Boring

Thursday morning I woke up and I was tired. I spent most of the night running calls, so I let myself sleep in a little bit. I got to work about an hour late. So I worked an extra hour into the night.

Today was pretty laid back. I had a few new Colfax Fire shirts ordered. Those will be in sometime in the next few weeks. I hung out in control and grabbed dinner.

Then after I got off work I went to the fire house and watched CSI and chatted with Ken. I went home and watched the Family Guy and hit the hay.

Tomorrow I go to Seattle for the WSU/UI football game, and I get to see the Mariner's play as well. I will stay in Seattle until Monday. Following that I will head back to Colfax and my Dealer class should start shortly after that.

The smell of alcohol and acid warmed over!

Wednesday was again a day were I spent the majority of it in the Health Department. I was finishing up the computers and getting things cleaned up. At three o'clock pm I had class so I headed to Pullman to get to class. I have a hard time understanding the teacher. English is a second language for her. At points she flys through stuff, then other times she drags along. But when she is flying along, that is when I would like it slower. When she is going slow, it is on the obvious stuff.

I was on call that night. So, I went to my office and started to work out my plans for a softball stats website. I have the database design in my head and on paper. I am going to run it by Jon to get his thoughts before I start to built it.

I hit the hay at about ten-thirty. Sure enough we get a call. The night I choose not to wear my uniform. So I had to get in the coveralls. The first call was for someone really drunk. He was really drunk. He was throwing up all over the place. I could smell the stomach acid and the alcohol warmed over. That is a very gross smell. I was gagging. At the hospital we were decontaminating the cot and the ambulance. Everything smelled.

Then I got home and was about to drift to sleep as a second call came in. This time it was about three in the morning. We head to the scene. Someone was having an allergic reaction. We picked him up and transported him to the hospital. The back of the ambulance smelled a lot better. A vanillaroma smell. Very much better, thank you.

Fire training for real.

Tuesday morning came and I was a little bit tired. I got up and made it in to work. The day was spent in the Health Department again getting computers up and running with Windows XP and getting a new computer up and running. At about six-thirty pm I went to the fire department. I had dinner and then we were going to have training at the fairgrounds. Soon it was about seven o'clock and the tones go off for a structure fire. We were all there and most everyone was wearing their wildland gear. Everyone had to get their bunkers on and then getting to the a rig. I got into Rescue Eleven. We were on scene in no time. It turned out to be a mattress fire and no one was injured. By the time the scene was cleaned up and we got back, it was about eight-thirty. So we called it a night. I went to the control room in the jail. I hung out there for about three hours chatting with Curtis and Jeremy. We watched the Family Guy.

School Daze

Monday morning was not that bad. I had gotten to a decent time the night before. Today was to be my first day of classes as well. I was working in the Health Department to get a users computer upgraded from Windows 98 to Windows XP. I added RAM, it was up to three-eighty-four MB. I spent the rest of the day loading Windows and drivers.

At three o'clock pm I was in a hurry to get going. I stopped by the house and let Amber go potty and changed into fire department stuff. I needed to pick up my ticket to the Cougar vs Vandal football game. There was a very long line but I waited. That made me about ten minutes late to class. It is Accounting two-thirty. After accounting I went to the bookie to get books. For the one class it was a hair under one hundred dollars. Then I went to the fire station and rewrote my notes.

I headed to the brand new Jack in the Box that opened in Pullman this morning. I invited Dan to eat with me. As it turned out I got out of my truck and locked the keys inside. I was so mad. I could not believe it. So, Dan gave me a ride to Colfax to get my spare key.

We got to hose testing late, but that is okay, we were there at least. Hose testing is done yearly to make sure the hose is in good shape and will not break when you really need it. We tested all the five inch hose.

I was on call for the evening so I stayed in my office. I chatted online for a while before finally heading off to bed.

First Coroner's Case

Sunday morning I had to work in the jail. That is why I left early from playing poker the Friday night. The jail was highly uneventful. When I got off I stopped by the fire station and chatted some with Carl. Then I went to Ken's house to get the fencing to put up in the back yard for Amber. Then I was at home and I was amazed. It was early and I did not have any place to be.

So, I thought about what I could do around the house. I decided to get the washer up and running. I put on the hoses which were leaking before and I used some pliers to help tighten them. This time they were not leaking. I got a load of laundry in the washer. I called Thomas to see if he wanted to walk the dogs. He did. So, I told him I was going to run downtown and get some dinner. I would call him up and we would go. I got some chick breasts and then went home. I was cooking the chicken breasts and took Amber outside to go potty. While out there the phone rang. It was Whitcom. They said that Patty was on her way to a coroner's call and wanted to see if I was available to help.

So, I went into the house and chowed down on the chicken breast pieces dipped in a bbq-ranch sauce. I was a little worried that it would be a gross scene and the chicken chunks would cause me grief. That was not to be the case, however. I got dressed in nicer clothes, called Thomas to cancel the dog trip, then I was off to Pullman. It was a young lady who had died. I did well on the scene. It was great how the job was so much detective work. A lot more than people would think.

When I tell someone I am a deputy coroner, they are all shocked and wonder why I want to look at dead people. Yes I deal with dead people, however I am there to discover how and why they died. In this case there were detective skills that had to be practiced to be able to figure this one out.

Poker party

I got up Saturday morning after only a few hours of sleep, and then decided I would sleep a little bit more. I got up at eight o'clock. I was driving back to Colfax and I was feeling a little blue. I will go on drives when I am blue. I will listen to depressing music and drive fast. I drove the Albion road to SR one-ninety-five. I crossed it to Klemgard road. That turned into SR one-ninety-four. I drove that towards Colfax. Then I turned off on a road that would take me towards highway twenty-six. Then I drove that into Colfax. I stopped at the fire station and chatted with Carl Thompson for a while. I was there for about an hour when a call came in. It was a lady who had fallen at the nursing home.

She was my patient. I did the paperwork and handed her off to the hospital. When I got back to the station I left to get the Bumblebee. Bumblebee is my Nineteen-Eighty Toyota four by four. I have had it for more than fourteen years. It has been in the family since eighty-three. I brought it to the fire station to wash it and clean it up a little bit. I was wasting some time before the bar-b-q at Ron and Heather's house.

I hung out at the fire station. The bar-b-q started at two o'clock pm. I did not want to get there early. I was a little unsure if I was going to go for sure or not. I still feel very bad about being left out of the softball tournament by my "friends". I feel like though I am their "friend" when it comes to making a choice I am assed out.

I did go up there. I drove the Bumblebee. Its registration expired about two years ago. So I knew driving it was instant PC to be pulled over. Therefore I could not have much to drink. I had a beer. When I got there the food was almost ready to be served. I had a couple hamburgers, some beans, and chips. It was very good. We sat around and talked for a while, then it was off to the Texas Hold'em poker game.

I had to scrounge together ten dollars. So I have about six dollars worth of penny's. I bought in, so did Jason, Suz, Jay, Brad, Ron, and Dan. Suz was the first to go followed by Jason. I hovered the break even point, and then at some point I started to win money. I ended up winning a total of twenty dollars. Jay was doing good as well.

Lentil Festivities

Friday is here and I am excited for several reasons. The Lentil Festival is tonight and I get to work it, plus I am on call. All the students are coming back, rush is over, CCN is gearing up to keep people out; it is looking like it will be a great day.

I had to come in this morning an work an hour since I left to go home early on Tuesday evening. I got that hour knocked out in a hurry. I had a plan to go to the all campus bar-b-q. I missed that. So I went to the fire station to hang out there until we headed to the lentil festival. I was there with the fire department doing community outreach and to offer first aid. Matt and I drove through the Greek row area and the campus commons area to see what things were looking like. With tonight being the first weekend back for students, there are usually lots of party's. There is one at Campus Commons North that traditionally has about four to five thousand people show up. The police and the apartment managers have been working to stop the party. People would come from across the state for the party.

This year they were successful. The threatened to arrest anyone who did not live at the complex or who was not an authorized guest. They put up a fence and hire a security company to man the fences. No party would break out.

We got to Main street at Kamiaken street. I backed the Rescue into position and waited for the others to arrive. We walked around from time to time, gave out fire hats and stickers, and offered first aid for the seven hours we were there. We left around ten o'clock pm to go back to the station. The police were there. They set up a command post. So, all the heads of the departments were there as well as various officers through out the evening. I waited around the big fights or something good. It turned out that nothing happened.

Well we did get one call. It was a guy who was beat up by a bunch of Asian guys. Seems the guy who got beat up was a bit of a smart ass. The Asians handed his ass to him by kicking, hitting, and jumping on him. He was pretty well messed up. He will think twice before doing that again I am sure.

A heart to heart.

We had no calls all night long at the fire station so I slept nicely. I got up at six o'clock am Thursday and headed to Colfax to get ready for work. It was not a really busy day. It went nicely and I was not all that tired like I had been earlier in the week.

