A rare one from the husband

Wow, my wife has really been getting busy with this new blog look. I like it, I like it alot as a matter of fact. I had a harder time finding how to actually log in to do this post with the new look but at least I'm here. I've not had the extra time on the computer since I've finished my academy training and am back to work for Antelope Island.

My days are pretty a-typical. I mean, how many people out there can say they commute a 150 miles roundtrip to work each day, sometimes on a motorcycle? I work 10-hour days as well so I have enough time in the morning to get dressed and get in the car, that's about it. I work all day and then get back home around 8 pm or so depending on my schedule for the day. It's taken it's toll but I hope I can get into a groove eventually and can start getting some decent sleep. It doesn't help that I have sleep issues and have had them since my teenage years. So it's rare I get a good night's sleep and even more rare that I dose off before 12 midnite. Yeah it sucks, tell me about it!

Let me tell you about my experiences at the island so far since I returned from my police academy training. Policy. Yep, lots of reading of policy. Policy involving Use of Force, Pursuits, Equipment, Uniforms and every other boring thing you can think of so my dept. doesn't get sued for me doing something they didn't tell me not to do. Very boring. The highlight however is thta on the first day back we got to go out to our gun range out on the island and do more shooting and gun qualifications. Yeah I thought I'd done all my testing qualifications at the academy. NOPE. Seem the Dept. of Natural Resources wants to double test everything I was already tested on. No worries, if they're buying the bullets I'm shooting. So we shot our handguns, Glock 22C (.40 caliber). We were also issued some heavy duty shotguns, Mossberg 560s I believe. Shotguns are cool. They pack a BIG punch and leave some of that on your arm and shoulder. About 15-20 shots is all my body can take of shooting one of these guns at one time. They leave my arm wishing it was dead, with bruises that are as painful to touch as they are to sight. We finished our qualifications with them so I'll have a bit of a break before having to fire them again thank goodness.

Today, the second day back was more policy, getting re-situated at our desk areas and the worst of worst-getting shit with 20% pepper spray. You know how your'e watching Cops tv show or the movies and someone gets sprayed in the eyes and they yell and you inevitably end up laughing at their misfortune for not complying? In you're mind you think, "How bad could it be? Can't be that bad." Well let me tell you, YES IT IS THAT BAD. You do NOT want to get sprayed with pepper spray, aka OC spray. I kid you not, I'd rather have a rock thrown at my head than do the OC spray in the eyes again.

Here's how it went down; we have a classroom style training on the history, use and effects of OC spray. Then we have to get sprayed in the eyes and trying to fight off an "attacker" for a few seconds. I'm not sure the best way to describe it other than dumbing super hot tobasco sauce in your eyes and face. As bad as you think it would hurt, it hurts at least that bad. So after we get sprayed they have a water hose running and you get escorted over to it and start spraying your eyes and face down, trying to not rub the stuff in any more than it already is. I don't think the water helps, other than to make you feel like you're suffocating. One of the effects of the spray is that it causes your eyes to involuntarily shut. Hmmm, imagine that, who would have thought? It burns like nothing else, you have a hard time breathing and your olfactory nerves are crying for mercy. After a few minutes of washing my face and eyes out with the cold water hose to no avail., I'm escorted to a shower where still blinded I strip down as fast as I can and proceed to fumble my way in and guide myself to where I think there is some soap to help wash the stuff off. It hurt so bad and was so incapacitating that I'm deliberately trying to get soap in my eyes to rid myself of the pepper in the eyes pain. Can you imagine what would drive anyone to want the burning sensation of soap in the eyes over anything at all? Well, that's how bad it sucked and hurt to have this pepper crap in my eyes and face. So not only are my eyes on fire but my face where the spray touched is on fiiiree as well!! I was in the shower scrubbing and washing and rinsing for 10 minutes before I could even think straight. My head was pounding the worst headache ever. Remember this stuff is an inflammatory and vasodilator.

I still couldn't open my eyes fully while getting out the shower but I just needed some air. I proceeded to go outside for some clean air and then alternate that with trips to the bathroom to wash my face and eyes over and over again. It's been 7 hrs since that incident and my arms where the spray touched earlier today is still burning, although I can see and feel fine everywhere else. The moral of this experience is, you do not ever, ever, ever want to be sprayed with OC/Pepper spray. I would pay someone $100 to take my turn at being sprayed next time around. I might even give them one of my precious motorcycles to not have to go through it again. So the next time a police officer asks you to do something, don't be a dink, just do it. If he feels the need to use a tool to make you comply then you will be wishing you weren't such an idiot and should have done what he told you to do.