Good Day on the Course

June 6th, 2010

I played golf this morning with Ron, Joe, and Mitz. Ron and I were on one team. The team who got the best score on a hole won that hole. There were no hold-over holes, so you only earn one point per hole, if someone won it. Ron and I ended up winning by one or two.

My drives were going great. I had several great chip shots as well. I only had one bad drive the whole day. I was only doing about seventy percent swings and it made all the difference in the world. I had a great round. We finished up around two and I went home and relaxed for a while. I was going to meet the guys at Zeppoz before this evening’s softball game. Cougar Country is playing Zeppoz.

I went to Zeppoz about two hours before game time. I had some pop and chatted with everyone up there. We headed down to the City Playfields about thirty minutes before game time.

We scored the first two innings holding them from scoring. But then they scored five to go up by two runs. They tacked one more here and there. We tacked a couple runs on. But we ended up losing by one run again. In games with the other two A-League teams we lost by one run. We just need a couple timely hits.

Following the game I went to Cougar Country for dinner and home to watch my Sunday night TV shows.

Ought-Nine in Review

January 1st, 2010

JanMr. President – I wanted to be the class president. There were two possible candidates that most likely would have been voted for. Myself and one other guy who works in the jail right now. He also would have been a very fine pic. But it is something I want to do. The vote was held by Ross putting out the ballots. When the counting was done it was nearly unanimous. I am now the Ought-Eight Reserve class President.

FebFinal Mock Scenes – Today was going to be a long day. I was expecting to be done around three or four in the afternoon, but today was the day I was going to prove I could do the job, or I would prove I need more work, or that I am just not cut out for being a cop. I have spent sixteen hours a week for nearly the last five months

MarFirst Day on Patrol – Following the swearing, Jimmy was doing a couple things at the SO before we left to hit the road. We went north on One-Ninety-Five looking for speeders. We pulled over one car, my first as a reserve deputy. I was the cover officer. I went to the car and the passenger was talking with me. The person was given a warning.

AprMy Latest Oil Change – I have lifetime powertrain and bumper-to-bumper warranties. It has a DVD player built into the radio. I have a rearview camera and backup sensors. It has the Hemi with MDS so it shuts down some of the cylinders when they are not needed to help save fuel. It seems to have some get-up and go. It feel great to drive it. Plus it has the newer traction control system so I feel better about driving it on the bad roadways.

MayFirst Code Run – we got to the first address we needed to go to Endicott for a call to back up the others there. We were going code and just passed some cars on SR One-Ninety-Five. After we got past the Albion road a burglary in progress was put out in Albion. So I had to turn around and go back to Albion. So I went code past the cars I had just passed.

JunContract with MH Terminated – Since April of Ought-Four I have been working as a software engineer for NetUpdate and then I was moved to MostHome when they bought out NU. I worked with them until I got notice today that my contract was going be terminated. The application that I worked on since I started with NU was a mortgage application. That was then sold to a competitor a couple months ago. I told MH that I wanted to remain on with them. But as it turned out the project I was put on just got sold off. So they are cutting their ties with me.

JulSecond Class Reserve – I was told I was moved up to second class. They shook my hand and said they had great expectations for me. They all believe that I will do a fine job. That was great. Now, I just need to start to set up times to ride so I can work my way to first class.

AugFinal Shift as a PFD Temp – We got on scene in the ambulance and were made into the backup team. We went to the attic where the seat of the fire was. Eric, who was on his first day back, was on the nozzle and put the fire out. It was still pretty small, but growing. It was lucky that we got there when we did and that the fire was not in the wee hours of the morning when it could have really taken off. I ended up putting in an hour and a half of overtime. So my full-time tally was one year, one month, four days and one and a half hours. It has been a good run.

SeptBushwood Golfs Again – I was hot on my short game. The problem is that we would use after we all hit a drive we would pick one. From that point each person hit his own ball to the hole. I didn’t do too poorly. I was able to keep up in score. In fact my putting made me lead some of the holes. I had some very nice putts including two there were around thirty footers for birdies. It felt great.

OctIM Championship Bound – I hit the ball well, as did the team. Our defense was very good. We went on to win and go to the Semi-finals. We were playing a team that had been using an illegal bat. Once they were called on it, in the previous game, they couldn’t hardly score. It turned out we shut them out. We scored nine runs. We didn’t hit the ball as well as I would have hoped, but we won. Ryan said it best, this is the most worried I have felt in a shut out. We never had a big enough lead that put me at ease. Not until we scored the ninth run and the other team no longer had a chance to win because of the eight-run limit.

NovGay Firefighter – Then I was asked a question about how I feel I am treated being a gay in the fire department. I said since I have been outed to everyone I don’t feel that I have ever been treated poorly due to being gay. Chris let me know that he has known for years. He said that pretty much everyone on the fire department on the career side knows. He said there are probably only a couple people who don’t really know. He said that they probably have been told, but think that people are screwing with them. It is without a doubt that the information is told to everyone. I am not sure who actually tells the others but the information is freely available. But once again no one treats me differently.

