Women!

A plea...

Not content with the fact that ¾ of high-street fashion retailers cater to your tastes, why do you ladies insist on clogging up the aisles in every single men’s department?

I know plenty of lads are useless shoppers but not all of us are.

Some of us guys wish to peruse the men’s departments in shops without having to continually squeeze past ladies discussing if said garment would be just right for the man in their life.

I mean we leave you alone in women’s shops don’t we?

Granted, I must admit that whenever girlfriend saunters into a ladies fashion shop I usually declare it a perfect opportunity for me to go down the road to HMV…

The other thing that’s annoying me at the moment?

People who don’t turn their Satnav’s on to ‘night mode’ at night.

Personally I prefer not to drive with what appears to be a torch shining in my face the whole journey.

Why?

Silent night?

Everyone else is rushing around. Relatives are expecting them. They've got to get that final gift. There's not enough food.

I'm sat here, remarkably still, or so it seems.

The only place I have to be is at work tonight.

I'll come back from work tomorrow and crawl into bed, just as festivities are reaching their peak on Christmas morning.

I think I'll wake up later that afternoon, get some food and settle down to watch the Dr Who Christmas Special before getting ready for work.

Just me.

Because Christmas night I'm out again.

If not having some sort of celebration and silliness within the station itself, out in a patrol car in the freezing fog, with the heating on full blast.

There's no point me driving up for a few snatched hours with the family on Christmas Day; I'd just be tired out and would have to leave again as soon as I'd arrived. Celebrations for me are going to be postponed until Boxing Day. Rumour is that some of us may be able to sneak off early tonight or tomorrow night depending on who wants what. Here's hoping.

I write this not to get the sympathy vote, just to point out that some of us will be doing this Christmas very differently.

I'm sorry that this blog isn't as 'exciting' as it once was', but I've been gagged.

I would talk more of...

Attending crown court
Sorting out multi-vehicle pile-ups
Searching for missing persons
Guiding-in search and rescue helicopters
Pulling 16-hour shifts
Smashing windows
Running after people on foot
Labouring to get my learning portfolio up to date

...But I really, really can't. That's the tip, and I'm living the iceberg.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and all the best for 2008.

Especially those other Emergency Service workers who'll help pick up the pieces over the next few days.

Percentage points

A work-related post, this one. Oh dear. Shoot me.

There’s been plenty of debate these last few days regarding the latest police pay award. Many members of the public are voicing that the police are getting paid enough anyway and do not deserve a 2.5% let alone a 1.9% increase. Fair enough, I don’t think MP’s are worth consistently above-inflation pay rises either. We're all entitled to our views.

But a lot of people seem to be missing the point in this debate.

The issue that officers are so pissed about is not the award of 2.5% or 1.9% as such. It’s the fact that our pay award was due in October. The Home Office decided to drag out the pay negotiations until December, and then decided in its generosity not to back-date the pay-award to when it was due in October. Hence the 2.5% recommended by an independent pay tribunal, and initially agreed upon by the Home Officer, becomes 1.9%. Three months working for less that you were due. Any employee would be annoyed at that.

It’s the Home Office saying one thing, and doing something completely different.

I bet Jacqui Smith’s official Christmas letter, sent out to all police stations, will be on many a station dartboard.

As to whether we should strike, or have the right to? That’s a different debate entirely…

Rhythm, disrupted

The blog, in case you hadn't have guessed, has been left in limbo for a good few weeks now.

Since being 'discovered' by some bastard at work, who saw it fit not to talk to me first and advise, but to mention it to senior managers at work, I've not exactly been the most eager blogger on the block.

I've changed my blog address, deleted some key posts.

Hopefully that'll get people off my back.

If you are someone from work who's reading this though and still have a problem with anything. For god's sake come to me first. Otherwise, politely now, sod off.

In the meanwhile, dear friends & readers, you've not missed much really.

Work has been insanely busy, and that's all I can say now.

It'll take time to get back into the rhythm on here.

Just give me time.

Work

Turns out the powers that be are aware of this blog.

Change of direction will be permanent then.

Though I have ceased and desisted talking about work (on good advice from an unexpected source). I still wish to voice inane chatter occasionally about the other ridiculous things that inhabit my life from time to time. Hence a changed address, and a strict focus on the inane things that inhabit my life out of work.

If someone from work was really determined to track me down again, I doubt it would be a challenge.

Only forward

Something strange is happening to me.

I've got some motivation again.

Coping with work is one thing, but returning home to the lure of a comfy sofa, idly browsing Facebook or submitting to a multitude of other distractions, means that more often than not the spare time evaporates and next thing I know it's time to crawl into bed.

Fed up with this seemingly endless blurred sprawl of spare time with little or no achievement, I've resolved to start running again, and more importantly to get my work-related study back up to speed.

Funny thing is, like a lot of things it's the getting started that's the hard thing. Once you get the ball rolling, approaching the repetitive task you previously dreaded can seem like a breeze. Hell, I spent long enough trying to get things moving, on a whole number of fronts.

Though I've repeatedly burnt myself out since I changed careers, and I probably needed that idle spare time after all. But now that I'm coping well with work (so I believe) I have little excuse to procrastinate further over neglected duties of body and mind.

Book-tag!

Rose 'tagged' me with a booked-themed post. So here we go...

Four childhood books?

The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien
What else can one say about this book that hasn't been said already? Quite a challenge as a 12-year old but many a late-night was spent lost in Middle Earth.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis
Not quite as heavyweight as 'Rings, but equally inspired.

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' is usually the obvious choice by this author, but this story somehow struck a chord with me as a child.

The Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
A memorable and rather surreal picture book from my childhood.

Four Authors I'll read again and again.

Jeffrey Eugenides
Though he's only written two books in ten years, they're both masterpieces.

Sara Wheeler
My favourite travel writer who I credit with kick-starting my polar obsession. Humour, natural history and incredible journeys.

David Mitchell
Glad to say I started reading him before he hit it really big with 'Cloud Atlas'. Mitchell manages to take clever ideas and propel them with luscious, lyrical prose and engaging characterisation.

Peter F Hamilton
Consistently the best sci-fi Author I've read; his 'Night's Dawn' Trilogy is simply awesome reading - an incredible space opera with a mean dash of horror. Kinda of like Babylon 5 meets Event Horizon.

The First Four on my to-read list

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt
Six Days by Jeremy Bowen
Endurance by Alfred Lansing

Four Books I'd Take to a Desert Island

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F Hamilton
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Terra Incognita by Sara Wheeler

Next up... I tag... Courtney, Northern Monkey, Beth

Mr. Scruff - Honeydew

Hopefully Girlfriend will get tickets no probs to see him in December. I love his music, and I simply love the animation in this video. I like the cute comment someone put on Youtube - "I wish the world was like this." Y'know what? I do too.

One day in the calendar

I don’t know where in my old age it started but Christmas lost its sparkle and mystery somewhere along the way.

Why is it each year that collectively we seem to loose all sense, spend such insane amounts of money, get far too emotional and over-indulgent, before swearing that we’ll not do it again next year.

It’s October.

And we’ve got weeks and weeks of this overkill still to go.

It’s only one day in the calendar for god sakes.

Be merry people; but keep your heads whilst all around you are losing theirs.

(With thanks to Kipling)

People talk

It was subtly mentioned this evening by a colleague that some people I work with are aware of this blog.

It's been suggested that it's perhaps a not a good idea to blog about the job.

I've come to the conclusion, as I have been doing for a while now, that it's probably not a good idea to blog about the job.

Which is a shame really.

I've tried to share over the past time a few aspects of what is a weird & wonderful job from the point-of-view of a newbie. I've taken great strides to stay anonymous as an officer and made sure that I haven't identified the force that I work for.

