Shell Shock/Sergeant - Phoenix Police Department

I took my newer car in today to have the window tracks repaired.
I had no idea that you don't repair them anymore, you have to replace the whole track, including the motor that is built onto the track.

It isn't that I wouldn't have had the work done if I had known that, it's just that I would have just had the driver's side done and not both sides.

I can tell you right now when I walked into that shop this afternoon and they told me they had to replace the entire tracks, motors included, I instantly knew this was going to be an expensive repair job. That stuff isn't cheap, at all. I wasn't let down, either, the parts alone were almost $400. With labor I was handed a $640.00 repair bill.

OUCH! Good thing I had that income tax return money in the bank, otherwise? I would be hurtin' for certain right now. Okay, I am not going to regret having the work done. The windows kept falling down while driving the car. I ended up stuffing cardboard between the windows and the frame to keep it wedged into place, but occasionally one of them would fall down anyway. Look, that car is a 2004 model and only has 56,000 miles on it. I have 2 plus years left of payments on it, but I expect to get another 75,000 miles out of that car anyway. Buick LeSabres have a pretty good track record for longevity. I figure by the time I have it paid off, it will still have only around 80,000 miles on it, so, keeping it up and in working order is definitely worth it.

I now need to get the speedometer fixed. That shop said they can fix some issues with speedometers, but not all of them. Well, I will give them a shot and see if they can do it, if not, there is a shop that specializes in - you guessed it - doing nothing but fixing speedometers. Getting the speedo fixed will be the end of most of the problems with the car. I've dumped over a grand into it getting some things fixed on it, I will guess the speedo another $300 and it will be done - for now anyway, lol.

I had had thoughts some time ago in trading that car in - but I am getting tired of spending my life making car payments and I want to pay this one off, like I did the old Buick and then save money to buy my next vehicle instead of getting into payments again. Or, put a large down payment on a vehicle so the monthly payments are so low, I won't care about it. I can't really complain about my Buick, though, the payments are only $223 per month. I just don't much care for all this "little" stuff going on that adds up to big money.

On the money note, I believe I have all the paperwork necessary to go to an accountant's office and get this stuff dealt with. I have already received all the mortgage interest information from both companies that I requested it from and that is all I really needed to get this going.

This entry was interrupted by a call from a sargeant at the Phoenix Police Department. I received a reply from an individual at the department yesterday saying that "I see no display of professional misconduct" with their officers. Of course you don't. This is South Mountain Precinct with national notoriety. NOT - GOOD - press, either. I replied to him via email and stated the obvious: officers coming into a locked back yard, leaving a gate open, being asking - with a "please" - to close the gate 3 times, with the officer jumping up and down having a hissy fit, threatening to fire upon my dogs? This is ripe for the news.

I will never have a dealing again with officers at my property without my camera running a video of it the entire time again. If I had THAT episode of that officer going into 2-year-old-throw-himself-on-the-floor-and-have-a-temper-tantrum-mode on video, it would have gone viral. It would have received press attention because of the issues this precinct already has.

I asked the Sergeant about this situation with them saying the threats from that officer and how they could possibly not be unprofessional conduct. He stated he wanted to speak to me in person. ???? Please answer the question. He then informed me was down the street and just wanted to ensure I was home before stopping by. I see. "See you in 30 seconds".

The discussion went on for quite a while, I cannot go into all of it because it would just be too much print and who is going to read all of that. Or, maybe I should so I can have something to refresh my memory in case I have need of it. You wouldn't believe how many times my blog has "saved" me in the past in situations where I needed a CLEAR memory of what happened in some certain situation that I had written about in full detail and had gone back, found that entry and instantly was "revelated" again.

But, oh well. Let's get to the deceit here: the Sergeant stated that his officer told him that he had kept the gate closed enough by standing next to it, holding it shut. This after much conversation, much, even getting to this point. This Sergeant was under the belief that this officer under him was standing next to the gate the entire time, therefore, there was no threat of the dogs getting out, even IF he refused to close it.

I "revelated" (yes, not a real word, but they should come up with these words I make up cause' they so neatly fit the situation that I am describing) him on what really happened. I have gone into it enough on this blog to not want to go into it again, needless to say, he was NOT standing anywhere NEAR that gate when he refused to close it after being asked to do so 3 times in a row. Well, the Sergeant says, how do I prove it? I wasn't there when it happened. We went back and forth, he was not going to get the upper edge on me because that officer's actions that occurred in my back yard were WRONG, WRONG and DOUBLE WRONG and NO-ONE is going to convince me of ANYTHING otherwise.

He finally toned down. Yes, we finally got into a normal conversation. He had been telling me to put myself into their shoes, I finally asked him how he would feel about these guys coming onto YOUR property, removing a lock out of a gate to get in, confronting the homeowner with attitude at the get-go, and then the situation with dogs? And, btw, WHY would these officers insist on staying in my back yard if they are so damned afraid of dogs? Why wouldn't they take this out front?

