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Sunday, October 10, 2010

One more day

Before I'm back to the grind. Two weddings and a week of training accomplished. I'm off tomorrow for Columbus day then finally start my new job on Tues. Super excited. I swear it's like this day would never come. It kept getting pushed further and further back.

Can someone please tell me why it's 80+ degrees in Chicagoland in OCTOBER? I've been trick-or-treating in my damn snow suit before and today I wore shorts and flip flops. Really? We have a saying in IL "If you don't like the weather today, stick around for tomorrow, it will be completely different."

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Grumble Grumble

This post is military related and I will try not to speak in all acronyms.

Basically, I applied for a class that I will need to eventually get promoted. I say eventually because I don't need it for my next rank, but the one after. So I was hoping to get ahead of the game. It's a 3 phase course. Phase 1 is online and 2&3 are at a school house.

I put in for phase 1 in August because it was just the next available class I found that was more than 30 days out. Then a few weeks ago, I found a phase 2&3 that dates worked for me in the spring. 2 started just a few days after I finished phase 1 and I would be done in less time since it's a reserve course. Sweet. Put in my apps for 2&3.

They ALL got denied. Why? Because Monday, they finally got around to my application and said I was within 30 days of the start date of phase 1 and the course was locked out. Since that was denied, it automatically denied me phase 2&3 since obviously you need 1 first. If they had freaking looked at my application when I put it in over a month and a half ago, we wouldn't have this problem.

I'm not going to blame my unit because I know who did the application, when they did it, and that it didn't sit at their level. I know who's level it sat at and I'm going to chat with my old boss to let him know who is sitting around. Chances are, I'm not the only one this has happened to.

Other than that, training is going well. I'm learning all the databases and how procedures work. Now if I could just get to my office and set up and learn my area and the who's who of my zone, I'd be set. Can't wait to get started, we have a HUGE, and I mean HUGE case we're working and I can't wait to get my hands on it and start digging around. Finally, a job I think I will enjoy.

Monday, October 4, 2010

It has begun

Today was my first day with STIC(Statewide Terrorism Intelligence Collection) They're a great set of people and although I'm dealing more with drugs than terrorism, they're great to learn from since the two are often related. There's always the fun in briefings and death by powerpoint. I'm super excited to get my hands on the databases tomorrow and start actually playing around and learning.

This weekend was a blast. My dear friend K was married. Her wedding was beautiful and although I ended up being an unofficial wedding coordinator, things went off without a hitch and everyone had a wonderful time. It was great to reconnect with a lot of military friends from deployment and catch up on the who's what's when's and where's. Man I miss those guys. Although it took me two days to recover from the festivities, I'm back up and running.

On another positive note, my bonus was approved and my re-enlistment/ extension packet was approved. So, I'm in until 2014 and hopefully my bonus will come around soon. The husband is working on finding me a little commuter car to beat up and tack miles on. I will drive my Jeep on snowy/icky days since it's 4x4 but we want a something a bit more gas efficient for the other days. All in all, busy few weeks around our house. And another wedding this weekend.

My oen and only aunt is getting married. I'll be honest(Sorry M!) I never thought I'd see the day. She's just such a strong, independent woman that I wasn't sure she'd ever settle down. I'm really excited and happy for her and her man. I can't wait to watch them be married this weekend. :)