A quickening pace
21 Jul 2008 
in the late afternoon 
Matt Winckler
All right, so I was not quite accurate when I said I’d taken the last of the tests. Today I took the last pre-academy test, another physical agility test exactly like the one I took at the beginning of this process. Once more I passed it with flying colors, but today I was flying even faster than usual, as I came in with the fastest mile-and-a-half that I’ve run since high school: 10:23. This proves yet again that competition drives me; there was some rabbit there who ran it in probably 9:30 or so, and I simply refused to let him lap me.
The reason I was taking this PAT today is that it turns out I’m on the waiting list for the Spokane police academy starting two weeks from today. I’m 6th on the list, so I need 6 people to fail the PAT at the other testing locations tomorrow. (Yes, I’m praying they will fail!) If that doesn’t happen, then I’ll be starting academy in Burien on 25 August. Spokane would be nice because, in addition to being much closer, I would be going up with at least two other Kennewick guys that I met today, and who strike me as first-rate fellows. In fact, everyone I’ve met so far at KPD has been fairly top-notch, and while I’m sure there are exceptions, overall this bodes very well.
Psych test results are still out, so it’s the only remaining uncertainty. I should hear something by late tomorrow or Wednesday.
The career shift draws near. It’s no longer some hypothetical plan off in the distant future; it’s now imminent and reality. This is a great thing.