Justice Served X2 and Frustrations

Frustration Updated! lol

First of all, the justice part. Mark Jensen and Bobby Cutts were both sentenced this morning. During Mark Jensen's sentencing hearing this morning, Jensen was dressed in prison/jail garb. During Bobby Cutts' sentencing hearing, Cutts was dressed in the same suit he wore for the last 3 days. From what I understand, the difference was the fact that the jury was formally there for Cutts, and not for Jenson. Although there were a few jury members who were in the gallery for Jenson.

Mark Jensen
Anyway, Mark Jensen's hearing started off with a "bang". Apparently there was a fellow doing something that completely pissed off the judge. The judge pretty much yelled that if the man couldn't behave, he would be escorted from the courtroom. The man stood up and said "I guess I'll leave", and walked out. Even one of the posters on the InSession message boards who was present in the courtroom today had no clue what the man did. All I know is that when the judge yelled, it made me jump! Back to the sentencing hearing: A letter written supposedly by the two sons of Julie and Mark Jensen was read by the attorney for the Defense, Mr. Albee. Mark's chin actually quivered a little bit while the letter was being read. The letter was sad in many ways. The boys actually referred to Julie as their "birth mother". Apparently, if you believe that those boys wrote that letter without help, they think of Kelly as their "Mom". Not Julie. No other statements by Mark's family or friends. Not his parents, not his sister and not even his wife. His wife, by the way, was sporting a whole new look compared to how she looked when she testified during his trial. All four of Julie's brothers spoke out about the loss of their sister. One of them had his notes for his impact statement written on the back of a photo of Julie and held it so that the photo was plainly visible. Those four statements were more emotional and sad than that "letter" from the sons.

The judge sentenced him to Life Without Parole, saying "Your crime is so enormous, so monstrous, so unspeakably cruel that it overcomes all other considerations." just before pronouncing the sentence. I suppose we now wait to see what kind of appeals will happen next. Hopefully, it will be a long time before Mark Jensen sees any kind of freedom.

Bobby Cutts
The hearing for Bobby started off with the jury giving their verdict for their recommended sentence on Counts 2 and 3, which were the ones that had the possibility of the death penalty. For both counts they recommended Life in prison with a possibility of parole after 30 years. The judge then asked for statements from both Bobby's side and from Jessie's family. The only ones who spoke on Bobby's behalf today were his lawyers. They asked the judge to allow all the sentences for all 7 counts against him to run concurrently.

From Jessie's side, though, we heard from two of her sisters, Audrey and Whitney, her father, her mother and the prosecutor. Jessie's sisters statements were so full of emotion that they had difficulty even speaking. The heartbreak was very visible. Jessie's dad's statement was angry. The first thing he said was to Bobby; "Don't even look at me. Just put your head down," he said before he spoke. Next was Jessie's mom. She surprised me. The woman is incredible. She told Bobby that she has forgiven him for what he did to her daughter. She also told him that Blake, his son who is now 3 years old, knows what he did to Jessie. "You won't believe the stories that he's told us," she said.

Then the judge had his say. He imposed the maximum sentences he is allowed, for all 7 counts, although he did merge counts 2 and 3 because they were both about poor baby Chloe. Here is a rundown of the sentences:

1. 15 years to life in prison for the murder of Jessie Davis.
2. 30 years to life in prison on his combined convictions for aggravated murder in the termination of a pregnancy and aggravated murder for causing the death of a viable, unborn child. For Chloe.
   
3. 10 years in prison for aggravated burglary.
4. 1 year in prison on each of two counts of abuse of a corpse for a total of 2 years.
   
5. 180 days for child endangering.

He gets credit for "time served" while he's been in jail which will deduct from item #4, and item #5 will be concurrent with the rest. All total, he has to sit in prison for 57 years before he can go before a parole board. Bobby will be in his 80's by then.

Frustrations
While I was watching the sentencing hearings this morning I was waiting for a fellow from the utility company that serves this area, PG&E. He was supposed to be here between 8 and 12 to cap a gas line on an old furnace that is in the living room that I haven't used since I moved in here 2 years ago. Don't you just "love" the appointment times that utility companies give you? A nice 4 hour window of time that you have to hang around and wait for. With the sentences coming in today, it wasn't terribly hard to wait. But, the guy never showed! I called the number on the card that was left for me and told them how irate I was and that I couldn't hang around and wait for him to "maybe" show up sometime this afternoon. I needed to get to the grocery store in the next town over so that I'd have food for me to eat and some food for my cats, which I had completely run out of. So, now the appointment is rescheduled for Friday. Again, a 4 hour window for the guy to show up. I've got to sit here between 8 and 12 again. Hopefully this time, the guy will actually show up and cap that blasted gas line!

By the way, for the Jenson and Cutts sentencing, the Trials and Tribulations blog from Sprocket has some very good commentary on the hearings.
For more coverage of the Mark Jenson trial and sentencing:
Cnn/Crime
For more coverage of the Bobby Cutts trial and sentencing:
Cantonrep.com
Cnn/Crime

Frustration Update!
4:45pm
Ok, my rant about PG&E not showing up this morning... The guy just showed up about 20 minutes ago! I was told that the appointment for the PG&E guy to be here to cap that gas line was between 8am and 12 noon. I happened to go outside about 20 minutes ago and saw the PG&E truck parked out front. I'm thinking, what the heck? I walk out there, the fellow is on the phone and looking at his computer screen on the seat next to him. I step up to his truck and tap on the window. The poor man about jumped out of his skin! Anyway, on his screen it was saying that the appointment was for this afternoon! In other words, they told me 8 to 12 and they told the guy 1 to 5! For crying out loud! Anyway, gas line is capped, the old furnace is unusable now, which is what I wanted. I haven't used that old thing since I moved in, it didn't look trustworthy when I moved in, so I never lit it and put furniture in front of it! lol.. Next step is waiting to see what my landlord is going to have installed to replace the two wall-shaker air conditioners that he took out last fall... By the way, that furnace that got capped today wasn't the only heat in the house. There is another wall furnace in the hallway.

