Teaching CPR

Thursday I got off work early to teach a CPR class in Pullman. I headed up there to get everything set up and ready to go. Only four people showed out of the class of ten. That was okay, made thing fly. Twiggy was there to help out too. After the CPR class I cleaned up and went to my office to work. I chatted with Dan online, and them my brother called, we talked about my softball db, and how it could be done a little differently. I was off to bed a little after midnight.

A firm grip and steady aim... What is gun control?

Wednesday I have class in Pullman. The teacher gave us a pop quiz. Used to see who was here. Because after we worked on the problem for a while, she said just to turn in the paper since the problem would not be graded, just being there got us the points.

After class I headed to Moscow to get my concealed pistol license renewed. Francie called me on Tuesday and said I have six days left before it would outright expire and I would have to get all the gun training paperwork and what not, instead of just filling out the one page form and paying twenty bucks. So, I thought I would get it done tonight so I don't lose anything. There was a wreck on the Pullman-Moscow highway, so I took old Moscow road in to Moscow.

After I got back I went to the fire station and worked on my homework for while. I like to rewrite the notes and make them look better. I also worked on the coroner stuff. I had to go through all the drugs and log it. Once I was done with that I went to my office and worked on the softball team website. I got the view single game page completed.

One day late

Tuesday morning Brandon and I head to Spokane to get the partitions. It was nice to spend half the day driving to and from Spokane. When we got back we had inmates unload all of them. It was just Brandon and I who loaded them. As work was coming to an end, Mom and I were talking online when I got a call from Pete, the County Coroner. He said there are two cases at once and he needs me to go and handle one of them. I had to go to Pullman.

I got to the scene of a seventy-five year old lady who was discovered dead in her retirement community apartment. What surprised me was there was a memo in the elevator from the complex stating that she had died. They are quick. I am the one who pronounces her dead, yet, there was a sign posted saying she was dead. I spent time investigating the body, and the nature of the death. Looked at the injuries present. I was able to see that it was a natural death and the injuries where there due to a fall from the standing position. Pete met up with me and we went over the findings. He agreed with me.

I cleared the funeral home and went home. I still have to get the report written, print the pictures, and made a CD with all the pictures as well. This was my third call in as many weeks, expect for the other ones were on a Monday night. This one was Tuesday. One day late.

I don't want to be lost

Even going to bed early on Sunday night, does not mean I will get up on time for work Monday. Monday was a perfect example of that. I was late. That means I have to make it up this Friday. I took off about fifteen of three. Class was slow and boring. Accounting 230.

After class I worked more on the softball website. I have most of the data for a single game showing now. I still have to do a season total page.

Afterwards I had training. We fire fighter extrication training. A survival class where we talk about locating downed fire fighters and what to do if you become lost.

Not a great day of Softball.

I had to work at the jail Sunday morning so there was no sleeping in for me. I had to be up with the alarm clock and go. I put Amber outside on her rope and headed in. I had someone coming in to cover me from two o'clock on. That way I would be able to get to my softball games on time.

At noon I went to the fire station and hung out there with Steven and Ken. Steven is the new fire fighter at the department. We talked about Chaplain's injury. Then I went back to the jail and ate lunch.

At two o'clock I was off and heading towards Pullman. I met up with Ron, Heather, Ed, and Joe at Zeppoz. We played darts and drank beer. And we were merry. Once it was time to head off for softball we took off and met up with the others at the field. We played two games and lost the last one because of that gay-ass commitment line rule.

We went to Zeppoz and I had some food and beer. Got ready to play some men's ball. We pretty much got our butt's kicked in the first game. Normally we play good defense, but this time routine fly balls were dropped. It was ugly. our second game was a FFT. So we need to win one game next week to make it to the play offs. Garrett wants us to win another game, because I know he wants to have a change to play against us and beat us badly. It is more about beating me than beating the team.

A Scotty Anderson Poem

I wrote this poem and posted it on my Fantasy Football League's message board. We are always trash talking each other.

A man named Ron

There once was a man named Ron
Before it started his team was gone
He traded here and he traded there
No team he could ever scare.

One day while he was running
Ron thought he was cunning
Then he drank a beer
Off an older He-Man's Rear.

Everyone laughed, Ron Rejoiced
He was victorious in his choice
It was a beer off a man's rear
Or two shots of hard A which is not clear.

Once up from his foamy position
Ron licked his chops and headed to my kitchen
He was looking for something to bake
I offered him my tube stake.

He hemmed and hawed
But when my pants were pulled he was awed
He said wouldn't work because was drunk
All I had to do was grab his trunk.

