The easterly winds have brought in the smoke from the huge wildfire burning in the eastern part of the state. Normally this kind of smoke doesn’t bother me too much but I today I have been hacking and coughing and felt like I can’t breathe. It is even coming into the building via the AC unit.

After Wednesday’s incident with creepy van guy I was forced to attend an Alcohol and Substance Abuse Training. First a drug test and now ASAT. Maybe they are trying to tell me something.

This training was mandated by our HQ Office and no one had a clue what we were supposed to get out of it…including the instructor. It ended up being the weirdness, most pointless training I have ever attended. The instructor was a drug counselor and I am sure is very good at his job but he didn’t have a clue how to teach this subject. We all thought we were going to learn how to identify if you or a love one has a problem and what options you had to get better. Instead the class was filled with pointless stories such as this one that he told about an ex-employee at the center where he worked.

Instructor: Do you all want to hear a story

Group: Sure

Instructor: Okay well one evening while I was working they brought in a guy who worked at the center. He had been arrested for drug use and was brought in for processing. At one point he asks the police officer if he could go to the bath room and instead of going to the restroom he just walked out the back door and we haven’t seen him since.

Group: * crickets chirping in the background * 

The whole class was filled with stories like that. Then when the class was almost over he passed out a sheet that talked about proper eating habits. Worshipping God, and getting your colon cleansed. And then before he released us for the day he pulled out an old cigar box and proceeded to show us his prison shank collection. I am still trying to figure out how that one fit into the subject.

I talked to the training coordinator who laughed and said she had already heard from several people and fortunately this guy was only teaching this one class. Which is a shame because everyone should have a chance to see the prison shank collection.

After lunch yesterday I headed out to help our co-op student install a traffic counter. When we got to the site I immediately got a bad pain in my stomach and ran off into the woods to get sick. I felt a little better afterwards and was able to get the counter installed. As we headed back to the office I once again felt ill and as soon as we pulled into the parking lot I got in my car and headed home were I got sick two more times. I then proceeded to crash for the rest of the evening. I feel much better today except for the constant burping. I haven’t eaten anything yet today so we will see how it goes at lunch. I don’t know why I got sick all the sudden. It could have been all the sugar I had at lunch. I had sweet tea and 2 cookies then went to work in the heat and smoke. It might have just been too much.

I am off for the next three days and haven’t figured out what I am going to due yet. I hope that I can get Potter to the dog park and perhaps work on our training. I was supposed to go see Prince Caspian tonight with Maria but her parents are coming tomorrow and she has lots to do to get ready so the movie was cancelled. Which is probably a good thing seeing as my stomach is 100%. I think I will stop by the store and get some pasta or something not too spicy for dinner and just relax. I have a few movies to watch and if the air quality isn’t too bad I hope I can get Potter out for a nice long walk. I have been trying to walk at least two miles every night but with the heat and now the smoke, we haven’t been doing so well with that. I have also gone back to doing my Pilates and yoga and I have already noticed a difference. Hopefully by the time my husband comes home I will be one hot momma. I am still going to the gym but need to vary that a little because it is starting to get boring.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. See you all Tuesday!