I Got The Job

      Well, as I write this, I only have 1 more week with my current company. That means only 4 more days out at the Space Center. It's been a fun ride, but it's time to move in a somewhat different direction. I will miss it out there as well as the people that I met. Some of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure to work with.

     I've decided to kind of just emerse myself in the experience out there and just soak it all in. The only thing I didn't get to actually see that I wanted to, was the crawler actually moving. It always seemed to happen either late at night, or early in the day when I wasn't there. If that is my only missed experience, I'll take it. I did get another creepy photo last week as the front moved in for what has been the coldest snap of maybe the last decade here. The VAB always looks incredibly spooky when you can't see the top of it.

      I did get to hear a few stories of the inside of the building from a former security officer that worked over there. I thought my building was active. He told me about a night on a New Years Eve when he was the only one in the building, and he stood at the bottom in the very center and what was happening. He said it was like the first day of the Apollo mission, with voices being heard from all directions, footsteps running around and, elevators going up and down all by themselves. I would really like to spend a night in that building to experience that just once. I did get a little action on Friday night in my building. I went into an area and climbed to the highest point of a set of stairs and just listened, then I heard it. It sounded like to men talking about something in the very far corner of the room. The thing is, you can never understand what they are saying, it's just words that you can't quite put together. I stayed up there for a few minutes listening, and then walked back down, when I hit the floor was when I lost track of the voices. It was wild. People that I've mentioned this to have each asked me if I was scared, and the simple answer is no. I've always thought of it this way, as long as I'm not touched, I have no problem. Now, the first night which was Thanksgiving night when I experienced the voices and what not for the first time. I do think it drained a lot of energy from me. I felt physically ill the next day, but it only lasted a single day. From all the paranormal shows I watch, they always say that you should deny spirits permission from doing such a thing, so that next day when I was feeling ill, that's exactly what I did. Yeah, you feel really weird talking to open air and saying, Hey that wasn't cool what you did, and you can't do the any more, but if it works it works.

      Enough about the ghost stories, As I said, I have one more week with the companies and then it's on to the new armed position which just happens to be 11 minutes from my house. I will be making quite a bit more money than I have been, which is sorely needed, and I will also save money on gas going to work each day. From what I can gather, I'll more than likely be working 7 days a week for a while. I have no problem with that. I have a lot of bills to catch up on and get things moving in the right direction. The new boss has already told me that I should tell him when I feel like I need a break and then he will hire someone else to come in. This property I'll be on, I will be the only officer on duty. They have been going without for a few weeks or even a month now. He also mentioned that he wants me to be there on the weekends because that is the busiest time and then even if he hires someone else, I would be the lead officer on the site. The site was considered a rough area not too long ago, but it has been cleaned up quite a bit and is looking good. They just opened a brand new fire department across the street, so that is really convenient. My schedule is going to be sporadic, which means that I will be working in the morning to afternoon some days and then afternoon to night on others. It's just to create the illusion that there is an officer always there despite me being the only officer. I know, it's a little bit of a weird situation with me being the only security presence there, but it's going to be ok. 

     My uniform is going to be quite a bit different from the military style shirt and slacks that I've been wearing. I think I mentioned that I'll be looking like Meal Team Six. I'm really hoping you get that reference. It's the look that you see most of the, how should I put this delicately, the racists pieces of garbage that protest with military gear and long rifles. That seemed delicate enough. Anyway, the basic uniform is khaki cargo pants, a black polo (company insignia on it) a plate carrier ( or tactical vest ) and a duty belt with my weapon. He did mention that he wants me kitted out to look proper. Not that I would have to use any of the items, just that the more stuff I have on my vest and belt, the less likely anyone will mess with you. I get the idea. I will mostly have medical supplies with mine. Useful tools so to say. I will of course have my firearm and magazines on my belt with my baton and handcuffs as well. No, I don't have arrest privilege with this job, the handcuffs are more that decoration type of thing, but if an incident does arise where the police are on scene, I can have them at the ready for them to use if they need multiple pairs. My vest will have a blowout kit ( trauma kit ) with the proper supplies to save a life, a not pad and pen, and of course a flashlight. I'll probably stow a knife or two on there as well. Oh, and before you ask, you probably will never see a photo of me in uniform. It's just not my thing. Unless you see me in person, you will never know what my work attire is like.

     Ok, it's been a while for this, but I have a Favorite Song of the Week. I know, I've been a bit lazy with this part of it all. Anyway, it's that time of year again when Kurstin & Grohl get together to celebrate jewish artist and Chanukka. Each year the post 8 videos, one for each night with a different song written by a jewish artist. Last years was the first year that Dave really got his daughter Violet involved and she was outstanding. I have become a big fan of Violet and her ability to simply sing anything. She has a bit of a mimic quality to her, that she will take whatever cover she is singing and not only sing it in the style but in the voice of the original artist and this year's song was no exception. I proudly present to you Janis Eddy Fink's classic, "At Seventeen", Preformed by the one and only Violet Grohl.

     I am so looking forward to Violet's first album. I should remind you that Dave has said that he really wants to be in Violet's band. Anyway, if you enjoy that, you should really go on the deep dive and watch all the years that they have done this. I believe this is the 3rd year. They started during the pandemic to make music and celebrate something that generally isn't celebrated by the whole, and music is always something that can bring people together and expand horizons. 

    Ok, that's it for this week. I'm not exactly sure what my schedule will be next week, but I will try to write again on Monday either after my first shift of the new job or before. I hope you have a wonderful new year full of new adventures and great success. Peace in and goodnight.

New Ventures On The Horizon

      It's been a few weeks, cause I needed to save things up. Not a lot happening in my life with still a good deal happening. I know that is a very odd juxtaposition. No I didn't just want to use that word, which is why I'm not typing it out again. I do have a picture for you from the job site which I thought was pretty cool and I can share with you, I just can't tell you all the juicy details that I know about it.

     That is the Mobile Launch System, that was holding the Artemis rocket. You may have heard that it took some damage during the launch which is why it too them so long to move it back to the VAB. They had to make sure it was stable for transport. Speaking of transport. If you zoom in at the bottom, you can see NASA crawler 2. If that isn't one of the biggest examples about how massive the Artemis rocket is, I don't know what else to show you. The crawlers are massive vehicles. Easily the size of 8 city buses in 2 columns of 4 side by side, and I think I'm understating there. This also shows just how enormous the VAB is as well. That is getting ready to go inside Bay 3 of the VAB and you can't even see the rest of the structure in the picture. It has truly been a pleasure and an experience to get to see these types of things up close like this. Not everyone gets to see stuff like this, and I will miss it.

     Yes, I said miss it. I may be in for a change of scenery. As I sit here writing this this morning, I'm preparing for an interview for an armed officer job. I'm really hoping to get it because the pay is over a third more than what I'm making now, and I kind of need it. I've been in some pretty desperate financial situations lately, and this can start a change in the right direction. I always saw my current job as getting my foot in the door of security, and now it's time to step through that door a little more. 

      There's also the fact that my old supervisor that moved on to another site has put in a transfer to have me move to his site. It would be a pay increase with a supervisor that I really enjoyed working with, but not quite as much as the armed job. The benefit is of course the supervisor and the general safety of the position. I know the armed job brings a level of risk but I knew that when I pushed myself to get my armed license. This is what I worked so hard for, plus I feel I can bring something to an armed position that will perhaps change the culture of the area in a positive way at least in the regards of how they see security officers. I did it at my current location. I can see it when I'm at the desk with other officers and people say hello or good bye to me and the other officers look perplexed. I see a security officer as someone that is there to protect life and assess of the client. We are also a representative of the company and have to be a positive reflection of that. We can't be some smug bossy asshole that is just telling people what to do. When I approach people I'm usually asking them what I can do for them, rather than telling them what they can do for me. I think that approach goes a long way in how someone responds to you and I've proved it with how people see me even though I'm the security officer with a sleeve of tattoos, shaved head, and stretched lobes. Instead of all of that, they see my professionalism and how it lifts their opinion of the position I hold.

