I thought about you today!

This blogging thing still has me fascinated. Maybe I have too much time on my hands. I think about all of you a lot. I try to keep up with reading my favorite blogs, but like so many of you (Kerri), I discover new blogs all the time. Today I was out painting the fence. When you are immersed in such a boring project your mind wanders. I starting wondering how much snow Kerri was buried in, and how cold it must be. Others around the states probably still have snow on the ground. I thought of you today Motherkitty, I am glad that you seem to be back up to speed with your blog, and I am hoping it is because your health is good. Jelly, I thought of you and again of that scary dingo story with your naked Mum hero! T2T, I wondered if your weather was nice enough for you to go out and take some photos with your new camera. Terri, I am glad that you are having some time to enjoy blogging, your new blog has a great looking format and the name definitely fits you! Susan, I am wondering how your weather is there, and if snow would just slide right off that new, steep, red roof and I wish I would take the time to travel around as much as you do. Sandy, I see a lot of three-wheelers lately, and I wonder if one day I will see you roll up on your big red one! I hope my favorite taxi drivers (Bob, Joann, & Wil) are staying safe - I think about you driving around, lonely sometimes, very much like being a beat cop on patrol. There, I got another fence panel white-washed. Thanks to my thoughts of all of you - it seems like time flew by!

Crime update

Reference my previous post: this was a kidnapping for ransom, a rare occurrence. I can't remember one happening in this area during my entire police career. The suspect is on the run, probably left the state by now. I am happy to report that the victim was not sexually molested as I previously thought, and he is doing fine and back in the arms of his family. The search continues for the suspect (who has been identified) and this will probably become an international manhunt if he flees to his former home in Mexico.

Can't stop detecting!

This morning in our small little town, a 13 year old boy was abducted at gunpoint from his school bus stop. The other children looked on as a man forced the boy into his truck. The kids got a good description of the suspect vehicle. My cop friends called me to join in the search. Everyone was called out to search for a small burgandy colored truck with a king cab. You would be suprised how many red trucks you see when you are looking for one. I started searching the rural roads close to the county line with Tampa. I spent several hours driving up and down dirt roads and driveways, looking for any clues. A search like this is so massive that it almost feels hopeless from the start. Several area agencies helicopters joined in. About 1 PM the abducted boy called his mother from a cell phone that he had borrowed from a farm worker. It seems that the bad guy dropped the kid off about 20 miles from the scene, leaving him in a rural farm area. We were all so relieved that the child was alive. I don't know the details yet, but he was most likely sexually molested. The search continues for the suspect. How desperate and brazen must a pedophile be to grab a kid in broad daylight with witnesses present? I hope we catch him before he strikes again.

Don't stop reading my blog - I am still here!

I have been blog absent for so long now. I am so busy with projects that I haven't even turned on the computer for a long while. The weather is so beautiful this time of year. It is a good time to get outside projects done when it is 70 degrees instead of the usual 90 degrees! I have been working on the new building. It wasn't large enough to store all the stuff from the attached garage (we are turning that into a room) so I bought another smaller shed (8x10) to store the lawn & garden stuff. I bought one of those $250. sheds from Lowes, goes together like an Erector set (remember those from the 1960's?) We put up a short vinyl fence to divide the back yard. I wanted to replace my 10 year old six foot wooden fence around the whole property with vinyl fencing. It would be $3000. if I did it myself and much more if I had it done. We decided to whitewash the existing fence instead. What a job, this will keep the whole family busy for weeks. I am catching up on your blogs today. I hope my northern blog buddies are keeping warm with the terrible snow storms that you have had. Thanks to all of you that have e-mailed me wondering where I am! I will be back full time soon!

New out building

They delivered the new shed to the backyard on Thursday (just in time for the storm on Friday night) It can withstand winds up to 150 mph. Big deal. The houses that were destroyed by the freak tornados were about 100 miles north of here. Even newer houses were reduced to shreds of lumber by the high storm winds. Living in Florida is a crap shoot. I guess that is true of anywhere, as we are no match for Mother Nature! Ninteen people were killed in the storm - all in a matter of minutes. I can't help thinking -"there but for the grace of God go I". We were lucky in this area, no damage, just some wind & rain. I am thankful and happy for everyday on this earth! I have been busy building work benches inside the new building (in case I ever need a work bench) and putting all the stuff back in. I will take some photos tomorrow. Peace.

*When I was up in Virginia, it snowed. It didn't stick, hardly ever does that close to the Chesapeake Bay. I ran outside, only for a minute, just to switch the cars around. I had forgotten - you just can't do that! I nearly shivered to death before I ran back in the house to get a coat, hat, scarf & gloves (clothing that I hardly ever use/need in Florida)

No place like home

I was only gone for eight days, but it seemed like a month. I am so glad that I went to Virginia when I did - my mother was so sick. Her hands looked like boxing gloves and she could not do ANYTHING for herself. Her GP did not know the cause of this hand swelling and said that it "would go away in time". My brother had taken her to the doctor three times and told me that there was nothing that they could do. I took her right over to the doctor. I knew that they had to do something- or I would be changing doctors. The doctor suspects rheumatoid arthritis; he recommended a specialist. He gave her prednisone, which took the swelling down almost immediately, it was gone in 48 hours. She has an appointment with the arthritis specialist next Monday. Mom is also incontinent and up until my visit refused to wear adult diapers. I finally convinced her that the diapers were comfortable and certainly better than peeing in your pants! Elderly parents are very much like toddlers. You have to bathe, dress and feed them. When you take them out you must seatbelt them into the car, help them get in and out. It is really a lot of work, but also a labor of love. My mom is so independant and wants to continue to live in her house. I don't know how much longer that she will be able to do this. I will try to help by visiting once a month or so.