23 June 09, Well, I had intended to update a little more during the vacation, however, once Miss Dub discovered my roaming Internet with my AT&T air card, I have only been able to admire my laptop from a far. I finally have it long enough to try and update ya’ll on where we’ve been.

We left Memphis, Tennessee and drove to and drove to Nashville where we toured the Belle-Meade Plantation. Mrs. Dub loves the old plantation houses, and this one was similar to Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage.

We left Tennessee and went to the Biltmore Estates. A very impressive home except it appears the staff needed 1/2 the house, so I'm not sure why you would need 259 rooms. We then drove to Shelby, North Carolina where we met up with Wade and TC for an early dinner. Our visit was brief as we were trying to get to Charleston, North Carolina that evening. It was good to see them and since they have stopped by Oklahoma twice to see us, we were glad to be able to return the favor.

We arrived in Charleston late and stayed at a very nice hotel that overlooked the Harbor. The hotel overlooked it, not our room, unfortunately.

We walked around the historical part of Charles Towne and then made it across the bridge where we caught a ferry ride to Ft. Sumter. Mrs. Dub is interested in learning and seeing more about the Civil War and we figured, why not start at the beginning.

We then drove that afternoon to Savannah, Georgia. We ate dinner on River Street and took a tour of historic Savannah on a trolley. It’s definitely the way to start and then from there you determine which sites interest you the most. We took our picture here at the Forsyth Park

I better not try for any more photos, be safe and have a great day.

19 June 09,

Day 3 of the vacation. We left Oklahoma on Wednesday and drove to Memphis.

Graceland out front.

The girls having lunch.

On the steps of the Peabody Place in downtown Memphis.

Miss Dub had heard of albums/records, but didn't know what a 45 was.

We spent Thursday in Memphis, going to Graceland first and then headed downtown. Downtown we walked on Beale Street, obviously it's designed for night time attractions rather than early afternoon as it's mostly bars. However, we did enjoy it. From Beale Street we walked over to the Peabody Place mall, had an ice cream and then walked through the Peabody Hotel. Now, this was the first time I had heard of it, but apparently the Peabody Hotel has ducks that swim in the indoor fountain. A Duck Master parades the ducks from their own private suite upstairs down to the fountain at 10 a.m. and then marches them back upstairs at 5 p.m. and this is quite the sight. It was 3 when we went through and nobody felt like hanging around for another 2 hours so we loaded up and got back on I-40 east. We are currently in Nashville where we will hit just a couple of places before trying for North Carolina. We came to Nashville last year and visited Andrew Jackson's Estate, the Hermitage, as well as getting to go to the old Grand Ole Opry. Mrs. Dub would like to see the Belle Meade Plantation and we might stop at the Country Music Hall of Fame today. (Wade, you should get a phone today very soon, hope you're home).

31 May 2009,
IS THE DUB CLAN COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU?

That's right! We are finally going to take that trip we have been putting off for far too long. As of right now, we are looking at going through Memphis, Birmingham, Savannah, and Charlotte with the return trip either going more north or south to cover a different area. Our objective is to visit several Civil War sites with Fort Sumter being the final most eastern point ( I think the ocean comes next, but I'm not for sure).
If you know a site that we need to see or if you just need us to stop by and say hi, give us a shout. No Wade, I haven't blocked any calls and haven't showed any missed calls either.

Ms. Dub feels this would also be an excellent time for her to get some massive drive time, what do you think? 10 hours behind the wheel as a student driver........yeah, me either.

Let's go over my To-Do List for today..

Slide down a pole at a fire station. Check.
Sit in the shade and surf the net. Check.
Break up domestic calls. Check.

Looks like I'm done for the day, do you think my Lieutenant will still make me stay till 5?

Check.

Be safe and have a great day.

