What a week...

Well, I am sure by now, unless you live under a rock, that you have been watching all the news and information pouring out of Boston, Mass. and West, Texas.... Unbelievable the amount of destruction that can be heaped upon a group only to have them shine through... There are numerous heroes that have evolved out of the wreckage. Some you would expect... fire, police, and EMS. But there were some that were just in the right place at the right time. Regular guys and girls that ran towards the danger because that's just how they are made. People, who with no regard for their own safety, ran in and starting helping those that could not help themselves. Those people, regardless of their color, their political affiliation, their gender, or anything else, gave everything they had to save the life of another. They weren't wearing anything that differentiated them from anyone else. No capes, no shields. Some, gave every last measure of their life so that others might live. To them, I salute, with the utmost pride.

The Boston Police Department, the FBI and others ran in and in very short order, had the bad guys in custody. Hurrah! That's how that is supposed to work.

This was National Telecommunicators Week. Did anyone note that? Can you imagine the hellish jobs those dispatchers in both Mass. and Texas must have had those days? Imagine working a fire call at the local fertilizer plant, down the road from where you live. Then imagine the absolute worst case scenario happening.. Then imagine finding out that it was worse than anyone could have possibly imagined. The number of dead and missing still not complete days later. Imagine if that's your home? Imagine if that's where your family and friends are?

Whether anyone else agrees or realizes, those dispatchers are heroes too. They deserve a salute and honor as a result of the difficult task that they face everyday. Everyday they come to work, lousy hours, lousy pay, no breaks, and constant stress... Yet everyday, they come back and watch their friends and family members go off to their jobs, being the face of the PD, Fire Dept, and EMS.. to be the OBVIOUS heroes. This is proof that they too deserve the recognition afforded their co-workers. They are the quiet calm in the face of chaos. They are the voice in the night that calms the fears and worries of the complainants. They are the organization that keeps control of the scene and of themselves, even when they are in tears. You will never know the number of times that we have worked devastating calls and managed to maintain. We cry in the dark and we scream into our pillows at night. We hug our children tighter than ever and pray for the families of those we have served. Then we come back tomorrow and do it again. Why? Because we love what we do. We do make a difference. Most people just don't know that.

The day before Easter....

Well it appears that Easter may be a wash thanks to Mother Nature... but that's ok, watching The Ten Commandments... Always a good watch. Glad to have the weekend off.. Just waiting and watching.. Hoping that the North Koreans do the right thing and off themselves first... before they start a global war...

Not much to talk about today but that... Maybe tomorrow..

Things change quickly here in the real world...

I remember when I was a kid, duck and cover exercises .. Oh, I know now that, obviously, they wouldn't have done a damn thing to save us, really... but it sure made you FEEL like it would. Flash forward 35+ years and I am wishing that duck and cover would make me feel safer these days... Have you been reading the news? North Korea has a whack job of a new leader, who thinks he needs to make his bones by threatening the world with nuclear annihilation... IDIOT...

I see photos of North Korean people and I have to wonder if they know. If they know that are being mislead? If they know that the "news" they read is propaganda? If they know the photos of US troops storming their shores are photo shopped?  Or are they beginning to be like the American sheeple and just blindly following because it's easier than thinking for themselves? Or maybe they have really been that sheltered, for so long, that this generation doesn't know any alternatives.. I cannot fathom that. Maybe because I am older and wiser now and the generation in power over there isn't even old enough to remember why there is a "neutral zone" between the two countries... I personally am not old enough to remember the Korean War but at least in my education, we covered it... I am not even sure they do anymore except in a blurb, in passing..

What's the old adage? Those that forget their history are destined to repeat it?

I am sure this will be a VERY unpopular stance, but, I vote we just turn the entire Middle East and North Korea both into very large sheets of glass... call it done and move on... Start over so to speak, with a clean slate and some INTELLIGENT leaders... Oh wait, that would infer that we have one and it is obvious right now, we don't. I sure hope this president we have, has some stones. I am afraid we are gonna need it..

I hope I am wrong but I see us fighting on multiple fronts and some other super power deciding now is a good time to "invest" in America.. so to speak...I don't want to learn Russian, or Chinese for that matter... I kind of like things the way they are and I really don't like "change"... Maybe that's why I didn't vote for him, either time. Maybe this is just one more good reason to leave MY guns the hell alone.. they are mine. I bought them. I shoot them. I clean them... and you can bet I can hide them too...

I read the news and I wonder about my fellow Americans... are they really that stupid? Or is it just that they are lazy? I know the gene pool could use some chlorine right about now.. You know how you "shock" a swimming pool? Maybe it is time to SHOCK the gene pool..... take away the warnings on every damn thing and let natural selection take it's course. I mean really... Do we really have to tell you that the HOT coffee you just ordered might be HOT? Or that the Preparation H cream you just bought is for EXTERNAL USE? Or that the hair dryer you use is not for use in the tub? This is the stuff I am referring too... Common sense is so rare any more it should be classified as a super power. 

Where do we draw the line? If the government/suppliers have to warn you, to save you from your own stupidity, then aren't you really too stupid to function in the real world? Now I am not referring to side effects of medications or anything like that.. I am talking about OBVIOUS things. Hot coffee = HOT... 

Someone please tell me that I am wrong and see if you can really back up your argument.. A lot of you have tried and failed... I am holding out hope.