     Enough about the philosophy of security work. Oh, on a quick note, I will get a cooler uniform if I get the new job. The Chief wants his officers looking the part, and is going to have me in khaki's (cargo preferred), polo, and a tactical vest. So basically I'm going to look like Meal Team 6. I joke, but I actually make it look good, cause I'm basically physically fit. The tactical vest or plate carrier if you will is there mostly for form and not function. I want be carrying ballistic plates in mine, it's there for holding my badge, and a few other items I may need. Namely my flashlight and tourniquet. I of course will also be wearing a duty belt that will hold my weapon, magazines, and baton.

     As I stated before is that my goal is to never have to actually draw my weapon. I will default to deescalation first, baton, second, and then my firearm as an absolute final resort. I would much rather use my tourniquet and life saving skills long before I ever use a weapon. I'd prefer to save a life than take a life. That's why I'm continuing to seek out life saving training. If I can get my financial situation under control I'm really going to look into going to EMT school, not to become an EMT or Paramedic, but to further enhance my skills as a security officer. Did you know that there is an actual position known as an Armed AEMT Officer? That is an armed officer that is trained in Advanced Emergency Medical Skills. There are even higher levels of EMT training like TEMT, which is a Tactical EMT. I can't remember the acronym but there is even a teaching EMT that is trained to be able to train. They are not only the ones that train other EMT's but they are the ones that offer the public outreach courses like "Stop the Bleed". Did I ever mention that I think it is a truly valuable class and that everyone that has the time and desire to be a force to save a life in an emergency situation should absolutely take that class. Anyone can take it and they are generally free to the public, because hospitals want people that are on scene that can provide simple trauma care in an intense situation. Most of the victims that die in active shooter situations die from bleeding out. If someone was there that had taken a "Stop the Bleed' class, as least 1 life could have been saved with the potential of many more, because you could provide simple instructions for others around you to help out other victims. It is a truly worthwhile class to take.

     Ok, I'm going to call it a day here and hope that I can write next week to update you on how this job interview goes. The problem is that I may not have internet next week, so I may not be able to post anything. Regardless of what next week brings, I will get internet back at some point and will update you then. Peace in and goodnight.

Is It Haunted.

      Ok, so I didn't write last week, and for a very simple reason. I didn't have anything at all to write about. This week however, I got stuff. 

     First a little update. I'm heading for that "Stop the Bleed" course on Thursday, and I'm pretty excited about it. I still don't really fully know what to expect, but I'm hoping for practical application of wound packing and applying tourniquets. You can watch videos that tell you how to do it, but without real life application it's really hard to know exactly if what you know to do is really what you are to do. I really hope that makes sense. I have purchase a couple of CAT tourniquets, which are the mostly highly approved tourniquet to use, and some packing gauze which is the second highest approved type of gauze. Hemostatic gauze is the highest, but it is super expensive, and studies have shown that regular packing gauze can be just as affective, but may take a little longer to actually stop the bleeding. The hemostatic gauze is quicker because it has a clotting agent embedded in the gauze itself which will speed up the process of stopping the bleeding. I would still like to get a couple of SOFTT Wide tourniquets which are highly approved as well, but they can fold down to be a little easier to conceal on your person. I would use those as my daily carry tourniquet. Right now I haven't fully figured out how to carry the CAT 7 on my person without a very large holster that is very obvious. For my range bag, I just got a simple Molle style loop system that slides onto my bag and I just slide the CAT 7 through the elastic bands. I really don't care if someone at the range sees it, but when you are in public you might create a bit of a stir if someone notices that you are walking around with a bright orange tourniquet. The packing gauze is simple, it is vacuum packed in a plastic bag that is the size of a standard wallet. I can slip it in my back pocket without anyone even knowing. Now, when I'm on duty, I just slide my belt through the TQ holster and not really care if anyone sees it. People seems to not know that security officers are more than likely the first person that is going to be on any type of scene, and we are trained in life saving procedures. I'm just trying to take it a bit further. I did get a very minimal training on wound care and tourniquet use, but no to the extent I'm willing to an wanting to learn. My goal is to basically become a field medic, but trying to find classes that are with in my time and price constraints is incredibly difficult right now. The course I'm going to on Thursday happens to be free which is incredible, but I do have to take the night off of work, and then drive to Orlando, so it's still costing me, but I'm placing a much higher value on it than what I'm losing in gas and time off of work. I will of course figure all of this out and find a way to learn what I'm wanting to. It will just take some time.

     I'm going to share this picture of the VAB last week which will be the segue way into the rest of this post. 

     I posted some day time photos on Instagram that duel posted on Facebook as well, but those weren't as creepy as this one. This was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and there were still several people in the area, finishing up their days before the holiday break. This shot is approximately 200 yards away from the VAB, and as you can see, you can only see about a third of the building. I can remember telling people that it looked like a horror film outside and I believe the word creeptacular came up as well. It was spooky to say the least. Little did I know that was a precursor for Thanksgiving night. Now as a security officer I have to work on holidays, which is fine by me, but it means that I'm in completely empty buildings, and buildings that were built in some cases in the early 60's. I know that doesn't seem like a long time for a building, but you have to remember, theses buildings are all attached to the space program from its inception, so they have seen a lot. 

     I went in for my usual shift on Thanksgiving which was a bit weird in itself because there was almost no one in the entire area. I'm talking maybe a grand total of 10 people in a mile radius from where I was. The shift went rather nominal until the sun went down, then stuff started getting wild. As I would walk around the building, I could here voices and conversations every where. Almost every portion of the building had some sort of voices or conversations going on and they would always make me stop in my tracks to turn around. I'm sure if anyone was watching the cameras, they would think I was insane constantly turning around and walking back to an empty area. I can't really tell you much about what all went on, but I will tell you about the most intense moment. I was walking out of an area that has double doors, and then right outside of those double doors is another door that leads to some bathrooms and a training area. I walked through the double doors and heard them close behind me, as I continued down the hallway, I heard a voice call out to me. Now when I say call out to me, that is a pure assumption since I can never understand anything that is actually said, but it was loud and seemed directed to me. I turned around and looked at the double doors and of course, nothing was there, so I turned and continued down the hallway. When I did I suddenly heard the door that leads to the bathrooms close. I turned again and walked back, opened that door and searched around. There was nothing there which I knew, but I had to look.

      When my relief for the night came, I mentioned everything that was going on to him, and he concurred that he has heard things as well. He had even had some more intense experiences than what I had. He also o told me that the ongoing belief is that the spirits in the building belongs to the unfortunate souls of the Challenger and Columbia accidents. The building I am in is one of two buildings that were Shuttle processing facilities when they were active, so it is very likely that both Challenger and Columbia were last in that building before heading off to pair with the boosters in the VAB.

