I don't trust reporters.

I have very little use for the local news. I avoid it because all they report on is depressing stuff that I don't need to hear about and half the time in their haste to get the news on the air first it is not always accurate. I understand they have a job to do but at the same time when working a call they are like vultures and just plain made my job hard.


This is an example of such a case. We get dispatched to an apartment fire. This was a fully involved fire that gutted several apartments and we had several units on scene. Thankfully no one was hurt except for a cat with some smoke inhalation. We arrived just as the main fire was out and they were putting out the hot spots. We entered the courtyard of the apartment and were directed to the family members of the main apartment that was involved. The mother was nowhere to be found and there was several children in a range of ages. We worked with the children and police while figuring out what happened. About 45 min. later the mother was found. During this time we found out that half of the tenants of the building were family members of the kids. We conferred with the police and decided not to call child protective services.


After a while we recognized several reporters nosing around the crowd and told the family members that they have the right not to talk to the reporters and advised them not to. We can't tell them not to, and wish they didn't for fire investigation purposes, but can't. One of those reporters asked me to talk to them and when I asked them for permission they said no. The reporter was miffed and walked away.


The fire investigator showed up so I went over and started explaining who was who and where they were. When I pointed to where the family of the main apartment was I saw that same reporter was talking with the mother and her kids despite my telling him that they said no to talking to him. Oh crap. Nothing we can do about it now. We gently pull her away as nicely as we could and finished the work that we needed to do.


We finished that call and were sent to several more before we made it back to the station. When we got there we had a message to call headquarters. Oh crap. That doesn't sound good. What have we done wrong. We both go to the office and find out it is from the fire. We are questioned as to why we didn't call child protective services. We explained our decision and that police agreed with us. They explained what the news had been reporting and just wanted to cover the bases (their asses). We had caught some flack because what actually happened and what was reported on TV was totally different.


That is why I don't trust reporters.

Road Warrior



geek.com


One of the stations that we work out of is actually our own. We inherited it when a new station was built down the street from us. This station is old. I mean really, really old. It was an old house that was converted to a fire station back in the 80’s. It has a garage in the back for the engine and a driveway on the side with a gate that you could squeeze in a few cars. This thing had 2 tiny bedrooms, a bathroom, and the main room of the house that we manage to fit a desk, kitchen table, recliners, couch, and TV. In the garage was all the gym equipment. Everything in that station was a knick-knack of items pilfered donated from other stations and a few we don’t know where it came from since it looks like it was put there in the 80’s and has never moved since.

Because of where the station is located a lot of local police officers stop by to take a break, eat lunch, finish paperwork, or hit the head (bathroom for you non-military folks). We have a great working relationship with the police department because of the huge range of calls we cover has us working with them a lot.

One night while at this little old station I was flipping through TV channels while my partner was taking a nap.  I get a phone call requesting us for a coyote house. The local police had busted a house full of illegals and were busy sorting through all the people to find the smugglers. When a house gets raided they usually try to pretend that they are one of the illegals thus requiring the officers to diligently search through and question each person.  They asked us to respond because it had been a few hours and would be several more and they wanted the illegals checked out and water, snacks, and blankets provided for those who needed it. The location was on the corner of a street in the middle of a housing development. When we arrived there was cop cars parked willy nilly everywhere. No offense to any police officers out there but you guys suck when it comes to parking at calls. I know from personal experience. It makes it a nightmare for me to drive to the scene since I am usually the last one to arrive.

There was no way I was going to be able to get to where I needed to go. The entrance was the only way in and out of this part of the development. While figuring a way in an officer walked up and we got out and started talking about what was going on. My partner then came up with this great idea. “I got it. You drive over the curb, go over the gravel to there,  go between the power poles,  down that hill, and over the curb on the other side. Easy.” See the picture to get an idea of the power poles she was talking about.

I looked at her, at the two monster power poles, the hill, the route she said was easy and looked at her again. I started laughing thinking she was joking but it quickly died when I realized she was serious. “Are you Crazy!!! Uh Uh. No way. I ain’t gonna do it.” I handed her the keys and said that I would spot her while she drove but there was no way I was doing it.

