Greetings from the CONUS

Hola, amigos. Yes, I'm still alive; I haven't had as much internet time as I'd like over the last few months, what with the police academy and everything.. and what little nerd-time I do have goes to skypin' with the Wife, Boo, and the new Bean that I still have yet to meet. I still miss them, but that pain usually fades to a dull roar that you just get used after awhile, until you see a toddler at the In-N-Out or you hold a friend's baby and you bawl like a baby.. but I digress.

Actually I guess I can't really digress because this is kind of just a ramble, right? I'm no wordsmith like Danielle over there, I just kind of throw words up there and we see what happens.

Sooo yeah, the academy. Hoo-boy. It's actually been really awesome. I mean it's been really tough and much harder than I could ever have imagined, but it's been good for me. I'm only about halfway through, but I've already learned so much, particularly about myself. If I had to a choose a single word, I'd say that it's been humbling.. and I am a man who needed some humbling. Heck I probably still do, but it's not as bitter as it was at first. And soon we get to start the fun stuff! You know, shootin' the guns and learning to drive the cars with the skidding and the spinning and the ramming of other cars. Up until now it's mostly been classes on law and probable cause and search & seizure and such; I'd never really appreciated just how complicated this job is.

Hey, I warned you. Rambletown, population: me. So hey, also, I'm in the best shape of my life, so that's another benefit of this experience. I'm down about 70 pounds from my chubbiest, which was about two years ago. I can run like a gazelle and scale 8 foot walls and oh hell I miss them.