I first worked on installing Windows XP Pro on a computer. While I was doing that I was reading the Pullman Moscow Daily News. I saw an ad for the casino that is going to open in Pullman. They were looking for dealers! All I had to do to apply is go to Zeppoz. How lucky was that, I was going there that evening. I finished up some issues and then was assigned one where a computer was dead. I figured it was a bad power supply. I took the computer back to IS to see if I had a power supply that would work for it.

Just after four o'clock I left for Pullman. I was going to work on a computer at the Pullman District Court office. I spent some time dealing with it, and then I headed to Zeppoz. I first filled out an application for being a dealer. The guy said I would make minimum wage plus tips. He said that if selected I would have a dealer school. The dealer school is five nights a week for about three and a half to four hours a night. He said you don't have to go to all of them. He said once the applications are in, that they will invite some of the people to dealer school, and then from there, he will give some of those from dealer school a job. He said I am already invited to dealer school! He said he can tell just by talking to some people if they will make it in to dealer school, and he said I made it.

Then I went over and got with Jason and Suz, Heather, and Michele and Dan. We were going to talk about the problems that seem to exist between me and some of the others. We talked about several items, but it mostly came down to a few things. First off, the problem between Garrett and I. Secondly, the lack of communication. Once I talked them through what was happening to me through out the season, the money troubles, and what not, they understood what was happening to me. When I explained how I was so upset that I was letting the team down that day that I was pitching against the Tax Dodger, and how at that time I felt that my future with My Office was going away. How I wasn't pitching at all in the co-ed tournament, I felt that I was playing my last games with the team. Then I said with all those issues Garrett said something that was really hurtful. I explained how I was at first. I had the idea I was playing my last games with My Office, I was worried about making every play, not dropping a ball, and doing everything right, and I had a ton of bricks weighing in on me and then Garrett said what he said, and that just made me snap. It was from that point I wanted nothing to do with Garrett.

They were saying from their point of view Garrett, when asked, said he had no clue what was going on. And when I was asked I would not give any answer at all. So, from their point of view I was being a jackass and just being mean to be mean. Once I explained to them how I felt do to some of Garrett's actions and words they understood. Everyone keeps telling me I need to talk to him and get it settled. I keep telling them I don't give a crap about him, and if he has a problem with it, that he can come talk to me. Heather agreed saying that in all this time where Garrett saw a problem, that he never once came to me to talk it out. I mentioned how I have the feeling that I am not good enough to play on the same field as Garrett anymore. There was a time only a few seasons ago Garrett was one of the worst hitters on the team, but I kept him because he was a nice guy and he played good defense. Now he is hitting the ball better, so to me he seems like more of an ass towards me. At St. Maries he asked Jason if Jason would take over the team. Jason said he would not. Garrett did not like that.

So, I don't know what will happen with Garrett and IM's this fall. I told Dan that I understand his and Ron's position, and that I don't know if things will get settled in time. I said you are going to have to do, what you have to do. So, that leaves it open to the point where Dan and Ron may not play still. Michele said she was happy to see that I had Garrett on the e-mail about softball. I told everyone that I can hate someone off the field, but when it comes to game time I am not going to screw with things. People at St. Maries thought I was doing things on purpose to screw with Garrett. My response was that the world does not revolve around Garrett and it is not always about him. Someone said that Garrett said he was not on the e-mail about St. Maries, but in fact he was. I was able to pull up the e-mail I sent that had him on it. I told them that he did not take the time to respond to my message.

When it was done I felt there was some closure but I still felt wronged. I felt like the people who thought I was "fucking with the team" were not there to hear everything. And worse off I pulled the stat sheets and I did not do anything that Jason did not do, but some of the guys did not like what I was doing. Jason disliking that I rescheduled the game. He said it was big deal to him, but it wasn't. And I can not get over that. At what point am I someone's bitch and at what point am I given some authority to do what I think needs to be done.

I am going to let the winter slip by before I make a final decision about what I am going to do about next season, but to me it is still up in the air. To me I don't know if I am going to play for My Office or start a new team. I don't know if I will play co-ed or travel to Seattle and play in a team out there on Sunday's. I don't know if Garrett will play IM's or not, but if he chooses to play I do know a few things.

First off we are going to sit down and have a heart to heart. I am going to let him know he is not the "shit". If he has a problem with the way I was running the team he should bitch to me about it. He will understand why I did what I did at St. Maries. I will then give him the IM team to run the way he sees fit. He will make the line ups, he will set the fielding positions, he will deal with problems. He will run the practices. He will do everything. That way he will have no complains about the way I do things.

Rumbling, bumbling, Bumblebee

I was working graveyard in the jail again. When that happens my day starts at midnight. But this graveyard I woke up late and got to work at about thirty after midnight on Wednesday. It was my turn to have the first four rounds on the floor, so I got there and pretty much had to get a round done. After the first round, I get supplies for the units and fulfill requests inmates place on jail kites. On my second round I delivered all the things that I gathered after the first round. When the second round was complete I took my truck to the basement and washed it. It was in need of a good washing. I did a third round and a fourth round without incident. Those rounds are pretty much just the normal hourly welfare checks. It rare for there to be a problem at that hour. Then I spend the next four hours in the control room answering phone calls, confirming warrants, opening doors for the floor officer, monitor cameras, and confirming warrants. At four o'clock in the morning, typically the only thing the control room officer does is open doors. I actually only spend three hours in control because another officer is coming in early to relieve me. I have to work for Information Services at seven o'clock am. This is going to be one of my seventeen hour days. I leave the jail and peal off my uniform and get into my IS clothes.

In IS I update my Information Services Manager (ISMan) tool. It tracks users, computers, peripherals, issues, images, and software licenses. I added a new page that will allow my manager to run a quick report and see all the issues from a particular department for a time particular time range. She wants to be able to see what departments are eating our time.

I was checking my spam filter and Jason sent an e-mail to me in response to the one I had sent him. For some reason it got caught in the spam filter. Anyway, I read it, and it was interesting. He said that no one hates me and then he talked about a few of his problems that he had had in the past and how friends are there to lean on when you need them. He said in my situation that I need to rely on my friends some more.

I went home for lunch and got the Bumblebee up and running. I drove him to work. It was nice to drive him, but I feel so weak. I don't have power steering in it, and I have a hard time steering now. I am too use to power steering.

I called Joey and talked to him for a while. He was getting ready to party a little bit. Sounded like there were people there. He asked how I was and what not. I let him know. Then I told him about boating on Saturday. He said he got roped into playing in the softball tournament. The same one I was snubbed by my "friends" over. I think they made a choice. It was me or Garrett, and since they had a first baseman, and they have a pitcher/catcher they had no use for me. I have a hard time dealing with this whole situation. It is leaving a real bitter taste in my mouth. I don't know what will come of it. I had a hard time dealing with that. Knowing that Joey will be there, and I would assume Garrett, but not me. I feel horrible. Joey is not going to be able to go boating either. So, I am going to need to find a day before it gets too cold to go boating with Joey. I don't think he is going to be here next summer, so I have to do it soon.

Once I got out of work I headed home and donned my fire department uniform since I was on call in Pullman from six o'clock pm to six o'clock am. I hung out at the station for a while and then I went to my office. I checked my e-mail. I hit the hay at about ten o'clock pm. I was so tired that when my head hit the pillow I fell asleep. I could have kept going if I had to have, but I was ready for bed.

Only those concerned?

I thought there was drama on Monday, I found that Tuesday was a bit worse. I chatted with Jason a little while more about the situation with me and the others. I invited Jason to meet with me and invite the others who have expressed concern. He is doing so. Those include the Dan and Michele, Ron and Heather, and Jason and Suz. No one else is getting invited, so I am not sure if there are others with problems or not.

We are meeting Thursday at six o'clock pm at Zeppos. I sent this message to Jason about it.
"That is fine. If they are the ones who
are unhappy with things, then I want them
there. Of everyone on the team, I consider
them my closest friends... that if
everything were to end today, I would want
to friendships to continue."

Jason later responded with this:
"The people I listed are the ones who
have expressed concern over your change
in behavior. They are concerned for
you. What do you mean by 'that if
everything were to end today, I would
want to friendships to continue'?"

I replied back:
"Oh damn! that sounds bad, doesn't it?
I was meaning softball..."

I could see where he was coming from when that was sent to him. The question I have is, are those invited, as Jason says, those who are concerned about me. What about those who saw the change and hate my ass over it. Are the going to be there?

After I got off work, I went home and to bed. I was asleep by five o'clock pm as I had to be back at work at midnight again.

Drama. Good for every fag.

Monday was Monday. The one bring spot was that a new Strong Bad e-mail came out. It was about Homestar Runner on a date. Since I had to work in the jail at midnight I wasn't going to get to do a whole bunch after work.

I went to Spokane with Bev, my boss, and Sharon, a co-worker. We were checking out some items that were surplus. Some computers and desks. The computers were all Pentium class. I did not want them, but we took about six or seven desks. On the way back from Spokane to Colfax, about a sixty mile drive, we stopped by A&W Root beer for some lunch.