The officer standing there started laughing at me. “You to chicken to do it?”

“Me, chicken. Hell no!” I told him that she had been on the unit a long time. I was brand new and still on probation so if I got even one scratch I would be mired in paperwork up to my teeth for a week. She could get away with it, not me.

I stood alongside and spotted her as she started her drive. It was nerve wracking with her slipping and sliding with gravel spitting everywhere. I noticed as we went along we were gaining an audience. When we got to the other side several officers gave us an applause.

She did an incredible job of driving. Wish I could post pictures of the location to give you a better idea of what was involved but can’t for legal reasons.  Best I could do was post a picture of the type of power poles that she had to drive between.

The things we have to do to get our job done. :-)

Memories of old calls.

I was reading some old posts of Schmoe, and it got me remebering some old calls that I have gone on. So I figured I would regale you with some of them over the next couple of days.

It is late afternoon and we are just sitting down to dinner at the station when we get a call for assistance across town. It is not a regular dispatch call but one called in by a captain. Looking down at the Italian feast that was prepared by the best cook in the station my stomach grumbled, bummed that it was going to miss that meal. Off we went to find out what surprise was in store for us since there was no information other than the address.

We pulled up to a 7-11 store with an engine parked in front. Sitting in a wheelchair was an obvious transient in a hospital gown. Even more quirky was the fact that there was a hospital across the street. Yep, this was going to be interesting.

My partner and I knew the captain of the engine and he explained the situation and after transferring paperwork information they went back into service and left for another call. My partner, Lucy, and I started talking to the guy to get his story and figure out what to do with him.

Mr. Bob: They kicked me out.

Lucy: Why?

Mr. Bob: Because they don't like me.

Lucy: Well, why would they not like you.

Mr. Bob: I don't know.

After 15 minutes of conversation we figure out there is much more to the story than what we are being told so Lucy takes off to the side of the building while I continue talking to Mr. Bob to keep him distracted and get more clues. She calls the hospital across the street for more information and gets the real story. He was discharged because he refused treatment. This turns out to be a psych call. Because he has some existing medical issues, I decide after checking him out, he should go to county and not with the local psych services.

Me: Well Mr. Bob we are going to take you to another hospital. Is that okay with you?

Mr Bob: Okay. As long as it is not County. I don't like county and I don't want to go there.

He started getting all agitated, ranting and raving about county hospital. Oh crap. We can't take him to anywhere else other than county. Then I take a chance and tell an itty bitty white lie after I calm him down.

Me: Okay, Mr. Bob. We will take you to XY hospital instead of county hospital. Is that okay with you?

Mr Bob: Okay.

I get up and hustle around the corner and warn Lucy to what I have just done. XY hospital is the actual name of county hospital. I told her what Mr. Bob said and to not say county around him at all or he will go nuts and refuse to go. We can't blow our only chance to get him off the streets.

After some more calls and getting things set up we call up a rescue unit to come transport him to county. We are a specialty unit and because of his medical and mental issues we are not allowed to transport him. When the guys show up I pull them aside and quickly give them the warning about not saying the word county and that he may freak out in the ambulance when they get to the hospital if he recognizes it. They looked confused but didn't question it, just got Mr. Bob loaded up and said see ya there. The guys were awesome and could have grumbled about the problem we were dumping on them but didn't.

County hospital is across town from where we were and on the way we were taking bets on if he would freak out or not. Surprisingly enough when we pulled up the paramedics already had him inside and Mr. Bob was sitting there happy as a clam. I talked to him some more and asked him to promise me to do what the nurses told him to do. After some grumbling he promised me to behave and do what he was told.

We spent quite a while there with paperwork, talking with the nurses, and setting up things with social services. I hope Mr. Bob behaved and got the care he needed.

As much as I love the job there are times I wish I could follow through and other times I am glad we are finished and off to other calls...

Knock! Knock! Remember Me????



