Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Below 94 degrees

That's what his temperature was by the time he walked over 6 miles to the ER in subzero weather, wearing only a hoodie.

So, at the risk of being accused of picking on the police department, I really have to ask:

I'm not sure what's going on with the new street officers, but it ain't right...

I have a lot of sympathy for the amount of paperwork we all have to fill out in the 'helping professions'.

For every good deed we do, there's 10 pages of documentation that has to accompany it and for every screw up there's even more.

Trust me, I'll match the pile of work and reports on MY desk with anything on any desk in any precinct.

But that shouldn't be used as an excuse for sloppy work or short cuts.

When a neighbor calls 911 and says a kid next door is being beaten by family members, I would expect that when you respond, after separating the kid from his uncle and mother, you'd at least take his statement and look him over and see if he had any injuries.

Do I think the kid was a choirboy?
No.

Could he have responded differently and not added fuel to his mothers and uncles short fuses?
Yes.

But if people could use their words and not provoke each other to violence, we'd both be out of jobs!

His injuries were quite visible.
His hand had been stomped on, was abraded, bleeding and swollen.
He needed medical attention, not told to "Just walk it off and go find somewhere else to stay for a few hours".

Luckily, he was smart enough to walk to a place where he knew people would respond and help him..And yes, when I made a Hotline report, I said that if I could, I'd report YOU too; you had care, custody and control of that kid in that moment and you blew it.

When the after hours worker for MOCD, who also happens to be a police officer, reviewed your report, you had coded it as a disturbance call; no injuries and no requests for assistance - in other words, you lied.
The broken bones in his forearm and hand were from his uncle.

His hypothermia was totally on you!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

The obvious, child

Most likely to...

anyone who went to high school is familiar with the rest of that phrase...
succeed, right?

Or... Marry a millionaire and get dumped for another woman, probably his secretary, 15 yrs later.
Become a venture capitalist, retire at 40 and live out his years in a 3rd world paradise, ruled by a dictator.

Move to Silicon Valley, make millions of dollars and retire by 30, leaving you eating your words about what he was probably doing 'tinkering' in his garage all during high school!
Yeah, well this child conjured up NONE of those options...

it was closer to "most likely to be found naked and decomposing in a field immediately off the interstate".

8th grade; chronic runaway; 18 sexual partners in the past 6 months...
and a mother who refused to come to the ER to pick her up "because she had stolen her boyfriend".

You mean the sexual offender who perped on her multiple times, starting at age 10, leading her to run away in the first place??
THAT boyfriend?

Sometimes, for the girls we see in the ER, succeeding is too high a reach.
They're lucky if they survive the week.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Loved these images...

Seemed the perfect lead in for this picture of my great nieces and nephew 'up North'...
and I'm quite envious.

We've had NO measurable snow fall this winter yet... and that's just not right!!
At least I can live vicariously!

Love you Bas, Mads and Payton!

A V-day idea

Just in case you're looking for a way to spruce up the house for Valentines Day,




Extra fast and easy...

take some trim - add vintage Valentines (I already had these but I've seen them in every antique store I've hit in the past two weeks),



add mini clothes pins and VOILA!




Love to you all!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Vampires among us

Remember the antique dealer who offered 'proof' that Nicholas Cage was a vampire - thanks to an old Civil war picture of a look-alike?
(Which he listed, BTW, for $1 million on Ebay!)


Well, look who I found lounging about in the aisles of my favorite antique shop?



Oh come on... it's close!

Jim, if you ever need the photo for a movie you're shooting, call me.
It's yours - for free!

I'm a fan - I prefer your more serious work (especially the Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind) but my son loves your 'hyper' movies and elastic face, so it's all good!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

More lists for a New Year

Just ONE reason why I love poking around antique malls and resale shops is because you never know when you'll stumble across a treasure...

a ziplock bag, marked .25 - with cards inside...
prompting hours of discussion for me and my friends!

Anyone recognize the game? Or know how it was played?
Don't get me wrong; I'm content to live with mystery... and making up my own version!



How exactly would one die from an 'excess of confidence'?



"Talky people"?
I DO love me some 'roustabouts', though!

A Jane Austen reference! LOVE it!
Did YOU catch it?

'Doing' my neighbors? How risque... and, thanks, but NO!

And just in case thinking about all these possibilities made you anxious, someone also lumped in these prayer cards!

Nice to have new markers for my Bibles and Book of Common prayer!

SO much fun for a quarter, right??

Gosh, I'm easily amused; that's a good thing, right?

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

More fun than a body should have...


I LOVE it when time to play with the camera coincides with having some fun, creative ideas - and 'props' already laying around the house.

Which background do YOU prefer?





I also found a small container of even smaller figures... clearly made in China and hand painted poorly; yet oddly, as I was taking pictures and playing with them, I felt the images could somehow be a tribute to all Americans...


We may be anonymous, but we're still standing!

And, in light of todays economy and harsh realities, that's no small accomplishment!
(Although why do I feel like I need to apologize to all the figures strewn around in her wake!)

Oh... and for all you locals, I took another batch of my 'mental blocks' to Roots...just in time for Valentines Day gifting!

Even if you don't buy any of them, be sure to check out their store... it's FAB!
(Is that word still being used!?)


I can pretty much guarantee my relatives had absolutely NO idea this is how their pictures would end up being used!

However, since the money raised goes to our Adult Mission trip at church, I don't think they'd mind ... well, at least not too much!

Is it wrong that I save the best expressions for MY relatives and give the snarky ones to my former in-laws?? Ha!