It's Saturday Night ... Do You Know Where Your Social Life Is?

I must be stuck in the 70's this week as I'm pulling another song out of my past to post this evening. This one is by the Bay City Rollers, a Scottish pop/rock band that hit it big in the mid-70's and then faded away into obscurity in the early 80's. This particular song, "Saturday Night" was quite popular in 1976, the year American turned 200 years old and I graduated from high school. Yep - I am most definitely showing my age!

Ever since I can remember, Saturday nights have not exactly been the big thing for me that they are for a lot of people. It wasn't "date night" or "hit the town with my friends night" so much as it was "stay home and feel sorry for myself night" or a night where I could watch TV by myself while grimacing at every commercial for Sun-In spray-in hair lightener, Clearasil acne treatment, or Pearl Drops tooth whitener. Not that I needed any of those things per say but maybe they were all part and parcel of the reason I was sitting at home on Saturday night rather than going out and having a good time like every other teenager in America.

Myself, circa 1976

Even though I don't think I was particularly unattractive, I wasn't the type of girl that the boys gravitated to unless it was in the form of a friend. Story of my life pretty much when I stop and think about it. My cousin Diana had a boyfriend, my cousin Pat had a boyfriend, my best friend Diane had a boyfriend ... I had a lot of boy friends and that's pretty much where it ended. That's not to say that my entire four years of high school was nothing but an arid desert but for all that I went out, it might as well have been. Heck, I didn't even get invited to the senior prom (and don't think that still doesn't depress the hell out of me all these years later!).

So - flash forward 30+ years later and Saturday nights are pretty much what they were back in 1976 except that rather than sitting home all by myself every Saturday night bemoaning the fact that I'm sitting home all by myself on Saturday night I occasionally have Amanda for company as long as she isn't spending the night with Cate over at Jason & Amy's.

After all this time I've rather gotten used to having non-social Saturday nights but every once in awhile, I tire of it. Perhaps it's because the weather is finally warming up and it's as Alfred Lord Tennyson penned in his poem Locksley Hall, "In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love." No doubt in the Spring a woman's fancy (even if she's no longer young) might also turn lightly to thoughts of love - or at least a little company once in awhile! Add on the fact that I haven't been on a date in longer than I can remember and it probably all makes sense!

Earlier this evening, while on my way back home from an exciting trip to get groceries, I was wondering if I'll ever actually go out on a date again or if the rest of my Saturday nights are going to be spent with my blog or an exciting game of Bejeweled on the XBox? If I had one of those Magic Eight Balls, chances are real good it would say -
- so I won't. I'm afraid I'd turn bluer than the background of the text above but I guess if I could make a wish on one of my own "wishing stars" I might actually wish for a date with a handsome man with a great sense of humor who liked to slow dance. Now that would be a nice Saturday night for a change!

Oh well, time to end the pity party. I guess I'll see if Amanda is up for a little Rock Band on the XBox - no sense wasting the fact that she's actually home for a change tonight! It's not a date but at least I've got a teenager that doesn't mind spending time with her mother - sometimes!

The Police Unity Tour

My blogging buddy Connie @ Shawnsbidness asked if I would be so kind as to pass along word of a charity event that a friend of hers is participating in for the second year in a row. The event is called the Police Unity Tour and her friend rides with Chapter VIII of the Tour. The primary purpose of the Police Unity Tour is to raise awareness of the law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty and to honor their sacrifices (a topic that is near and dear to my heart and sidebar!) with a secondary purpose of raising funds to assist the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial and Museum in Washington D.C.

The Police Unity Tour was organized in 1997 by Officer Patrick P. Montuore of the Florham Park Police Department, New Jersey and is an annual bicycle trek from various points across the United States ending at the Memorial in Washington D.C. Since its first ride with 18 riders making a four-day fund-raising bicycle ride from Florham Park, New Jersey to the National Law Enforcement Memorial to the latest 2007 ride with over 1,000 members nationwide making the trip, the Tour has raised over 4.35 million dollars for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. The Tour's motto, "We ride for those who died", is a simple and yet poignant reminder of the more than 17,900 officers who have been died in the line of duty since 1792.

If you would like to donate to the Police Unity Tour of Florida and help out Connie's friend who is taking part in the ride that starts out on May 10th and arrives in Washington D.C. during National Police Week (which runs from May 11th to 17th this year), you can click here to sponsor him and donate to this worthy cause. If you'd like to donate to a different chapter, then please visit the main web page for the Police Unity Tour where you can make a donation, view photos, sign the guest book, or link to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial web page where you can learn more about the men and women who have died in the line of duty protecting and serving their communities.

In honor of a dear friend of mine, Sergeant Timothy David White, a 12-year veteran of the Stockton California Police Department who died in the line of duty on February 4th, 1990 following an assault by a suspect he had been pursuing, I plan on most definitely making a donation towards this most worthwhile cause and hope that you will consider doing so also.

Kentucky Constable Dies in the Line of Duty

April 1st brought yet another death to the law enforcement community with the passing of Constable Joe Howard of Harlan County, Kentucky who died from an apparent heart attack shortly after arresting a suspect who had to be restrained.

Constable Howard had just made an arrest and dropped off his prisoner at the Harlan County Detention Center on Tuesday when he felt ill and pulled into the Harlan City Police Department parking lot, a place where his son, Tim Howard, is employed as a police officer. According to Harlan Chief Frank Doan, Howard wasn’t able to get out of his car and he used his cell phone to call inside the station for help. He was rushed to Harlan Appalachian Regional Hospital where he died a short while later.

A graduate of Harlan High School and veteran of the U.S. Navy, Howard was a lifelong resident of Harlan and the Harlan County District 1 Constable for 13 years who spent the last 13 years serving court subpoenas and warrants and helping to keep peace in his district. He was well-known in the county as "a friendly, kind person who would always greet you with a smile and never walk through a door before you," according to the The Harlan Daily Enterprise.

“He is going to be missed, especially by the people at the High Rise Building where he lived — he did a lot for them,” Chief Doan said. “He never met a stranger, and he was the same every time you would see him.”

Constable Howard, age 55, is survived by three children and one grandchild as well as one brother and three sisters.

