I'm finally home

Man, that sounds weird to say. I'm home... and its 30 degrees outside. It's deceivingly sunny, but when you get close to a window you can feel the cold air and hear the wind howling. I really do feel like a California pansy now. The ground outside is frozen and feels like concrete when you walk on the grass... makes a cool 'crunch' sound, which probably means I'm killing the grass as I go goosestepping through it. What can I say? This is all new to me. I've also concluded that one of those things that starts your car (read as heater/defroster) remotely is more important than a dining room table. This is a partial view from our kitchen window. See that white patch? Yes! Its snow. This is going to take some getting used to.

We made it home late Friday night. We initially thought we wouldn't make it back till Sunday afternoon, but we kept pluggin' along..(and the navigator is really bad at math and she may have miscalculated the mileage by a teeny bit). We made 2 sightseeing stops, the Alamo in San Antonio, and New Orleans. The Alamo was pretty cool, if your not interested in history it would be ho-hum, but hubby and I liked it.

I really wanted to see New Orleans. Sis and I went a few months before Katrina so I wanted to see how it had changed. The French quarter looked about the same, except for the noticeable absence of people. The streets were dead. Perhaps it was because it was quite cool that day, or maybe this is an off season for them, but it felt really strange. You could still hear the jazz music sis liked as we walked the streets, but it had a softer, distant sound, not the flamboyant energy it once did. I went back to the hat shop! Thank goodness it was still in tact. Poor hubby just sat in a chair while gawked and gaped at each work of art. And, much to his delight, I left empty handed. Maybe next time. On the way out of town we witnessed more evidence of Katrina's fury.

We had surprises waiting when we got home. Someone had put balloons and tacks behind the door which would create a loud noise when you opened it. Thankfully, I have a cautious hubby who suspected something was afoot and opened it veeerrry carefully. I also found the mustard packets under the toilet seats, and the hose that shoots water all over when you go to flush. It was pretty funny. They did a few other things I wont post in cyberspace, but all in all we had a good laugh.

We called the movers to see when my things would be arriving, and they said not till the 12th-14th. AAACK! Another week and a half living out of my suitcase. I have 2 pairs of shoes, a few t-shirts, 2 skirts, 2 sweaters and 3 pairs of pants. THANK GOODNESS I packed my long underwear in my suitcase, or I would be a popsicle right now. I have nighties coming out my ears but no clothes to wear!! Guess I'll have to stay in the house. :)

Hubby went back to work today. Woohoo! I told him not to take it the wrong way... but I was really glad to get some quiet time! After 2 weeks in such close proximity... I need space! I do have things to keep me busy though. The house needs a good cleaning, and things need to be moved around a little. He did clear out a closet and some drawer space for me! I was quite impressed, but the project isn't done yet. He wanted help finding something to wear Sunday, and in the process we added about 4 shirts to the Goodwill pile that he hadn't worn in years and didn't even fit. I'm pretty sure there are others lurking in a couple closets that can be added as well. Remember bomber jackets? Navy suit coats with lots of gold buttons? Flannel shirts with the sleeves rolled up? Yep, sleeves were still rolled. I suppose someone would have laughed themselves silly at the stuff I weeded out of my closet a few months ago too, so I should be quiet.

I am working on posting pics on Flickr, first I thought I lost the picture CDs or that they were packed in boxes, but I found them. Its just a matter of finding the time to upload them!

Countdown

Countdown
Originally uploaded by joleesikora.

Yep. Down to the wire. 5 pm on Thursday I finally finished my dress! I think I have my cell phone buttons permenantly embeded in my ear from all the use its gotten lately. Most of the relatives have arrived. Oh, and its freezing cold here. I think its warmer in NJ than it is here right now. Its been getting below freezing every night for the past week. I now I sound wimpy, but for here that is really unusual. For us 4 nights out of the year it may fall below 32F but not all in a row! So, wedding has been moved indoors. Its still on the same property, but we had to alter the decorations a bit.

This morning we are going to get our nails done, and hopefully RELAX a little. Packing is nearly done, and there are a few loose ends to tie up, but other than that..... I'm getting married tomorrow!!! Woohoo!

My adorable nephews

The boys
Originally uploaded by joleesikora.

Aren't they something? C. has taken to calling the baby "chub, chub". Hmmm, wonder who he learned that from? He is getting bigger by the minute, and he smiles back at you now!

ONE MORE WEEK!

ONE MORE WEEK!
Originally uploaded by joleesikora.

A week from today, I will be a married woman. Yikes!

Showers in Hemet

Scarf knitted by Juliana
Originally uploaded by joleesikora.

My Aunt L. threw a personal shower for me! Since I already had nightgowns and whatnot, it was a 'winter accessories' party. I was given lots of useful winter gloves, scarves etc. Everyone has been so kind and generous, it has been a bit overwelming. This was a scarf my sister knitted for me. Love the color, and it has a special whole in it that I can feed it back through so it stays on my head! This other one was knitted by Comfortably Crazy. Those colors will go with everything! And its soft too!

Kedge and Becky, and many others I'm sure, put on a General Shower for me too! A fabulous winter theme, decorated in white feathers and white fuzzy scarfs. And the food as usual was fantastic as well. Ladies came from near and far to wish me well, and I really appreciate the effort they made to come. I received some wonderful gifts that will be very useful in our new home, and entertaining guests. I hope that we will see many of my west coast 'family' back east! Here is the quilt that the sisters have been working on for several months. Thanks again to all of you who worked on it~ It turned out beautifully, and I love the colors! I can't wait to get it 'home', and start decorating.

working on the hem

working on the hem
Originally uploaded by joleesikora.

No sleeves yet, but it's coming along

slooow progress

slooow progress
Originally uploaded by joleesikora.

The partial dress.... and no! No more sneek peaks until the wedding.

Leaps and Bounds

Progress! I'm making progress! I finally have some time to work on my dress now. Thanks to Kedge, it is coming right along. Mom has been working on Do's bridesmaids dress and I like the fabric even more now than I did when we got it. The red is just stunning. Maybe I'll ask Sara if she is keeping hers after the wedding...

PACKING. Nightmare. Not enough hours in the day, and there is so much to be done it's hard to know even where to start. Note the hat box pics.. I got all those to fit into a wardrobe box and 3 other smaller boxes. Yikes. We have decided to hire a mover. Sounded like the best way to go. They are going to load and unload the truck (which thankfully includes THEM carting the piano up the stairs at WK's). I have had a good experience so far. I went to movingscam.com and read up on the do's and don'ts of moving. They even have a Black List of horrible companies, as well as a spot for recommendations. I will let you know when it's all over with if I recommend this company or not. So far, they have been very friendly, helpful and informative. What a relief. Now we won't have to drive a UHaul cross country. We will just be driving my car, doing a little sight-seeing and taking it easy.

I started a Flickr account and I'm still trying to figure it out. http://www.flickr.com/photos/hotrodhanna Lord willing, I am going to post wedding pics there in Feb after the move. I'm still trying to figure out how I can get a slideshow from flickr to post on this blog. Any suggestions?

Old pictures

My mother-in-law-to-be wanted some pictures of me growing up to use at our reception back east. I will share a few amusing ones I found.

