Good evening, my fellow bloggers and blog readers.
I must apologize for my lack of posts as the last intended post was disallowed, resulting in a lack of future posts. The events that occurred during that unintended hiatus may or may not be explained in future posts. Until then, here’s a recap of today:
Today was an eventful day. Albeit, today actually translates to ‘tonight’. It all began when I woke up around 9am. It was a beautiful Saturday morning at a whopping 80 degrees and practically no humidity. I opened my window and enjoyed the breeze as I lay watching useless television. My day turned to texting and a few text conversations leading up to endless fussing with my laptop.
The wifi signal is poor. Let’s do something about it! Google resulted in some query replies with great ideas about methods to create a homebuilt, extended antenna by connecting a copper coaxial cable to the onboard auxiliary antenna inside the laptop. I experimented with this, and found (almost immediately) a surplus static charge building in my make shift antenna. This situation could result in permanent damage to my already aging laptop, so I decided to pull the cord and shoot for something more practical.
Chasing a tip from my long time friend Glen H., I made my way to the local BestBuy for a boosted antenna. I planned my bus route to take me to the AT&T store first so that I could handle some business there, then backtrack to BestBuy (open later than AT&T), then catch the #10 bus back to Windy Hill Road where I intended to get dinner at Dixie Tavern, along with some drinks while enjoying the local music scene on a Saturday night.
Riding the #10 towards AT&T, the bus turned off of Cobb Parkway. I thought I had missed my AT&T stop, rang the bell, and de-boarded. Once on the sidewalk, I pulled up Google Maps on my [mostly] smart phone and discovered I had gotten off way to soon. Google estimated a walk time of 35 minutes, but I only had 20 to get there before closing.
Realizing that I had made a mistake, I altered my plans to take me to BestBuy. I caught the next bus in the opposite direction and got off again in front of BestBuy. As I entered the store, I checked with the security guy to ask if my Spartan backpack was okay. He was not suspicious and said I could carry it.
I made my way to the computer department by way of the water fountain, and found the networking supplies. They did not have what I was looking for, but I did find an 802.11N usb dongle that I think will do the trick... providing the chipset is one already known to my Linux distro.
With my purchase in my backpack, I caught the next #10 to Windy Hill Road. I de-boarded and went to Dixie Tavern. Paid my $3 for the band, had a fantastic open faced Creamy Crayfish [crawfish where I come from] and Cheese on a roll. Just cant wait to have that again! But I digest...
By the time I had finished my dinner and Sprite, the band was getting going pretty good. I ordered a double White Russian in a pint glass and held my place at the busying bar.
Another double White Russian in a pint glass...
Another....
Okay, you get the the picture.
The band sounded great and sounded better the more they drank. Or the more I drank.... either way, they were a great band. Not only in quality of music, but in stage presence and crowd collaboration. I ran into a buddy from work and chatted for a bit, the ran into a man I had played pool against a few weeks before in the same location. Lots of laughs and good fun!
At around 1:30am, I learned that Dixie Tavern serves alcohol til 3am on Saturdays!!!! To my Oklahoma friends, that means real beer, not watered down Oklahoma beer..... HA Ha HA HA Ha HA!
Sooooo...... I stuck around for another round. The band ended with a great finale, the servers eloquently persuaded the patrons to settle their tabs, and I made my way out.
I left the Dixie Tavern feeling a little more alive after such a positive influx. A sense of rejuvenation. A sense of satisfaction. But not that of intoxication, mind you. I am writing this blog in the same state that I left the ‘Tavern.
Along my less-than-one-mile walk home along the left side of the road, I saw a car approaching slowly. Quickly checking my surroundings, I knew where I would run if need be. The approaching car got a little closer, then closer still. At the ready to bolt, the car flashed blue lights! WTF?!