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Hello all.

Remember Me????


Nutty Blogger girl that was blogging and then disappeared suddenly a month or so back?



Well I have gotten the chance to join the blogging world and post something again starting with the ridiculous things that I have come across lately.

My birthday is right around the corner and what do I find in the mail. An AARP membership letter. I may be getting older but NOT that much older! Geeze guys, give a girl a break.

A couple of days later I get an invitation to an open house of a planned retirement community for seniors. Awww come on now. Somebody's really messin' with me now........

Example: NOT MINE!!!!!

A social security letter comes in the mail with a statement of what I will get if I retire at so-so age, this much at so-so age, and so on. Thanks guys. Like you are really going to be around when I am able to cash in on it.

I am getting ready for work and after brushing my hair I clean out my brush. I find several strands of grey hairs which is another reminder of I AM GETTING OLDER!!!!!!!

I'm not ready to get older~~~~~!!!!!!






Hope you all have a great day.

Life is busy when you have two teenagers!



Morgan at 4yrs. old

 
I have been a busy bee. Had the kids over for a short vacation. They were only able to visit for a week because of track, camp, football pratice, and other plans for the summer. I hated only having a short time with them but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Nicole at 3 yrs. old

I have slowly realized that having teenagers is sooooo different then kids. They are harder to please and only expensive electronics keep them happy. I had ordered a new Xbox 360 from a discount warehouse only to receive it the same day they left. Bummer since I had gotten it for them to enjoy when they were here. They did have fun but spent more time online facebooking and texting friends than swimming in the pool. When they were younger I had to bribe them to get them out of the pool.

16 and 6'4" tall already!

A couple of friends of theirs had moved away to another complex and after a lot of pleading and begging I let them go over to visit and stay overnight. They promised to come back the next morning since it would be our last day together but I was a nice Mama and let them spend the day there so they could spend more time with their friends. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices to make our kids happy. If it made them happy than I was willing to do that for them despite my missing time with them.

14 already! Geeze, I'm
gonna have to buy a shotgun soon!

During the last month or so I have been working on a project. I have now finished the first part of it and sighed in relief when it was done. It was a labor of love and I am nervous as to the response to it. It will update the blog and let you know more details as I get further along.




Figured I would keep you all guessing as to what it is.

Hot and Humid here.

Humidity. I can do without it. I don't mind the heat but I am out when it comes with humidity. I hate the suffocating feeling of a hot, wet, thick blanket around you. The humidity is here early this year. It even beat the usual monsoon storm. Usually we get the storms and then the humidity follows. I have been working so I have only glimpsed the light show the last couple of storms had on the way to work. I love watching the storms and the fury of mother nature, as long as it doesn't damage anything.



Video capture of dust storm.

 We had a huge dust storm come in which I missed but saw the lightning storm on our side of town while driving to work. It was amazing. It seemed like there were zaps of lightning constantly with no break between them. I haven't seen a good lightning storm in a while.


One good storm a few years ago took out a eucalyptus tree. I lucked out because when it fell it landed in front of my place and was just 3 feet shy of my front door. No broken windows. Imagine my surprise when I opened my door that morning and saw a wall of leaves and the smell hit me hard like I had walked into an Indian spice shop.

The monsoon then leaves us to clean up the mess. I have had to do that too many times. You have to go find the patio chairs that were blown away, clean up the dust because you left a window open (Yeah, dumb a** move I am guilty of!), cook on a BBQ with an umbrella because there is no power, wash the car that's leopard spotted because it rained then was thoroughly dusted afterwards, but it is all worth it.

We are rewarded with amazing sunsets, sunshine mostly year round, and no snow! My favorite sunset is the one where the sky looks like it is on fire. So many demensions and variations on sunsets around here. Summertime around here is not boring!

Dancing to the music.

I can't believe it was 80 degrees today. Hopefully it means that summer is right around the corner because I am looking forward to the summer. I hate the cold and winter blahs. When it is summer time I have fun traveling, running with my friends, BBQ parties, swimming, and just having a great time.

