In which she…well, just watch…

Yes.  This.  Exactly this.  Love this.  Hoo-rah.

That is all.

In other things, I am now the proud owner of a college freshman.  Lord help me.  He called mama twice during the first day of classes.  The best news so far…by the third day of classes, the boy had already CLEP’ed out of a class.  Yay! 

I am also the proud owner of a seventh-grader.  Wow.  I have no more babies.  That’s a bit daunting when you think about it. 

One of my favorite ladies, Faina, is recently published.  From what I can see of the preview, Faina has created just the most beautiful lace shawl evah!!  Oy, she has a God-given talent.  I have seen photos of her work, and it is amazing.  Hie thee to the nearest Amazon webpage or bookstore and pick up a copy of “All New Homespun Handknits”.  You will be glad you did. 

I’m still slogging through my recent knitting commitments.  And by ’slogging’ I mean I have had to force myself to pick up yarn and needles lately.  The patterns are all wonderful, the yarns are great, it’s just me.  I’m blah.  Hopefully, the impending cooler weather and beautiful colors of fall will be the pick-me-up I need.  It usually is.

 

In which she touches on a ‘hot’ topic…

I’m sure that everyone has heard all about the kerfuffle in Cambridge, Massachusetts in which renowned scholar, Henry L. Gates, Jr., was arrested by Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge Police department.  Now, I have done quite a bit of reading about this incident, from several different sources, and I have to say, I am absolutely livid.  On many levels.  The Lame Stream Media, the White House, and barking moonbats from every corner of the globe are calling this incident ‘proof of the continuing racism in America’ and ‘the corruption of law enforcement’.  Um…no, not exactly.  Yes, there is racism at work here, it’s just not coming from the police.  It’s coming from the Lame Stream Media, the White House, and the moonbat brigade.

The facts of this incident state that Gates arrived home to find his door ‘jammed’ to the point that he was unable to open it normally, possibly from a prior attempt to break in to the residence.  It’s unknown if this was reported to law enforcement.  Gates and his driver attempted to force entry into the residence, by means of a crow bar.  A passer-by (not a neighbor as originally reported) saw this, and contacted police.  The Cambridge Police Department, by way of Sgt. Crowley, responded to the call.

Upon arrival, Sgt. Crowley found the door open, and Gates inside the residence.  Sgt. Crowley identified himself, told Gates why he was there, asked Gates to step out of the residence, and provide a form of identification that might give Gates a legal reason to be at the residence.

Gates refused to step out of the residence.  Gates refused, until near the end of the contact with Sgt. Crowley, to provide identification.  Gates then launched into a shouting and cursing tirade, questioning Sgt. Crowley’s heritage, whether or not his parents were actually married at the time of his birth, and showering Sgt. Crowley with racist epithets.  Gates was subsequently arrested, not for burglary or breaking or entering, but for disorderly conduct.

Fast forward a few days.  In a press conference about health care reform (TIC), the President of the United States commented on the incident, stating that the police who responded “acted stupidly”.  Really?  Well now, let’s just disect this little bit of “stupid” from a purely law enforcement point of view.

The police responded to a burglary in progress call.  This is not a call you can ‘blow off’ or respond to as if it were a barking dog.  This is a serious, and potentially dangerous, call.  This I know from personal experience, but that is a post for another day.  The ‘burglary in progress’ was called in by a person not familiar with the residents in the neighborhood.  This is a reasonable call.  Citizens have an obligation to report information of criminal activity to law enforcement.

According to the police reports available on-line, Gates was found already inside the residence, and, at first, refused to step outside of the residence.  This is purely an officer safety issue and a ’secure the scene’ issue.  The officers didn’t know who Gates was.  They knew he was in the residence, and possibly in possession of, or with access to, a weapon.  Did you know that Kevlar is not knife-proof?  If the house IS the scene of a crime, no one can be allowed to remain inside, or evidence will be destroyed.