      This all leads to the other building I work in. Now that building I've had experiences in for some time now. I've heard conversations that I couldn't really pinpoint their location. I've walked into rooms and instantly smelled perfume. Mind you, I've looked around those rooms for wall mounted scent emitters and things like that, and found nothing. There was nowhere or anything for the smell to be coming from. A couple of the other officers have told me about experiences that they have had as well, which back up a lot of what I've experienced. In that building the bulk of the activity is on just one floor, even though I've had one experience on one other floor and the others officers have mentioned some things happening on other floors, but for the most part it is the 3rd floor where everything happens. Now, on Saturday when I was there, there was a special project going on and the building had the power cut off to have the work done. That took half of my shift and then everyone was out of the building for the rest of the weekend. Saturday went by without even a strange feeling, and I should mention that form time to time, even without activity, you will still have a vibe when you are on the 3rd floor. It's still quiet but the vibe is kind of like someone is watching you but from right over your shoulder. Sunday came around and I was a little disappointed that the building was so quiet, so when I was walking on the 3rd floor in the middle of my shift, I spoke out loud about. I mentioned that they were dropping the ball and that they didn't have anything on the other building, because much more happened to me there than at the current building. Hindsight, that may have been a mistake or maybe a little of, be careful what you wish for. I went on patrol near the end of my shift and purposefully skipped the 3rd floor just to mix things up a bit. On my way back down I reminded myself that I had to hit floor 3 but somehow simply forgot as I walked passed it in the stairwell. When I hit 2 it hit me that I had to cover the 3rd floor and quickly turned around and went back up. As I exited the stairwell, I heard a noise like a machine powering up. Let me tell you, that stopped me dead in my tracks and shivers shot from my toes all the way to the top of my head. Once my wits were about me, I heard it power up again and realized it was the sound of a printer. so I walked to where it was and sure enough the printer had powered up as if it was ready to accept a project to print. No remember, the day before the power to the building was complete shut off. The printer I use for my reports, I had to physically turn on since it was off and not in sleep mode. This printer should have been exactly the same, but it was now online. At the other end of the floor is another printer, so I quickly headed that way to check and sure enough, that one was on too. I called out, "Oh, that is good, you are definitely upping your game now.", but even with that, I still wasn't sure it wasn't just one sort of automated reaction, even though I knew you had to physically turn them on, so once I finished checking that entire floor, I quickly went back down tot he second floor to check the printers there, and they were all completely offline. I can tell you that while I was on the 4th floor I made a mental note about the printers being off up there as well. It's just something i alway notice when I'm in the building. When I'm there on the weekend I"m generally the only person that is ever there, so it is an oddity if there is anything on, like for example, a printer. 

      I have to say, I was a little proud of the building after that, and appreciated the display of weird power. When my relief came I had to fill him in on what had happened. I even took him up to show him. We hit the 2nd floor first and showed him that I had to turn the printer on, which I did. It powered up and then went to a standby screen, which is the normal thing for it to do. Then we went up on the 3rd floor and showed him that even though the screen was no longer on, the standby light was on, showing that it was powered up and ready. I mentioned that I had not touched them at all. Then we went to see the printer at the other end and as we walked, we went through a cloud of perfume, which as I mentioned I smell from time to time, so I don't think much of it anymore, but it hit him as well, and it freaked him out. We made it to the printer and the same standby light was on and all the time he was talking about how he smelled something. I asked him, was it a floral perfume, and he agreed and then he had to walk back where we had come form to find it. It of course was no longer there, but without asking him where he smelled it, I backed up to where it hit me and asked him if this was the spot, and it looked like his head exploded. It blew his mind that I knew where he had smelled it, because I had smelled it as well. I asked him if he remembered the printer screen on the second floor, which he did, and then I told him what the screens on the 3rd floor looked like. They weren't the start up screen, they were the ready to receive screen, and that once again blew his mind. We went back down to the lobby where our desk is and talked it over a bit before I left. I then asked the spirits to not bother him, since I was the one that stirred them up, and that they could have it out with me next week when I showed up. When I said that, something very strange happened. Before I tell you what it was, I have to tell you about a normal occurrence in the building. We have those automated toilets in the bathrooms, and from time to time, they will flush for now reason. The first floor has it happen all the time, and every now and then, you can hear the second floor do it. Now, when I said what I said, we heard a flush come from the women's room on the 3rd floor. The important thing about that, is that even though I can't pinpoint where the conversations are coming from, I can get it down to 2 general areas, one of which is near the women's room. Either in there or in the office space to the side or the lobby area in front of it. 

     I have a passion for the paranormal and always have. I've had some strange experiences in the past, but nothing compares to this last week in those two buildings. You can believe if you like it doesn't matter to me. I will always try to find an explanation for what happens, but sometimes you just have to accept things for what they are, and for right now, all those occurrences, I can't explain at all. I'm just going to sit back and enjoy this weird ride I'm now finding myself on. I'd like to get a digital recorder to just leave on that floor for about a half hour and see if it gets anything, but that costs money, which I currently don't have. I could leave my phone up there, but I just feel like that would be a horrible idea. I'll just have to bide my time and wait until I have the money to get a recorder to do it. In the meantime I'll just try and document any really extreme things here when they happen.

     I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and the holidays that are descending upon us. Peace in and goodnight.

A Storm By Any Other Name

       I got a little busy yesterday evening and didn't really have the time to write, but this might work out better. Monday is my day off so I think I'll be switching to every Monday for now anyway. As you know, Hurricane Nicole hit us this week and it was quite the experience. I didn't suffer any damage other than a few small limbs down in the yard, but the adventure was at work. On Tuesday I was at the Space Center location and my relief decided that they weren't coming out since the Space Center was suspending operations and only essential personal could be on property. That meant I had to stay until midnight and shut the whole building down. It was a little strange being one of only a few people left in the entire area. I didn't see any other person until I was on the road on the way out the gates. It was like a ghost town out there. 

     As for the storm itself, as far as I can remember I've never experienced a CAT 1 storm that was that windy and noisy. With the massive size of the storm and the fact that we were on the worst side of the storm it's not out of the norm to get hit with the strongest winds, but with it being so big we got hit with the highest gusts for an incredibly long time. These storms are getting bigger and with that size comes more damage even for a CAT 1 storm. I think NOAA is going to have to recategorize theses storms in the future. Wind strength isn't a defining characteristic of them anymore. You have to take the size into consideration now.

     I did lose power but it was only down for about 16 hours. I honestly slept through most of it. Just a relaxing day with the doggoes. They enjoyed it cause they got to hang out on the front porch most of the day. They like barking at people, I'm not a fan of it, but it makes them happy.

    I'm not really sure what I have left to say today. There are a couple of things that are rocking my foundation right now, but I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about it just yet, so I'll leave you with a picture of The Chonk and say Peace in and goodnight, even though it's still early on a Monday morning.

Let's Save A Life

    Ok, so it's been a while. I really just didn't have the desire to write, despite there being a lot to write about. Let's see if I can get you up to date quickly. I've applied to a ton of different places with very little to show for it. I'm in the process of an investigation for a clearance for the one job that is still a potential. This process will take quite a while, up to 90 days. The job is great, just doesn't pay what I really need to truly survive, but the rewards of personal experience make it worth while. I'll discuss those in a bit.  I have maintained and even upped my training with my gun. I think it's incredibly important as a responsible gun owner to know everything about the gun and improve on how you shoot it. I've made a ton of small changes that have improved my shooting, and I've also learned a lot about tear down and maintenance of weapons in general. I'm considering building a gun, for the simple reason that I will appreciate it even more knowing every little piece of it. That's a ways of though. The dogs are great although they are buttheads a lot of the time. The Chonk hasn't tried to escape at all lately, but I still don't trust him in the yard alone yet. That about sums up what you've missed.

     That's just a little puppy appreciation photo. Ok, now on to those personal rewards. This week they came about especially because of a small event that took place. My supervisor went on a short vacation , and he brought in a person that I'm not a real fan of. Well it turns out most of the people where I work are fans of them either. It was kind of an eye opening experience for them, you would say. I got a ton of compliments on everything from just my general personality to how I handle things. One contractor that is on site a lot even went out of their way to stop by the office and literally yell out. "The A Team is back!". That was in part to me having to go to another site for 2 hours one day instead of my normal site to start the day, but it was also because they really didn't like the fill in. I was also on the phone with someone that I deal with quite a lot in dealing with the public experience there. Basically tours at the facility. They felt the need to tell me on that day that they reached out to one of my supervisors to tell them, and in their words, " He is really great at what he does.". It meant a great deal to me to hear that. I think I do a pretty good job, but it always is a big deal when someone else that is rather important notices. I'm sure my other supervisor that went on vacation is going to hear an ear full on Monday when he comes back about putting that person as a fill in. I'll hear it on Tuesday. Oh, I'm currently working 6 days a week right now. I actually enjoy it.

