“May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.”


"This report is maybe 12-years-old. Parliament buried it, and it stayed buried till River dug it up. This is what they feared she knew. And they were right to fear because there's a whole universe of folk who are gonna know it, too. They're gonna see it. Somebody has to speak for these people. You all got on this boat for different reasons, but you all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything I know this, they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, 10, they'll swing back to the belief that they can make people . . . better. And I do not hold to that. So no more running. I aim to misbehave." ~ Captain Malcom Reynolds

Saturday, November 29, 2008

back soon

Lots of work
Little sleep
Feel like crap


Regular blogging back soon.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

ookami uragawa

Under the moonlit mountains
the echo of the wolves
reaches to God as the snow falls softly

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Well done Marines!

Story from the National Review on a 250:30 battle which saw the USMC prove their worth again - particularly a designated marksman assigned to the unit.

Well done sir.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Lazy Sunday

Nothing amazing to share today - didn't go out and do any superheroic stuff or write any massive award winning essays.

Instead I went with the family to a late breakfast at a place my wife wanted, so that she could enjoy some of the things she likes that I don't normally cook & someone else got to clean up. Then we hit Home Depot for some crown molding - with the upcoming new TV system, we want to relocate the speaker wires to run along the ceiling better than they do now & also improve the room a little bit. Nothing ostentatious but it should look better. Then it was home & I took the dog for a nap and mowed the leaves in the front yard to mulch while everyone else napped.

After that it was cooking dinner, time playing with the kids & a little bit of schoolwork. Oh, and did a few minutes of model & miniature work as well - just trying to get the feel back for things.

All in all a great quiet day & I think everyone enjoyed it.

Tomorrow I have in-service training, which shouldn't be too horrible this time since I'm also getting a new laptop and digital camera to use at work. Plus, my coworkers and I are bound to have plenty of snark to share, so that will help time fly.

Hope your day was as enjoyable wherever you may be.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

New toys and Google-fu

So... I'd been not-even-hinting for a while to the wife about wanting a new TV. Yes, even though I don't watch much of it... I hate most network programming. But for movies. And eventually hoping to get decent cable again (I HATE that it is all-or-nothing packages - it should be a freaking buffet line, choose what you want & pay X per channel, but that's a separate rant). She has generally tolerated it, putting me off with very reasonable sense til it was a good time. Well, recently she told me it was something to look at with the upcoming holidays. We discussed our respective wants & needs, she set some very fair limits to keep me from being stupid & we've been kind of comparison shopping since then.

Screen size honestly was the least of the issues. I wanted a little bigger than she did (gratuitous size joke at your leisure here), but neither of us had a desire for a wall-filling TV that would dominate the room. After looking in the stores and standing back from things we settled on the 40-46" range as being good for our wants and needs. Definitely bigger than the 9 year old 27" we have now, but not overwhelming.

We did the whole LCD/Plasma debate - looking online, sharing thoughts & finally looking at stuff in the stores side-by-side (and yes, we settled on plasma, as her artist's eye definitely notices the color improvement, and I just thought they looked better for some reason).

Same thing for the 1080/720 discussion - though this one was harder to solve. She honestly didn't see a difference between them. At first I was holding firm on wanting 1080, in order to be ready for advances to come down the road (and because I have horrible geek urges to buy the better of the two toys). Unfortunately, this desire was putting the sets out of our price range. So we planned to see what the big holiday sales looked like & work from there.

Well, this morning Kyleigh and I did a bit of holiday shopping after her nap. At the tail end of the trip I went by one of the electronics giants, knowing they had a variety to look at and wanting to compare again. Plus, I knew they were doing the whole "pre-black-Friday" thing & wanted to see what popped up. I had pretty much settled in my mind that if we had good deals on a 720 pixel resolution TV that we would jump on it, just to resolve the issue and keep me from whining more! Plus, with the upcoming surgery, it would give me a recovery toy of sorts...