However, I simply don't think I can take the risk anymore. People talk.

So if "I don't talk about work that much" as I remember saying once before, that's why.

Court

...Wasn't too bad come to think about it.


Apart from the waiting...


The defence turned up in good time.


I turned up on time.


As did the magistrates.


The prosecutor however, did not.


Some four hours late, and after some excuses and heavy-duty faxing, the trial finally got underway.


The questions from the prosecution were straight forward enough when they eventually came to me in the stand.


I stood trembling inwardly in anticipation of cross-examination by the defence.


"Officer, did you actually witness the alleged incident?"


"I did not, no. I arrived some time after the event, having been deployed there by our control room."


"No further questions your worships."


Beautiful.

Back to life, back to reality

In an act of unusual financial recklesness i went and bought an X-Box 360 this afternoon; the 'killer app' that is Halo 3 has worn down all my reserves of willpower and I've surrendered to the teenager within me. Well hey, it's the autumn, the nights are drawing in. See, that's a good reason too, don't you think?

And it's back to a sort of normality tomorrow. As in the start of a another set of shifts back at my usual station, not the relxed small-town outpost I've been enjoying for the last few weeks on a community attachment.

So it's goodbye to...

Numerous cups of tea
Foot patrol
Finishing on time (for the most)
Hanging out with the PCSO's
Having proper conversations with the public
Wondering "Well how shall I fill the last few hours?"
Updating my pocket notebook in-situ
Attending a number of incidents along the line of "Report of 6-8 juvaniles causing a nuisance...."

And it's back to...

Attemptingtoinvestigatecrimeatthesametimesasattendingincomingincidentsandallocatedincidents andissuingfixedpenaltytickets [*pause for breath*]
Quick barked conversations with the public; trying not to be rude whilst edging out the door to the next job
Deciding whether it's worth taking the formal break today or ploughing on to the next
Going to one end of the sector for a job before being called to the opposite side for something urgent
Realising I haven't eaten all day
Always having one ear on the radio
Thinking I should have been off over an hour ago
Finding new and original ways to write up quite why I couldn't make it to an allocated job

In a perverse wasy, I've kinda' missed the latter.

Oh, and I almost forgot, I'm due at court tomorrow...

Enjoying it whilst it lasts

Remember me?

I used to blog here didn't I?

Some time ago I got major fecked off and disillusioned with work. I got majorly tired... then, oh dear, I discovered Facebook.

Lack of motivation multiplied by an surprisingly addictive 'social networking' site resulted in my neglecting this little part of the internet that I created.

Sorry.

But I'm back. In a number of ways.

Though I'm not reborn, relaunching or reinventing... A notable birthday and a trip away to somewhere familiar yet still completely undiscovered... Has found me returning home, to life and to work, with the motivation and will to see things through that I think I was sorely lacking a few weeks back.

Still with me?

Good.

Work-wise (the cause of so much joy and ills) - it probably helps as well that I've not gone straight back onto response driving. I'm spending two weeks with the community beat team learning about a very different type of policing. After suffering endless jokes about the number of cups of tea consumed (from fellow response officers)... I've genuinely enjoyed doing frankly old-school things like (get this) walking, yes walking the beat. Meeting members of the public in a situation where there's not an urgent problem to be solved, and I can actually take time to talk and listen to them? That's a whole new situation to me.

But then the radio goes. There's a job going off somewhere and something in me is tugging to grab some response car keys and go whizzing out to it like the headless frazzled chicken that I was before. I ignore the radio for the most, I'm not response... I'm with the Community Team... But the instinct is irrepressible.

However I'm taking time to enjoy the calm.

While it lasts.

Yorkshire Airlines

'Proper' blog posts on their way I promise.

In the meanwhile, let me leave thee with this grand aver-tise-ment.

Makes me reet proud.

Sweden, September 2007

P1010125
Originally uploaded by orbital_ing

Finally uploaded & labelled my pictures from the recent trip. Click and enjoy. As always, I love to hear feedback in whatever form.

Journal entries

Random scribbles from the latest trip...

"Much as I like Ryanair's cheap fares, they aren't half a bunch of Nazis at times, marching up and down the aisles. They'd stow your internal organs in the overhead lockers if they weren't attached."

"Part of me still feels at home, and part of me realises that it's been a staggering 18 years since I last lived here."

"Apart from a few a few incessantly annoying habits, Sweden remains practically utopian. Wide open spaces, friendly people, efficient and cheap public transport... Hell, even Swedish TV is watchable these days."

"We taxied into the rather minute Gothenburg City Airport, which unlike it's larger sister Landvetter, gives Humberside a run for it's money in the tin-pot stakes."

"The polite person in me finds it quite frustrating that the relatives insist on paying for everything. The backpacker in me just keeps quiet and continues with the thank-you's..."

"The one thing I had insisted on doing that night was seeing the England football international, so Kenneth found an ex-pat pub in the city and we decamped there. Big screen, complete with boisterous, swearing crowd and half-decent pub grub. Ah, just like home..."

"Sightseeing has dwindled, through exhaustion, into retail therapy."

"I'd deliberately booked a slightly slower coach than the straight-through express, thinking I'd see more of the countryside and towns I'd visited. Seven cramped hours later I was regretting the decision."

"Following a long and ineptly-navigated walk back to the hostel..."

"...And find a Czech bistro in town memorable for it's GIGANTIC chairs."

"Food came in small and delicious, or large and average portions."

"The DJ keeps it cutting-edge, the crowd go wild for it and the atmosphere becomes irresistible."

I forgot to mention...

...I'm on holiday by the way.

Until the 20th.

Currently typing this in Sweden, noth of Goteborg (or Gothenburg to give it it's English title).

Not really doing much touristy stuff, rather concentrating most on seeing relatives.

However, I'm heading up to Stockholm on Sunday to spend a few days there. In all my years of living Sweden and visiting the country, I've never set foot in the Swedish capital. Can't wait.

Look after Britain whilst I'm away, won't you?

Jane Tomlinson

On the deeply unfortunate subject of tragic deaths of remarkable people; like many others this afternoon I was saddened to hear of the passing of Jane Tomlinson.

What more can one say?

Another remarkable individual doing extraordinary things in extraordinary circumstances.

An example to us all.

Diana

With all the talk about the woman herself, on this the 10th anniversary of her tragic death, what’s another tribute?

Some think she was angel walking the earth.

Many roll their eyes at the mere mention of her name.

Me? I think she was a fairly normal woman who took some unexpected and quite remarkable turns in life.

My brother and I drove through the night to be a part of the crowds in London at her funeral. We wanted to pay tribute, but also experience one of the most unique and watershed events in this nation’s recent history.

Diana had vision and will to use her privileged position to do some good.

She actually gave a damn.

Sat in a coffeehouse today, wondering...

Why are there only a few comfy armchairs/sofas for people to fight over, with all the rest being hard-backed chairs? Why not just make all the chairs... Comfy ones?

My heart bleeds

Prisoners are upset at being kept in cells for most of the days because of the prison officer strike.

House price rises are at their slowest rate this year.

Boo fucking-hoo.

Neglect

To all those regular readers, lurkers and those with passing interest...

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry I haven't given my blog much material of late.

Thing is, I'm really feeling the strain at work again.

At times, I've felt close to breaking point.

And I'd be lying if I said I hadn't had thoughts about jacking the whole thing in.

Coming home after 10, 11 sometimes 14-hour shifts (often without a formal break), the last thing I want to do is pour my mind out here when I'm at my most tired and cynical.

