Halfway Between SLC and Pocotello

Of my ten years at Box Elder Dispatch I had many calls of stranded motorists often those from callers who were not exactly sure where they were.  When we do not know where a caller is, it is very difficult to send them any help.  Basically, until we get a location the call cannot move on in interrogation because if we have no where to send people there really isn't much of a point in adding the call.  Dispatchers are great at knowing the areas they dispatch for and can usually find callers pretty quickly, even the days before we had the technology to locate callers from the GPS in cell phones.  Personally, I believe that new dispatchers use this technology as too much of a crutch and when the technology fails they still need to be able to locate callers by any means necessary, but I digress.

On this day in particular, I got a call from lady whose vehicle had broken down on the interstate.  So I asked her what her location was and she told me that she didn't know, but thought that she was about half way between Pocotello and Salt Lake on I-15. This covers a very large area,  so I try to narrow it down a bit.  Hoping that the call was routed to the correct dispatch center I asked her if she remembered the last exit or mile-marker that she passed, and she did not.  I asked her if she saw any landmarks and she said that all she could see were fields; that doesn't exactly narrow it down in Box Elder.

Just as I was starting to wonder if we were ever going to find her she said that another vehicle had just pulled up to help. FINALLY!  I told her to put the other driver on the phone HOPING that since this driver had stopped to help he may actually know where they were.  So I asked him, "Sir, can you tell me where you guys are at?"  His reply, "Ma'am, best I can tell we are about half-way between Pocotello and Salt Lake" ...

Killin' me, just killin' me!

Apparently (by their account) mile post 356 on I-15 is EXACTLY half-way between Pocotello and Salt Lake! Who knew?

FYI had they looked to the west they would have seen Willard Bay, that information may have helped!

Life is like Coffee Movie

Life is like Coffee Movie:

With how much I LOVE my Coffee, this is quite fitting! Words to live by.

Late Easter Pics

Wow, how time flies!  Things have been pretty busy for us lately, but here are a few pics from Easter it was a really fun day for us all!



~Tiff

Our New Friend!

 

So my parent's got this darling little Arabian bay mare from their good friends.  She is about 10 years old and just darling!  She hasn't been handled much and is quite skiddish. Although my history with mares isn't the greatest, I think she will be a great summer project for me and Dad.

   I was out this afternoon introducing myself to her and my Bandit was looking at me like he felt SO betrayed (love my Bandit kisses)!  I guess this summer is going to be the time for us all to get in shape!

We still aren't sure what we are going to call her, maybe we need to have a poll put  up to decide on a name. (I won't include what Dad called her while he was trying to trim her feet!)

-Tiff

Long Time Coming!

I Want to take this time to say "THANK YOU" to everyone who has helped me and supported me over the last two years.  I don't know what I would have done without the support from all of my good friends and family and those who I work with who have been so patient with me. I cannot say THANK YOU enough!

Well, yesterday was THE BIG DAY, our settlement conference from a long drawn out custody dispute.  In short, the custody evaluators recommendation was basically for things to remain has they have the last two years and to basically make our temporary custody order permanent.  For those interested, we will maintain joint legal custody with me having primary physical custody during the school year, and her father having primary physical custody during the summers. We have set in place a lot of good things that will help Morgan along to the way.  The goal is for Morgan to know that both of her parents love her and support her in her success in life.  This has been a long, stressful time for all of us, Morgan included, and I am so glad that this leg of our journey is over. 

I have learned a lot over the last couple years.  I have learned that there are people in this life who will stand by you and support you and love you, even when you are so overwhelmed that you cannot see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  I want to thank those who gave me a glimmer of hope when I didn't have the strength to be positive and to reassure me that I had nothing to worry about.  It is a huge disconcerting feeling to have everything you do, every decision you make second-guessed, questioned and twisted.  In the end I feel that the best decision was made for Morgan and this is what matters most.

I look at today as a new beginning for us.  I want us to move forward today and not look back at yesterday, except, maybe to carry forward some lessons learned.  I have to say I was so proud of Morgan that even though she knew we had the settlement conference yesterday that she still did exceptionally well on her spelling test, even with missing two days of school this week from this nasty cold we have been passing around.   Of course, I came down with the worst day of this cold yesterday when I had to be "perky" for the conference, luckily it only went on for a couple of hours.

Speaking of new beginnings, (nice segway, huh!) I have not posted about my change in job locations (I have been a bit hesitant to post much of anything lately, in fear that my thoughts and aspirations may be misinterpreted). Yes, I am still doing the job that I love, and Yes, I still work for the same department.  I just now work in SLC. YES, I said SLC.  When I started this job over ten years ago, I never imagined that I could do this job well, yet alone become a supervisor, and I could never fathom the idea of working in SLC.  It is so interesting this world of dispatch, law enforcement and public safety.  Every job here is a vital link and although some may not call the center when I am now a "real" dispatch center (because we do mostly highway patrol and traffic related dispatching) I am definitely learning that each area of public safety is a vital link.  What is done here is done well.  These dispatchers have dispatched more pursuits than most any other dispatchers in the state will in their careers.  They know how this crazy highway system works (don't even get me started on the "spaghetti bowl"), and I am learning new aspects of my job that I never saw myself being involved in way back when I started this job. 

I remember walking into the Brigham City Police Department in aw of how impressive everything looked, and being amazed as to this new "language" that everyone was speaking.  I knew for sure that I was in over my head, that there was noway that I could ever learn everything that there was to know.  It turns out that I was right!  I learn something new every day, and that is why I love this job and what keeps me coming back.  When the naysayers put in their two-cents, that I wasn't good enough, I made it a point to prove myself to them (Thanks BB!) When I was too young or too inexperienced to be a supervisor I made the promotion happen (Thanks KO!).  I have been involved in a lot of exciting projects and I love learning the new technologies and seeing how well Emergency Dispatchers are now recognized as professionals, the same as Police Officers, Fire Fighters & EMTs.

No one knows what the future will bring and where we will be tomorrow.  I know that I need to trust my instincts and that everything truly does happen for a reason, I believe that with all my heart and soul.

Thank you again to everyone who has believed in me, helped me keep my chin up and even carryied me when I needed a hand.  You are in my thoughts and prayers; please know how much you are appreciated and loved.

-Tiff