So I look around and compare some sets and find a good solution that is well within our price range. I find a sales drone that isn't overly pushy and seems knowledgable, and I start questioning him on some of the stuff between the 720 resolution and the 1080 same brand series right next to it. I'm still pretty much ready to go out the door with the lesser one, when he points out that there IS an unadvertised sale price on the 1080 - $300 off - and that the 1080 version comes with a free Blueray player as well... So - for basically $100 more, but still in the original budget plan, I get the 1080 AND a Blueray player that I wasn't even planning on.

Believe it or not, I did still debate for several minutes. But, realistically it was too good of a deal to pass up, so I put the order in - none were in stock, but they should be here by Friday. All going well, next weekend we will have the chance to see if the HD difference is as good at home as it looked there (I have a feeling it will be even better away from the massive wall-of-video), and then we can start figuring out what movies are worth getting on Blueray for us and what stays as it is. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that our regular DVD's will look better as well due to the technology, which means we don't have to look as deeply. Mostly it will be the old VHS tapes we have & a few of the perenial classics that we both know will be watched plenty more.

So.... given the convolutions of my brain... this is how we get to the Google-fu.

See, we started discussing the "movies to copy to DVD/Blueray" discussion... which led me to think about some of what was still on VHS. Which led me to think "Hey, there was a song off of one movie that I liked, but I don't think I ever got it off the old cassette tape I had made back in Spain ten years ago." Which led to the cabinet to look through the vids. Upon finding it and the title, I did the old Google-action & found the movie... then at least the one song title I wanted. Which then led to a Youtube find of it, and a download and conversion to mp3 for the iPod... all in the space of a few minutes. This technology stuff is neat!

(oh and the movie was "Blood and Concrete" and the song was "One Girl in a Million" by Jennifer Beals for those who care. I found it catchy.)

Let's see, other than that. Got to spend time doing fun stuff with each of my kids. Angel Food came in today, and we used some of the choices to make a nice simple dinner for the evening. Then my wife and I spent time together watching Ronin and enjoying some quiet Saturday evening togetherness with no madness. So all-in-all no complaints about how today went here.

More Meme...

This one from CrankyProf:

Here are some rules:

–Share seven random or weird Book Facts about yourself.
–Then tag seven other people.
–Notify the seven others that they have been tagged.

Oddity ahead!

  1. I am literally incapable of reading just one book at a time - at a minimum I will have 3 going at once. I may even take a break from one for a few months due to distractions or boredom, but I can generally pick it back up and not be lost as I continue.
  2. I have read The Lord of the Rings at least once a year since I was twelve years old, and I still find something new each time I read it.
  3. Like several others on this list would say - I often prefer books to real people. They tend to be my little world to escape to when I am stuck at family or social functions I don't feel comfortable or get bored in - you will find me in a quiet corner enjoying myself and being a good boy.
  4. Despite the above, even when I'm reading I tend to have decent situational awareness as it were. This annoyed the holy crap out of a number of teachers in high school, as they tried the "Ah ha, he's not paying attention, ask him a question and embarrass him back into the class." game when I was reading my own stuff out of boredom. After the first couple of rounds of "Sean looks up, calmly answers the question, then looks back to his reading." they usually left me alone.
  5. I can't recall ever being particularly scared or freaked out by a book. Movies yes, dreams yes, real life sure. But even the "scariest" books I've read have not really hit that chord in me ever. Then again, I don't read much in the horror genre, so maybe it's just a lack of exposure.
  6. Due to some bad luck in the past I am horribly loathe to loan out books I love. I will gladly buy someone a copy of something just to share a great story, but I feel like it's parting with a bit of myself to let them take my copy home, no matter what the promises of return.
  7. Almost every book I love has at least a handful of dogeared pages - for a quote I love, a thought that struck a chord, or an idea I would steal if my writing ever progressed beyond "idiot on a keyboard that even the 100 monkeys would mock." I can go back to these marks years later and still tell you what it was that caught my eye.
So I'll be somewhat random with my tags here...

Lovely Wife; Amy; Brigid, Tam; Lawdog; Ambulance Driver; and PJ.

I knew it was too good to last...

Our headline of the night...

