Last week was National Night Out, and here in Lakeway, the Police Department sponsored a visit to their headquarters. We can step back in time and visit this event. The Police Department has opened its facility to give the public an idea of its services. We are going just before everyone arrives to see what they have prepared. We are catered by Olmalie in Austin. Our entertainment is (who Else) The Police.
Menu
So let’s get on the bus.
Here we are at Lakeway Police Headquarters.
A cornhole game is set up.
Mounted Police Officer.
A large screen with rotating photos of the department.
It is an excellent area to have a bite to eat.
Speaking of a place to eat. How about some pizza?
Cookies for dessert and soft drinks.
A K9 officer and his happy pup.
Sometimes, a SWAT team is needed.
The court is represented.
The Department’s Victim Services.
Lakeway activities.
Crime Scene Investigators.
The Telecommunications Group has giveaways.
Goodie Bag.
Name the fish contest.
I liked this sign. If you see something online, there is a safe place to meet your buyer.
That is our tour. I thank the Lakeway Police Department for hosting this National Night Out event. Now it’s time for some food and music. I hope you have a super week.
Waiting for a lifesaving ten ounces of Columbia’s finest liquid personality can challenge the nerves. Sure, it’s only three minutes, but it can seem like a lifetime when the nerve endings scream for relief. Caffeine addiction is a prime reason to be on edge, as the mechanics of producing the soothing syrup seem to be moving in slow motion.
The aroma and the click of the message to ‘enjoy’ signals the pain is almost over. A sip of the crema and the inhalation of the curative vapors lead to the belief that one will live. A walk to the patio, cup in hand, completes the morning. Since the seasonal change from Hell’s Back Porch to I Think We Are Going to Live has lowered the temperatures from the 100s to the 90s, life outside is possible.
Recent rains have left the Earth smelling like life has returned, and the reoccurring circling of the vultures has given way to the happy sounds of songbirds. Yes, the Texas summer seems to be over, and now it is time to enjoy the outdoors.
Feet up, contemplating a relaxing day is a brief respite from the cares of the world. A small shadow begins to widen around me. Clearly, a rather large box has been jettisoned from an unseen flying machine. As the square shadow continues to expand, it occurs to me that movement away from the contact point might be a good idea.
Jumping up and screaming like a first grader saves my bones from a crushing introduction to a very well-fortified box from the ACME air delivery service. Attached to the box is an envelope on a string. The return address is Linda Hill. The message inside says, Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “prime.” Use it as an adjective or a verb, use it any way you’d like. Have fun!
An off-duty Air Force Captain proved himself worthy of rank and regalia after conducting a daring rescue of a fallen hiker on the shoulder of Yosemite’s Half Dome.
Capt. Joshua Haveman, 60th Air Evacuation Squadron, was hiking the famous peak in September when he saw a climber slip in wet conditions and fall perhaps as many as 80 feet down onto a precarious ledge.
Haveman and the other hiker were at a section of the hike where, to pass up solid granite, a series of cables embedded into the rock are necessary for safety and leverage. If they don’t have a harness, rope, and carabiners to secure themselves to the cables, hikers are left simply holding onto or using them as handholds.
Without hesitation, Haveman took action. Faced with harsh winds, slippery rock, and hail, he made a decision to venture outside the permanent cable barriers to reach the fallen climber, Travis Air Force Base wrote in a statement.
His climbing experience and extensive medical training proved invaluable in this life-or-death situation.
“You could see that his legs were not naturally oriented at all, so I started collecting sticks from Sub Dome and started climbing,” Haveman recalled. “Other climbers were concerned for my safety, but the guy was just up there screaming in pain, so I left the cable area and climbed on the ledge.”
Half Dome, Yosemite -credit Travis AFB
Using makeshift splints fashioned from sticks, Haveman provided crucial first aid to the injured climber by securing above and below the tibia/fibula fracture and wrapping his injured ankle with an ace bandage he had in a medical kit he had brought.
To shield the climber from the harsh elements and apparent shock, Haveman covered the climber with his jacket while organizing a call to search and rescue.
“After about 45 minutes, the Park Ranger emergency medical technician came up with a full medical bag, so we were able to use a structural aluminum malleable splint to better stabilize him,” Haveman explained.