Gates also refused, until well into his contact with law enforcement, to identify himself.  Did Gates assume that, since he is ‘famous’, the officers should know him on sight?  Is Gates really that full of himself?  I don’t know what the specific laws in Massachusetts are, but in Arkansas, you SHALL correctly identify and/or provide proof of that identity, upon demand, to any certified law enforcement officer.  To fail to do so is obstruction of governmental operations.  In Arkansas, if you refuse to identify yourself, you will probably find yourself, and your high horse, being carried down to the jail until we find out exactly who you are.  Would an officer be fulfilling his sworn duties if he responded to such a call, found someone on scene who said “Hey, I’m the homeowner, it’s o.k.!”, and just walked away?  I think not.  We are tasked with protecting life AND property.  I really don’t care who you are, who you think you are, what you look like, your age, sex, or religion.  If I go to a call like that, and I find you there, your name is ’suspect’ until I know differently.

What actually got Gates arrested was the profanity-laced tirade that followed.  According to all reports, this tirade happened on the front porch (stoop?) and just inside the open front door of the residence.  Again, I’m not familiar with the laws in Massachusetts, but in my state, anything that is easily viewed or heard by others outside of a closed residence is called ’public’.  Any sight or sound that can cause general upset or disruption to others, in public, is disorderly conduct.  Based on the reports, this was the legal and correct course of action on the part of the Cambridge Police. 

Now, all of this is bad enough.  But for the President of the United States to, by his own admission, not know all of the facts of the case, and then to publicly comment about a misdemeanor arrest in Massachusetts by calling the police ’stupid’ and, by default ‘racist’ because of who they arrested?  I can’t remember any other sitting president in my lifetime who has set such an outrageous precident.  Imagine what his Secret Service must be feeling like right now.  I wonder how many of them will be requesting a transfer? 

Last reports say that the President has invited both Gates and Sgt. Crowley to the White House ‘for a beer’.  Now I like my beer, but I think that is one that I would have to pass on.   

Not much on the knitting front right now.  Still working on that shawl.  Since my knitting mojo decided to go on hiatus, it’s been a stuggle.  I did get a cute cardi pattern to test knit from one of my girls, LovelyKnits.  I will be starting that momentarily.  That should be fun.  I also found out that I have a BUNCH of BSJ’s to get going on.  Seems that a bunch of my Trooper buddies have been, um…busy.  We have babies on the way.  Soon.

Just one last little tidbit for my girls (and you all know who you are)…has anyone jumped over to the blog of a certain rather famous Cannuck knitter lately?  If not, do.  Read the post for July 25.  Does anyone besides me think that *Z*Moron must be on a rampage again?  It does have all of the earmarks of ‘those’ kinds of actions, no?

 

In which she has officially lost it…

My mojo, that is.  All of it.  Knitting, blogging, working, hanging out.  Just.  Gone.  I guess I’m going through one of those little slumps where I just do not feel like doing anything, going anywhere, or being around people.  I’ve even missed the last couple of meetings of my newly-found knitting group.  So not like me.

I think part of my problem is that my youngest son has been spending summer vacation time with dad, grandparents, and other assorted relatives.  Not that I begrudge any of them spending time with him.  He needs to spend as much time as possible with the other side of the family.  I’m just not used to being away from either one of my boys for that long.  Of course, the oldest son is working, hanging out with friends, and gone a large part of the time as well.  I’ve never been able to sleep well without at least one of the boys in the house, and I haven’t been sleeping much for the past couple of weeks.

That’s my problem…I just need a few nights of really good sleep!!

I have been knitting, even through my slump, I’m just not enjoying it very much.  I’m still plugging away at ex-MIL #2’s ‘Ocean Tides’ shawl.  This one will absolutely be done in time for holiday giving.  I’m on the fourth (and longest) section, starting the fourth pattern repeat.  The sample done for the pattern only shows six pattern repeats, but I’m going with eight for a bit of extra width.  Right now, I’m just ready to get the silly thing done.

My newest family members are…a constant source of funny and frustration.  I have discovered that Seamus and Finn can’t eat from the same bowl anymore.  As young as they are, but both being males, it has resulted in some rather spectacular fights.  They both love to jump and do the ‘Tarzan’ on my curtains.  The other night, Finn flew off of the back of the couch, snagged my ball of ‘Ocean Tides’ lace weight (on purpose), and tore off through the house, trailing yarn and shawl behind.  I, of course, was in pursuit, code 3, yelling ‘STOP!’ and ‘NO!’ as if that would actually help.  The yarn and shawl was quickly apprehended without incident (didn’t even drop a stitch!), and returned to the owner.  No charges will be forthcoming.

