My days off were totally nonproductive, other than taking daughter #4 to get her driver's license. I only flooded 8 cookies the whole 2 days off. I had every intention of being more productive, but like the saying goes, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." My plans just sat idle while I pretty much did too.
Here's a little interesting tidbit for those that don't know about the superstitions of dispatchers. We never say the "Q" (quiet) word out loud, and as a matter of fact I was pretty uncomfortable just typing it here, because I am at work at the moment.
Let me tell you a story of the most memorable time, and this is the actual truth, that I was in a room with someone when they said the "Q" word: It was 1994, January 17; Los Angeles, California. I worked for the Califoria Highway Patrol on the graveyard shift. Graveyard shift tends to slow down about 2a and then about 4:30a it picks up again. I was training a new dispatcher and about 4:25a she says "is it always this quiet on this shift?" I felt my heart jump and beat a little faster, and everyone in the room spun around to look at her. I explained to her that we don't ever say the "Q" word at work and why.
Let me tell you a story of the most memorable time, and this is the actual truth, that I was in a room with someone when they said the "Q" word: It was 1994, January 17; Los Angeles, California. I worked for the Califoria Highway Patrol on the graveyard shift. Graveyard shift tends to slow down about 2a and then about 4:30a it picks up again. I was training a new dispatcher and about 4:25a she says "is it always this quiet on this shift?" I felt my heart jump and beat a little faster, and everyone in the room spun around to look at her. I explained to her that we don't ever say the "Q" word at work and why.
About 5 minutes later the Northridge Earthquake hit. If you know anything about that quake, it was one of the largest since the 1971 Sylmar Earthquake. We had two freeways collapse, lost the life of an LAPD motorcycle officer, for a total of 57 lives lost. It was horrific and traumatizing, and forever cemented my fear of the "Q" word! We spent 3 days on tactical alert, meaning long hours, high stress and little sleep.
P.S. - I started writing this post at about 10:30p, near the start of my shift. Absolutely nothing was going on throughout our City. Remember where I said I felt uncomfortable typing out the "Q" word? Well here it is 2:45a and things are picking up. We have shots being fired at several locations in our Town and I have officers running back and forth across the town trying to cover all the calls for help and service. That's what I get for even typing the "Q" word.
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