"Beavers back in Britain after 400 years"

Though I hadn't realized the whole "personal grooming" thing had been around in England that long, thinking it was mostly a 90's and 00's thing that happened...

Which reminds me of the funniest Crocodile Hunter line episode ever, but I will stop here...




Oh like none of you thought of the innuendo either!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Superpowers

So apparently, sometime in recent history (maybe it's the new medications), I have developed a wonderful new superpower. You see, I am actually TWO different people now.

Yes, that's right - I can do something, and a mere moment later the person involved thinks I am someone COMPLETELY different! Talk about a great skill, that I plan to use to full advantage!

I found out about this new ability quite by accident.

We had a call the other night in the early morning hours for a possible break-in; which our dispatchers quickly updated to what sounded like a domestic dispute, given the comments they could clearly discern over the phone. So, I show up with a couple of the other guys, and we find Contestant #1 in the front yard, staggering, yelling, and otherwise annoyed with the world... He quickly explains to us that it was just him thinking he could ride his bicycle in the back yard real quick (at 0-dark-30 mind you), and it fell in a hole making noise that woke his wife up. But everything was fine, and we needed to leave.

Well - I don't know how other states are - but in Virginia we are mandated to investigate any possible domestic. It doesn't mean we have to arrest someone, but I at least have to do my job and make sure everyone is ok, see what really happened & at least do a report. Hey, I don't make the rules, I just work with them!

But our intrepid intoxicatee is adamant that no, he doesn't want to talk with us anymore; and that no, we aren't going in to the house to talk with his wife. This pretty rapidly passes my level of "willing to listen to crap" and I go ahead and explain his options, and when he declines to cooperate I put the cuffs on him.

A short couple of minutes later we determine that no, there wasn't a domestic issue requiring further action - but he still is going to take the ride for public intoxication. You hang out outside, too drunk to think straight, and you get us to have to deal with you then yes, you get to take the ride... Of course, the whole time this is going on he is cursing and talking all the normal stuff that happens in these situations.

"But wait," you say "where's the whole superpower thing Sean?"

Don't worry, I'm almost there.

You see, a good portion of his big talk is directed at me specifically - I'm an asshole, I must be a rookie for arresting him, he can't believe I'm doing this at his own house, etc. Nothing I haven't heard before. He's still talking the full collection as I leave him with one of the guys while I go bring my car up for our ride.

A mere 30 seconds later I buckle him in the seat and we start towards the jail. During which, the ENTIRE drive, arrest report and processing, and everything else he is consistently talking to me about "That other asshole cop who arrested him. Oh, you're cool man, I know you're just doing your job but that other guy was messed up."

I mean, seriously - it takes me a couple of minutes to figure it out - he 100% believed I was a completely different person than the one who put the handcuffs on him, told him he was under arrest, searched him and everything else. It's not like I changed clothes, took off some magical ninja disguise or anything like that! I mean hell, I didn't even have a hat on hiding my ugly head! But I think he would have sworn under oath at that point that two different cops did all this - and it's not like I even changed my behavior or anything!

So - obviously that's why I have superpowers! Either that, or that whole alcohol makes people not smart thing again...

But I like the superpower option better!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Just a thought

SO, for anyone out there considering opening up a business like say, a hospital, here's an idea for you.

I really like the whole "checklist" thing - where they make sure you're the right patient, they make sure they know what the surgery is and what part of the body it's on, all that stuff - double checking things before they proceed. I mean, it just shows a thoroughness and professionalism and level of patient care that's important... that kind of thing counts you know.

But, I kind of would like to see an addition to the list...

How about we make sure the gorram surgeon is in the gorram hospital at some point????

Like maybe BEFORE we sedate the patient, put a nerve block in one arm, and generally ensure that they can't go anywhere for the next 6-8 hours???

I bring this up because yes, it actually happened to me this morning.