You can see my love of chocolate goes waaaaaay back. I can spot a box of See's Candies a mile away. There must have been Bordeauxs in that box! And yes, I took it behind the chair so I could eat in peace. I sure hope See's ships to New Jersey.

Kids now days have iPods. Yep, this is a genuine record player. We used to trek to the library at least once a week to stock up on books, records and cassettes. Thank you mom!! I loved to listen to books being read to me. Still do, although the technology has changed a bit.

And finally, 5 generations! I insisted on including SugarPlum in the picture.

THE STORY OF THE CANDY CANE

I found this really interesting. Click on the link, and scroll to the top of the post.


A place to journal: THE STORY OF THE CANDY CANE

Here are the pictures that didn't make it into the last post.

I'm still here

No, I haven't fallen off the planet. I just got back from spending a week in NJ. What a learning experience. It was cold (note to self: need more long underwear)! I spent some time with WKs friends, getting to know them, observing their social structure. I observed that they are extremely competitive about everything! It was a little amusing to watch until I realized I was going to be in the middle of it come January. I found out that WK hosts football on Sunday afternoons/evenings during the winter. Apparently no one else has HD, so they all come to his house. He spent quite a while trying to convince me that HD was the greatest thing ever. I finally saw the difference, but I think he was disappointed that I wasn't more enthusiastic. AND I learned that we get back from our honeymoon (and driving a UHaul 3000 miles) the night before Superbowl. Oh yes. Opened up a whole can 'o worms. I suppose all these adjustments are part of getting married. After living on my own, and not really answering to anybody, it's going to be hard making joint plans/decisions now. Lord, give me strength, patience and a submissive spirit.

They threw me a personal shower! It was really fun. I was blown away by how many people showed up when they really don't know me all that well. I got nightgowns galore, and lots of pretty sundries. Erika hosted a beautiful party. She used my wedding colors, and had a competition for bringing the best wrapped present. She used them as part of the decor. Very cool idea- looked great, and was a fun game for guests. WK's mother won... she had a pic of WK at age 8 or so in a little frame as part of her decoration. Here is Erika and Kate, both in the wedding.

We had a design snaffoo with Kate's dress. Jane didn't think there would be enough fabric for the skirt. So I redesigned it to look more like mine, and bought more lace. It got a whole lot more complicated than it needed to be, but I wasn't sewing it. By the time I left it was coming along well. I just have to duplicate it now on the other little girls dress. And yes, 36 more days to the wedding and this is my progress to date on my dress. ACK! I have been so busy with all the other planning/preparations that the dress got put on hold. After conference Keren!! I'll actually have whole days to come and work on it!

Sorry this dumb thing won't let me add pictures. Grrr. Pics will come later I guess.

Moving

I am utterly exhausted. I have been trying to pack up my apartment, while working 50 hrs a week, and juggling wedding preparations, and oh! family, trying to spend time with them. Laundry is piling up, friends have been neglected. Sleep? What is that?

This weekend I am moving out of my apartment that is close to work, and moving back in with my mother and sis for the next 2 months till the wedding. Half my stuff is still at my mom's anyway, I'm just consolidating,,, and saving money on rent. I'm glad that it will give me some more time w/mom and sis before I leave too. I have been able to part out most of my furniture that I wasn't going to take with me. That will save some garage space for now. It's all the little stuff that takes forever to pack in boxes. Who knew I could accumulate so much stuff? I am finding papers and things from years ago that wasn't even important then. Some of it is fun to run across though. I found my Special Box! Mom covered a cardboard box with contact paper, and that's where we saved all the things that were important to us as kids. It's fun and interesting to look back on what was so important to me then.

WK arrives on Thurs! Just in time to help me move! Wahoo.

Close Call

I think I may have prevented a rape, or something worse today. I am ashamed to say I was really annoyed with the call before we knew what actually happened. I took a call from a male I'll call Jack. He said his friend Jill had called him on his cell and said someone was in her house. Great. He has absolutely no information. Immediately I get annoyed. WHY do people call their family and friends when they are in trouble and not the police - the ones that can actually help them? It is beyond frustrating to be talking to Aunt Suzy in Wisconsin about a domestic assault in progress in our city. Relatives don't have answers to the questions that are imperative to our response to the situation. Grrrrrr. Call 911, THEN your friends people! But I will soon eat my words,,, keep reading.

He informed me that he was going over there to see if she was ok. I asked him what he planned to do if he found someone in the house and he said he didn't know. Well, maybe you should wait outside and let the police handle it, I suggested. (Another pet peeve: Joe Citizen thinking he is the Lone Ranger. So instead of one person in danger, now we have 2 to rescue, or they get in a fight with the suspect or end up antagonizing the suspect and making it worse.) I asked that he stay in his car, and we would send officers over. At least he knew her address, so I put a burglary in progress call for service in and we would send someone out to check on her.

I hung up with him and called the house number that Jack had for Jill. No answer. I was about to hang up, and thought.. she is probably home and she doesn't want to answer the phone for whatever reason, so I will leave her a message telling her that the police were notified and if she was ok and got freaked out by a cat or something maybe she would call us back and say she was ok... and I could cancel the call out. So I did, I left a message, more out of annoyance I am ashamed to say, rather than actual concern for her. "This is ** police department, if you are there Jill pick up the phone. [pause] If you don't answer we will send police to your house to check on you to make sure you are ok."

I called Jack back, tell him there is no answer. THEN he tells me that she was actually calling from a cell phone. I try that number too, no answer, left same message. Meanwhile, we had a burglary just occurred in a not-so-nice part of town. The loss- 6 guns. The caller said she heard her back door slam when she came in the front door. So yes, some yahoo is running down the street in a bad neighborhood carrying 6 loaded weapons. Due to manpower issues ( a whole post in itself) officers responded to that call before my damsel in distress call.

Ten minutes go by, amid answering other 911 calls, and I try to call Jill back. This time she answers, crying. Crap. I told her it was the police and asked what was going on. She stated that as she was getting out of the shower a male came up behind her, took her towel and wrapped it around her head and neck. He drug her backwards into the living room with the towel and threw her on the ground. At that precise moment, my voice was audible on the answering machine saying that we were going to send police to the house since she didn't answer the phone. He took that as his cue to leave, and bailed out the back door. Her dog apparently got a good piece of him because there was a blood trail leading to the back fence. 2 points for Fido. As I'm trying to get a description of the suspect I hear a voice in the background. Oh yes, Sir Jack is trying to ask her the same thing so that he can go hunt him down himself. Fantastic. Needless to say, officers were diverted from the burglary to this call, but she had only a generic description of the suspect.

Yes, he got away. Could it have been a lot worse? Absolutely, but that doesn't make me feel any better. I didn't believe her. I was so hung up on not being able to have contact with her/the actual victim and get to ask all the routine questions we are trained to ask and make my call neat and detailed, that I completely missed the point that she might actually be in real trouble. Sure, I followed protocol and everything was done 'by the book', but my conscience pricked me. We get so used to people crying wolf over the silliest little things that when an actual crime occurs, it's hard to believe them. Scary. That was a wake up call. Lot of good it does me now that I'm leaving, but maybe someone can learn from it!