When I got off work I went and got Amber from the McKnaughton's. She was there being watched while I was in St. Maries for the weekend. It was good to see her. We went home and went to bed. At about ten o'clock pm I got a call from Thomas about going out and walking the dog's. Then at about thirty minutes after midnight I got a call about being in the jail. Seems that my alarm clock did not wake me up. I guess that was the last insult from Monday.

During the day I was in conversation with Jason about softball. There has been some stuff happening between Garrett and I. It seems that a few other things have happened in such a way that I am not a very popular guy with some people. It was to the point that there is a co-ed softball game this weekend, and I was not invited to participate. People felt my interactions with Garrett and my attitude during the play off's made them not want be around me. I did not know this until I asked Jason why I was not invited to play in this tournament.

Jason and I have been in an e-mail conversation for a while about this situation. He said he has seen my attitude change over the summer. He said something I would not agree with, but he did say some things I do agree with. He said I looked pissed during the playoffs. Well that was correct. He said that I would change around the line ups and where people play. I will say that I did not do that. It is frustrating to me that people would think that. And with what Garrett was doing on Saturday, I have renewed my anger.

I am thinking hard about the co-ed team for this fall. I am in doubt whether I will put it on or not. I will see. The other thing I am thinking about is if I will give up control of the Nadirs for next fall. I am thinking about putting it on Garrett's lap if he ends up playing for us.

St. Maries Softball

It is time for St. Maries. Friday morning I wake up after a shortened sleep due to my card playing. Turns out my winnings from the night before were somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty-eight dollars. I drug myself into work at the jail. I only had to work for four hours then I was able to get ready for St. Maries. Just before eleven o'clock am there was a commit. That means the person had been to court and is serving a sentence. The guy I was booking was coming in for two days. Part of the booking process is a full strip search where he check for contraband. This person was the most shy person I have ever dealt with in that situation. Some people know the drill and are not phased by it. Others are a little nervous and get through it. This guy was covering himself with his hands. But part of the search requires me to see their hands and arms stretched out to the side. It was hard to get his search done because he had a hard time following commands since he was spending most of his time hiding himself. I was professional, and I just worked through it.

Finally one o'clock pm arrives and I am on my way to my house to load my truck for the trip to St. Maries. I went to Moscow to return my old digital cable box from my apartment. Then I stopped at the new Safeway and got lunch and a few other things that I would need for camping. I had some sweet and sour chicken. I went to my office and chowed on that and worked on my computer. I was trying to make sure I would not forget anything. At a quarter past four I was to meet with people at Dissmore's to carpool to Dan and Michele's to head to St. Maries. Russell at this time backs out from going. Matt, Aaron, and Mark all showed up, so we headed to Dan and Michele's. We waited from Ron and Heather and then we went to St. Maries.

The trip was pretty short over all. We got there and within about five minutes Chris and Brad show up. Garrett was already there as was his brother. Joe was there and was pretty well drunk. Everyone was having a good time.

Mark and I went to the field to throw the ball around and I hit him some fly balls so he could get use to seeing them. After we got back, Chris and I went to the field and he took some BP, grounders, and we threw a little while. Then we went back to camp as it was starting to get dark. I went into town to the store. I needed ice for my cooler, some beer, and some chew. I got a thirty pack of Coors Light. When I got back to camp everyone was sitting around in a big circle. We were all drinking and chatting. I was chatting with Jay who just moved to Yakima from North Dakota. Mark and Brad were also near by. I drank a lot. I moved my truck over so we could listen to some music while we sat around.

At one point, just before I headed off to bed I had only six beers left. I don't know if I drank them all, or if I had some help. But I was with my cooler most of the night and I don't remember giving out any beer.

Many times through out the night Garrett was trying to get me to give him a high-five or knuckles when he would say something about us winning at softball. He would try to toast me. I did not reciprocate those actions. He was mad that I was going to have Chris lead off in the order.

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Saturday
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The morning came and I got up and got ready to play some softball. The sun was working on shining bright and I wanted to go out there and help the team win. We got to the field and threw the ball around. We won the coin flip so we were the home team. I went to the pitchers mound and before I threw a single ball, the umpire was calling for a batter. Without a single warm up toss, I did okay. The first inning was shaky, but as a team we hit the ball well. With our sticks on fire it appears that all we had to do is play good defense. Which is exactly what we did. With that win we had a one hour break and then a second game.

Game two was not much different than game one. We hit the ball well and played good defense. We won the second team, Mingles from Moscow, by one run. They were mounting a comeback, but we squished the comeback.

Game three was our first loss. We were playing against a local team who was hitting the heck out of the ball. By this time the fire from our bats were gone. Everyone was starting to pop up. We changed in the fourth inning to using a rover. This made a difference. They were getting out since their hits were not dropping in front of the people now. The third out of the fourth inning was made by the outfield who was playing rover. He got to the ball and fired it in before the batter/runner was able to make it to first. The whole team cheered. Our good luck did not stick around long enough. We still lost the game, but we stopped them from royally destroying us.

Game four did not give us a break between it and game three. Game four starts and it was not pretty. We were tired as can be. The team we were playing against we would soon find are not all that nice. In fact I would argue they are downright jerks. I was up to bat my first time. All season I have been working on looking at a few pitches and making better choices. I did so, and the guy pitched three straight balls. Then he gets a strike on me. Followed by a pitch that I thought was coming pretty high. It was called strike two. I disagreed with the call in my head, but I know not to argue. The next pitch comes, is also looking high coming in. But as it crosses the plate I realize that it was in the same spot. I cringe waiting to be rung up. Then I hear "Ball Four!" So I dropped my bat and ran to first. That is when I heard a guy from left-center field yell "This is a hitter's game!" That was in reference to me walking. Funny that he did not say anything when his team walked. That guy also caused some problems later on.

He is on base and the ball is hit deep. The ball then gets thrown back into the catcher Grant. He has the ball and is ready to make the tag. The runner comes in high and takes out Grant. The umpire did not call the runner out for that contact, which in softball is not allowed. It was just one thing after another. Their fans were obnoxious. At one point a guy on their team needed a pinch runner. They put some faster guy out there. I complained to the umpire about that. The umpire said it does not matter who they put out there. I said it should be the last out. He came back in a smart ass tone of voice saying, there are no outs this inning. I said then the last out of last inning. Then the runner gets changed. One of the guys from the other team looks at me and says "he is our slowest guy, happy now?" I was not happy. I just wanted the rule of last man out followed.

It is going into the seventh inning and my team is losing by a few runs. We need to score to keep in the game. I get to the plate and get a nice hit scoring one. I am at first base and then Garrett yells across the field asking if I need a pinch runner. I said "Why?, I am not injured". I was insulted that he would ask such a question. I am insulted that he does not have enough faith in my abilities that he wanted me out of there. When I refused the runner he got made at me contorted his face and looked away. First he yells at me, like I don't know what I am playing. Now he does this. People are mad that I am mad at him. But if he wanted to know what the problem was he could have asked somewhere along the way. Instead he said nothing. This latest thing just added more fuel to the fire. What is it with him? It seems like he had gotten too big for his britches. There was a time when he was more humble. When he was barely hitting three hundred and fifty. He has been hitting the ball better so I guess now he has the right to act like he is hot stuff. I didn't see him ask other slow guys on the team if they wanted pinch runners. I eventually come around and score as everyone is hitting base hit after base hit. Then Jay comes to the plate. With one out and we are one run from tying the score. We have the bases loaded. It looked good. Jay then grounds into a double play to end the game. What a heart breaker.

Matt and Aaron leave town right away. Chris and Mark also leave. I stick around to be with everyone some more. Before Chris left we went to Serv A Burger. Jason and Suz also stopped by. We chatted for a bit and then Chris dropped me off at the field. I hung out with the others. We drank some, and listened to music. Everyone was going to bed early. I stayed up until about midnight then I was off to bed.

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Sunday
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I woke up with my alarm clock at eight o'clock am. I walked over to the fields and watched Ron and Jason play in softball games. After everyone was eliminated from their games I drove back to Colfax. I unpacked my truck. I headed into the IS Office and got on the computer for a while. Then I headed to Pullman for the Fantasy Football Draft. I think I did well. I was able to pick up Ricky Williams. He was considered by a lot of people to be a number one draft pick. So, I am happy that I have him. After the draft I headed to Colfax and I was in bed at a reasonable hour for once.

You gotta know when to hold them.

Thursday was one of those days I spend extra long at work. I had to make up an hour plus I had a power lunch with Pete about the Deputy Coroner job. So, I had to make up that time as well. I worked on a form that can be filled out on the computer. It is a coroner field report. It is pretty nifty. But the biggest thing is that I was waiting to play some poker at John's house. It have been a while since I have done that. We were planning on meeting around nine o'clock pm. I chatted with my mom online for a while. She said she is retiring at the end of September. How cool for her. But that reminds me she is getting older. I don't like that at all.