DecSearch for Missing Hunter – I was teamed up with three young men. It turned out it was the son of the missing man and his friends. They wanted to put a member of the SO with each team going out searching. We were sent down the road a ways to start our search. The son was leading the way as he knew the area well. We made our way along some level ground. There was about four inches of new snow. It was covering rocks on the ground so we had to be careful where we stepped.

This years review shows many things that were related to being a reserve Deputy. I guess that is the major thing that has happened to me over this last year. I am now a sworn reserve law enforcement officer. Many of the writings I had through out the year dealt with the class or going out to patrol. I also had an unusual suicide where I was able to trace the night leading up to the death of a young man. It was very unusual and probably affected me more than any other death I investigated. It didn’t make the list this year because the fact that I am a gay man who is a firefighter is something I am always thinking about. When it was finally brought up with some people I have never talked to about it before it was a big conversation to me. It was nice to hear his perspective. Ought-Nine was a good year overall. I had some frustrations at the fire department, but they were overall small in the grand scheme of life. I am jobless, but I do have a new contract where I will finally start to bring in some money again. It has been a year that I am happy with.

Bushwood Plays Again

September 26th, 2009

This afternoon I was playing golf with Ben and his Dad. Dustin, a friend of Ben’s was also playing. It was in the Turf Club tournament at the Palouse Ridge Golf Course. It was only my second time to play there. I showed up about two o’clock meeting up with Ben, and Lewis, his Dad. Dustin was also there. I hit more than two-hundred and fifty practice balls.

A little while after the practice we hit the course. I was in the cart with Dustin. He is a ten-six-seven. I was surprised to see that he is now married. He hits the ball pretty well. I wasn’t good on the drives. But we had to use three drives from each person. My drives were not always that great, but we picked ones that would not hurt the team to much.

I was hot on my short game. The problem is that we would use after we all hit a drive we would pick one. From that point each person hit his own ball to the hole. I didn’t do too poorly. I was able to keep up in score. In fact my putting made me lead some of the holes. I had some very nice putts including two there were around thirty footers for birdies. It felt great.

The wind was incredible. It was blowing pretty good all day. It kept everybody’s game in check. We had to battle the wind from every direction.

Hanging out with Ben was so much fun. Ben is a super great guy. Always a very nice person, plus he is ten-six-seven. He is in great shape and plays gold very well. I wish he still lived around here because he is great in softball too. I could use him on my team.

Golfing

September 2nd, 2009

The evening I went golfing with my brother and one of his college buddies. It has been a little while since I last swung my clubs. I could tell because I was not getting any solid hits through out the night. Some of my normally good areas were pretty poor this evening. I wasn’t able to find anything that I was able to do well.

I ended up getting par on the eighth hole, but that was pretty lucky. It was a par four and my hits were decent. I also sunk a fifteen foot putt to get the par. Other than that I shot a sixty-seven on nine. After golfing we went to dinner with the guys. They way it works is the loser pitches in the most money. The winner doesn’t have to pay anything. It cost me about forty bucks for the meal tonight.

I got home and spent the rest of the evening watching TV and surfing the web.

D-Twelve Golf Tournament

June 20th, 2009

I met up with Chuck, Chia, and Carter for an afternoon of golfing. The problem with our team is that I actually carried our team. I am not a great golfer, so for me to carry the team, you know we were in trouble from the get-go.

We played eighteen holes. It took nearly six hours for the whole things. The first round we were waiting around a lot of people got bottled up. But on the turn we had a quick lunch and went back out to the course. The bottleneck wasn’t there and we were able to move along a lot more rapidly. Chuck and Carter were drinking, and all the beer was part of the fees so they drank a lot. Chia and I were not drinking. I had to work tonight so I had an excuse to not drink.

When it was done I rushed to the SO. I got my uniform on and got a car ready to go out on patrol. Anderson and I were working together. He asked me what I needed to do to get to second class. I told him that I needed my FTO book signed off. He said I am ready for second class so he wanted to help me get there. We started by spending several hours going through my FTO book. I got almost the whole thing signed off. I only have a couple pages to go. That is great.

We hit the road for several hours. We didn’t not get into too much. We made a couple traffic stops, but there was not a lot going on where we were. A fight in progress went out in Tekoa. We had three reserves working in town up there. Anderson and I started to head that way, but when the reserves got on scene there was no fight so we turned around and started to make our way back to the SO.

Par Three Golfing

September 2nd, 2008

I was going to do some golfing today, but it got cancelled, but Jon was taking the boys to a par three course in Kent. He invited me to come. Around noon I went shopping for a new golf bag. I wanted one that I could wear like a back back. I was able to find one that fit the bill. I picked that up. I also got some pointers on my swing while I was there. I cannot wait to try it out with my driver. I hope it cleans up my slice I have had.

At the par three course I did okay, but I had some bad hits along the way, but all the holes were pretty short, all under two-hundred yards. After golfing we went to Costco for pizza for dinner before heading home.

Golfing at Mt Si

August 28th, 2008

I was thinking that there could be some golf tonight. Jim actually texted me while I was thinking about it. He said they were looking for another person. I told him that I would play.

I drove into the office to start off. I was there long enough to get my computers hooked up and participate in a short phone call. I also was learning about the latest with the company and what was going to be happening with the possible sale.