The NFA Concert Band Spring Concert - "War and Peace"

March here in New England didn't exactly go out like the lamb that it was supposed to. Rather, the first day of April came in on torrents of rain and wind that threatened to blow away anyone who dared to go out in it. Winter has hung on more like a falcon with a grip that just won't let go rather than a cute little lamb and I'm seriously beginning to despair of Spring ever being able to muscle its way in!

Despite all that, though, Wednesday was a beautifully brilliant day with skies so blue it couldn't help but give you hope of warmer days to come. At least that's what I kept telling myself as I shiveringly walked around the Norwich Free Academy campus snapping pictures in the cold and wind while waiting for the start of Amanda's Spring Concert that was being held that evening.

The 2008 Spring Concert featuring Jazz Band, Orchestra, and Concert Band was held on Wednesday, April 2nd in the Slater Auditorium on the campus of the Norwich Free Academy (it's located in the building that sits below that lovely tower in the picture above) and for this concert Mr. McDonald, band director, had chosen music that was composed either about or during time of war. He wasn't making a political statement as that's not his job as band director but rather going with a theme which proved to have some very good musical pieces. Amanda was a little worried during pre-concert rehearsal that this "might not be their best concert" as she had sent me a text message saying just that but happily, that proved not to be the case and the concert was - as always - inspiring.

Opening the concert was the Jazz Band with a snappy rendition of Mucho Magambo by Evan Rea. This is a piece they plan on playing when they perform in the upcoming "Jazz on the Sound" concert to be held at Waterford High School on May 2nd. If they play it half as well as they did Wednesday night, it's sure to be a hit as there was no way that I was going to keep my toe from tapping and my head from bobbing along with the music. It's infectious to watch Eric Hutchinson, the Jazz Band Director, move along with the music that the Jazz Band is producing and it's easy to see that the kids who make up the band are having a fantastic time, too. They were several outstanding solos during this piece and I'm sure whoever the parents were of those students they were very proud and rightly so. Well done!

Next up was the Orchestra who played three pieces - "Toy" Symphony by Franz Joseph Haydn, Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished" by Franz Schubert, and Plink, Plank, Plunk by Leroy Anderson. During the playing of "Toy" Symphony the Orchestra enlisted the help of some soloists from Concert Band to help out with the toy instruments that are needed - toy trumpet, toy drum, bell, rattle, triangle and assorted bird calls including a cuckoo, nightingale, woodpecker, and quail. The best part of this piece was watching the guests soloists trying not to crack up on stage while playing their various toy instruments! I couldn't help but smile as I watched the kid who was providing the cuckoo call wipe his eyes from the tears of laughter he had flowing down his face. They most definitely had fun with this one! "Plink, Plank, Plunk" is played pizzicato, which is by plunking the strings by hand rather than playing with a bow. Mr. McDonald said that he liked to "torture" his string players with this piece but again they all looked to be having a great time and it was very well played.

Next up was my very favorite part of every concert - the Concert Band itself. What can I say? I truly do enjoy the other parts of the concert but it takes on a whole different feeling when your child is finally sitting up on the stage and is part of the fantastic music that is being played. Their portion of the concert began with Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man (1942). Amanda had been most worried about this piece as they hadn't practiced too much and she was afraid the "trombones and euphoniums were a bit weak" (yet another pre-concert text message!) but I thought the kids pulled it off admirably. This was followed by Mars, The Bringer of War from Gustav Holst' The Planets (1916). Amanda really liked this piece and I could hear why - it was very well-played and very moving as it is more of a pictorial piece and it's very easy to imagine the dark clouds of war covering the earth while listening to the increasing power of the band as the song progresses.

Next to be played was Pacem (A Hymn for Peace) by Robert Spittal which was most definitely a more calming piece of music than Mars was. Spittal wrote Pacem in 2003 and describes it as ranging "from the introspective to the epic, reflecting the scope of humanity's persistent, hopeful and often difficult struggle toward the realization of personal and universal peace." After the calming Pacem, the band moved on to play March (from Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber) written by Paul Hindemith in 1943. Amanda tells me that this piece most definitely makes her think of the Nazis and it's easy to hear why.

The final piece of music for the night was the one that I was looking forward to the most - The Light Eternal by James Swearingen. Written in 1992, the music is based on the well-known hymn, God of Our Fathers, and is a reflective work that musically recounts the story of the Four Immortal Chaplains.

On February 3, 1943 an American troop transport vessel, the S.S. Dorchester, was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sank in the icy waters off the coast of Greenland claiming the lives of 605 of the 904 men on board. Four of the men who perished were Father John Washington, Reverend Clark Poling, Rabbi Alexander Goode, and Reverend George Fox but not before they selflessly calmed the panicked men and handed out life jackets - including their own. The four chaplains were last seen standing arm-in-arm on the hull of the ship as it went down just 18 minutes after the explosion.

The Light Eternal pays homage to these four brave men who were each praying in their own languages - Latin, Hebrew, and English - to the same God as the ship went down and it is is an extremely moving piece of music. Because of that, out of all the music the band was playing, this was the piece that I wanted to try to record to share with you as well as give Amanda something to share with her friends. I think the sound quality came out quite well with the video but as far as the picture goes, it's pretty shaky! I definitely need to get a tripod as trying to hold a digital camera steady for seven minutes is not easy - actually, looking at this, it appears I had trouble even holding it steady for seven seconds! For those with good eyes, you might be able to catch a small glimpse of Amanda's blue hair in the second row of flutists (she's behind the second flutist in the first row). Hopefully she'll be first row next year and I can actually see her but for now I'm still quite proud having her on the stage no matter where she sits.


Kudos once again to Mr. McDonald for an excellent concert and a big standing ovation to all of the members of Jazz Band, Orchestra, and Concert Band at Norwich Free Academy. These kids do an amazing job and I am really looking forward to the next concert on May 29th and who knows? Maybe it will be warm enough to actually hold it outside!

Chinese Astrology Forecast: April 4th to May 4th

Last month I posted the Chinese Astrology Forecast and actually had quite a few search hits on it so thought I would post this month's forecast for those looking to see what April might bring. If you were born in the year of The Dog, like me, it looks like we need to prioritize, prioritize, prioritize! Doesn't sound like much fun but who am I to agree with the fates?? What's in store for you? ...