Brazil termite hunters find 200-year-old mummy

Exterminators looking for termites in a monastery in Brazil's biggest city of Sao Paulo found a mummy and a skeleton believed to be at least 200 years old, the head of the monastery said on Tuesday. ''There were some mounds of termite dust and the exterminators broke into the walls to see what was in there," Father Armenio Rodrigues Nogueira, who is in charge of the monastery, one of the city's oldest, told Reuters.

read more | digg story

If you click "read more", it takes you to the Reuters website and the whole story that they've seen fit to print so far. The story says that the mummy and the skeleton that were found in that wall are believed to be of two nuns. Uhm.. Nuns? In a monastery? I thought monks were in monasteries and nuns were in convents. It makes me wonder about the place. Was it always a monastery? Did monks and nuns live together in a monastery 200 years ago?

Hmm... A little investigation... I found a link that tells a bit about the history of the place: Mosteiro da Luz. Ok, according to this article the place is also a convent. Ok, that solves the mystery of nuns in a monastery. I still have to wonder why the two women were in the wall! Did the termite inspectors stumble upon a 200 year old crime scene? Or did they bury people in the walls 200 years ago? Weird!

Hmmm... More investigation (don't you just love google? LOL) came up with some more information. BBC News has an article about it. A snippet from that article says: "The bodies were found in the wall of an area inside the monastery that was used as a cemetery. About 129 nuns were buried within the building between 1774 and 1822, when burials started to take place outside." Ok, so nothing mysterious happened.. lol, but it gave me a few minutes of snooping and surfing around for more information.

The stuff that we miss in the movies!

Hey! Samari warrior! What time is it?

Hey Dude! Put your finger on the trigger! Now!





Trojan War? Check! Jet in the sky? Check!





Costumes?... Bows and arrows?... Walkie talkie?... Action!




And here's a favorite...



What? Oh! I remember now! Adidas.... Founded in 1635


LOL!

This was sent to me in an email from a good friend. I couldn't resist adding it here, so I emailed her and asked if it was ok... Thank you Peetce!!

More snow on I80!

Updated!

My trucker friend called to find out what the snow was like in the pass. He's on his way back West again having made his drops in Reno and beyond. It looks like a mess up there. CalTrans road conditions page says chains are required, but they are holding trucks at the Nevada State line. Normally my friend is exempt when they close the roads to trucks because he's carrying the mail, so we'll see what happens. I checked all the cameras, as usual, and it really looks nasty up there.

The camera at the Truckee scale is wobbling really bad because of the wind and there is a lot of snow blowing sideways. For the few minutes I watched the camera, I didn't see a single truck, so they must be holding most of them.

Hmmm... Now that I have a screen shot posted, I see a truck going through the scale.. Fed Ex, of course.. lol




They've got definite problems at the Hwy. 89 and I80 junction. The Eastbound side of the highway is moving slower than a person could walk. According to the CHP site, they had a multiple vehicle mixup. No injuries, thank goodness. I've been watching this camera for about 15 minutes now and it doesn't look like there's going to be any let up in the traffic for a while.




The Kingvale camera is almost completely whited out with the snow and ice packed on it. Once in a while I can see a dark shadow move by where I know the road is, but you sure can't tell it's a car from the view on the camera!

The Whitmore camera looks very similar to the screen shots from yesterday. It doesn't even look like the wind is blowing very much there. Just lots of snow covered cars on the road heading towards the camera.

One of these days I'm going to have to try timing the screen shots for when my trucker friend is passing by. I've actually seen him on one or two of the cams when we've been on the phone at the same time.. He tells me "Look quick, I see the camera!" and yep.. There he goes.. White truck and grayish trailer.. lol

The weathermen were predicting that this storm would be kind of like the one we had back in the beginning of January. High winds, lots of rain, etc. During the January storm, the power went out and stayed out for quite a while. The little town where I am was without power for nearly a day but since the PG&E maintenance yard is here in town they jumped right on it and got the lights back on. But outlying areas were without power for days. This time, so far, all the power has done is blink a couple times. It triggered the alarm on my battery backup for my computer, but we haven't lost power so far. I've got my fingers crossed that we don't end up in the dark again. Last time my freezer started defrosting before my next door neighbor hooked me up to his generator. This time, well, I've got my fingers crossed!

Update 3:20pm
I just got another call from my trucker friend. That traffic mess in the 89/80 junction camera? The traffic mess is still there... In the camera, and in my friend's view. He's stuck in that mess. The CHP site says that they have a major boggle up near the vista point. That is miles from where the camera is. Poor guy is going to have a very long day. The camera is still showing a stop and go crawl on that side of the highway.

Update 10:35pm
My trucker friend called again. The interstate is still technically closed, but they've got enough of it clear to let the trucks carrying the mail get moving again. He says that the blowing snow is really bad. But the road has been "cleared" some by the plows. Poor guy started his day at 4am this morning. Then sat at the side of the road West of Truckee for nearly 8 hours. It's days like today that make me a bit happy that I'm not driving rigs anymore. I can sit here in my house, in front of my computer with a hot cup of coffee and surf the net. If I was still driving, who knows where I'd be...
Anyway, I thought I'd put one last screen shot in for today. Here's the Truckee Scale again. Lonely, quiet and cold. The camera isn't shaking nearly as bad as it was earlier. But there's still a bit of snow blowing sideways now and then. Brrrr.....

Snow on I80!

I said I'd look at the CalTrans live cameras again this afternoon. I did. It's definitely snowing up there now. The wind the weatherman predicted hasn't started up yet, they're saying it'll start blowing hard later this evening or tonight. Anyway, the CalTrans road info page is showing chains are required up there too... Of course the CHP dispatch page isn't saying anything about chains, but they've got quite a few accidents/spinouts on thier page at the moment. So, here we go with screen shots from the cameras again, just for comparison with the ones from this morning. Oh yeah, while I was waiting on each camera for a view that I wanted a screen shot of, I didn't see a single plow running. I guess they're waiting for the snow to pile up some more.

Here's the Whitmore Grade camera. Lots of traffic moving very slow. I have a hunch the road is either very slick or there is something happening behind the camera.