And what is straining me, is that after the long shifts, out-of-hours I'm expected to work on my training portfolio which goes towards me passing my two-year probation. That I have had trouble with, because at home, or on my days off... I'm simply too tired. However, there's no two ways about it, and if I deep down want the job in the end I'm going to have to do the work, simple as that. Them's the breaks and that's the way it's always been.

So I'm sorry that the joire-de-vivre has gone from these pages of late. Hopefully this is just a brief break in transmission and I'll get my mojo back soon enough.

Just give me a little time.

Wherever you are, whatever you're doing; I respect anyone who has to cope with work stress, both in and out of work.

It shouldn't be this way, should it?

With rights go responsobility

...And if you murder a fellow human being, you should damn well expect to loose some of your 'human rights'.

I am absolutely gobsmacked that the lawyers for the killer of headteacher Philip Lawrence have sucessfully argued that he should not be deported from Britain upon his release next year.

Rehabilitation is an important cornerstone of our justice system. But whatever your age, if you are an imigrant to this country then if you comitt murder, you should expect to be on a flight out of here.

Anything less is an insult to the victim and those who mourn for them.

My Daemon

Cute moment(s) of the day

So I'm at this lady's house, taking a statement regarding an incident. I'm sat in her living room talking to her and her friend and they both keep glancing out at the green outside casting a watching eye over their respective children.

"Uh-oh," declares one of the mums "little Johnny's gone and pushed little Matthew over."

She goes and investigates and returns a moment later with Johnny in tow who's sniffling and nursing some blood coming from his nose.

There's some cooing, some reassurance to Johnny then we carry on with the statement.

A moment later there's a quiet knock at the door and then a number of children enter the house. There's a few excited voices chirping this happened, no, that happend. Then this one sheepish looking kid enters the room. He looks at me, looks at one of the mums, then back at me.

Suddenly he bursts into tears and declares

"I didn't mean it, he pushed me first!!"

It takes a moment for the penny to drop.

"No, no!" I realise "it's nothing to do with you, I'm just talking to your mum here."

The bawling stops. The mums fuss over the kids for a moment before letting them back out to play.

Little Johnny is still sniffling. But to cheer him up I promise that before I drive away in my police car I'll put my blue lights on, just for him.

Which when I leave, I do, much to his delight.

Aww, bless.

His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass - Extended Preview

Okay, so they changed the name for the American audience. But otherwise this extended trailer looks just like I imagined Pulman's world(s) when reading the books. Looks stunning. Can't wait.

Headaches

Whether it be sinus problems, hay fever or just a really bad cold... I feel like crap.

This wasn't helped by the fact either that I've returned from work two days running with splitting headaches. Today's was so bad I came in at 18:00 and went straight to bed for three hours in an attempt to sleep it off. I've taken strides to make sure I'm not getting dehydrated with the sudden shock of better weather. However if this persists for three days running then I'm off to the docs.

Work is oh-kay, but not as enjoyable of late. Had a bit of a meeting with one of the supervisors and he politely told me that I need to up my figures. Whatever your experience or not, figures count. Target culture is gospel. It's sad really. And mighty frustrating too, just when I'm starting to really get a handle on one aspect of my job, the crime workload, something else bubbles up that you're supposed to keep in check. All these whilst providing a response service to the public and doing study NVQ work at home.

It's not hard to see now why some officers burn themselves out awfully quickly.

1-18-08

Just started reading some advance buzz about this movie coming in 2008. Godzilla meets Blair Witch?

Stealth Mode

Most of last night's shift was spent in an unmarked car, much to the delight of the general public.

We'd drift through some part of the town centre, spot some general nuisance, hop out and say "Excuse me", often met by a stunned responce of "Where'd you come from?!" followed by swift apologies.

The other part of the evening was spent doing some subtle obs in a location . Like a stakeout, just ten times more dull than you see in the movies. So we drive down this back road, park outside a member-of-the-public's house (unrelated) to get observations on this particular stretch. Several minutes later MOP comes out of his house, looks at us a little concerned, and goes back in.

"Ah, I suppose we better reassure him." I suggest to my colleague, and quikly hop out to have a word with him.

"Hello there sir. It's the police. We're doing some observations in this area, but I'm afraid I can't really tell what you we're doing."

"Ah right, that's lucky, I was just about to call you."

Maximo Park - Our Velocity

I cannot get this song out of my head at the moment...

Oh no, not another 'social networking' site...

After repeated nagging from a few buddies of mine I've finally joined Facebook.

More wonderful ways to waste hours on rainy days.

Any of you regular readers on it?

Let me know and I'll link to you...

How'd you find me?

Intrigued by the results of others' sitemeter results, I decided to sign this blog up to it to.

And boy, are the results... Eye-opening.... To say the least.

Seems people have chanced upon my blog with the following google search phrases:

transformers snapshots

Fair enough, I mean have been banging on in a geeky fashion how much the kid in me is looking forward to seeing the movie.

target culture

Ah yes. I hate it.

late for work every day

Thankfully, I never am. Powers that be would be rather pissed, as would the shift coming off...

Chris Rae funeral Cromarty

Who?!

inspector monkfish

Oh, he's going to love that...

Stacey

Probably the most heartbreaking words I've ever had to meet. I miss you chick.

why people kill

Good point. Why?

Picture of UK Police Officer in full Uniform

Ooer. Calm yourself, ladies.

Prize-winning Sheppard's Pie

Huh?

Roadblocks

Whilst I was stood out on a busy roundabout of one of the county's main arterial roads this morning...

I realised that I get a strangely perverse pleasure from sealing off roads and telling people they simply cannot go that way.

We've all got to get a little schadenfreude from somewhere.

Keeps us human.

Sicko

Love him or loathe him - this time round he's got a very good point indeed...

Change of scenery

Sunday night was interesting then; the final shift of this block.

Instead of covering my usual market town in the south of the county, because of staff shortages they send me to the other side of the county to assist in covering a somewhat larger market town.

Thank god I was double-crewed on the 22:00 through 07:00 shift. Basically I turned up with little idea how to even get into the police station itself, let alone which sector I’d be covering or who the hell I’d be working with.

Turns out I'll crew one of two cars covering the town and a massive rural area.

Highlights of the night:

• First job – assist other unit at a domestic where male turns up at his ex’s place, pissed-off that she’s got a new boyfriend. Rants & raves outside for a bit before going round the back of her place and putting a brick through one of the windows of her car and ripping off all the windscreen wipers. On arrival he states to the other unit “You’re probably here about the damage I caused then.” Why thank you.
• Blue-light run for miles down one of the county’s main arterial roads at high speed. unsurprisingly we set off a speed camera which is solved with a quick transmission of “Control, can you show a speed camera activation at blah-blah.” Sorted. Report of animals on the carriageway – deer, possibly cows (?!). Area-search no trace when we get there. They’ve doubtless mooved on.
• Report of domestic. Male and female, female states she wants male to be reomoved from the house. Arrive and they're arguing - she slaps him right in front of us. We seperate the two, give a little advice (especially to her), and he then agrees to be taken to a friend's place for a few hours so they can both cool off. As he's walking to the car she then declares "I wan't him back here now so we can talk this over."
• Just before we knock off close to 07:00, report of male coming into one of the train stations on an early-morning service refusing to pay his fare. Foreign male, big burly bloke apparently and the train guard was reluctant to challenge him as he was clutching a piece of official paperwork detaining his court appearance at one of the county’s courts on an assault charge. As two 6ft+’ers we form the welcoming committee and negotiate for him to leave the train and escort him to buy a ticket for the next train, which he does. Phew. Lucky really – an arrest at 06:45 for something would have probably seen us stay on till at least 10:00.

Being out of my usual sector, there was no real paperwork to fill in, as anything I did pick up would be simply assigned to local officers to investigate. Basically the night was just job-to-job.

