Friday, May 1, 2009

Certified

Please welcome my first guest blogger, Hot Fuzz (aka: HF). The following post is his account of what happened yesterday when he passed his certification test.

Yesterday the weight was lifted. I had my final certification test to become a state certified law enforcement officer. The PT portion of the test went well but the written portion quickly turned into a nightmare. Ours was the first class to have the written portion administered on computers and it quickly became apparent that the bugs hadn’t been worked out all the way. When we arrived at the computer lab it took about an hour for the site to load. Once it finally allowed us access to the test, 5 people got locked out mid test and couldn’t get back in. An hour later everyone’s computers shut down for no reason.

By then we were all freaking out, wondering what had become of our exams and what would happen to our scores. After 15 minutes the site allowed almost everyone back in and had miraculously saved everyone’s work. Many of us were relieved and resumed working the test when someone noticed that the built in test clock had continued running while we were trying to get back into the system, costing everyone 15 minutes of valuable test time. By this time the director of the academy had decided to allow everyone who didn’t finish, to retake the test in paper format the next day. By the time it was all over it was 11:00pm. I managed to finish the test that night with a passing score.

No one expected to have to go through so much trouble at the end of the academy just to take a test; but the experience taught us to never expect anything to be easy. Shortly after getting married Mrs. Fuzz and I came to the conclusion that life would be easier for us if we planned for the worst and were pleasantly surprised when anything less than disaster happened. We’ve followed that motto from the start and it’s made it considerably easier to deal with obstacles when they present themselves. I’m just glad I was able to get through it and maintain a calm head throughout.

With all that being said, there is absolutely no way I could have done this without Mrs. Fuzz. I consider her vital to my success in the academy and now as I go through my department’s FTO program. She has been the constant in my life throughout this year of utter chaos. My graduation from the academy is just as much her victory as it is mine and I count myself very lucky to have her in my corner.

Thank you Mrs. Fuzz for letting me sleep (crash is more like it) when I needed to, for making sure I ate right, for holding my feet when I needed to practice my sit-ups, for putting up with hours upon hours of noisy dry firing in the living room, for washing my uniforms and keeping track of my handcuff keys when I was too scatter brained to remember where they were, for giving me a closet and organizing it, for making the sacrifices necessary to give me the best chance at success, and for being the best mother our children could ever have. I love you so much.

10 comments:

Meadowlark said...

Congrats to you both!!! Now HF, I want you to PROMISE you won't make Mrs. F iron your uniforms. Say it.... I'm waiting!!!!

Peace out!

Hot Fuzz said...

Thanks! I can promise that Mrs. Fuzz will never have to iron any of my uniforms. The department pays for all my dry cleaning.

Momma Val said...

Awwwww! I was wondering if the whole test accident was intentional to see who'd freak out about it? Thank God it all worked out. Oh, so glad you thanked your wife. I ran around helping my husband like a maniac when he was in the academy and at his swearing in he made sure to thank the board? Instead of mentioning his wife. I too have run around with gear belts, uniform shirts, boots, etc. and even woke up my son at 10:30 at night to drive 40 miles round trip to bring him his BP vest. I think that the wives need a graduation too :) It will be years of her standing behind you and biting her lip (and not) with the schedule of a cop. I say the best cops have even better women behind them.

Helen said...

Congrats!!!

Anonymous said...

Contratulations Mr. Fuzz! And I'm sure you got major points for thanking Mrs. Fuzz in such a sweet way. I told Officer Jake you're making him look bad - he just muttered something about too many years on the job for him.. : ). You both are going to do great, I can tell.

The Happy Medic said...

Congrats HF!

Mrs HM and I enjoyed the post and pictured Mrs Fuzz helping you do sit ups while feeding you Fuzz Food.

Stay safe and if you need a code 3 medic, feel free to call. It may not be me but someone dressed like me.

Congrats again and we can't wait to see pics from the graduation party!

Dori said...

Congrats--to you BOTH! And so sweet and astute of you to recognize everything she's done for you.

My husband went through the academy by himself--I was 2 hours away. But it was just us then so we managed. Just so you both realize (and I know ya'll already know) the insanity doesn't stop or even lessen with graduation--he's currently pulling 40 hours of OT working security and bomb detection at the Nascar race. I haven't seen him since yesterday morning. Yep. Fun times.

Momma Val said...

Amen to what Dori said and I am also finding myself saying all the time, "Leave your badge at the door!!!"

Erin said...

Congratulations! Why not consider this debacle of a testing experience the first ridiculous situation you'll have to deal with as an officer? There will be many more... And good luck in field training!

Please tell Mrs. Fuzz I'd love to be added to her list of blogging police wives. And by the way, on behalf of all police wives, thank you for acknowledging Mrs. Fuzz and her role in your career. Whenever things get tough, come back and read what you've written about her here to remind yourself that she'll always be behind you.

All the best!

Slamdunk said...

Congrats on the job well done and your good blog post Officer. Having someone hold your spouse hold your feet when doing situps? Now that is true love...