Mandatoried......

It about two weeks, I'll be moving to a new station, shift, and crew-all thanks to the powers-that-be. Since I was such a go-getter in my first two years at the F.D., I was able to get qualified to ride on a Ladder Truck quicker than most. As a result, I became the least senior Truck Guy. Now I am transferred to an Aerial in the outermost section of the County, whereas my current assignment is about a 15 minute drive away. Thankfully, I know have a Ford Expedition as my personal vehicle, so I'm pretty stoked about the additional gas I'll be buying.
My new station averages enough calls/day so that it is consistently in the top five LEAST busiest stations in the County; however, my current station is always one of the busiest. Less calls means: less fires, less entrapments, less good calls, less driving the engine, and less opportunities for me to maintain my work-related skills. Not to mention that there isn't any workout equipment at my new station.
The worst part of the whole thing is that I'll be leaving my crew, which is basically of my closest, best friends, and family combined into one (still a distant second to my girls though). Plus they will be on a different shift than I, so getting together will always be a major obstacle for me. This is something that I will definitely need to work on....
After a few weeks of going through all the phases of grieving, I have been on acceptance for a few days now. I could go one of two directions with this transfer: (1) Piss, moan, mope, and not do anything to better myself, or (2) Use it as an opportunity to make myself better. I've chosen Option #2. I plan on hitting the books pretty hard for the upcoming promotional exam in the fall, taking 1-2 classes online at UCF, and will try to learn everything I can about my new truck. I also plan on bringing my bike trainer out of retirement, and will use my new idle time to get back into triathlon shape.