It happens to all of us... well, not me. I've never left my gun anywhere. I am too guncrazy to ever leave my gun out anywhere. I am very conscious of my weapon at all times, on or off-duty. I think it might be a disorder.

As for the normal stance... check with the department, some don't like it when their officers have their hand on the gun. We were taught in the PC-west to rest our elbow on the gun instead. Looks more PC, I guess. That didn't last too long. I am like you, I keep my hand on the gun on duty when I am in the field.

I also wear a thigh holster so the weight is more apparent when the gun is in there, unlike a traditional belt holster.

Your blond moment was fine. I am saying use it all up now before working. Small blond moments on the job can have consequences. Here's another FTO tip (I am full of them)... always think 4 steps ahead. What do I want to do, how do I do it, what might be the reactions I have to anticipate, how do I counter that, etc. Don't let your FTO rush you, that's part of the game. He'll rush you to try to get you rushing and mess up. Think things through, be confident and know what you are doing. The speed will come after you get used to doing what you do. We all had to start somewhere. None of us were born supercops... except for me, that is.

One of my friends did that once. He left it locked up at the jail, still had his back up weapon, but he said he almost crapped himself when that happened. I'd seriously be freaking out if I ever forgot my gun anywhere. My normal stance with my belt on is with my right hand resting on the gun and my left on my mag pouch.

It wasn't a terrible blond moment, I mean it could have been a lot worse. Felt like an idiot though. Oh well, it happens. Haha.

Hmmm... must be a midwest thing. We use the CA POST PHS form and that covers all of it. It was up to 24+ pages last I counted but thank God it's online in a Word document so you can just print out as many copies as you need after typing it in once.

As for the blond momemnts... get them out and over with now. I had a blond shift partner who forgot her gun once and she walked in and didn't even know it. I pulled out my gun and said hey, I got your gun. She looked down at her holster and was freaked out that she had her gun taken away and didn't even know it. I had her going for a while and told her it's an old FTO trick. After some delicious torture, I finally told her the truth and she ran back into the locker to get her gun in time for briefing.

it's a DOJ 330 form. It's pretty much an application the DoJ has created for LE agencies. I felt like a dork today. I went to drop off my cover letter and resume to an agency and had a blond moment and forgot my 330. So I'm filling that beast out tomorrow and dropping it off then.

Going back Tuesday after Memorial Day. The thing that sucks is I have to be off my motorcycle all 3 days while every one of my friends are riding. I am missing out on the first official riding weekend of summer. Old age sucks.

What's the 330? Like a personality inventory or history statement?

I'm glad you're doing ok! We had some pretty brutal heat over here as well. We hit 85-91 from Monday through Thursday.

I've got some leads I'm pursuing. The form all agencies want is the 330 and some agencies require answers to three questions and I'm working on getting them finished up now.

So are you back at work now?

Haha... yeah, I need to get fixed. Too many women out there just looking for the money nowadays. A brother with a job and benefits like me just might be appealing enough in this economy for them to get over my looks.

Nothing major, just a few issues that the doctor felt needed taking care of before it gets aggravated.

How's the job search going? Any good leads? It's getting so hot out here now. We've been at 80s and above all the time and it sucks sweating all day.

What did you have surgery for? Did you get fixed? ;)

I need to seriously get a life and stop playing with avatars. I just had some minor surgery but I am laid out for 7 days minimum. It feels like it might be longer. I can't walk faster than a shuffle.

Glad you got some more seat time and ride alongs are great but man, when you do it for the first time for real and the realization hits you... that's when the fun starts. I remember, the first time I had to do a traffic stop, I was fumbling all over the place and I couldn't say one thing right on the radio. It just seems like so much stuff to do at once. My advice? Keep practicing at home. Write down some standard calls and how you would put out radio broadcasts. Practice. It will give you a leg up on FTO when you get on. I have faith in you, young apprentice. If not, LAPD is always hiring and females are still in demand. Just a thought.

Dopebama will get you the money for LE, he just hasn't finished with the budget transfer from taking it out of our death benefits, that's all.

Oh your avatar again, just makes me giggle. So I did a ride along in Minnesota last night. That was sweet. Saw my first felony stop and first SFST in the field (compared to the hotel where we were getting fools drunk). It was pretty cool. I'm looking into POST reciprocity because the department I rode with will be looking for two new officers soon and would like another female. Still putting in apps for part time just to get some experience, what happened to all this money obami was supposed to be putting into LE?