He was shoved to the floor with valor
He took it like a man and did not holler
When I was done we returned to the game
Nothing more Ron said, because of his shame.

Pray for Deputy Ron

After being up until past four o'clock am, I work up at ten to get the numbers printed on the Nachoman shirts. I drove to Tri-State in Moscow. They put them on and I went to lunch at Jack in the Box. I picked up the shirts a little while later and headed to my office. I worked more on the softball website. I got some of the single game totals page working, then I headed to the station at one-thirty. We took Rescue Thirty-Two to our normal parking place on the East side of the stadium.

Brandon and I stood in the normal spot on the Northwest corner of the East end zone. I saw a WSU police intern. I walked by him and saw his name is Travis Anderson. I had heard of him, so I stopped and talk to him for a little while. Just before half time Brandon and I went to the police booking room to get a meal ticket. When we were there I found out that J.G. had gotten into a high speed chase with Martin from Colfax. The chase was called off in Steptoe due to high speeds and knowing to the person was.

A little while later I was hearing a lot of traffic on the radio about blocking on the North Pullman Bypass. Then they said they would not do it, but would make sure people knew about SR-One-Ninety-Five being closed down. I knew that when they close the highway there is something bad happening. I was only going to call Colfax fire, but I realized that if the call was close to Colfax they would be busy with it, so I decided to call the jail instead. I got a hold of Howard. He said J.G. was in another high speed pursuit with the police and had crashed into a patrol car at one hundred and five miles per hours. I freaked out. I could not believe what I was hearing. I asked for more details. He said two birds (helicopters) were coming to get them. They did not know who the deputy was for sure, but it was thought to be P72. I was so worried about him.

I told Michael whose brother is a deputy at the sheriff's office. He called his brother. I did not find out a lot more from there. From that time I was not into the Cougar game as much. The Cougs did win. We headed back to the station and then I drove to Colfax. I stopped at Colfax Fire. I was there talking with them. They said that P72 had been outside of his car and J.G.'s car hit P72's car which knocked him fifteen feet into the air, over the guard rail and down a fifty foot embankment. He was lucky to be alive. I got a call from the jail that my help was needed here.

I came across the street to the jail. Patti from Whitcom was having troubles with ACCESS. I worked with her doing the things she requested that I try to do in the basement. Between that, I would go into the break room and chat with the people there. I was about to leave and get dinner when Bill and Matt showed up. They are Pullman police officers. They brought a bunch of food down for the people at the SO. They said they wanted to do something to help out. Their chaplain also showed up for a while. Everyone talked a little bit more. The different agencies all come together when things like this happen. It is truly a brotherhood.

P73 had come back to the station while I was talking to P71. He had P72's uniform in the back of his car. It was covered with blood. He needed to put it into a biohazard bag. Since I had gloves handy, I did it for him. I could not believe how much blood there was on his uniform.

I was about to leave when I heard Whitcom over county high ask for Paul-Three-Eight. Everyone in report writing looked around and asked who that was. I thought about it for a second and realized they were calling me. That is the first time I have ever been called by Paul number over the radio. They thought I had left the SO and asked me to return and contact Patti. What would have been funny is if I did leave I would not have heard them asking for me. I called Patti back and tried a few more things. Nothing worked. I left the SO at about eleven pm. I went to the fire station and talked to Tim for a while. We watched the news coverage of it, and then Bill came in. We started to talk about war stories and some of the people who were in my recruit class when I went through the reserve academy back in 1994. I finally left and got to bed a little after one am.

Friday night football

I got off work early and was actually able to get a few things accomplished. I made a few stops through town. There was one thing I forgot to do and that was get my concealed pistol license renewed in Idaho. It expired a few months ago already. I went to the fire station and get ready for the Pullman High football game. We go up there and provide EMS support. Plus it is fun to watch the game. I have to say it is rough sitting there watching. I want to play so badly.

Towards the end of the game the trainer from the other team came over and told us one of her players had unequal pupils. We responded there and had an ambulance dispatched to the scene. John rode in the back of the ambulance to the hospital. It was the first time in the back for him for more than a year.

When we got back to the station, we played a game of cribbage. I went to Nachoman and got the tee-shirts for my softball team. I then headed back to my office and worked on my softball database. I have the db pretty much done, what I was working on mainly was the scripting and SQL statements to enter data and retrieve data from the database. I got all the entry pages complete.

Follow up - From the smell of alcohol and acid warmed over.

The guy we took the hospital had a Blood/Alcohol reading of .46. In many cases that would be enough to cause death. It was close; he stopped breathing at the hospital and had to be put on a ventilator.