By the legal definition, I am drunk. Not staggering or even swaying. Just walking along in my best polished black boots, my khaki pants, and my best Harley polo -- wearing a backpack. “He just wants to check me out...”, I thought as I held my hands away from my body with a burning cigarette and stopped in my tracks.
The officer was very polite and professional, asking where I was going and where I was coming from. I answered his questions and he continued: “Do you have any guns, knives, or other weapons? Do you have ID? What’s in the backpack?”
“No, sir. I don’t” as he is motioning that he wants to pat me down. I obliged to the pat-down, naturally, but he took my left wrist with my cigarette and pulled it behind me as he was also pulling my right arm to follow. Before the panic could set in, he reassured me that I was not under arrest and that he was not cuffing me. The pat-down was like any that I’d ever had going through security at the various jobs I’ve had in he past... until he put his had in my boot. I completely understand the reasoning, but that was the fist time I’d ever felt like an officer was 'under my clothes’. Before this pat-down ended, another patrol car had stopped and another officer was standing in front of me.
The first officer left with my ID and the second gave me the third degree while looking through my backpack, with my consent:
”What‘s in here?”
”A usb card I bought at BestBuy for my laptop.”
”Do you have a receipt?”
”Yes, sir. It is in the bag with the card.”
.... he continues looking at the contents of the bag... [the only things in the bag are the BestBuy bag, usb card, and receipt.]
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“Where is home?”
“I’m currently stating at [...], but that is temporary until I find a permanent home.”
“Where are you coming from?”
“Dixie Tavern.”
“Do you have a car there?”
“No, sir. I don’t own a car right now.”
“How long have you been there?”
“Since about ten or so.”
“Why were you there?”
“I had dinner, and wanted to see the band while a had a couple of drinks.”
“Why are you walking home?”
“I don’t have a car right now, I live close, and I don’t see the need to pay for a cab.”
That’s a bit paraphrased, but it is the gist of the conversation. I couldn’t hear some of what he said over the sound of me shitting my pants (not literally). The first officer returned and haded me my ID as he was looking to the second officer.
“Have a good night, Mr. Copeland.”
“Yes sir.” I hesitated. “You two have a good night, as well.”
As I walked up the hill with my best polished black boots, my khaki pants, my best Harley polo, and my backpack, I glanced over my shoulder to see the two officers studying where i had extinguished my cigarette before putting the butt in my pocket as I usually do.
The cigarette that I put out on the sidewalk was nearly the last one in the pack. As I rounded the corner getting within sight of home, I stopped at the BP for a new pack. The gentlemen behind the counter recognized me as I stop in every weekday morning for coffee. I recounted the cop-stop to them in a brief summary. All the while making jokes, “Do I look like a terrorist? ... Little skinny white guy?” and so on.
I learned something from them. Quite ironically. Perhaps I don’t fit the description of a terrorist, but tonight I did. I was a guy, regardless of race or appearance, at nearly 4:00am, carrying a backpack, walking in the direction of a high class neighborhood that consists of a variety of top local political figures.
I had no idea that kind of neighborhood was so close.
I admire the Cobb County and Marietta law enforcement for checking me out tonight. Even if they did scare the shit outta me!!
In summation, we are a great nation. We are a strong nation. We’ve been here for years passed, and will be for years to come. My only fear for Our Country is one of pride. We can look at history and see what has happened to prideful countries. Please don’t misunderstand what I mean with the word ‘pride’. The word has two significant definitions. For example, being proud of your children for doing well; being proud of yourself for accomplishing a difficult task or goal.
But on the other side, pride: being boastful, arrogant, conceited, stuck-up, walking with the ‘greater-than-thou’ facade, being an asshole, et cetera.
Let’s not be assholes.
Let’s be good people.
Let’s be astute people.
Let’s be an aware nation.
Let’s show the world what it means to be proud.
