Had a little party yesterday

[Buckshot]

............My son in law showed up yesterday to give me a hand moving some sheetrock. I'd unloaded it from the pickup onto 2 ancient old saw horses I'd had since like forever, and danged if they didn't just collapse :-) So there it all was on the ground.

We got them picked up and put on 2 new extra sturdy NEW sawhorses I built and decided it was time for a beer. So there we were in the shop standing around the workbench drinking beer and Deputy Al called. Since he gets a discount at Brownell's I'd asked him to order a couple things for me and they'd come in. Did I want him to bring them by?

Sounded like a heckuva idea to me, and I said I'd feed him a beer. He thought that that sounded like a heckuva idea. I told Bobby (son in law) who is a new Deputy Sheriff with San Bernardino County for about a year, that Deputy Al who is retired from the Riverside County Sheriff's dept (for about a year) was gonna stop by.

Bobby thought that was a heckuva idea too.

So when Deputy Al showed up me and Bobby were singing Irish beer drinking songs. Deputy Al was kinda staring at us. Next thing you know, ole Deputy Al is singing "Betryed by the black velvet band", which is an Irish ballad or beer drinking song.

Heck, they ALL sound like beer drinking songs to me.

You could have knocked me over with a feather because:

1) I didn't know Deputy Al KNEW any Irish beer drinking songs.............
2) He was only on his 3rd or 4th beer
3) He actually didn't sound too bad (but I was on my 8th or 9th beer)
4) He'd been a member of the 69th NY Volunteer Infantry

Then my wife stuck her head out into the shop and said the kid was on the phone and since her hubby was there, did we want her to stop at Rosa Maria's and pickup Burritos (definately capitol B).

And we said yes.

So then it was back to sheriffing stories, and I put on a Zydeco CD, and we had some more beer. Before too long the kid showed up so we adjourned to the dining room in the south wing :-) Awile after that Deputy Al decided it was time to go home, so he went out and got into the wrong car and went home. When I got up this morning his pickup was gone so I guess he got that sorted out.

We'd only killed a 30 pack so it was no big deal, but I DID want to post this so all you others (who would have been welcome to stop by, and too bad you didn't) will also now realize that Deputy Al DOES know some Irish beer drinking songs. And let that be a lesson to you .

...............Buckshot

[Bigjohn]

Oh, I someone had only had a video camera, Mr Gunload Master can we post a video?[smilie=1:

Good thing you got your car back.

:drinks:

John.

[454PB]

Quite the picture....

A new cop and a retired cop get beered up, then climb in their cars:drinks:

Gimme a freaking break, it's a story dude!

Buckshot

[waksupi]

Knowing Al, I'm pretty sure he wasn't sloshed while driving. I'm sure he has seen enough results of that over the years.

If you are concerned about drinking and driving, I propose we legalise it. It has been shown that using a cell phone while driving, is as dangerous as being intoxicated.

Consider, I see more people on cell phones running stop signs and stop lights than drunks. Cell phone users tend to not stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. Drunks know they have to be more careful.

I see more people talking on cell phones, while driving with a load of kids. Not many kids take thier kids to the saloon. And, I have seen school bus drivers talkng on them, when hauling a full load of kids. Real safe, huh?

And annoying? Drunks get together, and get smashed in a bar, among others doing the same thing. Cell phone junkies talk on them everywhere, disturbing you in restaurants, jabbering away in stores, and generally being obnoxious.

So, it seems reasonable that drunk driving should be treated the same as those using cell phones in the car. At least drunk drivers tend to do it late at night. The hazard of cell phone users, is 24/7.

Are you guilty?

If someone EVER runs into me, when talking on a cell phone, I will sue them for everything they own, and everything thier grandchildren may wish to own.

[454PB]

I own a cell phone, but it is NEVER turned on in my vehicles unless a passenger is using it. Cell phones and car stereos are probably the biggest distractions and accident causes we have. I support a total ban on cell phone use while driving.

As far as driving while "under the influence". I believe I'm a better driver after a few beers than most of the blue hairs I encounter are when stone sober.

[MT Gianni]

As one who has to have one for work and having driven 1100 miles across our fair State in the past 5 working days, I have to treat it like a police radio. Listen with a 3rd ear and keep it business only. Hands free helps, but after 30 years of being dispatched over a radio, writing down notes while driving, etc, I don't see a problem with what I do. It may be because I hate phones and have had far more bad news than good ever delivered by one. Most people do not pay attention to the road whether they have a phone, a stereo, or a back seat driver. I am a firm believer that legislation solves very little of our problems. Gianni

[9.3X62AL]

Marie did ask about the Taurus in the driveway, and after she found out I hadn't traded the F-250 for it--all was well. It's not like I took Christian's Cadillac--I don't have luck like that, even by accident.

