NASCAR Heaven

I am a NASCAR fan. My kids pick on me for it, but I don't care. I love sitting and watching the races. It is even better when Jimmie Johnson wins the race. Seeing that Lowe's 48 car cross that finish line in front just makes my day. Last year, NASCAR opened a Hall of Fame in Charlotte NC. I knew this would be a place I just have to see one day. That day is happening October 25th! Woohoo!

Every year I travel to wherever the ICC Annual Conference is being held. This year it just happens to be in Charlotte, NC. As soon as I found out, I said I was going to hit the Hall of Fame. Well, it gets even better. Each year the ICC holds a big opening event. They find a major venue and book it exclusively for the ICC attendees. We have access to the entire place. There is a buffet and an open bar. When I was in Detroit it was held at the Henry Ford Museum. In Florida it was in Epcot. In Baltimore it was in Camden Yard and Oriole's Stadium. This year it will be in, yes you guessed it, the NASCAR Hall of Fame. So, not only do I get to see the museum, but it will be free, there will be food and drinks, and I will be in my glory! I am so excited that I feel like a kid just before Christmas.

One of the things that we do at our conference is trade collector pins. Chapters from all over the world bring pins and all week long I find people that are looking to trade pins. I have a decent sized collection. My Association is no different. We have had 3 designs over the past 10 years. All rather plain and all designed by the company making the pins. Since we have been using the same pin each year, it was getting harder to find people that didn't already have one. This year I decided I was going to take over the design. I wanted something unique. Something that combined the Chapter and this years International Conference. This is the design I came up with:

Knowing what people look for in a pin when trading, I have no doubt these will be hot this year. I didn't tell anyone I was going to design it until after I had the design complete. When it was done I presented my design to the Chapter President and VP. In typical fashion the President tried to tweek it into something he could then claim as his own. (He is notorious for this). I stuck to my guns and in the end we went with my design. 

I can not wait to get to Charlotte!

We are all young once

As a kid you never think about your parents being kids at some point in their life. And grandparents? They were born old...right? I was recently given the following photographs of my grandmother. In each picture she is the little girl in the shot. The pictures are from the sometime around 1920. In the first picture my grandmother is sitting in the window by the dog. The woman holding the baby is my great-grandmother. The baby is some great-uncle. I think my mom said his name was Rex.

I finally found what I was looking for

When I was younger, around 10 or 11, I lost my best friend. He ran out into the street and was hit by a truck and killed. He was a year younger than me. Hardest thing I ever went through. As a result, I built a shell around myself and had a hard time allowing people to get close to me. I still do. It comes from a fear that I will lose them one day too. When Bobby died, it was felt that I should be sheltered from the whole thing. I didn't get to go to the funeral and his death was never mentioned around me or to me. As a result, I was never able to get closure. I never got to say good bye. I am 47 now and it still affects me.

For years now I have wanted to visit Bobby's grave. To let go of the pain. To heal. To say good bye.... The problem was that I had no idea where he was buried. My parents could not remember. Since Bobby's family had moved to NJ before he died, and I had no idea where they were. Bobby's dad had passed and his mom had remarried. His sisters were grown and married. So, it was not like I could find anyone. When someone we all knew passed away several years ago, my mom mentioned having the phone number to contact Bobby's mom. (Gee thanks for not telling me this all these years.) I made the call to let her know about the passing. Unfortunately, I got an answering machine. I was already nervous about calling but, toss in the fact that I hate talking on the phone, my message was one of the dumbest sounding things ever. I tried to be composed but, I failed. I mentioned the death and at the end of the message I left my phone number and asked her to call me and told her why. I never heard from her. Feeling like a fool, I was afraid to call back.

Well, thanks to Facebook, I happened across Bobby's sister last week. I sent a friend request and a quick note. We exchanged a few messages back and forth. Catching up on all that has happened in the 30+ years since we last spoke to each other. I didn't know how to bring up the subject of where her brother is laid to rest. I finally decided to just lay it all out there. It took a couple days to hear back. I was beginning to think I had said the wrong thing. Last night I finally heard back from her. She not only gave me the information, but she has offered to meet me there. I am undecided on whether or not to take her up on that offer. I will be going to the cemetery but, I am just not sure if I will meet her there or not. My wife had said she would go with me, but I told her it was something I just need to do alone. For once she actually understands.

In the next month or so I will be making that trip to NJ. I will find my friend. And hopefully I will find that peace that has eluded me all these years.........tm

9/11 God Bless the USA

I need a shower now.

Part of my job involves investigative work. This means at times I get to interview people to ferret out information. It usually means I have to steer them into admitting things that they would rather you didn't discover. Today was one of those days.

Sadly, as bad as the economy is, men still seem to pay for sex. As a result, prostitution remains popular. The popular way of going about this is to open "massage" parlors. They are usually opened in office buildings and the advertising is done online. I have raided a few in the past. Today we received a complaint of a new one in the neighborhood. time to go to work.

Because of the nature of the investigation, we work in pairs. Going to a place like this alone is never a smart idea. It is too easy to be accused of inappropriate things. My partner and I work well together. He is an older guy and has that easy going nature. And since you are familiar with the "Good cop, Bad cop" routine, you can figure out which one I am. I just have this way of getting information from people. I let them know that I want answers and that I am serious. Don't waste my time with beating around the bush. I am also not afraid to tell anyone what the consequences will be if I have to find out later that they lied. I have to admit, I enjoy this part of my job.

Today we went into this place for preliminary information. We got a complaint that there is a car load of oriental girls being dropped off there at night and that a lot of men come and go all night long. It is rather obvious that this is not a normal business operation. We knocked on the door and were greeted by a fairly attractive asian woman in her early 50s. As soon as I showed her my badge her smile faded. Despite that, she invited us inside. Ok so maybe not offered up front but simply complied with my asking her if we could come inside. In the room we walked into there was a nice divider and behind it sat two younger asian women on a mattress. A closed circuit TV was set up so they could see who was approaching the front door. There were two back rooms with massage tables set up. I can not get into any details about the information we collected since it is an active investigation. However, during the investigation as I was reading the one woman's ID out so my partner could read it, she placed her head on my shoulder and nuzzled up against me. What the hell was going through her mind? That has got to be one of the dumbest things anyone has ever done during an investigation of mine. I just shrugged her head off of me and gave her a look that backed her up. I left there feeling like I need a shower......eeewwwww.

Smoke yourself to death. Just leave me out of it!

I don't smoke. Never really have. I am the only one in my family that never has. Same goes for my wife and her family. That being said, it is obvious that we just don't care for it. The smell of it makes me ill. I get a headache and it irritates my throat.

It is lunchtime right now and I am sitting down by the docks as I normally do. There is a breeze off the water and it is a beautiful sunny day. Fresh air! Or at least it was. A car pulled up next to me and the driver got out and decided to light up. My lovely salty breeze was now nothing but that putrid smell of second hand smoke.

Don't get me wrong. You have the right to give yourself cancer. I won't stop you. However, where is my right to not have to get it with you? Where is the consideration of stepping to a place where your nasty habit won't infringe on the rights of others? I don't get all preachy to smokers about not smoking. All I ask in return is that you do not drag the rest of us to an early grave with you.

On a related note, the earth is not your @#$%! ashtray! Stop flicking your butts all over it! That thing in your car is an ashtray. Not a change holder moron. Grrrrrr!