I have many fond memories of previous summers. Not a single bad summer that I can recall, well with the exception of my Ex-husband. Met him one ill-fated summer after too many Long Island Iced Teas. Six if my blurry recollection is right along with several Kamikaze shooters. I figure I was brain damaged from that stuff and that is why I had a shotgun wedding. To this day I will not drink a Long Island Iced Tea. Never had a problem with Kamikaze shooters and still love them now.

Back in the old days I spent many summers on the beach having fun and nights at the base club dancing the night away. I don't know if I am a good or bad dancer. I don't care anyway. I love to dance. I may need a bit of liquid courage at times to start but then I am fine after that. We would spend hours dancing to the beat of 70's and 80's music. To this day I just want to boogie when a favorite song from the old days plays on the radio.

When I hear a song from the old days it would trigger a memory. A song that would remind me of a night on the beach dancing with a huge bonfire or one that brings me back to my first rock concert and dancing with the crush of bodies around me. Some of the songs that bring up old memories are:


"Shout" from Animal House
"I feel for you" Chaka Khan
"Funky Town" Lipps, Inc.
"Open Arms" Journey
"Everybody have fun tonight" Wang Chung
"Love Shack" B52
"YMCA" Village People

One day a song that I hadn't heard in ages came on and I was going nuts. I was rocking away and dancing as much as I could while driving. Max was in the car with me and he was looking at me like I had lost my mind. I told him "You know how I hate rap. Well your Mama used to listen to the grandaddy of rap." He didn't believe me until he saw some show on MTV and they listed the group as one of the original rap bands. It was Whodini and the song "Friends". He actually likes that song and has it on his Ipod.

Another song that goes waaaaayyyyy back is from when I was in middle school. Every morning our bus driver would play this song on the way to the school after the last stop. It was Queen's song "We will rock you." That bus was rockin' with all of us kids stomping our feet and clapping to the song. Our bus driver never had a bit of trouble from any of us because she threatend that if we misbehaved she wouldn't play the song. Smart Gal.



What are your favorite songs that you just gotta boogie to whenever you hear it?

Jealous????? You betcha.

Jealousy, the green eyed monster is back. I haven't seen him in ages and wasn't sure if what I was feeling was him or some heartburn starting. I was catching up on facebook since I haven't been on there in ages and I read a post from Max to his girlfriend about his upcoming leave (vacation). His unit is taking a break and going to Okinawa for a couple of months to replace some members injured during an IED attack. He is taking leave during that time before they go back to Afghanistan.

While reading the posts I saw a message from Max to his girlfriend about him looking forward to seeing her. I wrote a note about it and found out she is going to Okinawa to see him. I had a funny feeling in my chest and wasn't sure what it was at first. Then memories slowly started to kick in and I realized I was actually jealous. I am a pretty easygoing person so being jealous was a feeling that I haven't had in ages.

One, I didn't even know about the trip and had to read in on Facebook of all places. Two, I love to travel and have only been overseas once on a cruise. That was just a western carribean cruise and since I was on a cruise ship and my passport is still empty I don't think it really qualifies. Three, I am not going to get to see him for a year since he is taking leave there and not coming home.


I have tried to plan a couple of trips but life kept getting in the way. For example, I was going to meet a boyfriend in Paris for New Years 2000 but because of the Y2K hype everyone at my hospital was banned from taking vacation from Thanksgiving to February. I seriously considered quitting just so I wouldn't miss a once in a lifetime opportunity. Someday I will get that darned passport filled.

So what do I do with this monster. I haven't dealt with him in ages and not sure what to do. Strange, weird, and not a good thing.......

Mechanics just don't trust women!

After the loss of my Camaro I needed to have something to drive. I was engaged at the time and my now ex-husband was on a Southpack deployment with the military. He had a pickup truck that was sitting around unused because he was gone and it needed a new water-pump. Since I needed a vehicle I figured that I would just replace it myself. I wasn't working at the time and we didn't have much money because the military pay at that time sucked!