Thanks to all of my friends, BB Girls, and FB buddies for both the kind words remembering Officer Cannon’s family, and all of the very kind FB comments on my FO pictures.  Y’all sure do know how to make a girl feel good!

 

In which her heart is broken…

I went to a funeral today. 

On Friday, June 19, 2009 at 0635 hours, Plumerville, AR. Assistant Police Chief Joseph ‘Joey’ Cannon conducted at traffic stop on a black Ford F-150 truck that, upon running the license tag through ACIC/NCIC, showed to be a stolen vehicle.  As Joey approached the driver’s window, the driver, holding a loaded .38 cal. pistol against his chest, shot Joey once in the chest.  The truck’s passenger bailed out, and immediately surrendered to the Conway County deputy who was on scene as Joey’s back-up.  The driver fled the scene, but Joey was able to return fire, firing four rounds to cover the deputy as he arrested the passenger.  The deputy realized the gravity of the situation when he saw Joey, on his knees, in the middle of the road.

The call “Officer down” went out, and all available units responded, including Joey’s own son, who is also a Conway County Deputy.  Joey coded on the scene, and was transported to Conway Regional Hospital, but died of his wounds around 0730 hours on that date.

The suspect was captured shortly after the first BOLO went out, after a short foot chase, on Hwy. 365 in the Mayflower area, by Faulkner County Deputies and Troopers with the Arkansas State Police.  The suspect is in jail, and today, was indicted on one count of Capital Murder.

I knew Joey Cannon for more than 20 years.  I was still in high school when he began his career in law enforcement.  He was a fixture in our lives for nearly thirty years.  He always came when he was needed.  He was always there.

Joey’s funeral was just as amazing as the dedication he showed every day to the people he served.  Besides family and friends, there were over 500 marked patrol units.  The Patriot Guard Riders were on hand to pay their respects, and to assist the local law enforcement.   Governor Mike Bebee and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel (a former police officer himself) attended, and AG McDaniel spoke eloquently, at one point, with tears in his eyes.

The 35 mile drive from the church to Antioch cemetery was punctuated with hundreds of men, women, and children standing along the procession route, heads bowed, hands over their hearts, and waving Old Glory in a final farewell to a good friend and a dedicated law enforcement officer.

The tiny Antioch Church cemetery was packed with family, friends, co-workers, and law enforcement officers from every possible branch, and agencies from every corner of the state of Arkansas.  For many of us, it was like ‘old home days’.  During the procession, a storm blew up and the rain fell in sheets, but the good Lord saw fit to give us a short reprieve during the graveside service. 

The flag was folded, the rifles were fired.  Taps resounded.  The piper played “Danny Boy”, and then “Amazing Grace” as he walked off over the top of the rise.  Over a patrol unit radio, we all heard the words.

“Dispatch to Unit 401″.    “Dispatch to Unit 401″.    “Unit 401 to Dispatch.  I’m 10-7 (end of shift).  10-42 (I’m at home)”.

Yes, Joey.  Your shift is finished, and you are home.  Have a good rest, my friend.  You did good.

 

In which she is surrounded by teh studip…

Cops tend to be an odd bunch.  No, really, we are.  We tend to be cliquish, we use gallows humor way too much, we are a bit paranoid at times, and we always insist on sitting back to the wall, facing the door in a restaurant.  It drives us crazy if we can’t.  We have our reasons for all of this.  It may not make sense to other people, but they are valid to us.

We even tend to seem a bit ‘crazy’, if you will, at times.  There are reasons for that.  Witness just a very small sampling of what we hear on a daily basis.  These are actual dispatched calls:

Need a deputy to respond to John Q. Public’s address in reference to a theft of property.  Complainant wants a report of lost or stolen ducks.  Yes, ducks.  The kind that go ‘quack’.  The complainant states that the ducks were in his pond last night, and are now missing.  Complainant believes the ducks were stolen.  Requires a report.

Need a deputy to respond to Jane Q. Public’s residence in reference to a male/female disturbance.  Female complainant states the male has locked himself inside the residence.  Female states that the male is drunk, and is trying to set the dog on fire.  Female complainant will meet the deputy in the front yard.