THE RAT

Rat, the month of April sees opportunities abound for you! Be very prudent in your judgment and be careful of which you want to concentrate on. If you are still unsure about which to pick, you can receive very helpful advice from your parents or other senior members of your family. Aside from this, you are strangely not much of a people person this April therefore you will see your goings out lessening a little this month.

Rat people born in1972 may be emotionally disturbed and should take extra care while driving.

THE OX

If the Ox has been planning on dabbling in speculative investments, this month is unfortunately not a good period to do so. This is because your Wealth luck prospects seem a little less rosier than usual. But you will find yourself being quite active socially, therefore expect some exhaustion and lack of sleep due to your partying ways!

Ox people born in 1961 should watch out for throat or respiratory problems.

THE TIGER

A good month, because Wealth luck is stable and Noble Person luck is strong! At work, you may feel overwhelmed with your jobs at hand, but you can expect some measure of help from your business partners and subordinates.

Tiger people born in 1962 may have to deal with migraine, insomnia and people relations troubles.

THE RABBIT

The month of April sees the Rabbit experiencing some communication problems, therefore practice lots of discretion and diplomacy this month, Rabbit, and you will do just fine. On another note on the work front, your boss is pretty relentless this month and is pushing you to the limit! Remember to stay patient at all times and do not succumb to your temper.

Rabbit people born in 1951 experience throat or tracheal problems.

THE DRAGON

Dragon, this April sees some negative Family luck therefore the health of seniors in your family may be jeopardized. Keep a close eye on these family members just to be on the safe side. Some changes with the furniture or layout of the house may help improve the situation.

Dragon people born in 1952 will tend to worry about family issues, whereas those born in 1976 may suffer from poor Health luck.

THE SNAKE

You are in luck this month, Snake! Your Noble Person luck is strong - this means that you will be blessed with opportunities as well as a strong inclination towards hard work and getting things done! If you are in a business line, target your prospective customers this month and pursue them. You will be rewarded twofold this way!

Snake people born in 1941 suffer from throat or tracheal problems, whereas those born in 1977 may lose some wealth. Therefore, avoid speculations or investments.

THE HORSE

Horse, keep your expenditures on a minimum this year and try not to succumb to any splurge temptations! You should also avoid from making any major investments or purchases this month.

THE GOAT

It seems that this year will see the Goat overspending all-year round! This month sees this tendency escalating all the more, therefore perhaps it would be a wise choice for you to invest your income in a long term and safe venture. Though this is the case, there will be good progress with career and business for you this April!

Goat people born in 1967 should expand business or look to take on expanding opportunities, whereas those who are in sales will have difficulties due to communication problems. If you are born in 1931 and are prone to indigestion, go for a medical check up.

THE MONKEY

The month of April sees you as busy as a bee! Your luck prospects come wealth and career topics are going on strong as usual, therefore this is an auspicious time for you to begin a new project or venture. If you need help, don't be afraid to ask because you will receive!

All this high activity leads to a cranky Monkey with insufficient sleep. So remember to take a good rest whenever you can.

Monkey people born in 1956 and 1968 should try to get enough sleep. Whereas those born in 1932 should be careful of health problems popping up.

THE ROOSTER

This month sees the Rooster enjoying opportunities to network and spread their business to new heights! If your work this month involves plenty of talks and negotiations, chances are you will ace and succeed!

Rooster people born in 1957 and 1969 will face minor trouble relating to others.

THE DOG

This month sees the Dog encountering opportunities to work with others. My suggestion for you is to seize the day! Trust your instincts and remember to also prioritize your work prudently this April. You must also work by prioritizing important tasks first.

Dog people born in 1952 will enjoy good Property luck this month.

THE PIG

Pig, be very careful with everyone around you since chances are, this month sees some of those around you group together to join forces against you! If this is the case, as the saying goes "if you can't lick them, join them" - if this group of people come to you with an issue, agree to everything. You will able to minimize potential problems this way.

Pig people born in 1959 should beware of other people teaming up to outnumber their cause at work, whereas those born in 1983 will have good opportunities to overcome the adversities they face.

If This Tree Could Talk ...

... I bet it could tell some interesting stories!

While waiting for Amanda's Concert Band performance to start the other night I spent some time walking around the campus at Norwich Free Academy and took this picture looking up through the bare branches of this huge tree that sits in the front of the campus. I've posted pictures of it before but rather liked this angle with the gnarly branches against the blue sky. Granted, I'm no professional but I thought it looked cool! I'd be willing to bet that by the time Amanda's next concert rolls around, you wouldn't be able to see a bit of the sky through the branches which will then be covered with leaves. I'll have to remember to check it out in May.

I've Got a Question - You've Got an Answer - The Ladies Version!

First off, I sincerely apologize for not having been doing very well with making my blog rounds this week. My hours have been a bit messed up at work so between that and Amanda's Spring Concert last night, I haven't really had a lot of time to spend on the computer. I hope to remedy that on Friday when I have a day off and it's supposed to be raining - again! Another day stuck in the house should give me lots of time to play catch-up with everyone - I hope!

In the meantime, I thought I'd put a slightly different spin on this "IGAQ-YGAA" post and direct it more towards the ladies. Guys, you are more than welcome to play along, too if you'd like as it's always nice to get a male perspective on things and I'd like to think I run an Equal Opportunity blog here so as long as you feel comfortable weighing in with your opinion then by all means - go for it!

So, ladies (and gentlemen if you so choose) the question is ...

if you had your choice between this guy -

Colin Firth

this guy -

John Cusack

or this guy -

Ray Liotta

Who would you choose??

As a rule, I'm not someone who goes crazy over actors but there are those that I do like to go see when they put out a new movie and these three gentlemen are probably at the top of my list. Not necessarily for totally shallow reasons though they're all very easy on the eyes, but also because I think that they are all three fine actors. I have adored Colin Firth in everything I've seen him in - Pride and Prejudice, both Bridget Jones movies, Love Actually, and even that annoying Amanda Bynes movie - What a Girl Wants - just to name a few. The same with John Cusack - Must Love Dogs, Say Anything, Serendipity, Grosse Pointe Blank, 1408, and even Sixteen Candles (and boy he was he ever young in that one!) - are all high on my list of favorites.