Btw, we puzzled over the time frame for awhile. Apparently she grabbed her cell of a table as she was being dragged, hit send, and it called the last person she talked to... Jack. All she had time to say was that someone was in her house, before the suspect hung up the phone. Egg on my face.

One too many

Maybe it was because of the holiday, or we were overdue for our 'full moon' night, but we just had 5 DUI arrests in 2 hours. Weird.

Preparations and Sadness

There never seems to be enough hours in the day, or days in the week. On my days off I have been scrambling around trying to get errands done, of which there seems to be a never ending list. Its hard to get things done when I sleep in, because I can't seem to get to sleep before 2 am because of my wacky schedule. Its really frustrating, I drag around tired all the time, all the while thinking of all the things I have to get done. It would be a lot easier if I could make my phone calls at 1 am. What's up with everyone sleeping during the night?

And yes, it finally hit me this week. I am moving 3000 miles away from my entire family. Ouch. It's worse at night when I'm trying to fall asleep, and I just lay there and think. I need a switch so I can turn off my brain at night. Its really depressing. I tear up just thinking about it. Our family has always been close. I will miss them so much it hurts. It feels like I'm dying, or everyone else is- like I'm starting to grieve the loss of my family. I moved my end date at work up a week, so I can spend so more time with family around the holidays and go to Burbank Confrnce. My mom and I scrap every now and then, but I will miss her terribly. She is always there to talk to. My sister and I have grown closer in the past few years. She blows me away with how smart she is, and yet she seems so quiet and unassuming. I worry about her a lot, that she takes too much on, and that I wish I could spare her knowing about all the horrible things out in the world. I will miss our trips together, and just getting to hang out, talk and do things together. It kills me to think of leaving my nephews too. Little C just lights up a room when he walks in with his big cheesy grin. I'll miss him calling me "Do" and "Nan" every other minute. His enthusiasm is infectious- it's so much fun to see him learn new words and concepts. I've grown closer to R lately, and she has been fun to talk to. I'll miss having my brother to talk to, he always seems like the one who has it all together. I like his sense of humor, I'll miss hearing him laugh. My grandparents too... I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't get to see my grandparents at least once a week. When mom had her accident, they moved into our house to look after us. They have taught me a lot over the years, and I enjoy their company. They have been a huge part of my life and I will miss them dearly. I know I can always pick up the phone, and family will always be family... but it's not the same. I'm missing out on the lives of the people who mean the world to me. What if something happens to one of them and I'm not there? What if they don't call me? Will I be forgotten when I'm gone?

Family Picture

Here is the latest family picture!!

They are doing very well, thank you all for your prayers.

"...Know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge... him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think...

unto Him be glory." Eph 3:19-21

Police Comments

The following comments were taken off actual police car videos around the country.

"Relax, the handcuffs are tight because they're new. They'll stretch out after you wear them a while."

"If you take your hands off the car, I'll make your birth certificate a worthless document."

"If you run, you'll only go to jail tired."

"Can you run faster than 1200 feet per second? Because that's the speed of the bullet that will be chasing you."

"You don't know how fast you were going? I guess that means I can write anything I want to on the ticket, huh?"

"Yes, sir, you can talk to the shift supervisor, but I don't think it will help. Oh, did I mention that I'm the shift supervisor?"

"Warning! You want a warning? O.K., I'm warning you not to do that again or I'll give you another ticket."

"Fair? You want me to be fair? Listen, fair is a place where you go to ride on rides, eat cotton candy and corn dogs and step in monkey poop."

"Yeah, we have a quota. Two more tickets and my wife gets a toaster oven."

"In God we trust, all others we run through NCIC."

"How big were those 'Just two beers' you say you had?"

"No sir, we don't have quotas anymore. We used to, but now we're allowed to write as many tickets as we can."

"I'm glad to hear that Chief (of Police) Hawker is a personal friend of yours. So you know someone who can post your bail."

...AND THE WINNER IS

"You didn't think we gave pretty women tickets? You're right, we don't. Sign here."

Resignation

It's official. I handed in my letter of resignation for my department. My last day isn't until Dec. 30th, but still.... it was really depressing to have to hand that in. I really like working here, granted sometimes they drive me crazy, but I'm going to miss all the excitement. I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, so I'm not sure how I'm going to cope! Maybe in a year or so I'll look for another dispatching job, I think I'll be going thru withdrawal.

I was thinking I may try working for a temp agency right after I move, just because I have at least 4 major events that I need to fly back to CA for: Mom's wedding, Do's graduation, Sara's baby, Amy's wedding. I don't think any full time job is going to give me that much time off. Anyone have experience with temp work? What can I expect? I can't imagine the work is too demanding if they are only planning to keep the employee temporarily. I can answer phones, type fast and think on my feet, how hard could it be?

Esperanza fire

For those of us that grew up here major wildland fires are commonplace. It's Southern California. It's hot and dry, and we are in a valley surrounded by hills covered in (usually) dead brush. We are accustomed to seeing large smoke headers throughout the summer. For those of us that were former volunteers, it makes your heart race and makes you really miss the fire line. However, when a fire turns deadly, which is rare, it makes your heart sink, and you feel a knot in your stomach. The fire dept still seems like family, and any loss of life is tragic. They haven't released any names yet, and hopefully I don't know any of them. I am out at work and can't see much beyond the mountains but mom says its miserable at her house. It's raining ash and you can hardly see in front of you. Some have left the valley because it is too hard to breathe. Its been a long time since we had one this bad.

The Esperanza fire started earlier today, and by 1600 hrs it was at 10,000+ acres, claimed 4 lives, and is suspected to be caused by arson. Our local paper / www.pe.com has good coverage and photos, its free to register. For those of you that are aware of the beetle problem in Idyllwild, this fire is dangerously close and poses a major threat. The trees have been dying off at an alarming rate for the past few years, and if a fire makes it up there it will be disasterous.

Our agency sent one engine to the fire, but the fatalities were from the US Forest Service. Please pray for the families of the firefighters.

This photo was taken in Lamb Canyon.

For incident information: http://appsweb.co.riverside.ca.us/firepio/process?action=viewIncidents

Short Break

WK and I just got back from a short trip up to San Fran and Napa. I say just got back, but it seems like ages ago. We stayed with P&L Wilhelm and had a nice visit with them. P just went through hernia surgery and he is doing well.
The first day we drove into San Fran (I know... why??). After finding a place to park off Embarcadero, we sure weren't going to move the car again, so we wandered around on the waterfront, then took a tour of Alcatraz. Its pretting interesting, but not something you would see twice. Then we just strolled around some more, and ate dinner at Bubba Gumps on Pier 39. Its a restaurant with a Forest Gump theme, which is cute if you have seen the movie, and a little strange if you haven't. The food is pretty good though. My sister and I went to the one in New Orleans, and it was the same. WK and I had fun just wandering around and talking. After 6, (because we got a discount off the $30 parking fee) we drove the scenic route through the city. It had been gorgeous all day, so dusk was beautiful too. The P of FA just glowed in the waning sun, and the GGBridge was spectacular. Its hard to take pics with a digital camera from a moving vehicle. And it was too cold to get out every time I wanted to take a picture.