Got up at 5-ish, had my wife (who hates mornings more than I do, and despises cold ones in a way that can't be written on a non-adult website) drive me to the hospital and sign me in. Got undressed & into the "doesn't even pretend to hide stuff" gown. They roll me into the pre-op ward, check everything out and I'm ready for the day. Heck, they're even predicting I may get to call for my ride home by noon. All the right stuff is double checked, and in comes the anesthesiologist. They get the sedation started, and drop a nerve block in for my arm.

Speaking of, that's a strange experience I'm not looking forward to repeating - when you can tell the limb is there but can't do crap with it is kind of not fun.

Anyway, I lie there while that all takes effect & I'm nice & comfortably numb, in true Roger Waters fashion. Then they roll me into the operating room and I zone out while I wait...

Well, a short time later, I realize we are moving again and they're saying "Oh, we're just going in here to wait for a little bit, just hang out." So I am lying there in & out of things when I start to realize it's been a good hour and a half of waiting here & so I call the nurse over to ask what's going on. She mumbles something about "I'll go get one of the doctors so they can explain everything." and wanders off, as I wonder what is going on here.

About 15 minutes later in comes one of the residents and the charge nurse, who explain that ummmmm, well, no one at the hospital quite knows WHERE the surgeon is this morning. No one has seen him, he's not answering his office or cell phone, and they just aren't sure what is going on. But just hang out a little longer, and as soon as we find him we'll get this whole operation-thing rolling right along...

Given that I've had about 5 hours sleep in the past two days I take the opportunity to drift in and out for a bit, letting the medication help me nap for a while. The next thing I know I take a look at the clock and we are rolling up on 1pm... I figure this is more than enough time to figure out SOMETHING, so I call the nurse-with-no-answers over again, who wanders off once more in search of a doctor.

I get a different one back this time - later finding out it's the head of this department. I will say this positively about the man - he was far less pleased than I was. He then took the opportunity to explain to me, quite honestly, that the problem was completely on their end - the surgeon in question had a death in the family, had left town & not cancelled any of their appointments, and that he was going to do everything he could to make things right & resolve them quickly. Which means that he's going to try to get me in there far sooner than normal scheduling, and he was on his way up to the main adminstration right now to make sure it was sorted out.

I was a grown-up boy too - I didn't rant or rave, throw anything, or otherwise display a temper - particularly surprising since I hadn't been able to eat or drink anything since the previous night, and was starting to feel it. However, this man was very obviously displeased with what had happened and how it reflected upon his staff, and sincere in his efforts to fix things however he could. He particularly felt bad since he knew we had arranged family things, childcare and time off from work specifically around all of this, and how much it inconvenienced a number of people.

Ended up taking a few more hours for all the drugs to be out of my system, sort out what little paperwork there was & then for my wife and the kids to make it up there to drive me home. Now I'm supposed to get a call tomorrow with a very-near future date for my return trip, and hopefully a successful conclusion.

But you can bet I'm going to tell them I need to actually see the freaking doctor before needle one goes in my body next time!

And that's MY day in a cracked nutshell...

"So, other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

filler

Have a court story to share from today, plus a comment about yet another fun drunk last night.

But I'm working on 3 hours sleep, and I have to be up at 0430 for tomorrow's surgery, so it will have to wait.

Instead, I will leave you with someone else's words that mine will never match:


***


Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Abraham Lincoln,
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

November 19th, 1863

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

One of those meme things...

Taken from Julie


5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago

- Getting paid to live in Spain and workout every day
- Getting ready to get married
- Still trying to figure out what I'd do when I had to find a grown-up job someday
- Partying like it was 1998
- Pretty much still being somewhat stupid

5 Things on My To-Do List Today

- Sleep
- Cook dinner
- Spend some time with my family
- Download the weekly school assignments
- Go to work

5 Snacks I Like

- Hot tamales (the candy)
- Cliff bars
- Sweets in general
- Think that's about all I can imagine...

