I Should've Issued A Warning

For those of you (HLK) who may have been concerned about the possibility of my unfortunate, and might I add very premature, demise, don't worry. I'm still sucking up oxygen. There are moments, this being one of them, when I don't always find the time to goof off on the computer (if I can check my email once a day, that's about it), and I don't always post stuff here on P&S. Sometimes I can put up new things frequently, other times I could go a week or so. Sorry, it's just the way of the world.

But I managed to get a free moment this evening so I've been catching up on emails (I owed about 10 to people who've sent me stuff the past week or so), and I figured I'd throw some more nonsense on here.

This week and next I'm in another training class at work. Police Administrator school. Ooooooh, what fun this is. Sure it's grooming me to (one day) be an executive within my agency, but I still don't really have any idea when I might anticipate a promotion to Lieutenant (this class is mostly for Lieutenants and higher - only me and like 1 or 2 other Sergeants in the class). But I guess that when my promotion comes around, I'll be prepared for it. I'll be prepared to make that sweet $, that's for sure!

At the end of the month I'm going to see the Pat McGee Band play a show in College Park. That should be a blasty. Looking forward to that. But, even more than that, I'm looking forward to the start of hockey season. Like HLK was nice enough to point out, "15 days....." Oh yeah, it won't get here fast enough for me. I'm a junkie and I need my freakin' fix. I got tix for the home opener on Saturday the 7th. I even sprung for good seats in the lower section (I spoil myself that way sometimes). Damn that's going to be a good time.

Oh, and I have two things for good old HLK. 1. You're going to need a new name once the season starts. You can't very well refer to yourself as "Hockey Less" anymore. And, 2. "He's fleeing the interview! He's fleeing the interview!" Nice Fargo reference.

They're Trying To Kill Me

My co-workers are all involved in a giant consipiacy to drive me into an early grave. Why would anyone want to snuff out a guy as cool as me, you may wonder? Well, I have no freakin' idea. But allow me to elaborate.

I went on vacation on Friday, September 1st and left town the following morning. Everyone knew that. They knew I wouldn't be back until this past Thursday, and they also knew that I could really care less about work while I was going (since, you know, that's the whole point of vacation, right?).

So I reach my destination Saturday afternoon and I'm on my first beer when my phone rings. It's one of the guys on my squad. He calls to tell me that my Corporal (my assistant squad supervisor) managed to have an accident with his cruiser. Nothing too serious - he's fine - but the car will need a couple new tires and probably some new wheels. Why is he calling me about this? I'm two states away and I couldn't do anything about it if I wanted to (and believe me, I didn't want to anyway). He even tells me that the Lieutenant was already notified about it. Again, why is he calling me then? Beats the shit out of me. I just took a drink and told him I'd see him when I got back. Thanks for getting my vacation off to a good start, pal.

Tonight we start our overnight rotation. My phone rings about an hour or so ago. It's one of my guys. He's asking about getting a day off in early October. I don't get it. It's not that he woke me up or anything. I was already awake, lounging around enjoying a damn fine cup o' coffee. But he was going to see me at work in a few hours. That couldn't wait? I don't get it. I usually do my best work when I'm actually at work.

But I'm not going to stress about it. I am going to let them know that unless it's some serious issue or emergency, whatever it is needs to wait until we're back at work. I think that's only fair. I may be able to extent my life expentency after all.

Switching gears - hockey season is pretty much right around the corner (although it won't start soon enough for me). Looks like Washington won't be picking up anymore players before the start of the season, even though it was highly rumored that they would. No big deal, I still like the way the team is shaping up. But there's still a big difference between looking good on paper and looking good on the ice. We'll see. Also, I picked up The Fray's "Live at the Electric Factory Bootleg, Vol. 1" on iTunes. Very cool. My favorites are "Over My Head" (of course), "She Is," and "How To Save a Life." Check it out.

I'm Back

OK kiddies, I have returned. Just got back (about 5 hours ago) from my vacation. Nothing too exciting. Took a trip up to some hole-in-the-world place in Ohio to visit an old friend that moved up there a few years ago. Then a few days at my Aunt's place in southwestern PA. I really didn't do anything terribly exciting, but I managed to get out of town for about a week and I took my new Jeep on its first road trip. And for those of you who are wondering, it passed with flying colors. It was probably the first time in, I don't know, forever, that I didn't hate the long drive.

So, my first week back in uniform wasn't too bad. Nothing particularly exciting happened (which was odd because I was completely expecting something even remotely fucked up to happen). Getting up at the ass crack of dawn was not my idea of a good time, but I managed. Coffee came in large amounts, which was good, and I managed to make it through my shifts. On my two days off last week (before going back to work 1 day then going on vacation), I slept in until 7:30 and felt like a fucking wild man! It's nice to treat myself that way.

Anyhow, I'm enjoying a few more days off before going to the overnight shift on Monday. Going to a co-workers bachelor party in Baltimore Saturday night. That should be a good time. Catching up on my work around the house (lawn looks like hell again...ugh) tomorrow.

Besides H-L-K (since it should go without saying that she is), who else is totally charged about hockey season being around the corner? I can't wait. Going to try to make it out for the first Caps home game (and as many more during the season for that matter). Game on, mofos!