The loan is closing!!!

Thursday was a pretty good day. I got word that my load is going into closing! All I had to do was give them my most recent pay stubs. I did that for this in the morning. So, I should have my money at this time next week. Things will be better. I think I will feel more relaxed. I can pay off WSU, I can pay off a few other things. So, I am feeling better, but I don't think I will feel perfect until I actually get the money in the grubby little paws.

The day meandered along mostly. Brandon and I worked on the database intranet application we are talking about building. I did a mock up of the entry page for Darlene in the Health Department to see. Hopefully she will like it.

Carl at Colfax fire was going to have a poker game over at the fire station. I lost a few buck. Not too bad, some others did worse. I lose most of my money on one hand. It was a big one. After everyone left Carl and I chatted about taking oral boards, questions, and how to answer them. He is going to be on the oral board in Pullman next week. So, I feel a little nervous since he will be there. I let him know that.

Goodbye Jason and Suz!

I get to work Wednesday and Dan is here. He was going to making his way to the IS building. I had to get a little homework finished. I worked on it as I worked on Chris' computer in the Sheriff's Office. I also changed out Kay's disk drive from a white one to a black one to match her case. As two fifty pm rolled around I had to head off to class. I took my break so I could hit the bank and make a deposit on my way out of town. I was also expecting a cell phone call from a company called Count Me In. They are located in Bellevue. They were giving me a phone interview. They are interested in hiring me. The job would take me to Bellevue. I am willing to listen to an offer, but it will have to offer more pay the thirty thousand a year. I will keep my ear to the ground on that.

I got to class and we spent about thirty minutes reviewing one problem from our homework. Holy smokes did I mess that one up! I got a lot of it correct, but I also had some things wrong, and the problem is if you mess up something early on, it just perpetuates for the rest of the problem. When class was done I headed to my office and read my e-mail. I saw Jason and Suz are leaving Pullman. They are going to sell their restaurant and their house and move to Bellingham. I was talking to Jason about the house. He said he was going to meet with Ron and Heather and Dan and Michele at Zeppoz at six o'clock pm. I went to the fire station to get my turn outs, and the drove to Zeppoz. I had some dinner and chatted with everyone. I also saw Mike from the Casino. I was told by Jerry to talk to him about why I wasn't hired for dealer training. He told me it was a toss up with all the qualified people. He got my name and number. Maybe I will get a call in the future.

I headed to the fire station for ventilation training. We watched a video and then headed to the training tower to practice it. At nine o'clock pm we were done and breaking down. I met a new WSU fireman named Joe. He is twenty-six. We talked for a few minutes and then I took off to head to Zeppoz and have a beer with everyone. I shared a pitcher of beer and then headed home and went to bed.

Going to Spokompton.

I got up and in to work on time Tuesday since I was going to have to go to Spokane to get desks. At about eight am, I met up with a guy from Public Works and we drove to Spokane to get desks, floor mats, and a file cabinet. We came back to Colfax and had a few inmates help unload it. In all I was gone for most of the day.

When I got back, I had lunch and more or less did a few tasks waiting until the day would be over.

Finally as five thirty rolled around I took off and got dinner at home. Then to the Colfax Fire station for training. We got a new member today. Steven Dahl. He is from Pullman, a WSU student. He seems like a nice fella. We were doing elevated master streams. Then we helped to load the hose. Afterwards I went home and worked on my homework that is due Wednesday in class.

First Coroner's case on my own

Monday morning rolled around. I got into work, and at about twelve thirty pm I heard on the scanner someone call for Paul Sixty-Four. That is the number of the Coroner. About fifteen minutes later I got a call from Pete asking if I could take this case. I was a little surprised to have him want me to work the thing on the scene by myself. This is only the third death I have been involved with and the first where family is on scene. So, I was nervous, for sure. I got to the scene and Colfax PD and the Whitman County Sheriff's Chaplain were on scene. I got information from them, and then from the family. The funeral home people showed up. I did all the things I needed to do. Inspect the body for wounds and other signs of foul play. I also look at it to get an idea of time of death. I check for other evidence that could help determine what cause the death of the person. The funeral people took the body when I was done getting the information I needed.

I headed back to work. At three o'clock pm I was off to WSU for Accounting 230. We have homework due on Wednesday. I need to work on it. I also forgot to rewrite my notes so I am a day behind. After class, I was hoping to go to training; however Pete called me to meet him at the funeral home. We were going to go over the body again, and he was going to make sure I did not miss anything and make sure all my findings were good.