5 Things I Would Do If I Was A Millionaire

- Be debt-free
- Make sure the kids had money for college
- Give some back to the people who have helped us when needed
- Build the house the way we wanted
- Finally travel again

5 Places I Have Lived (for various lengths of time)

- Colorado
- Spain
- Hawaii
- Virginia
- At sea

5 Jobs I Have Had

- Police officer
- U.S. Navy - got to do a number of things
- Radio DJ
- Gentleman's club DJ/bartender
- Waiter

5 People I Tag to Answer

- My wife
- Amy
- Anyone else who cares to

Monday, November 17, 2008

Fortunately not as big of a problem at my house....

Funny hits....

So on today's search term hit for my site, we had the following from the UK:


"what did pirates eat for dessert"


hmmmm not really sure if I have an answer to that one... though I'm sure rum had a lot to do with the ingredients.

or did wenching count as dessert or an appetizer? just saying.

A shiny link

Found this site doing some Google-fu shopping, and had to laugh and enjoy...

Serenity Tales is primarily a set of fan comics set in the 'verse - some decent some ok but still worth a look.

But honestly, my FAVORITE part by far is the little sub-series called "Notes On A Fridge (On a Spaceship)" - exactly what it sounds like, a collection of notes the various characters have left each other during their daily activities. Freaking hilarious, and I can picture each of them perfectly - the author got it spot on.

Drop by, give them a read, and encourage them all to do more. Thanks.

A better day

Fortunately a friend was able to quickly diagnose and fix the problem with the pipe today, saving me even more aggravation and money - a very unlooked for blessing which I am very grateful for.

I got some good time with each of the kids to play and hang out and let them have fun, which was nice.

Caught up on a chunk of school, which at least put a dent in one half of things.

Cooked a nice dinner which we all were able to sit and enjoy together - a southwestern chicken, rice and veggies for all to partake in.

Got a stack of leaves out front raked, letting us see the sidewalk again.

And spent a bit of quiet time enjoying a movie with my wife before she was able to get to bed early to rest.

So all-in-all, a much better day. Hoping tomorrow shows the same kind of progress.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Life on the see-saw...

Back & forth the past couple of days, just one of those cycles...

Made it to the range Friday for some non-stressful, no-rush, quiet time shooting by myself. Grabbed a spot on the rifle deck and spent two hours on just some fundamental stuff. Not thrilled with how I was doing, but not horribly mad either - and I knew enough to know when to call it a day. Finished up with a little shotgun and pistol work, which was right about the point of diminishing returns so I called it a day. But overall I was glad to get out and have a chance to just work on my needed practice, as opposed to spending most of my time teaching others. I like instructing and all that, but at times I need to focus inwards instead of outwards...

Came home & finally worked on the water heater, which was successful. Unfortunately, in doing so, one of the valves I shut off decided that was the last time it felt like being fully functional in the old plumbing, and developed a nice steady drip. And of course the "current" home warranty plan we picked up doesn't kick in til NEXT week... so I'm stuck between trying to fix it myself & possibly making things worse, or else paying a plumber to come in next week.

Worked a few hours of OT tonight in one of our problem areas with a good partner. Apparently no one wanted to go to jail tonight, but we got some good info on some other things & forwarded as needed - so we at least justified our time out there & kept the bosses happy. The sad part is that we talked with more people and put more effort into it than the 14 people who were actually working the road at the time... there is definitely a difference in how the two different platoons approach things & it shows in stuff like this. It was nice to get out and not worry about calls & just look for the things that caught our eye though - definitely makes me wish they would bring back our unit that used to do this all the time, then I might actually be willing to transfer off the road. As it is, I'm glad we have a supervisor who trusts us enough to let us come do these things when need be.

On the other side of annoying, the VA all of a sudden decided that the surgery scheduled for next week ISN'T covered under my disability rating, and since they aren't in my HMO's network I will get stuck with the full bill... really great to know this close to things, especially when this has been in the works for several months and they've treated everything else. So, my options are do the surgery now & hope to win the fight over a several thousand dollar bill, or else put it off... I'll know more Monday after fighting things out over the phone.

But... to focus on the positive...

I got to spend some good time with my wife this past couple of days, even time that one or the other of us wasn't exhausted, rushed, or otherwise occupied and could just be a couple again.