“The weather was improving, so more climbers were able to come up and offer their assistance. They took up a collection of supplies that we were able to use to make an improvised pulley system to lower him the 30 feet down to sub dome.”
Ultimately, the climber was medically evacuated via helicopter, receiving the critical medical attention they urgently required. Without Haveman’s swift and selfless actions, the outcome could have been far more tragic.
“I wasn’t sure a helicopter would be able to land with the winds being as strong as they were, so we were preparing to carry him 10 or 12 hours down with a six-man litter,” Haveman said with a pause.
“Apparently, it was this pilot’s first day on the job, and he was amazing! It took him about 15 minutes, but he was able to sit the chopper down, and we were able to get the patient loaded and breathe a sigh of relief.”
It’s safe to say on behalf of the injured climber and everyone else in the country things can only go so wrong when we have people like Capt. Haveman working and walking among us; his bravery and ingenuity are a credit to the Force and the country at large.
The good news here is that Captain. Haveman was in the right place at the right time to save this man’s life. Today’s JohnKu talks about coincidence. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
“Using this photo (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put your offering (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before Sunday evening UK time. If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here. Thank you for taking part.”
This post ran on August 14, 2017. If you are moving, it may make sense. Hopefully, it will give a chuckle.
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The inspiration for this piece was the arrival of a new couch and the accompanying rearranging of furniture. Since moving households is something almost everyone faces, I thought it would be fun to recap some things we should avoid doing should a move be necessary. I hope you enjoy the list.
10 If you are moving, do not attempt it alone. If you do, at best, it may take longer than expected. At worst, you could get caught under that heavy dresser and be missing for weeks. (Gotta hope the new tenants will figure out where those screams are coming from, hey, Buster?)
9 If you are moving, do not forget to tip the movers. If you do, at best, that last carton will stay on the truck. At worst, the big guy named Tiny, the WWF champ, will be asking questions about the quality of service. (You hope he puts you down gently, right, Buford?)
8 If you are moving, do not think the movers will understand your attachment to grandma’s hand-me-down table. If you do, at best, that scratch can be covered up. At worst, you can start your first fire with what is left. (Seems like you should have mentioned how fragile it was, Boswell)
7 If you are moving, do not pack the boxes yourself. If you do, at best, there will be a few items broken. At worst, that tinkling noise when you pick up the box marked “crystal” will not be a welcome sound. (Looks like the savings on the cost of packing has gone into the red, Boris.)
6 If you are moving, do not mark the boxes with your own code. If you do, at best, you’ll remember most of the code. At worst, in the rush of the move, you will forget what you meant and take a guess as to where things should go. (Nice to have all your pots and pans in the garage, isn’t it, Bosco?)
5 If you are moving, do not leave the old house without checking to see that everything is out. If you do, at best, you’ll leave behind things that don’t matter. At worst, you’ll wonder what happened to the washer and dryer in transit. (Of course, the movers thought they stayed with the house, Basil.)
4 If you are moving, do not forget to change the water, gas, and electric bills. If you do, at best, it might take you a day or two to remember. At worst, you receive a bill that is ten times your usual usage. (The new people decided they like the air conditioning set at 70 degrees and the lawn watered daily. Guess you should have paid attention, Bentley.)
3 If you are moving, do not think your new neighbors need to give you cookies. If you do, at best, you might be disappointed. At worst, as you mention the oversight, you learn your previous residents were running a crack house. (Looks like it might be a couple of years before anyone trusts you, Bubba.)
2 If you are moving, do not think the movers will place everything as you have it labeled. If you do, at best, you may find some things in unusual places. At worst, you realize after they are gone that your master bedroom furniture is on the patio. (And guess what furniture is in the master bedroom, Burt?)
1 If you are moving, do not think you can challenge your partner on the layout of each room. If you do, at best, you are in for a long day. At worst, combined with the stress of moving, your input might be enough to win you an overnight accommodation in the backyard. ( You could have said something when the plans were drawn up, huh, Butch?)
The term cornhole for the game came to be in Germany in the 1800s. A man invented the game and then took dried kernels of corn to fill the little bags, hence the name. We are attending the second annual cornhole tournament sponsored by the Lakeway Parks and Recreation. We will just eat there since there is a pizza truck at the event. Today’s entertainment is John Denver.