I left to get to Issaquah to meet up with Jim. I drove us to the Mt. Si golf course. It was my first time playing there. We were playing dots. I wasn’t doing great to start off with but I did some up with some redeeming shots. I wasn’t in last place in dots when we were done with the day, but I still owed money for dinner.

We went to the Pour House. I got a burger and had some of the deep fried green beans. They were not that bad. I guess it shows when something is deep fried it makes it better.

Fantasy Draft at My Place

August 24th, 2008

We started by golfing this morning down in Colfax. There was a large group of people down there. The first nine everyone played on their own. Then in the second half we teamed up in to pairs. It was those teams they went on to challenge each other for the best score. The winners would split the pool. Each person put in five bucks to start. I was teamed with Ron because he had the second best score and I had the second worst score after the first nine holes. Team Ron and Scotty went on to tie the best score. Due to that we split with the other team.

After the golfing we went to Pullman. I had Ron and Heather as well as CBass coming over for the FFL draft. I worked on getting Ron’s and my computer set up to use. I worked on making sure the house was looking okay and that I had quarters for the pop machine. When they came over we ordered some pizza and wings. I ended up drinking some beer with them tonight. I also had some hard-A. They were over for a couple hours doing the draft. I got Farve as my quarterback. That was good, because I wasn’t sure if someone else would try to steal him from me.

Playing Palouse Ridge

August 19th, 2008

I was supposed to play golf today with someone, but the one guy I had scheduled ended up double booking himself and he couldn’t come. I called around and no one else was available. So it was just me. I went to the Palouse Ridge Golf Course. The weather wasn’t great. It was the soft opening. I got a golf cart and I was teamed up with another person to play the round. The guy I was with had played there already so he was able to help me out with the holes and how to play them.

I lost several balls along the way. There are no fairways next to other fairways like at Colfax. So if you miss your fairway by a lot you very well may lose your ball. I lost balls on nine holes along the way. But I did find several along the way as I was looking for my ball.

At the end of the round one of the workers asked how it was. I said it was good. I asked if they had a lost and found. He said yes, what did I lose. I said my ball and then I laughed. I joked about making a lost poster with a photo of my golf ball and I was going to see if they would post it.

Recording at the Driving Range

August 17th, 2008

After I got off work today I thought I would do some hitting at the driving range. I wanted to record my swing to see if I can find what is kicking my butt. I don’t know if I will be able to pick it up, but I figure this is a good time to see how my swing looks.

After the driving range I went to the rec center. I ran and did some push-ups and sit-ups. I also made my way to Moscow to get some address labels for Rhonda. She wanted her Cougar logo with the address. I created one and then printing one page that I planned on showing her to see if it was to her liking.

Big Golf Shot

August 14th, 2008

This morning I got into the office to work on my computers to fix the problems that have been sent to me. I was also planning on meeting with Jon and the others for lunch at Three Pigs. While there I was asked to go golfing with Jim and his golfing buddies. After lunch Jon gave me his driver because he was having a hard time hitting with it.

I was excited to get a chance to use it tonight. I didn’t do to hot on the golf course. We were going to be playing for money. I was hitting the ball right, like I seem to do all the time. I lost a number of balls as we were playing nine holes.

But on one hole I put the ball past the green about thirty yards. I had trees between me and the green. I saw about half the green to the left of one tree. I was going to hit it there, then I saw an opening about four feet wide. I could see the pin. I decided to go for it. I used my pitching wedge. I hit it and it went between the trees. It hits a couple leaves along the way. It bounced once on the green. It hit the pin and fell into the cup. Jim screamed loud. He loved he shot. I didn’t know it went in after first. That was a great shot.

We went out to dinner later on. All the money lost to the other people is put on the table and shared in food. It is just the winner doesn’t have to pay for dinner and drinks when it is done.

Co-Ed Post-Season Tourney

July 12th, 2008

I started at pitcher and I wasn’t doing great. We were playing a coed B league team that was moved up into our league. I walked several people through out the first couple innings costing us runs. Finally I got Heston to pitch and the pitching problem went away. We started to get better at the plate and we started to get walked plus we were hitting the ball well. Sooner or later we finally took a lead.

It was a tight game but we ended up pulling it out and staying in the winning ways.

After the game we went to Pete’s Bar and Grill for some food and beer while waiting for our next game. But I was going to be going to the golf tournament.

I stuck around until the latest possible time I could wait until I had to go home and get ready to golf. Matt found a guy named Travis to cover for him on the team because Matt was unable to play. I called him and we planned on riding together to Colfax.

While the game was getting ready to start I got the lineup written and a couple umpired were roasting me in front of Heston and some others. I was laughing so hard. It was about my pitching. They said that Heston should never let me pitch. I took it very well.

As a joke I took the mound as the game was getting ready to start and one of the umpire who roasted me was there. I looked at him and pretended that I wasn’t going to pitch because of what he said. It was pretty good.

I went to home after that to get ready. I got my golf clubs and went to Dissmore’s. I got some water and picked up Travis. He is ten-six-seven. His complexion reminds me of BKoe.