     More new news. I've been looking at ways to improve my skills and performance as it relates to security but in ways that can benefit in other areas, and that has lead me to looking into some basic types of EMT training. I can't, although I kind of would love to now, go to a full EMT course, but I can learn some civilian things that most people don't even consider. I of course know basic first aid, CPR&AED, but I want to up my game so I started looking into courses on packing wounds and applying tourniquets. After talking with a great friend who is in the medical field, he pointed me in the right direction to find really good courses that would give me the skills I'm looking for. I found a 2 part course that teaches in essence an immediate responder trauma course. It's just what I was looking for. Assessing wounds then caring for them in a manor that could prolong life. I already finished the online portion and crusted it with a perfect score. I just have to take an in person course that will apply that knowledge on Dec. 1st. Once I complete the course I will be certified to apply tourniquets properly, assess and pack wounds. With being in the gun community now, I'm in areas where simple accidents can lead to life threatening incidents, so once I have this class under my belt I will be able to handle some of these incidents. I will also begin caring a simple trauma kit with me where ever I go. Turns out EDC trauma kits are a thing. Oh, EDC stands for Every Day Carry. Most people use that in reference to concealed weapons and what they have them each day. For example; watch, wallet, phone, keys, concealed weapon. Personally for me, it's; watch, wallet, money clip, flashlight, knife, phone, and concealed gun. That's not when I'm on duty of course. although I have a knife somewhere near me at all times. I just thing a knife is a very valuable tool to have.

     Once I finish this class, I'll let you know what I think about the whole experience. Right now, I'm thinking it's something most people should try and learn. They way the world is now, it's not a matter of if you get involved in an active shooter situation, its when. Knowing not only what to do to save your own life, but what you could potentially do to save other lives is a good thing. The one important fact I've learned form the material I've studied so far, is that most deaths are a result of bleeding out, and if you know how to stop that bleeding, you can give them a chance to get to a medical professional and a chance to live.  That's no small thing.

    I guess I'm keeping it short tonight, but I'm going to try my best to write every week again. Let's start off small and see where it goes. Peace in and goodnight.

Where Dogs Lie

     I really don't have a lot to talk about this week. I did finally get paid by the Orlando site, and the supervisor is already wanting me back out there, but I haven't fully decided if I will go back. Even though they finally paid me, I don't have any confidence in them paying me on time from here on out. The supervisor did tell be that a lot of people were asking about me this past week since I wasn't there. I did enjoy the experience of being out there, so I really don't know what I'm going to do come next week when she texts me to ask my schedule.

    I was offered a shift this Sunday much closer to home, which I would love to get those offers more often, because I would much rather take them than go to Orlando. I accepted the shift which is going to be an 11 hour overnight beachside. The pay is much more than I normally get and when everything is said and done, I'll have 3 hours of overtime on top of it. The site is an armed post, but I was told that even though I'm licensed to be armed, I'm only going to be there for traffic control. The pay is still the same whether I'm carrying a weapon or not. Honestly, I don't know why this is an armed post. It's in a pretty safe area and there aren't any high value targets as far as I can tell by what and where the site is. It's just baffling to me. Anyway, this means I will do my normal Sunday shift from 8-4, then I will run home, maybe eat something and go to sleep to try and get some rest to be at this new site at 10 until 9 in the morning. This also means that I will miss the Artemis launch, but this was a special request from the field supervisor and he is the one that decides if I go to any high value posts in the future. I can't turn down the opportunity or the money. The plus side is that rain is forecast for the launch time, so there is a good chance that it won't go on Monday morning anyway and I won't miss it. 

     That's all I got for work related stuff. The pooches are doing fantastic. Both Morty and The Chonk have lost weight and are looking really good. They are all resting right now so I have a little quiet time while I write this. They should be relaxing until bedtime then it will be a slight madhouse as I try to get under the covers before they jump on the bed and make it impossible. I may not interact with humans on a regular basis outside of work, but the dogs and I are doing just fine.

     Ok, time for Favorite Thing of the Week. There are no pictures of videos for this, because it's basically a testimonial about a TV show on HULU. I was once again late to the party, but I've apparently showed up at the right time for big news. Only Murders In The Building is the show I'm talking about and they just put out the final episode of season 2. I thought it was on another streaming services which is why I wasn't watching it. Ok, I guess I should really give you the what it's about and who is in it before anything else. The show is created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman. I have no idea who John Hoffman is, but we should all know Steve Martin. It stars Steve and his good friend Martin Short as well as Selena Gomez. Now if you know Steve and Martin's relationship, it is understandable that they would be great together in the show, but Selena Gomez is a talented young woman who you may or may not know and she would seem like the odd person out. That isn't the case at all. She fits in as if she has been part of the team for decades. Her chemistry with Steve and Martin is second to none. The moment it really clicked for me was I think in episode 2. There is a scene where they are all coming out of an elevator and she says something snarky to Steve Martin's character. His reply is, and I'm paraphrasing here, "I wish you weren't so mean." to which she replies in a perfect deadpan, " I know that you do." and it is easily one of the funniest moments I've ever seen in TV. I think that's the real thing about it, even though she is the young gun, she plays the role as if she is an elder states person, and it's easily believable. She is an old sole type of character and it's priceless. Ok, now what the show is about. The whole basis is that a murder happens in their building and they come together over their shared interest in a true crime murder podcast. They decide that what the police say happened isn't the case and decided to create their own podcast called "Only Murders in the Building" and solve the murder. If you have HULU definitely watch this show. I believe there are 20 episodes right now in the first 2 seasons, and they have announced that there is going to be a season 3 which will have Paul Rudd as a pivotal character. Can't tell you more about that without it being a spoiler. Now for those of you who don't have HULU, do the free 7 day trial and watch these 2 seasons. I easily watched both seasons in 3 days, so you should be able to do the same. Trust me it is easily bingeable. Once it hooks you, you won't want to stop watching it. 

    Ok, that's all I got. I'll let you know how this new overnight posts goes next week. It should be a bit of a breeze. The hard part will be staying awake, which I already have my plans in order for it. Of course that means my plans will fail for the most part and I won't get a few hours of sleep between shifts, but I'll make it through. I'll have Monday day, through Wednesday to recover any missed sleep. Peace in and goodnight.

This Can't Be Real

      It's been one of those weeks that seems to last forever. I still haven't been paid by the TV station. I really shouldn't say the TV station because it isn't on them to pay me, it's on the branch of my company that deals with them that pays me, either way I still haven't been paid, now for the last 2 weeks. I really have no hope that I will get paid this week either. As it stand they now owe me 32 hours, 16 of which are overtime. I'll now a little later tonight if anything has changed in the area. If they correctly submit the time sheet to payroll, I'll see it on my past schedule, and then I'll definitely see it tomorrow evening on the paystub for this coming week. 

     I do have some good news. There is one financial institution that I've been dealing with down. I got the check yesterday, which is odd because I submitted a slip for direct deposit, but either way, the money is technically in my hands and it will be deposited into the back tomorrow morning. This seemed like the least complicated of the 2 so it stands to reason that it would be the first one to finally stop sending me hoops to jump through. It came at the right time too, but I won't bother getting into that, the first paragraph kind of explains it. 

    Oh, I did forget to mention that I did spend my last day at the TV station due to them not paying me. I doubt I'll be back out there again. I've lost trust in the field supervisor out there.

     It has been an interesting week for, um let's go with varmint, although I don't thing that is the proper term. At the space center site I saw an interesting bee, when I looked it up today it turns out that it was a Red Velvet Ant, which is actually a parasitic wasp. Turns out I've seen one of these before, but it was a female and the female of the species doesn't have wings, hence the reason I thought this was a bee. To give you an idea of what they look like, picture a bee, but instead of yellow, they have bright red, and the wings on the male are black. It's really cool looking, but it turns out that a sting from one of them is super intense, so much so that they nicknamed it cow killer. I didn't bother trying to get near it I just saw it on my patrol and went about my way. Still pretty cool to see.

