April Showers Bring To Much Water

This is right in front of our apartment complex at Wilcrest. The Firefighters are gearing up to check a car down the road that thought they could make it.

This is Wilcrest going toward I-10 and Buffalo Bayou. The Bayou (or creek as any one not from Houston would call it) was about 20 feet over its banks. On the left side of the picture there is a golf course driving range that is under water. There's a six foot hill on the left side of the picture that rolls down into the road and is completely under water. I run with the dogs up and down this street and up and down the park along the bayou that is inundated with water. The houses that back up to the bayou have about a foot of water in their homes. We had 10 inches of rain in a 24 hour period on the west side of Houston. Hurricane Ike didn't even dump this much water on us. We've had almost 20 inches of rain just in April. So if anyone likes mosquito's come on down because I hear they might be the size of terodactyls this year.

Do Deee Dooo

I really need to time how long it takes me to get to work. Sitting in the parking lot for 30 minutes really is a waste of time. The dry cleaner doesn't take as long as I thought it would. Darn those efficient cleaning ladies.

I read today that Terminator Salvation will be rated PG-13. how goofy is that? I really think the blood, gore, and senseless violence that comes with the annihilation of man kind couldn't possibly be depicted with that sort of rating. I hope I'm wrong and the movie is still good because I really think this could rack up as one hell of an action movie.

I also want to throw out some support for the Texans Draft this year. This could be the final touch we need to become a serious team. I can't wait for football season and Steve Slaton's debut as starting running back. Good luck Texans!!!

4 AM IS WAY TO EARLY

I know excuses are cheap and whining is for whimps but Day shift is taxing. Two weeks of waking at 4 o'clock really does a number on you. I shouldn't use that as an excuse as to why I haven't posted anything of late but when was the last time any of you got up that early to go to work? And honestly at 26 years old how could anyone expect me to get to sleep by 9 PM to get the recommended amount of sleep? All the good TV shows haven't ended by that time. So need less to say I stay up in a zombie like state until my body actually shuts down and my wife has to shake me awake to move to bed. No use in attempting to type anything out if you can hardly concentrate long enough to pay attention to your favorite shows.

After two weeks of crashes and break ins though I move back to evenings. Apparently I'm not the only one lacking in concentration or sleep though because I've never worked so many wrecks in a single day. We had about 10 in a six hour period. I worked 5 myself. No one on our side of town can drive without hitting each other. And it's even worse when they can't agree on what happened. I'm expecting quite a few phone calls from insurance company's this week after no one can own up to their mistakes. It's pretty pathetic when a 26 year old has to tell a 40 year old that they were in the wrong and they should be more responsible. The lack of maturity among the general public is rather frightening.

I have one exciting note for the week. The typical person gets up in the morning and goes to work in their office with a slow and mundane start. They get to their computer and check their emails and get a cup of coffee and prepare themselves for the business of the day. Maybe a meeting to start the morning off or a few phone calls to make that weren't done the day before. At least an hour or two of catching and preparation for the day ahead. In no other line of work will you start the morning by clearing a building with guns drawn on an alarm call at a local business. Talk about a great way to wake up!! Pull up to the place and see the front door smashed and guess what you get to do because no one else in the world would be dream of doing it; go in to check for suspects!! Being a cop is the best job in the world. I wish I could start every day off like that. Who the hell needs coffee if you could get that sort of adrenaline rush. I love my work.

Nothing else of note for the past couple of weeks. Looking forward to May and the beginning of summer blockbusters. I am that guy who will go and see all the hyped up movies. I'll actually enjoy most of them too because I really don't' require depth and meaning in my entertainment. Good old fashion cheesy action, explosions, and flashy graphics is all I really want sometimes. That's why Wolverine, Star Trek, and Terminator are going to claim one of my pay checks next month. I can't help but be drawn into their simplicity. Who can honestly resist Hugh Jackman without a shirt on or robots destroying man kind or futuristic space battles? Not this GUY!!

Pizza, Beer, and Wall-E

I don't think I'm as big of a nerd as my brother but I can't be too far off. My wife is out of town so I'm all alone this weekend. I worked yesterday for 15 hours and had a good time. A couple of arrests and a lot of paper work. I have the next three days off and not a lot to do.