Napa

Continuation of Short Break post.....

The following day, after fighting morning traffic, we drove up through Napa Valley. Another gorgeous day. We stopped for a few wine tastings and had lunch at the Rutherford Grill. I found some dessert wine at the Beaulieu Vineyard winery that I absolutely loved. Its a Muscat wine that is about 18% alcohol and loaded with sugar. WK about died,, he doesn't really care for sweet stuff. Even being the sugar fiend that I am, I can only stand about a tablespoon full, but it's yummy. I'm trying to think of desserts I could use it in... BV winery also had the best Cabernet. We were told Rutherford had the best Cab and explained the importance of about 30 different variables on the outcome of the wine. We politely nodded in agreement, having no clue what they were talking about, but not wanting to look like poor uneducated commoners. However, at the end of the day we agreed that theirs did taste the best. The scenery was stunning. The leaves on the vines were changing colors and the fields of green and yellow were accented by touches of bright red and orange. We stopped at the Andretti winery, and ended up at Domain Chandon for a tour and tasting. Poor WK, he was such a trooper - the whole place was pink. They were releasing a new Rose' wine and hosting a breast cancer charity event that night. So it looked like something pink had exploded. They were handing out roses, and the paths were strewn with rose petals. All the staff were in pink, and pink balloon bouquets were everywhere. The actual winery was on a hillside and the architecture was really cool. They had designed it to blend with the landscape, and the building was modeled after wine barrels. Chandon primarily produces sparkling wines (it's not champagne unless it comes from Champagne, France we were informed) so the designer made the interior lights look like bubbles rising to the ceiling.

More pictures

I don't know how to make one of those cool slideshows like SAJ, so you will have to manually scroll down to see them all. I know.. unbelievable in this day and age. Both Mom and Baby are well!

More details...

This silly program won't let me do more than 3 pics at a time. So here are some more!




This is the view from their window. Very picturesque, but see the helicopter? The landing pad is on the roof right above them, so it gets a little loud, and feels like a mini earthquake each time it lands. They told R she would have to stay 24-48 hours depending on how things go. So she may be going home tomorrow (Friday) evening or so.

He's HERE!!

Jacob Aaron

was born this morning around 10:30 am.
--- 6 lbs 9 oz. 18 inches ---

Both Mom, Dad and baby are doing well. Big brother noticed, but he had new toys that were more interesting.

He has lots of dark hair, and has a very sophisticated little nose. He has been very quiet, which Mommy appreciates, Waterboy said he has only cried about 4 times today. He is a very content little guy!

Busy bee

I have been terrible about updating! I have been so busy with wedding planning, working, training, worrying about nephew to be, etc. Tonight is my last shift for a week or so! Woohoo! WK gets here in a few hours, and we are going to San Fran for a brief vaca. He's never been, and wants to see Napa too, so off we go! He is a big steak fan, so I'm hoping we can stop at Harris Ranch on the way up--best steaks on this coast! I love to travel, and there is always more to see or learn. Love it. I'm a bit of a power tourist - I try to cram as much as I possibly can into the trip so I dont miss anything. This requires extensive planing ahead of time, but then I know I will see everything I want to see, and we don't go wandering around aimlessly or spend money we didn't need to. Yes. I have issues. There is just so much to see out there! Poor WK, I'll have to tone it down a bit and let him relax a little. He is going golfing this afternoon with Waterboy tho. I hope my bro can relax a bit too. I've been worried about him. He's got a lot on his shoulders right now, and I know he's worried about R and Jacob.

2 more hours til I'm out of here! Then somehow I have to stay awake to be at the airport at 11...

Baby update

Sis-in-law and baby are still hanging in there! She has been confined to bed/chair rest for the past several weeks, but is required to go to Loma Linda twice a week for tests to moniter Jacob. They hook up a moniter that makes his heartbeat audible and tracks it on a moniter. It was quite funny actually. No sooner did the nurse find him and strap down the moniter over where he was, than he would move! You could hear him swishing around in there, little stinker. He did that a few times, I got a kick out of it :) His little heartbeat was really fast too, was amazing to hear. Poor R is getting tired though. He is very active, and apparently has a very long body too. A fist to the bladder, a foot into the ribs, I can't imagine its very comfortable or either party. R is supposed to keep taking the meds to stave off labor until the 20th. They also gave her 2 shots to help with the babys growth. This hospital is the best around, so I know their in good hands... but still we worry.

Little buddy knows something is up. He has been especially hyper lately, almost manic sometimes.. he is so cheerful that it's not immediately apparent but you can tell he knows something isnt right. He was at the hospital (the "big building" to him) with Grandma J waiting for R to finish her test, and SJ said that they needed to go "check on mommy, and make sure she is ok". Boy did he pick up on that! So then he kept saying it, "go check on mommy, see if mommy ok". When he was at grt-grandmas with mom, he had to keep cking to see if grandpa was still there. Then he would hang out with him for a while, then go running inside to make sure grandma was still there too. Kids arent dumb. He knows somethings up, poor guy. I hate that he is worried. This is why people are crazy if they think kids dont sense tension or trauma in a family. They pick up on everything, they may not understand exactly what the problem is, but they feel the emotions and the energy that are generated.

Please keep praying for their family, and that R and Jacob had hang tight for another few weeks!

Missing

To my fellow dispatchers: We were looking for the race code for middle easterners, and were really surprised not to find one. The closest we came was 'other', but maybe our book is just outdated. Anyone able to find one? If not, what does that say about us? Did NCIC think we would never need to use it?

It's finally mine

I have been working a lot lately, and frankly when I'm off I'd rather sleep than do anything else. I have a different trainee now who is working on phones and fire dispatching which is a lot easier than the last one.. but she keeps me busier so I haven't blogged much.

One noteworthy item though, I paid off my car!! I am so jazzed. The thought of taking out a loan for a car was terrifying at the time because I hate money issues, but it's all paid off! And early too! On Thursday, I woke up (in the middle of the night for me), and went down to the credit union to make the final payment and pick up the pink slip. What a sense of triumph! Holding that slip in my hot little hand I drove straight to the DMV. When I got to the desk at DMV, the lady said 'You paid off your car, congratulations!' Beaming, and tickled pink that someone noticed, I told her thanks (reaching around to pat myself on the back). Its a big deal to me, especially with moving and all. It's nice to have it all paid off and the feeling of accomplishment is wonderful.

Wedding planning

I am slowly loosing my mind. There is sooo much to think about, so many little decisions to make it's a little overwhelming. It seems like every day I have a new checklist I have to go through, and the lists are never ending! There is still the anxiety about the guest list, we are locked into the venue we have, so I will just make it work. Vegas seems more appealing each day,, but then I remember that I really do want that one special day to get all dressed up etc. I'm trying to buy little things for the wedding as I go along, so I don't have to spend a lot all at once in December. We just got estimates online for how much it will cost to move and I almost cried. I nievely thought about those 19.99 a day signs for Uhauls that you see.. so it could be that much right? It will only takes 4-5 days to drive cross country, plus gas money,, it shouldn't be too bad. Ooooh no. It's like $2500 to rent, and that doesn't include gas. I have been checking all the websites and different companies that offer trucks. Ug. I hate worrying about money AND the thought of driving a big truck with my car in tow in the middle of January. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, eh?