When we got to Colfax he took his shirt off to switch to a different shirt. That was a treat because, as I said, he was ten-six-seven.

We finally got out on the course. I had Hansen and Pete playing with my team. We were not kicking butt, but we were holding our own. At the break we had some dinner and did the raffle. I won a couple prized including golf balls, a shirt, and a hat.

On the second round we were using the glow balls. It was harder, but I started to do better because I wasn’t trying to crush the ball. Towards the end of the round Pete hit a ball and it looked like he crushed it, but we don’t know where the ball went because he hit the glow stick out of the ball. Hansen did that twice as well. We were laughing so hard.

Golfing at Colfax

May 26th, 2008

I set the alarm clock to wake me up in the morning only to wake up on my own. I got myself ready for golf and drove to Colfax. I did some putting while waiting for the tee-off time. Joe, Ron, Heather, Jonathan, Dan, and Michele were all there.

Once it was time to tee-off we had a group of seven golfers. We started our way around the course. I was doing okay overall. I shot way over my normal average, but I had some good drives. On the seventh hole I always have some issues with the small stream. I got up to it and only needed to chip over it. I hit a ball, it made it over the stream only to hit a tree and bounce back, landing in the water. Heather was laughing so hard.

The second round was a lot better for me. I came close to getting a birdie on one hole. But I missed my putt by several inches. I did get one chip from the fringe that hit someone else’s ball sending mine in to the hole.

After golfing we went to Ron and Heathers for dinner and poker. I was able to play one short tournament. I won twenty bucks in it.

I went to the fire station where we did some learning on the new EMS computers. We also went over a couple things on Rescue with Chipper and Williams. After washing it we all went home.

It was a quiet night until just after four in the morning. We got called to a dumpster fire. Rescue was on scene second and we helped put out the fire and do the overhaul. Loren was just getting home from the casino and was the RP on the fire.

We spent almost two hours between the fire and clean up of the equipment afterwords. I went home and went back to sleep.

Very Hot Day

May 17th, 2008

Brandon came to the camp site and I got to see him for the first time a while. He got his uniform from Kelly and went to put it on. The team went to do some warm up hitting. I didn’t do so hot there. Brandon was crushing the ball as normal for him.

Then it was off to the fields. I had water with me but I would soon find that it was getting hotter and hotter. I was trying to stay hydrated but it was hard to keep up. I could tell I was dehydrated. So I drank more water through out the day.

The first two games were losses. But we were not playing super poorly. Our hitting in the first game was horrible however, we didn’t get but about two runners on base in the first three innings. Then we finally started to hit. We lost but a couple runs. It was almost the same thing for our second game.

After those games we played a team that was not doing well at all. We really crushed them. Our hitting was better that game as well. I didn’t do great in that game, but I did have good hitting in the second game.

After the games Brandon gave me a ride back to my motorhome. I turned on the air conditioner and tried to cool down and hydrate some more. Kelly was planning on going golfing. I was going to skip out on that, but I decided to go. Geo and Andy came along.

Andy and I were in one cart with Kelly and Geo in another cart. Kelly and Geo were good, Andy and I sucked. I shot my normal rate of double and triple bogie’s on most holes. We played until around seven-thirty.

On the way back I bought a couple gallons of water and some Gatorade. I got back to the motorhome and worked on getting the stats put into the computer. I had some dinner and then went to the main camp. We hung out and talked about many things as normal. It was just time to sit around and laugh and have a good time.

I went to bed early again tonight.

I was neat to see Brandon again. We use to be neighbors in Stephenson. That was more than a decade ago. He was only eighteen when we met. Now he is thirty. He looks older of course. He is still very athletic like he was when we met.

Golfing in the ‘Fax

August 4th, 2007

This morning was Joe’s golfing game. It is always an early tee time. I always get there just before the actual tee off time. Today was no different. I spent the normal amount of time hitting trees. In fact I won the award for the most trees hit.

After the golfing I went to Colfax Fire. I hung out for a couple hours. Eric and Rick were there. We watched Rocky. But as the day was going it was very quiet.

I had been needing to do some shopping for a while. I finally got off my duff and made my way to Safeway for a shopping trip.

A lucky day?

July 7th, 2007

With the date being seven/seven/seven people thought it was going to be a lucky day. I wouldn’t say it was a lucky day for me, but it was a good day and I didn’t get struck by lightning, so it couldn’t have been that bad.

Starting out this morning with golf was fun. I was running late getting down to Colfax. I was pulling into the parking lot as the group was heading out to the first tee. But we had two groups and I was able to get part of the second group. I was playing with Carl, Brian, and Diane. My first tee off was very nice. But the day was about normal for my kind of golf. I got a one-thirteen on the eighteen holes. I actually did worse my second time through.

I won a prize for hitting the most trees during my round. I didn’t realize how many times I hit trees, but I counted and I hit about seven per round. That is nearly one per hole on average.

After the golfing it was off to Colfax Fire. I hung out with Ken for a while watching some TV and having lunch. We were watching Mythbusters. Around four I had to leave to get back to Pullman to be on call here. I told Ken that I was done keeping it quiet for him. I was going to be heading out.

