And I'd Like to Check You for Ticks

Civilan Complaint Board also known as the CCB interviewed Chancho yesterday. There was some complaint made by a guy who Chancho arrested a few months back. So because of his complaint Chancho had to go before the CCB and tell his side of the story. The CCB will then decide if any wrong doing was done and make a recommendation to Chancho's precinct for further action. The CCB can't really do much in form of punishing Chancho, but they can suggest to his precinct that he was acting out of order and needs to be repremanded. His other two partners are also being interviewed. If anything comes of this, he could possibly be put back on monitoring level 1 again, which means that his job is in jepordy. Along with that crappy line of news, he also informed me that because his Sergeant is back from maternity leave that means that there are 3 DVOs now. The department only wants 2. Someone will have to go. Not really sure, how that will turn out. The options are Chancho, being the newbie. His partner, who is about to retire in July and his Sergeant, who's a Sergeant. I don't know, but I'm thinking that they'll probably kick the newbie out. He thinks that he'll be fine because of his partner retiring in July, that they'll just wait til he retires and then they'll be back to 2. I hope he's right.

Tomorrow is both of our day off so we'll be picking up our biking trips again! I've picked out a local trail, which I hope goes well. I'm craving some Chancho alone time. We really haven't had much of it recently. So maybe we can pack a picnic and make it a full day of fun. His trip is coming up pretty quickly. He'll be leaving in less than a month now. And that means that our camping trip is slowly creeping up on us! I have a place picked out, I just need Chancho's approval. I'm thinking of going to Hancock Campground in New Hampshire. It will be a bit of a drive, but it's in a state that Chancho's never been to.

Out enjoying the beautiful sunshine while it's here!

Listening to: "Ticks" by Brad Paisley
Quote of the Day: "Never look down on anybody unless you are helping him up." - Jesse Jackson

Mountain Biking

Chancho and I took our biking off the pavement and decided for a more challenging ride. However, Chancho did not like it. In fact he was such a grump the entire time. We went to Sprain Ridge Trailways. It was a short drive there and very easy to find. Especially since we shockingly didn't take the GPS with us. It seems that everywhere we go now, it's in the car with us, but for some reason it wasn't with us this time and we had to rely on trusty handwritten directions! How did we ever do that before?? The first trail we went on was definitely too difficult for us. It seemed we had taken our bikes for a hike rather than us mountain biking. We actually turned around only 5 minutes in and chose the other trail. This second trail was much easier. We did have to get off of our bikes a few times, but I chalk that up to us not being experienced. I was on my bike a lot more than Chancho was. I say that was because he wasn't enjoying himself. I loved it. I was jumping over rocks and speeding down the hills. I have to say I do enjoy the wind rushing passed me and the excitement that I could be thrown over my handle bars if I don't maneuver correctly. We did get to see 3 deer while we were riding along. That was nice to see, I wasn't expecting that. It was also a lovely day for a bike ride. It wasn't any hotter than 73 out and it was shady in the woods. I was actually wearing jeans while riding, instead of my usual shorts. I hope there will be a next time, maybe on another trail or another park.

Chancho has decided to purchase another vehicle. This time an SUV. Since he is so into camping now he thinks that it's time to have a bigger car to put all of the necessary gear in. And the fact that poor Shanequa, as he calls his trusty Hyundai accent, is in very bad shape. We traveled to Major World, in Queens to look at a jeep grand Cherokee. I would recommend NEVER going there. It was the most unprofessional place. The cars were dirty. There was food still in the cup holders and mud on the floor mats. The outside was also not washed. The financial office was a very tiny room with wood panels with a waiting room that had plywood attached to 2x4s to make tables. It was not the best place to go and wouldn't go back in a million years. Their ad which was why we went there was even wrong. It was very deceiving. It said that we could get this car for under $9,000 and it was a 2007. Little did we know that it was a "fix up" car and the interior was demolished. We walked out of there very quickly. He then went today to City World and actually purchased a 2006 Mitsubishi Endeavor in silver. We'll be picking it up tomorrow! Hopefully it is everything he needs and it doesn't give him too many problems. It's very exciting for him. He's finally able to make big purchases like this. A little tough for me, but I'm happy for him, seeing him this thrilled makes me happy. I'll get there one day too!

Speaking of getting there one day, I've been picking up lots of extra shifts at work lately. I'm actually going into overtime this week. A very big difference from the beginning of the summer. Hopefully this doesn't change. The college loans are coming soon in the mail for repayment and I need all the money for those. It will be back to saving every last penny to make ends meet for a bit, until the "real" job comes through. I'm happy to say that I worked my first register sales person shift today and will be getting trained to process orders in the future! I hope that means a raise as well!

Great news from my old housemate from school...she got engaged!! She plans on marrying next summer to her boyfriend of 2 years and moving to Kentucky, where he is stationed. He joined the Army this past year. (No date yet.) She's thrilled. The ring is a beautiful LEO diamond. Things are finally moving forward for them and in a positive way. I can't wait for the wedding. It will be a great excuse to get us girls all together again. I really do miss them all so much. Emails don't really cut it anymore.

Listening to: Brad Paisley, "Then"

Brighter Things

After calming down a bit, I can focus on some brighter things going on in my life. Which includes my lovely cat climbing over the keyboard as I'm trying to type. I'm glad I did decide to do this blog because in doing so I have been able to read many other blogs and I've noticed that my last post, is not alone in this world. In fact so many have written about this problem and it helps me realize that I'm not being entirely ridiculous and it is okay for me to be upset, but it also puts me into perspective about the fact that this is something that IS going to happen whether I like it or not. I need to start having realistic expectations about days that could potentially be our "quality" days. Not having such high expectations will help when that all too familiar text/call comes my way.

For the brighter things, I'm going to focus on our most recent "quality time" activity. We have made a promise to one another that regardless of how busy our days are we will go bike riding together on one of our days off, either Sunday or Monday. This means even if it requires us to wake up earlier than 1pm. Because he is so busy with work and I do have much more flexible hours and more days off, it is my job to plan our adventures. We have already taken on the task of bicycling the South County Trailway and the North County Trailway. We both grew up in the same area so we have both already conquered the Bronx River Trailway. Now it is my job to find us something a bit more difficult. I've decided that we should move on from paved pathways and attempt a dirt path. Westchester Mountain Bike Association (wmba) seems to be a good place to start out on. The site was very helpful. They were able to provide maps of each of the trails and even other areas that are not in the area. It also includes rules for the trails, which I'm sure we will need to know as this will be our first encounter of riding on real paths. A few blocks away from my house is an area where I was able to ride on dirt pathways as a child, but it is in no way a real path that is meant for the public to use. It was just something my brother and I were able to enjoy growing up. Hopefully this new website will keep us busy until the end of the summer. Which might I add, is quickly coming to an end.

Here are a few pictures from our last bike ride:

Here is the paved pathway, nicely covered with trees.

Our bikes. Mine is blue (Blueberry) and his is red (Mulberry). Corny I know.

A lovely view of the stream that we rode by a few times.