Endings and Beginnings

Wow, where to begin.  It’s been over a month since my last post and to say a lot has happened between then and now might be the understatement of the year.  When we last spoke, I had just learned that I did well enough on my deputy oral board to pass, but not well enough to move on to the next step, at least not with the other potential deputies.  However, the background process for the dispatcher position was about to be expedited and if some of the potential deputies had problems with their background there was a shot I could get pulled into that group.  I was hopeful, but not overly optimistic.

The background process continued; I had a polygraph exam, my investigator continued to call my friends and family, and he met with my RTOs and looked over my academy file.  My classmate who did pass her oral board kept telling me that I was going to make it.  She’s really like my agent, always talking me up to her investigator and really everyone she came in contact with from the Sheriff’s Office.  Great gal.  But as sure as she was, I was determined to be merely cautiously optimistic at best.  I didn’t want to get myself excited for no reason.

Then on November 3rd, two days before my birthday, I got a call from my background investigator.  And oh what a call.  He told me that I had been officially moved into the deputy pool and pending the passage of the rest of my background stuff the job was mine!  Wow (to say the least).  My head was spinning.  Still is, really.  From that point on the process really racheted up into high gear.  They had to get me and my classmate hired and in the fold by December 2nd (academy graduation day) because the opening was for a deputy trainee and after graduation we would no longer be trainees and we wouldn’t have a job.  Even though we’ll only be trainees for like, a day.  It’s all weird, government gobbely-gook.  So the pedal was really to the metal to get our physicals, agility tests, and psyche exam out of the way, on top of the regular background stuff like calling everyone we’ve ever worked, lived, or spoken with.

Meanwhile, I continued plugging away at the academy.  We finished up PT at the end of October with an eight hour “hell day” of intense physical and mental exertion.  We all survived.  We did our pursuit and emergency driving which was pretty close to the most fun thing we did all year.  It’s not very often someone tells you to drive faster around sharp corners in the rain.  Very fun stuff.  I did well on all my tests, including 100% on the final last night.  And then there were scenarios.  More on this later, as the certainly deserve their own post.

Needless to say, there was a lot going on and my head and time was being pulled in many different directions.  I was looking forward to a little downtime between finishing the academy and starting Field Training.  Two weeks ago today my classmate and I met with both of our BIs and the department personnel sergeant to go over some of the timing of all this stuff.  We knew we had to be hired by December 2nd, but weren’t sure when we’d actually be starting work.  I figured that would be the hire date and then we’d give our two weeks notice.  Wrong!  We were in formed that since we were already County employees, this was really like a promotion rather than a new hire and so we weren’t obligated to give two weeks notice.  We were to start the week after graduation!  My family and I have had a post-graduation trip to Disneyland planned for months, when no jobs were on the horizon and now I was afraid they were going to make me either skip it, or rush back early.  Fortunately the day they told us to report for duty is the day after I return, but my hope of having a few days to regroup have been dashed.  Graduate on Thursday, Disneyland Friday through Sunday, drive home Monday, start work Tuesday morning!  I’ll be savoring these next few days off.

If you had told me even a month ago that I’d be in this position I would’ve said you’re crazy.  But here I am, finishing up one long adventure, and about to embark on another.

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