Jacob has discovered the joys of Lincoln Logs and normal-sized Legos, and has been having great fun with both as special toys he can play with in the office without having to share. And watching him create, problem solve and imagine what he wants to do is amazing and incredible and reminds me again and again how smart he already is. It also lets him spend time with me when I am on the electronic addictive internet machine, as it gives him something he isn't bored with that lets him explore - and it reminds me to pull myself away and remember what is important.

Kyleigh has discovered that while books are quite tasty, no matter how many times a grown-up says "No", they also seem quite interesting to look at page-by-page... watching her sit and flip through them, even though I know she is just mimicing what she has seen, makes me smile realizing that most likely we have brought yet another bibliophile into the world who will find a quiet joy in the printed word as she goes through life... she also has expanded her "daddy give me attention" rules to include just sitting next to me on the couch playing and laughing with things, her only need to be close and interact.

So yes, life isn't perfect, but I certainly am not doing that bad... perhaps this week will find the balance more towards the center...

Friday, November 14, 2008

Another rainy night without...

So, the work week is over.

I have a stack of schoolwork which has been pending for neigh on a semester (at least parts of it).

A desk and "to do" list around the house that's pretty much equally as long.

And it's been a week of catnaps again, so I could sure use some sleep.

But after a nice night with the family, and everyone off to bed now, I'm going to sit here with quiet music & enjoy the sound of the rain outside and just "be" for a while.

Reality can return in the morning.

(sorry for the gratuitous Queensryche lyric
)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Thank you

Today is Veteran's Day.

I have no pithy post today, no great stories I'm going to share.

and I did my honors to those we lost on Memorial Day.

Today I just want to say thank you to the living - to every veteran out there, whether I served with you or not. People from the cooks and the mechanics, all the way up to the flag officers.

Those who did a few years for the college money and honorably moved on.

Those who are serving still, until they day they get forced to retire.

and those who survived but lost part of themselves physically or psychologically, which we can never repay.

Thank you for being men and women brave and selfless enough to put something bigger before their own needs, and to give that part of your life in service to this country.

We will always be grateful.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Linky-love

Jon from A View from a Cube payed me the compliment of following my blog - you all drop by and give him a read... looks like he's similar to me, in that his topics bounce about almost as much as his thoughts... and not in a bad way!

Noting from a read too - it's interesting the number of Browncoats who were voting this go around, and the choices they made...

Longings



This is the time of year where I often find myself becoming more homesick than normal...

My wife has written before of her upbringing in East Africa, the times she misses her own places of comfort and the moods the seasons bring. And I can certainly relate.

I come from literally the other side of the world; growing up out west, with the Rocky Mountains a constant backdrop to the sky, one of the hardest times of my life was moving away from that to where it was flat and dry in west Texas, and then further on as my life led me down different roads. But a part of me always was back there, in my thoughts and dreams, in where I called "home" as nebulous as the concept was.

After all, for ages the Ute were known as "The People of the Shining Mountains" to the surrounding tribes, and sometimes blood runs deep.

Despite the joy I had traveling the world, and the time I loved living on the beach at the taxpayer's expense (Thanks everyone!), I had always planned on ending up back there. I would finish school, or settle down somewhere with my mountains, the different games of each season to enjoy outside, and just the feeling of being where I have some sort of tie to the past.

No matter how you plan though life throws us curves at times. Waking up married one day (ok, it wasn't THAT quick, but still...), to someone with her own family and roots. Leaving the military a few years earlier than planned, and then trying to find a department to sign off with. Things just worked out making more sense for us to stay in Virginia when this all happened - after all, my family is scattered to the four winds, we were already here and had some connections, etc. So, here we are 6 years later and I'm a resident with an established career and family...

But when the year starts to turn to a close, the leaves change and fall from the trees, and the air takes on that evening chill... I start to miss home even more. That crispness in the air that tells you snow will be here before morning. The glow of the sun setting behind peaks close enough to touch. The wind blowing in the distance through the pines, that sound like running water as nature breathes. Stars shining like diamonds above as you are just that little bit closer to what lies above. I see pictures such as this, and I feel the longing inside.