He was impressed with me, he said I found what I needed to. I could tell as he was doing his body examination that I could have done a few things better, but I am new and learning. After that we went to Arby's for dinner and I went home and to bed.

Softball day's are here again!

Sunday is a big day. It is Intramural Softball season. I have four games between co-ed and men's. I am hopeful about the games. I went to Dan and Michele's house and we watched football. We ate a little bit as well. Then I headed to my office to get changed and then to the field. Ron had already made a line up. We got ready to play ball. Our team all wore orange. Even the base coaches were wearing orange. It was cool. The first team we played thought they were going to win the whole thing. But they did not. Well, they did not win their first game that is for sure. We will play them again later in the season. The second game was a bit closer. In fact we won by two runs. We had four they had two. Then it was up to Zeppoz to hang out waiting for the men's games to roll around.

I got back to the field and started to warm up. I saw Garrett there as well. We played our field game against the Morning Wood. But it was not the same team as before. Maybe one or two people were the same but they sucked compared to normal. We beat them ten to zero. It was an easy win. Our defense was playing well, and our sticks were doing okay. Jer and Phil both did very well. Phil is a fine outfielder and a good hitter.

Then we played the second game. As it was starting Garrett was walking by. His second game was a FFT win since the other team did not show up. I called Garrett's name, he walked over. He said his team ten runned the team we were playing. We did not do that. We were hitting the ball pretty well, but not good enough. They scored eleven runs to our ten. At one point while running the bases I took a large lead toward second waiting to see what would happen to the ball. Then I saw they were going to come for me, I ran back to the base and made dive to come in under the tag and I was safe. With the loss, we are one and one on the season for Men's. We need to win two more games and then we will be in the play offs for the first time in a few seasons.

Jeremy Bloom wilted.

Saturday morning came and I was up at eight am for HazMat training. It was not anything to special. We just did vehicle maintenance. Then I went to Colfax to take care of Amber. We went to the park and I threw the ball with her. Tom came down with Bebe and the dogs played a little bit. Amber's toe started to bleed again. So I took her home to fix it up before I had to get back to Pullman for hydrant maintenance. I was going to meet Dan at noon. When I was at home I tied Amber's leash to the deck and went in my room. I heard Colfax page for a second call for someone for an interfacility transfer. I went to the station to help. Then I found out there was a second one to do. I called Dan and let him know I would be late getting back for maintenance. I had a few minutes so I ran home and took care of Amber.

I did the second transfer from Colfax to Pullman. Then they had another one from Colfax to Spokane. I told them I could not help on that one. I helped get the guy loaded up, and they dropped me off on Main street near Island street. I got my truck and then headed to Pullman.

Dan and I had lunch, listened to the Cougs whoop up on Jeremy Bloom, an Olympic skier and a football player who happens to be very hot, and the Colorado Buffalo's. They were ranked seventeenth in the nation going into the game. Then the Cougs showed them how to play football. Dan and I knocked out about twenty-three hydrants. I got back to the station and then I headed out Dan and Michele's house. We drank a whole bunch and played the drinking game. It was terrible, everyone's rules were coming true. So, we drank a ton. I headed home around ten pm and went to bed.

Mr. Relay for Life is...

Friday night I was on call at Pullman Fire. I had to work an extra hour to make up for leaving early on Monday. Then while I was waiting for my time to tick away the jail called and said they needed me bad. So, I had to work in the jail until about four thirty pm. I got home and shaved and then headed off to Pullman. We had the Mr. Relay for Life contest to judge at ten thirty pm. At about nine-fifteen a call in Palouse comes out. Brandon and I went to it. We hung out up there for a while. It was not going to be a transport, finally they let us go. We drove back to the city, however it was about ten thirty when we were told we could leave. So, we missed the start of the show. It turned out the Mr. Relay for Life was a bunch of guys dressed as girls. It was so funny. Some of the guys were really hamming it up. When the show was done, I went to the station watched a little TV and then headed to my office to go to bed.

Team meeting

Thursday I did not have anything fire department related to do, so I was able to go home after work and get a few more loads of laundry in. But I was going to be meeting with some of the teammates at Zeppoz. I got up there and I did invite Russell to come as well. We chatted about different things and had a few beers.

Laundry at last!

Wednesday I got up and spent the day doing some work. I scheduled a time to work on someone's computer doing and RAM and OS upgrade. I headed out for class around three o'clock pm. After class was over I went back to Colfax for a jail medical meeting. That lasted for about three hours and then I went home to do my homework. I needed to rewrite my notes. I talked to Garrett on the phone. He seems to be so busy I don't know if he wants to or plans to meet with me. He said there were no good times. He said he could not play co-ed because of meetings. I went to the basement and got the dryer hooked up. No gas was leaking, and I tried it. It worked great. So I did a few loads of clothes and then went to bed with the last load drying.

