Hump Day Thoughts

I love Wednesdays. I'm going to get new glasses Friday, I'm so excited. We went and ate at Go Go Gumbo in Boyd last night, GREAT!!!! (Cajun cuisine) and if you decide to get desert...get the "2DIE4" because "it is to die for". We got two great rounds of showers today, one this morning and one this evening. My wife grilled pork chops tonight...good times. I get very upset when my Direct TV DVR acts up...and its been acting up. I love my wife, she is really good on a lot of things...paying bills, doing research, winning on slot machines, painting bedrooms, driving (she is great at speeding) and being a great wife. But she has a very hard time using the remote control for the TV. It is hot in Texas this summer, man, it has been a beating. I hear that Alaska is set to have one of the coolest summers in a very long time, the high today in Palmer was in the 60's. A very good person is the City Manager in Dublin, Texas. We worked SWEAT today and had a good group of kids working. We cleaned out our workroom (storage barn) and found some old soft drinks that needed to be thrown away. Each kid got to shake a few of them up real good and throw them into the dumpster and make them pop all over the place...we had a good time, laughed and acted silly. I wonder if a guy with a PHD could throw some numbers at that positive interaction and determine if it was time well spent. Could the standard deviation in the bell curve justify the positives or negatives of that interaction? Just wondering. If my wife steps on a sticker in the house, you would think she stepped on a hot coal that had just caught her foot on fire. I prefer semi-gloss to satin. When I was a kid, my favorite toy was Legos. I love them now, I just don't have any. Pepper is a sternutator and makes me sneeze. My wife's pet name for me is "Punkin Noodle", and she spells is like this "(~~)n%dl"...I thinks that is the neatest thing in the world. If you get a chance and have an hour, please watch the Youtube video of Professor Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture". It will be worth every second of your time. No matter how bad it gets...I know that I am blessed.

My great day off.

I love going to Six Flags in Arlington. I used to go there as a kid and I still love going now that I've grown up. There is something about the place that sorta makes you feel like a kid all over again. Here are a few of my observations about my trip today. If you go to the amusement park on July 28, it is going to be hot. I road the train and the thermometer in the train read 106 degrees. Drink lots of fluid and the $12.99 free refill mug, is the way to go. You get this armband and you can get free refills all day long and $.99 refills for the rest of the season, good times. The old roller coasters are really still the best. Don't get me wrong, the new ones are cool, but the ones that have been around for awhile really make the park what it is...to me anyway. Did I mention it was hot? The new Tony Hawk ride is pretty cool. The mist fans are awesome. When I was a kid, my mom would always go to the shows...I hated it because that was cutting into my ride time...I saw three shows today (I'm getting old) It was a little hot outside today. The ice cream treats "Pink Things" could possibly be the best thing in the world...a cure for cancer...an end to the war...peace on earth, good will to men...my entire everything...I had four of them throughout the day. Too bad Shawn wasn't with me, we might have gotten them free. This is going to sound gay...but...the sombrero ride is still my very favorite. I have to ride it each and every time I go. It is in the "kiddo" section. It was hot today!!!!!! The Titan Roller Coaster is insane...although I am at home posting this blog, most of my stomach is still on this roller coaster. I'm not sure why people complain about getting wet with they ride a ride called Roaring Rapids. If you ride the train, you still can see some of the original features of the park (the dancing tamales, the guys taking a shower, the bucking burros) it gives me good memories. I did not know this when I went today, but the ticket I bought gets me a "6-Pack" or half a season pass...I get to go back to the park 6 more times before January 2009 for FREE!!! Oh Boy..I hit the mother load with this one. I'll go back soon, but I think I'm going what awhile, because it was hot today.

I AM AN IDIOT!!!!!!!!

The tractor guys comes to my house today because of the problems I have been having with those &^*)%$$% ball joints. The guy gets out of his car (ball joint in hand) goes up to the tractor and poof, the ball joint slides right into the hole. No problems, no fighting, just slides right in. He looks at me and says" What's the problem?" I didn't know that they slide in from the bottom, not the from top. I felt like a complete loser...but..my tractor will be fixed now...yea..yea!!!