So I consulted with my dad and asked him what I needed to start with first. He loved working on cars and I saw he was itching to get in there to help me. I said thanks but I wanted to do it by myself. So off I went to the parts store for a book on repairing that model truck. I researched it and figured out what I needed. I went back to the parts store and I went up to the desk and asked for the parts I needed. The guy looked at me like I had grown two heads. This was a theme that was to continue for the rest of the time.

I got all the parts and tools together and the next morning I had the truck parked in the parking lot behind the condo waiting to be torn apart. Well I discovered that old trucks have old rusty screws and bolts and they don't come off easy. With some manuvering and standing on the wrench a few times I got everything off. Dad came by that night to check out how I was doing and was impressed with what I had done so far.

Since I had the water-pump out I figured that I would get the radiator pressure tested and cleaned. I borrowed my dads truck and hauled it to a place in Oakland. When I walked into the place carrying a huge radiator everyone did a double take. At least the guy at the desk was nice to me after he stopped laughing. I told him what I needed and he showed surprise that I knew what I wanted done. Well, I am no dummy and if I don't know something then I research and learn about it until I can do it.

After the radiator was done I started assembling it back together and realized that the water-pump had this little hole in the bottom of it. Now I know that it is supposed to hold radiator fluid and with that hole, it won't work very well. So off I go to the dreaded parts store and ask about that hole. The guy looked at me like a child and said that there is a nut the goes into the hole. I said  "Well you may think I am stupid but why would you sell a water-pump with a hole and not include the nut for it?" He shut up real quick and grabbed what I needed.

During this process I decided to replace other stuff since I was there and had nothing better to do anyway. I replaced the hoses, belts, spark plugs, distributor cap, and wires. This required several trips to the parts store as I went along. Over time I did win over the guy there and he actually started talking to me about my project. When I got everything done my Dad and I went out to start it. I sat there with my fingers crossed and prayed for nothing to blow up. It fired up and purred.

I never told my ex what happened with my Camaro and what I had done because I wanted to surprise him. 2 months later he came home and was shocked I drove over with his truck to pick him up. After a quick welcome home he got in and tore out of the base. As soon as we left the base he pulled over into the parking lot of a warehouse. I looked at him weird and asked him what he was doing. He said nothing and got out and opened the hood. He had a worried look on his face and was checking it all out. I was a bit mad by then. I told him what had happened and that if I had done it wrong then it wouldn't have been running fine for the last 2 months. He didn't say anything at first and then after a while of checking it over said "It looks Ok. Thanks" That should have been the first red flag for me but as usual, love is blind.

Over time I learned how to do a lot of stuff on cars and can change a tire in 10 min. flat. Today guys still have a hard time believing that a girl can do automotive stuff. Last time I had to change a tire in the parking lot of my place, every guy driving by me just stared at me with a look like they were seeing an alien in drag. Oh, well. At least I won't be one of those people that will be sitting on the side of the road waiting 2 hours for AAA to show up.

Learning how to drive.

Speaking about cars on my last post I started remembering when I learned how to drive. It all started out one summer when I was 14 and went to visit my sister in Palm Springs for a while. Boy was that an awesome and educational time. Parties like I had never seen before.

My sister hated to drive and decided one night to start teaching me. Well, I wasn't gonna pass that opportunity up. I did pretty well and had a ball there. When I went home I never told my parents about that part of the vacation.

Fast forward to when I was getting my learners permit. Because I was held back when I was younger I was already going to be 16 starting my sophmore year. They didn't offer Drivers Ed for freshmen so my parents had to teach me and sent me to of all places "Sears Driving School". Yep, it was embarrassing driving in that car. I was in a class with a bunch of offenders who were there to get their tickets written off. Anybody watch the old 50's classic blood/guts movie about driving dangers. Car's crashed, bodies, etc. I got the joy of watching that one.

