Gunfighter: A Modern Warrior's Life

Monday

Memorial Day 

Sunday

We had a grand time on Sunday... and Soccer Girl got a new puppet. 

Saturday: 1700

Attending the wedding of some friends, in Jacksonville. 

Friday: 1030

A relaxing day of fun!  Pirates, Buzz Lightyear, Winnie The Pooh, Haunted Mansion, Carousel of Progress, Philharmagic... you name it, we did it!

 

Thursday: 1400

 1400:  Leavin' on a jet plane.... and not a minute too soon.  Oh, and I have  a story to tell you about the d-bag family on our flight. 

If You Mess with The Bull...

...You get the horns.

 

Unfortunately, after the bull gored this a**hole, the other matadors killed it.  Personally, I believe that since it is called bullfighting, instead of bullkilling, the bull should have been pardoned and allowed to live.  After all, he won the fight.

 

That'll learn ya to torture animals.

On My Mind This Morning

·     One good definition of the word “Douchebag” (as it applies to people) is this:  A Douchebag is the kind of person who will use a long merging lane as a passing lane, simply to get past six or eight cars, not giving a Tinker’s damn about the fact that this selfish act will cause further traffic slowdowns during peak traffic periods.

 

·     The term “odd man out” is overused, but so perfectly applicable at times, even in family structures.

 

·     It has come to me, over years of observation, that men and women are truly, truly dishonest when it comes to relationships.  Women want Family/Children/Security.  Men want Sex/Toys (not sextoys)/Television.

 

·     The lady that makes my coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts is a bit sweet on me.  She always makes a point of touching my hand for some reason or other.  I’m not very touchy with strangers, so it is a good thing for her that my coffee (extra cream, extra sugar) is ALWAYS perfect when she is on shift.

 

·     I have a post-academy recruit class in session now.  Today is qualification day with their handguns.  Two of them may fail… one of them is practically certain.

 

·     I got a new badge last week.  The old one will be sealed in Lucite, and will end up as a paperweight on my desk.  A paperweight that will likely find a home behind the computer monitor that I am looking at as I type this.  Why do I know this?  Because that is where my other old badge-encased-in-lucite resides.

 

·     I sometimes wonder if people treat me the way that they do because of what I do for a living.

 

·     The previous entry is bullsh*t.  I know for a fact that people treat me the way that they do because of what I do for a living.  It’s a blessing and a curse, you know.  I like the fact that I am treated with respect by many people because I wear a uniform and badge.  I am very unhappy about the people who are practically stiff with fear whenever they see me.  Good guys/bad guys?  I don’t think that it is that simple.

 

·     I would like to sleep in some day.  Sleep in and waken naturally… without having to think about what time the soccer game is… without thinking about taking the dog out… without having to get up at 0500 to go to a Girl Scout event.

 

 

This cynical post has been brought to you by “Bad Attitude” Bill, whom most of you know as Gunfighter; the letter “D” (which stands for douchebag); the number 48 (the number of bullets currently on my person); and Samuel L. Jackson, just because I think he is a cool dude.

The Church Lock-In (The Final Chapter)

Well, as I am sure you will notice, gentle reader (all three of you, judging from my stats), I am writing this on a Wednesday, which means a few days have passed since our lock-in ended on Sunday morning.  The reason I waited to post this is that I have been either too tired or too busy to get to it.  One thing is certain; I haven't been too depressed to do it.  Not.  At.  All.

I had a great awesome time with the kids, let me tell you.

First, let me fill you in on how things went after post #3 from the lock-in.  It was nearly two when I posted last, but don't believe for one minute that I was going to bed anytime soon.  Uh uh!  It was nearly 3 A.M. when the kids were all bedded down in their rooms (the three boys were in one classroom and the ten girls were in another).  Once the boys were in their room, yours truly posted himself in the sole reclining chair that I dragged from the church's narthex.  The girl's chaperon, J, was sleeping on the floor in front of the door of their room down the hall, and the Pastor (bless her) was sleeping on the floor in the corridor in-between (the couch that she had commandeered being a bit too short for her to sleep on).

