The Mile and a Half Run

Today for PT the Instructor decided to see where we were at compared to our first PT test. I had already passed everything except the mile and a half. When I ran it today, I shaved about 4 minutes off my time. I got it down to 13.04 minutes! I'm pretty happy with that. We do have another 3 weeks till the final testing, and if I can take a few more seconds off my time great, but I would also be just fine with keeping it at what I am. I was surprised when I finished at just how well I did. While I was running I though I was doing pretty poorly. I was out of breath and just whooped, but I guess pushing yourself really makes a difference.

On a side note, I haven't raced Alex in the mile yet. She was pretty quick to point out that I've now gotten it down to about where she was when we first ran. So it looks like it will be a pretty interesting race.

Another Day Down

Monday turned out to be a pretty stinking long day. Mostly because I didn't sleep from 4pm Sunday to just before midnight Monday. After work I met up with Alex to go for a run. We probably went about a mile along the Provo River Trail, but my leg was killing me so we took it pretty easy after that. Alex decided we needed some Eggo Waffles! My first thought was that I don't have and waffles. She quickly pointed out that she was suggesting we go to her apartment and eat ones that she had. We did. It was awesome. Mrs. Butter-worth joined us, so delicious.
(When ever Mrs. Butter-worth comes up, I can't help but think of the time that Chris told me that when he was little he had tried talking to her, or something like that. It's funny none the less)
(Normally Alex has to go through like 5 pics before she gets one that she says is acceptable to go on the blog, but I was able to sneak one in!)

While we were eating, Alex was playing random songs off her computer and hit upon a song from Pocahontas. I mentioned that I had never seen that movie, and it was decided that we had to watch it. I went and borrowed it from Tara, and that's what Alex and I did. It's not all that bad of a movie, but it definitely is geared for young girls. (I would also like to point out that there isn't a single ugly indian in that entire movie, and they all are insanely ripped.) We didn't have to much more planned so we just watched Tin Man and wasted the rest of the day away. Until I had to go to school. I didn't get to much accomplished during that first part of the day, but it was still a pretty good time.

At the Academy, I took my first aid and cpr test. I aced it! I was thrilled, it now brings my average in the class up to like a 96%. Pretty stinking good. And just the cherry on top of an already good day. I wish every day was like that.

Some People Shouldn't Be Cops

I suppose that's kind of a nice way to say that there are some cadets in my class that I hope I never have to work with or rely on. When it comes to police work, they are going to be worthless.

Class yesterday was just rough. We did eight hours of "conflict resolution." Not to long after we got back from lunch, we decided to spice things up by playing a game. There are three cadets in the class that have a knack for saying and asking the most retarded of things. We placed bets on who would by the end of class have the most tallies for the dumb things they said. And for an added measure we put everyone else in the class as a whole in another set. Each one of these three, far out shone the entire class. And I'm talking in a three hour span saying 15 more things then the class combined. They are either immensely stupid, or just don't think before they speak. I'm pretty sure they are stupid. My favorite outburst of stupidity was from this one gal. The instructor was talking about a domestic violence he had gone to, and was describing in some detail what happened, and when he got to a lull this gal blurted out did he go to jail? The instructor's jaw literally dropped and he stared at her for a good five seconds before he could say yeah we took him to jail. He couldn't believe she had even asked. Like the grisly scene he had just described would mean that the dude wouldn't be taken to jail. Stupid comments and questions come up all the time from these three people, and it's going to get to the point where the class is just going to get pissed at them and tell them to shut up.

There is one person that gets on everyone's nerves. She is a person that everyone is pretty sure is going to fail, and hopes that she does, just so that they never have to work with her. She is already one of the three that puts stupid comments out there. But the thing that really pisses people off, is that she doesn't pull her weight or do what is required. Like we had to get uniforms for class and pt, and she didn't get them until like a week ago. And she still doesn't wear them everyday. Or when she does decide to show up for pt (which isn't that often), she'll leave in the middle of doing our exercises and take a 30 minute break. She is never on time for class, and never on time getting back to class when we have breaks. When we have tests she freaks out and lashes out at everyone else cause she doesn't feel prepared. For our defense tactics practical, she didn't know hardly anything. She didn't even know the basic holds. The night before she was freaking, and wanted everyone to focus on her and teach her how to do things. One kid got pissed and flat out told her that if she had showed up for class she would know how to do it like everyone else. Another kid got annoyed of her bugging him, and finally "showed" her the restraints. After that she decided that she needed to go home because her wrists and shoulders hurt. Suffice it to say she didn't and hasn't yet passed the defense tactics practical.