I started my dress! I'm helping kedge make it. After several hours on Tues we finished the center piece of the bodice. Woohoo. I am rediculously slow because its been a while since I was working on clothes. Thank you kedge for being patient with me! And for fitting me into your schedule!

Lessons

1. If you get your ear bit off in a fight, go look for it first. If you wait an hour and 20 minutes, drive home then call us - they can't put it back on even if we do find it.

2. If you need the medics because your skin feels 'tingley', don't admit it's because you just bought bad dope - we'll arrest you.

3. Don't call 911 and tell us about your hallucination - we'll arrest you.

4. If you leave your purse in an open convertable, yes, you deserved to have it stolen.

Why?

Why is it that members of city council are suddenly the experts in who needs to respond to an incident when they are involved? And yet they can't seem to see clear to give us the funds needed to be properly staffed so they could get those response times they demand. Nothing is more annoying than to have a total lay person, who just happens to be on city council tell me who to send to an accident or how I need to dispatch it. We recently had a councilmen home broken into. The absolute nerve of that suspect! Didn't he know who that house belonged to!#$! So, not only did the assigned officer respond to the scene, but so did the chief of police and a lieutenant, who then the sergeant and several officers to 'help'. The victim even called other councilmembers to come over as well. This was seen as such an egregious violation of our fair city, that the chief insisted that from now on certain patrol officers are to be used enforcement only, and will patrol problem areas looking for bad guys. As if we weren't short on officers already! Do the math! Those calls that have to hold 4 hours for an available unit will now hold 7 or 8. And we are the ones that get to field all the phonecalls from irate victims who have been waiting forever. As frustrating as it is.. I don't see a solution on the horizon.. it's probably the same everywhere right? ~whew. the vent is over. thanks.

Found Kitten

One of the perks/hazards of dispatch is that sometimes we get to see the stray animals before they go to the pound. If there is one that is especially cute, they bring it in for us to see. This little guy (we think its a boy) we named Lucky. He was stuck in some ducting for an oven and was all covered in grease. The ducting had to be completely dismantled to get him out. One of our dispatchers is going to take him home. If you didn't already know... I'm a cat person.

Tragedy and Comedy

We had a 4yr child drown. He had autism and CP, the father said he was a really active. While they were making dinner the child went outside and moved a chair up to the pool fence and climbed over. The father was hysterical when he called, officers later said the little boy had been in the water for over 20 mins. The lead officer on the call happened to have a 4 yr old son and a 6yo daughter. Your heart just breaks for those parents, it put a somber mood over the whole shift for a few hours. There are few things more tragic than the death of a child.


On a lighter note, this is what happened when one of my partners cleared a particularly active officer to go eat.
Officer: "Station, T47. Am I clear Code 7?"
Dispatch: "T47 you're clear" ... pause/open mike ... "now go eat and be quiet!"
Officer: [timidly] "Copy..?"

Same officer later on this morning:
[on our back up channel] "T47 on 2. Dispatch are you there?"
I couldn't resist!!! "No. We all went home."

We are poor

If you didn't already know that certain people in the world have more money than they know what to do with, check out the 'job opportunities' on this website. Housekeeper for a 50,000 sq ft. house needed among other things. Anyone? A glimpse into a lifestyle I have only read about in magazines. I stumbled onto the site looking for napkin folding patterns. I like my little life.

http://www.butlersguild.com/index.php?subject=50

Not for the faint hearted!

On this last trip, I stayed with my cousin Shelly in Maryland. Her husband is a hunter. His trophy's have been relegated to what is fondly refered to as the 'dead animal room' in the basement. It was quite impressive. Don't get me wrong, I love animals! I have had more pets in my life than I can remember. But I am not against hunting. Bottom line, God created man to be over the animals. They are created for our enjoyment, and for our use, but that power shouldn't be abused to the point of driving a species to extinction. Joe explained that there are always strick rules about which animals they can shoot, where, how many etc. He has a couple world records in this room, and they are beautiful specimens. I can't remember the names to all of them, but there is a Cape Buffalo from Africa, and the large white one is from Alaska. He has some really great stories to go with each one too! And, NO those aren't baby deer, they are full grown. These animals were fascinatingly beautiful, and I have a whole new perspective on hunting. I still hate guns, (sorry wadical!) but I can see why people would like to hunt. Agreed, ideally they should be seen in the wild, but hunting keeps the populations under control, AND allows little ol' me to see these beautiful creatures up close! I have been shamefully coveting a pair of fox fur ear muffs for years, so I put an order in for a red fox, which to my glee are prolific that area.

Long overdue update

I have been running around like crazy ever since I landed last Monday. Here is the recap on my trip. First off, I'm engaged to be married! Woohoo! There are times when I've been jumping up and down, others when I want to pull my hair out. Here's a pic of my ring, I absolutely love it. If you can't tell from the picture, it's actually square on the outside. Very unique. WK spied it first and I fell for it too. I think of the ring shopping we did together and how adorable he is every time I see it sparkle. [sheepish grin]

(I can't get that ring pic to straighten out! Grrr. ) Here's the thing... We bought the ring a month or so ago, but we couldn't say anything about it! So we started our covert planning a while ago, picking a date, venue, bridal party, colors etc. But it's been killing me that I couldn't say anything! Little by little, I confess, I leaked details to family members, some by accident! in my defense. So we both new that this trip in September would be the 'engagement' trip, but to WK's credit, he was still able to surprise me when he popped the question! He asked me in the car on the way home from A&J's wedding. So no, he didn't get down on one knee- that would have been hazardous. However, when he said I was the only girl he's ever wanted, I almost cried. Grandpa's reaction was "Oh! You finally got that piece of carbon!" Spoken like a true geophysicist, and gave us a good laugh.

(Gotta love photoshop!) The 'event' as WK refers to it, is set for this coming January. And yes, this is the cause of the scrambling. According to all the bridal guides I am behind the ball right now. There are so many little (and big) things to do, its a bit overwelming even for me! The guest list is the biggest headache so far. Trying to have a small wedding is HARD. It down right stinks! I wish I didn't have to worry about it. It can't be helped though, WK and I are putting this on and we just can't afford to invite everyone we want to be there. So at the end of the day, some feelings will be hurt. I'm hoping the guilt will pass, and looking at the 5 and 6 day weeks I'm working to foot the bill helps. I have a hard time doing something that I know will offend some people even when I know I don't have a choice. Who gets cut? Someone I have worked next to for the past 6 years? a distant relative that keeps in touch? a couple I see each week at church? Ug. Vegas? anyone? I am very lucky to be surrounded by generous friends and relatives who are contributing their talent, time and expertise which is a huge help. Without them, I don't think I could do everything I had been hoping to do at my wedding. So, over the next few months I will dumping all my planning excitement and frustrations here. Stay tuned... guarenteed action packed...

We're Engaged!