Amanda loves to tease me about liking both Colin and John (we're on a first-name basis of course!) but she never teases me about Ray as she doesn't know about him - well, at least she didn't prior to my writing this post! For me, and this is where I really get shallow, the thing with Ray Liotta is his eyes. That man has got to have the sexiest eyes in all of Hollywood. The first time I noticed them was in Field of Dreams and while watching John Q this past weekend at work, I noticed them again ... sigh ... what gorgeous eyes he has! I'm a sucker for pretty eyes, what can I say? That and a winning smile ...

Of course if you just can't choose between those three there's always this one other guy ...

Sean Connery

Now what can I say there but "rrrooowwwwrrrr"?!? Yep, I'm shallow!

One More Random Rambling

I think I saw a piece on the news awhile back about parents putting vehicle tracking into the cars that their teenagers drive so that they can keep better tabs on them. Even though the kids would no doubt protest this "invasion of their privacy" long and loud, I think it's actually a pretty darned good idea myself. It would most definitely give parents more peace of mind and might even give teenagers more of a sense of responsibility knowing that they just can't be driving willy-nilly around the countryside at unsafe speeds.

Amanda is going to be old enough to get her license this summer but, to be honest, it's not even something that I want to think about as it scares me to drive these days and I've been doing it for over 30 years. There are too many cars on the road and too many distractions for someone who is just learning to operate a motor vehicle and, working in EMS, I know firsthand how many accidents there are out there. It doesn't give me the warm fuzzies to think about my 16-year old daughter behind the wheel of a car!

Maybe I'll get her a nice bicycle for her birthday instead!

An Award For a Friend

At an Awards Dinner this past Saturday, March 29th, eight members of various emergency services organizations here in Norwich were honored for outstanding service to our community by the Richard E. Hourigan Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 594 and Ladies Auxiliary. The purpose behind the annual Emergency Services Banquet is summed up by VFW Events Coordinator Richard DeLorge who said, "Some of these men and women put their lives on the line every day and every night. They are going a step beyond to help the community and we want to make sure the community appreciates the people that are out there."

One of the eight people who was honored at Saturday night's dinner is a young man whom I have had the extreme pleasure of working with at American Ambulance for almost two years now - Paramedic Dennis Cole. A graduate of the 16-month Hartford Hospital Paramedic Program in 2006, Dennis began work at American in October of that same year and quickly developed a reputation as being an excellent medic with a great sense of humor. In addition to his job at American, Dennis works part-time as an Emergency Medical Technician at Griswold Ambulance where he has been for five years as well as serving on his local volunteer fire department in his hometown of Baltic.

Dennis was chosen to receive his "Certificate of Commendation in Special Recognition of Quality Patient Care and Community Preparedness as a Paramedic" not only because he responded to more calls than any of the other paramedics at American Ambulance during 2007 but because he also excels in patient care. Since receiving medical control and becoming a paramedic, Dennis has worked a total of 66 cardiac arrests, or what are called "codes" in medical jargon. Out of those 66 patients, he is credited with saving 4 of them or 6.06%. If that doesn't seem like very many I should point out that the American Heart Association lists the national average of 'saves' for patients who have suffered a cardiac arrest as only 1 in 36 or 2.7%. I would say that definitely puts Dennis above average!

Even paramedics who have been trained in advanced life support like Dennis and the other medics who work at American can't save all of the patients he or she responds to simply because of the nature of a cardiac arrest itself. When a patient goes into cardiac arrest, which is the sudden and abrupt loss of heart function, brain death and permanent death will start to occur in just 4 to 6 minutes. If CPR is started and the arrest is treated with an electric shock (defibrillation) to the heart within a few minutes then a lot of time the arrest can be reversed and a normal heartbeat can be restored but without CPR and defibrillation, a patient's chance of survival is reduced by 7 to 10 percent for every minute that passes. After ten minutes, few attempts will succeed even once advanced life support has been started as at that point the damage is irreversible. Though there are no statistics for the exact number of cardiac arrests that occur in the United States each year, it's estimated that more than 95 percent of cardiac arrest victims die before ever reaching the hospital.

The job that Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians do has changed a lot since the inception of emergency medical services in the early 1970's. Prior to 1990, when an independent Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) was established to begin the process of accrediting ambulance services using quality standards that were developed through the consensus of EMS providers across the country, patients were simply loaded into ambulances and transported to the closest hospital as quickly as possible with a minimum of care provided. Now paramedics like Dennis can administer needed fluids and drugs, provide a secure airway through intubation, or even defibrillate a patient if necessary. The standard of care has increased phenomenally. No longer are the men and women of EMS simply ambulance drivers - they are lifesavers and they should all be thanked for their hard work and dedication towards providing quality medical care that may someday save the life of someone you love.

In my own humble and slightly - okay, very! - prejudiced opinion, I believe that Dennis was an excellent choice to receive this honor from the VFW and the community that he serves. He's a fantastic paramedic, a terrific person, and he makes some truly kick-ass hot wings - though I doubt that had anything to do with his being an award recipient!

Congratulations, Dennis! Remind me to buy you a drink next time you manage to talk me into meeting you at the Harp & Dragon. Oh, and Amanda says we need more honey BBQ wings!

March Ends With Two More Line of Duty Deaths

I had hoped to make it through March without having to post any more line of duty deaths in the Law Enforcement community but sadly I received notification today of the deaths of two more officers, both of whom died in motor vehicle accidents.

Officer James D. Fezatte of the Millbrook Police Department in Alabama was killed late Saturday night while responding to a report of a civil disturbance when his police vehicle left the road and struck a tree. It had been raining heavily at the time of the accident and police believe that his vehicle hydroplaned and left the roadway. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.

Officer Fezatte's death is the first line of duty death in the history of the Millbrook Police Department which has been operating for 28 years and has 30 law enforcement officers. “This is the first officer that our department has lost in the line of duty since its inception, and it’s going to be hard on all of us,” said Millbrook Police Chief Kenneth Bradley in a newss release. “We will be here to support his family and lean on each other to get through this.”

Officer Fezatte, age 41, had retired from the Air Force where he served as a Security Police Officer before joining the Millbrook Police Department in September of 2007. He leaves behind a wife, two children, and a Department that has lost one of their own.

Border Patrol Agent Jarod Dittman of the United States Department of Homeland Security died at approximately 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning in rural East County, California following a motor vehicle accident en route to his patrol area in Jamul. The single vehicle wreck involving Dittman's department issued Jeep Wrangler was found by another Agent on a curving county highway between Chula Vista and Campo.

