Update

Here is an article about an earlier post:

Unconventional Baptist churches not shy about sex

the Wave Method of Neighborhood Improvement

Our neighborhood is considered sort of semi prestigious. It was built at the same time by the same builder as the Indian Ridge neighborhood, which was built as a kind of cheaper less exclusive sister of the Tucson Country Club. So, our neighborhood, like Indian Ridge, was initially home to generally professional families of Doctors and Lawyers and that sort of demographic.

Even the the neighborhood is fifty years old, we still have a high ratio of resident home owners, especially compared to other midtown neighborhoods. This ration bodes well for the safety and valuation of the homes.

Still, we have some wild people that come through from time to time.

So, one of the Deputy County Attorney's I met suggests this tactic for most any neighborhood. He calls it the Wave Test. Basically, it consists of waving at the people you see in your neighborhood. This accomplishes a couple of things. First, it makes your neighborhood appear more friendly. Secondly, it generates the impression that you are waving because you expect to know the people driving through your neighborhood.

This also provides some benefits to your neighborhood. People in your neighborhood might wave back, making it actually a little bit friendlier. those that are checking your neighborhood out, either to live there or for other purposes will gather that everyone knows one another and keeps up with who is in the neighborhood. Those that are looking for a friendly community oriented sort of neighborhood might decide to live there, while those that want their deeds to go unnoticed will move along to other areas.

So, wherever you live, you can help out a little bit by waving at folks as they go by. Try it out.

Pictures from training

A few pictures from the padded assailant training. Can you even see the bruise on my head?

Kinda sad kinda glad story

I usually don't put my work stories on here. While some of them are very interesting, unusual and even exciting, it doesn't seem prudent. For one, they involve people's personal stuff, like their arrest record. Who wants that on my blog? Sometimes they involve ongoing investigations. Don't want to compromise that just so I can entertain you.

But, last night we had a kinda sad, but kinda glad story that I think I will share.

The Border Patrol received a call that a family of illegal immigrants was stranded alongside the roadway. We were called because it was considered a medical "follow up", as the family had indicated that they were dehydrated and starving.

The four of them; Mom, Dad, and dos hermanas were not only tired, dehydrated and hungry, they were also very distraught because they had lost track of two other sisters that had been traveling with them. They had lost them the night before somewhere in the desert.

Border Patrol Borstar guys, their medically trained search agents responded and we gave the family food, water, gatorade....stuff like that, before Border Patrol took them for processing. We told them we would keep looking for the other two. It would really suck to lose half of your children like that.

At then end of my shift, one of our late shift guys tried to pull over a van that drove away and got stuck in the mud. About twenty people ran off, but four of them stayed behind. I was on my way home, as I was already late, but I decided I would go see if I could help. Who knows, maybe the sisters would be there.

When I got there, I found the four, which included two dehydrated and sick sisters, the same ones we were looking four. When we told them that we found their family and that they were terribly worried about them, they started crying.

I guess it was a good thing I went to see, because everyone else who knew that these two went with the others had already left for the night, so we were able to get them all back together before the night was over.

A New Running Mate for Obama

"Nothing says change like getting an old, white, rich politician as your running mate!"
- From my Dad's friend Doug's Facebook.

Sorry, just thought that was funny.

About My Dad

I Added this section that has links to some of the posts, notes, blogs and words that people had to say about my Dad. If you haven't yet, take a look at some of them, because I am very proud of him.

Nudity in the Narthex or Sex in September

On Thursday the kids and I joined about 20 other people for a viewing of Star Wars Episode VI, The Return of the Jedi. I have come to appreciate the local library for the programs they put on, like the movies, some upcoming days that focus on various science topics and, my kids favorite, the summer reading program.

I probably get 2/3's of the books I read at the local library, which includes some of the books I mentioned on here. I have to refrain from reviewing all the books I read, because it seems a little silly to mention them all. But, I do try to at least share a bit about ones that I find interesting.

There is currently some sort of proposition in my town about banning pornography on the computers at the library. At the library I frequent, the computers are in the middle of the place, right next to the kid's non-fiction section. I can't imagine that as being a good place to have porno shows.

In other news, several of the Churches in town (at least three that I know of), are using September to focus on sex, sending out mailers and the like to advertise the upcoming focus. A couple are using the XXX Church Porn Sunday thing that is to highlight the problem of pornography in general and the effect it has on the Church. I know it is an important topic to address, but I think part of the idea (since one of the Pastor's I know said as much, so it is at least for one congregation) is to shock people by showing them how much they are so unlike all the other Churches(except for all the other Churches that are doing it) because they can talk about sex in their service, out loud. I still think it is an important topic to address from a Christian perspective, but does it need to be done in a way that shocks?