Fascinating Facts ... And MORE

First, a simple thing I always forget: What does i.e. really stand for??

ie: (id est) That is (to say)", "in other words", or sometimes "in this case", depending on the context. Never equivalent to exempli gratia (e.g.), although frequently so used.Id est, i.e., "that is", is commonly abbreviated "i.e."; in this usage it is sometimes followed by a comma, depending on style

And how was my day, you ask?

Well today I took my first live calls at SDPD. That's right, I just un-muted myself and started taking calls. "San Diego Police, this is Anniessa." and answered a few questions. Cancelled a call, etc. Yep. I am a real rock star now!

I'm happy to report that I'm still at the stage of looking forward to going to work each day. I don't feel the need to struggle to the next outpost. I don't need to: earn a degree, secure a teaching position, earn a paralegal certificate, or sell more ads than the whole department put together.

I just go to work, learn my job, and do my job. Does this mean I've finally found my fit? I look forward to seeing where this path leads. I happen to think it will be one of the more calm periods in my life!

But for now, the Ultimate Prize for any dispatcher:

Sleep.

Aaah, a day at the beach! Lily and I went to Cornado dog Beach today and had a wonderful time. I packed up our lunches, forgot all of her toys, and we were off!

We met Judy, Rina, and Ricochet there (I wasn't great with the camera, but that's them down there, next to my beach chair!)

And the worst part about having to go back to work tomorrow? The fact that I don't get to spend the day in MY department. Three of us have New Employee Orientation and will be at the City offices all day.

Apparently these people don't know how experienced I am at being a new employee ... they'd probably let me stay home! : ) Truth is, the City of San Diego has a fantastically complicated HR/ benefits / retirement system and it will take at least a day to figure out how best to manage it.

I think I will leave the knitting needles at home, just in case it turns out to be as dull as Notary class!

Choose Your Crime

It's my Friday and I'm about to collapse! This week we learned more type codes, played "What's My Crime" and generally discussed ... crime.

It shouldn't really come as a surprise that when I go to work at the Police Department we are a little crime-obsessed - but it does! Sometimes I want to ask, "Can't we just go out there and help the woman?"

The answer is no. We have to poke and pry and try to find out if a crime has been committed. Stalking is about the only thing we'll dispatch on before the crime occurs - but only because stalking in itself is a crime.

I understand now the jokes our neighbors made about how the Sheriff's Deputy had better be married to a DA ... criminal defense would NOT work! Because all day, every day when these officers take to the streets they are focused upon crime, criminals, and preserving the peace so that normal, everyday folks like you and I (do I belong in "everyday" anymore? It doesn't feel like it.) can go about our days, safe and oblivious.

On a funnier note, I was told yesterday that I can go up to Crime Analysis and they will provide me with a map of criminal incidents in the City. Then I can use that information to decide which crimes I want to live near ... a game we play called "Choose Your Crime." It's lovely!

Lil-Leeee!! Don't Eat the Table!

Is there anything more I might need to say? Good grief. TG for IKEA!

Cookies!

Yes. Lily lives a good life. I was worried about how to stick to our home-cooked diet AND get kibble-sized yummies to fit into the MannersMinder when ... I decided it would be faster to just cut out a kabillion little cookies than to think any longer.



It was actually much easier than I first expected. This was the second batch ... a little boring and definitely not as tasty as our first batch of Peanut Butter Pumpkin yummies.
We now return to our regularly scheduled obsessions...

Criminals - Again

I have been super-duper busy trying to keep track of day and night and up and down since beginning work at the Police Department. It is fascinating and stressful (not getting enough sleep is the easy part - spending the day thinking like a criminal is HARD!) but the days fly by and I'm having a lot of fun.