John called and said we are going to start a little bit early. I went over there and got a pizza for John and I. Twiggy and Corner Market Bob were also there. We played until about three o'clock am. Normally Friday's are my day off, however I needed to work in the jail from 0900 hours to 1300 hours. So, while playing cards this was in the back of my head.

I was doing pretty well the whole night. I was up and winning modest pots. We usually play the nickel, dime, and quarter type of betting games. It is dealers choice. We play three-five-seven, texas hold'em, omaha, rat f*ck, five-eighty-two, four-five-six, one-four-twenty-four, seven-twenty-one, black jack, five card draw, five card stud, seven card stud, thirty-one, seven card no peak, and the cross, many times there are variations of those games.

After Corner Market Bob and Twiggy left, John and I up the stakes. We ante a buck or two and then play texas hold'em. I have a pair of kings in my hand. John went all in, and there were a lot of hands that could beat me, but I felt that I had a chance to win. I think he was trying to buy the pot. I called him and my two pair beat his ace high.

I got home in time to get about five hours of sleep before I had to be into work.

I can't drive fifty-five

Oops. Wednesday morning was one of those where I got up a little on the late side. I ended up getting to work about forty-five minutes late. Brandon was already here working. I was going to have to leave a little bit early to get to HazMat training on time. So, I will be working an extra hour tomorrow.

I e-mailed my insurance company about the damage to the truck. They are starting a claim on it. It will cost me two hundred and fifty dollars. That is what makes me the most mad about the situation. I am also dealing with the loan situation. With the appraiser now saying the house is not worth as much, I have no idea what I will get in a loan. It might only be enough for the heating system to be installed, or maybe only enough to pay off the credit cards. What every the case is, I need it to happen before I go broke.

I was so tired as the day wore on that I was ready to fall asleep standing. I was leaving a little bit early for HazMat training. I cruised to my house and got ready, and then I was off to Pullman, and of course people do not pay attention to the fact the speed limit was increased from fifty-five to sixty miles per hour. People still do five under. That is so frustrating. For all the hard work I put in driving and speeding, I was about five minutes late to training.

We were working with some of our new tools, including a weather station, and a spectrometer. The spectrometer cost about fifty-seven thousand dollars. It was a really neat machine. A sample of the unknown is applied and it will tell you what it is.

I ate dinner once we got back to station two. Then I went to my office and downloaded some new MP3's to my Pocket PC. Then I got back and went to bed.

Happy Birthday Chris and Meredith

I got up Tuesday morning and struggled to really get going, but I finally got out the door of the fire station and headed to Colfax. I was excited for the evening as it was Chris' twenty-first birthday. In Pullman that means "twenty-one run".

I got to work about ten minutes late which is within the acceptable window. I went to my computer and it was at the login screen rather than the locked screen. This was something that caused me some concern. If there had been a power outage, then my UPS would have protected me. But that was not the case. I like to leave my computer up since I have five website up and running all the time. I login and then a few error messages come up. It was the same ones as the day before. I look at some of the details of it, and it says that I needed to run a service pack update. I ran it and thus far it has been fine.

Soon it started for me. Call after call after call. People with computer problems. All of them relating to that worm. I sent out an e-mail about how people can help themselves. It was not until later that I was able to help those with windows 2000 running Office XP. They were having troubles with their Word documents. It was a day of running around and dealing with problems. It took my off my normal day, so that worm cost Whitman County one day of my time, and several hours of other peoples' time. All this because some loser is trying to make a point against "billy gates". Like I said to a IT counterpart, the guy who put out the worm needs to have his balls cut off.

I took off for fire training after work. I got to the fire department and we had a normal business meeting. Milt had his picture in the paper so he had to buy ice cream. The meeting was over at eight o'clock pm. I went to Pullman to start the twenty-one run.

We went to Rancho Viejo for drinks. I had two beers and a Mexican Flag. Then to My Office I had two shots of tequila and a copper camel. We walked to Sports Page and went in and saw Dan and Michele. Next on to Rico's where Meredith, Nick, and a few others were there. It was Meredith's birthday today as well. I had a glass on wine there. We hung out there for a while and then headed for ValHalla.

By this time Chris was nearing the end of his party. He was slowing down. I had him sign a piece of paper that had his signature from through out the night, so you can see how bad they are getting. He was bad! I had two beers while there. I chatted with the people in the group. I was checking out the scenery when the the "Dissmore's guy" showed up. Russell and I were told by Brandon that he is a very homophobic guy who is always afraid he looks gay. Well, he does look gay. Today he had a button up shirt that had the top two buttons undone. He is a good looking guy. Russell and I are always staring at him. He is always looking our way.

One of these days I am going to approach him and talk to you about Brandon first, and then get into more stuff. It is interesting I have no clue how old he is. He is a manager at Dissmore's. I would guess about twenty-four, but I am not sure.

I leave the bar half past one in the morning. I get to my truck to see the door is keyed and there is a profanity written on the hood. I am not very happy about that. I am driving home when my phone rings. It is John . He is on his way back from Mingles and wanted to know what I was doing. Normally I would have been sleeping and probably not too happy about the call, but I was up. He asked if I was going to still play poker this Thursday and I said "of course."

Blast that Hacker

Monday was like any other typical day for me. It was like any typical Monday for me. Work was pretty uneventful. I did have my computer restart itself due to that internet worm "Blaster". It was causing my computer to kill the svchost service which made it want to reboot. This would prove to cause me a lot of problems in the future.

I am on call tonight for Pullman Fire. I took off from here to work up there. I had a computer that my boss from IS gave to me for Lobo Computer Services to work on. I dropped that off at the office for Dan to work on, and then I headed to the fire station. Twiggy and I headed to station one for training. It was ambulance familiarization and we did a "full code" on a manikin. Afterwards we headed back to station two.

Twiggy and lifted weights for a little bit and watched Trauma: Life in the ER. I headed to bed around midnight.

Back Seven

I was up and ready to go nice and early despite my lack of sleep. I went to Colfax from Pullman Fire station thirty-two. I let Amber out and got ready to work in the jail again. This is a week without a day off. I will not see a day off until this Friday. School is right around the corner as well, so my summer is almost over. Once I get my home loan, I think that I will be able to jettison a job. We'll see.

I head into the jail and I am working with Harry and Brian. We do the typical things that are done on a Sunday. Squat. I moved people around. I just did the normal stuff. A guy is brought back from the jail library to his unit. A few minute later he hits the intercom button to tell us there is a few razors blades in the library that he found. I investigated their finding. I wrote up an incident report about the weapon in the jail. I don't think anything will come of it and that is frustrating.

After work I got Amber and we rode the four wheeler to the back seven (the seven and a half acres behind my house). We went there and played catch for a while. Then I took her to the fire station to see Ken. We watched Tommy Boy and History of the World Part I in honor of Gregory Hines who died this weekend. I got home and in bed by ten thirty!

Doctor Rodriguez, Calling Doctor Rodriguez

Argh! Seven o'clock am comes early since I was only getting to bed at three hours before. I allowed myself to get an extra hour of sleep by being late. I showed up to the jail at about fifteen before nine. I stayed an extra hour as well, so I would have a full eight hour day.

Saturday in the jail was so dead. Brett brought in a movie and we watched that. I helped serve dinner and ate before I was out the door heading to Pullman for being on call at the fire department. I stopped by my house and let Amber go potty. I changed into my fire stuff and left for Pullman. I got to the station and I was dead tired. I was unable to keep my eyes open, but by that time it was only seven o'clock. So I fought it and headed to my business office to do some stuff on the computer there. I e-mailed David about Friday, and I e-mailed Brad and Mark about Friday. I talked to Mike73Coug from a chat room. He knows Scotty Horning and is going to pass a message for me.

I stopped at Dissmore's and saw the guy from My Office from last night and ValHalla from the other night. I wanted him to see me and see his reaction. But I was in a line pretty far from him and he was chatting with someone. I bought a pizza and some pop. I went to the station to cook it.

I turned on the oven to four-hundred degrees like the instructions say to do. But with this stove you have to hit a button that says "on". I thought I just had to adjust the temperature. So, in fifteen minutes when I came back the oven was still cold. So I readjusted the temperature and was about to press on, when a call came out for someone. Twiggy was at the station. I threw my pizza into the freezer and we left. We got to the scene and there were tons of cats and kitty's. There were some juvenile cats as well. They were everywhere. We helped the lady and then, we helped change the oxygen bottle on the ambulance. Then we got gas for rescue. We got back to the station and I was able to cook my pizza finally. I chowed for a bit. Watched a TV show and headed to bed at midnight. I did want to be in bed by ten o'clock, but the call did not allow that to happen.

Finally in bed sleeping, a call came in at one-thirty am. It was for chest pains. We got on scene and the paramedic attending on this call, Greg, asked if anyone needed a blood sugar. I said that I did. So he let me do it. It was cool. Now I am all signed off with my blood sugars.

We took the guy to the hospital and he was a pill while up there. He was insulting Dr. Rodriguez, me and anyone else who was around. I don't know what his problem is, but he seemed to have a chip on his shoulder and was mad at the world.

