Police

So, as you all are probably well aware, there is a certain Canton, OH police officer who, ah.... for lack of a better term, FUCKED UP while the dash cam in his cruiser was recording. He acted way out of line, and most people across the World Wide Intarwebz are of the opinion he is in desperate need of a psyche eval and the promise of never wielding any sort of authority, EVER.

Really, though, after I watched Ossifer Dipshit's atrocious behavior, it brought to mind something that has actually been bouncing around in my head for a few days now, since I'm back home.

Growing up as my father's daughter, we rubbed elbows with a lot of police officers and such. He was friends with a lot of badges. In addition to that, you're taught as a child to trust the police. If something bad happens, go to the guys wearing badges and guns, in the cars with the pretty red and blue lights and they'll help you.

Then you grow up and you realize... not so much. Stories like the one out of Canton, OH and many others like it come to light, and you don't trust that badge so much. Or if you're like me, you watch the way the cops act in your town towards people, or you know people who get into trouble, and you become a lot more edgy. Cops ask a lot of questions these days, with their power trips, and they abuse that power.

You don't trust the cops. You don't trust the government. Hell, half the time, you don't trust anyone.

Or maybe that's just me. All I know is since I moved out at the tender young age of 19, I haven't trusted a single badge. I've avoided them at all costs. Hell, with the Death Star not being street legal (and the fact that in Springfield, MO, if the cops stop you, they run *everybody's* ID, and seems like everybody up in Missouri that I know has warrants out for this reason or that), I've become quite adept at dipping out on police officers when I see them anywhere near me in traffic.

And maybe that's just negative thinking, or a wrong lifestyle choice as some might say, but... I don't want to interact with the police. More and more I've come to realize that they aren't going to protect, they aren't going to save me, they aren't going to help.

I have to look to myself for that.

When we last saw our snarky hero, she was ill and without a car. We missed a couple of episodes between then and now, so let's recap.

-Go Mira fixed. Took two days of working from sun rise to set, but she is in full working order. Drove home once it had started snowing (bad idea), at about 9:30 (worse idea). Hit a patch of ice on the highway, spun out, nearly hit a cop car. I spun out because I was slowing down due to the eighty bajillion flashing lights from cops and tow trucks for the four or five people who had hit the same patch of ice and landed in the ditch. Made it home without any further complications.

-Lost a friend. Former Roommate, who sold me the car, insinuated that anything that needed to be fixed was MY FAULT. I'd had the car for all of what, three weeks? A month? Not even I can do that grand of damage to a vehicle. I said some words, he accused me of cheating on my boyfriend, and then started to spread rumors about me sleeping around. What do you expect from someone with a high school mentality? He also made a bet that he could break me and the Redhead up in the month before he moved out of our sleepy lil burg. We laughed in his face and got closer. Way to prove me right about your two-faced nature, Caleb.

-Made a new enemy. When I discover that a... young person of the female variety (because I damn sure won't call her a woman. Whore, maybe) is feeding her 18-month-old daughter Benedryl every night to make her go to sleep, in addition to whoring around while her husband is in Iraq, I am displeased. That's too weak a word; I am RAGING. He deploys, and three weeks later she fucks somebody else in a state on the other side of the COUNTRY. Which she drove his Jeep to get to. She gets pregnant, other guy abandons her, and now she's back in Warrensburg, spreading her legs for any guy that will have her. I cannot abide infidelity, so I sent an email to her husband. And her husband has a heart of gold and wants to believe she can change, and refuses to listen unless I can provide him with solid proof. What, friends that she was staying with witnessing her making out with two different dudes on the couch aren't solid enough? The next morning my car was covered in eggs. I also had a voicemail threatening to sue me for harassment if I didn't quit lying to her husband. Huh. Chris, am I harassing you? No? Thought so.

Let's see, what else... Oh yeah.

I rekindled my love for cooking. Redhead is very happy with this and seems to actually be putting on a few pounds. Not a lot, because he's a scrawny little thing, but a few pounds. For Valentine's Day he bought me stainless steel cookware, which made me squee all over my kitchen, and I've been scouring books and the Intarwebz for new recipes to try. LabRat has a new recipe she did for her Cooking Noob series that looks delicious and I am eager to try out. Bacon-wrapped shrimp? Shit yes!

