Saturday, July 26, 2008

Choose Your Crime

It's my Friday and I'm about to collapse! This week we learned more type codes, played "What's My Crime" and generally discussed ... crime.

It shouldn't really come as a surprise that when I go to work at the Police Department we are a little crime-obsessed - but it does! Sometimes I want to ask, "Can't we just go out there and help the woman?"
The answer is no. We have to poke and pry and try to find out if a crime has been committed. Stalking is about the only thing we'll dispatch on before the crime occurs - but only because stalking in itself is a crime.

I understand now the jokes our neighbors made about how the Sheriff's Deputy had better be married to a DA ... criminal defense would NOT work! Because all day, every day when these officers take to the streets they are focused upon crime, criminals, and preserving the peace so that normal, everyday folks like you and I (do I belong in "everyday" anymore? It doesn't feel like it.) can go about our days, safe and oblivious.

On a funnier note, I was told yesterday that I can go up to Crime Analysis and they will provide me with a map of criminal incidents in the City. Then I can use that information to decide which crimes I want to live near ... a game we play called "Choose Your Crime." It's lovely!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Lil-Leeee!! Don't Eat the Table!


Is there anything more I might need to say? Good grief. TG for IKEA!

Cookies!

Yes. Lily lives a good life. I was worried about how to stick to our home-cooked diet AND get kibble-sized yummies to fit into the MannersMinder when ... I decided it would be faster to just cut out a kabillion little cookies than to think any longer.



It was actually much easier than I first expected. This was the second batch ... a little boring and definitely not as tasty as our first batch of Peanut Butter Pumpkin yummies.
We now return to our regularly scheduled obsessions...

Monday, July 21, 2008

Criminals - Again

I have been super-duper busy trying to keep track of day and night and up and down since beginning work at the Police Department. It is fascinating and stressful (not getting enough sleep is the easy part - spending the day thinking like a criminal is HARD!) but the days fly by and I'm having a lot of fun.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Criminal Intent

Ok, I know this involves knitting but I promise not to be too esoteric. Today is for the tale of where knitting has taken me ...

I had to appear in court this morning. I packed accordingly: about 5 pages of case-related documents, a puppy training book, my knitting work in progress (WIP) and, of course, a knitting book. Court days can be long and dull.

I was looking forward to a morning of knitting as my needles have been untouched the last week or two with Miss Lil to occupy my time. I even took some little scissors with me in case I finished the socks and needed to cast off. I was enthusiastic!




So I settled into my seat in the court room and started untangling my yarn. (This is the downside of working two socks at one time - you have two working yarns that stick to one another like super glue.) Within just a moment, the bailiff (a nice woman with beautiful red hair - she's been bailiff in that courtroom as long as I've been going there) came over to me, approaching me in kind of a crouch.

"Oh." I thought. "Does she knit, too? It looks like she's coming to chat about socks on circulars."

Oh yeah. That's what she was thinking all right.

"I have to see your needles."

For your benefit, Dear Reader, they look like this only with two giant black socks hanging from them:




"OK. They're ..." What I didn't get out is : nickel plated circulars - 2.5 millimeters in diameter with a 47" cable connecting them. I'm doing two at a time socks. It's my first time and I messed them up at the gusset ...
"I'll need to hold those for you."

"??!!??!?"


"Did you happen to see who was screening at the door?" she asks.

Ruh-roh - they all look like this:

Minus the logo. They sometimes step away from the logo.

"As if." My smart-aleck, now deprived of a morning of knitting brain chimes in silently, "As if I could stand here in the courtroom and WHISPER a description of this negligent screener to you so you could march down there are report her to the Screening Authorities. She already took my scissors!"

Oh. I forgot about that part. That darned screener - to whom I now felt somehow faithful because I KNEW the scissors were iffy and took my ready-to-toss travel ones on purpose - took my Fiskars kids scissors! I should have known I looked like trouble when they wouldn't let me through security with 3" safety scissors!

I was very brave, all things considered. I put my knitting back in the bag, handed it over to the bailiff and started in on my puppy book. I put it back. crossed my legs. Went to the bathroom. Took a drink of water in front of the "No Eating or Drinking Sign", reworked my calendar for the summer. Then I gave up all hope and just listened to the attorney's stumble through their morning.


As soon as the attorney's were done, the Commissioner went back to the Department list. I was #4 on the list but I figured that due to my little delay in security I'd probably get pushed to the bottom.

Imagine my surprise when I heard my name NEXT!? Yep, it's my turn - apparently they let those suspected of "criminal intent" go first!

So I took care of business. When I got up to leave, the bailiff was holding open the gate. I glanced at her desk and my knitting bag WAS NOT there. She motions toward the door and says, "Deputy Really Cool Black Hair will carry it for you to the door." (That wasn't a direct quote, but the Deputy DID have great hair!)

I had an ARMED (with a GUN) escort to the doorway of the courthouse. Where, for some reason, they must have decided that I was no longer a danger to myself or others because they handed me my socks and sent me on my way. In public. With my needles.
AAACCCKKKK!!!

In public. With knitting needles. Where I am still At Large.
You know, they really don't look all that dangerous after all ...