Need a deputy to respond to Jane Doe’s residence in reference to a trespassing/disturbance call.  Female complainant states that her husband, John, is taking all of her personal belongings out of the house, and selling those items to unknown individuals who are trespassing on her property.  Complainant states that she is not having a yard sale.

And people wonder why we are the way we are.  But, you have to admit, you can’t PAY for this kind of entertainment.  Anywhere.

On the knitting front, I am still plugging away at the Goddess Knits ‘Ocean Waves’ shawl for the ex-MIL.  I have finally made it to the fourth chart, the ‘Razor Shells’.  This, also, is a bit of slow going.  This is the shortest, easiest chart in the whole pattern, and somehow, I keep managing to mess it up.  ‘Tink’ is now my new middle name.  Eventually, I will finish this shawl.

My ‘Tomato’ is, of course, no more.  But…I think it’s time to do the cute ‘Tomato’ cardi.  I think the yarn will be much happier that way, and I need a new little something to wear to court.

Got a couple of new books.  I haven’t cast on yet, but so far, I highly recommend them.

 

Speaking of socks…how cute are these?  Five little tiny inches long.  I know some baby feet that need shodding.  I think these will be perfect.

Wow, bad pic.  These are ChiaoGoo 5″ bamboo, US size 1.

We have two new additions to the family:  Seamus (the tabby), and Finn (the solid).  They are…something.  We need to conduct a few ‘kitten taming’ exercises.  I found my working yarn on a pair of socks-in-progress chewed through.  Right now, I totally blame Seamus.

 

 

In which she gets ’skooled’ and ‘gradumatated’…

So, I’m back now after a short hiatus.  Big things ‘been cookin’ down here.  Mama got some ’skooling’, and Boy#1 finally, FINALLY!, got ‘gradumatated’.  Hallelujah, and pass the biscuits.

First, the ’skooling’ part…my department finally decided that I should actually learn how to do Crisis Negotiations, since they decided to put me in the unit.  A year ago.  Now, mind you, I really am not a ’big-group-hug’ type of person.  I’m usually pretty intolerant of what I see as ‘weakness’, ‘attention-getting’, and ‘drama’.  But, I got to spend all last week in a great class.  Talk about an intense, emotionally and mentally draining class.  I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but…wow.  I learned a lot about Active Listening Skills, and how to empathize without condoning or agreeing.  I think I need to try this stuff on my mother. 

The upside is that I took a great class from bunch of great instructors.  I renewed some old friendships, and made more new ones.  I didn’t actually have to ‘work’ all week, but still got paid.  I got a bunch more CEU’s to put toward yet another law enforcement certificate.  General, Basic, and Intermediate are done, Advanced and Senior to go.  Maybe, one of these days, I’ll actually work for an agency that pays for earned certificates.  Dare to dream. 

In other news, I am now the proud owner of a fully ‘gradumatated’ 18 year old son.  Yea, Boy #1!  Yea, me!  Time to start the eviction paperwork.  (I kid, I kid.)  We are still cussing and discussing the whys and wherefores of college, especially how to pay for it, since Boy caught a near-fatal case of ’senior-itis’ back in November, but I’m sure we will find a solution.  Either that, or Boy will be deciding whether he wants to follow his Dad into the Army, his great-uncle into the Corps, or his great-grandfather into the Air Force.

Almost there...

Done deal! Class of 2009!!

On the knitting front…due to the class time and other goings-on, my ‘Ocean Tides’ shawl has stalled a bit, in that, I’m still working to finish the third pattern section.  It’s the ‘Print-’o-the-Wave’ pattern, and is just going a bit slow.  Still plugging along, though.  It’s nearly ready to go to a longer cable.  When it does, I’ll pin it out a bit and snap a couple of pics. 

The ‘Tomato’, sadly, has not fared as well.  I completed the body section, and started one of the sleeves.  It ‘looks’ fine, but I’m just not really happy with it.  I found that there are a few things I would change:  I’m knitting with cotton, which will grow, and though I got gauge, I think I need to go down a needle size, and work my size again.  I also need to cast on the stitches for the front of the neckline earlier.  Like 10 rows earlier.  If I were 20 years younger, and gravity wasn’t an issue…well, you know what I mean.  Due to my previous sweater-knitting experiences, I (stupidly) added one short-row across the lower back of the sweater.  My bad.  It did not look as intended.  Learn to trust people who know more than you do.   So, my hot green Tomato will go the way of the frog pond.  We’ll give it another go.