For the benefit of the cop-hating cop-baiting tagger crew members looking on--4 beers over 3 hours' time gives a worst-case scenario blood-alcohol of about .02%. Get a life, fer cryin' out loud.

[joatmon]

Strength in Moderation.

[wills]

If you are concerned about drinking and driving, I propose we legalise it.



I always heard it was mandatory in Louisiana.

[GP100man]

nuttin in life like a accidental party amongst friends & family!!!
GP

[Jetwrench]

Wills, Thats just mean man, its NOT mandatory, just highly recomended:mrgreen: JETWRENCH

[454PB]

I apologize if I came off as a "cop hating/cop baiting tagger", I was trying to be funny, too. I have lots of cops (3) and fireman(3) on both sides of my extended family.


Mt.Gianni, when PPL "bought me" from your employer, their policy evolved to the point that if was that anyone caught using a cell pnone while driving (other than hands free) was dismissed immediately.

[fatnhappy]

Marie did ask about the Taurus in the driveway, and after she found out I hadn't traded the F-250 for it--all was well. It's not like I took Christian's Cadillac--I don't have luck like that, even by accident.

For the benefit of the cop-hating cop-baiting tagger crew members looking on--4 beers over 3 hours' time gives a worst-case scenario blood-alcohol of about .02%. Get a life, fer cryin' out loud.


geez, the way I heard it told someone was so plowed they stole the wrong car, drove it down a one way street the wrong way and hit a school bus. Must have been a cop hater. :drinks:

[44woody]

Al as long as you did not kill anyone or do any damage to any thing and had a good time with some friends I think you have done no wrong in my book :castmine: 44Woody

[Newtire]

I personally have no problems with anyone having a few brewskies but just to let you know that in our fair state of Kalifonistan, 2 beers just about for sure gets you a night in the hoosegow and loss of driving priviledges and alot of money for fines and programs.

Just be careful. the very first thing Mr. policeman asks is, "Have you had anything to drink today sir?" I found out myself about 15 yrs ago and now the laws are even strickter.

[wills]

Just be careful. the very first thing Mr. policeman asks is, "Have you had anything to drink today sir?" I found out myself about 15 yrs ago and now the laws are even strickter.


http://www.dwiwins.com/

[Boz330]

far as driving while "under the influence". I believe I'm a better driver after a few beers than most of the blue hairs I encounter are when stone sober.

454 I've said that for years. I don't know how many times I've had some little old lady look right at me and then pull out in front of me and then drive 20mph in a 55.
I don't advocate drunk driving but there is need for a little common sense. When all the states went to .08 I questioned how many accidents occured at that level. Usually when you hear about a bad accident the guy is .24 or something ridiculus.
I shoot with a bunch of cops and retired cops and they tell me that you can assimilate about a beer an hour with out a problem. And of course this depends on your body as well. I have to admit that it scares me to have more than a couple beers anymore. If you come to a road block the first thing they want to do is yank you out of the car and give you a sobriety check or breathalizer if you admit to having a drink. I have to have a medical every year for my pilots license and one of the questions is do you have an arrest for DUI. They can refuse your medical for that, no medical, no fly. Rant over.
BTW this isn't aimed at any of you guys in blue, just the system, I have the utmost respect for you. It's not a job I would want.:drinks:

Bob

[wills]

I don't advocate drunk driving but there is need for a little common sense. When all the states went to .08 I questioned how many accidents occured at that level.
Bob

Federal government made them do it. Look at the tail lights above the cabs of the newer pickups, like high mount tail lights in cars. Feds did a study on the high mount lights for pickups. The study concluded they would not prevent accidents. Feds decided to require them anyway.

[NVcurmudgeon]

"you can assimilate abut a beer an hour without any problem" Thats quite true for average to big guys, but feathermerchants need to go a little easier. Less blood means it doesn't take as much alcohol to get in trouble. curmudgeon, former 117 pound Naval person, and PITA to shipmates.

[KCSO]

It has always seemed strage to me that a guy running a radio and a vascar drinking a cup of coffee and eating a donut in his car is suppose to stop and ticket someone listening to a cell phone?
People cause accidents, there are some folks who shouldn't walk and chew bubble gum and there are some folks who can multi task quite well. In the old days this was settled by natural selection.