Stupidity is one thing. But being stupid and lazy is one thing that an officer just can't be. Stupidity can be over come by hard work. Lazy is lazy, and I won't put up with it from my fellow cadets. I want them to succeed, but if they don't put the work in themselves, I don't feel bad what so ever in leaving them in their hole. Hopefully these few cadets will snap out of it, or do everyone a favor and drop out.

Paranoid and Over Protective

I think I may have said it earlier, but it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that I'm a little paranoid and over protective. And that was before I started the Academy. Now having been in for almost two months and been instructed by veteran police officers, its safe to say that I'm straight up crazed when it comes to safety and security. They have stories that will make you never want to leave your house. Or let anyone in the house for that matter.

Anytime I go out now, (especially at night) I'm always looking around, trying to see into shadowed areas, and keeping my eye on everyone that I see. When I'm out with a female, I try and keep myself between her and everyone on the street. I also try to walk her to her door, or at least watch her get inside if walking to her door isn't possible. And I'm even more on my guard if that's possible. Sometimes I find I worry about them, like when they say they are walking home at night by themselves. HELLO! Red lights going off in my head. I worry about the creeps that live near them, I worry about them making sure their doors and windows are locked. It just seems like every conceivable thing that could happen, I worry about. I know they can take care of themselves, but again it's that over protective, paranoid side coming out

Personally I think it's got both its ups and downs. On the up side, there needs to be that person that is always on the lookout for trouble. If your looking for it and preparing for it, you'll be ready if it does come up. Also I think that many people in the "Happy Valley" area get complacent and don't worry as much as they should about security. On the down side, I'm freaking crazed. I automatically think these strangers are up to no good, and I may be a burden to those around me. I know my roommates sometimes get annoyed that I dead bolt the door, even when I'm sitting in the living room. (I dead bolt the door the second I walk in the apartment, no matter what I end up doing after I get in)

But it does make me feel good that I'm doing all that I can to keep them safe. I would be extremely upset if they got hurt or into trouble because I wasn't on the ball. That seems like a pretty good quality for a police officer to have.

Insurance Is A Scam!

I have to re-register my car this month. Unfortunately to pass my safety and emissions I have to replace my windshield because there's a huge crack across it. I go over to Techna Glass and want to do it through my insurance, since I have full coverage. I'm in there getting things set up and we get a hold of the insurance company and go through all the steps. When wouldn't you know it since I have a $500 deductible, and haven't paid anything, and the new windshield costs only like $300, they aren't going to pay it. Talk about pissing me off.

Basically what they are saying is that even though I haven't ever had a claim, and have full coverage, they're going to keep all the money I've already paid, but not pay for this. Doesn't that sound like a scam to anyone else? Why am I paying all this money for years, without ever taking anything back, if when I need it, they won't do anything for me? I have to have my windshield replaced because I have to re-register my car. I don't have $300, I wanted to for once use the insurance that I'm paying for. But no, that's just not going to happen. All the insurance company is good for is taking my money. They should be drawn and quartered.

And I have no idea what I'm going to do.

Adventures In Park City!

Katie, Aubrey, Chris, Brady, and I stayed in Park City on Saturday. Katie's parents have a time share up there, and they were nice enough to let us use it to celebrate Katie's birthday. It was a pretty fun adventure.


Aubs, Chris, Brady, and I drove up around 2. It was a pretty good drive, we did have to stop at the store in Heber to get some chicken. We were pretty white trash, just standing in the parking lot, eating chicken and potato wedges. But who cares, not like we needed to impress anyone. And we did get lost like twice. Luckily with the four of us in the car it didn't take to long to right ourselves and get to the hotel.




The hotel was pretty stinking amazing. It had three rooms; a main room with a kitchen, fireplace, t.v., table, and couches. A master bedroom with a t.v., a whirlpool bath, and the master bathroom. Then a second bedroom, with basically the same thing as the master, but instead of the bath, there was a little counter and table setup. It was just a way nice place.




We plopped our stuff down and decided to hit the town. And it was a perfect day to do it. High sixties, and mostly sunny. Just a wonderful fall day. Park City is pretty well kept. Nice little park type places to sit, and look at the art they have up.

And lots of expensive shops to go in, if you had the money of course. But we eventually made our way back to the hotel, and on the way found that they conveniently made these nice little fire pits every block or so.
It was nice just to stand there and get warm and talk to the few people that were out and about.

Then it was time to go swimming. For some reason, when Chris and I are together we just make fools of ourselves.
It's just part of our nature I guess. I'm not a huge fan of swimming, so after a while Aubs and I went in, and left the three of them there to frolic in the water. For most of the rest of the night we just goofed off, played games, and watched movies.

By 10 the next morning it was time for us to go. It was a ton of fun, but I was super tired and ready to crawl into my own bed. I would totally do it again, if I get the chance.