22 May 2009,
Well, the youngest Dub just got her Driver's Permit this week. She took 10 hours of classroom instructions this last week and Wednesday morning, my first day off I took her down to the DMV and she took her written test. Now one of the reasons we moved out to the "country" was because I wanted back roads my little girl could practice on. So when we had a straight run to go to and plenty of daylight and no traffic we let her practice driving. Up till Wednesday morning, she was always reluctant. Kiss that goodbye, I can't get her out of the driver's seat. Hee hee, wait till she gets her license, then I'll just send her to the store and I can stay home.
The entire family will have 3 days off this weekend and we have chosen to paint the outside of the house and the shed. If you were wondering what you could do this weekend, just give me a shout and I'll give you directions. If we get enough people, we can start digging post holes for the pipe fence.
With this being Memorial Day weekend, a local contest was offered to veterans for landscape work. Mrs Dub decided to enter me and had to write an essay. She told me last night she posted it on her blog.
Well, not much else to report at the moment, be safe and have a great day.

06 May 09,


Ah, sunshine, but apparently only for a day. As usual, I am staying busier than a beaver in a petrified forest, and making as much progress. In April, we went to the Oklahoma National Guard Military Ball. The Guard has been keeping me busy and I sometimes catch myself wondering if I'm working for the Guard full-time and the Police Dept part-time. I'm sure the Police Dept is wondering the same thing. I certainly can't say anything bad about either. The Dept has shown true support towards all of their employees serving in the military. At some point I'm going to have to get back to concentrating on my career there.
Last month I got to ride on bicycle patrol twice. We pick an area in our division that we want a little more presence in and then just work in that area. On bicycles, we are able to interact with the neighbors, business owners and people we pull over for running stop signs. Yes, nothing says being embarrassed as being written a traffic ticket from a bicycle cop. The looks we get as people drive by and see a mountain bike parked behind a car on the road and a cop in shorts. Hey, I can't knock it, I need the exercise.
Be safe and have a great day.

27 April 2009,
Does anyone else think this administration is releasing the prisoners at Gitmo so they have room for America's real threat, U.S. Veterans?

24 April 2009,

Not sure how much longer I can hold out, being on the run from the authorities can be exhausting. I've dived into a local internet cafe, I'm sure I only have a few moments to jot down some comments and then I will have to leave, another town, another state. This guy I met in at the bus station said he could get me some good "clean" documents that I might be able to cross into Canada with, it's that or try crossing into Mexico, either way, it's a long trip to France. Ok, let me start from the beginning........

Apparently, two weeks ago, Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano identified me and about 400,000 returning veterans as "individuals needing to be watched" as we could be considered possible terrorists to this country. It's strange being on this side of the hunt. Knowing that in just a few days after that announcement the FBI would release their new list of "Most Wanted" I had to make a break for it before I was black bagged in my own home in the middle of the night. I grabbed the twenty dollars I had hidden in the sock drawer, my Gerber multi-tool and a couple of MRE's. There was no time to say goodbye to the family. I was an optimist and always believed in hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. I had no idea....none......that the worst would be me on the run. My problem, I don't have a mythical one-armed man or a molecular reconstruction that will clear my name. France, yes, France, it seems highly unlikely, almost unfathomable, but France is now more conservative that the U.S. So, for now, it's France that I'm trying to get to, until we get things turned around here. If anyone gets a chance to check the Most wanted, leave me a message and let me know if I'm on it yet.

10 April 09,
Well, I didn't intend on taking a month off between postings, but my procrastination set in and since the medical field hasn't developed a medication for that yet......
I have noticed several blogging friends have been taking sabbaticals from the posting and I am certainly one who understands. I usually only share what my time has been like and every once and a while my opinion on the topic of the day, while I see much more effort being put into the content and context of what you say.
I have been staying very busy working between the police department and the National Guard. Good grief, I could use a couple more of me. I did manage to get the yard mowed yesterday before the winds picked up to 35-40 mph and several fires broke out from Texas to Kansas. I can't recall a time when I have heard of entire communities being evacuated although with my training I know it's to be expected. Reports last night where that the damages associated with the fires who exceed those of the May 3 tornadoes we had in 1999.
Mrs. Dub mentioned to me that a new television channel needs to be started that only reports good news. You can't turn on any of today's programs without falling into despair from the stories out there. Either we are as bad off as they are reporting, or it is some one's desire to lead us to believe such things so that when they offer the "solution" we buy into it hook, line and sinker.
Well, remember the outcome of your day rests solely on you. You can't control what happens, just how you respond to it.
Be safe and have a great day.