[versifier]

The only problem with that kind of natural selection is with a vehicle involved, other innocent people with better genes are often taken out, too.
As far as cell phones go, if you cause an accident because you are running your mouth and not paying attention to driving, I think you should face the same music as you would for having one (or several) too many. Like the yellow bumper stickers they used to give away on Car Talk: "Drive Now, Talk Later". I pull over when mine goes off, or ignore it until I can talk safely. I will accept that there are some people out there who can multitask safely, but it is a damned small percentage and it definitely doesn't include the mouth-running soccer mom who almost took us out last week (along with her minivan full of kids). It is driving to endanger and should be so enforced.

[Scrounger]

I think any honest code of ethics would require a police officer to hold himself to the same standards he enforces. If he would stop someone and give them a sobriety test or run them in because they admitted drinking 4 beers, or he smelled it on their breath, then he has to admit to himself at least, that he was in the wrong. If he believes he is above the rules he applies to others, he isn't fit to be an enforcer. This little bit of philosophy is not to be considered a condemnation of Al or anyone else who isn't guilty of such, it is merely a rule some of us live by.

[9.3X62AL]

No problem, Art.

Back when I was actually DOING enforcement of that type, very few of my arrests came in below .14% B/A. 1) I liked guilty pleas on midemeanors, rather than going to court 4-5 times per case on days off. 2) I didn't like "iffy" arrests of any kind, misdemeanor or felony--I took the attendant deprivation of freedom very seriously.

[Jetwrench]

I have done the DUI dance, just to get that straight from the start. I think for cell phones, DUI, drug related or any other provable act of stupidity that causes loss of life or loss of income to the victim, then the offender would recive no fine or penality save having to support said victim and family in the same capacity as the lost or disabled person would have. Until either the victim is well or all the victims family is grown or dead. Sort of you break it you replace it. I think law enforcement should be held to a higher standard than the public (Al this is not aimed at you, I think you are a stand up guy). I think you should be able to have a few drinks and still drive, just got to know your limits, the limits mandated by law are horse sh**, some people can handle an unopened beer and drive poorly, some much more. In the end you should just have to be responsible for your actions, in other words be a man. [smilie=1:

By the way COOL storie Buckshot.:drinks: JETWRENCH

[45nut]

"By the way COOL storie Buckshot. :drinks: JETWRENCH"

Yes indeed,,,reminiscent of the Tuesday at the range of old.

[schutzen]

454PB; Does PPL stand for Pacific Power and Light? Past posts indicate a significant number of electrical types on this board.

[454PB]

454PB; Does PPL stand for Pacific Power and Light? Past posts indicate a significant number of electrical types on this board.

Pennsylvania Power and Light. They bought all the Montana Power Company generating facilities shortly after the State legislature decided to deregulate utilities in our state. After 32 years of service, I was told if I showed up for work the day after the sale was announced, I could keep my job.

[Jetwrench]

I miss Tuesday at the range. Btw I know story has no ie but I had just put down a book by Dale Storie and there went my brain.JETWRENCH

[wills]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17171167/?GT1=9033

RIO RANCHO, N.M. - New Mexico is hoping to keep drunks off the road by lecturing them at the last place they usually stop before getting behind the wheel: the urinal.
The state recently paid $21 each for about 500 talking urinal deodorizer cakes and has put them in men's rooms in bars and restaurants across the state.
When a man steps up, the motion-sensitive plastic device says, in a woman's voice that is flirty, then stern: "Hey, big guy. Having a few drinks? Think you had one too many? Then it's time to call a cab or call a sober friend for a ride home

The talking urinal represents just the latest effort to fight drunken driving in New Mexico, which has long had one of the highest rates of alcohol-related traffic deaths in the nation. (The new tactic is aimed only at men, since they account for 78 percent of all driving-under-the-influence-related convictions in New Mexico.)

"It startled me the first time I heard it, but it sure got my attention," said Ben Miller, a patron at the Turtle Mountain Brewing Co. bar and restaurant. "It's a fantastic idea."

Jim Swatek, who was drinking a beer nearby, said: "You think, `Maybe I should call the wife to come get me.'"

Turtle Mountain Brewing owner Niko Ortiz commended the New Mexico Transportation Department for "thinking way outside the box."