Agent Dittman, age 28, was transported to a local emergency department with multiple injuries where he was pronounced dead at about 2:00 a.m. according to Richard Smith, a supervisory agent for the U.S. Border Patrol. Smith said he had no details on the cause of the crash which is being investigated by the California Highway Patrol.

Originally from Centre County, Pennsylvania, Agent Dittman attended Penn State College before serving in the Army National Guard and being deployed to Kosovo for half a year. Moving to California, he lived in San Diego with his wife and young daughter and had been working as a Border Patrol agent for just over a year.

Once again I ask you to please remember these officers and their families in your prayers as I also ask you to pray that no more officers die in the line of duty. I know it's a tall order but wouldn't it be fantastic?

Manic Monday - Pull

When Morgen decreed that this Monday's Manic word was "pull" I really had to pull something out of my past to get 'er done! Nothing for nothing, Mo, but could you pull out a better word next week? Of course, after seeing the picture of a pulled pork sandwich that Mo has posted on his blog, I can understand why Mo decided to use "pull" this week and dedicate it to Nancy @ The Goat Rodeo; I mean, heck, if the pulled pork she makes looks anything like that I'd have used her for inspiration, too!

Anyhow, pulled pork sandwiches aside, here's some music to listen to while you're reading my post on "pull" -


As a teenager in the 1970's (anyone else remember the 70's??), as well as listening to The Who, The Moody Blues, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Carol King, Three Dog Night and the like, I oftentimes listened to other groups like Blue Suede, Stealers Wheel, The Grass Roots, and Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds - singers of the above song. It was a band with a very confusing name - were they four people? Hamilton, Joe, Frank, & Reynolds? Were they five people? Hamilton, Joe, Frank, Ann, Reynolds? Nope, the band was actually a soft rock trio from Los Angeles with the original members of the band being Dan Hamilton (guitar/lead vocal), Joe Frank Carollo (bass/vocal), and Tommy Reynolds (multi-instrumentalist/vocal).

Prior to becoming Hamilton, Joe Frank, & Reynolds and signing up with Dunhill Records in 1970, all three were part of the T-Bones, a 1960's studio group whose hit "No Matter What Shape Your Stomach's In" was based on a popular Alka Seltzer jingle. Personally, I have no knowledge of that particular song or group as the first time I ever heard these guys was when they released their 1971 Top Five hit "Don't Pull Your Love (Out)."

After none of their follow-up singles had any success, Tommy Reynolds left the group in late 1972 and was replaced by keyboardist Alan Dennison. The band continued to work the Las Vegas, college & one-night-only concert circuit until late 1974 when they signed with Playboy Records under the condition that they retain the band's name of Hamilton, Joe Frank, & Reynolds. The condition was imposed as their new record company was afraid that what little name recognition and momentum the band had would be lost should they change the name at that point in time.

Within another few months the band recorded and released their first USA Top 10 hit in 4 years; a soulful soft-rock ballad called "Fallin' In Love" which was written by Dan Hamilton and his then-wife Ann. "Fallin' In Love" proved to be the group's biggest hit as it took Billboard's coveted #1 USA singles spot in the summer of 1975, became their second RIAA-certified (Recording Industry Association of America) million-selling gold record, and was their first and only song to chart in the UK. In 1976 they reached #21 on the US charts with their last successful single, "Winners and Losers".

The band convinced Playboy Records to change the group's name to "Hamilton, Joe Frank, & Dennison" for their second album but no more hits were forthcoming and they permanently disbanded in 1980. Dan Hamilton continued to write songs until his death at the age of 48 from a rare disease known as Cushing's Syndrome, a hormonal disorder caused by prolonged exposure of the body's tissues to high levels of the hormone cortisol. Sometimes called "hypercortisolism," it is relatively rare and most commonly affects adults aged 20 to 50 with an estimated 10 to 15 of every one million people affected each year.

So there you have it! A blast from my past to pull off another Manic Monday post! I hope that you enjoyed it at least a little bit even if you have no clue about anything from the 70's, especially the sappy AM music that we all listened to! If you want to see what others pulled out of their hat for this assignment, don't forget to check out Manic Monday at It's A Blog Eat Blog World!

A Royal Time of It

The Place!

The Plan!

The Participants???

The Possibilities!

As a rule, and as a Virgo, I am generally a very punctual person. No, I take that back, I am beyond punctual, I am one of those people who arrives at least ten to fifteen minutes early as I abhor being late in any way, shape, or fashion. It appalls me to be late. I can't stand to be late. It embarrasses me to no end to be late. I will not tolerate being late.

So - for my very first meeting with royalty? I was late! Go figure!

As I left my hometown of Norwich Upon the Thames heading west towards the lovely little town of Glastonbury and my much- anticipated meeting with Mimi, Queen of Memes who was vacationing in Connecticut, I knew that I was going to be running late. Trying to get out of Norwich is sometimes next to impossible as a) traffic is generally horrible and people don't know how to drive, b) the roads are laid out very badly, and c) invariably when I need to get somewhere in a hurry I get behind the one person in the world who not only does the speed limit but drives five mph below it! All three of those things were working against me Thursday afternoon but I figured I would just do my best to get there relatively close to on-time. I knew that Patti of Late Bloomer Boomer fame had also been summoned to the Royal Summit and that she was shooting for a 4:30 arrival so I was just hoping to get there by then rather than at 4:00 p.m. as Queen Mimi and I had planned What can I say? It was a busy day at work and I got out a little later than I had wanted and I couldn't meet royalty without taking a shower before I left and ... and ...

...and as the miles ticked by I could imagine Her Majesty sitting and waiting for her subjects to arrive, probably tapping her immaculately manicured nails on the side of her iced tea glass while she debated what punishment to mete out for such impropriety. I thought about calling her on my cell phone but I'm one of those people who believes that if the State of Connecticut has made a law against talking on one's cell phone while driving that it is a law to be obeyed and not to be trifled with even if one is calling a Queen! I also wear my seatbelt but that's neither here nor there, I just thought I'd throw it out there!