When I got home I heard Colfax get dispatched out to a car vs motorcycle accident. That had to have been dispatched shortly after I left. I really was keeping it quiet.

I got cleaned up and went to the station for rig checks. We were talking about Rescue and being a driver. A. Wilcox asked if he could ever go on the ambulance and not be the drive all the time. I told him that because of the fact he doesn’t have all the Rescue training he shouldn’t be the driver at all.

We then went out and did some training at the tower with setting up the rig, putting water on the fire, doing pump and roll attacks and other such scenarios. We did a good two hours of training.

Afterwards Bien bought the ice cream he owed for getting into the newspaper. We went to Dissmores to get that. Back at the station we had some cake and ice cream. I went to Peter’s afterwards for poker. I was not doing too well. I had one big win, then I had a big loss where I tried to push someone off a hand when mine was weaker. But he did not get off his hand and ended up beating me. I re-bought a couple times. I was sort of up and down on my third buy-in.

When the tones went off for a call. I quickly went all-in and Kevin called me. I ended up winning that all in and left. I was only down two bucks on the night after that point. I had the best hand after the flop and took it to the river as the winner.

I went on the call followed by a second call just as the movie Desperado was starting. I was hoping to watch to the scene where the bar is shot up. But I got called out to a second call at the very beginning of the movie. That was it for calls. I went to bed around three in the morning.

Near Car Accident

June 23rd, 2007

I started out this morning waking up without an alarm clock. I forgot to set it before going to bed. I was supposed to be in Colfax at eight o’clock AM to have breakfast with Jim and Jerrid. I got up a quarter of eight. So I had to hustle. I got to Well’s in Colfax around eight-fifteen. I had breakfast with the other guys. Carl happened to be at the booth next to us when I got there. Today we are playing softball and golf.

After breakfast it was off to Steptoe for the softball game. It was Colfax fire against Steptoe fire. On the way there I was just outside of Colfax going up Buck Canyon. I saw a truck pulling over to the shoulder, then it kept going off the road into the ditch. All of a sudden the driver corrected and was coming back on the highway aimed straight at my truck. We were on a collision course. I hit my brakes and moved over a little bit. I was getting prepared for the collision. I was not sure where my truck was going to get hit, but I was very scared.

Then the driver re-corrected his path and started to spin out, He did a one-eighty. He was facing the wrong way going across his original lane of travel. Then he hit the soft shoulder and his truck rolled. I pulled over and grabbed my radio. I was shaking pretty bad.

I got out and the man in the car behind me said he thought I was going to get hit. I said “so did I”. I got ahold of Whitcom on the radio to let them know what I was out on. Jim and Jerrid were behind me and did not see the accident happen. They stopped as well.

I walked across the highway to the truck. The man was already out and getting things from his truck. It landed on its wheels and he was okay. He said he had fallen asleep. Once Colfax Police got on scene I cleared and we continued to Steptoe. The game had just started. We were on offense. Our hitters were not able to hit the ball very well, and the other teams’ pitcher could not get the ball across the plate. But we swung anyway. I did not hit the ball well at all. One time I did get patient and ended up walking.

On defense I played right field most of the game and I played at first base for two innings. We ended up losing to Steptoe. After the game Jerrid, Jim, and I stuck around and hit the ball around. We were hitting the ball well at that time. Ralph asked why we couldn’t hit like that during the game.

After we hit around for a while we went to the Steptoe fire station for a community barbecue. Jim and I were sitting inside the office area of the fire station when a mom with a six year old came in and said he got a couple slivers. Jim got an alcohol pad and a needle so we could help the kid. He was whimpering about the slivers. I used the alcohol pad to clean the hand, and then pulled out the needle. the kid wanted to see it before I used it. I handed it to him with the cap still on.

He pulled it out the cap and tried to recap it when he missed the cap and hit his finger with the needle. He screamed bloody-murder and cried like crazy. Then he would not go near me so I could clean the blood. It was pretty much a finger prick like when someone does a blood sugar check. It was nothing major, but he was going to have nothing to do with me after that. His mom took him to the bathroom to clean the blood.

The food was getting served so Jim and I got in line for the food and sat down with Jeff and Ralph. We ate and talked about fire department stuff for a while. This was also the day the big ball was going to get rolled down Steptoe Butte. We were planning on going to watch that. I went to get some gas. When I got back I found they were not going to go do that for a couple more hours. Jim and I decided to just go back to Colfax. I dropped Jim off at home and then I went to the jail.

I went to the Coroners office to drop off my case report from the death yesterday and then went to control and hung out until just after four o’clock. I updated a couple forms we use. The incident and infraction report has a margin on the left side that when it gets holes punched into it, the words are punched out. So I got that fixed by making the margin wider.

I went to Rosauers on the way to the golf course to get some pop and water. I went to the golf course and practiced some golf putting. I put on my new golf shoes and went into the clubhouse to pay for the tournament stop.

We got golf carts which was nice to have because I did not want to have to walk the whole course. We played a shotgun start, best ball tournament. We started on hole number six. We played nine holes and then went to the clubhouse for dinner. Once all the teams were back we ate and held the raffle for a lot of items that were donated. The golf tournament is put on by the Colfax police department for raising money for the Special Olympics.