Woohoo! WK and I are engaged! I got back early this morning, and today has been a nightmare. The airline 'misplaced' my luggage, my car keeps dying and my shampoo opened inside my suitcase. OTHER than that, things are really great! I'm so happy I feel like jumping up and down sometimes, but people look at me wierd when I do. Photos to follow.

Vacation

In an hour, I'm off on a mini vacation! Where else? Back east. I leave work at 0230 and drive 3 hours to the airport. I get home early Monday morning, and its back to work Monday night. I have been burning the candle at both ends lately, and its really starting to wear me down. I get to see my WK!! Can't wait. It's lousy being so far apart. We are going to do some sight-seeing on Friday, not sure where yet, and then going to a wedding on Saturday. I will get to meet his neice and nephew for the first time too. Will update when I get back. I'm thinking this will be a good trip... : )

Trainee update

Ok, maybe I was too hasty to pass judgement. She is doing well, I am pleasantly surprised. She is catching on to entries quickly, and answering in house phones. Unlike trainees in the past, she actually can remember the name of the person she just talked to and what they wanted when she hangs up. Woohoo- she has potential! Then she started feeling pretty comfortable with her entries, so I decided to take your advice Wadical.

She was working on some research for an officer, when I reminded her that, btw, you have a stolen veh recovery to do, a vehicle storage, an ATL to cancel, and a booking package that the officer is waiting for right now,, so whenever you're done with what you're doing, those need to get done. All of which I could have just done for her to save time, but I felt a lesson was in order. So I sat back and watched. :) And voila', when I applied that leeettle bit of pressure, she forgot the simple commands she was confident in 10 min ago. Yes, I took some pleasure in that.

I know its sounds like I'm a horribly mean trainer. I'm not really! but there is a method to my madness. Nothing tweeks me more than someone walking in off the street and thinking they can do what we do in a few weeks. Perhaps I speak for myself, but I have worked hard for 6 years to be good at what I do- I'm proud of it, but there is still a lot that I have to learn. It's not a walk in the park!- doesn't matter how smart you are, or think you are.

Sooo, later on I smiled and explained what had happened earlier. Memorization is great, but if you can't recall it when under pressure, its useless. She is where she should be for how long she has been here. Watch, listen, learn, practice. Learn the building blocks, then put it all together, a little bit at a time. She got a tiny taste of the multi-tasking that we do, and she wasn't even taking calls and/or working the radio at the same time.

Bottom line: I'm not intimidated anymore, she has lost the arrogance (which may have been nervousness or intimidation- misinterpreted by me) and she is showing promise!

Parenting Styles

This is from another dispatchers blog -911dispatcher.blogspot.com-

Dispatcher: "911, where is your emergency?"
Small Child: "Please don't send the cops over. I'll listen to my Mom."

Not that I support threatening your kids, but I think a healthy respect for authority is a good thing...

Bed rest

R is doing well! Baby Jacob is too, staying put for the time being. R has to take it really easy. She can sit up to eat, and can take one shower a day, but otherwise she has to remain in bed. She is a real trooper. She won't be out on sunday because she can't sit up for even the car ride over there. What do you do on bed rest? For 8 weeks!!! I'm bringing her my DVDs and some books on tape, and maybe she can find a cross-stitch project, but anyone have any other ideas that she can do? Poor Waterboy is going to have to be the cook for a while, so we're helping out by bringing him easy to nuke food.

Doctor updates

R came back home last night. She is on a medication she has to take every 4 hours to avoid going into labor again. Apparently the insurance company is only authorizing half the amount of meds that she needs. The doctors felt confident they could get the auth for the correct amount if they contacted the insurance company, so we have to wait and see. Waterboy said the meds make her really shaky, but as bad as it sounds, maybe that will keep her from trying to do too much. I can't imagine being told to be still and not do anything. It would be incredibly frustrating, seeing everything that needs to be done around you. I feel really bad that I have to work every day for the next 2 weeks (3 days in Baltimore aside). Mom and Dobug will be helping out when they can. R's mom is still in WW with Mary I think. She just had a little girl, Zoe. And yes, I'm sure that adds to some of R's emotional load/anxiety. R is having a boy btw! I can't wait to have 2 nephews!! Loved spending time with Little Buddy. He is just adorable, he talks your ear off and you can understand about half of it.

And in not so important news, the MRI of my neck came back. After all the nerve scans and chiropractor apts, and massage apts, I was thinking maybe it was all in my head since all the tests for carpal tunnel or nerve damage came back negative. But turns out its in my neck! Doc said I have 3 disks that are slightly "protruding" and cause transient pressure on the nerves going down my arms. See! I knew I wasn't crazy. Sometimes the pain in my hands is excruciating, but I could never pinpoint the exact activities that caused it (other than softball, which sadly I had to give up). I had figured out that when my neck and shoulders would get really tense after a bad day at work,, I could pretty much count on my hands hurting the next day. So I have been going to a chiropractor and it has really been helpful in preventing hand pain. So the 'cure' at this point is to take anti-inflammatories, which I have been doing. So we shall see. The comforting thing is that they actually found something. I have been fighting this for so long I really was beginning to wonder if it was just psychosomatic.

At 0730 Waterboy called mom to say that R is back at LL. So far so good I think, aside from the fact that she is back in the hospital. Is is possible for a baby to survive at 6 months?

Baby Trouble

Please pray for R and baby. She went into labor again last night. Mom stayed with Little Buddy and Waterboy took R to LL. Mom said they gave her a shot and sent her home and told her not to do laundry, lift anything, exert herself etc. She isn't due till mid November, so its a little scary especially after losing Jes. Makes a little knot in my stomach. I think we will take turns going to help out with chores and rascally Buddy. Hopefully I can be some kind of help in spite of my hectic schedule.

HOT! Agaaaaain.

My A/C broke AGAIN. This is getting rediculous. At least it's the old one that broke instead of the new one. And yes, I tried flipping the breaker. I even used an extension cord to make sure it wasn't a problem with the outlet. No dice. Its dead. It was 106 today, and I ended up sleeping on the floor in front of my other A/C unit; it's closer to the floor. I feel bad for poor Squeek too! It was still over 80 in my little studio. Its not all that little, about 25 x 25 with a kitchen, bathroom and big closet, but it takes 2 a/c units to cool it when its soooo hot. And it's been humid, so that doesn't help either. Ug. The clincher is that my landlord is out of town til 9/18,,, so I broil till then.

Trainee

I have a trainee. Normally, I would be jazzed, but things are a little different this time. I normally train on fire dispatching and on phonecalls, and usually get the trainee at month 3 or so after they have learned how to use CAD and have figured Vesta out. I love teaching and love to see them figure things out and succeed. We all have 'areas of expertise' and mine happens to be in the fire service.

For some reason, management decided to give me a brand new hire. I'm her first trainer, and I have no idea what she needs to learn first. There is so much information that needs to be covered and so much memorization that she needs to work on. It has been the most frustrating week ever! She is only 22, and thinks she knows everything- which really ticks me off. The nerve of someone to walk in and think they can do what we do after watching for 1 day! I wanted to smack her. I was a nervous wreck my first 4 months thinking I wouldn't be able to do it. I stayed up nights memorizing codes and commands, had notecards everywhere, and set up a montage of post-its at my workstation each day. But nooooo, she doesn't need to take notes, she 'just remembers' things. Thats hoooey!