Here's the Kingvale view. Nasty, huh? Some of the "white out" condition you see is due to the ice and snow on the camera, but most of it is the snow flying!










I decided to show a couple more cameras, this one is at the junction of highway 89 and I80. It's sort of between the city of Truckee and the truck scales. Lots of gunk on the camera in this view.. And very few cars at the moment I hit "print screen".












I had to sit and wait for some cars to show up in this one. It was a very boring picture of just the road and no cars... Look at all the snow on the access ramp into the scale. Brrr....










This is the other "extra" cam that I decided to grab a screen shot from. Normally when I'm looking at this one, I don't see snow on the ground like today. The snow elevation is dropping fast, I guess. Believe it or not, that flat white area right in front of the camera is the on and off ramp for the town of Floriston.

CalTrans Live Cameras

I had questions about the locations of the cameras that CalTrans has up on I80 in the mountains. Most of the locations of the cameras in their list are fairly easy to find on google maps, since they are in or near towns that are easily looked up on a map. One of the cameras gave me a problem, though. The Whitmore Grade camera. I asked a couple people and got a general description of where the camera is. I used the Google Earth program and zoomed in on I80 as it climbed up into the pass and I think I've got it placemarked now.

As you drive East up I80, once you get past the town of Alta, the highway splits for a distance. Eastbound and Westbound lanes are a distance apart, and in the middle you see a group of buildings. Those are the dorms and barns for the snow removal and maintenance equipment for CalTrans. (Or so I've been told!) I was told that the Whitmore Grade is there. Oh, and as far as I can tell, it's in Placer County. If I'm wrong, I'd appreciate it if someone could correct me! lol

Update! I've uploaded a different map showing where I think the camera is for the Whitmore Grade. One of these days I'll have to take a drive up in the pass and see if I can spot the location. When the weather improves, that is.


This is the view from the Whitmore Grade camera this morning. The road looks pretty good today, compared to yesterday. But we're supposed to have a pretty bad storm coming in this weekend, so conditions will change. For the worst. This is one of the cameras that I regularly check when my trucker friend calls for a road condition report.






One of the other cameras that I normally check when he calls is the one at Kingvale. This morning's view from the camera looks a little nasty because of the snow and ice on the camera itself. When the snow is falling, the position of the camera makes it kind of hard to see the road because the snow and ice packs up on the lens or whatever is in front of the camera. Lots of snow up there this morning, but the road looks clear. The camera is looking towards the West, and the Westbound lanes are up above the Eastbound lanes.



The third camera that I check most often is the one at the truck scales just East of Truckee, Ca. It looks towards the East at the access ramp going into the scales, but you can see the Westbound lanes as well. I've actually spotted my friend's truck passing by this camera a few times as he heads towards Reno.







We're supposed to be having a doozy of a storm coming in this weekend. High winds, rain and snow in the mountains. I'll have to check back in and do some more screen shots when the storm hits.

CalTrans has a lot of cameras in their list. Just go to Caltrans Live Traffic Cameras, scroll down the page, pick a highway and then pick a camera. Have fun!

This is the original map I had above for the location of the Whitmore Grade camera. I had the marker on the wrong side of the highway. As I said in the update above, maybe later this spring or early summer I'll take a drive up in the pass and see if I can spot the cameras and get them marked on a map properly.. lol

Local Crimes ~ Update

Well, the day before yesterday bail for Rex Archer was reduced to $100,000, and the former Yuba County supervisor candidate, charged with sexually abusing two girls, could be released from custody by Monday after filing a property bond according to the local paper. (Appeal Democrat) Archer's lawyer, Donald Wahlberg, asked the judge to release him on on his own recognizance. The Probation Department recommended that his bail be reduced from $500,000 to $200,000. I guess the judge decided to split the difference between what the lawyer asked for and what the Probation Department asked for. There are still protective orders in place ordering Mr. Archer not to contact the victims.

The prehearing conference is now set for March 7th. So, for now, Mr. Archer is still in the jail over in Colusa.

What a week for True Crime Watchers

• Bobby Cutts found GUILTY.
• Mark Jensen found GUILTY.
• Stephen Grant sentenced to a minimum of 50 to 80 years.
• Drew Peterson's third wife's (Kathleen Savio) death ruled a HOMICIDE.

It's been a busy week for the justice system!

Rest in peace, Jessie Davis and Chloe.
Rest in peace, Julie Jenson
Rest in peace Tara Grant

Here's hoping for justice for Kathleen Savio so she may rest in peace.

Here's hoping that Stacy Peterson will be found soon.

I'll try to post more later.. But first, I just have to watch On The Record and see what Greta has to say!

Snow in the Pass Again

A while back I posted about the snow in the Sierras with a rant about CalTrans and the CHP not talking. Well, it's snowing again in the Sierras today. And, again, CalTrans and the CHP aren't communicating. Here's a view from the live camera at the Whitmore Grade... Looks a bit snowy, right? The road doesn't look that bad, so maybe it's ok to go? Maybe?






So I check the CHP dispatch site... Nothing being said about chain controls. Cool! It must be okay to run, right?


So, I check the CalTrans website for the road conditions....... What? Chains are required? Oh boy......