‘We’ve got their total attention’
Department spokesman S.U. Mahesh said the bathroom is a perfect place to get the message across. In the restroom, "guys don't chitchat with other guys," he said. "It's all business. We've got their total attention for 10 to 15 seconds."

Similar urinal cakes have been used for anti-drug campaigns in Colorado, Pennsylvania and Australia, and for anti-DWI efforts on New York's Long Island, said Richard Deutsch of New York-based Healthquest Technologies Inc., which manufactures the devices.

But Deutsch said he believes New Mexico is the only state to buy the devices.

New Mexico had 143 alcohol-related deaths in 2005, for the nation's eighth-highest rate per miles driven. The problem is blamed in part on the wide-open spaces that make it necessary to drive to get anywhere, and the poverty and isolation that can lead people to drink to relieve their boredom or misery.

Also, some have complained that the state has only recently begun to emerge from years of lax enforcement.

Gov. Bill Richardson led a successful push two years ago to require ignition locking devices for anyone convicted of DWI — a first in the nation — and each year the Legislature has agreed on tougher penalties for repeat offenders.

New Mexico also has started a toll-free "drunk buster" hot line, boosted DWI enforcement in problem areas and increased police checkpoints. The state also has a DWI czar.

[SharpsShooter]

My daily early morning commute to work is 35 miles one way with 20 miles of that on the Interstate. I see folks each day jabbering away on cell phones as they allow their vehicle to wander in their lane and occasionally mine. To say that it annoys me is an understatement. Last fall I witnessed the end result of the inability to multi-task firsthand. A middle aged woman passed me at considerably more speed than I was traveling, but I did see that she was gabbing on her cellphone oblivious to her surroundings. She was perhaps 200yards ahead of me when a Whitetail doe ran across the highway from right to left. Now I saw that deer from 200yds away, but she never even hit the brakes. At least she didn't hit them until after she plowed the deer at 75+mph. I slowed up enough to see that the van she was driving was likely totaled. The front end was trashed and the airbag had deployed. Interestingly, the phone was laying up on the dash, still open. I wonder if it dropped the call? I hated the loss of the deer and the driver appeared to be dazed, but otherwise ok. I figure the driver got exactly what she deserved. When you go out on the highway, it is not just your life at risk and a moments innattention can result in a vacant chair at the dinnertable come supper.


SS

[Boz330]

I don't think that we need a law banning cell phone use. There are already reckless driving or distracted driving laws that would apply to the people that can't multi-task, and there are a bunch of them. Like SS I drive a pretty good distance to work and on some pretty narrow roads at that. About once a week there is some Boso on the wrong side of the road and they don't even seem to be aware of it. It seems like they think they are the only one in 3 counties. I wouldn't mind seeing some enforcement on these back roads.

Bob

[wills]

. I hated the loss of the deer and the driver appeared to be dazed, but otherwise ok.

SS

Darwin effect not working properly.

[45 2.1]

Darwin effect not working properly.

Gads, that was good, Thanks.

[Shepherd2]

I used to make a 52 mile commute to work with 40 mile sof it being interstate highway. Cell phones were just coming into use then. What I found common was people reading while driving 70 to 75 mph. Newspapers, letters, books, etc.. The capper was one morning I was doing about 75 and just inching past the guy in the slow lane. I looked over and he was doing a crossword puzzle.

[SharpsShooter]

Darwin effect not working properly.

ROFLMAO! That is the best one you have done this year :drinks:


SS

[NVcurmudgeon]

I miss Tuesday at the range. Btw I know story has no ie but I had just put down a book by Dale Storie and there went my brain.JETWRENCH

Don't worry about it, Jetwrench. The word in question seems to have a myriad of different acceptable spellings. There is a STOREY County here in Nevada.

[carpetman]

Can't use those talking urinal deodorizer cakes in Texas. The Texas aggies would get their head stuck in the urinal licking the salt blocks.

[9.3X62AL]

I see the Longhorns fans are awake and alert.

[medic44]

While blue hairs are bad drivers the ones that scare me when I'm running w/ lights and sierns are those w/ wheel chairs on their plates. I swear the take aim at my unit.

[pecos]

The talking urinal cakes may not last too long, some bar in Albuquerque had all of 'em stolen.

pecos

[DLCTEX]

I went just this week to provide written deposition on an accident where the other driver was at fault. Had to deliver a copy of my cell phone bill (two years ago) and answered questions about cell phone use. I did call my wife almost immediately, it will be interesting to see how the defense uses this. You don't want to get into an accident while using a cell phone, your fault or not. Dale