A Retrospective of 2012

What a year this turned out to be for me, it started and ended in ways I could have never predicted.

January began with me separating from my wife that eventually lead to our divorce that we filed on Valentine’s Day, way to mess the meaning of that day up!  I’m not going to get into the details, because the people that I want to know about what transpired know and that’s that. 

I will say that I couldn’t have gotten through it all without the support of my best friend John.  He was there for me from major counseling sessions to just letting me sit at his place watching television laughing.  I will never be able to thank him enough! 

Through it all I will say I feel the kids handled the divorce, me moving out, and the introduction of new people in their lives quite well.  I did have the, are you and mommy going to get married again, from time to time at first, but all in all, remarkably well. 

The other major change that I went through this year was leaving the City of Augusta after 10.5 years of service.  It was a decision that was both easy and difficult to make.  I had a plan though when I left to go to State Police as they were hiring, and I knew the hiring process would take long enough for me to get my payout from Maine State Retirement to pay off my debt so I could afford to live.  What I didn’t realize was the hiring process would be so excessively long!  I applied in early June, it closed June 29^th and my test and interview were the first week in August and eventually after my polygraph my start date was October 3^rd!

I’m at DPS in Augusta were we dispatch for Gardiner Police, Fire, & Rescue, Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office, Windsor, Litchfield, Chelsea, & Vassalboro Fire Departments, and The Maine State Police Troops C & D call sharing & covering 7 counties.  We are also the answering point and dispatch Warden Services, Marine Patrol, Fire Marshal’s Office, Forestry and more.  Whew!

I love it, it’s fun going to work again and I enjoy the people I work with, for the most part!  I’m back on midnights, which I expect, and there’s plenty of overtime, which I expected.  My tour on nights will be less than a year, which is nothing to complain about.  Besides my good pal Rood get a job here as well and my best lady is very understanding of my schedule knowing that it’s not forever, it’s just for right now!

So I dated this year for the first time since I was 17, and I don’t have a whole lot of positive stuff to say about that.  It was interesting because it was something new that I hadn’t experienced in a long time, but I learned fast that taking people to dinner on a first date was an expensive way to find out that I’m not interested in going one date number 2.  So I started suggesting walks on the Rail trail as a good way to meet and get to know each other.  Then if things went well date number two would materialize.  There was only 3 people that I went on a second date with so I think it worked.

I tried the on-line dating with OK Cupid and Plenty of Fish because I wasn’t sure where to go and meet someone otherwise.  None of my single friends were any help which is probably why they are still single. I met a few interesting people, and a few that were completely different in person and a few that I didn’t care to meet at all.   I did meet one special person, most of you know who that is, but I’m going to save that for part 2 of the year in review! 

Later Readers!!

Michael