In a way that’s how police work should be really.

I can dream.

Five by Five

Having been tagged by Girl Next Door a little while back, and being a bit bored this evening. Here's another of those random question thingies...

* * * * *

WHAT WERE YOU DOING TEN YEARS AGO?

Finishing my first year of uni. My god... Such promise. Such fun.

SONGS TO WHICH YOU KNOW ALL THE LYRICS:

Off the top of my head... Those that come to mind.

'Insomnia' by Faithless
'Hold On' by Sarah McLachlan
'Better Things' by Massive Attack
'Porcelain' by Moby
'Pedestal' by Portishead

FIVE THINGS YOU WOULD DO IF YOU WERE A MILLIONAIRE:

Buy a house (maybe then I might be able to afford one in this goddamn market!)
Travel. Loads.
Invest.
Live off the interest.
Pay off any of my friends or families debts.

FIVE BAD HABITS:

Procrastinating
Forgetting my point halfway through a sentence
Driving too fast (ironic that)
Sniffling (and not blowing my nose)
Buying yet more T-Shirts

FIVE THINGS YOU LIKE DOING:

Travelling
Reading
Driving
Imagining
Watching quality TV... Eg. Lost, Prison Break, Battlestar Galactica

FIVE THINGS YOU’LL NEVER WEAR AGAIN:

A fair number of the T-Shirts I own, but refuse to throw
Shell suits
Collar-less shirts (the ones that were big in the 90's)
Bright white trainers
Clothing marked 'XL' when I used to like the baggy look as an indie-kid student

FIVE FAVOURITE TOYS:

New Car (I got me a Focus 1.6 Zetec the other week... Oooo, did I not mention?)
PC
Mobile
Digital Camera
Anything with a Bluetooth connection

TAG! You’re it!

Don't Blame The Stars

Cut My Life Into Pieces

After The Jump

Think, Think, Think

Pics move, in mysterious ways...

Two things...

1. I've uploaded & labelled the Dublin Pics... Yay!

2. Yahoo Photos is winding up its service. Boo. However they have offered a 'shift your pics over to Flickr for free' service. Yay! The archive of my past travel pics are currently being shifted over to Flickr and will appear soon.

In the meanwhile, here's the Dublin shots... Enjoy & please let me know what you think.

www.flickr.com orbital_ing's Dublin - July 2007 photoset

Dublin Rocks!

Here's a quick taster.

More to be uploaded in the coming week.

Suffice as to say...

Dublin rocks!

Lemon Jelly - Nice Weather For Ducks

Perfect soundtrack to the torrential rain.

Gotta' love the big-band break down towards the end.

As someone commented on YouTube:

"Omg! Karl Marx on LSD!"

Genius.

Then it all went a little bit Pete Tong...

So I head back up north for the weekend and all breaks loose.

1. Thierry Henry signs for Barcelona.
2. Two of my long-term friends break up their respective relationships. One is married, the other unmarried with a young child.
3. I end up waking up on the sofa of a friend-of-a-friend's place at stupid-o'clock on Sunday morning with no idea what the hell they're called and where my other drinking buddy got to. I had to discretely look around the living room for a bill and hope there was only one bloke living in the house and that was his name.
4. Due to torrential rain and randomly open/closed roads my 90 min return journey took closer to 4 & 1/2hrs.

Next time I get all relaxed & zen I think I'll declare it a little less loudly.

However I'm now packed & ready to scoot down to see the girlfriend and then onward to Dublin on Thursday. Thanks for all the tips & things from everyone for Dublin. I shall most certainly report back with experiences & pics.

Everything Zen

I've got a week's 'protected learning' back at the training unit which has been, to be frank, spectacularly dull. It has however been lifted by seeing all of my training colleagues again. What his me especially this evening is how these people, over time, unexpectedly became friends, as well as colleagues. Not what I would have expected when we first started out; such a disparate bunch.

We've come a long way.

So tonight was a nice chilled Chinese buffet with a bunch of them and a few drinkies.

What's chilling me out even more though is the prospect of...

*gasp*

Time off.

No wonder I've been feeling so stressed at times, I realised only the other day that I've been pretty much working solid since January the 8th!

Days off here & there, but not a proper week-or-so solid break.

Just tomorrow to go, then it's off until July 2nd!

Even more exciting, I'm off travelling again.

Only a shift hop this time, but girlfriend & I are going on a city break to Dublin next week for four days.

Not a moment too soon.

It's what we do

Some oh-so big and brave soul has been posting on a number of police-related blogs, sharing their wit charm and supposed glee over the stabbing of a police officer in Luton.

Clearly they want to get a reaction.

Usually I bite my tounge and don't rise to it.

For once...

I replied.

* * * *

Anon.

Know what PIG stands for?

Pride. Guts & intelligence.

But hey, anon, abuse as all you want.

There'll come a day when you need us.

And then what will you say to us, when you really, really need us.

When you get bottled down the pub.

When your place gets burgled.

When you've wrapped your car around the central reservation.

Protect the public?

Yes.

Including you?

Yes.

Because it's what we do.

The Cinematic Orchestra - All That You Give

Amongst all the stress...

This is chilled bliss.

Late night work worry

I get second thoughts about the job.

On the most frustrating days, even allowing for urgent incidents, I can struggle to investigate my own workload crimes.

What's worse is that from attending incidents you can pick up even more crimes for investigation to add to your ongoing allocated crimes.

What's most annoying though is when you get something allocated and told that it is your priority. Even though the things you've already got on your plate are supposed to be your priority.

Then an urgent comes in and that supersedes all previous priorities.

Later you're asked why you didn't do various things in time and why you haven't got 'X' number of ticks-in-boxes from your shifts on patrol.

Prioritisation is a skill, but there comes a point when you cannot split yourself into five bloody separate officers to do five different things.

Blame falls downwards. And one of the most depressing things about the job so far seems to be that sometimes it's not always about doing the right thing, but doing enough to cover your own back to deflect the downward cascade of blame, crap and shifting goalposts.

Because chronically stretched resources mean that you simply cannot do the right thing by everybody.

London 2012

Design gurus strike again.

This sucks.

Sign the petition.

Please.

I'm so proud that the games are coming to London, but this is a naff logo to unveil to a global audiance of billions.

Best man for the job?

So on this set of rest days I did a bit of a round-trip to see my brother down south, back via the girlfriend.

My brother specifically I hadn’t seen for a good few months now and I made a real effort to drive the few hundred miles to see him as he’s going abroad.

With work.

In a few weeks.

To sunny Helmand province.

Afghanistan.

Hence the special effort, to see him before he goes.

Over breakfast my brother asked me if I would like to be his best man, which was a real surprise and honour. Last time round he chose one of his friends, and to be honest I was absolutely fine with that. Honoured I am, ah yes, but there is responsibility.

Even though it won’t be until next April, I’m a little intimidated by getting up and speaking in front of a few hundred people; taking a fine line between humour and ceremony.

However there are the fun parts. I get an active party in planning his ‘stag’ do.

Adventure sports?

Strippers?

Adventure sports with strippers?

Thankfully I’ve got plenty of time.

But at the rate this year is going…

Go together like a horse and carriage

Had one of those sweet 'family' moments in the last-hour-or-so where my brother rang me to say he'd asked he girlfriend to marry him.

Awww, bless.

Granted many of us thought it inevitable - considering they're well rather matched and have been 'going steady' for some time now. Still... A surprise. And a wonderful one at that.

Which reminds me that I have a cousins' wedding to attend in August, and some of girlfriends' close friends are getting married in June/July if my memory serves me right.

So I better brush the dust off my suit and sling it in the direction of the dry cleaners. Note to self.