17 March 2009,

Fool Me Once, Shame on You

Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me

Wall Street, now AIG. And you know what their not even the ones to blame. They are acting as is their nature, only thinking of themselves. What did you expect. I think Groucho Marx said it best, "If you looks like an idiot and talks like an idiot, don't be fooled, it's an idiot."

The problem isn't with these people, the problem is with Congress, they have proven they are incapable of making the right decisions for this country. They are running this country into the ground. They have no clue what goes on outside their own little world. America, I say it's time to start looking at replacing every single Congress person that has voted yes on giving money to people and companies who have proven irresponsible in managing it. The time is now.

09 March 09
Happy Monday to all! I spent the weekend "playing" Army again, at least that's what Mrs. Dub says. All is well, we are about to go get some chicken fried steak, taters and green beans for dinner.

Here's a great video we wanted to share. I hope you like it.



Be safe and have a great day.

02 March 2009,

I hate to admit it, but I was wrong and Al Gore was right. Yes, it seems global warming is real. Al Gore has been selling his Carbon Credits for a few years now, and as usual, the east coast and west coast led the way. I live in the Heartland of America, and we have not purchased our Carbon Credits from Al Gore's company and it shows. Today, the east coast and west coast are being pounded by heavy snow storms, enjoying all the benefits of winter, and the Midwest and Oklahoma are having to suffer from our obvious uncaring attitude towards the environment and will be expecting temperatures in the 60's, 70's and even one day in the 80's this week. I plan to make the call this week to these guys and get my carbon credits today. Al Gore has signed on Vince Offer with ShamWow to help sell his carbon credits. What are you waiting on?
The family had a good weekend and I spent part of it painting the kitchen in the house we used to live in. The realtor who sold us this house purchased our old one in order to make the transaction go through and a year later sold that house to.....my in-laws. yep, you can just imagine that every time a question arises about the old house, I get the call. It's a good thing I love my in-laws.
Besides putting two coats of paint on the walls, we put up the border around the top and I moved a couple of outlets. Of course, this leads to Angela and I wanting to get started on our house, and especially our kitchen. We are both anxious but don't want to jump too quickly. I need one of HGTV's or DIY's crews to come out and help with the project, especially with the cost. I think our next big purchase for the house will be a safe room. The tornadoes that hit Oklahoma in February missed us but we realize that we need something in place that gives us peace of mind and security for the family.
Be safe and have a great day.

16 Feb 2009,

BREAKING NEWS

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Sgt Dub Breaking News, I'm your blog-host, Sgt Dub. Our first story comes out of California where 7 time Tour de France bicyclist Lance Armstrong has had his bicycle stolen. This is the 2nd such incident in California where a celebrity has had their bike stolen and offered a reward for it's safe return. You may remember the first such incident in 1985 when this individual had the same problem.

Yes, offering a reward only promotes theft of property rather than deter it. Lance, you probably should have gotten on the news and made this statement instead, "Guess what, you just stole a one of kind, unmistakable bicycle and whoever gets caught with it will go to jail, you won't be able to pawn it, you won't be able to ride it, you won't be able to sell it unless that person likes hiding their treasures, here is a picture of it, take a good look America, if you get caught in possession of this bicycle you will be arrested, tried and sentenced to go to jail. Have a nice day."

(disclaimer: Mrs Dub actually made this observation and I felt it was funny enough to elaborate.)

