The Morning After

So I did the lake for a bit, drank some beers, watched the fireworks, got devoured by monster mosquitoes, and headed home so I could get HNT posted (you all handled the delay quite well, by the way...). And then I went to bed. It is SO miserably hot here. But I finally get to sleep. No waking to the sunrise for me in the morning!

But I do get up at 7. Now, I don't know what most of your morning routines are like, but I don't bother much with myself until I jump in the shower later in the morning. I'm checking out HNTs, when the doorbell rings at 7:30. That should be illegal. I'm not presentable, so I just ignore it. It rings AGAIN! I figure that it's got to be the landlord, so I take a peek through the little peeper thingy. IT'S A POLICE OFFICER!!

By now, most of you should be aware of my endearing relationship with the Helena Police Department. I run to my bedroom and throw on some shorts and a t-shirt. All the while trying to remember what I might have done last night that would bring the cops to my door at 7:30 AM. I didn't shoot off fireworks within city limits, thus starting a grass fire. I didn't leave beer cans littered by the side of the highway where I watched them from. MY LICENSE, REGISTRATION AND INSURANCE ARE ALL CURRENT (like someone would actually let those lapse...). Sixty seconds of memory recall, panic, and formulations of alibis...

Apparently, the local hoodlums decided to vandalize random vehicles in my neighborhood. The car next to mine had her window broken and a purse stolen. A large Maglite flashlight was found on my car, and they just wanted to know if it was mine, or if the punks left it. I've never owned one, so it must have been theirs. I then asked if MY car had been broken into. They told me that no, I had nothing of value in it.

And for some reason, I was hurt by that comment. There were 6 12-packs of Diet Coke w/Lime sitting in there (they were on sale--do you see an addiction there?). And if they'd dug around a little bit, they would have found my new Sony digital camera. And my music for the summer symphony concert (which would have cost me a small fortune to replace). But these punks went for the easy money. And that's what's wrong with America today--always going for the easy buck. No pride in one's work.

There's nothing like having the cops at your door in the early morning to get the adrenaline flowing! And to their credit--the cops do have pride in their work. I found out this morning that they actually caught the punks yesterday! I hope they're strung up by their privates!