That is short.

Tuesday was pretty straight forward. There was nothing big or interesting happening. When I got off work, I headed to Colfax for the meeting there. It was pretty short. Following the meeting I headed home and to bed.

Second coroner call

I got up Monday morning and headed into work. I was going to have to go to class and fire training this evening. I got a hold of Sampson. He showed up about two in the afternoon. He called and said he thought I may have a collapsed pipe. I went to the house. While I was there it seemed that all of a sudden when he put down a locater, that the pipe started to let water flow. We tested the toilet many times without fail. It appeared that all was good. Sampson was not sure that it was fixed but for now it seems to work.

I headed off to class to turn in my homework. While sitting next to this guy I was asking him what he got for the answer of a problem. He pulled his homework out and it looked nothing like mine. Then I realized that I did the wrong problems. I did the exercises instead of the problems. I talked to the teacher and she said since I did the homework, she would accept them. She said to make sure I do it correctly in the future.

For fire training we were going our CPR recertification’s. John was teaching that. After class Doug and I were talking about the fittings for my gas dryer. I finally got what I needed. While talking about it they got a call for a possible unattended death. So, District twelve and Pullman Fire both left to go to it. I headed back to Colfax and called Pete to let him know. I told him I am available.

I got back to Colfax and got clothes ready incase I was going to go on the call. About twenty minutes later Pete called and said he would pick me up about forty minute later. I spent the time getting the bathroom cleaned and disinfected. I went to the end of my drive way and Pete was there within minutes. I ate my dinner quickly and away we went. We got on scene and Lester and Rick were on scene. They hung out until the funeral home arrived. We studied the body and the house. Got evidence and then headed to the funeral home to do another exam of the body. We took more pictures and then headed to Colfax. We went to the Sheriff's Office and went through my bag. He said it does appear like I have everything I need. He gave me a ride home and I was off to bed.

Hanging with the crew.

I went to bed early on Saturday night so I could work at four am in the jail on Sunday morning. I got up at three thirty and headed in. It went without much of anything thing happening. I went home and went to sleep for a while. I woke up to some sewer problems. My bathtub had again filled with brown water. I also had to deal with it coming out the toilet. I tried to call a lot of plumbing places. No one was really open for business on a Sunday. So, I left a message with Sampson. I did clean up the mess a little bit.

I headed to Colfax Fire since I was on the ambulance doing the rodeo. I watched the rodeo. It was cool. Good rides and a lot of good looking guys. When the rodeo was done I headed back to Pullman to meet up with the other guys from my shift for hydrant maintenance and dinner. We were heading to go eat when a call came out for a smell of smoke. We were not sure which was to turn on State Street so I called Whitcom. They said it was at Chris' house. Which was funny because his brother in the crew leader. So, I told the engineer which was to go and we got there. We packed up and hung out waiting for the call to complete. Michael found the problem and let the Captain on duty know. We then went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. We went to station one and looked through some on the new medical bags. Then we headed back to our station to do vehicle maintenance. We talked about some problems our shift was having and then I headed to my office. It was about midnight and I still had some homework to do. I finished up my home work and went to bed.

Pop-up Smurf does BP

Within hours of going to bed my phone rings. I look at the clock it says it is just after seven thirty am. I answer it, it was Whitcom. They said Pete wants me to respond to a death nearby Pullman. I looked at my clothing and my hair, and felt it would not be the best thing to show up with blue hair to a man's house that just died. So, I declined. Then I went back to bed and received four more phone calls in the next two hours. Needless to say I did not get a ton of sleep. So, I headed off to the Valley Road Playfields for practice. We had a pretty good turn out. We ran through some field and batting exercises. I was doing BP and I hit a few pop-ups in a row, and then Dan said look at that, it is Pop-up Smurf. We were done in time to go to the Sports Page Tavern to watch some of the football game. WSU was playing Notre Dame for the first time ever. I had a couple tubs of beer. The Cougs were kicking butt at half time and I headed to Colfax to get my boat. I then drove to Pullman to get Russell for boating. Dan was going to meet us down at Boyer. As I was pulling in Steve was there and his boat was in the water. I launched my boat and pulled the truck out. I was unable to get the boat started. It was acting like a dead battery or something. At Boyer we found that the Cougs lost in overtime by a field goal. That really sucked. I pulled my boat out of the water since it would not start and then I found Amber had a cut on the top of her toe. I put a four by four on it and some kling. She had that off in no time. I got home and put some more kling on. This time it lasted for a few hours. Finally I redressed her wound again, and I put a sock over it. It lasted all night long.

