Work

I decided to talk about work a little today. I worked in our version of the on-site hospital yesterday. Depending on your personality, you either like it or you hate it. It is where we keep both the mentally and physically sick. When I first started at the jail it was a more difficult place for me to work for a variety of reasons both personal and professional.

On the professional side the state of Florida has a law making the state responsible for the housing and treatment of those who are determined to be unfit for trial due to mental incompetence. Once an individual is adjudicated unfit the state has so many days to take them to a facility for treatment. This was not happening. As a result jails became(and still are to a certain extent) an extension of the mental health treatment industry. This is not good for a variety of reasons, but the problem was alleviated temporarily when the state opened additional beds. Now we have fewer of the mentally ill in our infirmary and it is an easier place to work for the time being.

Personally, I found it difficult at times to supervise individuals who reminded me of my crazy brother. This doesn't bother me in the least currently and I actually request to work in the infirmary when I work overtime. I feel the change came about because of an increased familiarity and a determination to eventually work full time in the mental health field. I have the right personality for it.

The work personality I strive for is that of a defusing wet blanket. I am usually able to calm excited inmates and get them to do what I want. When that fails I call for back up and handle business. This keeps everyone safe and out of trouble.

Our family work goals right now are for Nicole to start and complete her Masters since her work pays for it and she will receive more money from it than I will. I am approved to attend the next law enforcement crossover academy and hopefully will complete it by '09. Nicole will finish her Masters at about the same time I begin to feel competent as a road deputy. When this happens I will start my Masters with one caveat. This will all fall into place at about the same time Zach is finishing high school. If it comes down to it I will put off my Masters until he is settled in college or completes his bachelors. The way I look at it, I have 23 years to complete my education so there is no rush. I have no professional law enforcement ambition other than to be left alone and eventually make sergeant. As long as the checks continue to clear I will be good to go.