Some say I scrub up alright, but more often that not I'm the one sat at the back of these 'do's fiddling with my tie and looking awkward.

Which is why, god-forbid should any lass be insane enough to want to do the big-M with me, I'd much prefer to have a small intimate ceremony, rather than a big expensive one.

The story of my life - I'm uncomfortable being the centre of attention and having parties in my honour; I much prefer being a guest.

Becks is Back!

Thank god Steve McClaren has seen sense and recalled David Beckham.

Every player has off games, dips in form, but when other players seem to be going through the motions for 90 minutes, more often than not he's the hardest working player in an England shirt.

So what about the fame - he didn't ask to be put on a pedestal, he's simply got where he by playing a game he loves with a quite remarkable talent. If you're going to get given a bit of money for it, are you going to refuse?

He's had his moments of madness, but I for one will always raise a glass to a simply awesome player.

Transformers

The fanboy in me can't wait for this.

Read the comics religiously as a kid.

And Starscream's moves? Too cool.

Fetch the popcorn.

Blogizzle

Being the easily amused type I found a link to this site on Northern Monkey's blog and then spent ages wetting myself with laughter as I ran site after site through the translation engine.

Try...

The Conservative Party

BBC News

or that bastion of middle-England

The Daily Mail

Love it.

Sudden and serious

Oh my god.

Last night's shift took a sudden and very serious turn.

Suffice as to say that it will doubtless go to crown court, I can say little else.

Watching the local news this lunchtime was a little surreal.

Don't forget your scythe

Busy shift.

And what should I get?

But sudden death #5.

Was it something I said?

Target Culture

Shit falls downwards.

Which is why, as a junior responce officer I could not help but agree with the following articles...

Firstly the thoughts of the Police Federation - the closest coppers have to a 'union'.

Secondly the thoughts of an experienced beat bobby.

At the end of each shift my colleagues & I fill out what we affectionately call a 'bean counter'. Basically a 'ticks in boxes' grid of what incidents, arrests, tickets etc we've had in the course of each shift and fax it off to the relevant department.

Ah, the joy of paperwork.

Whilst I can kinda' see the point of measuring officers, the fact that some incidents we go to can tie us up all day and get us no 'ticks' at all is rather frustrating. We can spend entire shifts serving the public good in some way shape or form - but oh no... You can't measure that can you?

Don't fear the reaper

This last time year I was lucky enough to have navigated the course of my life without having seen a dead body.

In the space of just over two months I've now seen four.

We get called out occasionally to what are known as 'sudden deaths'.

SD's are, from a police point of view, where a death occurs out of the care of the medical profession and is unexpected. A police officer will attend after the paramedics to give the bodies a cursory check to make sure that there are no suspicious circumstances. Next you fill out a Death Reported form, which is a checklist of questions you have to ensure you ask the next of kin attending, whatever stage of grief they may be at. It's delicate balance finding the right tone sometimes.

Before I stated this job I thought the sight of the bodies may stay with me, but I'm surprised in myself that this does not appear to have been the case. I can attend, be sympathetic and do the necessaries. But part of me manages to stay a little... Disconnected.

Maybe it's the fact that the bodies I've seen this far have all been old. They've generally died in their sleep. They've seen a good innings.

Question is though, how will I react when faced with someone cut down in their prime?

RTC's & Overtime

I just counted up my overtime hours and last week I addition to my normal working shifts I've pulled a 60-70hr week. No wonder I'm feeling a little burnt out of late! Feels like I'm living at work at the moment... I can't complain though, ever since I joined this aspect of the job has been flagged up.

Last night's sample incident:

2-vehicle RTC, one car comes tearing into a roundabout taking this poor older driver completely by surprise. Older driver is alright & uninjured but his car is a write-off. Ditto the idiots' vehicle and what's more they start making off from the scene. Myself, a traffic unit and dog unit attend. I go to the scene, speak to witnesses and they point out the idiots disappearing into a field in the distance. I direct the traffic/dog units to their location and unsurprisingly when caught up with and faced with a snarling dog they soon give themselves up. Driver is ascertained and breath-tests determine he's completely pissed. 2/3hrs work at scene/station resulting from complete recklessness, however two idiots detained.

Nice.

The first woman to swim in Saudi

Absolutely fascinating/disturbing article that's well worth a few minutes of your time.

Public Order

Extremely busy day today assisting in the policing of a medium-size market town in the throws of a major public festival.

You've got to smile at the logic of a control room though who splits the staff onto two channels - those directly policing the event itself and those assisting. They kept shouting up on my channel for response officers (all, er, two of us) to attend incidents all over town, and more often than not they were sending us to locations mere yards away from the festival route.

"Offender is heading down so-and-so road..."

Right. So the half-a-dozen PSCO's right next door might've been a better option then, rather then getting me to fight my way through town in a response car with half the roads closed.

Ah well. We can but try.

Was thinking on a lonely drive how much I've seen in these eight-or-so weeks since I went independent in March. Dead bodies, house fires, car crashes, blood, vomit, foul language and abuse aplenty. And more often than not - long gawping stares from members of the public acting like they’ve never seen a Police Officer before.

Chiming in

Blogging has taken much of a backseat of late.

Not that I don’t enjoy doing it – rather work is just so damn tiring that I come home, sit in front of a flashing blank cursor for a few minutes and then slope off either towards the cooker, bed or the TV in creative defeat.

Often in the quieter moments on patrol or around about the witching hour on a nightshift, I think of some insightful ramble into the more intriguing aspects of my job that I suimply must share. Sadly more often than not they’re either simply forgotten on the trip home, or like sand through fingers I lose that wonderful turn-of-phrase that struck me quite suddenly earlier when something trivial distracts me.

*sigh*

Otherwise; currently enjoying the girlfriend’s hospitality on my days off, destroying worlds with her lad on Halo and undergoing rigorous psychological vetting by her friends on a number of nights out. That and drinking copious amounts of coffee in deepest Norwich.

Anyway, another quick chime in just to let you all know that I’m still alive.

Someone slam on the brakes though.

May already?!

Royksopp - What Else Is There?

Sat perusing videos by some of my favourite artists on youtube and this one just blew me away.

Original, haunting and utterly beautiful.

Much respect to my fellow Scandinavians.

Plays best at night, don't you think?

Alan Johnston

Some militants are really thick.

I mean why, oh why, kidnap the only western journalist living and working in Gaza who has widespread support from his Arab peers? Why take a westerner who dares to tell it like it is; who lives amongst Palestinians, empathises with them and struggles to get their voices heard worldwide?

It makes no sense.

Click the following, and please sign the petition.

Guns. Kill. People.

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

- United States Constitution, Second Amendment, 1787

220 years later?

Simply, lethally, unnecessary.

Some sick fuck from the NRA has apparently said that were other students armed then the shooting may have been stopped earlier.

I hope members of the NRA are tucked up in bed tonight, sleeping soundly, as candlelit vigils are held at Virginia Tech.

Media

I was just thinking.

Prince William calls it a day with posh bird.

Hmmmm.

A media story about something the media had a big part in?

Captured sailors sell their stories.

A media story about selling media stories?

Dogs chasing their own tails methinks.

Help The Police

Granted, more Youtube posting makes for lazy blogging, but I saw this on PC Blogg's site and absolutely loved it.

Don't get it?

Google "NWA police lyrics" all in one, or on Youtube.

"Searchin' my car, looking for the biscuits..."

Anyone who knows me, knows that is quite an accurate statement...

Rapping Republicans?

I must credit Moby's rather excellent blog for this link.

Take a quick look, and cringe.

That's bad... Really bad.

He makes Vanilla Ice look like Jay-Z.