    Today was even more fun. I was getting ready to do my patrol inside the building at the mainland location and heard thunder. Now this was important because they just cut a hole in the roof this week and it was of course leaking when it rained. I went to the door to see how close the storm was and when I turned around and walked back to begin my patrol. I almost stepped on what looked like a string or shoelace kind of thing, but I thought that it might have moved. I reached down to pick it up and throw it away, and it did move. That took me aback a bit. Turns out it was a very tiny snake. It was all black with a copperish ring around it's neck. I had never seen anything like it, and since it looked like a hatchling it's head hadn't fully developed so I couldn't tell if it was venomous or not. I erred on the side of caution and got a large cup and tried to get it inside so I could take it and put it outside. It didn't not want to go in the cup so I used the cup and some fancy footwork to guid it out the door. That's when I got a picture of it so I could look it up and compare it after my patrol.

     Turns out it's a completely harmless type of snake. It's a Ringnecked Snake that is pretty common here in Florida, but I have never seen one before in my life. This one was probably an adolescent due to it being around 5-6 inches. Full length is any where from 8-15 inches. They eat insects so no humans were in danger. Now, how did it get in? Well upon further investigation The facilities guy and myself determined that there is a very small gap at the bottom of one of the entry doors, which this little dude could clearly squirm under, which he did. 

     That's it for the excitement of varmint section of this little diary journal thing. Now it's time for Favorite Thing of the Week. I went with thing even though this is technically a video of a song, but, well you'll see when you watch it. I'm not even going to describe it. I'm just going to post it up here and let you watch it and then you will understand everything. 

     Now come on, if that isn't the greatest thing that ever was, I don't know what is. I bet you are asking yourself, "is there a full mascot band?". Why yes there is. if you look up Nyango Star, who that particular mascot is, you can go down a pretty deep rabbit hole of videos and you will see him perform with a full mascot band, and they only question I have when I watch it is, "How?" I bet you thought it would be why. Nope, the why is already answered, because it's epic. The how is what I need to know because they play guitar and bass with those mitten mascot hands and I have no idea how that is done.

     Ok, I'm out for this week. I'll update you on the pay situation next week. I still have options on getting it taken care of but I want to see if they make it right first. Peace in and goodnight.

Fire and Flame

      It has been an up and down week. Sunday was a crazy day in which I did my normal morning shift, then went back in at midnight for an overnight shift. I followed that with an overnight shift at the TV station. I kind of consider that an up, because I really enjoy my job, even though overnights are really stressful. Here comes the down. I didn't get paid by the TV station. Now, it's not the TV stations fault, it is the fault of the branch of the security company I work for out there. I've been told that it is being taken care of, but I have yet to see any proof of that. As it stand right now, they owe me for 24 hours of work, 16 of which are overtime hours. I am going back this Monday for another overnight, but if I get my pay stub for this coming week and don't see any of those hours there, that will be my last night at that site. The way I see it, is they are taking my time, and now they are taking my money so, if I can't get the money, I'm taking back my time.

     That lack of money this week really hit hard. I'm finding a way to work through it, but I'm so tired of this coming from behind every week. I'm still looking at the big picture, but it's starting to get very cloudy. Here comes some more of the up. I got notified this week that the company I'm contracted to is going to have a meeting about the supervisor at one of the sites. That is as far as I know about that. I have an idea what that means, but I've been told things like this so many times now, that I'm just taking a wait and see approach to it all. I'm considering that an up with an asterisks.

     Here is the next down. The Chonk decided to find the one gap in the fence he could fit underneath and managed to get out again. I was able to track him down pretty quickly and he jumped right in the car with little effort, but I really worry about him, because of how intimidating he looks. He isn't intimidating at all other than his appearance, but that is enough to get someone like the neighbor that hit him to do something like that or even worse. I fixed that new spot and have a plan to do more, but of course that costs money that I just don't have. I'm still waiting to hear form those financial institutions that I've been dealing with to find out what new document I need to fill out that they could have told me about months ago again. If I can finally get that money it won't solve the problems, but it will at least give me some wiggle room. Oh Chonk was chasing a car this time so no people were involved, hence the reason he wasn't stressed out this week. I should mention that my course of action worked and his stomach issues have been resolved. No messes to clean up this week, that's a down with an up.

    Ok, next up. I got to work on Thursday and I was waiting to clock in since I always get there about a half hour early, and a women that is somewhat new to the site came up to me and said she had been looking for me for weeks. I immediately responded with, "How can I help you?". She then said that she had something for me and handed me a gift card for the grocery store I go to. I of course said thank you but then asked what it was for. She told me about how nice I had been to her for offering to open the gate for her to leave through. Here is that part of the story. She has a roller bag that she brings to work and to get in and out of the property, you have to go through a turnstile. I saw her struggling so the next day I was there, I told her that if she wanted I would open the gate for her so it would be easier for her to get out at night. I followed up on my words and opened the gate for her whenever she asked. I simply saw it as my way of helping out the client. She is a contractor like me, but she is still a representative of the client, plus I'm there to help out in any way I can, and when I see a need, I fill that need. It's one of the reasons the client really likes me at all these sites. I will always go above and beyond. I thanked her again and told her how much I appreciated it, as well as let her know that my offer for the gate still stands, whenever she needs it. That of course was an up.

     Oh, but that up comes with a down. My supervisor came back in from opening the gate and began talking about her, and I mentioned how she gave me the gift card for what I had done. He told me that she gave him one as well, but that she meant it for me. Since she is very polite she told him to keep it even after she realized that he wasn't me and he kept it. Not only that, but he really made no effort to figure out who was the security officer that had helped her out. From what he told me, even though she was vague about who it was, I could have figured it out very easily. Here is what he said that she said. He wears a white shirt like you and a hat that says security. Seems almost impossible right? Only if you decide to not think about it. Now all of the guards have white shirts, but two of us rarely wear the white and go with a blue that used to be the standard uniform, so you can take them out of the equation. Now that leaves 3, but really 2 since the supervisor has already been eliminated. Now, just to throw a wrench in the works 2 of us wear hats that actually say security on them. That would be myself and one of the guards that we already eliminated because they normally wear a blue shirt. Also I should point out that she would never have any contact with him because during the week he works overnight and would never see her. The other guard that it could possibly be doesn't wear a hat at all, which only leaves me. I went the long way for that deduction, to show you that if he put any thought into it, he could have figured it out, he was just too lazy to. If it had been me, I would not have accepted the gift card and would figure out who it was and then tell her when he was expected back and that I would send him to her office when they arrived for work next so that she could give it to him in person. There is no way I'm accepting praise that belongs to someone else. This goes back to the reason that the company may actually be having a meeting about the supervisor. Anyway, that was a clear down.

     The rest of the week was just kind of meh, but today I took it upon myself to do extra training. My company has these online training courses that are generally assigned to you when they are needed, but I'm not waiting anymore and I'm going to work my way through the entire curriculum. I got a big chunk of them done today. There is still a ton more stuff, but I was one training session away from finishing an entire section. There are about 30 sections or so, and to date, I've only been required to finish 1 and a half.

    I'm calling that an up because there really is no other way to look at learning. learning something new is always an up. There is one more up before I get to Favorite Song of the Week, oh and this has a twist this week. One more up for the week. I got to ride Saki to work last night and since I was out on Space Center property, I decided to take it upon myself to get a picture in front of the VAB. It came out pretty cool so I hope you enjoy it.

Ok, now it's time for Favorite Song of the Week with a twist. The twist is that it is two videos of th same song, but these videos are how I found out about BABYMETAL. The first one is from a young french woman who just destroys guitar. I love watching videos like this of people that are insanely talented. She hasn't posted a new video in a few years which has led to some speculation of what happened, but I dug deep and it seems that she is studying to be a lawyer in Paris and that is the reason she has not uploaded any guitar covers. I think in this particular video she is 16. If you ever played guitar hero and got to the end you heard this song. It's by a band called Dragon Force and they are known for being incredibly fast and incredibly technical, so I present to you Tina S. with her cover of, "Through the Fire and Flame".

  

     Super talented right. Well he videos led me to the next one, which in turn led me to BABYMETAL. This next is another cover of the Dragon Force song but it's a drum cover. I hope you really listened because the guitar isn't the only insanity going on in that song. The drums are epic and this next performance is from a young Japanese girl named Junna. Her energy is just absolute joy to watch. She is still posting new videos so definitely go and check out some of her other stuff. I give to you Junna with her cover of, "Through the Fire and Flame". 