 

In which she rants for a moment…

Can I just say right now that I really hate people?  Well, maybe ‘hate’ is too strong a word.  I intensely dislike people.  But not all people.  Just the stupid, hateful, self-absorbed, intolerant, exquisitely sensitive, and constantly offended people.  When I started this blog, I decided that this would not be one of those hateful, ranting blogs.  But, since nothing very exciting happened at work this week, I feel the need to unload a few burdens.  Rant/on.

I have a ‘window’ (via another website)  into a moderately popular, but somewhat insignificant, website that is floating around on the internet.  I used to be a member of this insignificant website, but no long am.  I call it “The Bad Place”.  I was shown the door from ’The Bad Place’ because I refused to fit in with the general atmosphere, since it was completely contrary to my personal beliefs and inner convictions.  Not because I did anything wrong or broke any rules, just because I refused to fit in and tow the party line.  This website, The Bad Place, touts the fact that it is ‘family friendly’, appropriate enough even for an 8-10 year old child.  Witness the following:

There are people on The Bad Place who describe, in detail, acts of theft, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, drunkeness, promiscuity, stalking, adultery, and consistent drug abuse.  At least one person on this ‘family friendly’ website has been arrested for, and charged with, child abuse.  Now remember, these acts are applauded and encouraged by the owners and the people in The Bad Place. 

(The following names have been slightly changed to preserve some small grain of honor)                             

*V*apid*S*kank posted recently that she sees no problem with a mother seeking out a street prostitute to relieve her Down’s Syndrome son of his virginity and innocence.  She does, however, have a problem with other posters not calling this child a ‘man’ or a ‘person’.  Of course, this child is a person.  As is normal of individuals with Down’s Syndrome, he is probably an extremely loving and happy child.  But this is the point.  He is a child.  People with Down’s Syndrome generally only have the mentality of a very young child.  I have no doubt that he has the usual human urges, but I very much doubt he would be able to understand them or process them.  I shudder to imagine what a prostitute sexually assaulting this child would do to his probably already limited psyche.

*H*ooker*S*upreme takes great pleasure in castigating the children of public figures who have a child outside of wedlock, contrary to their parents’ teaching and upbringing.  She demands that abortion is a ‘responsibility’, not so much a ‘choice’ or an ‘option’ or just plain old ‘homicide’.  However, *H*ooker*S*upreme recently outed herself.  Seems our dear *H*ooker*S*upreme had a child, outside of wedlock at age 17 (does this sound oddly similar to another 17 year old?)  But, rather than take personal responsibility for her actions, *H*ooker*S*upreme dumped her child, now approximately 12 years old, on her parents so that she can party, have fun, buy expensive yarn, and knit a lot without the usual hassles of being a mother.  Just so you understand me, I do mean ‘dumped’ as in ‘like a bag of week-old trash’.  And then she demands that her fellow posters lavish her with sympathy for the “very difficult situation that she is in”.  I somehow doubt that she even bothers to pay her parents child support for doing her job for her.  Excuse me while I go throw up.

One of the most…um, ‘colorful’?…people in The Bad Place is *Z*M*oron.  This person is what is known, in the South, as ‘a real piece of work’ or a ‘complete dement’.  In the South, we all have relatives like this, but we try to keep them away from polite society.  Except on holidays.  Or at family reunions.  So far, I’ve counted at least 4 separate personalities lurking around in this pile of plasma.  *Z*M*oron’s claim to fame is to attack unsuspecting posters in The Bad Place, turn it around, and act like she was the one who was attacked.  She also assumes several different personalities on the internet, and rants and raves about these faux attacks.  After she has posted that she is sufficiently ‘injured’ by these contrived attacks, she harasses the people she originally set herself upon, and actually threatens them with ‘legal action’, courtesy of a very close family member of hers.  Over and over and over.  So far she has been Christian, Jewish, right, far left, and everything in between.  The personalities seem unable to come to a consensus.

