Saturday, March 24, 2007

BROWN CAR

My first car was an eighties model, copper colored, Buick Century. I bought it in advance of my junior year in college, and with my beautiful girlfriend, Sarah Paulson, in the passenger seat life was truly Idyllic.
It was good looking car, but it ended up throwing a rod on I-90 less than a year after I bought it. I have a lot of good memories in that car though. A lot of important and enjoyable late night conversations with Sarah took place in the front of that Buick as we hurtled through the darkness coming back from Allen Lake, the Truck Stop, Olean etc... Those were great days.
I got my first speeding ticket in the Buick, which is ironic because its engine would start to complain whenever I would approach the speed limit, and it never did have a lot of power. We were coming back from Niagara Falls, which was just an hour north of Houghton. It was three in the morning and we were driving through Arcade, NY when Officer Wells (pictured above) pulled me over. I was bummed to get a speeding ticket, but I was still cheeky enough to ask Officer Wells if I could have my picture taken with him. I told him, "You're the first to get me!"

8 comments:

Little Pencil Writing said...

Came across your blog on a random blog search.
... Great pic taken after being pulled over. At least you could smile about it!

You've got a great family, too-- don't kids say the funniest things? It's good you're writing them down because we forget them after awhile.

Glad I stopped by. Blessings to you and your family.

barefootkangaroo said...

Thanks little pencil

Abigail said...

And at the exact instant the camera flash illuminated that jolly handshake, you thought, "I wanna be a cop." I see it in your face.

Jesse said...

Hey, this doesn't really have anything to do with this post except the picture of the cop and I know you worked in St. Albans for a while.

I applied to UVM PD and I was just wondering what you could tell me about the academy. I was in the military so I'm not too concerned about all the screaming and yelling, but how long do they keep that crap up? Pretty much anything you can think of that would be helpful if UVM hires me.

Thanks and Peace from the Green Mountains.

barefootkangaroo said...

I Margolis still chief up there?

There is a new guy in charge up there now, so I don't know if it has changed any, but when I was there it really didn't relax until the very end- a lot of sweat dripping off the end of your nose and sore muscles. PT, remedial training, running, beating your face, squats, mountain climbers, so on, etc., etc...

The good thing, no the great thing, is that you get to go home on the weekends. That's a pretty big departure from the military. They make up for it on Mondays though.

UVM is a great department with a very solid reputation (unlike St Albans. Good Luck!

Jesse said...

Yeah, Margolis is still the chief at UVM.

I was worried all that yelling and junk would last the whole time. After the military, I'm not sure how good of a sport I will be. I think annoyed would probably be the word to describe how I will feel.

Thanks for the info. It's good to know that UVM is a good department. I'm probably going to apply to Burlington too. Do you know anything about them?

barefootkangaroo said...

Burlington is excellent too. When I was on the job, South Burlington was the top paying department in the state. Burlington was near the top too. Burlington, being the largest of VT's humble cities also boasts the largest municipal force. They don't mix much with other agencies, but they are an excellent agency. I think the only agency in the state with a better overall reputation is the State Police.

The weird thing about police work is I didn't come away from my time in that line of work with less of an opinion of the profession. It's not like somebody who used to work at McDonalds who says they would never eat there again. They are mostly good people doing a good job. I think the training I received in VT was incredible. I would ask people in the law enforcement community about the reputation a department has if you apply to any small departments. While as I don't regret working for St Albans (I loved it there) I did ignore what everyone was saying about the place only to find out that it was largely true.

Our Family said...

I LOVE this photo.