"DA BOAT"

My dad took me out to teach me how to drive for the first time in "Da Boat" at night in the parking lot of a grocery store. Now mind you he didn't know that I already did so I had to fake it. Guess I didn't do too well faking it because he said about 15 min. later "You have driven before haven't you?" Classic freeze moment: do I tell or not? Well I fessed up and he started laughing. He said that he figured it out right away and didn't care.

When we bought my first car it was a stick shift. That was a huge learning curve. Lots of stalls and my little brother in the back-seat laughing but I finally got it. We were in that same grocery store lot and my dad said I did good. He then told me to go around back. The back of the lot which I didn't realize has a hill down and then back up. Going back up the hill dad suddenly yells STOP! I slam the brakes (little bro got a bit smashed up on that one. Hehehehe) Heart pounding I look at him and was scared what I did wrong. He said Ok, go ahead now. I start to go and instead of forward I was going backwards. Brakes slam again. (little bro quiet now after 2nd head butt Hehehehe) Again after several false starts, rolling backwards more than forward, stalls, I finally got it and was done and now had freedom....

I didn't use that skill much because we were living in Phoenix, AZ at the time and it does not have hills. A year later the memories come screaming back when I was living in the San Francisco area and decided one night to venture out to SF city with friends. The hills there are nothing compared to normal stuff.

I was lost but having fun discovering all kinds of stuff and then found myself on a huge hill with a stop sign in the middle of it. And of course with my wonderful luck I had a truck stop behind me right on my butt. No room for error. I raced the engine a bit before letting that clutch go and flew out burning rubber. At least I didn't hit that darned truck behind me. I did not want to explain to my parents what I was doing in the city in the first place.

My whole world opened up once I had the freedom to go places without having to beg for rides. Granted the begging still had to do with gas money but it went quite a bit further then now.

My first car

While I was in Texas talking with an old friend we got started talking about our first car. It was a pretty funny conversation. He had just recently bought a car that was the same year and model camaro that he had for his first car. I told him about mine and one thing led us to another and we were wondering how we were able to execute some of the acrobatic acts that young frisky teenagers do. Now days, if I even tried to execute some of the things I had done I would be in traction for a month not to mention have a lifetime prescription for the chiropractor.

"Da Boat" This was the car that my sister and I learned how to drive with. It was an embarrassing monstrosity but that engine had some incredible power. We would drive that boat around with a baseball cap pulled down low so no-one would see us. We did everything to avoid driving it but it sure came in handy hauling Kegs for a party. Shhhhh, I don't think my parents know about that one.

My first baby was a Metallic Blue Datsun 310. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it because I love the color blue and it was blue outside and royal blue inside. Even better was the fact that it was in the price range that my dear old dad was willing to pay. Pic gives you an idea of what it looked like except blue. Lots of crazy memories in that one. I actually wish I still had her because no matter what I did to her she kept on going faithfully. I sold her to buy my next car.

Next car I got was purchased from my mom, a 79 Camaro. I was on cloud nine with that baby. It was fast, cool, and got the guys attention. I did the whole nine yards to it. Pinstriping, louvers on the rear windows (before we had window tinting for you young folks), and the required roach feather and crystal hanging from the rear view mirror. Sadly it was totaled in a car accident. I will have to write about it someday. I shed a few tears over her loss.

My replacement car was an 85 Camaro, getting the theme here yet guys???? I actually didn't like this one very much. Probably because I was still missing my other baby. It served it's purpose until I had to sell it to my baby brother for a bigger car. He totaled it 6 months later. That was the 2nd of 3 cars that he totaled.

86 Ford Taurus. The next car was bought strictly because of need. We needed a bigger car in order to carry all of Max's medical equipment around. After the first time he was discharged it was evident that the camaro wasn't going to work. The next time I was in the hospital with Max I sent my ex-husband and Evil Mother-in-Law out to go shopping and get back to me with what they found. We hadn't had time to find anything yet but I told them what I liked and didn't like and what we needed. Of course Evil Mother-in-Law bought the exact car that I put on the No-Way-Jose-Will-I-Ever-Drive-That-Piece-Of-Crap list. I hated that car the entire time I was stuck with it and was happy when it was sold off.