 The lads didn't seem to be in any great hurry to get to sleep, so I stayed awake just to make sure that they didn't make a break for it, as I am sure they had it in their minds to do.

I settled in to my chair, flipped on my laptop, and attempted to do a little web surfing... which was a total failure, because my chin kept bouncing off of my chest.  I guess it is a good thing that the boys finally settled sometime after 4, which meant that I could go to sleep, too!

Ah... blessed slumber!  To sleep, perchance to dream…  The rest that marks the end of my day.  The complete quietude that brings.... *CLICK*   *THUMP*  Both of my eyes flew open, and in the gray light that was starting to come through the windows, I spied people coming through the doors of the church!  I took a moment to glance at my watch as I prepared to do the.... I don't know... the manly-man of the church kick-the-asses-of-the-Godless-intruders thing.  As it turns out, that wouldn't prove to be necessary.  It was the 6 A.M. Korean prayer group that meets, strangely enough, at 6 A.M. every Sunday.  See, this could have been a real tragedy, as I apparently, in my guise as very large black man coming from the darkened hallway kind of scared the crap out of a couple of the worshipers.  I wonder if they prayed a little more fervently that morning, if so, I am glad to have served as some sort of improvement to their prayer life.

Well, I was awake, and there was no going back to sleep.  Aside from the praying folks, the church was quite still.  Looking down he hallway from my post, I saw the still form of Pastor M, slumbering peacefully, so  settled in and checked my email, and tried to decide what I should do next, as wake-up time for the kids wasn't until 0800.  After checking my email, and going to Twitter, only to find that everyone else that I know that uses that service was STILL ASLEEP (the dogs!).    I decided to work some of the kinks of my back and shoulders so that is what I did. 

After stretching out properly, I attempted to do some blogging, but really, after a night of only ninety minutes of sleep, I wasn’t quite coherent enough to make any sense with a keyboard.

Eventually, all of the adults stirred, got cleaned up and prepared to herd the kids… most of whom looked pretty worn out.

The kids had doughnuts and juice for breakfast, and we all made ready to attend the 0830 church service together.  Going to the early service was a little different.  My family is a late service (1100) group… Sunday is the day to sleep in.  Anyway, since I was already at the church, and Soccer Girl was going to be playing with the hand chime group at the early service, we were all there together.  The chaperones sat with the youth group (mainly to make sure they stayed awake), and a fine time was had by all (or at least, by me).

After the service, and Sunday school, I was feeling good enough that we went to lunch and then did a little book shopping.  I was even chipper enough to make lasagna that night.  I guess a little suffering IS good for the soul, eh?

Anyway, I have to say that I chaperoned the lock-in initially out of the desire to serve the church and the youth.  What I didn’t realize was that I was going to get as much out of it as they did… or maybe even more.  Talking to those kids in group sessions was really great.  They are smart, intuitive, and fully aware.  One other thing I found out (or, re-found out) is that young people can be wise beyond their years.  A few of those kids actually startled me with some of their insights on life and on their knowledge of the responsibilities of a life of faith.

In a few days, several of those kids are going to stand in front of the congregation and be confirmed by profession of faith and affirmation of their Baptism.  I’ll try to keep my eyes dry.

Church Lock-In (3)

The midnight service was really cool... candles and all.   The only drawback was the fact that I am an acknowledged old dude, it was hard for me to stay awake (Pastor M, I wasn't dozing, I was praying, honest!)

Ater the service, the kids played "sardines", a game much like hide and go seek. 

The little middle school cherubs are now watching "Cool Runnings" which has an indirect connection to the scriptural focus of the evening (see Hebrews 12:1-2, and 12:11).

If these kids don't go to sleep soon, they may be amused by the sound of yours truly snoring away. That would be bad.

It is almost 2 AM. I need to close my eyes.

Church Lock-In (2)

Ok, Holy Grail (scavenger) hunt completed.

2 small group lessons completed.

Mass quantities of pizza eaten.

Almost time for the midnight service.

This is fun!