Wednesday Hodgepodge 31 August 2016

Wednesday Hodgepodge  31 August 2016

1 1.     Are there any men or women in blue on your family tree?

Not that I am aware of.  However, since I am Irish, and that was one of the few jobs available to Irishmen years ago, I probably did have police officers in my family.   Our youngest son would like to be a police officer when he finishes with the Marines.

I think it is terrible that so much violence has been conducted against police officers as of late.  But, a good bit of this is self-inflicted.  As a victim of several crimes, I have had to file many reports with police officers.  Most will tell you they have heard it all before and many have quit listening to the victims.  Perhaps they have heard it 1,000 times before, but I have never told it before so, listen to me.  Build a good relationship with your community.

Once, while working at a convenience store, I had to turn a check cover to the city police.  The check was one of these fraudulent things where the person is supposed to cash a legitimate-looking check and then Western Union most of the money to someone else.  The person is to keep part of the money to be their commission. 

This check came back.  It was drawn on an actual company at an actual bank, but the check was not this company’s actual check.

The officer taking the report said, “Every single check I have seen like this has been bad.”  That makes sense.  Very few businesses call the police to report that they received a GOOD check, right?

There would be less violence on police officers if they actually listened to the victims of crimes. When someone is actually the perpetrator of a crime, they should still treat them like people. They will be less inclined to be violent with the officer later on.

Officers are taught to “Take control of a situation.”  This usually means they decide who is right and who is wrong without having all the facts. 

We once had an officer who was eating ice cream in the store. He was also buying and scratching off lottery tickets.  A call came in reporting domestic violence.  He was the only available officer, they told him.  He answered back on his walkie-talkie that he was on his way.

He bought some more tickets and threw his ice cream wrapper behind some merchandise on the counter.

He continued to scratch his tickets.

Another radio call told him that the person reporting the call said that the perpetrator was beating down the door and was almost in.  He keyed his microphone and said, "I am almost there."  He continued to scratch his tickets.  He then checked them on the self-checking machine and walked out the door.

This type of officer is not typical of most officers, but, unfortunately, there are enough officers like this out there to cause problems for the rest.

They have a difficult job. 

2. Are you someone who suffers from the Sunday night blues? What helps you get over it?

My child-bride Suzanne and I are retired.  We usually don’t even know what day it is unless we look at our computer calendar.  Monday-Saturday, I have an alarm on my phone that tells me it is time to call the baby out on the island and wake her up for school and work. 

Our sons are both on round-the-clock duty in the military.  Our oldest son is on 18 hour days because the artificial environment on a submarine makes that possible.

My youngest son is a Marine in an undisclosed location.  We have to communicate with him on whatever local time he is on at the time.  So, when the phone dings, we get up and talk, no matter what time day or night it is.

I really messed with the people at the hospital when I did not know what day it was.  That is one of those psychiatric questions they ask to verify that you are living in reality.  I am not.

3 I read the color blue is an appetite suppressant since there are very few naturally blue foods out there. How do you feel about blue cheese? Love it or blech? If you're a fan, what's something you like that's made with blue cheese?

My child-bride Suzanne is allergic to penicillin. Since penicillin is a fungus

and bleu cheese is a fungus, she has to avoid that, too.  No matter; I really never was a huge fan of it, although I used to have it on my salads from time-to-time.

4. We can't head in to the Labor Day weekend without a related question, can we? Complete this thought: I work best when it is night and I have had a good day’s sleep. Suzanne and I are both vampires.  We work best at night. I discovered this when I was working as an EMT in Spartanburg.  The night shift suits me best.

5. 'Everything yields to diligence.' Antiphanes Your thoughts? (on this particular quote or on diligence in general)

I think this is a good thought.  If we are diligent and disciplined in what we do, we are destined to succeed.  This is part of the premise of How to Manage Your Monkey.

6. The National Park Service turned 100 years old on August 25th. Have you been to many of America's National Parks? If so share with us a favorite or two. Which National Park would you most like to visit before the next birthday rolls around?

Yes, yes, I was but a wee lad when they founded the National Park Service.  I don’t know the names of many of the national parks right off the top of my bald head but, I would love to visit any of them in the Blue Ridge Mountains this time of year.  Late September and October are always beautiful in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

I have been to Arlington National Cemetery.

7.  Bid farewell to August in seven words or less.

Whew! It was too danged hot!

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

This past week, I passed the 90 day stroke-free mark.  This is a major

milestone.  I am not out of the woods yet.  But, with Heavenly Father willing and if the creek don’t rise, I am going to beat this thing.  I still need help walking, but we don’t have any reason to go many places anyway so, I am good.

We will roll out the How to Manage Your Monkey Course soon.  We have set up a blog for it and a YouTube channel.  The course is free. We will also investigate offering a paid, advertisement-free version on uDemy soon as well.

If you have any budgeting tips or frugal recipes, please send them on.  And, thanks for those of you who have already done so.

Hug everyone you love and share with them how much you love them.  We don’t know how much time we have on this side of the dirt so, make use of every moment!

Please Visit My Child Bride Suzanne's Blog
Other posts you might like:
http://ps-annie.blogspot.com/2016/08/wednesday-hodgepodge-31-august-2016.html
http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2016/08/the-hodgepodge-blues.html
https://edshunnybunny.wordpress.com/2016/08/31/ending-august-with-a-birthday-a-hodgepodge/
http://april-georgia.blogspot.com/2016/08/wednesday-hodgepodge_31.html
http://tdorsaneo.blogspot.com/2016/08/hodgepodge-wednesday-and-last-day-of.html
http://smidgensbitsandsnippets.blogspot.com/2016/08/end-of-august-hodgepodge.html
http://waffle-with-wendy.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/wednesday-hodgepodge-31816.html
http://skyesofblue.blogspot.com/2016/08/wednesday-hodgepodge_31.html

http://ajoyfulchaos.blogspot.com/2016/08/wednesday-hodgepodge_31.html








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