79 GMC Suburban. This car was purchased because of growing family and the transmission on the stupid Taurus was dying. Was OK and did it's job well. It had a weird paint job. Red/White on the outside and Forest Green on the inside. Joke was that it was like a Christmas tree.

This car was an Oldsmobile Achieva/2 door. I needed a car fast after the divorce and it was cheap. Done. That car was like a weird little alien and had a mind of its own. Even my brother-in-law thought that it was a wacky alien thingy. It would lock its doors by itself whether I wanted it to or not. Now we are not talking about automatic locks that lock after several minutes. It would lock at all different times. Even when I had the door open, keys in the ignition, and radio playing when I was working on it. Also I could only turn off the headlights if I put on the emergency brakes. That made it fun when I had to drive on to a military base. Huh! Like I said "Alien Car"

Now my second baby was the 98 Firebird. Now we were getting back towards the cars I love. Sleek, fine looking, and FAST!!!!!! It had T-Top and a banging stereo system with 2 amps, huge sub-woofer in the trunk and 7 speakers around the car. I rocked till my hair vibrated from the noise.  I had it for several years before mechanical problems came up. Went to several mechanics and they never could figure it all out. Each one quoted a different source of problems and each estimate was in the range of $1500-3600. Plus there was no guarantee from each one that it would fix the problem. Well I wanted to keep the bucks in my pocket more than in the mechanics pocket. So sadly off she went.

My current car is a 2008 Pt. Cruiser. It was my very first car purchased BRAND SPANKIN NEW. It was a super good deal that couldn't be passed up. Little did I know that they would claim bankruptcy right after I bought it. Still, it is a cute little thing and gets me to where I need to go. The only thing that I really don't care for is that the seats are uncomfortable. I am looking for options on that one and use a $3 back wedgie from Walgreen's for now.

What was your first car? Did ya love it or hate it? I would love to hear your stories on yours.

Have a great day.

The Past vs. Now

I am teaching my mom the basics of blogging and how it works. She is still trying to get the hang of computers and just recently joined Facebook. She is amazed at what you can find on the Internet. It has enabled me to find old friends, make new friends, and keep in touch with the kids and family.

I was working with my night shift partner and we started talking about the good ole' days. Days before video games, computers, and the Internet. Yes, I am giving away my age with this. But I know alot of you will know what I am talking about. 

In those days we had to use our imagination for entertainment. We would spend hours playing outside with our neighborhood friends. Try to get kids to do that nowdays is impossible!!!!

This summer when the 2 little ones were here they actually had to play outside with their friends and ended up having a blast. We played board games and even danced to music on the Ipod. That was hilarious because of the different dancing styles between the generations.

One night at dinner I was telling them about what we had for entertainment and they looked shocked. They said "Wow, you must have been soooooo bored!" I said "Well we did the same thing that you have been doing with the neighborhood kids this week". Well that got them thinking. They started asking all about when different stuff came along.

Video games - Pong started it all for me. It is boring now but I thought it was the greatest thing when we got the game console for Christmas.

I would spend hours playing. My all time favorite to this day is Ms. Pac-Man. If I ever win the lottery I am getting one!

VHS tapes - Renting a movie and the tape player to take home and watch. You brought home a big honking huge case with a tape player and hooked it up to the TV and prayed that it worked. Sometimes it didn't!. Thinking about it now it was so cumbersome to deal with compared to DVD's. 

Computers - Opened a whole new world and made life much more easier and much more complicated. I think it has it's pro's and con's. But that is a debate better left for another day.

Music - LP records, 8-Track tapes, cassette tapes, and my favorite item Ipod. Music has changed so much and access to it is so easy compared to the old days. I remember going to the music store and digging around to find a particular album. It was like finding gold when you actually found it. Now all I have to do is download it and presto, song at my fingertips. I Luv My Ipod.


I hope you have as many fond memories of the good ole' days.

Mom's Cooking.

