HOME

Almost time to go home. I am exhausted and very happy to be getting off finally. Am going to sleep in tomorrow as late as I damn well please. I am looking forward to it and am turning off the phone and alarm clocks.

The paint store closes at 3pm so I will have to go check it out before then. I think I need to get rid of my couch as well. Just don’t see the point of moving it to paint around. It won’t match the new colors anyway.

TEN MINUTES TO GO!!!

AND another thing

I had a woman tonight that called me four times and got one of the other call takers five times. She kept calling in because she wants results on a case she filed a few weeks ago. She is in a dispute with her neighbor over a cat.

Her calls were abusive – calling people, including one of our supervisors and a sergeant, “stupid bitches” and liars.

Now, why be abusive to people you are asking to help you? How does that make any sense???

In the Pink!

I’ve added a new, temporary link under my blogroll called “In the Pink”.

The site is for collecting donations for breast cancer. The cancer walk is October 13th and while I’ll be in Iowa, several of my friends will be walking.

Our goal is to raise $5000. If anyone would like to donate to a great cause, please visit the website – it takes credit cards.

Thanks and GO PINK!

Pet Peeve #103

Ok, it is also a pet peeve of mine that when I ask someone for their phone number and they say “Its a cell” and then pause until I say “OK, what is your cell phone number?”

Come on people! Give me a break here! If someone asks you for your phone number give them whatever number you are most accessible to.

I had a woman visiting here from Michigan tonight who gave me her home phone number. Is she going to be there to answer if we call to tell her we will be delayed like we do for calls that can’t be dispatched in under twenty minutes? No, of course not.

So why give me that number? Makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Or how about the callers who give their phone # of say “214-853-9800″ and then point out “that is not in the 941 zone.” I want to say “Duh” but I can’t.

I guess somewhere along the line society lost it’s common sense…or maybe it is an epidemic of “Dumb Blond Syndrome.”

Buzzed

I wish I had the money to go to Two Seniorita’s and get buzzed drinking some margaritas. I have a swallow of vodka left from when I dated Gary almost four years ago and some wine. Neither sounds as good as margaritas which is why I don’t have any of the mix at home – I’d be drinking a pitcher full every night.

Not ever do I want to become an alcoholic or be quick to turn to alcohol when I feel like this. Once and awhile, fine, which is why I say going out. It costs so much, plus I don’t want to drive impaired so I drink less…works out best all the way around.

Pet Peeve #102

It drives me absolutely nuts when I’m working the support phones and people who call ask if this is 911. Ok, did you dial 911? If you dialed a 7 digit number then chances are that this is not 911.

By 911 they mean “emergency” because they have a non-emergency problem to discuss. Obviously it isn’t the emergency line if you didn’t dial 911.

It also drives me crazy when people call 911 to ask for the non-emergency phone number. Folks, it is on the inside cover of the phone book – if you don’t have one of those then the operator will be happy to connect you.

Five Flights of Stairs

I just went down five flights of stairs because the cleaners were hanging out in the hallway. I didn’t realize how out of breath a person could get going down stairs.

Then I changed the five gallon water bottle in the water cooler. Normally the containers have a handle on it to make it easier to tip upside down. This one didn’t and I felt the strain in my neck and shoulder muscles. I lifted with my knees but had to lift the bottle up shoulder height to get it up into the cooler.

Ronnie gave me some Advil so hopefully they’ll start working. Am thrilled that I have the next two days off. Maybe I’ll buy paint and get the living room painted. Can at least see if I can come up with the perfect color. I’m still thinking lavender with white trim.

Pitt Bull Attack

Let me weigh in on the pit bull attack in California. The woman had to put her baby into a garbage can to keep an attacking pit bull from getting to it. She then got down on her knees and fought the dog, all the while screaming for help. There is a bite mark on the garbage can where the lethal beast tried to get past her to the small baby.

The woman’s arms suffered the brunt of the attack. The dog literally tore chunks of flesh from her. When a service man heard her screams, he and another person chased the dog off.

During the interview the woman’s arms were bandaged (some areas bleeding through I might add) and she said she had lost most feeling in her hands. She will have to have countless surgeries to repair the damage.

According to the dog owner’s the dog ran away after the attack. They have had the dog taken away from them in the past due to it being too vicious. However, the owners erected a tall fence and posted signs so the dog was returned to them.

I am not an advocate of euthanizing animals unnecessarily but I do believe owning an animal takes responsibility and accountability. People who have an animal taken away from them should not get the animals back – no matter how many fences they erect.

I say it is past time to get tough with pet owners – which I also am – and make them follow safety rules for the well-being of society.

I believe that any pet – cat or dog alike – should be on a leash and supervised any time it goes off it’s property. Pets should not be allowed to roam the neighborhood or be left unattended outside. I feel that way about cats as well. I have a neighbor who lets her cats out at night to roam around – to me it is a menace to her neighbors as they eat people’s plants, get on top of people’s cars, etc.

Where was the owner of this pit bull and how did it get out of it’s high fenced in yard? Maybe the owners liked the fear their dog instilled in their neighbors.

I hope the owners are held responsible for the damages – both mental and physical. When I was younger, a German Shepard chased me down and bit my arm. Now, whenever a dog runs at me, my heart gets stuck in my chest. There is just a few seconds of panic.

So there it is, my take on the pit bull attack as reported on Florida television. I ask all pet owners to take control of your pets or they may have to be put down permanently.

Uh…Job Security

Another example of why I weep for society did happen in our county. Some adults were horsing around like idiots. One guy would sit on the trunk of the car while the driver drove as fast as he dared down to the end of the roadway. The idea, I guess, was to see how long the trunk rider could hang on.

Did it ever occur to any of these genius adults that not hanging on meant falling off a moving vehicle onto pavement? Don’t they realize that it will hurt? That it will hurt very badly???

We had to take one of the daredevils to the hospital because he cracked his head open when he fell from the trunk. How do we arrest people for being stupid? I wish we had a “stupid” law where the law officer responding got to pick the amount of the fine. I think stupidity would sharply decline.

I find it so hard to believe ADULTS would ever consider these stunts. I hope they don’t have children – they obviously aren’t good role models.

Weeping For Society

My posts will be short today but there are a few items I saw on the news that I’d like to address in a few posts. The following did not happen in Florida.

First up is the woman who tried to beat a train across the tracks. Yes, they do it in movies but generally speaking, here in reality, it’s a bad idea.

Do these people even take a few seconds to consider what will happen if they lose the bet? I can guarantee that a train is going to suffer a lot less damage the a van. I mean thinking “I bet I can beat that train” sounds convincing and maybe even a bit challenging…but what are the consequences if the train wins the bet?

This woman had three children with her in the car – two died instantly. The third child, as well as the woman, are in the hospital…doesn’t mean they will survive but just for arguments sake, let’s say the Mom does.

Our inkling is to feel sorry for her for losing her children. What an awful thing to kill your children and have to live with it. However, think about her stupidity. Think about what she would be teaching her children if she had beat that train…that it is ok to take risks with not only their lives but family and friends lives as well.

I feel, once again, that I need to remind people that this kind of behavior is unacceptable. The consequences are often too costly and if we’d only take a few minutes to engage our brains, we’d realize that.

Sometimes we have to take risks – it is part of life – but unnecessary ones that put lives in danger are just plain asinine.