We got back to the station, logged the call in, just under one hour. And I was fast asleep.

One of my Best Days Ever.

Today was a wonderful day! It started by me waking up at three am for a call. I got back to bed for a little while and then the alarm woke me up at six am. I headed to Colfax to let Amber out and change for work. I was going to get off early so I could go to the bars earlier. While at work I had an hour long meeting with the boss talking about computer upgrades for the department and the county. I worked on a few computer problems around the county. I got into a conversation about politics with the head of the juvenile department. It was a pretty laid back day. I guess what was nice is that my paychecks are in the bank now, so I am no longer broke!!! What a relief. That was a bad twenty days for me.

I took off half past four. I let Amber out and played with her for a little while. Then I drove to Pullman to My Office Bar. I got a table near the back that was reserved for us. I was drinking some pop and water waiting for the others to arrive. Dan was the first one there. We chatted for a little bit and the other arrived within the next thirty minutes. Dan got a pitcher of beer and a few glasses. Let it start.

Ron, Dan, and I started to talk about the people we have for the tournament. It is looking like we will have ten guys on the nose and Dan will be an emergency back up. Then Ron asked me how IM's are looking. I think he did that so the subject of Garrett would come up. Dan and Ron both said they could see something is going on. They said that I have been visibly upset about something. When at the bar one time a few weeks ago, I would top off peoples beer but I would skip Garrett all the time. I guess people were seeing that. Some of them asked Garrett what was going on. Garrett said we are friends as far as he knows. They asked me what was going on. I did not say. Then Dan asked if there was a problem. I just stared at him. He then said, obviously there is one since I did not deny it. Ron was asking if Garrett was going to play IM's with us. I did not give him a for sure answer. I figure if Garrett wants to know or cares he will say something sooner or later.

They said I need to talk it out with Garrett. They said that the problems between Garrett and I can cause poison to the whole team. They said that it is my team and I can have who I want on it, but they felt I should have Garrett on it, and I should deal with the problem.

They also asked about my last game with the My Office guys. They said I was noticeably down about it. The related me to C-Bass about it. I told them it was because I thought I should have had a chance to pitch and prove that I can. To redeem myself. But instead someone on injured reserve the whole season was pitching. I said that I question my value as a pitcher and my ability to pitch. They said if I had a problem with where I was being played I needed to talk to Jason about it. I told them I don't do that. I play where I am told to play. I am not going to be a baby on the field and whine about it, and make others pissed at me.

I am one while I am pissed or miffed about something I tend to get very quiet. I usually will go out and do my job. I will not go above and beyond like I normally do. I guess Dan and Ron noticed that. I did not tell them, but I am thinking hard about putting my own team together, and I very well might have played my last game for My Office. Only time will tell.

It was getting close to seven pm. I thought I would talk to the women. I knew some of them had called Brad a jackass in the past, and I wanted them to be prepared for his arrival. I told them that I have talked to him many times and he is a nice guy. I said to give him a chance to start from scratch.

Brad showed up first, and shortly thereafter Mark showed up. I introduced Brad and Mark to everyone. Brad bought some beer for everyone, just like anyone else on the team. Then He sat by the women and Mark was at my end where Russell was sitting after he showed up. Russell and Mark hit it off and got in a good conversation. Brad was hitting it off with the women. When he went to the bathroom at one point, Michele said to me that Brad is a nice guy, and they were giving him their approval. I felt good about that.

As a welcome to the team the women bought Brad and Mark a drink. Then when they found out it was Mark's birthday around the corner, they bought him another drink. The one though, you could not use your hands to drink. It had about two and a half inches of whip cream on it plus a shot sat inside of a second glass. You suck the whip cream off first, then you get the glass in your mouth and do the shot. When he finished the whip cream, the women said now drink the shot. He said it was already gone. The women were giggling about his tongue work.

I chatted with Mark for a while about a relationship I had with this friend. It was one like no other. We were best of friends. We did stuff everyday. Some days we would hit dinner and watch the Simpson's. We would chat about politics all the time. He is a Southern Baptist and very conservative. I am not all that religious but I too am very conservative. We had met at the beginning of the school year of the ought-one/ought-two school year. Scotty and I went to the WSU all campus picnic. We were sitting in this large gassy field. The guy came walking up to us and asked if he could sit with us. We said sure. And that was the start of our friendship. It grew and grew from there, finally to a point where we would always have dinner together, we would play basketball, do stuff on the computers, watch movies, play air hockey (I had a fifty plus game win streak), we both loved the Simpson's and Family Guy. I invited him to party's my friends would invite me to. Him and I did everything together. He was truly my one and only best friend. Since I don't believe you can have two best friends. He was my best friend. As the school year went on we went to the WSU football games together. We would get there hours early so we could get our good seats on the front row. We started to sit at a different spot than normal. We started to sit behind the defense rather than the offense. This is where we became fans of coach Robb Akey. He would fire up his players and the crowd at the same time. Then the next school semester we had a radio show together. We even had Robb Akey on the show. He was a kick in the pants for a guest. But as the school year was coming to an end we got into the same debate more and more often.

It was a debate on homosexuality. As a southern Baptist he felt homosexuality was a sin, and that it was immoral. He did not hate the person, but he does not support the sin they choose to participate in. Summer was fast approaching, and I know how a summer away can change someone. I was afraid our friendship would change or end with the passage of three months apart. He said it would not change. He was sure of it. I was not sure if I believed that, but I had too. I was also afraid that one of these days he would find out the secret I had been holding back from him. I figured that if I told him at the end of the year and our friendship breaks up, then I would not wait all summer for him to come back. I thought if I wanted all summer and he comes back, then I tell him and our friendship ended, that it would be harder since I had waited all summer thinking about our friendship only to lose it. So, I decided that I would tell him before summer. However, I did not know how exactly. I was not sure how he would take it. All I was sure of is that I wanted to make sure we were in an environment without distractions, and where we would have time to talk if we would need the time to talk about it. I kept trying to build the courage to do it, but I would always fall short. I would elude to in it our IM chats. I would tell him he would probably not be my friend any more. He said he is not that way, and I do not give him enough credit. Finally we were at my apartment watching TV. It was about time for him to leave and I told him that I had to tell him something. At this point I was highly nervous. I was sitting on one side of my couch he was on the other. I had a carabineer in my right hand, and he was hold the other side of the beener with his left hand. I was gripping it tightly as my hands started to sweat. I was all fidgety and moving it around slowly. I felt like I was being sucked into the couch and my face was turned to my right to look him in the eyes at the same time my face felt like it was being melted into the couch. I have a nervous grin on my face I had a hard time wiping off. I told him I had to tell him something, and that I thought he knew what I was going to say. By this time in our friendship with all that had happened and especially my behaviour leading up to it, I figured he had to know. So, he responded, "yes, I do know, but you have to say it". I was at the same time melting farther into the couch and the nervous grin was making my eye twitch. He was going to make me say out loud something he knew. I guess he knew that unless I could say it to him issue might still arise. So, I looked at him and said, that "I am gay." I responded that he knew. I was in shock that he knew. I asked how. He said "you don't become as good of friends as us, without figuring it out." I asked when he knew, he said he figured it out at the Christmas Party. So, he had known, or at least suspected for five months. The rest of the two weeks before summer vacation were hard as I was going to be without my best friend for the summer.

When the new school year started everything picked up from where it left off. We were doing stuff all the time. We were out on the boat having a ton of fun, we were doing it all together. He came back and stayed at my parent's place on the weekend we went back to see the Cougars play a football game at Seahawk's Stadium. It was the next weekend he went to see his aunt. Then he was elected to Vice President of Waller hall. From that point on our friendship changed dramatically. He would never return phone calls, e-mail, or instant messages. Once in a while I would call and he would answer the phone, but he would never answer the phone when I called him on his cell phone. The difference being that he had caller ID on his cell phone. He would sometimes agree to do something with me, but then cancel and never tell me. This was a hard time for me. Since I did not know what was going on. He would claim we are friends, however he would not do anything to show that was the case. We went from doing things all the time. We never went more than two days without at least hanging out for dinner. Now it has been weeks and I did not even get a phone call. It was like over night he decided that he hated me. I never knew why he did that. I still don't know. He has been in Pullman all summer. He finds time to do stuff with other people, but never time to do stuff with me. So, this coming Labor Day weekend it will have been one year since we were hanging out like best friends. He many times makes it out that we are friends, but he has just been so busy. He even promised me we would do stuff as soon as the ASWSU election was over. But that was not the case.

