05 December 2005

Trapped in a High School

Got tons of stuff done today. Yeah!

I got everything figured out with my doctor about my back. You know, bills, appointments, stuff for work. Then I went and scheduled all my classes for next semester. It took forever. I went back and forth, back and forth between advisors, admissions, and registration. Transcripts. Yuck. Somehow they didn't get transferred properly so now all my prerequisites aren't on record at the new college. Damn. I got it settled now though. Thank god. I got all the classes I wanted and I can't wait to start. Bring in on! :)

Class was actually quite interesting tonight. The guy that came to teach was from Abbott laboratories. He has something to do with hazmat, but is also a part of the lake county bomb squad that I guess also has something to do with terrorism. Anyways, we went over all the basics that I have already learned; suspicious packages, secondary devices etc. This is the third time I have taken a terrorism awareness class- but I still enjoy it. The instructor showed us slides and clips from demonstrations he did at training- with letter bombs, pipe bombs, and some even using the same chemicals they used in the Oklahoma City bombing. We also talked about the world trade centers (the first bombing and 911).

A lot of the things that we talked about are kind of scary. If I wasn't the type of person I am I think this probably would have creeped me out a bit. I mean, if you think about it, we study what the terrorist does, and thinks, etc. They show us videos on how to make pipe bombs, letter bombs, and teach us the ins and outs of what these people do. It made me look twice at the people that were in my class. These types of classes are the perfect opportunity, for a person that wants to do this sort of stuff, to learn the "right" way of doing it. Scary.

I finally got my application off the IFSI website for winter fire school last night. The site was just updated with the new schedule and registration forms. I signed up for an SCBA hands-on class. Hopefully I get into it. It seems rather basic, but you can never be too proficient with your SCBA. There were some other interesting classes that were offered, but most were geared toward officers. There is also a lecture on the first night about the tragedy in New Orleans, speaking about what went on, what we did, and what we could do better next time. I think it will be quite interesting.

Lots of bullshit at the fire station recently. Since I'm a girl it seems like I can never be friends with a guy without rumors flying. Most of the people at the station don't have a problem working with a girl. But, of course, there are the select few that feel they are superior to me, even though we have the exact same training, etc. They have that attitude like "know your place" and I can't do the job. I must admit, one of the guys was a complete mistake to ever befriend because he has an abnormally large mouth and spreads rumors about anything he can get his hands on. It just doesn't seem right. I feel like I'm back in high school. Actually, it's almost worse than high school. Oh well. I just want to be treated like any one of the guys- because that's what I am. I don't want to be treated differently or given any leeway because I'm a girl. But I guess I will just move on. There are bigger fish in the sea to fry-or something. He's just another idiot that thinks he knows everything and is going to get himself into trouble in the long run. Another abuser of the system- using the department to get his FF II to move on to a bigger department and leave his behind. People just don't seem to have the same morals anymore.

To me, the first department you get on is like your family. You can't just leave them for something better. Yeah, I plan on getting on a full time department as soon as I can, but I certainly won't be leaving my current department behind. They have supported me and helped me to get where I am and where I am going-you just can't forget that. People seem to- all to easily- forget where they came from. I, on the other hand, never plan to forget. I will give back to my community as long as I am able, and plan to stay involved as a poc/ part time even after I move on to full time. I owe this department a lot for training me and supporting me in my decisions as to where I want to go in life. I want to make them proud.

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