One of the most recent debates, starring *V*apid*S*kank of course, was “How dare Christians be offended by Atheists!?!  We are the only ones who are allowed to be offended!!!!111!!”  What I got from the entire thread was “We atheists are exquisitely offended by the mere mention of a higher power anywhere, but those damn ’X'tians have a whole damn lot of nerve to be offended at the fact that I scream curse words at them when they say ‘God bless you’ if I sneeze!!!11!!”   In other words,  belief in a higher power is stupid, backwards, uneducated, lame, wrong, offensive, racist, and should be illegal.  Belief in nothing is enlightened, smart, and super-duper fabulicious.          HUH?!?

Family friendly?  Seriously?                     Rant/off.

Dear Lord, I am not perfect, but I do my best to serve You daily, and I fail, in many ways, daily.  But I do believe in Your Word and Your promises.  Please deliever thy flawed, but faithful, servant from all of this rampant stupidity.

I finally have the Queen Anne’s Lace shawl from MMario blocking.  I started a new Goddess Knits shawl,  Ocean Tide, for my ex-MIL.  I’m working on the third section now.  I was looking through some books, and suddenly, I needed a ‘Tomato’ by Wendy Bernard of Knit-n-Tonic.  I already had the cotton, so why not?  I started it on Monday, I’m in the straight body section after the waist-shaping decreases.  I think the next Tomato I make will be a little cardi.  How cute.

LeAnn, sweetie, this is just for you.  Keep the faith:

Queen Anne's Lace before blocking-what a mess!

Queen Anne's Lace blocked-minor masterpiece

Repeat after me:  In the 1800’s, very small children created intricate knitted lace to help support their families.  I am a grown intelligent woman, and I can do lace too!!!

Queen Anne’s Lace specs:  pattern by MMario (free, just sign up for the Yahoo group), 100purewool in Bebe Rosa (baby pink), 950 yards/hank, used approximately 1100-1200 yards, US size 5, 6 ,7 circular needles, blocked size approximately 58 in. across.  Made for my sister for Christmas (shh! don’t tell!).  Very easy pattern, good choice for a first-time circular shawl lace knitter.

 

In which she curses at some, laughs at others…

This weekend at work provided a tongue-lashing and some much-needed humor.  I’ve said it before, I will say it again…these are the people who provide me with job security.

I got to assist one of my guys first thing this morning.  First thing as in 0540 hours first thing.  Adam got a DWI this morning.  My main job, once I got on shift, was to sit with the car and wait for the wrecker.  Not especially difficult.  Not even in the pouring rain that we’ve had for the past two weeks.  Oh, and a quick inventory search of the driver’s side of the car, once it gets pulled out of the ditch.  No problem.  Wrecker gets there.  I tell the driver I need to search when he gets the car out.  Driver hooks up, pulls the car almost out of the water-filled ditch.  Driver says “Go do your search”.  So, here I am, searching, standing half -way in the ditch.  All of a sudden, I feel a lurch.  I feel both me and the car rolling backwards toward the ditch.  Did I mention that this was a deep water-filled ditch?  Yours truly nearly ended up a$$ over tea kettle in the ditch.  Under a car.  Mr. Wonderful Wrecker Driver had backed up the wrecker to line up the dolly bar under the front wheels, and was PUSHING THE CAR BACK.  With me standing next to it.  I’m sure that you can imagine the torrent of, shall we say “colorful”, language that I directed toward the wrecker driver.  I think he got the message.  I’m sure there will be a complaint waiting on me when I get back to work on Wednesday. 

I found out later that Adam took Mr. DWI/Cocaine/Marijuana to jail, with Mr. DWI showing out all the way.  Appearantly, Mr. DWI went into the cell, walked up to the biggest man in there, and got in his face.  Needless to say, Mr. DWI, all 5′7, 160 lbs. of him, was quickly given an ‘attitude adjustment’.  Mr. DWI was trying to use the old “Get my butt whupped in jail, get out of jail free” card.  That plan didn’t have the intended outcome for Mr. DWI.  Mr. DWI went to the hospital to get his head stitched up, and then went BACK to jail.  With more charges.  I love it when Karma kicks in, don’t you?

Part of the reason that I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks is that…I’ve actually been knitting.  And blocking knitting.  And starting new knitting.  I finally blocked the Goddess Knits ‘Mandala’ shawl that I made for my aunt.