     See, her joy is infectious. Well Junna did a cover of a BABYMETAL song which got me watching their videos, and now I'm a huge fan of all these impressive ladies. I consider all these videos an up. They bring me so much joy and happiness joys washes over me when I listen to BABYMETAL. I have listened to all 4 albums now. They have 3 studio albums with a live at Budokan, which I believe is their 10th anniversary tour. Go give them a listen, they will make you happy.

     That's all I got this week. Have a wonderful week for me. Peace in and goodnight.

Just A Little Ri Ri Appreciation

      Just had to start with a picture of Ri Ri, cause she was looking too cute. This was one of the many occasions where she hops up in the chair with me. Sometimes she snuggles and other times she does what she is doing here, which is sit at the end of the chair and wait for me to pet her. The pups are still getting along splendidly. Chonk had an issue this week with some stomach issues, but they seem to have cleared up. I think it was all stress related. Last week he got under the fence and chased after a man and his dog. The thing is though, he only wanted to play, but the man treated him as if he was attacking and ended up hitting him. I didn't know about the hit until a day or two later. I was getting things ready for work and I let the dogs out just before I leave, which is about 5 minutes while I get my bag ready. I went out to get them and only two dogs came in. I searched the back yard and then went out front hoping to find him, but no luck. I hopped in the car and rode around searching for him. I saw the man outside and he stopped me and said that my dog got out, and that he had went after him and his dog. I apologized and mentioned that The Chonk is very friendly and the man agreed. I asked him if he saw which way he went and he pointed in a direction. I apologized again and thanked him and then drove off again. I went the wrong way and turned around to see The Chonk walking across the road. I drove up to where he was and told him to get in the car. He was happy to see me and skipped the passenger door and ran around to my side, so I had to get out and let him in. That's when the man drove up and asked if I had found him. I said I had and thanked him once again for his help. I got all the dogs inside then went to work. As soon as I got home I secured the fence so The Chonk couldn't get out again and went about the rest of my day which was me going back to work at the TV station for an overnight after doing my morning shift.

     I slept most of the day, but the dogs kept barking and waking me up. Turns out it was that man coming to my door. I knew this only because I noticed a letter left on my car as I was driving to Orlando at 70 mph and nearly crashed the car. I pulled over and took the letter off my windshield and went to work. When I got there I finally had a chance to read it. I won't detail the whole thing, but he decided to tell me once again what had happened and then mentioned that he hit The Chonk. Here is the thing. The Chonk clearly only followed him and was wanting to meet his dog. If he really wanted to hurt the dog or the man, he would have done it. The fact that this man hit my dog and The Chonk didn't tear his hand off is testament to just how gentle The Chonk is. I have not, nor will I go over to talk to the man. He had his one moment and I am keeping the letter, cause if anything happens to my dogs, that letter is going to the police. It details in his own words his willingness to harm an animal. The real reason I haven't gone over this is because I want to tear his head off, so I'm keeping my distance and calming my rage. You don't hit my dog. 

    Anyway, I believe the stress of that day and that moment brought on The Chonk's stomach issues, so this week was about giving him as much love as possible to settle his nerves. He really is a big ol' softie and like I said, that man had his one moment. He gets no more.

     Other than that, this week has been rather dull. I'm still trying to put in as many hours as I can. Last week was 48, and so is this week. It's going to be tough to get another 60 hour week, so I just have to take what I can get. The good thing is that the TV station has now been fully staffed, but the supervisor out there is still giving me a day or two, because she likes the job I do. The problem with taking a job under your market value in order to get to that big picture, is that it is difficult to pay bills, and yes, I'm still waiting on getting money from the accounts that were involved with my mom. That's right 5 months later I'm still dealing with financial institutions, that every time I jump through a hoop, the set a new hoop up.

    Ok, before I get to Favorite Song of the Week, and yes there is one this week, I wanted to give you a recommendation. It is The Sandman on Netflix. This is based on the Vertigo comic, which was a subsidiary of DC comics. It was created by Neil Gaiman. If you haven't' listed to the Audible presentations, which you really should, you would notice that it is following that story to a degree. The casting is exceptional and the guy playing Dream is clearly taking from the Audible presentation of James McAvoy's performance. He mimics his cadence and dialogue perfectly. I think I'm 5 episodes in and I'm loving it. I did see that critics are panning it, but I've never listened to critics about anything so I just sit back and enjoy it. As soon as I'm done with this, I will be firing up a new episode. So, if you want a visually beautiful show with an intriguing story, give it a try.

     Ok, now for FSOTW. I just discovered this band and they are not new by any means, so I'm very sorry I've missed them until now, because there songs bring me so much joy. I feel that there music is kind of a very strange mash-up of every style possible, but most would call it metal or maybe even anime rock, ( I don't know if that last one is a thing, but I like it. ). Here is kind of the best way to explain it. It is 3 young Japanese women that are kind of like pop idols fronting a death metal band. I'm sure that makes no sense cause I'm even shaking my head trying to come up with the right way to say it, and I think I'm failing miserably, so I'm just going to let you watch the video so you can see. Oh, I should say that it does seem that all their videos are of live performances, they don't do any cinematic type of videos for any of their songs, at least none that I have found, so this may not be as clear as the album track, but it is what they actually do and it isn't lip synching or anything like that, they are actually playing and singing, and it is fabulous. I present to you Babymetal with their song, "Gimme Chocolate!".

     I know what you are saying, "I don't understand it.". Here is the thing, there is nothing to understand, just enjoy it. I've been listening to their first album for the past couple of days and it makes me so happy. Isn't that really all that matters? I will slowly start listening to all their albums, but I just can't stop listening to the first one right now. 

     That's all I got for tonight. Have a wonderful week. Peace in and goodnight.

Is There Such A Thing As Too Much Work

   Ok, let's write. It has been a long two weeks. Everything will be explained, but first I just have to say that I'm exhausted. I have been working my normal sites as well as that new fill in site at the TV station. They really like me out there, so I've gotten more hours than I bargained for. I guess we should start with last week first though.

     So, last week they had me out there at the TV station for only 1 day. I was ok with that cause I was scheduled to do a double on Sunday. Come Saturday morning, I get a text saying that I'm no longer working a double and will only be working my normal shift and another officer will be relieving me. I was bummed, because that double was promised to me weeks ago, but this other officer apparently begged them to take it away from me so he could have it. They did so I just had to deal with it. Let's get to Sunday. I had cancelled all my arrangements to have the goof troop taken care of since I wasn't going to be gone from the house for 16hrs (really 17hrs) and went about my day. When it came time for my shift to be over, beggar boy was nowhere to be found. I went and did what was required of that time frame and took care of things then texted my supervisor. Here is the thing, the guy that was relieving me, generally only works 1st shift which is my shift at that post, they gave him the second shift. When my supervisor called him, he said he wasn't informed that he was supposed to come in and that he wasn't going to. Here is the thing. I was informed, as I told you by the field supervisor, then I contacted my supervisor to fill in him and he told me that he was also informed by the field supervisor, that would only lead me to assume that my field supervisor filled everyone in, since I personally saw the texts that he sent my supervisor. The replacement as protesting not getting first shift like he wanted. Here is the kicker. I had already reported that officer for, let's just say doing things he wasn't supposed to be doing. After this little incident they are saying that he won't be allowed at any of those sites anymore, but we will see. Anyway, I got my supervisor to come in and relieve me for an hour so I could take care of the pups, then I ran the double minus an hour. The next day I was out at the TV station for what was going to be the first of two days working the second shift. Went through the shift with no problems and got home just before midnight and went to sleep. Now, but phone didn't something it never does. It went into "do not disturb" on it's own, but the dogs still woke me up at 7:30. I let them out and then fed them and finally looked at my phone. It was full of texts and missed calls from the supervisor at the TV station. She had a family emergency and asked if I could come in to cover her shift as well as mine. I said, 'just let me get cleaned up and I'll be there, it should take me 2 hours". It's close to an hour drive to Orlando. I hopped to, got cleaned up and showed up about 10 minutes earlier than what I had stated. Got to work and slayed it out there. My supervisor out there called to check on me to see how everything was going and to give me an update on her situation. It was going great as I said, and then she asked If I could come in the next day to work the second shift so she could recoup. She had only slept a couple of hours that night and also the night before. I of course said I would be there. Let's just compare that to the guy that said he wouldn't come in cause he wasn't informed. That last day was the end of my work week and I clocked 68.25 hours. My check this coming Wednesday should be pretty good, which is very much needed.

