Gothic New Years Eve

In 2007 I was in the basement of Macy's walking through their wine department looking for something different to bring over to a friends house for their New Years Eve party.  I stumbled into a section and discovered a sparkling Shiraz.  It is a traditional bottle fermented sparkling wine ( Champagne is a sparkling wine from a specific region of France).  Since most people's experience with anything red and bubbling is a super sweet wine they are always taken aback by it bold and very dry flavors.  It is a tradition in Australia and now in our home.

I do have to admit it feels a little like Gothic New Years Eve when I put up my glass to toast everyone in attendance and their clear little yellow wine is off set by my dark red bubbling glass.

Cheers, to a new year.  May God continue to bless you and your family in 2011.

Jeremiah 29:11 
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Fellowship of Christian Police Officers-Elgin Chapter

I am a member of FCPO and used to attend the Elgin Chapter.  I really didn't know a lot of people there but I attended a number of times over the course of the year so they did know who I was and my department.  A scheduling conflict then came up and I missed a number of meetings.

Here's what bothers me a bit...I am on their email distribution list so I am notified about the meetings and coming events so they have my contact info...no one followed up about my missed meetings.  I started thinking that really no one at that chapter really cared if I attended or did not attend.  It was a little click-y and I was a new comer with limited or no professional contact with the other members and they had a lot in common but I did think at the time they wanted me there.  So I decided to wait it out and see what happens, because I could really be over reacting or just being selfish about my feelings.

My hypothesis became conclusion when I was serving at the Greg Laurie Chicago Crusade.  I happened to run into another member of the group, and he even remembered my name.  But, no how have you been, thinking about making another meeting or anything at all about the FCPO.  I had to bring it up and just gave him an excuse about why I was not currently attending just to see what he said.  What I got was a nodding of the head and nothing more.  So clearly they did not want me at the meetings...and with that I never went back, even though that scheduling conflict has since resolved itself.

Now the point of all of this is not to place blame since I could have been the cause of the problem and unintentionally alienated everyone and no one wanted to confront me on it.  I have just closed that chapter and moved on.  But the point is, please, if you are in a leadership position in church or Christian organization make sure you check in and reach out to the marginal people in your group.  It is easy for new Christians or people with problems or whatever to flow right out of church and right back into the evil of this world.  You need to always be holding that hand out to bring them back in.  One call, one coffee, may be all thats needed to shine a little of his light into another's life.

By the way a friend of mine went to the Chicago chapter of FCPO a couple of months ago and the first thing they mentioned after they had caught up with her was to ask how I was doing and see if I would be attending again any time soon.  Guess which group I will be going back to...

Here we go again...this time an injury with a holiday theme

I had to visit the emergency room again Sunday...this time I tried to put a screwdriver through my hand while shucking oysters for our holiday dinner.

When it slipped and then hit, I yelled, "Shuck!  What the shell!  Clam-it!"  Or something similar.  Two hours, an ER visit, three sutures, one superglued thumb and a tetanus shot later I was able to eat the oysters I shucked.  I knew that things were bad when I looked into the wound, it had not started bleeding and the edges were white which meant I had cut through the fat layer.

Have a happy new years and stay safer than me.

Funny thing, the injury that hurts the most is the site of the injection.  The revenge of the eaten.

The Christmas Work Party.

Been posting this a lot but here we go again...been neglecting the blog. Well I hope to end this year with a ton of posts to put a better cap on the blog for 2010 than how I started it. Plus I need to start using “you are” when appropriate.


Anyway I am in the midst of the office Christmas party season as is everyone else.  It’s a strange dance between drinking enough to appear social and not so much that you say or do something antisocial.  Think drunk guy stumbling through the different circles of conversations and knocking over the gift table to get back to the bar or worse.

The open bar has been the death of many a career and the ascendant of very few. What I always find interesting is that what was said that I am sure will cause a painful career backlash for the parties involved comes to nothing, but the off hand iniquitous remark becomes the ball affixed to the leg of ones career.  Then add to the fun that everyone in the room is a cop and trained to notice the smallest detail and commit them to memory...the party may be for one night but the legend lives forever.

So, be careful, not only to avoid the drunken driving crash but the drunken career crash as well.

Cheers.

P.S. stay with beer, the others are killers.  Or well...moderation but that seems to run away before I could ever have a chance to catch it.

Surveillance-Hours and Hours of Waiting for Something to Happen.

I created this on a recent surveillance.  Hours go by and nothing happens...wish it was more like the movies and the second you get there the target incriminates himself/herself.

As you can see I am a doodle-ninja.