HAPPY NEW YEARS (MADE IT THROUGH AMATEUR NIGHT)

Firstly I want to preface this post with the fact that I hate New Years, I hate marking time, I know it has to be done but that doesn't make me like it any better. When I was younger, and much less wiser than I am now I wished aloud that time would hurry up and let me be 16 and a half so I could drive a car. To which my dad replied that I shouldn't wish away chunks of my life, I should enjoy being in the present. Now that Im older I understand exactly what he meant when he said that. New Years always seems to remind me of that fact.

That being said, lets get into the recap of my night at work during New Years 2008

Police refer to New Years Eve as amatuer night, it's when Ben from the mailroom or Candie the receptionist from so and so's office end up drinking just a bit more than they physically should and do stupid things like attempt to drive, tell their neighbor that they are secretly lusting after their wife or husband. You know all those things that make my night hell.

Well, aside from 1 or 2 small stretches when I was reasonably sure I had the words Duncan Yoyo tattooed across my ass (the times where I was sent from one side of the city to the other to take emergency calls) It wasn't that bad. We did a DWI random checkpoint earlier in the weekend and the word got out that our city wasnt the place to drive impaired and there were very few alcohol related accidents during my shift.

Weather related accidents were another story. Everything iced over sometime around 10 pm and we had a taxi cab who spun out at the top of one of the hills and took out a fire hydrant. Took the damned thing right the heck out, sent it down the road a bit and everything. The trunk of the taxi looked like a giant took a bite out of it. There were no major injuries thank goodness, the taxi driver got a bloody nose but the passengers were all ok. The two notable people from that accident were the mother of the girls who were in the cab at the time of the accident, they must have called her via cell phone and I'm surmising that she was at some New Years Eve gathering of misfits. Her outfit could only be described as from the "Paris Hilton I wanna get laid line of clothing" Her miniskirt literally covered pretty much just her hoo-haah and the 6" fire engine red pumps really made a statement. She was outdone by the taxi manager who arrived on scene and wondered aloud whether the taxi was driveable and could stay in the rotation for the night.

We had a few fights to take care of, a couple of alarm calls, a handfull of unwanted guest calls, and one loud music call at 11:30 pm (C'mon people, I ain't no party animal and I like my sleep as much as the next guy but calling the cops at 11:30 on New Years Eve for loud music? are you serious?????)

I almost got the first police log number of the 2008 though which would have been kinda cool.

I worked an overtime shift at the local 24 hour resturaunt and was gearing up for a looong night, but the weather kept many away from the after hours feasting. I had my portable radio on and listened as the poor bastards working midnights were running balls to the walls all night. They had a shooting call right out of the gate and it didn't get much better for them from there. All the while I hung out with the resturaunt staff and drank coffee all night. Which is why I'm still up at 9am writing this and waiting for the coffee to wear off so I can go back in to work tonight.