After dinner and the raffle we went back out for the second round. We played with glow balls and had glow sticks on the flags and markers around the course. It was my first time playing in a glow ball tournament. It was fun to do. We had to watch the ball go because it was harder to see the ball when it went into the grass. I ended up losing one ball on the ninth hole, hitting it onto the road way. I had to use a second ball for the next five holes. I was doing very well today on my drives because I was not trying to crush the ball. In fact if I tried to over swing my ankle would hurt, so I had to ease back and that made a big difference in my game.

When I was done on the golf course it was almost eleven-thirty. I went to Pullman and waited until just after midnight for a poker game at Peter’s. We started playing near one in the morning. We played until four in the morning. I did very bad. I was calling on a lot of things and ended up losing about twenty bucks. That sucked, but it was a good day over all.

I got home and went to bed shortly after I got home. I was very tired.

Golf Tournament

October 22nd, 2006

I was very tired this morning when I got up for the Golf Tournament in Colfax. I was playing with Ben, Ashton, and Ben’s Dad, Louis. We had carts for the rounds today so that made it very nice. We teed off in this eighteen-hole, best-ball, scramble tournament. Ben was one of the organizers.

We did not show very well. I had a very good time hanging out with Ben and the others. I had a couple good shots, but more or less my day was ugly. Upon completing the golf I went home and went to sleep for a couple hours. I had to get up for dodgeball.

I made my way to Smith Gym. We played and actually won a game again. We are getting better. But in the end we lost. I went back home quickly and went to bed because I have to get up early in the morning to get back to Seattle.

Spring Training Day Three

March 8th, 2006

Again we got up early to go play golf. Today we were playing at the third oldest golf course in Arizona. It was cold and my back started to hurt so I only played the first fourteen holes or so. Then rest of the time I drove the cart. Early on when I was playing I lost several balls in the water. I seemed to always be able to find the water.

After golf it was off to more baseball games. The weather was getting warmer. I was feeling really bad and I started to feel really sick after a while. So I walked around for a while and stayed in the shade. The Mariners lost again. We had some time before the evening game against the Japan National Team. Ichiro is playing for it. It was weird to see him play against the M’s.

I stayed in the car and slept for most of the time between the game. Finally it was close to game time and the others who were at Hooters came and got me. We went to our seats. Dan Wilson was in the dugout for the game. It was neat to see him.

The M’s lost that game. They were in it for early on. Then Japan took a big lead. Only for the M’s to come within one in the last inning. But they could not do it.

We went to a Bar-B-Q place near the stadium. It was good food and huge portions. I could not eat everything.

After eating we went back to the hotel and relaxed for the evening rather than going out like the nights before.

Spring Training Day Two

March 7th, 2006

Today was a long day starting out by getting up early to go golfing. It was my first time out since playing in Pullman last fall. We rented carts which was nice. We played eighteen holes. It cost about fifty bucks for the green fees and the cart. A lot more than I am use to paying at Pullman. I did okay. I shot my normal one-thirty-ish on the holes.

I liked the course. Jon, Jim, and Terry did some skins and other bets on the course. I stayed away from the betting. I would have won one hole with my par. But for the most part I cannot keep up with them very well.

After golfing we had to hurry to get to the baseball game. It was being played at a different park. We had been in the sun all day yesterday and today. Jon was starting to get sunburnt pretty good.


Jon is really red

You can get really close seats at Spring Training. We got to see a lot of the Mariners players. It is a pretty neat experience. Everyone is very laid back. We were always sitting close to the field. Close enough to hear the umpires and players speak. Very strange in deed.

The Mariners lost again. It is becoming a pattern this spring training. But it is fun to be there all the same. I found number Sixty-Five, Rob Johnson, is a ten-six-seven. At least that what I can see from the stands.

After the game we went to a casino for a few hours and then we went to some gentleman’s clubs. We got in for free with our baseball game ticket stubs.

Spring Training Day One

March 6th, 2006

It was weird to not go to work today. I was up early and I got ready to go to the airport. We are playing to Arizona for Spring Training for the next four day. Jon and I went from my place to get Jim then terry. Both live in the highlands. We got to SeaTac and waited for the flight.

It was not too bad of a flight down. When we got to Arizona Terry and I went to get the rental car. Jon and Jim got the luggage. We were running late and went straight to the stadium for the baseball games. We pulled into the stadium as they opened the parking for anyone to take. So we parked for free and we were in the front spot. It was nice. We got to our seats.

We were so close you could hear the players and see the action well.


Close to the action

The Mariners actually won this game. It was fun to see them win one. You could see all the young guys who were trying to make the team as they ran back and forth around the infield area. There were a lot of ten-six-sevens. I wish I could have taken a lot more photos. I want to get a press pass should I go back. I need to work with KZUU about getting me one.

After the game we went out on the town. We drove to a casino and everyone played table games. I only watched. I was not going to play. I was watching at one table. There was a ten-six-seven. I could not get enough. I just stayed there for ever.

Then we went to a strip club. It was not my idea, but I was the designated driver for the whole thing. So I had to drive everyone there. I was trying to stay entertained as well as I could until my brother bought me a lap dance. Wow. That is not my cup of tea on so many levels. The girl was nice and we were able to talk and I felt sort of normal. My brother was laughing.