I must apologize for my lack of posts as the last intended post was disallowed, resulting in a lack of future posts. The events that occurred during that unintended hiatus may or may not be explained in future posts. Until then, here’s a recap of today:
Today was an eventful day. Albeit, today actually translates to ‘tonight’. It all began when I woke up around 9am. It was a beautiful Saturday morning at a whopping 80 degrees and practically no humidity. I opened my window and enjoyed the breeze as I lay watching useless television. My day turned to texting and a few text conversations leading up to endless fussing with my laptop.
The wifi signal is poor. Let’s do something about it! Google resulted in some query replies with great ideas about methods to create a homebuilt, extended antenna by connecting a copper coaxial cable to the onboard auxiliary antenna inside the laptop. I experimented with this, and found (almost immediately) a surplus static charge building in my make shift antenna. This situation could result in permanent damage to my already aging laptop, so I decided to pull the cord and shoot for something more practical.
Chasing a tip from my long time friend Glen H., I made my way to the local BestBuy for a boosted antenna. I planned my bus route to take me to the AT&T store first so that I could handle some business there, then backtrack to BestBuy (open later than AT&T), then catch the #10 bus back to Windy Hill Road where I intended to get dinner at Dixie Tavern, along with some drinks while enjoying the local music scene on a Saturday night.
Riding the #10 towards AT&T, the bus turned off of Cobb Parkway. I thought I had missed my AT&T stop, rang the bell, and de-boarded. Once on the sidewalk, I pulled up Google Maps on my [mostly] smart phone and discovered I had gotten off way to soon. Google estimated a walk time of 35 minutes, but I only had 20 to get there before closing.
Realizing that I had made a mistake, I altered my plans to take me to BestBuy. I caught the next bus in the opposite direction and got off again in front of BestBuy. As I entered the store, I checked with the security guy to ask if my Spartan backpack was okay. He was not suspicious and said I could carry it.
I made my way to the computer department by way of the water fountain, and found the networking supplies. They did not have what I was looking for, but I did find an 802.11N usb dongle that I think will do the trick... providing the chipset is one already known to my Linux distro.
With my purchase in my backpack, I caught the next #10 to Windy Hill Road. I de-boarded and went to Dixie Tavern. Paid my $3 for the band, had a fantastic open faced Creamy Crayfish [crawfish where I come from] and Cheese on a roll. Just cant wait to have that again! But I digest...
By the time I had finished my dinner and Sprite, the band was getting going pretty good. I ordered a double White Russian in a pint glass and held my place at the busying bar.
Another double White Russian in a pint glass...
Another....
Okay, you get the the picture.
The band sounded great and sounded better the more they drank. Or the more I drank.... either way, they were a great band. Not only in quality of music, but in stage presence and crowd collaboration. I ran into a buddy from work and chatted for a bit, the ran into a man I had played pool against a few weeks before in the same location. Lots of laughs and good fun!
At around 1:30am, I learned that Dixie Tavern serves alcohol til 3am on Saturdays!!!! To my Oklahoma friends, that means real beer, not watered down Oklahoma beer..... HA Ha HA HA Ha HA!
Sooooo...... I stuck around for another round. The band ended with a great finale, the servers eloquently persuaded the patrons to settle their tabs, and I made my way out.
I left the Dixie Tavern feeling a little more alive after such a positive influx. A sense of rejuvenation. A sense of satisfaction. But not that of intoxication, mind you. I am writing this blog in the same state that I left the ‘Tavern.
Along my less-than-one-mile walk home along the left side of the road, I saw a car approaching slowly. Quickly checking my surroundings, I knew where I would run if need be. The approaching car got a little closer, then closer still. At the ready to bolt, the car flashed blue lights! WTF?!
By the legal definition, I am drunk. Not staggering or even swaying. Just walking along in my best polished black boots, my khaki pants, and my best Harley polo -- wearing a backpack. “He just wants to check me out...”, I thought as I held my hands away from my body with a burning cigarette and stopped in my tracks.
The officer was very polite and professional, asking where I was going and where I was coming from. I answered his questions and he continued: “Do you have any guns, knives, or other weapons? Do you have ID? What’s in the backpack?”