The Show in Moscow

Whoa! Friday morning and I am doing the fair again. Dan and Jamie are doing it with me. I am there until eleven am. We had a few people get injured. Including one person short of breath, a bee sting, a foot that was stepped on by an animal, and a girl who had her arm pulled hard by her horse. Everything all hit at the same time as well. I had to run in to the county and work after that. It was long, because I was excited about going to the show in Moscow. Russell and I were going to go over together. I was going to meet him at Orton around eight pm. I was at my office and did some prefuncing as I was waiting for eight. I had a total of nine shots. I had tequila, vodka, scotch, rum, and schnapps. I stopped at Cougar Country and saw Steve "Chief" and was chatted about softball and boating. He is on my team. We were also planning on doing some boating after practice on Saturday.

I got to Orton and called up Chris . He let me in and I hung out in his room waiting for Russell. I chowed on my food and Chris and I chatted about issues. Russell finally showed up, and had his blue hair gel. I put some in, and made my hair blue and spiky. I went back and went to Peter's room. We talked like there was nothing wrong and that we were still friends. It was weird. Then he was in Chris' room with me and no one else. We were talking about my blue hair and going to the show. He said the blue looking good. It accentuated my eyes.

Chris gave me another two shots of vodka, and then I went to April's room where Russell was. She was giving us a ride to the show. I had a beer there. We finally left and got in line at the Beach around eleven pm. Once inside I found some people and talked with them. I saw Tom working. I saw Nik at the show but he appeared to be in a discussion with someone and it appears to be sort of private. So, I did not bother him more than to say "hi" in passing. At around one am I was near the door of the place and Bret from Palouse Country radio was there. We talked for about an hour. I have been getting to know him more and more. He is probably in his early twenty's and he is from the East coast, he moved here to work on the radio.

After the show we went to Jack in the Box and then looking for the afterparty. It took us a bit to find it, but we finally did. I hung out outside. I saw Nik again, he shook my hand and he offered me a beer. I took it. I just sat around and listened to the different conversations people were having. Mainly just soaking up the sights and sounds. Then Nik was getting ready to leave, he got my phone number and gave me a "friend" hug and he left. Russell and April were ready to leave as well, so we walked back to the car. Tom had a new Jeep that he was thinking about buying with him. We all checked that out, and then it was off to Pullman. April and I dropped off Russell, and then we parked the car. I walked April back to Orton and then I drove to my office. I had to be back in Pullman by ten o'clock am, and I did not want to drive back and forth since it was already past 4 o'clock am. I made up my bed went to sleep. It was a little before four thirty am.

First day at the fair.

I got up at six thirty am Thursday morning so I could get to the fairgrounds by seven am. I was volunteering at the EMS booth. That is where I get a free t-shirt, and sit around waiting for people who are injured or sick that need help.

There were a few donated golf carts that we got to use. They were awesome. They were made into a police car and a fire truck. With working emergency lights and a sirens. The first engine even had a pump and working water system. We would from time to time patrol around the park. I got out of there at about eleven am. I headed into work.

When I got to the parking lot I saw Andy from the city. I needed to talk to him about my sewer pipe. It was having troubles with backing up and I was going to talk to him about who is responsible for maintenance for it. He told me in my situation that it is between the neighbors. He said he has some good stuff for cleaning out the pipes. He gave me some. I went to IS and told my boss what I was doing.

Then I went to my house and tried to open the outside access. Sadly I could not open it and I did not have the right tools. So I went to the jail to borrow a pipe wrench. I went back to my house and opened it up. I poured the stuff down the drain. I hoped it would do the trick.

I got back to work and I was working at just before two pm. So to get ten hours in, I would have to work until midnight. That is exactly what I did. I worked with the deputies on different problems and just chatted with them about computer stuff. I left a little after midnight and went to bed.

An A's and Cal fan on my team?

I got up at the crack of six o'clock am Wednesday. I was on my way to Colfax from Pullman where I was on call and did absolutely nothing, as usual. I got to Colfax and in work a little early. It was a pretty normal day, I was able to close out a whole bunch of issues. Then I had to head off to class at about three o'clock pm.

When I got into class I was sitting next to a guy. I asked him if he had done the homework. I could not find two of the problems. He said that he had. I asked him where the last two problems were. I gave him my book, and he said he is using a different book. It looks like I got the one for Accounting 231. DOH!!! So, I spent about two hours doing the wrong homework. Oh well. As the class was nearing an end many people had left, so the teacher had our first quiz. We went over it in class before we turned it in, so it was clear it was free points since we stayed. When class was over I picked up Ryan and we went to the Valley Road Playfields to throw the ball around. Dave also came along.

