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Furry Companionship

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You are here: Home » Furry Companionship Nico (left) and Christopher at the helm of a Walt Disney World Monorail, January 1, 2017. January 11, 2017 I could hear my Yellow Labradors panting from a mile away.  The sound was like the crackle of thunder rolling over green pastures. The sound seemed to go on forever. At 12 years old and 6 months he still has a lot of life in him. He can barely contain his enthusiasm when we come to the dog park. I’m grateful for his companionship after all theses years. Sadly he hasn't realized that youth is no longer on his side. I got him when he was just a puppy at 12 weeks. Puppies are like babies when you get them. They don’t have a clue how life works. You have to potty trained them and I had to teach him, not about the ABC’s, but all about the “no’s!” “No! Don’t eat those shoes!” “No! Don’t jump on the couch!” “No! Don’t knock over the trash!” “NO!” “NO!” “NO!” And then the day he turned 2 he matured. We...

Christmas Observation

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You are here: Home » Christmas Observation Christopher (front) and Nico Disney cruising on the Dream. (Nov. 2, 2016) December 22, 2016 Observation is a good skill set to have when you're a police officer. The skill is honed as time on the job progresses. It has become a perfect tool that officers can use while on patrol to look for unusual or out-of-place things. On a Tuesday evening at around 5 PM, I was parked in the parking lot of a gas station. I parked my police car in a good spot that would allow me to feel safe while I did my paperwork, and I could watch the people come and go from this huge and busy fueling station. My eyes trained on a guy in a blue shirt. He was around 6 foot 2 inches, thin, his white skin was weathered, his hair receding. His eyes were as blue as his shirt. I could tell he was tired even though he hadn't left since I last saw him at around 8 AM that morning. While I stared at him from the safety of my police car, I noticed a man handing hi...

Rock Bottom, a police story

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You are here: Home » Rock Bottom, a police story Nico (left) and Christopher playing footsies on the couch. All kids do this, right? My brothers and sister and I sure did. (December 6, 2016) December 8, 2016 When was it when he knew that he had hit rock bottom? Was it the cold steel of the handcuffs pressing against his wrist? Or it may have been the unforgiving firmness of the double-strand handcuff metal that rubbed against his wrist bone that caused his dangling hands to stiffen.  I just arrested this guy. He had crack cocaine. Until this point, this lily-white guy's only crime was wearing a Polo collar shirt, Khaki cargo shorts, and white sneakers. But in his defense, his style wasn't different from any other white guys in 2000. While patrolling the streets, I saw him walking away from a known drug house. They call drugs dope for a reason because this dope thought he was the only one who knew where to score cocaine at 2 in the morning. The only thing that stood...

Life is Like an Ant Farm

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You are here: Home » More Than an Ant Farm Nico (right) and Christopher enjoying Christmas early. Nov. 2016 November 24, 2016 I bought Nico and Christopher an ant farm last Christmas. This week, our order arrived! Uncle Milton, the company, is not a crazy family member. Mailed our order that we placed back in March. Better late than never. I didn't know much about farming ants, so I had a chance to Google the process and learned!  I ripped open the package, expecting ants to scatter everywhere! But thankfully, the ants were in a secure, transparent tube with tape fasted on the edges. Those ants looked menacing. They were rabid and ready to stretch their legs. The ants were full of activity. Seeing them inside that 4-inch tube is pretty cool. I could only imagine how it would feel to swallow that thing like an aspirin. It was easy to think of all sorts of horrors one could do with those ants. Yikes! I poured the vile as if it were a pitcher of water. As I tilted the pla...

You Get a Do- Over

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You are here: Home » Do-Over Honeymoon Disney Cruise aboard the Disney Cruise ship, Dream. November 4, 2016 Nico left. Christopher right. November 14, 2016 I wish "do-overs" could be handed out to people like the car Oprah Winfrey would give away during one of her television shows as she shouts her iconic phrase, "You get a car, and you get a car…" "You get a do-over!!" "And you get a do-over!" "And you!" And so on. I'm trying to convey that your current situation is not a life sentence. And that if life handed you an opportunity to reset or a "do-over," you should jump on that opportunity.  People have complicated lives, and stopping participating in society is easy. But being a victim or sitting on the sidelines and watching the rest of the people live their easy lives won't help your current situation improve. Things won't be given to you. Most people aren't born lucky. Your chances of get...

Jack's Shadow, a Halloween short story

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You are here: Home »  Jack's Shadow, a Halloween story The boys goofing around in the van. October 13 2016 *could be intense for some October 26, 2016 The sterile hallway reaches end-to-end, which must be 200 feet. Every 5 feet, there's an iron door. Each door is fortified to hold back a hideous, sick-minded, or evil person. The facility isn't something you can Google. Other than the locals who are hired to run the place, not many people realize the heinous and brutal death that has occurred by some of those locked in those rooms outside this town of 5,000 souls. "This door," she said, pointing, "is where we keep Jack." A woman said to a group in the hallway just outside the quiet from the inside room. Dana is a tall and skinny woman. She is wearing a plain blue polo shirt and khaki slacks. Her tour seemed as simple as a museum guide, but the people with her today are not tourists. They are some of the brightest scientists, doctors, and F.B....