learned about our PPE (Personal Protective Equipment, also known as Bunker gear/ensemble). We met a bunch of ppl in the fire department, including the Deputy Chief... I think the Fire Chief is coming to speak to us again next week, but not sure. The 124th is pretty darn good class if i do say so myself. I think we have a lot of strong ppl. There's already 4 medics and a handfull of ppl who are EMTs. And there's only a few ppl who I question and wonder why they want to do this job b/c certain factors make me go "Bwaaahh????" about them. But hey, we're a team so if they need help, i'm so there. Anyway, the other day we were practicing our cadences and the class now knows i'm really really really loud. While we all were marching around the academy grounds, we stopped to one guy could reiterate to everyone that we all need to be loud and say the cadence... and how eventually we'll be split into 2 squads and ppl from both squads are going to need to jump out and lead...."You need to be loud. Like Wicker. In fact i'm standing behind her cuz she hurt my ears" . He said that and everyone turned around and was like: OH it was YOU?! geez man, you're like, echoing out here. So how bout that! All these years I was told i'm really too loud and that my volume control button was broken... turns out, it's a good thing!!!

OH my!

So day one was basic orientation and who's who. We got our pictures taken (i saw them today, they STINK! i just want to know why my face always looks HUGE in those types of photos) and a lovely vaccination of Hep A. Today we reported to the actual academy instead of HQ. I really dont have much to say right now cuz i have to go study a lil and sleep. but i'm realy excited and motivated to give 200% to this. And I never really knew shining rubber converse shoes could be so.... um... how do i say this nicely....uh... oh - TIME CONSUMING

Gloves

My best friend, SeoHe, who went through the 122nd class, gave me the heads up on the things that I will need to know and be able to do the first few weeks of class, like know the core values and all the stations, as well as be able to do anything and everything with the FF gloves. These gloves are huge and bright blue. I remember her saying the instructors told them to wear them all day at home and keep them on to get used to them and their size. I decided to try that this morning and I'm happy to report that I can open a soda can (granted it took a lil while), send text messages, and watch t.v. successfully with the gloves. I was going to create this post wearing the gloves, but my laptop mouse pad thingy doesnt recognize the glove material so I took them off. Cop out? perhaps. BUT it's way easier to use the mouse pad than to do all that Control+Tab stuff or whatever :) The moral of this post: Go ME! haha

I GOT MY GEAR!

Got all my gear today before the last day at my job... The 122nd got their gear on Day 1... apparently FFX decided to change it b/c every time they would send everyone's equipment to the Massey Building, it was a cluster f**k... so to make things easier, they decided to just have the recruits pick it up and bring it with them. We also have to wear the uniform too... um, here's hoping I put it on right... haha!

Tuesday Before

So it's the Tuesday before I start class... interestingly it is 9/11.

I pass the pentagon on my way to work (in Arlington) everyday. It just so happens that 110 takes me right past the point of impact.

A flag hangs with blue lights for illumination.

As I drive by, I turn the radio off to show respect for the 343 and everyone whose life has never been the same since.