Hump Day Thoughts

• I did not want to come to work today.
• My city is thinking about going to 7% TMRS contribution, that really does not help me now.
• I like to think back to March, when we had 10 inches of snow on the ground, it was 103 yesterday.
• I wonder why car makers decided on "R" for reverse instead of "B" for backup.
• I got a photo book for my birthday showing old photos of Ft. Worth. The Masons had a lot to do with the establishment of this city.
• Went to Stockyard's Lodge last night and conferred the FC degree on a fine young man.
• My tractor is still broke.
• I don't like those contacts that change your eye color...it's a little creepy.
• The Dairy Queen in Azle is the filthiest place I've ever been to. I would eat inside a truck stop bathroom before I would even walk into the Azle Dairy Queen.
• No matter where I go to get a banana splt, they seem to be always out of bananas.
• I don't like store clerks who say "That will be three hundred and forty-five pennys", for your $3.45 purchase.
• My brother in law and I lied in Alaska to get free ice cream. We told ice cream vendors we were professional ice cream tasters and wanted to review their ice cream. Every place gave of free ice cream.(I didn't feel bad about it...it was very good ice cream)
• Since I've been married (almost 9 years) I traveled more than in the previous 32 years I have lived.
• I am blessed

The guy from the tractor shop just called, the new ball joints have arrived. He says that they are the right ones this time, I have my doubts. We will see...can't wait much longer, the suspense is just killing me. I will more than likely drive out there to pick them up at lunch time. If they are the right ones, I'll be driving my tractor by mid-week. If they are the wrong ones, I just don't know if I'll make it.

I'll keep you posted...

Searching For Jobs

As stated before, I am a police officer, been one for 20 years. I've been working for the Azle Police Department for the past 12 years as one of two police lieutenants. I love being a cop, wanted to be one ever since I was about 6 or 7 years old and when I was old enough, I became one. I like to think I'm a good cop. never been in trouble, never violated any one's rights, always treated people the way I would like to be treated and that has worked for me 99.9% of the time. But I march to the beat of a different tune when it comes to policing. I really think (know) that there is more to police work than jacking up someone's day. Issuing tickets, putting the bad guys in jail, is a part of the job, but it is such a small part, it really is not worth mentioning. Lets just say in my current job, tickets and arrest mean top honors. I'm not that guy. I believe in doing some other things like being part of the community, being one with the community. I'm not happy where I work. I used to be, but times have changed, so I am beginning to look elsewhere for employment. My wife and I have heard about a very nice city in Denton County and we went there yesterday to look around. I have never seen a cleaner city in my life. I honestly could not find any trash along the roadways or at stop light intersections. It was truly unbelievable (compared to where I work). I know because many times I have sent kids up and down Main Street to pick up trash as part of their community service and they return with 30-40 bags of trash and Main St. is only about a mile long. We were just driving around and I saw a police storefront next to a shopping center and I decided to walk in and say hello. I met a very nice police sergeant and we began talking. One of the first things he said about his police department was that it was a "true community oriented department"...out of all the things the guys could have told me, he told me this first. Because of this, and many, many, many more reasons, I will be turning in an application soon. Wish me luck.

Happy Birthday to me, Happy birthday to me!!!!

Go Gregory, it's your birthday, Go Gregory, it's your birthday. Big time 43 years old, whew!!!!!!!!!!!

Although I think the back of my hands look old, I really don't feel like I'm anywhere close to 43.

Come on, Big Money

Okay, we go to the Kiowa Casino on Oklahoma today with my mother for my birthday. I'm not one to stay at one machine too long so I kind of bounce from here to there. I'm playing for a while and hit what I think is the mother load ($74.00) on a nickel machine and I can't wait to tell my wife of my all my grand winnings.

Who knows where she is at, so I get my phone only to see that I had missed 6 calls from her. My mom was sitting next to me and Chief had called her, but mom couldn't hear and I didn't think anything about it, so I just continued to play until I "won big" and I was going to call her.

So after I see that I had missed all these calls, I called her and she said I needed to meet her. I'm thinking, damn, she is out of money and I'm gonna need to spot her. SO I go to where she is and she has got the biggest grin on her face. I say "I won the jackpot baby", she says "me too" and hands me a cool printed ticket worth $1300.00!!!!

I then had her spot me.

We had a great time. Win some, lose some, but being with family is good times no matter if you win or lose.

Hump Day Thoughts

I like the new show 'Wipeout" especially the big ball obstacle.

Having a DVR is awesome!!!

I'm glad my wife is home,(she took another trip and got back today)

I watched "The Eye" with Jessica Alba last night, it was okay, I also watched "Drillbit Taylor" ...sucked.

If I bought a new car today, I would buy a Honda Fit.

If Miss Mona Little married Gary Louder, that would mean her driver's license would say "Mona Little Louder", that would be funny.

My doggie is sick...she looks so sad.

I think it's sad to see a young guys driving a mini-van.