Menu
Tell ’em to put your food on my bill.
Let’s get on the bus.
The fire department is here to make sure nothing is going to flame up.
A miniature soccer shooting course for the kids.
Four in One Game and Facepainter.
Face painting materials.
Inflatable slide.
Jumbo TV screen.
The tournament grounds.
A couple of targets and a scorekeeper.
Target, bags, and drink holder.
The prizes will go to the winners.
Trophies for (from left) Third, Second, and First place.
A participant warming up. (Red bag at eleven o’clock)
Official measurement.
There’s the truck, so relax and have some food. Listen to the music. I hope you have a fabulous week.
Last week was a humdinger is the thought as the aroma of a perfect cup of coffee fills the room. A quick sip reminds me that there is an Oscar the Grouch look-alike character living in an urn on the front porch. The temptation to hum the theme from the Good Bad and Ugly is tempered with the need to disarm the security system and have another try at getting rid of the noisy pest.
The tower machine guns are deactivated, the moat screen rolled, the concertina wire retracted, the boiling oil set to standby, the claymore mines detached, The trebuchet reset, the iron gate opened, and the locks and bolts thrown. The front door is open, and yes, the urn is still there.
We all know from reading stories that a rub on a strange urn might produce something. With that learning in mind, my hand quickly rubs a shiny spot on the side of the urn. Like magic, a cloud floats out of the urn, followed by a thing looking similar to Oscar dressed like a genie. He only comes out to the waist and yells, “Okay, you have interrupted my BBQ lunch, so you get three wishes.”
As we have all heard, this wish thing can be tricky, so taking time to think is paramount. After what seems like an hour, the first wish is issued. “I would like this urn to disappear.” There is a sound like “poof,” and it’s gone. The Oscar look-alike is standing on the porch holding a pork chop. “My next wish is to be a New York Times best-selling author for the next twenty years.” The Oscar look-alike nods.”My final wish is that you follow the urn.” The Oscar look-alike holds his hand up. “Hey, governor. If I disappear, that second wish is out of the question.”
Seems to be a fly in the Chardonnay. “So be it. Be gone.” The Oscar look-alike disappears in a cloud; only a fluttering envelope remains. Once landed, it is opened and contains a message from Linda Hill. It reads. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: starts with “hum.” Find a word that starts with “hum” or use the word “hum” itself. Send your bonus points to Dan at https://nofacilities.com/ if you use both. Enjoy! If you want to read how others responded to the prompt, visit Linda’s blog. Here’s the link. https://lindaghill.com/2023/09/29/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-30-2023/
From a Chicago airport comes the beautiful story of a father and son who were able to recreate a special moment to celebrate an even more special one.
Newly-fledged pilot for Southwest Airlines Ruben Flowers III got to ride shotgun on his father’s final flight before retiring, which they memorialized by taking a photo in the same position as one nearly 30 years earlier.
Ruben Flowers Jr. was getting ready for take-off back in 1994 when his son, Flowers III, got to visit the captain. Sitting in the co-pilot’s seat, they snapped a nice photo.
Flowers Jr. flew for Southwest for 30 years, all the while inspiring his three children to take to the skies as well, with Flowers III telling People Magazine it’s the “best office view in the world.
Flowers III was coming to the end of his flight school just as his father was nearing the end of his career, and it was that time when he stumbled across that old family photo and got him thinking of doing something special for his dad.
“It was a dream of mine to make this happen,” Flowers III says. “It was my number one goal to fly with my dad.”
He wasn’t sure whether or not he would complete his flight school before his father’s March 3rd retirement. But fate was on the young man’s side, and on March 3rd as part of a flight from Omaha to Chicago, Flowers II and III sat side by side, pilot and co-pilot, father and son, and snapped the last picture of his dad’s long career.
credit Southwest Airlines
“I really enjoyed flying with my son,” Flowers Jr. told People. “It was truly a blessing for me. It was just awesome.”
After they landed in Chicago, Flowers III kept on going while his dad went to a retirement reception at the airport to celebrate a beautiful career and a beautiful legacy that continues flying after him.
The good news here is a father inspired his son to follow in his footsteps. Today’s JohnKu talks about leading by example. I hope you have a super weekend.