When mom visited me on Friday we got to talking about different things I ate when I was younger. Her favorite thing to serve us during the summer was pita bread with alfalfa sprouts, avocados, and just a sprinkle of onion salt. Yummy. Sometimes we would even have a piece of bread with avocados spread on it and the onion salt. It was simple but yummy. Thinking about it now, I haven't had it since I went out on my own. I think I will try to get some and have it again.

My mom was an interesting cook when I was growing up. She liked to try new things and sometimes it didn't turn out so well. There were lots of nights when we would end up eating PB & J sandwiches. But it was funny to see what she made and we got to experience some pretty unique food.


One of her disasters was Beef Tongue. Ewwww!!!! When I saw that on the butcher block I ran to the phone and was calling all my friends to try and get a dinner invitation because it looked creepy and icky. No such luck!

It was a very long dinner because it took all of us kids forever to choke that stuff down. Tough, chewy, and no flavor. Today my friends tell me it really is good and she probably didn't cook it right. Well, no thanks. I will stick with regular meat cuts.


Another thing my mom taught us was table manners and how to eat in different settings. One of those lessons was how to eat a formal dinner. She showed us all the different place settings and what all the different silverware pieces were for. This paid off one day when I went to the Marine Corps Ball.

Here I am at a table with a bunch of Marine buddies and their girlfriends. They were looking at all of the different silverware and looking mighty confused. It was funny seeing a large marine holding a tiny escargot fork with a puzzled look on his face. I told him that it was for the snails that they would be serving for appetizers. Now mind you these are big burly, macho Marines dripping with testosterone. ALL of them had a scared look on their faces. It was too funny. They never served it, but I wish they had. It would have been priceless seeing them try to eat that. I don't like them.

I spent the night teaching them what each one was for and it led to stories of dinner with mom and her lessons.

One persons definition of Adventurous

ad·ven·tur·ous

[ad-ven-cher-uhs]

–adjective

1. inclined or willing to engage in adventures; enjoying adventures.

2. full of risk; requiring courage; hazardous: an adventurous undertaking.
An adventure is an activity that is perceived to involve risk, danger or exciting experiences.

I was reading the other day on a forum what a person defines as adventurous. It was quite funny how each person's definition was so different. It seemed like the person's background had a lot to do with it. I define it as doing something outside of your normal day to day life.

For some people it would be riding a rollercoster (done that too many times). Some would say it is taking a trip to another country (done that too). Or doing something that you never in your life thought you would ever do. For some rare people, it's just jumping in the car and just driving til you feel like stopping to smell the roses.

My latest adventure was taking a last minute trip to El Paso,TX. I had been working 21 days straight and was totally burned out. About 4 am Friday morning I woke up, tossed and turned, couldn't get back to sleep, and finally said I need to get outta here. I packed my bags, fed the cat her daily treat, put out extra food and water, and got in my car.

I got on the road with my trusty Ipod and just cranked the music. So here I am just rolling down the road, rocking away, and thinking nobody I know would do this.

It was awesome to get away and forget about the real world for a while. I even called my mom on the road and asked how she was. She said "Good. Nothing much is going on here. What about you?"  Me, "I am on the road to El Paso and won't be home for a few days".  She blurted out "WHAT????? What do you mean you are on the road to Texas?"  I told her what happened that morning and that I was feeling great. She just laughed and said that she hoped I had a great time and to call when I get there safe and sound. It was so much fun to just get on the road and disappear. 

I got into town and then sat there thinking "I'm Hungry!" I called a buddy of mine in town and said "You are a foodie like me. Where in town is a good place to eat?" He started to rattle off places by my house. I told him, "NOOOO, where is a good place here in El Paso to eat?". SILENCE......"HUH?"
I am laughing and explained what happened. He couldn't believe that I just woke up and drove 450 miles to get away. He took me to the most awesome BBQ place, Smitty's BBQ. Gotta go there if you are ever in town. Best BBQ I have had in a while. That trip was a blast and just what I needed to recharge my batteries and it also gave me ideas on what I could do in the future when I need a pick-me-upper.