      Now to the exhaustion. This is definitely taking a toll on me, but I've done 3 of my normal 4 days so far, with the last tomorrow, and then I hit an overnight tomorrow at the TV station, with another overnight on Monday night. Right now that has me scheduled to be off Tuesday and Wednesday, but I'm waiting on that one, cause there is a good chance that they may want me for one more day at the TV station. I've been told they really like me out there, and I had a few people tell me how glad they were I was there. Yeah, they actually said that.

      That leads into the praise I received Thursday at my normal site by one of the really important people there. What he said floored me because I'm only out there 2 days a week , which had me wondering what the hell do the other officers do out there. I'm hearing things may change soon, not so good for some, but really good for others, and when I say others, I mean me, but it is only talk right now, so I won't really go into it.

     Now for a little fun. Now I know I said that I would never show you a picture of me in uniform, but there was a selfie station up at the job site, and they really wanted people to use it, so I was asked and I couldn't say no. You have to satisfy the client. Now when I say selfie station, it was a backdrop screen with an iPad type of tablet in front of you taking the picture and it added different foregrounds. I went with the basic Starliner, so you will now finally get to see me in uniform. 

     That is the first and hopefully the last time you will see me in uniform. I was happy to do it for them, because that location is my absolute favorite site to work at. Once again, also where I got an avalanche of praise from a VIP there just before taking that picture. 

    Ok, I should probably go make dinner before I pass out. One more day of my normal post then 7 hours after I leave that one, I'll be at the TV station, doing the overnight for Sunday and Monday. 

    I could share a video with you, but I'm actually too tired to look it up and post it on here, so you will just have to take what I give you. I hope you have a wonderful week. Peace in and goodnight.

How Much Sleep Do You Really Need

     I don't even really know where to begin with this week, so I'm starting with the video I promised from a couple of weeks ago. I Do have video of the last launch as well, but I put that up on my Instagram story so I'll just hope that you saw it and leave it at that.

     Ok, I guess I should update you on what I talked about last week. I did in fact get a raise, and to say that that is an unusual occurrence would truly be an understatement. See the way a security contract works, and these are entirely made up numbers. A security company bids on the contract and like anything of this nature, it's the lowest price wins, but it's not just that simple. Say the security company tells the business that we can secure your property with security officers for $25 per man hour. The business says that's a bargain and the security company gets the contract. Now the security company has to man the post and hire a supervisor and officers. They pay the supervisor $17 dollars per hour, and each guard $15 dollars per hour. Wait, the billed the business $25 dollars per hour. Yes, they did, but you don't expect them to keep some of that money so that they have a profit do you? With that plan in place there would seem to be room for a raise from time to time right? Wrong, that would cut into the security companies profits. The normal way that you get a raise as a security officer is that you either become a supervisor and work your way up through the company, or you transfer to a site with a more lucrative contract. So how did I get a raise? I honestly don't know for sure, but it has been told to me from someone I trust, the it came directly from the client. They were so happy with the job I've been doing that they offered to pay me individually more per hour. That is basically an unheard of thing. This also means that I'm building a very good reputation with not only the client, but also my own company. For a client to offer to pay an officer more, it's a very big deal. This is why, despite the fact that I've had other security companies offer my jobs that have higher pay, that I've turned them down to stay where I am. I'm looking at the big picture of where I can go as opposed to what I can have right now.

     Now, that doesn't mean that I'm not hustling to make more money to make up the difference, and that brings us to Monday night. I told you that I claimed a shift off this app that we use. Well it wasn't quite as easy as it sounded, and the end result as made me noticeable to some other important people. Turns out that someone has been posting jobs for sites that can't just fill them with anyone. This job was just such a site. As I mentioned, it was for a local news station, and it's a very active site. It is in a metropolitan area, and since it is a news station with high visibility, it frequently gets bomb and death threats for the employees. This is why the person filling the shift has to be vetted and trained. I met the supervisor that night and she explained all of this to me and asked where my normal post was, when I told her she said forget everything I'm keeping you here and you are going to train tonight and then you can come back tomorrow afternoon to do a shift. Training was pretty standard with a few new things. I have to escort or basically oversee the parking lots when employees leave. The escorts are for certain employees that are higher profile than most. This brings a whole new set of skills for me to master most of all, threat assessment. I have to be very aware of the surroundings and potential threats to the clients. Then I have to deter those threats or find a way to eliminate them. I won't go into details on how that is done. The pay isn't all that great, in fact I'm making less there than my other site, but once again, it's all about the big picture and what this experience can lead to, and who knows of my presence on site. All of those watching see my performance and if they approve of my performance at a site that requires a whole different skill set, it is very favorable to my future. That's where that big picture comes in. It's all about the future potential. Give up the small gains for the big ones later.

     With all of that. I did work Monday night, and then Tuesday afternoon, without the chance to go to sleep. I figured that I went around 36 hours without sleep, and was really looking forward to relaxing on Wednesday, when I checked the schedule to make sure I was on my normal day of Thursday, to find that I had to go to work in a few hours. I called my supervisor on that site to verify that I was working, because he has screwed up the schedule before, and it was a shock to him that I was working, except for the fact that he told me that he called in another guy, that was supposed to be in that time slot to fill another shift at a sister site that we have. That meant that I had to go in to cover for the guy that was called to the other site. Once again, this all seemed to be a surprise to the cat that is making the actual schedule. Listen, this supervisor is a good guy, but sometimes good guys aren't meant to be supervisors, and he definitely falls into that category. I've been told by several people that I should take over that post, but I can only do what those above me want me to do, and right now, they don't see it that way, despite the fact that important people that are the client are saying that. This goes back to that big picture thing. I truly feel that things will work out the way they are supposed to, and my work ethic will prevail and lift me up. Also, being supervisor of that site would be nice, but that isn't the endgame for me. It's just a step in the right direction.

    So, I worked Wednesday which should have been my day off, the I was back to my normal schedule of Thursday- Sunday, with tomorrow being Sunday. That will make 11 straight days on the job. That should lead to a very nice paycheck, which I desperately need. Big picture means troubled times in the present, but oddly, I'm not at all worried. Once again, I'm confident in the big picture and everything working out in the end. Anyway, I have no idea how much the check is going to be, because I'm not sure how the ones above are going to play things out. Do they consider the news station a separate part time job and pay me straight? Do they see it as overtime and pay me time and a half? Do they lump it all together and then a day from each site is considered overtime and give me different pay scales at time and a half? I truly don't know and won't really have any idea until I get a look at the pay stub late Monday evening. I have gone to the trouble to figure out a few different scenarios, and the difference I've figured can be within the $250 dollar range. I know, that is a pretty big difference. I would of course like the top of that range, but I'm ok with the bottom. Either way, I'm getting hit with massive withholdings from my paycheck. I lose about a third of it each week to benefits and taxes. This again goes to a big picture, just a different one.

    I do have one picture for you this week. I just had to take a picture of the Desert Rose. I just can never get over how full it is compared to other ones that I've seen. Since I took this picture earlier this week it has already formed some new buds and has actually flowered, but just take a look at how awesome it is.

     That's about all I have for this week. I do have some concerns that I won't get paid for the news station, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I'll fill you in next week if anything strange happens. Until next week, peace in and goodnight.