'Mandala' by Goddess Knits...finally blocked

 

Leeza’s Mandala specs:  KnitPicks ‘Jewels’ heather laceweight merino, 440 yards/hank, used just short of 4 hanks, US size 3, 4, and 5 needles.  Blocked size:  about 62 inches across.

Finished!!

This will be in the mail ASAP. 

I also finished my Queen Anne’s Lace shawl, in pink laceweight from 100purewool (they are having a sale right now, squeeeee!!).  Next post, pics of the before blocking/after blocking of lace for LeAnn in my local knitting group!

 

In which she provides tips to law-abiding citizens…

First of all, I would like to thank all of my friends for the hugs and prayers throughout the loss of my cousin and Great-Grandpa.  Two shining lights have been extinguished, but will remain with us in our memories.

This week at work has been a mish-mash of stupidity.  Everything from domestic disturbances to thefts.  Many of these incidents could have been avoided by the use of the brain that the good Lord gave a goose.  I’m afraid that, the older I get, the less tolerance I have for stupid people.  In this post, I have decided to include a *very* short list of “things you should do to make yourself a better, and less stupid, citizen”.

1.  When you call 911, stay on the line.  Saying “______ has happened, send the police!” is just not enough information.  We need to know where (preferably with a house description), what, who, when, if weapons are involved, and how.  Seriously.  And make the numbers on your residence visible from the street, day or night.  It helps us get there faster.

2.  If you see something happen that just isn’t right, CALL US.  Don’t wait 30 minutes…or a week …to let us know what is going on, and then blame us for not knowing.  We are a finite number, and we are not issued ESP at the academy.  It may be nothing, but it may be something.  Our citizen eyes are very valuable.

3.  When we respond to a call, TELL us what has happened or what the problem is, do not SCREAM it at us.  Unless we have been on the force for 20+ years, our hearing is probably fine.  We are not dogs, we don’t hear voice pitches that go out of the stratosphere.

4.  If you are married or co-habituating, please take a minute to find out if your state is a “community property” state, and what the process is to legally evict someone from your residence.  My state happens to be a community property state.  That means that, if you are legally married, what you own-they own.  What they own-you own.  We can’t divide property.  That is the job of a sitting judge.  Additionally, in my state, if you reside in a residence for more than 24 hours, that is your home.  I can’t throw you out of it without an order signed by a judge.  If you don’t like the person you live with, learn the eviction process.  It will probably keep you out of jail. 

5.  When your are reporting a theft, please have your VIN or serial numbers at the time of the report.  We have this handy-dandy tool called NCIC (National Crime Information Center) that we can enter your stolen items into.  This GREATLY increases the chances of you getting your stuff back.  No, we can’t get those numbers on our own.  That is your job.  And, seriously, not EVERY SINGLE PERSON you see walking or driving near your house/business is a suspect.  Some, but not all.  We are not going to harass every person who looks “suspicious” to you.

6.  I am trying to get a little rule I like to call the “If it wasn’t important enough to report last week, it sure as hell isn’t important enough to report today” rule pushed through.  Don’t call me a week after the battery or the accident, and demand a report.  That is just lazy and stupid.  I’ll write the report, but I promise, I will write it so that you look just as stupid, lazy, and inbred as you really are.  I have that talent, and I can do it without making myself look bad.  Be afraid.  Be very afraid.

7.  If you are driving down the road, don’t wait until you get RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME  to do something illegal or stupid.  That will get you stopped every. single. time.  If I am running radar, don’t assume that, once you pass me, I can’t lock in your immediate increase in speed.  Our radars have a very long distance range.  Both coming and going.  If I stop you, don’t cry.  I can’t stand a whining crybaby, and that alone will get you a ticket faster than almost anything in the world.  THERE IS NO CRYING IN LAW ENFORCEMENT.

8.  If you are rude, that will guarantee you a ticket.  Your mama would be real damn proud.  Unless you are a lawyer, judge, or cop, DO NOT recite statute to me.  I have been doing this for more than a week, and there is at least a 99.9% chance that you are wrong.  They taught us statute in the academy, and I use it every day.  Not everything that you don’t like is a crime.  Really.   In my line of work, there is this book called “Criminal Code”.  It has “Statute” as well as this little thing called “Exceptions to Prosecution”.  Find it.  Read it.  Understand it.

