Archive for "Things to Do"
Citizen Police Academy Graduation Day
Posted on November 26, 2015 by Ching under Events, Things to Do.
It’s the end of another journey.
I was in Topeka for Citizen Police Academy graduation night but they were nice enough to make a certificate of completion for me and gave it to Brian.
Everyone also got a copy of our class photo which, incidentally, I’m not in either because I was, again, in Topeka that week. I promise I really did participate in the class. If it weren’t for work commitments, I wouldn’t have missed any of the sessions at all.
I am so grateful for all the things we learned and experienced in Citizen Police Academy. I will take the knowledge with me for years to come. The time I spent with Sgt. Hein, Sgt. Kimble, and all the other law enforcement officers who volunteered their time to teach our class has given me an even greater appreciation for law enforcement.
I’m not sure what it’s like in other areas of the nation/world but our law enforcement officers in Wichita and Sedgwick County are amazing. They are the some of the best people you will ever meet.
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Moving My Office
Posted on November 20, 2015 by Ching under Things to Do.
I had to move my office a couple of weeks ago.
Here are just a few of the gems we found while boxing up my belongings.
I had old certificates, memos, and training manuals.
I had information from old rate cases.
Old surveys…
And old annual reports…
I even had one of Brian’s old books from T-Mobile. I think I used it as a resource for when I was gathering information to start Quality Assurance in the CRC following our re-org.
I fully intended to get rid of the thesaurus but Brian convinced me to keep it.
We actually had a funny conversation about this.
ME: I need to get rid of this.
BRIAN: You’ll never know when you’ll need a thesaurus.
ME: Why? I use the thesaurus on Word; and everything is online.
BRIAN: It will look good on your desk and make you look smart.
ME: I think it makes you look “un-smart” because you actually have to look words up.
“Un-smart” isn’t even a word, which only goes to prove Brian’s point that I should keep my thesaurus. So, yes. The thesaurus made it to the new office. It’s out of sight in one of the upper cabinets, though.
Besides helping me decide what to discard and what to keep, Brian also cleaned my glass walls for me. He is the best hubby ever.
Anyway, I don’t have any more pictures of the new office for you guys because there’s heavy construction going on right now on that side of the building. Check back in a few weeks and I should have everything put up and organized.
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WPD Crime Lab
Posted on November 1, 2015 by Ching under Things to Do.
Brian and I got to spend time at the WPD Crime Lab a couple of weeks ago. It was one of the coolest sessions of Citizen Police Academy, second only to the time we spent at the Wichita Sedgwick County Join Training Facility at Lake Afton.
We got to see the various ways that they can capture finger prints.
Did you know that they can even finger print the inside of duct tape?
We also got to see various gory crime scene photos that night, which Brian got to see more of the following week when they talked about homicides. I missed that session because I was in Topeka for work.
CPA is really cool. I look forward to joining the alumni association if they let me graduate. So far I’ve only missed one session. We are not allowed to miss more than two. Our next session involves canines. Looking forward to meeting some highly trained dogs. I’m glad I will be in town for it.
Anyway, I highly recommend CPA. I hope you guys consider signing up for it.
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Ride Along with Sedgwick County Sheriff
Posted on October 27, 2015 by Ching under Things to Do.
A few weeks ago, Brian and I had our ride alongs with Wichita Police Department – Patrol North. Recently we had our ride alongs with the Sedgwick County Sheriff. I really enjoy ride alongs because you learn so much, especially what not to do. LOL.
Brian and I both asked for 5 beat but I guess only one of us could do it. Brian ended up being assigned to the ride along on that beat. I ended up assigned to 609, which actually turned out better because we were assigned to the jail and could go anywhere we wanted to go.
One of the surprises of the night was finding out that the shift sergeant went to high school with Brian. They were actually in ROTC together. The way the sergeant told me about how he recognized Brian’s name and asked if Brian went to Derby High made me think that they actually liked each other back then and weren’t sworn enemies. That was cool.
Dinner was another surprise. I didn’t expect that we’d be able to have dinner together, let alone eat at all. The deputies on the South side apparently try to meet up for dinner when they can so Brian and I ended up having a nice dinner with five of the Sedgwick County Sheriff deputies: the deputies that he and I rode with, met up with three other deputies one of whom also had a rider. There were eight of us altogether at dinner. Though we had to eat pretty fast, none of the deputies had to be called away so we were all able to enjoy a nice dinner together with great conversation. And, I was glad that I got to spend time with Brian last night without having to run into him at a crime scene.