I am not going to call my trucker friend and ask him what the radio is saying. He has a constant rant about CalTrans and how they handle the snow up in the pass. He says that he sees the plows and sand trucks sitting along side the road or on an offramp more than he sees them plowing. All I can do is tell him what I see on the websites...
**sigh**

Magnitude 6.0 quake shakes corner of Nevada

SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck near the town of Wells in northeastern Nevada at dawn on Thursday, shaking residents in their beds and causing some damage, the U.S. Geological Survey and residents reported. There were no...

read more | digg story

A few pics of Wells Nevada Earthquake this morning + Story

Inspection crews with state agencies began examining bridges, dams and roads less than an hour after the earthquake struck shortly after 7 a.m.Seismologists with the University of Reno-Nevada are traveling to Wells to inspect the epicenter.
read more

~~~~~~~~~

I grabbed these stories off the Digg.com site because the earthquake happened where my niece lives. I tried phoning her as soon as I heard the news, but only got her voice mail. She lives on a ranch so she was probably out tending to chores on the property, taking care of the animals and such. So I called her Dad, my brother, and caught him driving down the highway in Virginia in his big rig. He said that my niece called her Mom this morning and said that she and her family were fine. I don't know if her place suffered any damage, but the pictures I've seen on a few websites show a lot of damage to the downtown district of Wells.

The Reno Gazette-Journal website has quite a few photos that show the damage. It's going to be quite a while before the city gets back to "normal".

I will try to update later after I've talked to my niece, or if I hear any any additional information.


Update ~ 2:15pm

The latest from the Reno Gazette-Journal is that there were no major injuries from the quake, and that 20 to 25 buildings in the historical downtown district suffered major damage. A quote from one of the articles I read says: Three injuries were reported, but they were “not very serious — a broken arm, some head lacerations, some difficulty breathing.” I still haven't talked to my niece, but will try calling her again this evening.

Update ~ 5:00pm

I still haven't been able to get a hold of my niece. I'm wondering if the phones are out or something. I don't have her cell number, but I have to wonder if even having her cell number would do me any good. One of the articles says that cell service is "spotty" right now. The latest news I've seen says that the town of Wells is closed until further notice. I read that they have closed off the offramps from I80 and I guess blocking other access roads into town. The only people allowed to go into town are residents. They've had at least 14 aftershocks so far. Utilities are still down, but crews are working hard to get electricity and water going again. Police are doing house to house checks to make sure no one else is injured or trapped.

Update ~ 8:30pm

I finally got a hold of my niece... She and her family are doing okay. They had some damage to their home, they're going to have to replace the chimney, and a lot of things were broken inside the house but basically they survived the main quake and all the aftershocks fairly well. They said it has hardly stopped shaking there with all the aftershocks. The animals on their ranch seem to have come through just fine too. Whew.. I can stop worrying now.

Kacie Barron & The Ride For Hope

Kacie Barron, 40, died July 26, 2006, a victim of domestic abuse, allegedly murdered by a man still in custody and awaiting trial, Mario Lozano. Her name, nor the name of her accused murderer haven't been in the news much since her murder. I was googling this morning trying to find out what is happening with the accused murderer. All I can find are old news articles. I found virtually nothing about the actual crime, nor anything at all about Mario Lozano, other than the fact that he is still in custody. I suppose I need to call my brother to see if there has been anything at all happening.

Kacie's name comes up once a year in local news, though. Her brother, Pat Barron organized a motorcycle run in her honor along with many of her friends, including my brother that first year after her death. Kacie's Ride For Hope. The ride was a 140 mile bike ride from Placerville to Fair Play via Highways 88 and 89 through the beautiful Hope Valley to benefit the El Dorado Women's Center. They organized a run again last year and had twice as many participants as the first year. I'm sure there will be a third annual run to honor Kacie and to benefit the Woman's Center in El Dorado County. By the way, about the graphic above? The woman on the bike is Kacie.

I need to call my brother and see if he can give me anymore information. About the status of the POS that is jail awaiting trial for her murder. (By the way, for those who have encouraged me to attend a trial, this is one that I would like to see. For my brother. For Kacie's family. And about the Ride For Hope. I'll update later.

Brianna Denison - A communities tragic love story

A memorial for Brianna Denison, the coed that was kidnapped and murdered by a predator in Reno Nevada last month. The article includes a song written, produced and recorded by Brianna's younger brother, Brighton and his friend, Danielle DeTomaso.

read more | digg story

~~~~~~~~~
This is my first try for adding a story from somewhere else. I added this story from the CalFire blog earlier today by using the Digg site. In other words, I submitted it to Digg and then linked it here. (It was my first time submitting something to the Digg site too! lol) Confusing stuff, but it's here nonetheless. It's well worth the read, and do listen to the song that her brother and his friend wrote, produced and recorded. Have some tissues handy too.

Here's another link to the CalFire blog:

Brianna Denison - A communities tragic love story

Brianna Denison Found

In Honor of Brianna Denison

Another young person found dead. The 20 year old college student, Brianna Denison disappeared last month, Jan. 20th, from an apartment where she was sleeping on a sofa. The investigators have linked her disappearance to other assault cases in that area through DNA. Yesterday, Reno police were led to a vacant field in the Southern part of Reno, about 8 miles away from the house that Briana was taken from. They just announced that the body found was identified as Briana. The cause of death was strangulation. My heart goes out to her family. In the article I have open in my browser from the Nevada Appeal it says that the family asks for blue ribbons to be hung to honor Brianna. My blue ribbon hangs right here on this blog and I also will be hanging a blue ribbon out on my front gate shortly.

I hope that the police can find the serial rapist who has done this soon, before he kidnaps and kills again. Up until now, his crimes were kidnap, assault and rape. And now he's escalated his crimes to add murder to the list. How soon will he feel the "urge" again? He needs to be caught before he strikes again.

There are too many missing people out there. Somewhere. Some gone by their own choice, but so terribly many others who are gone because there are sick people who have no regard for human life. Just look at the list of missing persons on the America's Most Wanted website. Or the National Center for Missing Adults website. And then you have the missing children, look at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website. There are hundreds of websites devoted to finding the missing people. It's enough to break your heart.

Bobby Cutts Verdicts

After waiting for 20 plus hours of deliberations (Sorry, my brain seems to have lost the actual number of hours that the jury was out.), the verdicts are in for Bobby Cutts.