That was quite a bit more than I told Mark, but I wanted to list the whole story out here for others to understand. Mark got the cliff notes of the above. Mark felt that maybe my friend had some feelings pent up about his own sexuality, and with me being out now, he was more uncomfortable being around me, and he needed to stay clear of me. I would think that would have happened closer to me telling him, or maybe we would not get together after summer was over, but it seemed just so out of the blue. Mark could be right. His comfort level could be too low to hang out. I also think that he has some aspirations be my in school politics. I think that to do that he wants to rub elbows with and hang out with those with political power. I think that for what he wants to do our friendship will not help him along. I think that he is going through one of those phases everyone does in their schooling. Where they start to question who they are and what they do. Where they find different experiences. I am not sure what the case is, all I know is that I don't know. He refuses to tell me. I believe that if he would tell me, even if he say, I hate faggots and I hate you, at least I would have closure. Right now, I have someone who was my best friend, who claims to still be a friend, but has not done anything to show that. Has not hung out with me in almost one year. What am I supposed to think? This is not as hard on me anymore, but I still wish we had our friendship. He was so fun to hang out with, we had so much in common. We was in many ways like a little brother. They say time heals all wounds. I say that it just makes the memories less sharp and they don't cut as deep when they are replayed for the heart.

We drank more.

Kristine showed up and we did a shot of tequila and a shot of something else. Then drank some more beer. By this time I am feeling lightly toasted and happy. Steve showed up again. He is the guy who I asked if he was family a few weeks ago and he did not know what I was talking about.

Brad was getting ready to leave the bar. Earlier in a conversation he said mentioned how something was "gay". I personally don't care about that, but since Brad is already on some of the women's "dubious list" I figured I would talk to him so he knew that some women did not like that being used like that. I told him some of the women are gay on the team and they don't like to hear that said. I said I could careless, but they do, so I said just watch who you say it around. He said that he figured that out about the women, and that there were some gay women on his team. I said "only women?". He looked puzzled for a second and then said you have gay guys on your team too? I said yeah we do. He asked who. I looked him squarely in the eyes and without pausing, I said "me". He smiled and said really? I said "yep, I am." He turned around and bent over at the waist and was laughing so hard. I think that totally caught him off guard. I thought his reaction was funny. What cracks me up was him turning around, and more or less putting his ass in my face. Then he said that he does not have a problem with gay people. I told him, that for me it is a fact of life that I am not proud of, nor would I happily choose. I said that if a pill were presented to me that would make me not gay, I would say "can I get a glass of water to go with that?" No question I would change.

We drank some more.

Mark had to go after a while. Russell said goodbye to him and Kristine also left. Then Russell told me he could not wait to go out camping to St. Maries. He thought that talking to Mark is so fun, he wanted to do it some more.

Steve and I started to talk about some stuff, computers, boating, etc. He sounds like he could be gay, Russell thinks the same thing, but I think that is just the way he is.

Another guy also showed up who I did not know, but did look familiar. It was Craig. He is a local realtor. I have heard of him from other "family" members. His friend David also came. I chatted with Craig for a little bit about some stuff. Craig said for a while he was a volunteer at the Pullman Fire Department. He invited everyone in the group to his place for an after party. It was approaching midnight and we decided to all head up there. He was only a few blocks from the bar, so Russell and I decided to walk up there. Everyone else was gone, and I was waiting from Russell to finish up his last beer.

Nik also showed up again. Russell recognized him as a friend from the past. What surprised me the most is that he remembered my name. He came up to the table and shook my hand and called me by name "Scotty". I was impressed by that. Russell, Nik and I chatted for a minute or so. Then Russell and I left. On our way out we saw the guy from Dissmore's again. He was the one from ValHalla wearing the "Wally World" shirt. I was told by someone that he is highly homophobic and is afraid of looking gay. Which is funny, he dresses like he is gay, with the tight fitting t-shirts with the rest of what he wears. Russell saw him and pointed him out to me. I looked over and stared at him and I was walking by. He looked right back at me. I was loving every second of it.

We got to Craig and David's place. It was a wonderful house. It was built in the twenties and had a whole bunch of the old styling in it. Hardwood floors, nice woodwork near the doorways and window sills. They also had really neat decoration. In David's office there was a pump pipe organ. It is something built around the turn of the century. There are foot pedals that are pumps which produces the wind for the pipes. Then David would play some music on it. It was neat to listen to.

When we first arrived we hung out on the deck outside the house. There were several lawn chairs. We were there for a matter of a few minutes as Dan and Michelle arrived followed a few minutes later by Alan. Craig offered us beer. I turned it down as I was trying to sober up enough to drive a while later. I needed water to battle my soon to onset dehydration. After being on the deck for a while, that is when David took us into his office to play on the organ. He made a funny joke, as we were walking into the room. He said "do you want to play with my organ?". I was cracking up at that one.

Michelle was listening to him play as well. I love to listen to people play music in their house or dorm room. While living in the residence halls at WSU I watched a lot of people play guitars. It was neat to just sit there and relax. This was neat as well. He did well. A little while later everyone filtered into the living room. The living room was awesome. It was well decorated. There was a large throw rug that I am sure would cost thousands of dollars to replace. In one side of the room there was a grand piano. It was well maintained. I could see my reflection in the surface.

Everyone sat around the room. Each person facing the piano listening to David play his heart out. It was wonderful. It was an experience I have not had before. People sitting around with drink in hand, not talking loudly, screaming, nor yelling. We were having civilized conversation, listening to music coming from a grand piano. Drinking on our drinks in nice glasses. Talk about out of my element. This was pretty high brow compared to what I normally do. It was so awesome. I was having a wonderful time. Then David played Amazing Grace. People quietly sung along as David would throw in some special notes.

It was getting late and people were starting to retire for the night. Dan, Michelle, and Alan all were ready to leave. Russell, David, and I were chatting for a little while longer. David is closer to our age, he was around twenty-one. We were out on the deck for a while chatting. Russell and David were talking about the stars and then a few other subjects. I was getting pretty tired and I knew I had to get home since I had to work the next day at eight o'clock am. In fact I should have never went to the after party, but I felt the tiredness I feel the next day would be worth the experience I have while there. I was correct about that. I sat down on a chair and Russell said I fell asleep for a short period of time. David got Russell's and my phone numbers and e-mail address. We walked us outside. He thanked us for coming and then gave each of us a hug goodbye. David was so highly mannered. He was very gracious and very nice.

Russell talked about how much fun we had had. The level of the pleasure we had was definitely above that of what we normally experience. We said goodbye at Grand and MacKenzie street. We had parked in different locations. I drove home as fast as I could since my sleep time was rapidly being eaten up. I knew I would only have a few hours of sleep and that was the case. I got to bed at four o'clock am, closing one of the best days I have ever participated in.

Ten-Six-Seven

Since I went to bed at about three thirty in the morning after working in the jail I decided to let myself sleep in on Thursday. It was a day off for me. I slept until about eleven and then got up and went to work. I was making up an hour that I came in late on Wednesday and I wanted to work a second hour to get off a bit early on Friday. At about noon Pete called about our two o'clock p.m. training. We moved it up to twelve thirty. We headed to Eddy's for some lunch and discussed the job of being a coroner. We took about an hour doing that, then headed back to Information Services to finish out my extra time.

I left work around three-thirty when home to play with Amber for a little while and get ready to work at Pullman fire. I headed to Pullman and called Russell about going to Moscow for a little while. We headed to Radio Shack and Hastings. I was checking out digital recorders. I need it for the job of coroner to record what is happening. I saw one I liked but I am not sure if the price is right. While in the store we saw a ten-six-seven enter. We both agreed to that assessment.

At Hastings we were checking out the magazine collection. To my surprise they have Instinct magazine again. Too late though, I now have a subscription to it. I looked at Axim magazine. Some good stuff in there. Russell was checking out some of the shirts they have. One is a Wally World shirt he really wanted. He planned on going back to his apartment and getting his gift certificates and heading back and getting the shirt.

We went to Safeway in Pullman. It is going to close its doors forever on Friday at six p.m. They built a brand new store that is twice the size of the old one. They will open that up on Saturday. I got some teriyaki chicken on steamed rice. It was very good.

Russell and I went to the fire station to watch the Skulls. The Skulls stars Paul Walker! So, that was a worth while movie to watch. I gave Russell a ride home and then went back to the fire station to watch some more TV. I watched the Family Guy and then headed to bed. At about three o'clock this morning a call came in for someone with chest pains.

We drove code to the scene, and of course no traffic was in the way at that hour. What was cool was the way the opticom would hit off the big green traffic signs. The opticom is a strobe light that will hit the sensors on traffic lights and give the direction that we are going a green light. Those are cool devices.

Goodbye Jeff

Wow, a lot of e-mail has flown around about the trip to St. Maries that is coming up. I am going to be running the team up there. We did not have enough people from the My Office team going, so I have been recruiting people. One guy I am getting is Brad. He is a nice guy, but I have heard some people on my team talk like they don't like him. I think though once people actually get to meet him they will change their tune. He has a friend who will be coming and I have Chris coming. That is exciting. Chris is an old player from the Valley Road Nadirs, plus he did play for My Office last year. On Friday we are going to meet for beer at My Office.

I was talking with some of my friends about going. I was trying to get Ryan to go. He refuses to go. He says he would only have fun playing softball. I asked what about the camping, and drinking? That is fun. What about just spending time with his friend? What is wrong with that? I also talked to Kristine and Russell about going. I am not sure if they will make it or not, but I think it would be fun to have them around.

