Interesting reading

As I am currently still sick-as-a-dog and not really the most lucid person, I provide a link to some interesting reading regarding the state of the nation.

Mark Steyn provides the article here.

Important Halloween Advice

While this is without a doubt my favorite holiday of the year, as generations now of movies have taught us, some people do foolish things and thereby unleash eldritch horrors, suffer eternal damnation, and just generally ruin a good time.

Fortunately LabRat and Patrick have put up some important tips to help you survive the weekend. Get thee hence and read!

Signs of the times

For those who are confused by the mixed messages about the economy, here's the law enforcement evaluation -
we are getting eaten up by robberies and burglaries more than ever.

That tells me all I need to know. Are your areas the same?

Wednesday I guess

The days kind of run together sometimes...

Anyway - ended up meeting with some peers from a west coast agency who were out here teaching a class, had a chance to catch up on some stuff, swap a few stories & pick up some free pubs for the library. Unfortunately I didn't get to stay and blow anything up, but such is life.

The boy is sick tonight - I knew he was bad when at dinner he laid his head in my lap to rest and then just wanted to snuggle & go straight to bed. And nothing will bring parents to alertness faster than the sound of a child vomiting in the back seat.

So, fortunately I'm off tomorrow, which means I can stay home with the little man & help him get to feeling better.

Sad face

Got to the range a bit early today, hoping to get some shooting in before the instructing portion started. Brought along a couple of personal guns & some ammo, all set to just relax... at which point the phone started ringing, emails started pinging and in general I spent the next two hours dealing with "gotta be done now" stuff.

Hopefully next week.

Birthday Biscuit

Three years ago today Kyleigh joined us in the world - our second unexpected blessing, full of energy and laughter, cuddles and sweetness. With the stubbornness of both sides of the family combined and more cute than should be legally allowed.

Happy birthday princess! We are all thrilled to share the day with you!

I always knew this...

For the Lovecraft Fans

A ways back I had posted a question about any Lovecraft inspired or similar genre movies - some good suggestions, but I have found something new and which I look forward to.

The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society has done several "fan" movies with what looks like rather professional techniques. From The Call of Cthulhu as a silent movie, to the upcoming The Whisperer in Darkness.



The combination of modern technology and the period sets is exceptional - I have a feeling I'll be ordering a few things down the line.

Rainy day

Still enjoying my vacation here. Got a nice run in this morning - very much needed, as my knee has been acting up most of the week til now.

Something I've always loved about running in the rain, particularly in the fall. Things are nice and cool, and I seem to be able to just zone out a bit more and enjoy the run instead of feeling like I'm punishing myself. I suppose it comes from the days when I took my running much more seriously, and any relief from the heat during a long day was welcome.

Other than that I've been getting the desk clean, sorted out a bunch of old work stuff to get rid of, and just enjoyed the time at home. Apparently I need to do this more often...

HERESY!

From Peter at Bayou Renaissance Man - apparently they are planning a remake of the classic Rocky Horror Picture show.

Apostasy! Unbelievers!

Look - there have been movies and songs I have greatly enjoyed the remake of over the years. Ones where I think that a new aspect is well explored, or just a fresh take is nice. Things like Oceans 11, Casino Royale and such come to mind.

Certain other things Are. Not. To. Be. Touched.

I can still remember losing my RHPS virginity at a midnight showing years ago in college; and many other fun nights attending the movie and even a few times playing in the cast. To this day my wife and I can still quote our lines as we occasionally watch the DVD for laughs. Hopefully someday down the road when the kids are older we will be able to introduce them to the same joys.

No one will replace Tim Curry as Frank-N-Furter, much less the other cast bits. New technology or CGI will in no way improve upon the pure intentional cheesiness of the sets and effects. Quite simply, whatever they do can't be better.

They fling around fatwas and condemnations for everything else - perhaps we need one here!

Ick or something

Got a call today from my attorney with a question - she had a case with another officer going on (she does work as a defense attorney as well,) and had a bit of a procedural question regarding how we teach to do things & what might a "reasonable" officer do and consider in a certain situation. After spending a minute getting the details I let her know the areas that yes, I would have done differently, and that I consider while not "wrong" at least not in the best judgment. She thanked me and sent word a short time later that she had won her case.