Learning Is Fundamental

      I know I said I'd have last weeks video up for you to watch, but I have a new one that I had to get in for you instead. This is just one of the things that I may see when I'm driving in not work. Once again, I should warn you that it says it's processing, but I have no idea if it will actually load or not. I did post this to my Instagram story so you may have seen it there, but this is the Space X Falcon 9 coming home after it landed back at the pad, or the land landing site, as opposed to the drone ship that sits out in the Atlantic ocean. This is the second time I've had the good luck of seeing it drive down the road with its KSC police escort. I still have that other video of last weeks launch and I'll try to get it loaded up for you next week.

     It's been an interesting week. As part of my job, or maybe it's kind of a perk, I had this app called Daily Pay. The idea is that once your daily pay is submitted, you can draw it out through this app and put it in your bank account. There is a catch of course. The amount they allow you to have isn't necessarily your full pay, and they also charge a fee to do it. I of course will never draw from that and will just wait for payday to arrive. The good thing about it though, is that I can see if they maybe missed a day or got my hours wrong. Well this week there was a bit of a surprise when I saw the first day roll in there. The amount they said I could have access to was a little bit more than usual. That made me go in the app to see what exactly was going on. It looks like I got a raise, which is really weird because all the other officers constantly talk about how much they are making and the pay seems to be set in stone. From what I've been told raises are only given out when the contract changes and then everyone gets the raise. The exception is of course the supervisor who of course makes more. Now, no one has said anything about getting a raise, and I truly won't know for sure until Monday evening when the pay stub for this coming week is available for me to see. I will know for sure when I can look at the standard pay rate. The only reason I can think of this being true is from wha the facilities manager said to me on that night that we had the fire sprinkler mishap. He said to me as he was leaving that he was going to make sure that my effort and professionalism were acknowledge. This could be the way it is acknowledged. I'll let you know for sure next week. I still won't know the why, but I will defiantly know the what is.

     Oh, I got a picture for you. The Chonk's new collar arrived, and it's marvelous. As I mentioned before, I thought that The Goonies was the way to go with him because after all he is The Chonk. Well here is the collar on him. I'm holding it a little awkward so that you can see his name embroidered into it. 

     He seems to like it, but I'm sure it's more of him putting up with my dorkiness. I just have to tell you how lucky I am with all these pups. They are truly the greatest. The get along so well and even Ri Ri has given up on being grumpy and I think she might be a little in love with The Chonk now.They are all laying down sleeping right now, and The Chonk is in the chair next to me snoring up a storm.

     I'm picking up my first extra shift this week. I will be doing an overnight this Monday at a local news station in Orlando. I have no idea how it's going to go or what I'm exactly supposed to do, but I'll figure it out. I don't even know what the pay is. On the app where I can claim shifts they give the day/time/location/&what the requirements are, but they don't mention the pay, so I may not know until, well the time is submitted to that Daily Pay app. I really didn't want to drive all the way to Orlando but this was one of the closest shifts available, and probably one of the most interesting ones for me. I did change my requirements in the app for travel time, I guess the default was an hour and it was originally at distance traveled which I set at 50, but with this change, they were giving me offers for over a hundred miles away, so I lowered the travel time to 30 minutes, which should keep my close to home, and maybe I will start getting shifts offered in my county. Oh, one other thing about this whole shift claim thing. So far it hasn't shown up in my schedule. I did get a text confirming the shift and that I would get another text 2 hours before the shift, but my field manager can deny any shift claim that he wants, and I'm wondering if he pulled me off the shift. I guess I will find out Monday evening about the time I'm planning on leaving. Yes, I'm leaving about 2 hours early to drive 50 minutes. I want to get there early to find out what the site is about and read over the Post Orders. Post Orders are basically a few pages of documents that tell you exactly what you need to do and even lists procedures in the event of an emergency. It's basically the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) of the site. With that and the officer on duty I should be able to learn everything I need to know about what they do and expect there.

     Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I started to learn Spanish. When I was in high school, I made the mistake of taking 4 years of Latin. Ok, it gave me a good base for understanding language in general, but I was never able to truly speak or understand any other language, and being in security, I'm in contact with a lot of Spanish speaking people. This isn't some creepy desire to know what they are saying, but a desire to better communicate with them. There are two lovely women that I speak to regularly, but I have so speak slowly because they don't understand me. Turns out I talk rather fast, so I'm learning so it will be easier for them and I also get the benefit of learning something new and exciting. I chose the app Babble to learn on and they had a 4th of July special that if I pay a one time fee it basically opens up the app so that I can learn any language that they offer. Once I'm done with Spanish, I might go for French or maybe even Japanese. I don't know, the door is open to learn and I'm going through it.

     Ok, that's about it for me. I just took a quick look at the preview of this post and it appears that the video is there. Success. My dogs are of course my Favorite Thing of the Week, so no song this week. I hope you all have a wonderful week and maybe go learn something new. Peace in and goodnight.

Exciting Stuff

 

     Exciting stuff going on at the ol' work site this week. The picture above is the SLS (Space Launch System) heading back into the VAB. This was a planned return despite what a ton of people will try to tell you on social media. The first launch is scheduled for late August early September. I've been seeing it out on the pad for some time now, as a matter of fact, I got a picture of it and then cropped it so you could see it from what it looks like to me.

     Once again, the phone doesn't really get it as I see it but you get the idea. There was also a launch on Friday and I got the best perspective I could so that you could see it from the pad as it took off. I'm really hoping that this will upload.  

     Ok, the video is uploaded and it says that it's processing, so I'm hoping that you'll get to see it. 

     It's been a long week. I was called into work unexpectedly on Wednesday. Now, I'm not complaining about working, I will never complain about that, but I will complain about being called in and then being lied to. My supervisor tried to tell me that he submitted the schedule last week and that it was up on the app, but I look every morning as well as several times a day, and it wasn't there in the morning, but was miraculously there after he called. Here is what really happened, because he forgets that I was standing there when he took me off the schedule for Wednesday the week before. I had mentioned that the schedule was weird not that I wouldn't work it, but I don't want to take days away from someone else. He messed up and then tried to blame it on us not knowing we were supposed to be there. He had to call in someone to cover the secondary site we work, because he left it unmanned and was going to have to scramble to get someone in on the shift I did if I wasn't able to make it. The new guy is nice, but sometimes nice guys don't get things done, and he is that type.

    His call interrupted my plans for that day. I was slow cooking a roast when he called and I had to pull it out a little early so that it could sit and cool down for me to wrap it up and put it in the fridge. I did get one small bite and despite the early stop time, it was perfect, but I knew that by putting it in the fridge early it wouldn't be the same and I was right. The fridge dried it out a bit, but I'll just heat up the rest and use a dijonaisse with it. It will be fine, but not what I had hoped for. 

    Quick pup update. 

     The Chonk is fitting in nicely and has found his way into the old chair. This was a Baby Girl thing as well. She was the only one that would sleep in that chair and now The Chonk has taken it as his bed. For the most part though he sleeps as close to me as possible. Right now he is under the foot rest of my recliner, just snoring away. At night he still hasn't made it up onto the bed, but that seems to be his choice, because one morning last week he did get up in the bed and kiss attacked me. He instead sleeps right at the edge of the bed in the doorway so that I can't sneak past him. This has caused some issues with Morty and Ri Ri. Morty has to jump over him when he leaves in the middle of the night and if Ri Ri hasn't beaten him to the room then she gets blocked out and has to sleep somewhere else, because she will not try to nudge her way past him. Other than that, they have all be so great together. I couldn't ask for it to be any better than it is with them.

   Well with picking up that extra shift, I did get a full 40 hours this week, and I'm still waiting on news of a possible transfer, but I'm no longer holding on to hope for that anymore. It may be a lot of hot air, in the meantime I've put my application and resume out there for other agencies to see if they can give me fill in time for my schedule or a better offer than what I have.  I'm in a wait and see holding patter for now.

 

     I really haven't thought much about Favorite Song of the Week, so the picture of The Chonk above will have to suffice for Favorite Thing of the Week. It tracks pretty well though, although the one addition would be my whole fur family, but I don't have a picture of all of them this week. 

     Have a great week. Peace in and goodnight.