I was working to help pull fiber optic cable for the new building we are going to be in. While we were doing that another county employee who is a big M's fan said that the Mariner's had traded away Jeff Nelson! I could not believe it. I love Nelly. He is now with the Yankee's. What is up with that crap? ARod said in an interview that with Nelson the Yankee's are ready to go all the way. I am very disappointed.

I had to work in the jail again this evening. It was as uneventful as ever. I did my rounds and that was about it. After I got off, I hung around and chatted with Dale and Perry for a while. Then I went to my office downstairs and worked on a few things. I got home around three in the morning and I decided that I was going to sleep all night long.

Ouch that hurts! And I know.

This week seems like it is taking for every to finish and we are only on Tuesday. I was working in the jail in the evening so there was no fire training for me again. It has been since May since I have been at training. I need to get to go. But in two weeks I will miss it again.

I worked on several problems including getting a new computer in the Sheriff's office for the new employee.

I had the jail save me a dinner then I went home changed into my uniform and headed back to jail. I got dinner. It was meatloaf. Very good. Mashed potatoes and gravy. Also very good. I spent the first little bit in the jail control room and then I got on to the floor. I booked a guy who I recognized. I asked him if he plays softball. He said no. He said he does work at Denny's. I realized that is where I knew him from.

I watched some of the new reserves get sprayed with pepper spray. One guy was not taking it well at all. I think a lot of it had to do with his psychological state. I think he thought it was bad, so it was to him.

I worked on the cameras in the jail, now they will go off when there is a pixel change. This allows you to ste internal cameras to see when someone moves around the building. I have it set to work in the night hours, when no one should be moving about. So if the alarm goes off, it is a warning that someone is moving around.

Commercialism in Softball, Now I have seen everything.

Monday morning I should have been bright eyed and bushy tailed, however I was not. I even went to bed at about ten thirty last night. So, I decided that since I had some time to burn this week I would burn it and sleep some more. I did not get into work until about nine-thirty. When I got in I learned that there was another problem in juvenile. It was quiet for weeks then I do a courtesy check up visit and they have no problems. The next day a printer goes down, the day after that a monitor. So, I have learned my lesson.

In-between working on that I was trying to get a new employee with the Sheriff's office set up with e-mail and a domain account. I was getting a computer for the health department in Pullman ready to go. I was trying to deal with the other problems as they came up. I was pretty busy.

At 1600 hours I left for Pullman. I installed the computer at the office and then head to campus. I stopped in and saw George. We chatted about money, houses and life.

Then I walked to the CUE building to the computer lab there and hung out with Ryan for a while. We were talking about our Intramural softball team, the Valley Road Nadirs. First we talked about the players and if there was anyone who would not fit into the plan we have for this season. We are tired of losing, and that is not our tradition. So, Ryan said what I was thinking Brett, though he is a good player, and a good hitter, does not seem to be a team player. He does not seem to care what his teammates are up to, he spends all his time sitting with his girlfriend on the sidelines.

We were also talking about having a sponsor this year. We will get shirts for four dollars each from the Nacho Man. I think we will change our name to the Nacho Man Nadirs. That is yet to be seen. Commercialism, you gotta love it. I am thinking about sponsoring a softball team for the summer men's ball. I will have to see how my money situation is, plus I need to see if I will have enough people.

I had to run to fire training. We were doing part two of the MCI (Mass Causality Incident) training. It was fun stuff. We were learning about setting up command, transport, triage, treatment, base, and staging areas. There was a lot to learn, and the only way to get good at it would be to practice it a lot.

Eddie Howard for 8th Grade Treasurer

Sunday comes around, and I wake up at the fire station. I force myself out of bed right away and head to Colfax where I get ready to work in the jail for the day. The jail was a easy, uneventful day.

When I got off I headed to Pullman because I was going to meet with Mark to throw the softball around. We tossed it for about one hour. We also chatted about softball, the riot in Pullman in 1998, Glenn Johnson, people watching. I was telling him about going to ValHalla and doing my people watching there. After about two and a half hours I headed back to Colfax.

I got to Colfax and I parked at Rosauer's, which is a local grocery chain. I got out of my truck and ran into Eddie Howard. What a shock. He went to Washington State, Liberty High, and Maywood Middle school. I met him at Maywood when I was an eighth grader. He was in the seventh grade. He was running for class treasurer.

Some time ago, but after in college at Wazzu, I was at Pizza Pipeline with Joe, Ed, and Eddie. We were sitting around and chatting about some stuff. Typical BS'ing that people do. That is when Joe said that he knows. And no matter what I say or do, he will not believe otherwise. It has been killing me ever since that happened and why he would say such a thing to me.

Paramedic Testing

As tired as I was, Amber woke me up this morning at about eight am to go to the bathroom. I let her out and then I headed back to bed. I set my alarm to get me up at eleven o'clock. I had to get to Pullman to help with the paramedic testing.

I showed up at about noon to station thirty-two. I chatted with Brandon. At about twelve-thirty we took Rescue thirty-two to the training tower and helped to set everything up. It is a course that tests strength, agility, and if you are afraid of heights. The testing was pretty unremarkable.

I went back to the station and Brandon and I washed Rescue. I went inside and watched some TV. I called Dan who came down. We played cribbage. I won two out of three games. We watched a few movies. Got pizza and pop. During the movie "The Minority Report" a call for a grass fire came out. It turned out to be nothing. I got back and finished the movie. I read my forensic book with photos of injuries and then drifted off to sleep.

Freaky Friday.

What a day, Friday was. It was as they say "the best of times and the worst of times." There were parts of the day where I wished I hadn't gotten out of bed.

I start by moving my SAAB, but I had to give it a jumpstart first. It has no reverse gear, so I was only able to do so much to get it out of my way. Then I got the quad out and moved the boat into position to hook it to my truck. I let Amber go potty and debated on whether to bring her or not. I was going to Granite Point instead of the Dunes by request. There is a lot more scenery (of the human kind) at Granite Point. I figured Granite Point would not be as nice for Amber, so I left her at home. In the end, that was a smart decision. I headed into work and started in on a computer for the health department from Pullman. It was not working correctly. I had to change out hard drives. I was trying to image one hard drive to the other. However this was proving futile. So, I gave up, reimaged the computer from the older image. This was taking a lot longer than I liked. I finally gave up after two and a half hours and headed to Pullman. I was going to pick up Russell and meet Brandt at the river. Brandt told me that Garrett was going out of town so he would not be able to go. I thought to myself how that was a good idea since he was not invited.

I drove into Pullman and paid my house insurance and then transferred cash from one account to another. I headed to Russell's apartment to get him. He said that he had had a lot to drink and was hung over. I told him that he was being a wimp and I would pick him up and carry him if I had to. He said he was getting ready. I drove to his apartment and went to pick him up. He said that he was sorry and that he had thrown up, and he was not going. I was miffed. Now I had no one going down with me, and no one to help launch the boat. I had Kristine coming down at about quarter till four. He said he would come down about the same time. I called up Brandt to see if he would help me get the boat into the water so, he met me at Wawawai Landing to do that.

Once the boat was launched we started towards Granite Point to meet up with the girls. The wind was pretty strong. This sucked since all last week the weather everyday was one hundred plus degrees. So, today it is only ninety five plus degrees. Brandt and I cruised down to the rock (Granite Point) and picked up the girls. There were three of them. The wind was blowing hard and we were trying to get them on the boat as fast as possible so the boat did not get thrust into the rocks due to the wind. Even after telling the girls this information they lollygagged around and took their sweet time getting on the boat. So that was bad enough. Then to top it off, they were not much help when it came to assisting me looking out for other boats, watching the guy on the tube, operating the flag, and video taping the tubing. There was some cool stuff that was missed due to them not helping me out. So, I was not all that upset when we finally get them off the boat.

During this time my shifter stops working correctly. I was unable to get into reverse. I still can't get into reverse. So I am going to have to figure something out about that. So docking is always an interesting experience.

I was getting low on gas, so I knew I was going to have to call it a day shortly. Kristine finally showed up. She swam out to the boat and got on. I broke the bad news to her and Brandt. Kristine said she would help pay for my gas since she has gone out a lot and never have given me any gas money. We head to Wawawai Landing to trailer the boat and take it into Clarkston to get some gas. When we got to the boat launch, Brandt and Kristine helped me get the boat on the trailer and Russell was just showing up.

Russell had been feeling ill due to drinking too much the night before. So, I was poking him in the stomach a little bit and teasing him. Then I looked at his hair. He had it cut last week, and it was nice and short. Blonde as well. Just the way I like it. The sun was glistening off his hair and it looked better than normal. So I touched a few pieces on the side of his head. I said how great it looked.

Russell joined Kristine and I on the trip to Clarkston. Clarkston is about a 20 minute drive. About the same as going to Pullman give or take, however it is level road and gas is cheaper in Clarkston. I was cruising down the county road at about eighty-five miles per hour. We were laughing about my behaviour on the dock. We were joking how Brandt must think I am some homo. We got to the gas station and I found an isle without anyone using it, so I was able to easily get my boat in. Russell and Kristine got out of my truck right away and I was securing the truck. Russell came up to me and said that my tires looked bald and that I should have them checked.