THAT is the question that FINALLY got through to him. "Well, yes, if it had been me, I would have definitely asked to step outside the gate, close it and not have to deal with that added situation". Thank you!!

Look, I am not a cop-hater. I don't hate cops at all. They have a profession that isn't exactly desirable to most people for the constant threat that they have to analyze, perceive and adjust to on any given call. I'm not trying to make their lives harder in their chosen profession, but when they start that kind of s*** with me right off the bat, they are going to get it right back in their face. If they want to be reasonable, then I will be reasonable. If they want to be mini-gods, I am not going to tolerate it for a millisecond.

We shook hands. This wasn't a wimpy, light-handed - yucky - type of hand shake. When I shake hands with a man, that "nothing" wilted-flower type of hand shake really does nothing for me, at all. It was a firm grasp, it was the kind of handshake that makes you think either this guy is seriously trying to make amends - or - he has practiced this a lot - or - something came down from higher ups that said make this right and get this over with. I have a hard time deciphering all of that with this particular agency, their history as a precinct and the problems I have had with them.

But I let it go. "We're cool" after his repeated attempts to determine where we're leaving this off. I did ask him a few questions about the new law regarding not needing a CCW permit - especially about having one in your car. Yes, you can hide it, keep it in the open, whatever, but if you are pulled over, you MUST let the officer know right away that you have a gun in the car or yes, you are probably going to get into trouble with it. That's good to know. I had read that somewhere about letting the officer know, I hadn't read anything about the trouble you might face if you don't. I think they might want to clue people in on that particular aspect of it. You can have a loaded firearm in the trunk of your car without having to state it, apparently, but, if I had a gun anywhere in the vehicle at this point and was pulled over, I would let the officer know at the git-go and not have to worry about the legalities of it. \

No, I am not carrying my new 12-gauge shot gun with me in the car. That is a home-protection weapon and I fully intend on never using it - unless I really HAVE to. I am not trigger crazy or gun-happy. It's a fact of life in a very large city with thugs/criminals all over the place. I have wanted a gun in this house for a long time and I am happy to have one at this point. Last night, I loaded and unloaded the thing - including a shell in the chamber - repeatedly to get the hang of it.

Ummm, it's bedtime now that all kinds of time has passed and numerous issues have come up.
Gag.

G'nite.

ben

Thursday 7/14/2011

Thursday

"Epic congestion" and "Carmageddon". It isn't often that you see national headlines out of the closure of a ---- freeway. But, I've been on the 405 many times, I absolutely abhor that freeway. It's in California, Los Angeles to be more specific is the area that they are shutting down a TEN mile stretch of it to tear down a bridge. Just one more reason I am very glad I do NOT live in California!

Umm, anyway. The Resolution Mine in Superior, AZ. I have been there now several times. Superior is a washed up ghost town type of thing. In it's hey-day, it was home to a lot of mine workers that worked the mine that used to be there. Pretty much the mine closed down and most of the people left. Not that it became a complete ghost town, but pretty much had that effect on it.

Of course, the democrats are resisting the land swap needed to make it happen. I have no doubts, whatsoever, that the state and federal government will regulate that mine to the nth degree and force them to make the environmental impact as light as possible. They're talking thousands of jobs.

As it is, when I go in there, I had to watch a 20 minute safety video. I could not get up on my trailer. I had to wear the full fledged safety equipment: protective glasses; hard-hat; gloves; long pants; reflective vest; steel toed shoes. The safety meeting they had to have before they even unloaded the truck took over half an hour. I'm serious: they are required to have a safety meeting in order to unload a truck and everyone, including the truck driver who is forced to have nothing to do with the unloading of it and stand there watching, has to sign off on it.

Of course, once you see a picture of the aftermath of one of those giant dump trucks having had run over a Ford F250 pickup with it's occupants inside of it, you start to get a hint why they are so safety-conscious. It was "flat as a pancake". No, they didn't show the blood and gore, I didn't WANT to see that.

Anyway, I hope the house passes the bill and likewise the senate.

The 1098 statements from one lender have already arrived via fax machine, just waiting on the other and then I can go in and get this tax business done. Have them look at 2007 taxes and make sure that everything I could get out of it has been wringed out of it and then do the 2008, 2009 and 2010 modifications. Whatever it costs to do all of that will be worth the amount of money I am going to get out of it. Again, just before the federal government closes it's doors and says "we're closed for business", I would like to get that money into my checking account!

First time in quite a while that there is nothing to do in the truck routing system here at work. I mean, it's been something like 3 weeks since the last time that happened. Makes for an incredibly long day when there is nothing to do. There IS some clean up chores to do, undoubtedly.

Anyway, work day almost here, gotta get offa here.

G'day.