OH-OH-OPOTA

Okay, I know it has been forever since I updated on anything. And there's a reason....things are busy! I spent all last week in London, OH which is outside of Columbus at the lovely OPOTA facility. OPOTA stands for Ohio Peace Officer's Training Academy. I went to a week long dispatcher training class and stayed in their dorms all week. The facility was nice. Decent rooms with bathrooms, TV. The food wasn't always bad either. Most of the meals were edible. My roommate was nice and the class was actually fun some of the time. It was a nice little get-away. The most interesting part was in our first day of class when the coordinator was going over some "house rules" for those of us on campus. The best was DO NOT go past the fence by the running track. Why is that so interesting? Because here's what happens when you do (and yes it has happened, that's why they warn us). If you go past the fence, you are now on the property of the maximum security prison next to OPOTA. When you get onto that property, 2 armored trucks filled with guards carrying rifles will speed towards you, capture you and take you to the prison. After they search you and book you, they will try to figure out who it is you are. They tend to get excited when they think they are capturing an escapee. And the worst mistake that can be made has been-by a police officer. He ran. Needless to say, he was hunted down and taken to the prison. So, I made sure to stay as far away from the track as possible so there would be no questioning if I had gone too far.
I have spent this week so far on first shift which is 6am-2pm. I actually kinda like this shift. It varies so much. Yesterday it was crazy with tons of things happening all at once and today it was relatively calm with the occasional burst. And then the power went out for a few minutes when a squirrel got fried by the cord it had for lunch. It is not a good thing when all lines-including 911-go down. Luckily it got fixed quick and as far as we know we didn't miss anything. My training is going to good. I'm starting to learn a lot of the ins and outs of it. There is so much to know! The codes, signals, badge numbers of the officers, how to enter things, change things, send units out on calls. But, I'm slowly getting use to the common stuff. They even let me on the radio a little bit yesterday and today since my regular training officer was out and I was observing some of the other dispatchers. It was fun. Those poor officers were probably thinking...who the crap is this voice?? They'll get use to me :) they have to.
I still don't know what my regular shift will be. I think the plan right now is for me to be ready to be on my own during a shift by mid-late November. But, then in January the shifts change. No one is quite sure where anyone is going to be yet. We don't really get to pick. Oh, and I got my uniforms Monday. Yay. Ummm...they aren't very stylish, or flattering, but they aren't too bad. At least now I don't have to pick out what to wear in the morning!! In theory, that should be saving me some time, but somehow it isn't. Oh well-that's life.
All in all, I like my job. It's different everyday and varies from shift to shift even. Everyone keeps telling me that I won't be smiling for much longer, but I don't know. This is something that I've wanted to do for many years. I plan to keep smiling even on the days I don't want to. Just to prove them wrong-maybe it's that little but of stubborn I have in me ;)
Anyways....here's my little update. I'll be trying to be better. I'm at the computer all day at work so one of the last things I want to do is come home and start typing again.
And keep watching for a new blog series I'm going to do called Lessons from OPOTA. I learned many valuable things down there that can not only be applied to my work, but to life in general. Things that I would like to share. So, it's coming....soon....I'm hoping.
That's all for now! Until next time....Enjoy :)