An excerpt

Every year the local alt-weekly does a sort of year-end wrap-up, where they briefly recap what they deem to have been some of the most significant stories of the year. It's nice, if only because the Santa Fe Reporter is the only vaguely worthwhile news publication in the state*.

Anyway. One of the year's top stories is the rather unsurprising news that law enforcement in northern New Mexico is, uh, challenged. They start with a brief recap of some late-breaking news in which the county sheriff admitted he'd been selling sheriff's department property on e-Bay in order to try to keep his house out of foreclosure. Then we get this: 

If Solano’s shenanigans were characterized by discreet cunning, former Santa Fe Police Officer David Smoker’s violent assault on a handcuffed teenager last January seemed to result from a total lapse in self-control. Smoker was caught on video beating 17-year-old Brendon Singer. 

Oof. Yeah, you defend yourself against that handcuffed kid. But wait - there's more! 

The Santa Fe Police Department terminated Smoker and Officer Robert Hollingsworth, and suspended Officer David Rael, because Hollingsworth and Rael failed to stop the attack. The incident reverberated in the March city mayoral election, when the video was made public; the city police union supported Mayor David Coss challenger Asenath Kepler. The union had opposed the terminations.

Nothing like a bit of groupthink. But, um, wait! There's more. 

Lt. Stephen Ryan, who conducted the internal investigation into the beating, was later put on paid administrative leave for a year and a half after being charged with driving under the influence. When his conviction was overturned in October, City Manager Robert Romero put him back in the internal investigations section, angering the Santa Fe Police Officers Association.

....Yes, the guy who was responsible for investigating alleged misconduct by other officers was then charged with drunk driving. And then put back into the same position. Did he get to investigate his own misconduct the first time around? 

Meanwhile, just down the road in Albuquerque, we have city police officers passing out drunk in their cars on the side of the interstate and getting sent home with a few stern words. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Land of Enchantment.

*A couple months ago our local daily newspaper ran a headline about an ex-con's ongoing attempts to avoid reincarnation, which was a bit baffling until you realized that they meant reincarceration, which may or may not be a word to begin with. No one was really surprised. 

Grumble grumble.

Me: Grumble grumble *two* services I need to put shit together for this week stupid Christmas stupid blah grumble.

Boss: Unitarian Universalists aren't really big on Jesus, so for the clip art on the bulletin cover, keep that in mind. Take a look at whatever they did last year.

Me: Grumble grumble. *digs out last year's Christmas service bulletin*. *looks at big old Nativity scene on the front* *sighs* *mumbles something probably inappropriate*.

Drink me

I've switched back to drinking cow's milk, rather than rice or soy milk for various reasons (interestingly, it's not a financial decision - I refuse to drink non-organic/hormone-free milk, which means the price is pretty much the same). Also, when I say "drinking" I mean "using on cereal and in cooking/baking things".

But! Acting completely on impulse I bought some Hershey's syrup today, and made myself a glass of chocolate milk.

...

Good god, there is no reason to ever grow up, if growing up means you stop drinking chocolate milk.

Also

Hot on the heels of my adventure with 80- to 100% accuracy: the alphabet, phonetic or not, does not include numbers.

Welp...

There's a number of online "training" things I need to do before I ship out to basic training at the end of January*, which - since it is both in my mind to do so and I have not yet lost *this* slip of paper with the password written on it - I have started today. Lesson one has taught me several things:
1) Apparently the 24-hour clock is complex enough to warrant a dozen plus slides explaining the concept of "add twelve, or a zero."
2) One of the problems with having both text displayed on the screen (say, your objectives and goals for this lesson) and a recording of someone reciting those goals is that they might not match up.
2a) A voice telling me that I need to pass the lesson exam with 100% accuracy while the text on the page tells me I need to pass it with 80% accuracy will, perhaps, not *entirely* convince me of the utmost importance of total accuracy.


*Speaking of which, I've had the following conversation probably half a dozen times: "So when do you leave?" "Last day of January." "Where are you going for training?" "Fort Leonard Wood, in Missouri." "Oh, boy, I hope you're ready for some cold weather." *Every* person who is familiar with that base has had the same reaction. So, uh, apparently I might freeze to death. And then die of heat stroke when I move on to my further training in San Antonio in early April, where the average high that time of year is in the low 80's.