• Count 1 Aggravated Murder of Jessie - Not Guilty
• Murder (Lesser Offense) - Guilty
  
  
• Count 2 Aggravated Murder of Jessie - Guilty
• Guilty of committing said offense after committing aggravated burglary.
• Guilty of Aggravated Murder - guilty of purposely causing death of unborn human
  
  
• Count 3 - Baby Chloe - Guilty
• Guilty of Aggravated Murder
• Guilty of Committing Purposeful Killing of Baby Chloe
• Guilty of Committing said offense after committing aggravated burglary
  
  
• Count 4 Aggravated Burglary - Guilty
• Count 5 - Gross abuse of a corpse - Guilty
• Count 6 - Gross abuse of Baby Chloe - Guilty
• Count 7 - endangering Blake Davis - Guilty

As I watched and read the message boards at Insession during the verdict watch, there was a lot of speculation as to why the jury was taking so long. At this point, the reason is up for grabs. I think they were just taking their time and looking at all the evidence and testimony and working hard to make sure they did it "right". When the judge began reading the verdicts, the "not guilty" for count 1 made my heart drop. I thought "Not again!". But then he read the next page, "Guilty" for murder. I thought "Ok, I can breathe again!" And then all the other charges got "guilty" and I could really breathe again. The whole time the verdicts were being read, Bobby Cutts sat there with absolutely no emotion showing on his face. He just had his head tipped back so that it appeared he was looking down his nose at the judge and the jury. His lawyers leaned forward a few times and whispered to each other, but Bobby seemed not to care at all. I guess he used up his "tears" with the one single tear that dropped from his eyes during his "emotional" sobbing testimony the other day.

After the verdicts were read, the defense asked for a mistrial because they thought the jury was "confused". (Denied!) They looked at the dates that the forms were filled out. Count 1 was signed on the 13th, counts 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 (If I remember correctly) were signed yesterday, the 14th and count 4, the aggravated burglary charge was signed today, the 15th.

"Rug Party" Anyone?
Yesterday evening on the message boards at Insession was.. Uhm... Interesting I guess is the word I want... lol.. Somehow, the camera ended up on the floor of the courtroom and it was pointed in the general direction of where the prosecution and defense tables are in the courtroom. We had a great view of the dirty carpet, a wheel on something, maybe a cart of something, chair legs, part of the half wall at the jury box and a bit of the rail at the front of the gallery. So, it was decided that we (the posters in that thread) were having a "Rug Party". Every once in a while we could see someone moving around in the courtroom. One fellow in a white shirt seemed to pace a bit near the wall behind the tables, another fellow in a tan suit wandered around every so often with a cell phone, then a woman in a dark suit with a blue blouse joined them for a while. There was a lot of theories of what the fellow with the phone was saying, including apologizing to his wife that he'd missed Valentine's Day. One of the posters who lives near the courthouse got recruited to take a drive down to the courthouse to see what was happening! Then late last night after the jury went back to the hotel, the live feed from the floor went black. This morning, though, the camera was back up on the tripod and focused on the benches in the gallery and it didn't take long to see a lot of people in the room. The fellow with the tan suit seemed to be there again along with the lady in the dark suit and blue blouse. Didn't they sleep? There seemed to be a lot of law enforcement present as well. They were gesturing at the benches as if they were making plans as to who was going to sit where... Then.... The news came in that there was a verdict! The message boards were humming for sure, with everyone so anxious to hear what the jury had decided.

Now we wait again. The penalty phase for Bobby starts on February 25th at 8:30am. The jury has a week off to decompress and rest, Bobby has a week to contemplate his fate, the lawyers have a week to finish preparations, Bobby's family has a week to worry and Jessie's family has a week to adjust to the knowledge that her killer was found guilty. The only thing that remains is the decision for his penalty. Life in prison or the death penalty.

Postcards From The Past

This morning, while surfing through various news sites while waiting for word on the Bobby Cutts verdict watch, I came across an article about a postcard that was delivered decades after it was sent. The article is in the Boston Globe (A special delivery: greetings from 1929) and details how the postcard, penned 78 years ago by a traveler with the initials M.C., simply says, "Greetings." Bearing a green one-cent stamp and a picture of Yellowstone National Park's Tower Falls, it is addressed to a "Miss Margeret McDonald." The article made me think about some of the old postcards that I've sold in the past on ebay, and about the boxes of old postcards I still have sitting here waiting to be sold. And it makes me think about how I really need to get busy and get the cards up for sale again! lol...

So, I've been looking through the images of some of the old postcard I've had or sold over the past few years. Most of the cards have never been mailed, but there are some that were and have enigmatic messages on them just like the one the fellow in the Globe article.

I wish I still had images of a couple of the postcards I sold a couple years ago. One of them was a postcard from a soldier to a girl that had a picture of the California coastline and was postmarked around 1918 or so. It was essentially a "Dear Jane" postcard.. He apologized to her and told her that he'd found a new "love". Another one from a soldier at the Presidio in San Francisco to his mother telling her how his training was going, the state of his health and how soon they would be going overseas, it was postmarked in 1916. Too many computer crashes since selling those cards, and the images were lost.

Other postcards that I've sold in the past have given people a glimpse of their family members. One, from Knott's Berry Farm of the stage coach (see below) gave me an email from a buyer telling me how thrilled she was to get the card. One of the men on the top of the stage coach was her Grandfather! Another card I sold that had been postmarked back in the 20's was bought by a fellow that recognized a name on the card. The card was sent from New Zealand by a young woman to her best friend in California. The woman who sent the card was the fellow's great aunt. Another fellow who bought an old card from me bought it because it has been addressed to the house next door to him, and he wanted to give it to his buddy next door... lol.. I love hearing from my buyers about why they've bought a particular card from me. I do have to admit that I don't hear from the buyers that often, but when the stories come in, it certainly brings a smile to my face. I guess I need to get busy and restock my ebay store! lol

Local Crimes

Yesterday, a discussion occurred between my parents, myself and some other folks about a local man who's been arrested for child molestation. My parents and the other people we were talking to are in shock about the accusations. Now, a little background.... My parents owned a wholesale produce business in this area and had dealt with Mr. Archer (who owned a tire company) for tires for the produce trucks they owned.

The man accused, Rex Archer, is well known in the area, he is a prominent local businessman. He is also a past president of one of the Reclamation Districts, a former Yuba County Sheriff's Department reserve deputy. He was/is a vocal critic of local government's flood protection efforts, challenged Supervisor Dan Logue in the June 2006 election and lost. A year or so before he ran for Supervisor, he announced plans to run for Sheriff, but ended up not running due to questions about his eligibility. Last year, he headed an unsuccessful effort to recall Supervisor Logue.