We headed back and got to bed around three in the morning. We have to be up around seven. I am going to be tired tomorrow I would guess.

Last minute Coroners call

April 30th, 2005

When my alarm clock was sounding I started to get up. I was tired, but I had to get to Pullman to go golfing with Ben. Ryan and Jen also were with us. On the first hole I teed off and hit the ball really high and about twenty feet down the green. Not a good start, but I always seem to do poorly on the first hole. My next shot flew into a tree. We did not see it bounce out. It was stuck in the tree somewhere. I could not find it and ended up dropping a ball. I got an eleven on the first hole. It did not get better after that. I was having a hard time keeping the ball doing what I wanted. A few holes I had a good drive. A couple times I was on the green in three and needed fifteen or twenty foot putts for par. I would usually three putt.

On one hole I spent three shots on the fairway of another hole. Finally losing my ball around the teebox. I had to do a drop, and with the bad hits, it still took me three shots to get the ball to the green which was only forty feet away.

After we were done golfing I went to Zeppoz and no one was there to play poker. It was before the opened. So I stopped by the fire station. I talked to Michael and Brian. Chuck was there and said John was going to stop by. Chuck got called to do a transfer. John came down and we played Halo Two. I was getting my butt kicked. I had never played before. After we played for about an hour or so we played cribbage. I lost at that. John had to get going, so we dealt a couple hands of Texas Hold’em. Then we both left.

I went back to Colfax and watched some TV. Around dinner time I went to Subway and brought it back to the jail. I hung out in control and operated the doors while Dale and Curtis did rounds and a booking. Then I got a phone call from Pullman Regional Hospital. A person had died. After getting some information, I confirmed with Pete we wanted to take jurisdiction. The call came in about seven o’clock pm. I was planning on going to bed at eight because I needed to be up at four am. So I figured that plan was shot.

I drove to Pullman and went to the hospital. Kimballs funeral home was there as well. I had called for them to meet me. I spoke with the family and with one of the people in on the operation. Kimball’s took the body back to the funeral home while I gathered everything I needed to from the hospital.

I went to the funeral home and did my body exam there and well as photographing the body. There was a question that we wanted to do an autopsy. So we put the body in refrigeration. Then I headed back to Colfax to get the report completed. I spoke with Pete a few times about everything I had. He asked me to call the hospital and put a hold on the blood draws. I called the hospital and had them do that.

I went to the SO and printed the pictures out as well as wrote up my report. Because I was going to be gone I wanted to get everything done. Dale came downstairs and we talked a little bit about car accidents and people who died in them.

By the time the report was done and turned in, I would not get much sleep, so I headed back to Renton. I filled my truck and hit the road. I was doing fine for a while, but I planned on stopping at a rest area along the way to nap. I got to the one on top of Vantage hill and I was able to press on. But when I got to the one outside of Cle Elum I decided to stop. I went to the bathroom and then took a hour long nap. I woke up and hit the road again. I got home and went upstairs and went to bed at six-thirty am. I set the alarm clock for eight am. I was in for a long sleep. NOT!

Mad Cow without the disease

April 9th, 2005

This morning started off with meeting Ben at the Colfax Golf course for a golf tournament. It is a scramble and I am playing on Ben’s team. I am not that good and he is really good, so I am surprised he asked me to play. I feel bad for the other guys on the team. I hope that I do not hold them back.

Ryan from the softball team and a guy named Mike were the teammates. We started on the sixth hole. The problem is that we had to use four drives from each person on the eighteen holes. I don’t have a great drive so I was hoping to do well on the short holes so the team would not be handicapped by my short drives. We used one of my drives on the first eleven holes. So on the final seven we had to use three of mine. I was worried about it. But it turned out I had two great drives in a row. I had a two-hundred and twenty-five yard drive followed by a two-hundred-fifteen yard drive. On one short Par four Ben drive to the green in one. We were about twenty feet or so out. I took the first put and sank it for the Eagle! I was really happy about that.


Ben, Scotty, Mike, Ryan

We ended with a four under and ended up in fifth place. Last time Ben’s team took first place. But I don’t think I really handicapped the team that much at all. We won some prizes. I got a three pack of golf balls.


Colfax Police Officer Nebe and the Steer

While we were on the course around the second hole I looked over and a steer was running on the course. Ben got some pics. It was running around and Bryce from Colfax PD tried to get it back to the slaughter house. The steer had nothing to do with that and ran across the course and across a green leaving hoof prints all the way across it. When we got to the seventh hole we heard a gunshot come from the neighborhood to the South. A tiny bit later we saw the steer run back really close to the ninth hole that we were on. It was bleeding and pretty mad at that time. It ran past the ball that Mike drove on the ninth hole and got some blood on the ball.


Mike with the blood red ball

Finally it made its way back to the slaughter house and Scott from Colfax fire was asked to come down and finish it off. With one shot between the eyes it was dropped.

I went home and grabbed my computer and stuff for the football game. I called Ryan twice and left messages. He never answered his phone nor returned my messages. I am disappointed that Ryan is not willing to help me when I need him.

