Well it’s official. I am now a criminalist level two! We had our promotion ceremony today down at One Police Plaza. The ceremony it self was interesting to say the least. A lot like a graduation ceremony actually. We had to line up and got put into our seats based on job position, level, and then sorted by name. After that we had a rehearsal and were told when/how to sit, stand, and walk. Which was funny in it self. See they have a person up on stage at the podium and they might say “please riseâ€. But thats a trick, we aren’t supposed to rise! We wait for the officer in charge who gives the command to stand,sit, etc. Which is sorta weird for us civilians, to be taking orders of that type from an officer but we muddled through the best we could. There were maybe 30 or 40 civilians and about the same number of officers getting their promotion that day which isn’t bad, but then once everyone’s families showed up the place was a little nuts. But the people in charge have things scripted down well so everything went nice and fast. I got my certificate and a handshake from the Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and that’s that!
After words a bunch of us and our Boss from the lab went out to lunch at this Mexican place at South Street Seaport which was nice. Then we were free to go home so woo for a short day too!
So what does it mean to be a Criminalist 2? Well we get more money for one, which is really the most important thing of course! We also can now start to get slightly more complicated cases. There really isn’t that big a difference in the types of cases we will probably get but in principle we can get more involved ones now. Which I guess is good and bad at the same time.
No real plans for the rest of the weekend, other then to be lazy and do the usual shopping stuff. I have to work next weekend, and then the one after that Meg comes down to visit….W00T!
Best quote ever…. »« Promotion
Well it’s official. This morning we got official notification (in the form of a photocopied hand written note) that we will be getting our promotions to Criminalist 2 on Friday July 29. Instead of coming to work that day we have to go to One Police Plaza for 8am before the actual ceremony which is supposed to start around 11. Luckily is it supposed to be a little cooler that day because I’m told were supposed to dress up for this (suit and tie sorta thing, whee). On the plus side this promotion comes with a raise! After taxes and everything it, sadly, probably won’t make a huge difference in my paycheck but every little bit helps as they say.
Criminalist 2 »« 12-Volt Portable Oven and Pizza Maker
We all know that old joke about as soon as you buy a computer it will become obsolete before you leave the store….hahahah very funny…yes yes….but its just not true. It takes, as I found out today, a good 4 days for your computer to become obsolete. Yep, 4 days after I buy my first computer in like 6 years they come out with new model Ibooks which are the same at this one but with 2X the ram, a CDRW/DVDRW drive, bluetooth card, and better graphics chip for EXACTLY THE SAME PRICE. Sigh….half tempted to “return” this one and get another better one but its more work then its worth and really I don’t really need any of the new things in the upgraded models, its juts the principle of the thing damn it!
Ok I’m done ranting now….carry on….
12-Volt Portable Oven and Pizza Maker »« Laptop Goodness…
So I finally went and did it. I got my self a new computer. But not just any new computer. I am now the proud owner of an Apple Ibook laptop and 60gb Ipod. Mmmmmm…..
Its about time really. My old desktop is from like 1999 and really can’t have more than a year or two left in it before it just dies some day, and before that happen I wanted a replacement. And after years of dealing with windows I decided it was time to go to the other-side and buy Apple. A few people at work bought apples, and Jenn has a ibook her self and they all really like it so I thought why not! And so far I’m quite happy I did. Let me tell you I am also loving wireless internet! 
Everything actually was almost too easy to get set up and working. I installed my new router and got that going and was actually able to set up networking so I could transfer my files from my old computer to this new one wirelessly. So W00T for me! Sadly I have to go back to work tomorrow, I took friday off to buy my new toys. Which was fun in it self.