This post isn't meant to be particularly maudlin, or to complain about where I am - I certainly don't regret the choices I've made. Take it as just the howl of a wolf late at night, who misses the echoes of his cry sounding through the wilds of home...


Friday, November 7, 2008

Starting the weekend

Managed to survive the election without any EOD calls, surprisingly - figured on at least one suspicious package somewhere with someone going stupid... Then made it through a long day of teaching at the academy. Plus today managed to assist some in getting the old spare room/new office painted at last so we can shift everything over tomorrow. Add in a long morning in court, a few administrative tasks, and helping out with a solo release board for one of the new guys tonight & it's been a long few days.

Fortunately I have the next few off. A chunk of house stuff to do, more schoolwork that I've been horribly neglecting, and a brisket to cook. Plus time with the kids and wife in there, and maybe even some sleep.

Not as exciting as some weeks of posting, but I'm not complaining one bit.

Monday, November 3, 2008

More from the dumb choices files

Only on the road one night this week, due to some training stuff going on. It managed to be a busy one, though I avoided the majority of the drama - friends got tied up in one homicide & then another shooting, while I ran around covering the more mundane calls...

Stuff finally slowed down a little bit after midnight & I had a chance to search for good stops on the (now-empty) roads. Finally when I was headed up to grab a drink since I was having no luck I found a car with recently expired plates, so pulled him over for the chat.

Well, lo & behold he happens to be suspended due to some recent court fines.

So, I take care of the ticket for his plate, give him his suspension notice & let him know that a tow truck is on the way. I can't very well let him drive after all, and his car is sitting on the roadway so it is a safety hazard.

While we are waiting on the tow truck he's dialing every number he can trying to get a ride and getting more and more frustrated. Then, when the tow shows up he rolls up his window and is refusing to get out of the car... Then when he does roll down his window he starts ranting and raving that I NEED to wait for his girlfriend to get here to drive the car for him, that he can't afford a tow bill, etc.

SIGH

What is it that makes people think that they are going to win a simple pissing match like this on the side of the road? That throwing a tantrum is going to suddenly make cops change their minds and go "Awww shucks, you win!"

I spend several minutes clearly explaining his options to him - that his car is getting towed either way you cut it, the only real choice he's making right now is whether or not he's going to let me get my job done & if he is going to jail or not. I don't raise my voice, I'm as polite as can be, but I make it VERY clear to him that his options are dwindling the more he plays this game...

Well, he refuses to budge, so into the cuffs he goes - this guy (who seems nice enough, and certainly didn't give me any problems other than this) turned a simple pre-payable expired plates ticket into that and an obstruction charge. I let the magistrate know the full story, and that he was polite and otherwise cooperative with me, so he was released on his signature. But it still annoyed me - I've got other people I'd much rather be taking to jail than just someone who felt he had to be stubborn at the wrong moment, and I am sure he'd much rather have gotten a ride home and sorted out the tow bill later. But, once I tell you that if you don't do X, and you call me on it, I pretty much have to arrest you - it's the same as when your kids call you on cleaning their rooms, if you don't do it things only get worse down the road... or at least that's my "child care theory of law enforcement."

After that the rest of the shift went pretty slow. Had three different deer kamikaze into the side of officer's cars last night - so apparently their is some great Bambi offensive planned in the near future or something. One of my district partners apparently couldn't handle putting his out of its misery last night, so I took care of that for him - not out of any bloodthirst or cruelty, but because the poor thing was stuck there suffering & I would rather it be done quick then everyone sit around dithering and staring. Of course, being cops this means he has now been opened up for a world of grief for the next week or so, as people were asking him if we needed to drive his car for him, do his reports and all that... all in good natured fun.

So that's the excitement of last night. Wondering how many (if any) bomb callouts we will get tomorrow with the election & post-election fun, and otherwise just waiting for the rest of the week to go by.

To close, please make sure you vote tomorrow if you haven't already - I won't lecture on candidates or platforms, just ask you to make sure your voice is heard if you are eligible.