I made my way to the Kibbie Dome. After the eighteen holes of golf my ankle was really sore. I was hobbling everywhere. I got my computer set up and got the final touches on the teams’ roster text files. I got the script for the game. I was going to have to do it on my own today again. But I am hoping with my FootballPA application that I will be able to do it.

Brian’s, the teams’ PR guy, brother was going to ask his girlfriend to marry her at half time. We set up a screen to read out “Lisa, will you marry me?” At half time I made an announcement that there was a special message on the screen. I never heard what the answer was because Brian’s brother never showed back up to the stats booth where he did stats. So I am not sure if things went well. I am sort of thinking they did not go well.

I was able, with the help of the FootballPA do the game by myself. For the most part I was able to keep up with things and did a good job I believe. I made notes of things I would like to change about it to make it easier to use for the next time.

After the game I got some dinner and drove to Colfax. I dropped some stuff off at the coroner’s office and then went to control and talked to the guys up there for a tiny bit. I was tired so I went home and watched some TV before falling asleep.

Hanging out with Ben

March 12th, 2005

I got a call from Ben to start out my morning. We planning on meeting up and doing a short golf lesson and hitting the a bucket of balls. I met Ben at the golf course I paid my fees and bought a bucket of balls. I pulled out the seven iron and he started by telling me a lot of things about stance, holding the club, and the swing.

After getting through the bucket of balls my back was really hurting, but I was ready to get going. Ben’s friend showed up and we started with our three-some. After the first hole there was a solo golfer behind us. We invited that guy to join us. He did so for the rest of the way we had a four-some. I was not having the best of days but I was holding my own. Ben would give me some instruction on the course when certain situations came up. He taught me how to get out of a sandtrap. After we were done with the round of golf Ben and I decided to go to the WSU baseball game that was underway.

We went inside and saw Mark from our softball team. We sat behind home plate a few rows back. The score was seven to zero in the first inning. The Cougs were doing well. But while we were there we only saw good pitching, with no offense to speak of. Towards the middle of the game Ben asked if I wanted to go to his place and get something to eat real fast then come back.

So we drove to Ben’s and I had a beer and a TV dinner. We started to watch some of the Best of Will Ferrell. As we got into it Ben said we would go back to the game at three pm. So we left and walked back into the stadium. We got our seat. Started to get into the game. A guy from the other team hit into a double play and the game was over. We sort of laughed about the fact we came back for one more play.

We went back to Ben’s apartment. We were going to watch a couple movies. When I got there he had the idea to hit the softball for a while. So we went to the playfields and hit the ball about thirty times each. Then we went back to Ben’s apartment. We watched Caddyshack and Anchorman. I had never seen either of those movies. I was laughing so hard during them. Ben made a couple bags of popcorn. I could not believe how funny those movies were.

I talked to Ryan and we decided to go to dinner at Applebee’s in Moscow. So Ben and I rushed over there. We sat down and ate. JT was our waiter. He gave us all free pop. That was nice of him. After we finished eating we decided to hit the bars in Pullman. Ryan was the one who really wanted to go. So Ben got his car and drove us to My Office. We got on the trivia and I had one more beer. We played trivia until about two in the morning. Ben offered me a place to stay for the night, but I decided to head back to Colfax and sleep there.

Today was a blast. I have not had a day like this for a while. Just being busy doing fun stuff, one thing after another. And on top of that getting a chance to hang out with Ben so long without other people around. It was just a wonderful day.

New golf clubs

March 11th, 2005

I went to work and with my project finished, aside from the adding of the new type for the appexport, I spent time trying to step through the process to see where I could fix it.

Around noon a group of us went to lunch. We got some subs and I was given a coupon for a free sub and pop. So lunch did not cost me a thing. That was nice. Free lunches… nice!

I stuck around until about two o’clock pm. Then I hit the road. My cell phone was totally dead and I could not find the charger when I left my house. I was hoping it would be at my house in Colfax. While I was looking for it before leaving to go to work this morning I found the golf clubs that Jon gave me a while back. So I took those to Colfax with me.

When I got in I went to my house and put my golf clubs in my golf bag. Then I called Whitcom and let them know I would be on and available via radio only. I let them know my cell phone was dead and being charged. I put the phone on the charger and drove down the fire station.

I hung out there for a while and talked to Carl, Tim, and Ken. Tim and Ken left on a call and I chatted with Carl a little more. Around eight o’clock I went home and got my cell phone and then headed to Pullman. Ryan and I were going to watch Third Watch and go to see Hostage.

I also talked to Ben about golfing tomorrow. We are planning on meeting up around ten am. I called Phil, Ron, and Mark about golfing with us. None of them were able to go.

I got to Pullman and grabbed a pizza from Little Caesars. I went to Ryans. We ate the pizza and watched some TV. Then we went to see the movie. It was pretty good. The ending was lacking for me. Some loose ends did not seem like they were tied up for me. Some movies have been doing the recently and I don’t like that. But over all the movie was pretty good.

We headed back to Ryan’s apartment and watched SouthPark. I left and went home a little while after one am because I wanted to get a decent night of sleep.