Today I slept in until almost 1:00PM. I know kind of crazy huh. I fell asleep in the living room in my chair. I do that a lot when I'm home by myself. The bed is so empty and lonely. I moved into bed around seven in the morning. Only reason I woke up was because my dog had his nose in my face trying to wake me up. I'm glad they did though because it was a gorgeous day out, so I took the dogs for a long walk and enjoyed the 80 degrees and blue sky. I completed the afternoon with a bit of rock band and a couple of beers. I wish I would have taken up an instrument when I was a kid. I played a lot of sports and that was fun but I really think the drums would have been awesome. I started the early evening with some TV and a short nap on the couch; no idea how I was tired but I fell asleep sure enough.

When I woke up I decided to finally watch Wall-E. I bought it almost a month ago for my birthday. So I ordered myself a thin crust Domino's pizza with a bunch of toppings that I never get. I grabbed a beer from the fridge and started the movie. It is a fantastic movie. For as little dialog as there was and for the use of machine noises to simulate emotion it had a great story. Not to mention the political message behind the entire concept of the movie. Any one else think that's where the earth is heading? I know I won't live long enough to see it happen but is it really that absurd? Makes me fear for mankind. So does this whole day make me as big a nerd as my brother. I didn't watch the hours and hours of special features. Its amazing though how much we depend on our significant others for entertainment and company. We may have done the same thing if she had been home but it would have been a completely different experience. I would have been much happier and not depressed because the robot had a friend and all I have are my dogs.

Cartwheeling Dollys and Bad Guys Locked Up

The title sounds like so much fun!! I have to start with the amazing spark flinging, lane crossing, furniture moving cartwheeling dolly from hell. That's right everyone. Did you know that when objects fall out of the back of your truck at 70 mph they don't just come to a complete stop when they hit the ground? Little lesson in physics; shit not secured in your dam car does travel at the same speed that your going and does smash my car when it hits it!! Don't worry folks my car is okay (minus one front left fog light and a bit of paint). Some jack ass decided he didn't need to secure the dolly in his vehicle and after it no shit did like three cartwheels across three lanes of traffic on I-10, shooting sparks all over the roadway, it came to rest directly in front of my car as I squealed my brakes praying it doesn't flip into the air and through my windshield. I'm lucky enough to roll right over the top of it instead of swerving and crashing into the cars next to me. Driving is so EXCITING in Houston!!!

You know how there are the "haves" and the "have nots" in the world. And the unfortunate or maybe less fortunate, or as I like to say the freakin lazy give me everything I want without any hard work, persons who want to be the other guy. One way of achieving that is making sure your family has everything they want. Right down to your 4 year old having the latest in expensive youth fashion. So I ask you whats the best way to provide the little extra that we want. You can A: work some overtime and make the extra money you need, B: get a job to pay for it since you aren't employed anyway, C: put it on credit and slowly but surely pay for it, or D: steal it!! thus driving up the cost for the people who chose option A-C since your too lazy or stupid to do any of the other less illegal and socially acceptable methods listed above. And why does your 4 year old need 600 dollars worth of Polo clothing anyway? Who the hell is judging your kid so much that you feel he needs to be better dressed? Is Kindergarten really that harsh these days? I thought cooties were the biggest concern at that age. Clothing insults really shouldn't start until at least middle school. So the next time you want to steal a small wardrobe for yourself, consider doing it at Good Will, more cloths for less money equals less jail time when you get caught.

Last week was one hell of a succesful week. We took a group of car burglars off the streets and a small group of misguided youth dognappers in to custody in two days. I got to point my gun at someone for the first time ever as a cop along with driving fast with lights and sirens. Not as nerve racking as it would seem. Traffic stops have me in jitters more than that did. The guy was completely compliant and him and his buddy are facing a couple of car burglary charges (another case of the "have nots" wanting someone elses stuff). The dognappers are even more screwed than the car guys. Texas is a firm believer in my home is my castle and if you aren't invited into my castle and you break into it, your ganna pay. Three people, all under 20, but thankfully of adult age, are going to find out what prison is like. They not only broke into a house but stole the family dog. I believe she said "but it was so cute I couldn't leave it there." What kind of sick bastard takes your dog? We're all waiting to see when Texas will come out with a family pet clause to kidnapping. Make a special enhancer to burglary of habitation or a new charge for stealing pets. Could turn it into a capital offense, committing a felony during the act of another felony. Get the death penalty or life in prison for kidnapping a dog during a burglary. That would make people think twice.

I would like to extend a great thanks to the witnesses who called the above incidents in. We wouldn't have so easily caught the car guys or the dognappers had regular citizens not been so observant or so helpful. So remember when your sitting at home and you hear a loud noise from next door, take a second away from TV or computer time and look around. Don't just freak out and call the cops for nothing, but grab your cell phone and look out the window. You might be the next person to save your neighbor from losing thier computer, or lawn equipment, or family pet.