As one Youtube comment neatly puts it:

"Meanwhile, in Iraq..."

Fresh

Not to detract from another one of ol' JC's big days, but I thought I'd give this blog a bit of a freshen up.

Hope you like it.

Memento Mori

Inquest

I guess I don't talk about work that much

But thing is, I come back following a shift and am absolutely shattered.

Take this evening for instance, just rolled in after a 11-hours shift (add 35 mins travelling time either side). The only reason I'm typing this is because I'm patiently waiting for the pizza to cook in the oven.

And the other thing is; following such long and often incredibly busy shifts (often sans break, sans refreshment) I'm quite happy to get back home, shut the door and put work clear out of my mind. I'm in awe of officers like PC Bloggs who pretty much live and breathe the job even out of work.

I'm not posting to whinge, just explaining the lack of excited work-related posts these days.

The novelty of this job has finally worn off.

The Propaganda War

As a frequent traveller, I tend to have the deepest respect and interest in other nations, cultures and a general curiosity regarding foreign affairs.

But really, how stupid do the Iranian leadership actually think we are?

Are we supposed to buy these 'apologies' from our captured service personnel?

They way this is going, that the Iranians seem to be forcing confrontation on all fronts, is deeply worrying.

An overwhelming majority of the world's population would not wish to see another conflict in the Gulf in their lifetime, but at this rate...

Battlestar

Indulgently must shout-out about quite possibly the best show on television right now.

In my humble opinion.

Just viewed the season 3 finale and sat there afterwards, a little slack-jawed.

To quote Time magazine rating the series as their critic's #1 show:

"Most of you probably think this entry has got to be a joke. The rest of you have actually watched the show. Laugh if you want, but this story of enemies within is dead serious, and seriously good."

When I like something, I tend to get a little evangelical about it.

Normal service will be resumed shortly.

Infinitely more useful

Good lord. Dr No and Beardy Adams sat at the same table... Talking... Though not to each other. As one veteran northern Ireland correspondent put it today:

"Do not adjust your set"

The other notable thing that happened today was the fact that I passed my one-day basic police driver's course. Yay. This means I can now drive Police cars. However. This does not mean I can blue-light. Not for a while. In fact, that's a three-week course that turns you into a controlled maniac through city centres will be a long while coming yet (usual cost/personnel reasons).

Anyway, as a police officer this means I am now infinitely more useful in the eyes of my peers.

We Come 1

Thanks again must go to all of the kind message of support; those bloggily, email, text and voice that I have received since I've embarked on this crazy new career choice of mine.

Sorry guys but there's precious little of note to report really since I've gone independent. Explanations are too lengthy or too tedious to blog easily, but suffice as to say I'm managing to cope. I think. One moment things make sense, the next they're twice as confused. But slowly, oh so slowly, I think the fog is lifting.

Had an interesting few days off. Girlfriend, her lad, and I saw Faithless live at the NIA in Birmingham amongst other things. To say it was a bloody awesome gig was an understatement. They aren't one of the consistently top-rated live acts around for nothing. One quite fascinating thing I observed at the gig however was the pure cross-section of society attending. Within our section of the crowd were countless twentysomethings, teenagers, a family, some middle-aged couples and even a few retirees. You'd have to see it to believe it that all were positively dancing their asses off come the end.

We Come 1. Indeed.

And then...

Ten weeks on.

The end of my formal tutorship.

Incidents, files, late nights, stress.

Everything building to a crescendo.

A whole bunch of signatures and cross-referencing of my portfolio.

And then...

Tutor: "Right, and now you're on independent."

Me: "Oh." [Pause] "I mean, wow! Brilliant... Thanks! But oh... Shit."

*Tutor grins*

A few nights double-crewing with colleagues until I have my one-day driving course, and then I'm allowed out by myself. In a police car. To cause havoc on the streets.

Just me. In uniform. Alone. On the end of a radio.

That sound you hear is the wind whistling past; having been pushed of the ledge and expected to fly.

Better start flapping.

And soon.

Gotye - Heart's A Mess

Away for a few days and I come back to find an email from a friend of mine (who shares an eerie similar music taste) urging me to check this Aussie artist out.

Good find indeed - this is a fabulous track.

For some reason it sounds like so many things I've heard before, yet at the same time it sounds like nothing I've ever heard... If that makes sense?

And simply gorgeous animation.

Do give this a listen if you have a moment.

Close to the ledge

I know I haven't talked about work terribly much on this blog lately.

For those of you who have been supportive & genuinely interested, thanks guys.

Things continue to go well overall.

The worrying part is that I am beginning to come to the end of my tutorship and now worryingly close to having things signed off and then pushed close to the ledge and expected to fly solo.

I've had nine arrests in total. Unsurprisingly all of them males:

1. Criminal Damage
2. Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm
3. Drink / Drive
4. S3 Mental Health Act
5. Drink / Drive
6/7. Dishonestly obtaining electronic communications
8. Possession of a bladed weapon in a public place
9. Assault occasioning actual bodily harm

On top of that there's been tickets a 'plenty and all sorts of tedious and interesting experiences along the way.

I would have written further about things along the way, but I've been so frightfully busy that I just haven't had the time.

Sorry guys, I know you're missing out on all sorts of juicy titbits, but I'll get back in the groove when things settle down.

Eventually.

Left of the Middle

I love Wikipedia.

Pick a subject, any subject, and chances are it's on there.

For some reason I found myself wondering yesterday why parts of the world drive on the right-hand side, and others the left.

You'd think it's simply just due to colonialism down the ages, and the inevitable backlash.

And that's sort-of true, yes, but only in part.

The historical reasons are quite interesting actually.

If you like that sort of thing.

Talking about other lefty things...

I see the Liberals are mooting a possible power-share with Labour should parliament be hung at the next election. Fabulous. Fine by me if it keeps the Tories out.

And my favourite left-leaning newspaper has an interesting article today about the latest word-of-the-moment, as recently introduced to me by the girlfriend.

"Meh."

Watch the skies

If you read this before this evening, fabulous.

Look up, tonight.

If reading this tomorrow or later and you didn't raise your eyes to the sky...

Here's what you missed.

Covered In Bees!

I've had this Eddie Izzard clip going around in my head for the last week-or-so now. Whether you like it or not, I'm sharing.

Figures

Where do they get these figures from?

I mean there's science... There's estimation... And pure guesswork, surely?

Quick scan at the news.

Currently 700,000 - or one person in every 88 in the UK - has dementia, incurring a yearly cost of £17bn.

A new report claims it will cost £76m to repair potholes on minor roads across Worcestershire.

The cost of the 2012 London Olympics could rise to nearly four times the figure set out in the city's bid for the Games, the BBC has learned. The Treasury and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) are discussing a price of £9bn - up from an initial figure of £2.35bn.

How much do all these reports cost?

Is it just me or is there an news report out each day saying something to the effect of...

"A new report out today says we're all going to die, everything is shit, things have failed, and frankly we're all buggered."

*sigh*

We may as well just sit down and die on our arses then.

Policy, procedure, and when to panic

Phew.

Had a performance review of-sorts this week by my tutor, and me being me I'd not exactly been looking forward to it. However, my quiet dread has proved somewhat misplaced once again as nope, it wasn't half as bad as I'd been expecting. Yes there are plenty of learning issues to take on board, but my tutor is now talking about when, rather than if I become fit for independent patrol - something I was convinced I was falling well short of once again.

See, though I continue to enjoy the job, it seems every time I think I begin to understand policy, procedure and when to panic, someone tells me to look at things slightly differently, consider another factor.

And so I stop.

Mouth a quiet

"Oh."

Scratch my head and try to figure it out all over again.