At approximately 4:15 I finally pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant we were to rendezvous at and glanced over to see a red Cadillac with a vanity plate sitting just a few spaces over. Ut-oh! The Queen was most definitely there and I was most definitely late. Oh dear, oh dear ... ah well, nothing for it but to suck it up and walk in and take my lumps like an adult. I just hoped I wasn't going to be sentenced to a permanent cell next to Frank in the dungeon - my back really doesn't do well in dank and musty conditions!

Pulling up my courage by my bootstraps I walked into the empty restaurant and turned the corner to find Queen Mimi regally sitting on a high stool at a table in the bar tapping her toes in queenly displeasure. At least, I thought that was the Queen. Having only ever seen half of her face I thought she looked like the Queen but I couldn't be positive. As she turned to cast her royal gaze upon me, I squinted my left eye, turned my head slightly to the side, and looked at her again. Yes! It was most definitely the Queen! I'd recognize the left side of her face anywhere even without the crown (which she had apparently left at Bloggingham Castle and didn't bring with her on her fact-finding mission to New England).

"Your Majesty," I gushed. "It's such an incredible pleasure to at long last make your most royal acquaintance and I sincerely and most humbly apologize for keeping you waiting like this!" Well, no, maybe that isn't what I said. I think it was more like, "Mimi, right? Yeah, hi, sorry I'm late!" Ah, ever the poet with words ... not! We chit-chatted for a bit and not but a few moments later I saw a car pull in next to mine and out stepped a woman who could only be Patti (whose face I've seen several times on her husband Ralph's blog). Patti whooshed into the restaurant with the world's biggest smile and hugs all around until I reminded her that she was supposed to curtsy for the Queen at which time she performed a perfect curtsy most definitely fit for a Queen!

With all of us finally in attendance, we adjourned to a booth with Queen Mimi leading the way while Patti and I walked a respectful distance behind her. At that time the restaurant was still mercifully empty and the giggling and carrying on was not witnessed by anyone except the wait-staff who had most likely decided that we were all on an outing from one of the local group homes and that it would be best to simply serve us and keep a safe distance from the table!

Our waiter, Mark (who was kinda cute in a "hi, I'm Mark and I'll be your server this evening" kinda way!) had to come back several times before we were ready to even order beverages due to the constant giggling and talking that we were doing. Finally we explained to him that we were bloggers (oh, well, that explains it then!), that this was the first time we had met, and that Mimi was - in fact - a Queen from North Carolina. "You don't have much of an accent," said the ever-observant and really-kinda-cute Mark. I commented on the same thing, as did Patti, and we were told by Mimi that, because she teaches music, one has to have proper diction and annunciation. Ah ... yes ... that makes perfect sense!

After more giggling and talking, food was at last ordered and while we were waiting for it to arrive Patti whipped out her cellphone and called Ralph to say she had arrived safely and then passed the phone around the table so that we could all talk to him for a bit. He had made the restaurant recommendation, that area of Connecticut being his old stomping grounds, and as a final recommendation he suggested the tiramisu for dessert. Well, no one has to tell me twice that not only is there tiramisu available for dessert but that it's good tiramisu so when the time came for dessert Patti and I ordered a piece to share. Mimi, who could probably blow away in a good wind, declined dessert but did give our tiramisu a royal blessing before we consumed it.

During dinner, Patti showed us a recent article that she had written about a silver pheasant that was printed in the New Haven Register and I have to say that I was very impressed. I knew that she wrote for a newspaper as she has mentioned it several times in her blog but I didn't know that it was such a well-known newspaper that she wrote for and that she has been a journalist for thirty years. Having once hoped to be a journalist myself, I was quite in awe of both the article and her by-line. Check out Patti's article "Exotic Bird on the Loose" and I think you'll be in as much awe as I was! Talk about feeling insignificant, I was sitting not only in the company of a Queen but an honest-to-goodness newspaper journalist - wow!

Shortly after showing us her newspaper article, Patti then surprised us with another example of her fine writing when she whipped two envelopes out of her purse and presented one each to both myself and Mimi. Taped to the front of the envelope was a lovely heart-shaped purple stone and, inside, a lovely poem penned by Princess Patricia herself! It was quite the honor to receive and her sentiments were lovely! It's definitely going in my jewelry box for safe-keeping! When Patti wins her Pulitzer I can then sell the poem on eBay for big bucks and retire comfortably to a house in The Hamptons!

Obviously Patti must have known that Queen Mimi was going to bestow titles upon us as she had already signed her poem using her royal title (officially: "Princess Patti Keeper of the Royal Meme Apologies") but I had yet to be given a title myself. After giving it some thought and trying out and then discarding a title or two, the Queen dubbed me "Linda, Duchess of Norwich Upon the Thames". Now doesn't that sound quite regal? You all, of course, may still refer to me simply as Linda but it's quite nice to have a title other than "Mom-There's-Nothing -in-the-House-to-Eat" or "Hey, You!"

At that point the restaurant was becoming quite crowded so we graciously decided that we needed to move on so that others could sit down and dine. We adjourned outside to try to figure out how to go about taking some pictures of the three of us and were immediately presented with a dilemma. Obviously we weren't smart enough to have taken up the cute Mark when he offered to take a picture of the three of us while we were inside (can I get a royal DUH?) so that left us having to figure out how to do this on our own.

While Patti and I practiced being "Ladies in Waiting", the Queen descended to the parking lot where she then partially hid behind a row of potted plastic plants so as to maintain her mystery while also garnering a lot of strange looks from the people inside the restaurant! I'm sure that the looks grew even stranger as, at Princess Patricia's persuasion, the Queen decided to pull part of the plastic posies from the pot and pose prettily for pictures.

Oh dear ... was plastic posy pilfering for pretty picture posing a possible punishable crime in Connecticut? Were we all going to be pinched and placed in the pokey as punishment for pulling plastic posies from pots in public? Perhaps we were going to be put away in the penitentiary pending pre-trial preparations? And if that were the case, who was going to bail me out? Princess Patricia could call Ralph, Queen Mimi could call Prince Budwick, but who was I going to call? Certainly not my surly 15-year old who was sitting at home grumbling about the fact that I got to go out to dinner while she stayed home and ate leftovers! This was not looking good and I urged the Queen to replace the posies posthaste prior to police populating the parking lot! Phew!