A quote from the local newspaper, The Appeal Democrat, dated Feb. 8th describes the charges:
"The seven-count complaint, filed Wednesday by Deputy District Attorney Bradley Enos, includes two counts of continuous sexual abuse, three counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14, oral copulation with a child under 14, and penetration by a foreign object of a child under 16." (Archer faces sex charges ~ Appeal Democrat, Feb. 8th, 2008)

Following Mr. Archer's arrest on the 7th, the judge appointed a public defender and scheduled a a Feb. 20 bail hearing and a Feb. 22 preliminary hearing. The judge also issued a criminal protection order against Mr. Archer, prohibiting him from contacting the victims or their families and he must stay at least 100 yards away from their homes. The victims were 8 and 9 year old girls and the assaults occurred over the last 3 years.

Then in an article on Saturday, (Archer moved to Colusa County Jail ~ Appeal Democrat, Feb. 9th, 2008) said that he plead "not guilty" and bail was set at $500,000. But, the main focus of the article is that they had to move him out of the Yuba County jail to another county nearby because of his "previous affiliation" with the Yuba County Sheriff's Department.

I've got a google alert set up so that any new news that happens about Mr. Archer will land in my email box. I am going to follow this one as much as I can. And if I can, I just might pay a visit to the Yuba County courthouse when the time comes.... We'll see...

World of Warcraft - Movies!

I mentioned in a previous post that one of the things I do for fun is play a game called World of Warcraft. Well, along with playing the game, I get a kick out of watching what some talented people do with the game. Ever heard of "machinima"? A simple explanation is that machinima is the end result of people playing a game and combining the game play with film recording software to produce movies... I've watched a lot of the movies that have been produced with World of Warcraft. Movies with story lines, movies that are essentially music videos, comedies, etc. I thought I'd post a few of my favorite "music video" type machinima... Maybe later I'll see about putting a few of the story line movies in here....

Here's a few favorites of mine... First up is one called "Beer for my Horses".


Another favorite is one called "Big Blue Dress". It was produced by the same fellow that did the one above.


And yet another favorite music video of mine... Ballad of the Noob...


Saved my most favorite for last. Do you remember a while back when a funny video hit the internet of a fellow lip-syncing to a song called Numa Numa? Well, one of the film making groups that play WoW made a video for the song in the game. Check it out:


Here's the "Original" video for the "numa numa" song. The band is called O-Zone and the real of the song is "Dragosta Din Tei".


If you've run across any really good music videos made in World of Warcraft, post a comment and let me know! I'd love to watch!

Darren Mack Sentencing Hearing - Day 2

Today was pretty interesting. I didn't take notes or anything, so this blog entry will just be my recollections of what I saw on the streaming video. Darren didn't get to speak today, but his lawyer did manage to drone on for a bit. I didn't really hear a plea for "mercy" from him, just more of the same about how the plea wasn't allowed to be retracted and how everyone has done "poor Darren" wrong. Then Mr. Lalli got up and spoke for a bit, essentially asking the judge to give Darren the max allowable.

Then the victim impact statements came. First up was the assistant to Judge Weller, Annie Allison. She spoke about how much her life has changed since the attack on Judge Weller. How she is afraid to have open windows. Keeping the curtains closed in her home, the blinds closed in her office, getting dark tinting on her car windows because she feels afraid that another bullet will come through and hurt or kill her or her family. Heartbreaking.

Next was Judge Weller. He read a letter from his wife who was afraid to come to court to read the statement herself. Another heartbreaking litany of fear because of Darren's attack on her husband. Then Judge Weller read his statement. Starting from when he was standing in his office talking to his assistant and suddenly being struck by the bullet fragments and seeing the blood and tissue coming out of his chest and all the way through going to the hospital and his fears at the time that he would never be able to be with his family again. More heartbreak. Then Mr. Lalli showed a video of the last hearing of the Mack's before Judge Weller. It wasn't at all what I expected after listening to Darren's rants about how unfair Judge Weller is and how horrible he treated Darren... The video looked like it was a very fair hearing with Judge Weller doing his best to give both sides what they needed.

Next up was Charla's brother, Chris Broughton. He wants to refer to his sister by her birth name. He doesn't want the "Mack" name associated with her. He talked about seeing his sister's body, having to choose a casket for her and says that he'll be forever haunted. He expresses his anger at Darren and the fact that he has shown no remorse at all and requests that the judge give Darren the harshest sentence available. More heartbreak just watching the poor young man. Chris's last words were "May he die in prison!".

Then Charla's father, Jan Sampsel spoke. He spoke about not ever having his daughter again because "she is dead" because of Darren Mack. He speaks about how dangerous Darren is because of his feelings for those who go against him. He talked about how the other lawyers that Mack fired, the prosecutor, this current judge, Charla's family, any of them could be Darren's next targets. Just like Judge Weller was his target because Darren didn't get his way.

Then, Soorya, Charla's mother stepped up to read her statement. It was so hard to listen to without tears in my eyes. How Charla and her were best friends, how close she was to Charla and her brother. And so much much more. And Darren just sat there with his chin in his hand listening, and often leaned over and talked to his lawyer. Unbelievably, the camera kept showing Darren's brother sitting in the gallery smiling and smirking at what Soorya and everyone else was saying. Soorya talked about her health problems since Charla was murdered. Scabies on her legs, asthma condition that she'd never had before, throat problems and so on... At the end of her statement, she requested that a song be played that Charla had recorded for Darren. Charla's voice was beautiful. The song was beautiful. And it brought tears to a lot of people's eyes, including the prosecutor, Mr. Lalli. But not to Darren's eyes. The only "tears" I saw in Darren's eyes for the past two days were "crocodile" tears. He turned them on and off so fast that if you blinked, you missed them.