“No, sir. I don’t” as he is motioning that he wants to pat me down. I obliged to the pat-down, naturally, but he took my left wrist with my cigarette and pulled it behind me as he was also pulling my right arm to follow. Before the panic could set in, he reassured me that I was not under arrest and that he was not cuffing me. The pat-down was like any that I’d ever had going through security at the various jobs I’ve had in he past... until he put his had in my boot. I completely understand the reasoning, but that was the fist time I’d ever felt like an officer was 'under my clothes’. Before this pat-down ended, another patrol car had stopped and another officer was standing in front of me.
The first officer left with my ID and the second gave me the third degree while looking through my backpack, with my consent:
”What‘s in here?”
”A usb card I bought at BestBuy for my laptop.”
”Do you have a receipt?”
”Yes, sir. It is in the bag with the card.”
.... he continues looking at the contents of the bag... [the only things in the bag are the BestBuy bag, usb card, and receipt.]
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“Where is home?”
“I’m currently stating at [...], but that is temporary until I find a permanent home.”
“Where are you coming from?”
“Dixie Tavern.”
“Do you have a car there?”
“No, sir. I don’t own a car right now.”
“How long have you been there?”
“Since about ten or so.”
“Why were you there?”
“I had dinner, and wanted to see the band while a had a couple of drinks.”
“Why are you walking home?”
“I don’t have a car right now, I live close, and I don’t see the need to pay for a cab.”
That’s a bit paraphrased, but it is the gist of the conversation. I couldn’t hear some of what he said over the sound of me shitting my pants (not literally). The first officer returned and haded me my ID as he was looking to the second officer.
“Have a good night, Mr. Copeland.”
“Yes sir.” I hesitated. “You two have a good night, as well.”
As I walked up the hill with my best polished black boots, my khaki pants, my best Harley polo, and my backpack, I glanced over my shoulder to see the two officers studying where i had extinguished my cigarette before putting the butt in my pocket as I usually do.
The cigarette that I put out on the sidewalk was nearly the last one in the pack. As I rounded the corner getting within sight of home, I stopped at the BP for a new pack. The gentlemen behind the counter recognized me as I stop in every weekday morning for coffee. I recounted the cop-stop to them in a brief summary. All the while making jokes, “Do I look like a terrorist? ... Little skinny white guy?” and so on.
I learned something from them. Quite ironically. Perhaps I don’t fit the description of a terrorist, but tonight I did. I was a guy, regardless of race or appearance, at nearly 4:00am, carrying a backpack, walking in the direction of a high class neighborhood that consists of a variety of top local political figures.
I had no idea that kind of neighborhood was so close.
I admire the Cobb County and Marietta law enforcement for checking me out tonight. Even if they did scare the shit outta me!!
In summation, we are a great nation. We are a strong nation. We’ve been here for years passed, and will be for years to come. My only fear for Our Country is one of pride. We can look at history and see what has happened to prideful countries. Please don’t misunderstand what I mean with the word ‘pride’. The word has two significant definitions. For example, being proud of your children for doing well; being proud of yourself for accomplishing a difficult task or goal.
But on the other side, pride: being boastful, arrogant, conceited, stuck-up, walking with the ‘greater-than-thou’ facade, being an asshole, et cetera.
Let’s not be assholes.
Let’s be good people.
Let’s be astute people.
Let’s be an aware nation.
Let’s show the world what it means to be proud.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI actually wrote this immediately following the events of the night described. While futzing with the new wireless adapter I bought at Best Buy, I managed to mangle a few important files that control my x-window Linux laptop... and with all my recovery cd's in storage nearly 800 miles away, it took a over a week and a helpful friend to get my high mileage Dell D610 back on the information superhighway. Good thing I stick to my guns and write my blogs and such offline so that I can save them locally! Good ol' copy-n-paste!
ReplyDelete