Let me just say at this point that it's not easy getting pictures of a Queen who wishes to only have one side of her face photographed (and no, there is no hideous disfigurement or deformity that she's trying to hide, she just prefers her left side - must be a royal idiosyncrasy or something!) but we certainly had a good time trying even when Patti's batteries died (she reminded me that she was a journalist NOT a photojournalist hence these sorts of things happened) and then Mimi's batteries decided to follow suit. Luckily Patti had spares so the bizarre picture-taking was able to resume after only a short break while Patti and Mimi shared batteries. I seriously believe that people were beginning to think that there was something seriously wrong with us but not having any plans to ever return to Glastonbury I wasn't worried about it! Even if I did have future plans to return to Glastonbury, I get the feeling I might have been asked not to return ... ever ... please and thank you! Oh, and could you take those other two with you?

Still, a fine time was had by all and it was fantastic to have met two more blogging friends - both of whom are funny, charming, and gracious ladies. Mimi granted both myself and Patti lifetime "Get Out of the Dungeon Free" passes (sorry, Frank, I really did plead your case but Mimi mentioned something about needing someone to keep the rats company) while she also firmly stated that didn't give us free reign to not do any memes that come our way simply because there is no threat of the dungeon over our heads. As representatives of Bloggingham, we are to act as such and not tarnish the royal name.

Before parting company for the night, Patti and I promised to get together again soon, this time with Prince Ralph in attendance, and the next time Queen Mimi is visiting in Connecticut there are plans for all of us to get together again with both Prince Ralph and Prince Budwick and, if she behaves herself, Lady Amanda in tow. I'm afraid that by the end of that meeting there will be yet another town I've been banned from but I'm sure it will be worth it!

All in all, meeting a Queen is not as intimidating as I initially thought (I think she even forgave me for calling her an idiot!) Now, if I could just get used to this whole half-a-face thing ...

If you'd like to read Queen Mimi's version of this historic meeting (complete with video that doesn't want to work!) please visit her post "Who Would Keep a Queen Waiting" while Princess Patricia's can be found at "The Queen and her Ladies-in-Waiting".

I've Got a Question, You've Got an Answer

Now I know you're all just sitting on the edge of your seats waiting to hear about my meeting with Queen Mimi last evening but due to some personal obligations and other technical issues (such as waiting for royal approval from Her Majesty on which pictures I can or cannot use for my post!), it's going to take some time before I actually have that post ready to go.

In the meantime, I was inspired by a post I saw the other day over at Dottie's Place for this post and thought I would borrow from that post and ask those questions myself. She was writing about her job and asked some good questions -

Do you like your job?
If you could be anything, what would it be?

I thought that those were some great questions and they got me to wondering about how many people really do like what they get up and go out the door to do in order to make a living every day? How many would rather be doing something else and what would that something else be?

I actually do like my job - most of the time! - but there are times when I want nothing more than to run screaming from the room while tearing out my hair in great bunches. Well, maybe it's not that bad but there are days when I sure the heck don't want to get out of bed in the morning and go beat my head against a spreadsheet all day! Even though I am a 911 Emergency Medical Dispatcher, the biggest part of my job is trying to dispatch ambulances or wheelchair vans to routine transports and still have enough people left in the city to cover a call when 911 does ring. It's tricky at times - especially when the number of calls outweigh the number of crews that I have working and every hospital, nursing home, and doctor's office wants transportation and they want it now! I have to say that being a police/fire dispatcher was a heck of a lot easier because you didn't schedule calls - you took them as they came in and prioritized them and dispatched them that way. Depending on call volume sometimes people had to wait before we could get an officer out to their house for a non-emergency call but you did the best you could.

Emergencies, for all that they get your blood racing and can be stressful, are the easy part of my job. Do I like walking someone through CPR or the Heimlich maneuver on the phone? Probably not but it's easier than trying to shoe-horn yet another discharge from a hospital into an overly loaded ambulance whose crew hasn't had time for a cup of coffee - never mind lunch!

Now, as to what I would really like to do ... ah, if I could do it over again there are several other choices I might have made. I would love to have been a lawyer - particularly a criminal lawyer - and been able to argue my case in front of the court, maybe then I could afford to look at Hilton Head rentals! If not that then I probably missed my calling by not becoming a history teacher. I have always loved history and think I would have done well in a career of that sort. One other thing I really wouldn't mind doing is taking on a job as a tour guide at a national park - particularly a Civil War one. I could definitely see myself giving tours at Gettysburg or Antietam and being quite happy doing that. Of course, I'd probably be yelling at people to get their kids off the cannons and monuments but beyond that, I think I'd really enjoy it.

Now - how about you? Do you like what you do? Do you want to do something else? What's your dream job?

A Royal Dilemma

"To hug or not to hug? That is the question!
Whether tis nobler to approach thy Queen with arms flung wide
Or humbly approach on bended knee and by such groveling not offend thee? ..."

Oh dear. I am afraid that I am quite unprepared to meet with Queen Mimi tomorrow evening as I have no clue whatsoever of what is expected of me when first meeting someone of royal personage. Do I curtsy? Do I bow? Do I allemande left and allemande R, go right and left and form a star; shoot that star to the heavens whirl, go right and left to the second girl? Allemande left and allemande G – right and left and turn back three? Allemande left and the ladies star – the men run around the outside bar? Then allemande left and the men all star – girls run around but not too far? Oh my Lord I'm so confused! What do I do??

If I were my daughter, I'd no doubt run up and - forgetting all propriety, pomp and circumstance, and respect for personal space - wrap the Queen in a huge bear hug. I, however, am a lot more reserved than my pink-and-blue haired teenager who gives hugs away much like the orange-toga'd Hare Krishnas used to give away tracts in airports.

Speaking of airports, the 1980 movie Airplane!, which was a spoof on airline disaster movies, to this day remains one of my all-time favorite comedies and is one that I can watch over and over without ever getting tired of it. The first time I watched it was with my first husband at a small theater in Southern California. I remember that "It was a rough place - the seediest dive on the wharf. Populated with every reject and cutthroat from Bombay to Calcutta. It's worse than Detroit ..." But surely I digress. Yes, yes, I have digressed and need to stop calling myself Shirley. I need to get back on vector, Victor ... I was writing a post but now there's something I can't remember! My post! What is it? It's a story of sorts that can be made out of words or pictures or both and published on a blog for other people to read but that's not important right now!

