The New Year

I am looking forward to the beginning of the new year for a variety of reasons. One is that I have gone from a high stress job to a much lower stress job. I was the chief of police for a small town and to put it mildly, I found out how much I really really hate politics. I stressed me out so bad I needed to leave for health reasons...theirs and mine lol. I went back to truck driving because I have done it, and do enjoy it. The only downside is less time spent with the kiddos but my health needs to come first.

Now for a few new years resolutions.........

I resolve to help find myself in a better place mentally and physically.

I really need to lose some weight and I have some ideas on how to do that while driving.

I need to work out more...hence to help out with the weight loss.

I am working on my circle of friends, as I found out recently I don't have much of one.

And the biggest one..... I need to HAVE FUN and ENJOY LIFE for a change.

I don't think any of these are out of reach, or too large. The biggest thing is to take them one at a time and just go from there. I want to start this new decade out with a bang!

Well that's all for now, we'll see how often I can post on here.

Sandfest

Well this weekend was Sandfest. The dunes were pretty packed and we had some decent traffic in town. They had a few new events downtown this year. One of the was a Miss Sandfest which my oldest daughter entered. The great thing is she won it! So she is the first Miss Sandfest which is pretty cool. The chamber which sponsored the event does plan on sending her to parades and other events to help promote the town and Sandfest which is pretty cool. Another thing they had were lawnmower races. These were pretty interesting to watch and it sounds like they plan on having more next year since it went off so well.

Other than that my life has been pretty busy with work, and being with friends helping them out when I can. I have a couple of classes coming up this week and the beginning of October. The one coming up is a code enforcement class for municipal codes...yay lol. The other one is a required class I need since I became chief. It is the 40 hour chiefs class cleet requires. So I will be pretty busy for the next month or so....yay lol.

Well that's all for now I'll try to do this more often I promise! Later all!

An original poem

This is a original poem I wrote for my poetry class that is suppose to have some of my identity in it.

The Career

I am hired and start right away
I go to the academy
the training is long and hard
but it is worth it in the end

I return with my new found skills
the town benefits from my knowledge
I do my job well and receive many praises
and continue to work hard

I am called in to the meeting one day
suddenly to be offered the top job
long I ponder about all of this
before I reluctantly accept the offer

I now run not just work in the department
It is a lot harder but I give it my all
I continue to make the work rewarding
and give my community my heart

Long Drill Weekend

Hi all, I know its been a while since I have blogged and I've been pretty busy with everything so here it goes lol.

I had a very busy and long guard drill this weekend. It seems that out of the clear blue, there is a lot more paperwork in a few of the many additional duties I have that need to be done that no one told me about. I spent the whole weekend in the office straightening out messes that should never have happened. Depending on how my position as Chief goes, I am looking at the possibility of not signing up for another enlistment with the guard. I know a few people would say I'm nuts there, since next year I will have 14 years. But in the retirement system I think I would have only 12-13 good years so that means I have anywhere from 7-8 left to do. With how everything has been going with my job, the country in general etc I don't know if I can invest another 7-8 years of my life to 'possibly' get a retirement. Yes I know I sound optimistic here lol, but can't help it.

Other than that life has been pretty decent. I'll be moving into town here in a few weeks to the apartments so that will make life a little more interesting for me there. I am hoping I continue to slowly get worked in here as my job as Chief now.

Surprises at Work

Hello everyone this blog is going to be a very unusual one to say the least so I hope you can bear with me.

I am the Interim Chief for the city of Waynoka now.

Now to suffice I will say how this happened exactly is not important nor will I give any details to speak of. The biggest portion being once I was called into the council chamber during executive session, I was in there for over 30 minutes before agreeing to take it.

Now I will admit this was something I had considered I would want a few more years down the road where I feel I would have a good amount of experience. Right now I only have 2 years in law enforcement. I am the type of person that once I am given a position of responsibility, I go into it using all of my abilities to do the job as efficiently as possible. Bluntly put, I'm not one to do a job half-assed lol. It has taken a few days for my mind to fully wrap itself around doing this new job but I'm slowly starting to work into it now.

I do hope my abilities and accomplishments with this will allow me to retain the position full time down the road. But I can say all I can do is take things one day at a time and see how it goes.

On another note I have a few weeks of classwork left and should graduate May 14th at Redlands Community College. I am looking forward to finishing my associates degree but now depending on how my job goes and all, I think it will delay me starting my bachelors program for a little while here. Also depending on how the job goes will determine whether or not I will re-enlist one last time with the Guard. I would have 14 years in but I know I would feel extremely uncomfortable leaving on long training assignments or possible deployment so that would have a major factor in my decision there.

An open form poem for class

I hope I haven't been boring everyone too much with posting my work from school here. I promise to posting some other thoughts soon lol.

The Traffic Stop

you see the lights flashing red and blue
as you pull over to the side
a few deep breaths you take as he walks up
mystified you roll down your window
he requests your license and verification
you fumble around as you dimly hear
your speed was excessive and we go from here

He walks back to those flashing lights
the fear and trepidation in you grows
you think back wondering how this could happen
and pray for any good ending
the time appears to creep by and you fidget more

you suddenly hear him approaching back
afraid to see what he might have in his hands
you hear him clear his voice and explain
the warning he must give

your heart skips a beat you feel so relieved
you listen and gladly sign
the warning he has issued you
instead of the fine

he bids you a good day and be safe
then turns and walks back to the lights
you regain your sense of self and breathe
while you slowly pull back onto the road

A poem I wrote for class

Here is a sonnet I wrote for my Intro to Poetry class:

The Snakehunt Festival

The carnival sets up its fun filled rides
The lights are bright, and games are loud
A person just wanders from side to side
And he has the look of being proud

The hunters bring their prizes in
To be measured and weighed against another
They hope the grand prize they win
to be able to brag and boast to each other

The vendors set up their booth so bright
The beer and music flow out of the saloons
Booths stay open late at night
Everyone hopes to have fun lit by the moon

Officers take the rowdy to jail
and you dimly wonder if they will make bail.