Then the court recessed for 30 minutes so the judge could make his decision. When Judge Herndon came back, he spoke at length about what it takes to come up with a sentence. Not just for this case, but for all cases in general. I never knew that there were so many considerations that a judge has to look at to come up with a "fair" sentence for a crime. I like this judge. He spoke so eloquently and in terms that everyone could undertand. He spoke about why he let Darren speak for so long yesterday, he was waiting to hear something that Darren never said. "I'm sorry". Darren at no time said he was sorry that Charla was dead at his hands, he never said he was sorry for what Judge Weller or his assistant, Annie had to go through, he never said he was sorry for what Charla's family or even his own family has had to go through. He never said he was sorry for his children. Remorse? No, Darren has NO remorse for any of it. My comment about that is that he never even showed remorse in his face the whole time he's been sitting in those courtrooms. He's only sorry for himself.

Anyway, the sentence: Judge Herndon gave him Life in prison, eligible for parole in 20 years for Charla's murder. The judge had no choice in this one, it was part of the plea deal that Darren wants to retract. For Judge Weller's attempted murder, the sentence is 20 years, eligible for parole in 8 years. For using a gun to commit the attempt on Judge Weller, it's another 20 years, eligible for parole in 8 years. All sentences to run consecutively! So, even if he is lucky enough to have parole granted at the minimum sentences, he'll be in prison for 36 years. Lets see. Darren is 46? 47? Add 36 years... He'll be very lucky to walk out of those prison gates.

Update: If you follow the link for Trials and Tribulations that I have in the links to other blogs, you'll find a more complete story of the hearing today... I am not as good as those folks are at transcribing a trial... lol, I'm just an old former trucker/former CAD drafter who watches trials as a hobby....

Another Update: On the InSession message boards, dref99 posted her complete notes for the hearing today: Dref's Notes Thread

And Another Giggle...

A friend sent me a link to this video and the song sure fits a few people I could name... But won't! LOL

Just a Giggle..........

I love this song... It's a good giggle.. hehe

Darren Mack Sentencing Hearing.... Day 1

I've been halfway watching the streaming video of the sentencing hearing for Darren Mack today. (The link leads to Wikipedia, for what it's worth. If I try to use other links to explain about his case, there'd be way too many of them!) For those not familiar with him, he's the guy from Reno, NV, who killed his wife, then took a gun and went after the judge who ruled on the Mack's divorce, then took off to Mexico. In his initial trial, the guy plead not guilty by reason of insanity. In other words, he admits to the crimes, but said he was crazy when he did it. During the trial, things didn't look so hot for him, so he made a plea deal. Then he tried to retract the plea deal and go back to trial. The judges have said "no".. You made a deal, no more trial, its time for the sentencing.

Anyway, the statements from people on Darren Mack's side so far this morning have been... Uhm.. Strange. Full of sentiments about how wonderful a person D. Mack is and then going on to rage about the Nevada judicial system and how "unfair" it is. Baloney. His 19 year old son got up on the stand and started in about how his father was "innocent". I'm like... Innocent? Of what? He has admitted that he killed his wife and he has admitted that he shot the judge, right? What the heck is he innocent of? Half the witness statements sounded like they were scripted by the same person. Same terminology, same sentiments, etc. Well, except for the one guy who said that Darren consoled him when his birds died... lol

Weird stuff... I just might try to watch some more of the statements this afternoon... In between trimming the mock orange hanging over my back fence and housecleaning, that is...

Update:
Here's a link to a blog that has a "blow by blow" of the hearing today...
Trials & Tribulations: Darren Mack Sentencing Day 1

More Travel.. Point Reyes Lighthouse

Back to that weekend trip with my Mom and Stepdad to the Coast Guard Station. One of the things we did was take a drive out to Point Reyes National Seashore. What a beautiful place. We drove out to the visitors center and wandered around Drake's Bay, sat down in the visitor's center and had a cup of coffee. Here's a view of part of the bay:
It was pretty windy and cool that day, so the hot coffee was very welcome. As we wandered through the center and considered getting on one of the buses that take you out to the lighthouse, one of the rangers came up and asked us if we were planning on visiting the lighthouse. He'd spotted my Stepdad's cane and told us that we didn't have to ride the bus, that we could use the handicap parking that is out at the point that the lighthouse sits on. Gave us good directions and a few tips on what to see and do out there. So, off we went. The drive out to the point is a pretty one. It's a narrow 2 lane road that wanders along the bluffs, past several "historic" farms and dairies. Once you get out to where the buses drop passengers, we went through a gate down a bit further to where the handicap parking is. We did get a few really nasty looks from people who were walking down the road from the bus drop off.. lol.. We got my Stepdad's walker out, figuring that it would be easier for him than the cane (at least his walker has a seat it in so he can sit down and rest if he needs to.) and started walking down towards the Lighthouse visitor center. More wind, more beautiful views... My Stepdad found a nice sunny spot that was out of the wind and parked himself there while my Mom and I headed for the stairs down.

Now, from the Visitor Center down to the lighthouse is over 300 steps... A sign at the top says that the stairs and ramps are the equivilant of a 30 story building. Whew! Down we went. When we were nearly down at the light house I took this photo:
Then down at the lighthouse, I took a few more pictures:Before starting the climb back up the stairs and ramps, I pointed my camera back up the way we had come down.... Oh boy....If you look closely at the picture, you see way up at the top what looks almost like a big water tank or concrete building? That is near the top of the steps.... We did it.. Mom and I climbed down all those steps, wandered around in the buildings at the bottom and then climbed back to the top in about 45 minutes! Not bad for a couple ladies, one almost 80 and the other 60 years old. Wouldn't have missed the chance to do that for the world!

Something Different

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some interesting facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained, it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top,or "upper crust."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake."

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."


And that's the truth... Now, whoever said that History was boring

Travels ~ Olompali State Park and Other Places

A couple weeks ago, my Stepdad got "cabin fever" and wanted to go somewhere for the weekend. He decided that we'd go over to the Coast Guard Training Station near Petaluma, CA. My Stepdad is retired military, so with his (and my mom's ID cards) they can stay in guest housing at just about any military facility. The Petaluma Coast Guard training station is a beautiful place. Set in the hills west of town, it's got fantastic views from just about any of the buildings there. Among other things, they train the cooks!