But today was a good day, and I think I might be finally getting the hang of this. Or, well, what a trainee constable is supposed to know at this stage anyway. I've got the rest of my career to continue learning.

Beatboxing flute?

Only on Youtube... If your foot isn't tapping by the end of this then you've lost your rhythm dude.

Greetings from the night

Sorry if I've been out of the blogosphere of late.

Work remains busy as hell, if it's not busy with incidents, it's paperwork-a-rama.

Files. Updates. Portfolios. Tasking. Blaa.

Just returned from a late shift at stupid-o'clock and I'm not quite sleepy yet, so thought I better throw a quick few lines down seeing as it's been so long.

There have been some 'highlights' in the past few weeks however, which I shall endeavour to update you on in more depth when time allows, namely...

• An incident where we attend a chap with mental health issues to remove him to a place of safety. On arrival he's kissing his mum & aunt goodbye, smiling. Then with no warning he turns and punches my tutor. Big scuffle ensues. He gets restrained, arrested and eventually removed to custody, and eventually a secure ward at a local hospital because his 'secure accommodation' refuse to take him back.
• End of last week we find ourselves in a local village around 03:00 investigating reports of suspicious males hanging around parked cars. We turn a corner, see a male doing just that, observe him getting into his car parked alongside. We come up behind him, challenge with blue lights, and he makes off! Chase ensues with tutor doing constant updates on the radio, we head over the county border and by then the local force there take over with high-powered pursuit cars. We peel off and return to base and later get the report that four males were detained from that car.

Apart from that it's still been response callouts, routine stops, tickets and PNC checks. Getting the basics nailed down. As I say, I'll try and write more later, but just to let you know I'm ticking over nicely.

Surprisingly I still find myself in a relationship with an understanding, warm and generous lass. I haven't scared her off yet, so something must be going right.

Anyways, in the meanwhile, this should keep you amused if you're bored. I can't wait to see 'Hot Fuzz' on my days off next week it should be uniquely satisfying for me and my colleagues.

Now, to get some sleep perhaps...

Four things

End of a busy late-shift.

Still buzzing and can't wind down.

Saw this on a blog I occasionaly peruse, and stole it for mine.

* * * *

Four Jobs I've Had:
1. Police Constable (present)
2. Bookseller
3. Countryside & Community Officer
4. Kitchen washer-upper & go-fer

Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. The Hunt For The Red October
2. The Abyss
3. Labyrinth
4. Contact

Four places I have lived:
1. East Yorkshire, UK
2. Gothenburg, Sweden
3. Victoria, Australia
4. Hertfordshire, UK

Four Shows I like:
1. Battlestar Galactica (redux)
2. Life On Mars
3. Lost
4. Harry Hill's TV Burp (The *only* good thing on ITV)

Four places I have been on holiday: (oodles, but last four...)
1. Berlin, Germany
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Prague, Czech Republic
4. Turkey

Four of my favorite foods are:
1. Pizza
2. Stir Fry
3. Yorkshire Pudding filled with sausage & veg
4. Filled Pasta

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. In a warm bed
2. Travelling. Somewhere.
3. At the end of a weeks' shifts
4. Other side't Humber, with good friends, in a pub I know well...

I. Want. That. Car.

I just looked in the TV listings and they're featuring the Bugatti Veyron again tonight on 'Top Gear'.

*drool*

Now I'm no big petrol head, but I LOVE the show.

Ok, those who know me know that I'm rather environmental, all things considered, but sometimes I say, hell, throw carbon to the wind in the name of entertainment!

I'm applogise, Gaia, but in honour of this quite astounding car, here's the infamous 'Bugatti Veyron vs. Plane' race from that last series.

Great TV. Great humour. Stunning car.

(parts 2/3/4 are linked on youtube, the audio may not always synch, but stick with it!)

Glow

Haven't been able to get this song out of my head for weeks.

Usually I'd youtube it, but I can't find it on there.

Drat.

I know it's not much without the melody, but the poetry of it still strikes a chord in me considering recent events.

* * * * *

UNKLE - 'Glow'

Out of all contexts and scenery,
It shows laughter rings inside of me,
Aching paths don't cross so easily,
Break my back to see things differently.

So glow,
We've held off the cold,
Low and behold,
The seasons passing toll.

I find reasons and stop wondering,
The different ways in which we feel the same,
Give too much to what-if imagery,
Now the second time means more to me.

So glow,
We've held off the cold,
So glow,
We've held off the cold,
Low and behold,
Turns winter spring and fall.

U2 - Window In The Skies

Cleverly synched...

Farewell

What follows is an article from the Peterborough Evening Telegraph. I can't bring myself to write about the funeral at any great length.

I'm exhausted mentally.

These last ten days have really worn me down on all levels, and trying to get back into the swing of things at work have been hard. Following my usual rest-days and compassionate leave my mind seems to have been all over the place. Though I have had much support from friends and family, at the end of the day going home to any empty house can give you way too much time to think.

But I shall not dwell, rather continue to celebrate the life of a quite wonderful lass.

On a clear, bright and crisp winter day, looking around the interior of a church packed to the rafters for one woman, you truly realise how many lives one person can touch.

* * * * *

Sad farewell to Peterborough police officer

The funeral was held of [Stacey] of Yaxley, who died in a car accident on January 15.
She was a vivacious young woman who had longed to pull on a police uniform since the age of 10.

Last August, [Stacey's] childhood dream became a reality when she was accepted onto the tough training course.But the sheer pride of the Pc's family turned to utter despair when the blonde 20-year-old was killed in a tragic road accident.

The Yaxley woman was on her way home after completing her first night shift, when her car collided with another vehicle and veered down a grass verge on the A15, near Market Deeping, on January 15.

On an icy winter's morning, almost 400 mourners travelled to St Peter's Church in the village to pay their respects to fun-loving Stacey. As sunlight bathed the building and silence fell on the churchyard, a guard of honour made up of her distraught colleagues lined the funeral procession. Just the strains of the church organ and birdsong could be heard as the hearse, escorted by three marked police motorcyclists, arrived at the entrance.

At the request of Stacey's heartbroken family, everyone wore a hint of pink in a bid to celebrate the life of the "bright star" who lit up all whose lives she touched. As well as scarves, hats, boots and ties of that shade, all the police offices pinned a pink ribbon – the symbol of a breast cancer charity and the Pyke's chosen cause – to their lapels.

Stacey's white coffin, which was topped with flowers, her police hat and a ribbon, was followed by a second hearse filled with a spectacular sea of pink bouquets.

Her family, including dad David (45), mum Sue (42) and sister Stephanie (16), from Broadway, Yaxley, and her boyfriend, Tom Young (20), wiped away tears as they made the short journey to the service. Due to the volume of people filing into the church, many huddled outside on the gravel path to hear the moving and uplifting tributes to Stacey.

The Chief Constable's words reduced many of the mourners to tears.

He said: "She was energetic, lively and someone with real presence. She was bursting with enthusiasm and showed real courage. Sue and David, Stephanie and Tom, we share your sense of enormous loss. I have every reason to believe she would have excelled as she went on in the same way she started. We, as a society, take for granted the work of the emergency services, but I would like to pay tribute to Stacey's commitment, and it is clear that people are touched by her loss. She was a youngster, but was already making her mark."

He went on to praise her ambitious nature, adding, with a smile:

"She had a tremendous determination to single-handedly sort out all the problems."

When the Chief Constable spoke to a primary school friend of Stacey's, she told him how, as a wide-eyed 10-year-old, she had set her heart on becoming a police officer. He also recalled how the chatty youngster would stop and talk to the public on her beat, reassuring them with her friendly patter.

He said: "Stacey loved people and loved being a police officer. To all of us, Stacey was and always will be, a very bright star."