Embarrassing And Hilarious Moments In Life

It seems that at least at one point or another in a person's life they will have an extremely embarrassing yet ultimately hilarious event take place. Some people have more then others. In my opinion, I think I have more then my fair share.

I don't know why I was thinking this, but I was laying in bed one night and I remembered the time I had a tick in my belly button... As a family we were going somewhere, (I think it was the Kipputs house) and I was scratching my stomach. Something just felt odd. I lifted up my shirt, and looked. To my surprise there was a little black thing in my belly button. I may have mentioned it, (it's possible I freaked, I don't really remember if I did) and sure enough on closer inspection by those in the van it was a tick! When we got to where ever it was we were going they got tweezers and a match, and burned/pulled that sucker out. I think the consensus was that when we went to Grandma's house the week before I must have picked it up, and it had been there all along.

I don't know what to even say about it now. It's just one of those things, that's like what the crap! HAHAHA! The really sad thing about it is there are just so many more stories (some probably worse then this), that we could bring up. And I'm sure there will be more as life goes on. I just have to get through it to be able to laugh at it later.

On a slightly different track, I got a call from Drew the other day. I was on my way to the academy and he asked me about getting my nipple bit off at grandma's house. Now I don't remember anything about that, and I don't believe I was involved. I would however like to know the rest of that story. Cause I am sure that is one for the records.

Music

A couple of years ago while in Vegas my car got broken into. They tried stealing the radio but couldn't get it out. They did however jack the thing up pretty bad. That same radio finally died a while back and I just took it out. All of this makes it so that I've got no music in my car. I don't care all that much about it, but some people I know do.

So just today I got Alex to make me a play list, and we put it on my phone. The reason for it being on my phone is that, my phone can be used as a playing device, and the speakers are good enough that you can clearly hear the song. It's actually pretty amazing. Who would have thought that a phone good be used like an ipod, that could be used as a portable stereo? Technology has come so far! And now at least there will be music in my car for all to hear, not just me. All thanks to Alex and her mad computing skills. Oh and I can't forget Robert, her computer.

Dinner, Apple Beer, Rock Band, and An Awesome Movie!

Earlier in the evening on Saturday, I had a dinner engagement with my former roommate Chris Wilson and his wife Jen. It was pretty informal, just kind of a random thing we bumped into each other in the parking lot and realized that we lived in the same complex. So he invited me over for dinner. It was delicious, Jen is a fantastic cook. They said I didn't need to bring anything but I thought it would be nice, and that I really should. I wanted to bring over some apple cider. I almost got up the stairs from my apartment with the gallon of cider in my hand, when I tripped. The container goes flying out of my hand, and busts all over the stairs! I was ticked, only I could be that clumsy. I only had to get the thing like 200ft and I'd be good, but it just wasn't going to happen for me. I was able to save some of it, but it left a gigantic mess on the stairs and the front porch.
Late Saturday night (not really it just seemed late, because it was dark and way to freaking cold out) I met up with Alex and we went on a little adventure. We needed Apple Beer. It didn't take to long to find, just two gas stations, and the creamery to get it, but get it we did. Unfortunately it wasn't already cooled, so we couldn't drink it right away. While it was cooling we played Rock Band! It is a pretty awesome game. The idea is you assemble a band, (singer, guitar, bass, and drums) and you "play" songs. It's a ton of fun, and I highly recommend it. The drums are kinda hard to get used to, but the other instruments are pretty easy to get the hang of, and you can play with up to 4 other people which makes it even more fun.
We played for awhile, had a few apple beers, then eventually got pooped out, and decided to go to my apartment to watch a movie. Our choice was the newer Superman. I really like that movie, and hope that they make another in the same fashion. I don't know specifically what it is I like about the movie I just do. It's just one of those movies that sticks with me. But by the time the movie was over, it really was late, and so we braved the cold and I took her home. The end of a very nice night.

One More Test Down

I took my Defense Tactics Practical on Saturday. I passed. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, and I was probably way more nervous then I really ought to have been. But I did my best and passes and that's all that counts. There was one point early on in the test where Instructor King told me to do an arrest procedure, and I did the wrong thing, and was about half way through it, when I realized I was doing the wrong one, and felt like a complete idiot. But he just said to fix it and it wasn't to big of a deal. It reminded me of when I went to take my driving test, and the Instructor told me to turn right and I turned left! I just felt stupid. HAHAHA!

What the Piss!?! I Lost Weight!

Apparently since the last time I weighted myself, I've dropped a few pounds. That is not what I wanted. I want to put weight on not, take it off. Suffice it to say it was a little distressing. But as Alex pointed out to me, I was bound to lose some weight just because of all the running I'm doing. Oh well, I'll have to work extra hard to put some of that weight back on. (I'm down to 152lbs.) Bummer.

