Happy Halloween!

I'm pretty sure the world celebrated Halloween a day early, on Saturday night. I know in Monroe for sure, since I was working last night. The city was going crazy up until almost 3 am. I was running ragged from one party to another, trying to keep the drunks from beating on each other. It's rather sad when I compare my own childhood to what I see now. Of course, I was just a little naive kid back then, trying to get loads of candy to munch on for the next few weeks. Tonight, it was pouring down rain. Very few, if any kids, were out trick or treating. But thousands were partying the night away, and making my shift rather painful. But everything is good in the world, because Oregon beat USC. Sweet! Now at 8-0, only four more games on the march to Glendale, Arizona.

Extra! Extra!

Just in case you wanted to see it, here is a link to the hike in Hawaii I wrote about a couple blogs back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEccgWmrJ6o

Still alive...

Yep, that's right. I'm still alive and kickin'. I've had a rough last few weeks with three classes at school, lots of overtime at work, and a job I'm not sure how long I will have. As with the rest of this country, little ol' Monroe isn't doing so hot in the economic category. Unfortunately the city council has directed most of the budget cuts at the police department... because horror of all horrors, we spend the most money! Gasp! Of course, there are other options, but two blind eyes seems to be the word or the day. After two layoffs in the past month and at least five other positions where officers have left and their positions were unfilled, that leaves us with the same number of patrol officers which were on staff in 2000. The average citizen might not find that alarming, until they realize the number of dispatched calls in the city has doubled during that time frame to a whopping 40,000. As a result of the latest layoffs, minimums (that being the minimum number of officers on duty to patrol the city) has been lowered to reduce potential overtime. Hmmm... does anyone see a drawback to that? Perhaps maybe a little thing called safety? Not just for the officer, but also for the citizens. But I digress. After all, it can't be that important. Especially after the latest research shows the average cost to a city if a murder occurs is a cool million.

This week a possible end to the crisis has potentially been found. As of right now, every penny has been cut from anything considered non-esential, which includes training. The coffers have been cleaned out, maybe even blow dried, because you would be hard pressed to find a single drop. We have been warned that if anything out of the ordinary were to occur, more officers would lose their jobs. What they mean by out of the ordinary is a major crime inducing overtime and added cost. Isn't that ironic. If criminal acts up, I go down in flames.

Birthday Bash!

Happy Birthday Adriel!!!! Have a fantastic day and I wish you the best in your 34th year. Wish I could be down there to help you celebrate.