GOOD COP/BAD COP...NO...GOOD COP

I got called in to work at 1130 last night. It was a few minutes after 1:00am when I headed back home. At that hour...there's not too much traffic on the streets. As I approached one of the intersections that I have to go through...I saw the stoplight was green but likely to change soon before I got there...if I didn't pick up some speed. If I got stopped there...it would seem like 5 minutes of waiting for the light to turn again...so I picked up some speed...and made it through just as it was turning yellow.

As I continued on my way...I saw some headlights come up behind the car...and then...the flashing red and blue lights from a police car. RATS!

I pulled over and grabbed my wallet for my licence and insurance card. I thought to myself that the registration was in the glove box and I should lean over and get it...then I thought...no...I better put my hands on the steering wheel and wait for the officer to get to the window and ask for it...and tell him I'm going to lean over to get it...rather than be reaching over as he approached and have him wonder if I was reaching for a gun.

So I sat still...hands on the steering wheel...and rolled down my window. I could see in my mirror that the officer was approaching with flashlight in hand...shining it in the back seat of my car...and I hear him say...'license and registration'...then a pause and he says...'just your license is okay'.

He saw I had my work scrubs on...and I'm just a mile from the hospital so he asked...'just get off work?' So I told him I just got called in for an emergency and was now on my way home. He said...'getting called in stinks doesn't it?', and I responded that it does when I'm going to get in bed at 130 and have to get back up at 530 to be back to work at 630.

He nodded his head...handed my license back to me and said...'get outta here'.

For a split second...I thought he meant for me to get out of the car and walk back to his car so he could write me a ticket...and then I realized he meant...GO HOME.

So I did.

As I headed home...I looked in my back seat to see that my white lab coat was back there. My guess is that he saw the lab coat...saw me in my scrubs...heard me say I got called in for an emergency...and he made an assumption that I was a doctor.

Whether that was it...or whether he knew I wasn't pulling out of the local bar at 1am...or he was just a nice guy...whatever...I appreciated being told to go home and go to bed.

530 was gonna get here quick.


Dan

KNUCKLE CRACKIN'

An article today caught my attention and took me back to my younger years...and my nephew Kim.

The article was about people who crack their knuckles...and how you feel about those people who do. Does it make you cringe when you watch them? Does it drive you crazy...like listening to the girl who continually pops her gum?

Kim...was the world champion best knuckle cracker that I ever saw. It made me cringe when I would watch him...and it looked painful. He could snap every joint in his hand...and many times...he would do it multiple times. I mean even that little joint at the end of your little finger. And when he got done crackin' all his knuckles...I watched him crack a few of his toes! He was a Jedi Master at it.

I think his mom...(my sister Joan)...would tell him to quit..."you'll have arthritis so bad when you get old you won't be able to use your hands"...but he didn't listen. What son listens to his mom anyway...particularly when you know you're getting on their nerves...just a little?

According to the article I read, the author says: "There's not any hard science to explain why it's so addictive, but certainly people speculate it's one of those activities that releases nervous energy."

He goes on to say, you're not actually cracking anything. "That sound you hear is synovial fluid vapor cavities--or gas bubbles--in the fluid around your joints. With certain amounts of pressure, you can make those bubbles burst."

And while studies show that knuckle crackers are no more likely to get arthritis than anyone else, they do 'up' their chances of hand discomfort (swelling, less hand strength, and finger or joint injuries).

To my knowledge...Kim's still a knuckle cracker. I just know...if there was ever a better knuckle cracker out there...I don't want to meet him. It was gross enough to watch and listen to Kim.


Dan

BIRTHDAYS

The headline read...Janis Joplin would turn 69 today.

I remember Janis Joplin. She and her band...Big Brother & the Holding Company...were a great rock 'n' roll staple in late 1969 and the early 70s. Like a few other bands...she appeared at Woodstock in the fall of '69...and her career took off.

But I really don't care about it being Janis' birthday today. I have two other birthdays of much more importance.

Yesterday...was my cousin, Ronnie's, birthday. He turned 73. I called Ron last night and we spoke for quite a while to catch up. Over the last couple of years, we have reconnected...after many years of little contact. Ron and his family live in Colorado. Like me...Ron was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year and just recently reached his one year cancer free anniversary. I remember Ron (he was Ronnie then...just like I was Danny)...when dad would drive us over to uncle Jimmy's for a Sunday visit to see the family...and stop in to see granddad who lived nearby. It has been good to catch up again in our phone calls.

Tomorrow...would be my big brother, Durward's, 79th birthday. As I've spoke of before...there's quite an age gap between Durward and I. He turned 21...just 3 weeks after I was born. He was out in the world...literally...doing a world tour on his Navy ship when I appeared. He would soon wrap up his time in the service...and begin his shortened life as a successful business executive with Gulf Oil Company.

I have fond memories of listening to and enjoying the music of Janice.

I have fond memories of my visits with my cousin Ron and quite enjoy visiting on the phone as we've done in recent years.

I have wonderfully fond memories of Durward...and how I wish so desperately...that he were here with us so I could call him...to wish him a happy 79th.


Dan