On the bright side I did just buy myself a sweet scale. It not only keeps track of my weight progression, but it also measures body fat. (I'm at like 12.5% body fat) It's pretty cool and has a digital display and everything. Which just gives me one more way to keep track of how I'm doing.

Competition

Everything is a competition. Specifically Alex is really pushing me to exercise and workout. Our first competition is to see who gets a better mile time. As I mentioned in an earlier post, she's got a good minute ahead of me. I'm pretty confident that I have a more strenuous routine then her (mostly due to the academy), and I know I can cut my time by quite a bit. The question is how much will she be able to cut? I believe we'll be re-timing in a month to see how it's going.

The newest competition that's brewing is who can tone up the most. Now not everything has been set out yet, but the general idea is that we get this workout routine, P90X and go through it. It's an intense 90 day workout, that's supposed to bring insane results. Everyone swears by it (including Alex). So when we start, we're going to take a bunch of measurements, and then at the end of the 90 days, see who improves the most. Neither of us have started it yet, and I at least won't be able to start until December, but it's just one more thing that's been cooked up for us to compete against each other.

I can't say whether it's a good thing or a bad thing to be so competitive, but it certainly makes things more interesting. And makes me want to work just that little bit harder.

Awesome Test Scores

So we took another law test in the Academy on Monday. I scored a 93% bringing my average in the class to 95%. I'm very happy with the results. Plus Captain DeMille was saying that the tests only get easier. For now I only have to worry about the Defense Tactics practical on Saturday. I'm pretty sure I can do it, but I just worry about everything. Hopefully I don't get to worried and blow it.

A Long, Yet Fun Weekend

This weekend has been pretty tiring. I had PT everyday this week, which was just plain rough. And so Saturday I had the Academy stuff from 8am till noon. It seemed like the Instructor just wanted to make us ache. Then I meet up with Alex at the BYU Indoor track, and take another light jog around.

I was already tired from my earlier exercises, and I was starving. But it was a good run. Then we went and got a bite to eat at Panda Express, and came back to my place, where we were reminded that conference would be on in like half an hour. We ended up going to Alex's apartment to watch that second session. It was pretty good, and I amazingly was able to stay awake through it all. Alex wasn't so lucky...

Alex has to go to work soon after, and I thought about going and taking a nap ( I ended up playing video games). I got a call later that night from Aubrey and Katie, saying they wanted to do something. We met up at Aubrey's apartment and watched Baby Mama. That movie had some funny parts, but i can't say it'll be high up there on my favorites list. Probably won't even make it to the favorites list. After the movie I decided it was time to go back home, but was side tracked by Alex because she was "hunting" for something sugary, and it just so happened that I had a dozen krispy kreme doughnuts sitting in my fridge. I took some over to her. While I was sitting on her couch, I looked over to her table, and saw a bottle of lotion. I picked it up and read it, and interestingly enough it said it would instantly make skin silky smooth. I tried it... it kinda does, and it has a pretty good smell too.

Sometime later, I decided it was really time to go home and go to sleep. So I did. The downer was that it was raining cats and dogs, I got drenched. But you can't win them all.

Is there a change?

So I didn't weigh myself this week. Mostly because I was just busy and didn't get around to it. But I did take a new picture, I don't think there's any visible change. Like everything good, it takes time.

The Mile Run

I went running this morning with Alex at the BYU outdoor track, just to see what our mile times were. I ran it in 9 minutes 28 seconds. Not bad, and if I can keep that up for a mile and a half I'll have the academy pt in the bag. Alex however ran it in 8 minutes 15 seconds and put me to shame. I can only hope that by the time the academy is over my time will be far better. I don't know if I could handle being ridiculed by her for to long.

Lunch at Fuddruckers

Alex and I went to Fuddruckers for lunch today. They make a pretty tasty burger. And the atmosphere is pretty good, but a little over powering. There's just to much stuff in the place. Makes it so that you can't really just look at one thing, your eyes just stray from one picture or object to the next. But it's better then some places that I've been.

Alex didn't think it to funny that I was taking pictures right after she ate.

But I must say she put me to shame, she was able to finish her entire burger.

I was able to finish most of mine. There was only a little bit left on my plate.

A Good Home Cooked Meal

So just yesterday Mom made a delicious meal over at John and Tara's. I got stuffed and so did Aubrey and Chris. I do so miss getting those meals. Chris got a little scare put into him by Drew. Chris had an unpaid ticket, and got a warrant put on him. Which Drew was more then happy to try and resolve, if you know what I mean.
Lilly seemed to just not be able to smile when there was a camera in her face.













And I tried to teach Emma a new phrase!