Bit of an update on my entrance to the PD.

You know, its less the worry about sleep that I'm worried about than it is the toll on my car.

I'm not in a position to buy a new one, and my current war-horse is a 2000 Taurus 6 cylinder with 190,000 miles on it, costing me nearly $30 a day just to get back and forth to work.
Keeping the job would mean the possibility of 300 miles of driving, 3 days a week plus the 2 hours RT on saturdays.
For six months.

All that for a job that I'm not sure will support the added fuel expenses plus the wear and tear that I'd be putting Boris (used to be the wife's car. It's the only male car I've ever known) through, AND feed 4 mouths and cover monthly expenses. Virtually 1/4 of my current take home is going into the gas tank already. 

I'm considering putting in to substitute teach in my area at several different schools, which could guarantee 3-4 days worth of work at $80-$100 a day, which would balance out some of the fuel costs that today's job costs me.

See? I've run all these numbers, and under normal circumstances, you guys are right, I'd keep the job without question. 6 months of hell would pay off in the long run.

and USAF, yeah. I need to pay $2K in tuition. If the dept. didn't sponsor me, it would have been closer to $4500.
That doesn't account for books, uniforms, leather, and gun later on, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I'm still going to go, there's just a lot of factors that need to be worked out in the meantime.

Sticking it out with secure employment for 6 months sucks, but it's the best option you have going if you ask me. You may lack some sleep, but it'll only make you that much more prepared for the world of law enforcement.

On the upshot, you'll now be able to buy LEO-Only equipment. Like true switchblade knives and post-86 automatic weapons.

Town board met tonight and decided to sponsor me in the police academy in a neighboring county which starts January 5.

I've got the qualifying PT test on tuesday at 10am.
If I make it through that, and can scare up the 2 thousand bucks for the academy, I've got to make it MWF 6-10PM and Saturdays 9-5. Until July.

The sticking point is that they don't want me working until after training, which sticks me with a decision to make:

Do I:

• Keep my current job which will require an 86 mile drive in the morning three days a week, followed by an hour and a half drive to the academy, then another hour home at 10PM when the academy's done.
  
• Quit the job, hope and pray I can find something local that will keep the family afloat for 6 months

There's a 3rd option, but I'm not going to mention it until I find out if its true or not. Its a bit extreme, and doesn't sound like it'll work.

There's a lot of question marks, but this could be my only chance to get into the academy. Its either that or wait an entire year to get in again, but run the risk of them hiring someone else in the meantime.

So, I'm progressing here, and I'm looking forward to the rigors of the academy, but man alive do I have to start working my nuts off to shake out the rust and make the times for Tuesday.