Oh dear, I seem to have lost all control of this post, haven't I? Hold on while I snap myself out of this ... {{removes self from computer and takes a walk around the house}} ... Whew! Okay, that's better ... now, where was I? Oh yes, proper etiquette for meeting a Queen (even if she is merely a self-proclaimed Queen of Memes or one who became Queen when some watery tart threw a sword at her while walking past the pond on the Bloggingham grounds one day!). Ut-oh, there I go again ...

Anyway ... if anyone can help me out with the proper Meeting-of-the-Queen etiquette before 4:00 p.m. tomorrow evening I would really appreciate it! I really don't wish to embarrass myself before the first true member of royalty I've ever met though I'm sure that even if I don't embarrass myself by failing to make proper introductions, I'll no doubt manage to do so when I keep staring at her face and wondering where on earth the other half is!

Oh, and before I forget, the Queen has granted me permission to interview her during the course of our meeting tomorrow night so if there's anything you'd like me to ask her for you then please feel free to leave me that question in a comment. I promise to make sure that Queen Mimi is not merely talking out of the side of her mouth and gives me the straight answer, in spite of the fact she only has one side of her mouth to talk out of, and will publish those answers in another post either Friday or Saturday. So, anything you'd like me to ask Her Royal Majesty for you? Any complaints you'd like me to carry forth in the hopes that she sentences me to the dungeon and not you for having had the impertinence of asking? I just hope she remembers not to kill the messenger ... perhaps I picked a bad week to give up sniffing glue?

Anyway, while you think on what you'd like to ask the Queen, I'm going to go practice my do-si-dos and maybe have Amanda give me some hugging lessons! After I watch this movie trailer, that is!

Wednesday Wishes

Missy Blue Eye's wish @ Missy & KC
Now how could a cat with those gorgeous blue eyes not get her wish?

Tammy at Mom Knows Everything
When you're wishing for such big things like world peace and an end to hunger, I think it's great to wish for a little something for yourself, too!

Yertle @ Smile, Play, Dream
This is a fantastic wish!!

Asta @ Asta's World
A beautiful wish from a beautiful dog.

Asta's friend Deetz the Airedale Terrier
Peace, love, and kindness - who could wish for more?

Eric & Flynn @ Our Life By Eric and Flynn
With the power of the cat blogosphere behind them, these wishes should come true!

Pear, Bert, & Jake @ PB&J Is My Favorite
Another loving wish for other cats and dogs from three wonderful kitties.

A Royal Summons!

Oh dear, oh dear! What to do? What to do? It appears that I have been summoned for a royal meeting with the Queen this coming Thursday and frankly, I'm a bit nervous! Is it for tea or is it for a royal dressing down of some sort?

There I was, minding my own business while sipping a cup of coffee and searching out wishes in the Blogosphere this morning, when suddenly an instant message popped up my screen from Her Royal Highness Mimi, Queen of Memes. "I should like to meet with you this Thursday hence and request your presence for tea and perhaps dinner at a destination to be named later. There are matters of great importance that we must discuss and I feel this would be better met through a personal meeting rather than through the internet. I shall be in touch as to time and place."

Oh dear, have I committed some sort of violation of the Rules of Meme? Did I fail to participate in a meme that I was tagged for? Am I destined for the dreaded dungeon at Bloggingham Castle? All sorts of thoughts - both good and bad but mostly bad - began circling in my not-quite-caffeinated-enough head! What could the Queen possibly need to discuss with me? What could be so important that she would leave the protected walls of Bloggingham and wander the countryside?

I mean, seriously, as much as all of us in the Blogosphere love our beloved Queen of Memes, how many of us have actually been summoned to appear before her? None that I can think of so naturally I'm a bit apprehensive! Is she a benevolent Queen? A Queen who rules happily from Bloggingham Castle with a sweet smile and a gentle wave of her hand or is she the type of Queen that one should cower before? The type of Queen that would be scaring the bee-jeebers out of sweet innocent characters in a Disney movie? Is she going to offer me a slice of poison apple pie and or perhaps a cup of hemlock tea? Tales of her non-culinary talents do run rampant through the Blogosphere so of course I should be leery, correct? Maybe she'll have a Royal Taste-Tester present and I can merely eat only that which the Queen consumes?

How do any of us know what type of Queen she really is? The most any of us have ever seen of her is half of her face peeking out from behind trees in the Bloggingham forest or gazing out from beneath the turned-down brim of a sleuth's hat while she goes investigating in the Blogosphere. Has anyone ever seen her royal documents proclaiming her to be actual and honest-to-goodness royalty? Was she dubbed Queen like King Arthur who was dubbed King by "the Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that he, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur"*? Or did she just one day decide that she looked good in a tiara and proclaimed herself to be Queen so that she could get the royalty discount at local restaurants and shops?

How do I know that this isn't one of those oh-too-frequent internet scams where someone is proclaiming themselves to be royalty from another country who, through no fault of their own, is having difficulty in obtaining their rightful inheritance and needs me to help them recover their millions while offering me a significant chunk of the bounty as long as I make a small investment of my own hard-earned money up-front? Perhaps I should best leave my checkbook at home in case I fall victim to her smooth talk and earnest promises!

Or perhaps our beloved Queen is merely a former Beauty Queen who wishes to meet for tea to reminisce about her former glory days strutting her stuff on the boardwalks of New Jersey? I'm sure she'd have great tales to tell of the cat-fights that go on backstage while one contestant steals hairspray from another or lines another's bathing suit with pepper spray!

Well, regardless of our Queen's true identity and past, I am definitely looking forward to meeting her despite the nervousness and trepidation one must always feel at the thought of meeting a Queen. I'm going to have to work on my curtsying ...

... and Lord knows what one wears when meeting royalty! I'm pretty sure a hat is in order, especially if one is having tea as I believe it's considered quite gauche to have one's head uncovered in the presence of royalty. Of course, I'm a little rusty on The Rules of Etiquette When Meeting Royalty Whether Self-Proclaimed or Not so I could be wrong there!

So, as long as I don't find myself locked away in a dungeon for my impertinence in writing this post, I shall let you all know how it goes after Thursday's meeting as long as the Queen gives me her Royal permission to blog about it.

Gee, now that I think about it, I wonder how she manages to drink tea with only half a face??


*A big thank you to Monty Python & The Holy Grail!