I have also been watching Hell's Kitchen religiously. I loves me some Gordon Ramsay. For my birthday (which is officially 18 days away, hint hint!) I want to get some of his books, two of which have recipes and one of which is his autobiography. If you order from his website here, all books are signed. I hope to either be given or buy myself the books called Humble Pie (autobiography), Gordon Ramsay's Sunday Lunch (With DVD), and Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy (with DVD). The man is a cooking genius and I want to mimic some of his meals.

I'm also considering culinary school. And while a lot of people tell me it's easier to just get a job as a cook somewhere and start there, I have been having some difficulty with that. I have tried again and again to get a job cooking at one of the local restaurants, but nobody will hire me because... you guessed it... I have never been employed as a cook. This creates a dilemma, no? Besides... I want to LEARN. If I get a degree in Culinary Management, I can learn the cuisine side of the business as well as how to adequately run a kitchen plus staff. Sounds like a plan to me.

And on the baby front, we have....



TWO TOOFERS! YAY!

I think that's all I have for now. I really am sorry for such a lengthy absence, but every time I sat down to blog, I just... didn't have it in me. Sorry, ya'll. Can you ever forgive me?

Haiti

As you are all aware, Haiti was devastated by an earthquake, killing thousands. The people are reeling in the aftermath, and lack of assistance, be it nutritional or medical or what-have-you, is part of the problem.

Some ways that you can help:

• To donate $10 (billed to your cell phone) to the Red Cross' earthquake relief fund in Haiti, text the word 'Haiti' to 9099.
  
• To donate $10 (also billed to cell phone) to the Clinton Foundation Haiti Relif Fund, text the word 'Haiti' to 20222.
  
• To donate $10 to the International Medical Corps, text 'Haiti' to 85944.
  
• To donate $5 to the International Rescue Committee, text 'Haiti' to 25383.

MattG makes a good point here:

Look, I'm a poor man. And, I'm a pragmatist. I've got mine, you know?

But I'm sitting here in my climate-controlled sun room, drinking decent coffee out of a clean glass, typing away on my magic elf box. My stomach is full, and I'm about to register for Spring 2010 grad school.

I may be a "poor man," but I ain't really hurtin'.

And, if you're reading this, neither are you. You're reading this on your computer or your super phone or your netbook or your cybertronic feed or whatever. You're probably seated comfortably. You probably aren't too worked up about where you're going to get your next sip of clean water.

If you've got a few extra dollars to spare, help out some people who truly are in need. Lives depend on it.

And the award for "Weird-Shit Crime" goes to...

Wheelchair user, 92, arrested for smuggling coke

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A 92-year-old woman with cocaine strapped to her body flew all the way from Brazil to Spain before police arrested her, in a wheelchair, at Madrid's airport.

They found 4.3 kilos, or nearly 9.5 pounds, of cocaine packets strapped to her legs and torso, and also arrested a 44-year-old female companion, who tried to escape on another plane, a Civil Guard spokeswoman told CNN Tuesday.

.... I got nothing. I just.... It's pure genius, it really is, all illegality aside, but...

Nothing to say. Move along now.

Another school fight

From the land of sad news, I bring you....

South Carolina student dead, officer hurt after fight at school

An altercation between a South Carolina high school student and a school resource officer ended tragically Friday with the student dead of a gunshot wound and the officer hospitalized after being stabbed.
Police officers in body armor vests are on the scene after violence at a school near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The incident took place about 8:25 a.m., and both the officer and the 16-year-old student were transported to Conway Medical Center, where the student died, said Sgt. Robert Kegler of the Horry County Police Department.

No information is available at this time as to why the student fought the officer or exactly what happened. But it seems as if the student went to the officer's office with the intent of starting some sort of drama.

It's sad that high school students are so full of rage in today's society with no real outlet. They feel oppressed, shunned, outcast, what have you, and with no way to vent these frustrations, they turn violent in the worst ways.

Was it worth it? No. It never is. Did it happen anyway? Sadly, yes.