I'm feeling a bit intimidated because, for the first time, I dont have a plan of attack! Normally I know what I want to teach each day and know what goals to set for each week etc. I'm kind of stumbling thru this and it ticks me off. (I have control issues if any of you couldn't tell already) This is only her first week. I'm supposed to give her weekly eval tomorrow so I think I'll come up with some tests to see how many codes shes actually memorized. Grrr. Help, anyone?

Creatures Great and Small

I have seen all kinds of great critters since I have been out here in NJ. I actually saw dolphins at the beach yesterday! We went down to OC and they were swimming around the surfers. It was really cool seeing them "in the wild" rather than in a big tank at Sea World. I saw my first groundhog too! He was sitting on a hill on the side of the freeway, I thought it was a really bold raccoon at first, but then saw the coloring was all wrong. They are a lot bigger than I imagined. Today over morning coffee, we saw a deer walk thru E's front yard. Very cool. He was just munching on the grass, minding his own business, like he always came there for breakfast. I love animals, and we've always had a pet (or two or three) running around the house. However, I have been told... that should I move back east, my precious Squeek can't come with me. So, its good to know there is a wealth of wildlife out here to enjoy.

Vacation

I have been on vacation this week! I am sweating it out in NJ. Its only been in the 80's but the humidity is rediculous. They say you get used to it... great. On Sunday we had dinner at WK's parents house, and Monday we went to see WK's grandparents up in PA. They are both doing fairly well. On the way home we decided to tour Lancaster and see the Amish countryside (ok, Amish shops). Beautiful furnishings to be had, but for a pretty penny.









Click on the wagon picture to see it enlarged, the kids in the back were so cute.

Then we got lost on the way home. Well, maybe not lost, but we went the looooong way. WK and I have been having a blast together. Tomorrow Firechick and I are going to try to hit the beach. Its only 30 min away. The jury is still out on which coast has better beaches. They do have a cool boardwalk out here though...

Silly Cabby

Taxi driver calls to report a male subject inside his cab, refusing to pay the fare. He took him to the north end of town (notorious drug area) for... gasp!... a drug deal. The drug dealer took all of the man's money. The taxi driver politely returned him to the hotel where he picked him up from, then called us because his rider didn't have any money left to pay him. Mental head slap

You lost what?

A male caller wanted to report his gun as 'missing'. That sets off your radar. A missing weapon has the potential to be a real problem. What if a kid finds it? So, I asked where it was missing from.

Well, it was in his friends car. It got broken into. . . While he and his buddy were shopping at the outlets. . . He left the gun in the car. What a thoughtful young man! His mother must be proud.

Silent groan ~ I should have seen that coming, but it was early in the shift. That fresh, ready to help, ready to make a difference feeling is usually shattered much sooner each day. I didnt know whether to be glad that it wasn't in our jurisdiction, or upset that I couldn't send an officer to cite him for something or at least lecture him.

Breath in, breath out and answer the next call...

Slump

I am in a blogging slump. Not much going on to write about, at least that I can share just yet.. No awesome calls to report. Tonight has been one exasperating call after another.

Why is it that the more desperate and volatile the situation is, the higher the likelihood your RP has no clue where they are? and English isn't their first language? and they forget to mention the knife/gun until you're about to hang up?

Here's the one that takes the cake tonight.

"Dispatch." [The call came in on our personal in-house line]
[Female sniffing] "I need someone to help me."
"Ok, what's the problem?"
"My boyfriend was just stabbed."
[I sit bolt upright, immediately ticked at whoever dumped this call on me without saying they were transfering someone. (Turned out to be a jailer)]
"Where are you?"
"I don't know. We were coming from the casino. I think I'm on S-- St."
"What is the nearest corner street where you are?"
[crying] "I don't know. I can't see a sign, but I can see the casino from right here."
[If I had a nickle for every RP that said they were "right here", I would be rich.]
"Is he still breathing?"
[sniff] "I think so."
"Ok. What's your cell phone number?"
"I don't know it, just send somebody quick."
- click -

Now I am ready to scream. She called on a line that doesn't show her location or her number, and she didn't know it so I have no way to call her back. She didn't know where she was, and hung up before I could ask anything else. Officers checked the area for 20 minutes without finding anyone. Hospitals were notified, and we are still waiting for a 'victim' to turn up.

My calls have been like this all night. I think I may take up boxing.

DUI checkpoint

Why is it that people don't have any fear or respect for traffic laws? The number of people driving around with a suspended license (or none at all) is staggering. In 6 hours of working a DUI checkpoint, we arrested 4 people for DUI, cited 5 for having a suspended licence, and 22 for being unlicensed. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE? It's no wonder we have so many accidents on the road. No one knows how to drive!#!@# They obviously have no regard for the consequences because their history usually shows numerous cites for the same offense. That annoys just me as much as people that don't have insurance. I have to pay for it, everybody else should too! What makes them think the rules don't apply to them? We give them a slap on the wrist, they wait for the officers to clear, then away they go again. Ridiculous. My head is killing me and my hands ache. Non stop radio traffic, and we barely could get air time to give back their returns.

I'm an RP

This afternoon I had to be an R/P (reporting party). Normally I try not to give my co-workers more work to do if it's not really a big deal. Why do dispatchers call in abandoned vehicles on their way home from work. Have you learned nothing? Drive straight home, do not look at the transients, do not pass go. This was a little more serious. I tried to ignore the female yelling outside my window at 4 pm, but by 5pm when she was still yelling and throwing rocks at the house next door, I was ready to go out and yell at her. I dragged myself out of bed to look out the window and saw a female pounding on the door of the house. I watched the door open and a man grab her by the hair and drag her into the house. (NOW I have a dilemma. Dragging people by the hair is bad,,, but she IS quiet now...) I decided to call, if she wound up dead I would feel REALLY bad. Before I had finished giving descriptions of the subjects involved, she comes flying out the door. It looked like she probably had a little help. Terrific. I tried to lay back down because the noise had subsided. And wouldn't you know she was gone by the time officers got there? Grrrr. I found out when I got into work that the officers took a 243(E)1 listing the male as the victim. Whatever. The interesting thing was that when they went inside the house, they found about 75 marijuana plants he was growing in his closet, for medical purposes of course. He had the proper documents though, which is such a joke. You just never really know who your neighbors are....

PERSPECTIVE

I just had some idiot yell at me for 10 minutes about how we weren't responding fast enough to his loud music complaint. And yes, I tried hanging up on him after very politely explaining the concept of 'priority calls', but he kept calling back! Yes, I understand its extremely frustrating to have your sleep disturbed! Yes, I understand that this is a very high priority for YOU sir (but it's not for US!) Nothing seemed to get through to him. He kept trying to convince me that the priority of his call just went up becuase now he was really upset. (as opposed to just annoyed?) Then comes the magic question... "what has to happen for this [insert loud music, barking dog, back-talking child, lost puppy, etc] to become a priority?". I love that, because then you're prepared for the NEXT time they call when they add some NEW development that they forgot to tell us about the last 10 times they called, like he has a knife, or there may have been a gun, etc. I wanted to reach through the line and throttle him. Meanwhile, legitimate emergency calls are on hold while we deal with calls like this! Harrassing us just makes us mad, it won't get you a cop any faster! Surprise, surprise. The next time he calls, it's suddenly a domestic violence call - male chasing a female with a beer bottle.
AFTER we dealt with the man with a gun and the roll-over traffic collision, he got a cop. And at the urging of one very annoyed dispatcher, the officers paid the 'annonymous' male caller a little visit to make extra sure the music level was acceptable. I love ANI/ALI.