About ten after six I get to get to Colfax for a coroner meeting. We met until about ten pm. I had Twiggy covering for me, and he just took the rest of the evening, so I did not have to go back to Pullman.

I came to IS and got on my computer. I talked to Ryan about softball. I found information about our new pick up, Phil. He hit really well in his IM league from UC Berkley. So, he should be a good addition. I also talked to Ryan about Garrett leaving. I told Ryan we were going to get Carl if his work schedule works out. Ryan thought that between the two Carl is the better player anyhow. So, that might be a good thing for us.

Garrett did finally get back to me about meeting. He is willing to meet. He is going to South Bend for the ND/WSU game. So he said it would have to be after he returned.

Garrett's Gone.

Tuesday was a day of good for the most part. I got to work and Nolan was going to be starting on my house. So, I went up there to meet with them around eight-thirty am. I put Amber outside on a long rope. She was able to run around all day. My loan guy said they him and the underwriter went over everything and it all looks good, so once an appraisal is complete I should have my loan closed five days later. That is assuming all goes well with the appraisal. We'll see, as I have been disappointed so many times before, I don't want to get my hopes up too much.

Dan called me in the mid morning to see if I could cover him. I told him that I could, so I will be in Pullman tonight and tomorrow night.

I sent out a second call to all the people on the softball team about getting shirt sizes and numbers. This e-mail got a lot more responses. I have pretty much everyone's size and number. I also got the following e-mail from Garrett:

Hey Scotty-
Keito and I are not going to play. Keito has too much stuff going on and I apparently do not have the team chemistry you are looking for, so count us out. I ended up getting on a team with a bunch of my buddies, so good luck to you.
-Garrett

I responded to him saying, that everyone on the team was looking forward to playing with him, and that I had never said that he did not have the team chemistry. I even pointed out how I had gone and tried to contact him about getting things cleared up. I have invited him twice, plus again yesterday. I have not heard from him about that at all. I guess now, the ball is in his court, and he can choose to what he wants. I think his choice is to not contact me. I wonder what team he is going to play on. Whether it will be with Joey, or if it will be a different team altogether. I wonder if he will play in a rec or comp league. I can't wait to play against him. I believe that he thinks that he is so valuable that him leaving the Nadir's will crush us. However, with him we did not make the play offs last season, so I don't see who we could be worse off. In fact with Carl playing short stop, I think we will get a better batter. Garrett's bat was coming around, but all his power was due to the bats he was using. Without those bats he does not hit those homeruns he had. You can bet if he plays on Joey's team he will not use those bats since I will be watching for those. He is good in the field, but to win games you need good defense AND good offense. I think that with this team coming together this season we will see that happen.

He has made his choice and now he has to live with it. I am sure if he plays in the rec league his team will have a good chance of getting a tee-shirt, but how proud of a rec league championship can you be? I know I would not be proud of that. If he plays on Joey's team, who won last season's comp league, he has a better chance of getting a shirt there, however Joey's team is nothing special. We were cost runs in that game by an umpire's misinterpretation of a rule, and my inability to do what needed to be done to fix it. We'll see how things shake out as the season progresses.

Quick Unload.

Monday morning I was woken up at about eight thirty by Bill. He wanted to know if I needed help loading the pool table. So, I got up, we had to get some other stuff out of the way before we could get to the pool table. We finally loaded the pool table in to the U-Haul, and then I went to the house. I should have went to sleep, but I chose to stay up and watch some TV. I waited around until about eleven o'clock am and started to pack the last few things in my truck. I had a telescope, pool accessories, and my clothes to get in the truck. I left a little before noon. I drove to the store where my mom works now, which is in Newcastle. He is the manager of the Meat Market in that Safeway. We had lunch together, then I left her about one-thirty in the afternoon.

I was cruising along through out the trip, gaining more and more speed as I got more comfortable with the trailer. By the time I was in Whitman County I was doing seventy-five miles per hour with it. I was waiting to see a wreck with all the people who were passing. There is always an accident when there are that many people on the road. But I did not see one. I never seem to see any wrecks.

I got to Colfax, and called Russell and Tom. They were going to help me unpack and then we were going to go over to Tom's to watch Old School. I moved my boat out of the way, and got the U-Haul Trailer in position to unload it easily. I had to go to Pullman to get Russell. So while there I also got a pizza for everyone because they are helping me. We got everything unloaded in about fifteen minutes. Then off to Tom's.