9.  If I stop you, there is a legal reason.  It isn’t because you are male or female, black or white, rich or poor.  It’s because there is something wrong with your vehicle, or you did something illegal that I witnessed.  You are not being harassed because of _________.  Dream on.  You are not that special.  Your mama doesn’t even think so.

10.  For the love of all that is holy and sacred, C.S.I. is FICTION.  I like to live in a little world called “Reality”.  No, I can’t lift a print off of the water.  If a crime occurs, and you touch stuff, you will screw up the evidence.  If you move or clean up stuff, you will screw up the evidence.  STOP IT.  Or don’t bother to call me, you are wasting my time.  And lock all of your doors.  Do I really even need to say this?  It’s a darned good thing that “stupid” isn’t illegal.  Talk about the jails and prisons being full!!

This is just a very, VERY short list of things that citizens can do to make our jobs easier.  Common sense, people.  If you have none, find someone who does, and ask them. 

I have to admit though, stupid people=my job security.  Since there seems to be no end of stupid people in this world, I figure I will be employed until I’m too old to work any longer.

 

In which she stops traffic…literally…

On the work front, things have been almost too quiet.  Eerily quiet.  I’m waiting for the ‘other shoe to drop’, so to speak.  I’m sure that will happen as the weather starts to warm up.

What is the old saying about ’so-and-so could stop traffic’?  Honey, I can shut down a whole interstate, and sometimes, stop vehicles with just a ‘what-the-heck-do-you-think-you’re-doing’  look. 

We had a particularly bad motor vehicle accident on the interstate that runs through my district on Saturday afternoon.  I responded to assist State Police with traffic control.  It’s so much easier to work an accident when you don’t have to worry about getting mowed down by some dement in a hurry.  From the witness accounts, a red GMC truck was traveling westbound with Mom driving, and three children inside.  The witnesses said that the GMC moved to the #2 lane to pass, and the left  tires may have run down off of the shoulder.  The driver appeared to over-correct to the right, and at 70+ mph, caused the truck to flip and roll at least twice.  The witnesses said that Mom was thrown out of the truck, but couldn’t say if the kids were or not.  It looked like the family was either going home from a vacation or moving, as the truck was full of clothing and other personal property, which was scattered all over the interstate for several hundred yards.  Fire/Rescue and 2 ambulances also responded.  Mom was not doing well at all, agonal respirations and a firm, distended abdomen.  She was quickly packaged and gone.  The kids appeared to be doing much better, one even up and walking around, but were all transported to be assessed.  State Police took the accident, I just held down the fort and kept traffic moving, got witnesses I.D.’d, and moved emergency vehicles in and out.  For the most part, the interstate traffic was patient with the wait, and allowed everyone on scene to get their jobs done as quickly as possible.  I did have a couple of people, though, who thought that it would be a really good idea to jump out of traffic, and try to drive up the median to by-pass all of the emergency vehicles.  Because, you know, they were just very important and in such a big darned hurry.  They were not happy when they got stopped, the error of their ways was explained to them in short, one-syllable words that they could understand, and ushered right back into that long line of waiting traffic.  Makes you wonder what goes through some folk’s minds, doesn’t it?  I call this phenomenon ‘job security’. 

In knitting, I’ve picked the Queen Anne’s Lace shawl back up over the past two days that I’ve been off.  I’m finished with chart 3, and am moving on to chart 4.  Depending on my estimated finished size at the end of chart 4, I’ll decide then if I’m going to go ahead and knit the ‘extension’ rounds.  I probably will.  The Queen Anne’s Lace is from MMario.  There is an MMario Yahoo group that anyone can join to take full advantage of many beautiful patterns.  I love this pattern, and will be knitting it again, for me, in a beautiful dark green Shimmer silk/merino laceweight from Knitpicks.  I got it a couple of months ago, on sale.  It seems that this particular run was dyed in the wrong color on the wrong yarn.  Lucky me. 

Thank you to everyone for the kind words, thoughts, and prayers for our family.  Please keep them coming.  On Easter Sunday morning, my youngest son’s great-grandfather died.  Great-Grandpa was such a wonderful caring man.  He was kind and loving enough to continue to consider me family, even long after the divorce.  Great-Grandpa was completely devoted to his family, and he will be so badly missed by so many people.  He will especially be missed by his ‘Peanut’, his favorite buddy.