HOT!!!!

I walked out of work this afternoon and the temp gauge on my car read 122. After 20 minutes of blasting the A/C it dropped ALL the way down to the outside temp of 116. Yes, I made a conscious decision to move here. And people say mankind has evolved...

How trusting are we?

We had a discussion at work about how people are so predictable in some situations. Take answering the phone for instance. If there is a phone ringing, someone will pick it up. Have you noticed in a grocery store if a cell phone starts ringing, everyone checks theirs immediately? Doesn't it drive you crazy if you are in someone's home and they just let the phone ring- you have this urge to run over and answer it (if only to make it stop ringing). Take a hostage situation for example with armed suspects and terrified hysterical victims. If the phone rings in the midst of this chaos, someone usually answers it, seemingly regardless of what is going on around them. It's an instinctive reaction. "Hello?" "Let me talk to the person with a gun." "Ok, hold on." Unbelievable. They actually teach that in hostage negotiations. That's why the throw-phones that SWAT uses are so sucessful. You can't help but answer a ringing phone. Think about this. When an alarm goes off at a residence and the police respond, the officers have us call the house and tell the occupants to step outside and talk to them. "Hi Mr. Jones. Did you realize you set your alarm off? Are you ok? Could you please go out front and talk to the police officer?" I could be anybody, sending this homeowner outside the safety of his home to be ambushed. Yet no one questions us when we say we are the the police on the phone. Not so good. The bad guys are going to catch on sooner or later. ASK QUESTIONS, protect yourself.

Here's another thing. People will trust anyone in uniform. Anyone can buy a security guard uniform and an official looking badge from a local uniform shop. Ask to see official ID if they ask you to do something that sounds unusual. A seargant relayed a story of how he was doing follow up on a case and went to interview the victims wearing a suit rather than a uniform. He knocked on the door, carrying nothing but a briefcase (which incidently only contained his gun), and was immediately invited into the home, without being questioned as to who he was, why he was there, etc. It's a good thing he was one of the good guys. The world we live in today is very different from the one that existed 50 years ago. You cannot afford to be so trusting of your fellow man. You will eventually become a victim of a crime, hopefully it won't be a violent one. I know it sounds jaded but that is the harsh reality. Be smart, be aware of your surroundings and don't take everything at face value.

For the women reading this: If you are pulled over late at night, in a secluded area, and you feel uncomfortable, drive slowly to a well lit or populated spot. If you know where you are, call 911 from your cell and ask if they have an officer on X street trying to pull over a tan camry. If you think this is silly, look up the Cara Knott murder. Sure it's an extreme example, but know that bad people are out there pretending to be good people!!

Here's another depressing reality. If you are ever in trouble, try yelling "Fire!" instead of "Help!". People tend to pay more attention if they think they may be in harms way, rather than just a stranger on the street. It is exasperating how many people "don't want to get involved" so they give us only minimal information and the suspects get away.

Ok. Rant is over.

Female called 911 from work because she thought her house was going to catch fire.
"Can you send someone to my house to unplug my coffee pot?"

Kangaroo

Dispatcher: 911 what are you reporting?
Caller: A kangaroo just ran through my backyard!
Dispatcher: Are you sure it was a kangaroo?
Caller: [Indignant] Yes!
Dispatcher: [sigh, rub temples] Ok. How can I help you this afternoon?
Caller: Can't you send an officer out to take care of it? I need to know what I should do.
Dispatcher: What do you mean, what should you do?
Caller: Well, are they dangerous?
Dispatcher: Probably not. Did it harm you in anyway?
Caller: No.
Dispatcher: Did it cause any property damage?
Caller: No. It just ran through my backyard.
Dispatcher: Ok. Have you had any alcohol or recreational drugs this afternoon?
Caller: No! I'm not lying! It really was a kangaroo!
Dispatcher: Uh, huh. Well, if it didn't do any damage, there really isn't anything I can help you with. I'm glad you're ok though.
Caller: Do you thinks it's ok? I didn't know we had kangaroos here. Will it come back? Now I'm worried about it. Will it be ok out there?
Dispatcher: I'm sure it's fine. It's probably gone back to its family in the desert.
Caller: They live out there?
Dispatcher: Yep. Under the sagebrush. Thank you for calling. [disconnect] Hey guys! You wont believe this idiot that just called!

Yes. These people walk amongst us.

Coincidence

I took a phonecall tonight from a male reporting a medical emergency. When I asked his name, he said it was Joe Hanna. Seriously. It made my night.

Explosive 4th

I survived yet another insane holiday at work. They should revoke holiday days for people out here. Give them a day off, they drink too much and get stupid. Get this. I was so mad I had red smoke coming out my ears. A 6 yr. old blonde hair, blue eyed little girl and her equally adorable 7 yr. old brother were brought into our station... and picked up by a social worker. We found them locked in a vehicle just after midnight. Casino security guards called us after having watched the vehicle for 2 hours and seeing that no adult was 'checking' on them, they called us. We responded and found 2 kids in locked in a car. In this city, at midnight, it's 93 degrees. They were severely dehydrated, more disturbing though, is that they didn't appear to be scared or worried about the situation. In other words, ITS PROBABLY HAPPENED BEFORE! Their aunt and her boyfriend had taken the kids to see the fireworks, and 'saw' a casino on the way home. oooo, shiny. The adults left the kids in the car for 3 hours it turns out, and went inside to gamble. When we found them inside the casino, they had the nerve to say they had been checking on them every 10 minutes. Oh, right. Did you notice the police cars, fire trucks and ambulance around your car the last 3 times you 'checked' on them?!#%$^!&* They were charged with felony child endagerment, so the $1300 they won won't quite cover their bail, thank goodness. Their parents aren't in much better shape, they knew what kind of person the aunt was, but they wanted to enjoy some 'alone time'. These poor little kids are now wards of the state until their parents get around to coming down here and picking them up. And we wonder why kids are disrespectful and unruly today? It's called lack of PARENTING! I applaud those of you who make personal sacrifices and work so hard to mold, nurture, and teach your kidlets.

Cat-sitting

I am cat-sitting for my mom while she is on vacation. Her cat should come with a warning label! He answers to Checkers, smidgen or foofoo head. He is a psycho spastic cat that does backflips and tears around like his tail is on fire. If there is anything hollow in the house, he has tried to get inside it or hide under it, and he 'talks' constantly- trilling and meowing, until he gets your attention or gets what he wants. He follows me around the apartment, and if my cat lays down, he has to be right next to her. Just when he really starts to drive me crazy, he starts to purr and snuggle up next to me and just act all adorable. Its very hard to resist. My cat thinks he's completely nuts.