I don't like that the "National Geographic Channel" refers to itself as "NatGeo".

I love the Sonic commercials of the husband and wife. (I think he drives a min-van).

Two more days and its the weekend baby!

Central Park Grand Opening

A brand new park opens tomorrow in Azle. Central Park is a great new park and it is a show place. Skateboarding, playgrounds, picnic tables, pavilions, Gazebo, jogging and nature walking trails...it is the nicest park in Azle and one of the nicest parks around for miles.

I have to hand it to Kyle Culwell, Azle's Park Director. He has not only overseen the park's construction, but has done a lot of it on his own.

I am pretty proud of a little group called SWEAT, Success With Every Azle Teen, a juvenile work program that I oversee along with some other officers and the municipal court ladies. SWEAT has been the single largest work force contribution to this park, and no matter what anyone says, I am damn proud of that.

Kyle told me yesterday that a large bronze plaque is being made to recognize all local contributors of the park, SWEAT made the list and will be forever remembered on that plaque that will stand long after I am gone. I cried. I did not know about the plaque until yesterday. I think it is great that this great program SWEAT is being recognized and that I had some very small part of it all.

The park opening ceremony is at 10AM...come one, come all.

Hump Day Thoughts

Have you ever thought about what chairs would look like if your knees bent the other way?

I'm not sure I like getting my work emails sent to my phone.

The Shawshank Redemption is my favorite movie of all time.

Having a vehicle that gets 15 MPG is a beating right now.

I love watching old Andy Griffith episodes.

Running and seated calve raises or my favorite exercises to do in the gym.

I don't like to clean out the cat's litter box.

I do not own a satellite radio, but I wonder if it is worth the monthly price for the shows you get.

I'm not so sure that going to mandatory blood testing for DWI arrest in Texas is really the right thing to do.

If I were a doctor, I would be a Neonatologist, just because it sounds super cool.

I wonder if crickets fart...

Wednesday is my favorite day of the week.

Every morning when my wife leaves for work, she tells me to have a good day...so far...so good.

I'm blessed

History Lessons

I had a great time in Savannah this past weekend. Good family visits, good food, good sights the whole nine yards was...good times. However, do you ever find yourself wishing you could go back in time? I do, and this past weekend really drove it home. I wish I could go back to Mrs. Higginbothem's classroom in high school. She taught American History, both the revolutionary period and the civil war period and man I wish I would have paid better attention back then. I go to Savannah and I hear all these great stories about James Oglethorpe, William Sherman(not so great things about him) and Indian Chief Tomochichi. Now you got to keep up with these guys, because two of them are revolutionary period guys and the other is a civil war guy. So really their is two parts of history here. My brain hurt trying to get it all straight. I really should have listen more carefully to Mrs. Higginbothem. I saw the very fist Masonic Lodge charted in Georgia, Solomon's Lodge # 1. Established in February 1734 it is not only the oldest lodge in Georgia, it is the oldest lodge in the Western Hemisphere!! That's cool, no matter who you are. And guess who the fist Master of the lodge was?????....yep, James Oglethorpe. Another thing I learned was that Savannah is the birthplace of Prince Hall Masonary. Another thing I thought was VERY cool, was that "true" southerners refer to the Civil War as the "Northern Aggression" that just sounds right. Those guys back then were just minding their own business and here come those damn Yankee's messing everything up. I had a great weekend and can't wait to go back...this time however, I will have done my homework and will understand the time periods better and some of the names of the people who worked so hard to start this great nation we live in and call home.

Ball *&^$% Joints

Okay, I have ordered my new ball joints for the tractor. Who would have ever thought they made over 70,000 types, who do you keep up with them all? It is the same way with plumbing fittings, the whole things just sucks the ever loving life from me.

But here is the good thing...my tractor should be up and running again by the weekend....I can't wait.

I'm off to the airport

Well I'm off to Savannah, GA. in the morning. My wife's dad lives there and we are meeting up together and spend the weekend (remember, my wife's in Sumter, South Carolina right now). She's driving down to Savannah to meet me at the airport and picking me up.

Besides the flight, I'm looking forward to the trip. It's nice to get away for awhile now and again. I'm going to miss Tarrant Lodge's installation this Saturday (I'm going to be the Chaplin this year), but other than that, looking forward to the trip.

I here that there is much Masonic history in Savannah, my father in law, Don is a Mason and I hope he'll show me around a bit to some of the local Masonic sights.

We will back home Sunday so we can get back to the grind of things. Have a great Forth of July and be careful shooting the fireworks off, it is real dry around here.