Ride alongs are always educational. Here are just some of the gems I filed away in my brain from last night’s adventures.
• Sheriff deputies see everything. Even things we don’t even notice.
• They can quickly change direction by making some crazy u-turns of the “don’t try this at home” variety. It doesn’t matter if it’s a main road with a good amount of traffic. Before you even realize what’s happening, you’re going in the opposite direction. We did this a few times. It was wild. Brian said that during one of the times his deputy did it, he actually had to brace himself against the dash because it was so swift.
• If you have any warrants and somehow end up driving in front of a Sedgwick County Sheriff squad car, you’re hosed. They run almost every license plate they come across. Yes, they do this while they’re driving down the road.
• Do not drive slowly in the fast lane. As annoying it is when this happens to me, it’s a hundred times more annoying when you’re a law enforcement office who’s trying to get somewhere quickly. If the deputy is in a hurry to get somewhere, you won’t get a ticket; however, if they’re just riding around, you will get a ticket because this really pisses them off. Be smart and move to the middle or right lane because the deputies like to drive fast and you’re not going to be able to pace them. Trust me.
• They’re not allowed to pass on the right, which is why the slow drivers in the fast lane are even more frustrating.
• Some deputies are really funny. Brian and I were lucky enough to ride along with a couple of really cool ones. The deputy I rode with had an awesome personality and we got along great.
I’ve done three ride alongs now — WPD Patrol South last year, WPD Patrol North a couple of weeks ago, and Sedgwick County Sheriff last night. I have to say, the one last night was the most memorable and most fun one I’ve had.
It’s not very often that you get to ride in a car that’s going 100+ miles per hour.
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Guess Whose Birthday is Just Around the Corner
Posted on October 25, 2015 by Ching under Life, Things to Do.
In other news, mom got us new bedding as my early birthday present.
Molly likes it.
For Boss’s Day last week my team got me a deliciously beautiful fruit bouquet. Brian doesn’t really eat fruit so I just shared it with everyone at work. The chocolate covered strawberries were my favorite.
Brian and I went to the opera for that evening.
He’d never been to the opera and neither have I so it was a first that we got to experience together. We saw The Grand Duchess , which is a great introduction to opera because it’s light hearted and comedic rather than tragic.
Kaitlyn Costello was marvelous in the lead role. None of the other actors were even close to the level of performance that she gave. They do such a good job with makeup and costumes that I didn’t realize she played Anita in West Side Story last year, which was my absolute favorite show last year.
Speaking of music theater, while we really enjoyed the opera, Brian and I decided that we prefer music theater because then we don’t need subtitles. LOL. Jokes aside, Music Theatre Wichita does a phenomenal job of bringing the best productions to town.
Speaking of performances, I really wanted to see Norah Jones on Thursday but we were not lucky enough to get tickets. They sold out within a couple of hours. Instead I got some tickets to Light in the Piazza, which is another opera incidentally.
I’m hoping that Nickira will want to go to it. We’ve seen a couple of Music Theatre Wichita performances together (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Big Fish) but this will be our first opera if she agrees to go. I hope she does.
Lots of things going on this coming weekend, as is typical these days in Wichita. However, the event I’m looking forward to most is my vacation day off work on Friday!
I don’t usually take my birthday off but it happened to fall on a Friday this year so it’s the perfect opportunity for a three-day weekend. Brian and I were initially going to go to New York until we realized it’s the weekend of the great New York City marathon, which explains why we couldn’t find a decent hotel for less than $600 a night in the entire city. Even though our travel plans got nixed, I decided to keep my vacation day because I really need a break from work. The long days have finally caught up to me.
I still won’t get to sleep in because, in true Ching fashion, the day is already jam-packed. Meeting at the YMCA at 8 AM, massage at Sveta’s at 10 AM, taking Brian to District Taqueria for lunch, quality time in the afternoon, dinner at Sabor, then dancing at Oeno. Don’t even let me get started on Saturday and Sunday activities.
I may need to have a makeup vacation day after this vacation day. LOL. Until next time. Have a fantastic week, everyone!
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