I thought to myself that we was being a worry-wart. I know my truck tires are in need of tire replacement in the near future, but I know the tread is not anything to worry about. I got back, and he was talking about the boat trailer. I looked at the tire it is was past bald. The steel-belts where showing. I was starting to freak out. Thinking about how close I was to having had an accident or worse. These tires were in good shape. On the trip to the gas station the tire started to disintegrate! It was to the point I am sure it would pop at anytime. Luckily Les Schwab was right down the road by about three blocks. I drove my truck and the boat down there, thinking for sure it would pop now that I know it is in bad shape.

I pulled into the parking lot and drove to the bay doors. One of the workers saw my tire right away and came out. He back the boat into the garage and started to work on it. He quoted me seventy five dollars to fix it. I had no choice, so I told him to work on it. As he was getting the tire another worker, Willie, came over and was jacking up the truck. He was kneeling down and operating the floor jack. I asked him what would cause such a thing to happen. He was explaining it to me. When he started to talk he looked up at me. I was looking down at him, and then his eyes caught my attention. The way the light was in the building, it made his eyes look the deepest, most awesome blue I have ever seen. From that point on I could not help but to stare into his eyes. They were amazing. My friend Russell was thinking the same thing. He was a good looking guy, but who would have known since all you can see are his awesome eyes.

I realized I did not have any money, and Russell said he would pay for it and I could pay him back. But then he said his credit card is in his wallet at Wawawai Landing. So I asked if they could bill me for it. The guy said he could. I would need to set up an account. I did that. And away we went back to go boating.

We re-launch the boat, but since my reverse was not working we had to turn the boat around by hand at the boat launch. We took off again heading to Granite Point. Brandt had taken off since he wasn't sure when we were going to get back. It was just Russell, Kristine and I. On the way to Granite Point there was water pouring from behind the instrument panel. I did not know what would be causing it. I watched it for a while, then stopped to see what was causing it. I could not see anything. So we got going again. It started to happen again, and when I looked at my speed I saw it did not register on the boat. I stopped again, and looked specifically at the speedometer. I saw a small black tube and I saw an area on the speedometer that looked like the tube was supposed to be attached to. I put the tube on it, and no more water, and my speedometer started to work again.

We were getting ready to get someone on the tube when I was playing with the tow rope tie down. It is a metal object about four inches in diameter. The rope sits around it, and there is a cap that goes over the rope to hold it in place. I pulled up the cap, and the whole tie down come up. It was loose for some reason, and this is the first time I have seen it loose. It was so loose that the bolts were ready to fall off. I tightened it up.

Things did not seem to be going my way today. I guess over all it could have been worse in every situation, but to have so many things go bad on my at once really sucked. We kept going. Pulled out the video camera and video taped Kristine and Russell tubing for a while. Then Russell wanted to jump for Granite Point. We swung in close so Russell didn't have to swim a mile. He got up and jumped a few times. I was recording everything. Russell was done jumping and I was putting my camcorder away. We were drifting the whole time and the current was pretty strong compared to normal. When we drifted by this one part a guy from the rock called out to us to ask if his friend could go tubing. I told him that he could. So the friend jumped into the water and swam over.

He was an eighteen year old from Pullman. He said he had never tubed before. Russell and another guy were swimming over. It turned out to be Brandon Carpen. Russell and Brandon came aboard. We took off tubing. With the Pullman guy on the tube and the others in the boat cheering him on. The Pullman guy got off and Brandon got on it. We were joking about a ton of stuff. Then someone said, don't worry, Scotty knows CPR. Kristine said "How come you wont do it on me?" I looked at her and said matter-of-factly "Because you're a girl". Everyone in the boat busts up laughing.

Soon it was time to head back. Kristine, Russell, and I were going to go to the bars and drink a little bit to celebrate Kristine's first degree she earned today. We docked the boat, but I was nearly out of gas in my truck. I did not have enough to get to Pullman. Russell and I drove back to Clarkston. Bought a gas can and some gas. Drove back to my truck put it in the truck and drove straight to a gas station in Pullman. Russell lent me the money to fill my truck up and then I headed to My Office Bar. Russell ran home and then he met us there.

Kristine and I had a tequila shot and I had some dinner. Kristine wanted to go to ValHalla for a while too. I took my boat to the fire station and Russell drove me to ValHalla. We got inside and I saw Joey. We greeted me and we talked about softball for a while. He gave me some of his beer and then he was off to chat with other people. I stood near the wall were the stairs come into the bar. I was there people watching. Russell was with me.

From across the bar Russell saw this guy. He said that that guy is the hottest guy in Pullman. Russell said while in marching band at the football games he would be in the front row with his shirt off. He said that he has the best looking abs he has seen. I saw who it was, and I recognized the guy as someone who works at Student Computing Services with me. Chris Malde. I laughed. I told Russell when I have the boating trip for SCS'ers that Chris was going to be one of them. I told Russell I would invite him too. Then I saw one guy who I recognize from Dissmore's. He works as a manager. He is always dressed in a nice shirt and slacks. This time he was wearing a tight shirt that just went to the upper seam of his pants. He was looking like he was on the hunt for someone. Russell and I sat back and watched for a while to try to guess which team he was playing for, so to speak. I can say that he was dressed like he was gay, but he was always hanging with girls. But the girls could have been fag hags. Anyhow, I can say I was unable to tell.

We left at bar closing time. Kristine was given a ride home from Russell and then Russell dropped me off at the fire station. I drove home at about three o'clock in the morning. I was so tired I fell asleep several times along the way. But I had to get home to Amber.

Looking for Scotty Horning

I got to the jail this morning and check my fasting blood sugar. It was 100. So, that is nice. It is all good and I feel good about it. So I got into my office and started to work. It is funny yesterday I went to Juvenile and chatted with them, to see how things are going. I have not heard from them in weeks. Then today I get a call about printer problems. So, I went to check that out, I could not reproduce the problem. So, I e-mailed the user and told her that I was unable to make the problem happen for me.

I went to the elections department to talk about running for Colfax City Council. I am thinking hard about doing it. I want to run for a government position. I have always had an interest in being involved in government. I was the president of Stephenson East, and I was in a few other elected positions while living in the residence halls. I am going to spend some time thinking about this. I would have to commit to going to two meetings a month on Monday. This is the same day that I have Pullman fire training.

We got a letter from a guy who runs justicefiles.org. It is a website that lists the names, addresses, phone numbers, in some cases social security numbers, pictures of houses and cars that belong to area police, prosecutors, and other court workers, corrections officers, and in some cases others involved in the criminal justice system. He is working to expand the database to every criminal justice employee statewide. He is asking for the records on our county employees. He feels that by publishing this information the average citizen will be protected from the police. It will "level the playing field". It is interesting that he feels that way. Last time I checked the cops don't have a website with all the citizens' social security numbers, home addresses, pictures of their homes, and what not on a website. So what is the real point of the website? Why should someone who works as a court clerk, not really anything more than a secretary, have his information online like that? How is that leveling the playing field? Is this more of an intimidation tactic from some disgruntled ex-con? And, yes he is an ex-con. Well, you can look up his website and decide for yourself. My opinion is that, yes, it is for intimidation purposes.

I had a radio show a year ago, and there was an hour and a half segment on this website and the subject in general. A little point-counterpoint between me and the co-host of the show.

I got my employee evaluation today. I have been getting a lot of positive feedback from the people who I serve in the county. That makes me feel good. In fact I have a lot of people tell me they would rather deal with me rather than my counterpart, Dan. He is a good guy, just a little harder to get to do things. We have a different philosophy on what our jobs are. I see it as that I am here to help. He sees it as he has a specific job title and roles. He only does those, and when asked to move outside those roles, it resists. We have a few other philosophic differences, but I think we just view the same issue from to angles. He is not wrong nor mean, he just sees things differently.

I was on call in Pullman tonight and I had that computer for Lobo Computer Services to work on. So I went to my office in Pullman and dropped off the computer for Dan to work on. I got on my machine and I was working on trying to get my Pocket PC up and running again. I got on a website with chat. I was chatting in a Pullman-Moscow room. This guy privates me. He was asking what a caramel apple is. I have a reference to it in my profile. I told him it is butterscotch schnapps mixed with apple juice, one to one. It is very tasty. We chatted for a bit. I saw he is from the Tri-cities. I asked him if he knew Scotty Horning. He said that he had met him. We chatted a while longer than asked if I wanted to do something. We met up at the fire station and watch Ocean's Eleven. Then we sat around and talked for a few hours. It was about three thirty a.m. when I got to bed.

Before I made it to bed I took Mike to get some smokes from Dissmore's. Since he was up from the Tri-cities he did not have any wheels. He is a nice guy, and obviously family. He said that he came out to his family at thirteen years old. I didn't know people knew for sure they were gay when they are thirteen.