DTV

Our 2nd story is a technological sensation we haven't seen since December 31, 1999. That's right not since our fear that computers would discover the rollover from 1999 to 2000 and think it was 1900, realize they hadn't been invented and would just shut themselves down; the switch from analog to digital has this nation in a frenzy. Yes, so much so that the President wanted to put off the change to allow people the chance to make sure they could survive. Why, just today I saw one of our stations scrolling the statement across the television, "if you have cable or satellite you should be ok" I should be ok? They aren't certain? Oklahoma City has of course, opted to make the change tomorrow as previously scheduled and will move on with their lives. If this is my last blog you will now it's because my computer must have been analog and I no longer have reception.

This concludes our breaking news and we bring you back to your normal broadcasting.

I hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day weekend. I took the girls to the PBR. Yes, nothing says I love you like watching someone ride a bull. Both Angela and Shelby went Saturday night and then Angela and I went back to watch the Sunday finals. Oklahoma's own Ryan Dirteater was 1.5 seconds from winning the whole thing, of course, on the back of a 2,000 lb bull, that's a long time. When I was 18, my dad offered to send me to a bull riding school, I respectfully declined. I have always loved the Rodeo and had hoped one day to participate in the Elks Rodeo in my hometown of Woodward, OK, but in something less dangerous. If I had my agility back I think I would make a good clown.

Be safe and have a great day.

05 Feb 09,
Well, I think the entire family is finely on the healing side of life. It seems a bug has gone through the entire family. Poor Angela, she got the worst of it being sick from Sunday afternoon through today. She still doesn't sound that great but she's finally better. Monday was my day off and I spent the entire day taking care of them and ended up taking off two more days this week to help them out.
For my birthday, Angela, on her own, decided I needed a Blu-Ray DVD player to go with our new TV. Of course, she needed me to go and pick it out since she knew she didn't have a clue about them. Her got me to the store by saying she wanted to buy a movie. Now my issue is running the audio from the Blu-Ray to my old Sony Dream System DVD surround sound system using a fiber optic cable. I was able to get the front speakers done but need to figure out the entire surround sound problem or I will be forced to buy a new theater system to support the Blu-Ray.
My Army ID card expired and I had to wait almost 2 hours before getting my new one. I then got to spend two hours tonight registering that card on my computer so I could use it to log into my army account. Good grief! This was painful.
Sorry if this sounds boring, I'll try to do better soon. Be safe and have a great day.

25 January 09,
Well, it's a cold cloudy day in OKC, and I'm at work. At least the wind isn't blowing. I'm half way through my work week and ready for days off. I can't tell if I'm trying to get sick or what, I've had two times this week where I have had the headache, achy joints, chills and fever but it has only lasted about 12 hours each time.
We are expecting ice and rain on Monday and Tuesday and I'm suppose to be at the gun range on Wednesday for ERT training. 2 days ago it was 73 degrees. Welcome to Oklahoma. I'm actually ready for some snow.
Not much else to report at the moment. Be safe and have a great day.

21 Jan 09,
Which bothers me most?
President Obama nominated Timothy Geithner for the Treasury Secretary. Now, it should be common sense that if you are nominated for such a job you will be checked out. I can't decide what bothers me most, that he chose to not pay his taxes for several years or that he told the Congressional Panel that it was because he uses Turbo Tax to file with. Is this the guy I want having control over our financial situation. The Dub's here are basically a middle class family, and I know enough to pay at $150 to have a CPA do my taxes.
We haven't started the kitchen renovation yet, it's just getting a good grip on what we want which takes a little more effort. But we are both ready to put the first hole in the wall, Angela love the demolition part of it.
Not much else to report at the moment, back to work this week and we had a busy day. Be safe and have a great day.

16 January 2008

Yes, I know, long gaps between posting again. This is normal once I get home, and work at getting everything back to normal. I completed one full set at work and am almost back in to full swing there. I got my 2008 Ford Crown Vic back and it only had 9,000 miles on it It will still take a little while to get everything I work with back into the car.