I had to laugh some - on the one hand I told her I felt "dirty" for helping the other side (just kidding folks!) - on the other, one of my pet peeves is incompetent officers who make the job harder on the rest of us. Particularly when their actions border on questionable stops, searches or arrests.

Besides, around here at least we do generally have a professional relationship with most defense attorneys, which is something I like. Both sides are important in our system, and I have never begrudged the ones who put their effort into doing a good job.

Casting call

Jacob is currently working through The Hobbit as his bedtime story. He's done the graphic novel & the animated movie of course, but this is his first experience with me reading the words straight to him.

So, tonight as we are continuing through the opening scene at Bilbo's home, it struck me in both style and delivery who would be the perfect voice for Thorin Oakenshield - John Hillerman in his "Jonathan Higgins" voice from Magnum P.I. - the way his stories carry on, that bit of stodginess, all of it would work absolutely wonderfully.

If Peter Jackson casts him, I expect royalties...

Vacation time

Last night's outing to pick out pumpkins and do family dinner was cut short by a call-out - fortunately nothing more than a nice chunk of hours for the overtime check.

Then I rolled into a DUI special for the evening; I hadn't realized that it was apparently drunk night throughout town. If I counted right, between the special & regular patrol officers we had about 14 DUI arrests last night - made for a slow time at the jail, but good to get them all off the street. I lucked out with mine as well as she was honest, polite, and in no other ways a pain in my butt. Much easier to deal with than some of the others I saw.

Off for the next week unless I get called in for any bomb stuff. Other than that I plan to enjoy some family time & get a few projects done.

235

Two hundred thirty five years ago today Congress approved the purchase of two vessels, the start of the United States Navy.

I had the honor and privilege of serving fourteen years of my life in the Navy before my life as a cop. Literally traveling around the world, and having the chance to work with everything from regular fleet units to the highest levels of special operations and national assets - professionals every one. Air units, submarines, surface ships, shore duty in the mud & sand and trips to great countries and nice hotels on the government dime. Doing sneaky stuff in different places, sitting boring duty watches, blowing things up, jumping out of helicopters, diving, shooting, - I could go on and on. Two wars, countless days deployed for other bits of fun, training and real world operations, and humanitarian support.

To say the Navy gave me opportunities and knowledge I could never have gotten otherwise is an understatement - I wouldn't trade that time for anything e lse.

Not to mention the fact it let me meet my wife & led to our wonderful family :D

For two hundred thirty five years countless other sailors have answered that same call. The service has done things far beyond the call of duty, from the depths of earth to the depths of space. Even now thousands of men and women serve away from their loved ones in the cause of freedom.

Happy birthday, fair winds and following seas shipmates. Bravo zulu.

More genre fun

Ever since last year's Halloween tribute to Browncoats my wife and I have enjoyed Castle in the times we are able to watch. Tonight's episode is supposed to be a steampunk-style mystery, so hopefully good watching for all of us!

Unexpected fun

While I love my job and the opportunities, there are occasional days when I miss the fun of being just a "regular cop." I read the posts by Momma Fargo and some of the others and am reminded of the joy in playing the game on traffic stops or pedestrian approaches, finding people who need to go to jail and all the other joys of field work.

So - today I was on my way out to help with teaching a class at the range when a car comes screaming by me doing triple digits on the interstate. After a brief pause to make sure I'm not insane, that I am still driving a big truck with POLICE on it in rather obvious letters, I move in behind them as they continue to speed down the road. A short traffic stop later & we are of course playing the "I don't have a license" game, along with the two occupants having completely different stories about destinations, routes and all such things. Add a bit of alcohol to the mix and things are just tons of fun.

Even though I'm not in the same practice as a few years ago I still remember how to play this whole game well enough. Big surprise when I find the crack and weed in the car (especially when she swore up and down that there was nothing to be found, honest officer!) - then it's the "That's not my purse, well I share it with other people." etc. etc. etc.

It still amazes me how people will try this stuff, even when caught red handed.