I first went to see Charley and the Chocolate factory down in Manhattan. I thought it was good, its hard looking at it from a fresh point of view after knowing the original for so long. Still I thought it was worth my 10.75 (damn NY movie prices). Then I hit the Strand again and looked at some books (Got the Princes Bride novel which is cool). Then I hit circuit city to get the router and the apple store to get my new uber expensive toys (which I can sorta afford but really deserve so it all works out). The only part that sucked was bringing almost 2000$ worth of computer equipment home with me on the subway and bus. But I made it and have been in a geeky paradise for the rest of this weekend. Though today I have to pull my self away for non-geeky things like laundry and food shopping. Blah but then again as much as I love my new toys I think I enjoy food and clothing just as much
Four days… »« First Post
This is my first post wirelessly from my NEW apple ibook laptop! W00T!!! Still have a whole bunch of stuff to set up and hook up but Im happy just to have made it this far! I also have some ipod goodness to play with too! Just hat to gloat. Will post some picts later.
Laptop Goodness… »« One final transport…
James Doohan, chief engineer Montgomery Scott on the original Star Trek, died today at age 85. Rest in peace, Scotty. (Sniffle)
First Post »« Slow..
It’s been a slow week. Worked Saturday, did the usual Sunday. Getting up too early again for more OT project. Whee! On the plus side of things I am taking Friday off to do into the city, plan to hit the movies, book store, and do me some new computer shopping! W00T!
Stay tuned for updates…
One final transport… »« Vacation W00T!
The big news this week is that there were a few vacation openings in August and I was able to snag one of them….and there was much W00T’ing! Originally my last week of vacation (yah I’m a city worker and I START with 3 weeks of paid vacation a year) was in late September, which is what you end up with when you are on the bottom of the seniority list. But the lab gods were kind and I was able to switch, which works out quite nice because teh_girl has 2 weeks free between the end of her summer class and when she has to go back to school. Originally the plan would of been for me to take a few days of comp time on each side of a weekend and make due. But now we will have a good ten days of visiting time. No super set plans this visit, probably try and hit some of the NYC stuff we missed last time because it was so damn cold. Maybe Empire State Building, Time Square, The MET, maybe a visit to the Bronx Zoo. We also will try and do a visit to CT for a day or so to visit my family and maybe a friend of two.
Other then the vacation news not much else exciting to report from work. Things have picked up a bit this week so I have been busy. Next week I have to work Saturday so it will be a long week, but at least I will have August to look forward to so it shouldn’t be so bad.
I guess I can get back to cleaning….the kitchen and the bathroom really needed it. At first I though it would be a waste of a day (even after I did my shopping and got my hair cut) but now I am glad I didn’t go out seeing as it just poured and thundered and lightninged out for a good 20 minutes!
Slow.. »« Rant of the day…
So today’s rant is co-worker related, specifically when co-workers come around collecting money for various events, which include but are not limited to: birthdays, weddings, retirements, showers, and any number of charities. Now in principle it’s nice to celebrate someone’s birthday or retirement by getting them a card and a little cake or something. But when you work with something like 80 people in this section alone you end up being hit up for money a few times a month. Now I work for the city so I am by default poor like Kenny’s family, so 5$ here and there sever times a month can add up. If this wasn’t bad enough it self, what’s worse is peoples reaction should you not be interested in having anything to do with the party or food there at. I mean why should I give money for someone’s retirement when I really don’t like that person much at all? I don’t want to eat the food or sign the card so why should I be obligated into giving money? It’s not that I am not usually all about free food or anything but there are times when it’s just not worth the hassle of waiting in line like cattle with all my other co-workers for, usually, sub-par food and cake. Not to mention the fact that these events usually start at 12 and my shift starts at 10, so unlike the 7 and 8 am people I am not usually hungry at all by 12, nor am I quite yet ready for a break. The most annoying factor is that my desk is on a main isle so everyone who passes through the room goes by and usually feels obligated to let me know about the party. For one such retirement party that I: 1. didn’t care enough about to go to and 2. was too busy to go to, people found it necessary to remind me and ask if I was going about 10 times in the span of 30 minutes. Alison was cracking up by the end of it every time someone walked by my desk. (Hit head on desk and repeat).
Ok, I am done ranting. Carry on with your business, nothing to see here people.
Vacation W00T! »« woo hoo…
And who said there is never any good news on TV. First thing I hear when I get up is the Olympic committee wisely eliminated NYC from hosting the 2012 games. All I can say is W00T and thank God!
….ok now its breakfast time.
Rant of the day… »« An odd tv paring…