After almost a full year of talking about it, we finally bought a new TV. We picked up the Samsung 46" LCD. We have really enjoyed watching movies on it, but tv hasn't been as nice. So, this morning, I am waiting for the arrival of the Dish satellite man to come and upgrade our package to HD. The door bell just rang! It's him! It's the Dish man! Here with my new HD picture.

Anyway, he's working on the tv so now I can concentrate on this until it's up, then of course, even Angela will lose my attention for a bit. Just kidding dear......

Angela and Shelby are doing fine and both are back to work and school. We have a 3 day weekend coming up and are trying to come up with fun things to do as a family. However, what can you come up with that a 15 year old girl will think is fun while having to hang our with her parents. Well, we are wanting to go to the 39th International Finals Rodeo held right here in OKC on Saturday night. We have the Home and Garden Show this weekend which highlights everything HGTV-ish. There's the 'Ship-wrecked' display at the Omni Center which has artifacts and treasures recovered from lost or sunken ships over the last 150 years.]
Be safe and have a great weekend.

29 December 08,
Guess you haven't heard from me in a few days, ok, a little more than a week, but as many of you are, it's been busy around here getting back to a normal state in Oklahoma. First, let me tell you how the trip home was.
Angela, flew from Oklahoma City to Tuscon with a plane change in Denver. She has come down with a case of "I hate flying and if anything goes wrong you'll never here the end of it" syndrome. So, she wanted the shortest flight possible. Normally, I would have sent her through Dallas and if I had paid more attention to the weather, I would have, but Denver was 20 minutes shorter. She tells of a medical emergency on the plane while flying from OKC to DEN where a lady was having a diabetic seizure and for some reason, the "flight attendants" where unable to deal with the situation in a calm manner, and opted for screaming, jumping over seats and passengers and leaving everyone with the "we're gonna die" feeling. She lands safely, de-boards, re boards her new plane and continues her flight to Tucson. When she lands in Arizona it is discovered that a plane crashed on the Denver tarmac just after she left. I'm getting the shaking finger in my face. I explain to her that if the plane in Denver was on the ground it's not a plane crash, it's a bus with flaps. Think of Greyhound with the under storage doors open.....
Ok, she's ok and after lunch with some guys from my class we headed home on the highway. Yes, she's wonderful for flying to me just to sit in a car for the next 900 miles. Well, we decided to take our time getting home and stopped several times along the way to see various sites. Sunday evening we were in Amarillo, Texas having dinner at 9:30 p.m. and finally decided to push on and get home that night instead of getting a hotel and finishing the journey the next morning. It's only 3 more hours.....right.........
We left Amarillo with a 1/2 a tank of gas, in the Ford Expedition and by the time I hit the Oklahoma border line, I don't look at anything except the signs telling me I'm getting closer. Only 14 miles left when we turn off of I-40, I notice the "low" fuel light come on, I say it "came" on because I just saw it, was it on longer without my notice.......? I tell Angela and she laughs and makes the statement, "Wouldn't it be funny if we ran out of gas so close to home" Now I figure if it just came on, I'm good for roughly 30 miles, and I only have 1/2 that to go, it's 1:15 a.m and 10 degrees outside not including any windchill factors, Angela's been complaining that the heat isn't getting on her feet and they are cold.
We start up this hill, chug, chug, she laughs and hits me on the arm, stop fooling around,
"I'm not" as I pull to the right shoulder to let 2 semi's pass,
I've got a median break and if I can get turned around, I'll be facing downhill, and will be able to backtrack to the gas station,
The SUV stalls and the engine dies, I'm forcing the turn but can't keep it on the road,
I'm know on the shoulder, tilting sideways and we come to a complete stop. "$#@^*!!"
Ok, all is not lost as we have Road Side Assistant with our phone company, yes, the same phone company with the worst customer service of them all, but complete coverage. I call, she gets our location and says she'll call back with more information. 10 minutes, 15 minutes, there she is.....
"I'm having problems getting someone, I'll call you back in a few minutes and keep you advised"
Angela is not in a good mood and is even colder now, "Why don't you call the police?"
Hmmm, why don't I call the police, the thought runs through my mind......Oh yeah, 1. I'm a guy, 2. I am the police. I give her the phone and tell her to call. She won't. Roadside assistance calls back almost 45 minutes later and tells me they can't find anyone. I hang up and dial the police, I'm transferred to El Reno PD and within 5 minutes I have a patrol car pull up behind me. I think it's the one I called and begin to get out, making sure my hands are in plain sight. "Get back in the vehicle!", I hear through the loud speaker. I get back in and not so mumble say something about the officer to Angela. He can't see my license plate so he creeps up to the back of the car and reads the tag to dispatch then comes up to my window. I explain the situation and I see the other patrol car pulling around, this is the one I was expecting. The first one, from another city walks back to the second one. I lean over and tell Angela, "I'm waiting for them to start laughing at me", "Why would they laugh?", "Because, I'm a cop". I watch them in the side mirror, "THERE IT IS!", as I see them both laughing. Ok, with that out of the way, they take Angela into town and she buys 2 gallons of gas, brings it back and we drive back into town to get some more then make it home by 3:30 a.m.
Had we spent the night in Texas, I would have gotten gas before leaving, well, it's me, what do you expect? Besides, I'm always good for an unforgettable trip.
It was great being home for Christmas and we are spending a lot of time together. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you have a wonderful New Year. Be safe and have a great day.