Anyway, we couldn't check in to the rooms until after 5pm, so we did a little wandering around the area before heading up to the station. We found an interesting sounding State Park on the map, so we decided to go check it out. Olompali State Historic Park is a small park, right off Highway 101 between Novato and Petaluma. Getting there was a bit of a pain, because the access road is only available to Southbound traffic on 101, and naturally we were headed North on 101.. lol.. But, we managed to find a turnaround point and got into the park. It's a pretty area. Some really old buildings and such. They are short of funding, so very little of the place has been restored. Here's some pictures:

This was a mansion that was built next to and "around" the original adobe building on the site.

This is the visitor's center... One of the few buildings that have been restored so far.
Apparently way back when, the place had a beautiful formal garden. This picture is of the fountain that was in the middle of the gardens. As you wander through the area where the gardens were, you can see lots of plants that apparently were there back in the 1800's when the gardens were built. And this fountain was the centerpiece. Very unique looking and I can imagine what it looked like with the water spraying out of the pipes at the top..

More on our travels later... I do need to take care of a few things here.... :-)

Trucker update and stuff

I forgot to post about my trucker friend yesterday. Yes, he made it safely down the hill in that snowy mess Sunday night. He was sore and tired, but made it safely. Yesterday was fairly quiet around here. Did a little trimming of the blasted mock orange that is coming over the back fence from the neighbor's house, hopefully by the time the weather warms up, I'll have it all trimmed back to the fence and have all the trimmings disposed of. I played WoW for a while with my friends, the trucker and a couple that live in a nearby town. My paladin character is now level 47...

My younger daughter called from Oregon last night. She and her family are really suffering from the cold up there. For the last few years, they had been living in Hawaii, but for a job opportunity, they pulled up stakes there and moved to Northern Oregon this past December. Talk about climate shock! They're doing good, her husband seems to be doing well with this new job opportunity and the kids are thriving, naturally. Isn't that what kids do? They adapt!

My Mom also called last night. She'd gotten a call from my Uncle, who lives up in Washington. His mother passed away yesterday morning. She'd been staying with a family member up in a town called Burney, so now they have to make arrangements for transporting her down to this area and for the funeral. I think I only met his mother one time.. Briefly, at that. There had been a "family reunion" up in the foothills at what used to be the 4H camp a few years ago. The reunion involved the whole extended family. Since my side of the family is connected to my uncle's family in a couple of branches, some of us went up there for it. I don't remember a whole lot, other than just sitting and visiting with a bunch of cousins (both blood cousins and cousins "by choice") and watching all the little ones running around. I do remember it was a very pleasant afternoon.

CalTrans, CHP and truckers.....

Oh the frustrations.... I just got a call from my trucker friend. He's heading west out of Reno, NV and wanted to know what the road conditions are coming down Donner Pass. So I click on my usual bookmarks, Caltrans Road Conditions and CHP Traffic Incidents to check what the chain controls are. The Caltrans page says that Westbound I80 is closed to trucks due to snow, but the CHP page says absolutely nothing about closing the road, nor does it give chain requirements on either page! No chain controls listed for any vehicles? But they've closed the road? Weird. So I tell my trucker friend what the pages say.... And then I go look at the Caltrans Live Traffic Cameras page and click through a few of the cameras. I tell him what I'm seeing, Floriston looks good, the Truckee Scales looks ok, Kingvale looks like a mess, the Whitmore Grade isn't much better, but the rest of the way down just looks wet. He's got the Caltrans radio on and they're just telling him to tune to station such and such and they're giving NO information at all!

Why the heck aren't Caltrans and CHP talking to each other? lol... Sometimes I am glad that I'm not driving a rig anymore!

Here's a screenshot of the lovely snowy view from the Whitmore Grade camera:


See the big rig on one shoulder? And the SUV on the opposite shoulder? According to the CHP website, they had a bit of a fender bender between them. Later shots from the camera show the SUV pulling away and the CHP site says they're waiting for the big rig tow to come help the trucker get out of the snow bank at the side of the road... Frustrations for the trucker? You bet... I'm glad I'm not up there.

Games............

Have you ever seen a game called World of Warcraft? I've been playing it for a little over 2 years now. My daughter, her husband and my grandkids gave me a copy of the game after I retired. I guess they thought I needed something to do for "fun". lol

So, anyway.. The game. It is fun to play. I've managed to accumulate quite a few characters on several servers and have actually gotten one of them (named Acorna) to level 70. I have another character (Kyrie) almost at level 70. I've "met" some interesting people in the game. One of my "toons" inherited the guild master position in one of the guilds I belong to. It's a very small guild, more of a social thing than anything else. A few of my real life friends have also started playing the game, so we can chat and play in the game together. I've added a video thing at the bottom of the page that has some YouTube videos that were done in the game.. Check them out!

Here's a screen shot of one of my characters standing in kind of a neat looking place in the game:

New at this..............

This is the first post for me in a real blog. I have no idea why I'm even doing this... lol.. I have no clue what to include in this thing.

Lets see. I'm a "trial watcher"... I got sort of hooked on watching trials last summer during the Phil Spector trial. I posted quite a bit on the Court TV message boards. I'm still fairly active on the message boards, but I'm not really watching a trial regularly now. I'm watching a couple missing persons cases in the news and on the message boards. One is the Stacy Peterson missing person case and the other is the missing Marine, Maria Lauterbach.

I'm also interested in photography and used to work in that field years ago. Now, though, it's a hobby. My work history took some odd turns after I was divorced. The photography studio that I worked for back then closed down and I had to get some kind of job so I could pay the bills. So I worked in security for a few years, but that barely paid the bills. So I learned to drive a truck... Like a 18 wheeler type truck! I drove cross country for a while and truly enjoyed it. I was able to see a lot of places and meet a lot of great folks out on the road. After an auto accident messed up my back, I had to find something else to do, so I got retrained in CAD drafting. I worked for an architectural office as a drafter and small projects manager until I retired 2 years ago.

Now I'm just a retired lady, watching trials and following crimes and the like in the news. Pretty boring, huh? lol