What caught me even more was when the lady in question then tried to pass the drugs off on her son who was with her - yes, she was willing to throw her son under the bus for several felony charges, just to get out of her own trouble.

W. T. F. ??????????
Our society has reached that point? I'm not overly naive about this stuff after the years, but it still amazes me the influence that drugs will have on people and the depths to which they will sink. It makes me glad I do my bits here and there to clean some of it up.

Plus, it was nice to know that my skills aren't completely shot.

ADDENDUM:

Was just recalling as well the other bit of interest to me. One of our relatively newer guys showed up at the jail the same time as I was, and of course we were comparing "Why are you here?" tales. His response to my tale being "Why can't I get that lucky?" I really couldn't answer beyond just saying it was a "right place at the right time" kind of thing.

It just seems interesting to me how some newer guys don't realize how this all works. Over the years I've encountered literally thousands of people, either on traffic stops or service calls. Some of them I've had the opportunity to simply talk with, some got tickets, some got arrested. Sure, I've found drugs, illegal guns, murderers and a host of other things. But I've also encountered far more people who were simply normal citizens going about their lives, people who I never had any further interest in or need to arrest. It's a numbers game - you take the time to run into people, particularly in the high crime areas, and you're bound to found more who need to be arrested. It doesn't fall into your lap, it's not some magic trick, or some secret gift. You have to make the effort to get the results - which is the hardest thing to teach some of the new guys. Just food for thought in police work, or life in general.

Colder Days

Not only did I grow up in the era of the Cold War, my first few years of service were still very much in that environment. No matter where you were assigned, particularly in the "intelligence community," the Soviet threat was always a concern. Things like the "Moscow Rules," knowing the various agencies and players, and all the other fun bits of detente were very much a part of my life for a good number of years.

I was reminded of this as I pulled out my copy of Chess to put in the player while cleaning up after dinner. I've always enjoyed the album for far more than the single tune which hit pop culture, and tonight was no exception. Listening to the songs & the back story, the whole "US vs. USSR" which infected everything from world domination to sporting events, everything just wrapped together to bring back not quite a sense of nostalgia, but at least a time when we all knew the players and the rules. Plus, I've always thought it could be rewritten as a great spy adventure set behind the scenes...

Anyway, for those who may not be familiar, here's the one song everyone knows from the play:

I couldn't help myself

I wasn't going to blog this one, really - but I just couldn't help myself:

An Uncompaghre Ute Shaved Beaver Hide Painting. The Northern Ute would trap beavers, shave images into the animals' stretched and cured hides, and use them to decorate their personal and ceremonial dwellings.

Which led to the comment as I was reading the article "See, it's not my fault, it's genetic!"

Perspectives

It struck me reading a few blogs today that I've been a bit maudlin', whiny and generally self-pitiful lately on here - for which I am sorry.

I have a good job which keeps me happy & more than busy, a wonderful family and a life which is improving as opposed to the alternative. I have a home, I'm not getting shot at or eating MRE's on a regular basis again, and I am relatively sure that tomorrow will continue this trend.

I have no reason to bitch - I'll work on keeping that in mind, and thanks for understanding.

Bits from the week

Managed to survive another long one - rough on the family & I both, but hopefully next week will be better.

- For those wondering, lawsuits aren't that much fun, whether you are the plaintiff or the defendant. The fact that they move at a glacially-slow pace doesn't help.

- Pretty much tired & fed up with lawyers who are of the opinion that cops are stupid, simply because we don't have a J.D. after our name.

- The weather has finally cooled off nicely & we've gotten some much needed rain. I do enjoy fall around here, as it is a distinct season.

- I was dumb enough to pick up a 12-hour off duty job yesterday which involved being on my feet the whole time. Feeling the results still today... not one of my wiser decisions.

- We've entered the semi-annual range qualification cycle yet again. And yet again I'm amazed at the number of cops who don't even pretend to take it more seriously than going through the motions just long enough to qualify and go home.

Alright, bitching is over - I get to help a neighboring agency blow some things up tomorrow, so hopefully it will be a positive start to the week.

For those who are unaware, Monster Hunter: Vendetta and the new P.J. O'Rourke are both out...