Stacey's dad David remembered how the day when Stacey rushed to tell him she had got the letter to say she had been accepted into the police force was one of his proudest moments.

Stephanie Pyke's heart-wrenching poem, which she had written herself, drew sobs as she struggled to convey just how much she would miss her big sister.

Recalling how Stacey would dress her up for the school disco and help with her make-up, she said:

"You weren't just my big sister, but my best friend. With you, I shared my troubles, secrets and wildest dreams. I have so many memories, I could go on all day, but I will treasure them in my heart. You were so beautiful with blonde hair and blue eyes, but to me you were my big geeky sister."

At the end of the tribute, applause echoed around the church and quickly spread outside. A new trophy for promising police recruits is to be dedicated in Stacey's memory.

Investigations into her death are still ongoing.

Stacey

I first met Stacey in July of last year.

I think it was initially at the pre-course induction evening, I forget the date, but it was about three weeks before we formally started police training. We'd had some presentations from various training staff on what to expect when training began. The talks were a little dry to say the least. People were milling around the generously-stocked buffet table and nervously introducing themselves to each other. Afterall, these were to be our colleagues, our kindred, and we were meeting them for the first time.

I found myself standing next to a tall, striking blonde girl and both of us staring at a plate of chocolate brownies. As a guy, I cannot deny one of the first thoughts that popped into my head was

Wow, she's cute

So nervously-still, I struck up a conversation with her.

Stacey put you at ease when you talked to her. She radiated a certain warmth. To borrow a title of a favourite track of mine, she was

The girl with the sun in her head

I was glad to find out later that night, when we tore open letters detailing our station-postings, that she was going to the same station as me. Some colleagues I wasn't too sure about when I first met them. See, I do believe you can sometimes judge books by their covers, by your first meetings with them. Her, I warmed to straight away.

As the autumn unfolded I became friends with Stacey. As the initial intake of 30 was split into three sub-divisions to be taught & trained in different locations, us southies grew closer. Everyone became friends with Stacey, it was virtually impossible not to. See, Stacey would go out of her way to talk to you. She was magnetic. She couldn't stand cliques and she hated falling out with people. She was bubbly, popular and outgoing. She was the first to suggest going out after work, and made a point of inviting absolutely everyone. She could argue and fight a point like a banshee if she truly believed in it, but she'd hate disagreeing with you afterwards. It wasn't the point itself, but the arguing that upset her. That said, she had a resilience about her way beyond her twenty years. A fierce loyalty too. Wrong her, and you'd know about it. Wrong her friends or anyone she cared about and she pursue you to the ends of the earth. Whatever she did, her enthusiasm was infectious.

Bless her, Stacey also suffered from a complete lack of tact. She'd say exactly what was on her mind, and that is actually a quite beautiful quality in someone. However, this often got her into a bit of trouble along the way, either that or fits of laughter from friends and colleagues.

Stace! I can't believe you just said that!

was often flung her way. But we knew. We all knew whatever it was, a good-looking guy who just passed by or a quite innocent question... She didn't mean it that way. She was just vocalising. Stacey had a naivety that she could not hide; a happy-go-lucky attitude that she never lost.

As training wore on, I developed a crush for Stacey. Her previously described warm and magnetic personality (I cannot put too fine a point on it) coupled with stunning looks... God, she could make most guys melt. I knew nothing would every come of it, I was content to simply fancy her from afar. So on one of the many drunken nights out, after 'a few' drinks, I admitted this crush to a colleague.

"Oh dear," said mutual friend in deep conversation yesterday "you do realise you shouldn't trust me with juicy secrets like that now, should you?"

So then. Stacey had known for a while. But d'you know what? Nothing had changed. She never treated me any differently. I knew she didn't like me like that, but she made sure the course of our friendship remained unchanged. She was there for me, I was there for her. Mutual friend told me yesterday that Stacey had been completely flattered when she'd been told. She'd disbelieved it a first, but when told that they weren't kidding. She'd awwwww-ed and thought it was truly soooo sweet. She'd never suspected in the slighted.

So I'm glad.

Glad that at least once I'd really made her smile.

Glad that I was able to give some of that warmth she radiated, back to her.

* * * * *

Early yesterday morning I walked into the locker room around 06:45. I started putting on my kit for the day. On with the body armour, switching on the radio and checking that all other kit was present and correct. Whilst I was doing my necessary checks Stacey appeared at a neighbouring locker and began to do the complete opposite. She'd finished her shift and was peeling off her armour, switching off her radio and unloading her kit. Following training this was how we'd meet out at station now, either at a shift-changeover, or dealing with an incident should shifts overlap.

She was tired. She'd just finished a night-shift and was looking forward to getting home, and hardly thrilled that she'd be right back there at 22:00 the same evening. But that was the job, that was what we did. She was thrilled, but exhausted by a busy night of incidents.

Some of us came to the job from a number of directions and varied backgrounds, but this was Stacey's dream. She'd always wanted to join the Police Force, and she was now living her dream. She was going to incidents, blue-lighting it through town and making real arrests. She was so proud to be wearing the uniform at last.

She was buzzing.

We exchanged banter in the locker room for a few minutes, each enthusiastically relating incidents we'd been to this far; gleefully peppering our speech with new-found Police acronyms and lingo that no passing civilian would comprehend. I had to get to the morning briefing, she wanted to get home. So as we said goodbye I instinctively borrowed one of her catchphrases and said a cheery

"See you later chick!"

as she left.

I never saw her again.

* * * * *

Just over an hour later I was in the parade room completing some paperwork when the incident came in over the local channels from another part of the county. As details emerged, my interest was piqued. Something sounded familiar.

Then more details came in.

Interest collapsed into sheer dread.

Until the very worst was confirmed and the world caved-in around me.

There was road traffic collision.

There was one fatality at the scene.

And it was Stacey.

I was one of the last people to speak to her.

And that will haunt me forever more.

* * * * *

Stacey

1986 - 2007

We miss you so much chick.
You left us far too soon.
Rest in peace.
And we'll do our best by you.

Breathe

Surprised. But in a good way.

Daunted. Nonetheless.

But certainly still enjoying it.

The impression I'd got before we started the tutorship, from other tutors and students, was that was that the first few weeks-or-so I'd ease in to it all. A slow pace. Cherry-picking jobs; my tutor would take the lead, with me meerly observing, and hopefully I'd be growing in confidence.

We'll we're certainly not in Kansas anymore.

Somehow, and my god he must be perceptive, but he's making sure I swim just hard enough, in just the right depth of water, so that I don't drown. He's getting me to take on various tasks (under supervision), well before I expected to be doing them, whilst taking the lead still on the more urgent & critical stuff.

I remarked to a fellow trainee only today

"Wow, I didn't realise we'd be spinning this many plates, this early."

And they couldn't agree more.

Today I...

• Assisted in prisoner transportation
• Undertook a lengthy witness interview
• Attended a report of youths causing a nuisance
• Rode shotgun - blue-lighting through a busy town-centre
• Read a prisoner his charges, through an interpreter
• Completed oodles of paperwork

Yesterday I...

• Made my first arrest
• Searched a number of individuals and a vehicle on suspicion of possessing drugs
• Rode shotgun a number of times on a high-speed blue-light run through a busy town centre
• Completed oodles of paperwork

And this is only shift #4.

Shift-work itself is already taking it's toll however. It's doubtless the step-up, before I get used to it, but 07:00 through 16:00 with frankly no real breaks to speak of (only some periods being slower than others), doesn’t half tire you out mentally and physically. Some 15:00 through 00:00's later in the week, and that lovely brain-melter; 22:00 through 00:00.

Body-clock remains MIA.