17 December 2008

Well, today we took our OPI test, this is a speaking test where we go through an interview over the phone. Amazingly I was able to converse for 20 minutes, talking about the weather, Sierra Vista, my family, baseball, the Seattle Super-Sonics coming to Oklahoma and becoming the Thunder, the OPEC was cutting production by 2 million barrels starting Jan 1, and I was able to ask him some questions too, all in Arabic. Now, please don't think I was fluent or sound anything like a native speaker, but the key is to be understood, I think I was. Now, on the last test we took I didn't feel that confident about my work and I received a 2, which is good, so I can just see me getting a 1 on this one, isn't that the ways it works?

Only 2 days and a wake up and Angela will be here in Arizona to have lunch with the group, see all the wonderful sights of Sierra Vista and then we are off on the road trip back to Oklahoma. Yes, she must really love me to "fly" here just to sit in a car for 15 hours. Yes, I'm so excited about this being over I could actually see the light...

Be safe and have a great day.

11 December 2008,
Angela, aka Mrs. Dub, told me she wanted to fly out here to Arizona to ride back to Oklahoma with me next week. Before she could change her mind I went on-line and bought her plane ticket. She will fly in on the 20th and we will have lunch with some of the folks from my class, I'll give her a quick tour of Sierra Vista and then we will be on the road for Oklahoma. I'm ready. We talked briefly about letting Shelby come out too, but apparently strapping her to the roof of the Expedition is considered illegal in the State of Arizona, and New Mexico, but I think it's ok in Texas.
During this time of year I try to shop at locations that have the Salvation Army outside their business or Toys for Tots inside, remember that this is the time of year to help others, even though helping others can be done anytime of the year. As some people may tend to look at this time as a time of stress, take a minute and reflect on what blessings you have received this year and give thanks.
Be safe and have a great day.

10 December 08,

Mammas, Don't let your babies grow to be cowboys.

This was a song from 1976 by Ed Bruce. Two years later it was recorded by Waylon and Willie. The song has been used in many movies and is one almost everyone has heard. The message is that moms should steer their boys to become lawyers and doctors instead of living alone as a cowboy.

I think it's time to change the message. The way I see it, the lack of cowboys and the increase of lawyers has been detrimental to this nation. I think it's time for mamma's to start raising their kids to be cowboys again. You see, cowboys know the difference between right and wrong, selfish and selfless and don't look for the almighty dollar sign over helping a neighbor, friend or stranger.

Be safe and have a great day.