Training Day 1

I had my first day of CPS training today and it went great! There was a team of 5 instructors and they all kept it pretty fun. Today we went over a lot of paper material and then went out to our cars to learn about the different types of retractors and latchplates as well as indentifying whether a seating position has airbag(s), LATCH, or tethers. It was a walk in the park for me and I didn't learn one thing I don't already know so far but I was surprised at how little other people knew. I guess I just figure this is all common sense but really it is not.
I was the ONLY person in the class (out of 21 people) who was not there for my job. But I see now why some tech's don't know what they are doing...one police officer fell asleep while a few others made it blatently clear that they would have liked to be anywhere but there! I can see these guys getting their certification and then not really caring about what they are doing when they have to do checks...hopefully I am wrong though!
I am looking forward to tomorrow when we get to actually install seats!

Oh and another funny thing...one of the instructors got there a few hours late and met us by our cars. When she was checking over one of my tests she said "have you had training in this before?" I am assuming because I was finished quickly and got everything right. And I said "no I am just well...carseat obsessed!" and she said "oh are you the one with the van and the Regent?" Hahaha I thought it was funny that she figured that out just from me being "obsessed"!

Glad you had an overall good time! You're making me very excited for when my class starts in less than three weeks.

Enjoy tomorrow! I'd love to hear how each and every day goes for you.

Wendy

I had the guy who didn't want to be there check my seat. When I first got my husky I had a couple of questions about my install, so I called the police to see if they had any certified techs (Britax had given me the number). The guy that they sent out was very obviously the guy who drew the short stick and the other guys even teased him about doing a seat install. He had never heard of Britax, knew nothing about extended harnessing, suggusted a booster, wanted to move a very good center install to the side for convenience sake, and put a pool noodle behind a ff seat to push the belt stalk out! Oh yeah, he gave me some weird seatbelt advice. Thank heavens for this board, and the good advice that I received here. I did have my seat checked a different place, and that guy was really good and very thorough (he had talked to me about the rear baby mirror and explained to me how forces multiple and projectiles and all that important stuff.)

I'm so glad your first day went well.