We started by sharing a bottle of wine and chatting for a while. Then we went to his TV room where we watched the movie. It was funny as heck, I was laughing so hard.

I took Russell home after the movie and then got myself back to Colfax and into bed.

Short Sunday

Sunday was nice, I slept in until about noon. That would be more impressive if I had gotten to bed earlier than I did. But it was nice to do that. My brother Jon has a couch, loveseat, chair, coffee table, and an end table he was going to give to me. It is really nice stuff. With that, the pool table, and the foosball table I had to rent a U-Haul trailer. I found one for about two hundred and fifty. I picked it up and then got the foosball table. Then to Jon's to get his stuff. Then I went home. Mom and Bill were making fat back for dinner. One of my favorite meals. We had the fat back, white gravy, potato's, and corn. I was loving it. I hung around the house, and finally fell asleep around eleven at night.

COUGAR FOOTBALL!!!

Today is the big day, it is Cougar Football Saturday. The Cougs are playing Idaho in Seattle's Seahawk Stadium. I also have a Mariner's game to see as well. I got up around nine o'clock am and started to get ready for the big day. I had my Cougar sweatshirts, my WSU t-shirt, my tickets, and I was ready to go. I stopped at Hop In Grocery and got a thirty pack of Coors Light. I went to Chucks Donut Shop and got a dozen maple bars. I then headed to the stadiums. Once I arrived I looked for a place where I could park free of charge. Some of my normal spots were taken, however I did find one about two blocks North of where I normally go. I parked there then tried to call Jim on the phone. He was still making his way down to the stadium. I was planning on tailgating with him. I sat in my truck and listened to Linkin Park and I drank about three beers hidden away in an old pop container from Dairy Queen. I talked to Dave on the phone for about an hour. I got a hold of Jim and he told me he was in the North Parking lot of Seahawk Stadium with a big fish balloon.

I headed out carrying what was left of the thirty pack, a dozen donuts, and two Cougar sweatshirts. I got to the tailgating location in time to drink another beer or two before I had to boogie to the Mariner's game. I got to my seat in time to see Marcus Trufant throw out the first pitch. Then it was game on. I saw Tom at the game, he was one of about 7 guys with letters painted on their chests. It spelled out "Go Cougs". They would cheer big time when John Olerud would get to the plate, since he is a Coug. Tom and I talked for a few minutes between innings.

The Mariners scored ten runs with two out in the fifth inning. I understand that was a team record for most runs after two outs. It was an awesome inning. Everyone was up on their feet cheering. The Mariners ended up winning by a huge margin. I hurried back to the tailgate spot.

I got there and saw a ton more people were now there. I drank beer, hung out, and talked to people. There were quite a few good finger foods to go along with everything else. My brother Jon was taking the bus downtown to go to the Cougar game. I was going to give him a ride back. So he met up with me at the tailgate party. With about an hour before game time I was all drink-ed out. So, I was ready to go and get a seat.

I got into the stadium and found a seat about seven rows back. I sat there, and a bunch of guys who I know from the Phi Delts house were there too. We talked a tiny bit. Grant, Garrett's little brother sat right behind me, and Garrett was on the field taking pictures for the Evergreen. Once the game got going these girls were standing on the seats in front of me, so it was really hard to see. They were not even watching the game they were talking with the others. They did not have to stand on their seats to do that, so, I was highly annoyed by that. The Cougar game though was good. We rushed for more than three hundred yards. With passing of just over a hundred. I like the explosive offenses we had under Price. I hope things will get going with the passing game. But we did win, so that is always good.

After the game was over with I met my brother outside of the Mariner's stadium near the train tracks. John and Rob were walking by. I saw them and we chatted a little bit. I also saw Mitch, Russell's Trombone buddy. We talked for just a short second.

Jon and I drove to the Bellevue park and ride. I dropped him off, and then I went home myself.

Going to Californ... er... Seattle

Well since this was the first week of classes I had to work a five hour shift on Friday. I worked on my timecard, I added some ASP pages to ISMan. I had a computer problem come in right as I was going to finish work, so I worked on that until half past noon. I went home and packed my truck to get ready to head out to Seattle. Amber had run off to play with some other dog. I had to track her down. When I got her I yelled at her from running off and not coming when I called her. She felt bad for what she did.

I headed to Renton. It was a pretty easy going drive. When I got to Renton, Amber was happy to see everyone. My mom, step-dad, and I went to the Eagles Club in Renton for dinner. We chatted for a while. When I got home I watched TV for a while and then fell asleep.