That was my reaction upon reading on Fox News that Vance Luther Boelter, the accused man who heads the Praetorian Guard Security Services, a private security consulting group. The thing is the private sector and public sector security services are very inter-related, often with retired and even active duty police officers moonlighting in the private sector protection and loss-prevention sector.
The truth is that most police officers, outside of wealthy cities and states are pretty poorly paid. In wealthier areas, it’s true cops can make good money especially with overtime. But most police officers have fairly meager salaries, and many are actually quite poorly educated for all the power they have and the position of authority they hold, enforcing laws. It’s actually remarkable that a person who can arrest and detain a person over a technically-complex thing as the law, which spans millions of pages, in many cases is not required to have anything more then a high school diploma, and potentially an associates degree in criminal justice or a brief training course.
So it’s only logical for police officers to seek work in the private sector to make more money. And there is no requirements at all to work in the private sector protection and lost prevention sector, though many states have requirements for concealed carry of firearms and private investigations. Instead, people in the private security sector usually rely on other credentials to show their merits while marketing their services, such as police officer services, classes taken, experiences earned. But often the lines are blurred.
And because those lines are so blurry, private security consultants often have many of the same things are bonafide law enforcement officers. Many drive the same model automobiles are police do, indeed one of the local private investigators down the street is outfitted with a black Dodge Charger with steel wheels. Probably the persuit package, could even be a retired cop car, he either bought off the force he worked for or is currently employed by. He might even have a blue or black dress shirt and wear a badge. And he’s probably far better paid to many of the local cops, especially in small towns.
Many private sector security officers not only are cops retired or active, many also have very close relationships with politicians and actual serving policeman – scurrying favor by offering free security services at events – and personal defense and awareness training. Many enjoy cultivating their relationship at the local watering hole and elsewise. When you are in the private sector, and don’t have a public job, you can be a lot more loose with others. Many shoot at same ranges and hang out with real cops, they’re drinking buddies. And many meet at court and work together closely on law enforcement activities, such as prosecuting those accused of shoplifting and other crimes against businesses.
The truth is real cops probably should be closer to lawyers in their education, rather then tough men. District Attorneys have to be lawyers in most states, and certainly all higher-level judges and appeals judges are, though town justices often aren’t. The fact that police are so badly paid and often uneducated is a real problem and it only makes them more prone to getting caught up in ideological movements like the the III-percenters, who advocate using official positions to spark a political revolution. This is problematic on so many levels, when government enforcement officers – – the police — should be non-political and neutral enforcers of the law as written. It’s really messy.
Police should be paid more with a higher base salary, and work far less over time. At the same time, they should be much more strictly limited at what kind of outside income they can take and who they fratnize with. However, the private and public sector security and policing industries are closely linked, and both certainly have common interests and bonds that often are tightly linked.
I guess I should have only soaked half of the 4 lb bag of pinto beans rather then the full bag. It didn’t seem so big until the beans soaked over night. Little worried about having enough room as it’s a lot of beans to freeze but I guess I’ll just buy less frozen fruits and vegetables and maybe get freezer bags.
I really try to avoid disposable freezer bags, 🗑️ even if they are convient for camping, which is probably were I will eat a lot of pinto beans. Nice thing is the fire will recycle ♻️ them into carbon dioxide to feed the trees. Some I will keep in the fridge for the next few days, maybe make up some rice to get a complete protein. Or otherwise fry them up with a bunch of dishes or mix them with maple syrup for a sweet and filling treat.
It’s a Saturday and raining again. ☔ I am thinking of shopping this morning, leaving shortly after showering. Though the beans won’t be ready, I can turn them off and they’ll continue to simmer and soak for a while and then resume the heat when I get back home. Probably go to Walmart but I might also stop at Rite-Aid for razors. 🪒 They’re always locked up at Walmart and it’s a pain to find someone to unlock the cabinet. You got to wonder how much they loose in sales versus shop lifting. It’s not like disposable razors are that expensive. Hell of it is, probably most things like that aren’t stolen by Average Joe Shopper but instead disappear in bulk off loading docks and backroom stores. Or get broken and garabaged before they’re ever sold. But I’m sure corporate has decided it makes sense for corporate profits. 💵
Rain is supposed to clear out relatively early, ☀️ and I’m considering hammock camping 🏕️ or maybe just riding this evening. 🚲 Would be fun to have a fire up in wilderness, though certainly on Thursday – Juneteenth I’ll be doing that after a day floating on East Canada Creek. 🛟 But right now the morning ain’ t great but getting a relatively early start after I finish my pancakes 🥞 and coffee should be good. ☺️ Then I’ll come home, turn the stove back on, finish cooking the beans down, do some cleaning – my kitchen is gross there is maggots in the compost container 🧽 – and then dig into more of The Complete Guide to Homesteading book I have on my phone. Tonight if I do an overnight in the wilderness, I’m planning to continue to listening to more of Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods about this fat suburbanite who decides to do the Appalachian Trail. The book is both kind of hilarious and gross in the same kind of way, much like the suburbanite’s mind. 🤪
It was a good week but by end of week I was dog tired. 🐶 I was thinking of going to the Pine Hollow Arboretum Tree Museum 🌲 last night, but I was so exhausted by end of day I just crawled into bed after dinner. 🛏️ I did listen to a podcast or two, but I was out hard by 8 PM. All week I’ve been so tired, one of my employees was asking if I was feeling okay at work yesterday. 👀 My eyes have been irrated, I’ve been achy and just so tired. I know it’s probably Lyme disease and I should go to the doctor for that nasty old doxcyline but it’s not that bad. Dad is doing better after the doxcyline. I know there is some risk that if it becomes Anaplasmosis I could collapse, but I don’t have a fever and don’ t feel that sick to rush to doctor. 🐜 At least Dad has been feeling better after he got on doxcyline. So that’s good, I was concerned. I just remember how quickly the late John Wolcott went downhill after he got bit by a tick. I probably have Lyme probably from going through all of those brambles at Black Creek Marsh a few weeks back.
It’s good to see some my initiatives at work getting put to work, 💾 I have been aggressively expanding the number of data points about constituents to provide for better targeting 🎯 of communications. Some of it is pushing the system harder then before and some of changes aren’t as easy to implement as I had hoped because of push back, but I think things are getting better.
Almost cut my hair It happened just the other day It’s gettin’ kinda long I coulda said it wasn’t in my way But I didn’t and I wonder why I feel like letting my freak flag fly Yes, I feel like I owe it to someone
Must be because I had a flu for Christmas And I’m not feeling up to par It increases my paranoia Like looking at my mirror and seeing a police car But I’m not giving in an inch to fear ‘Cause I promised myself this year I feel like I owe it to someone
When I finally get myself together I’m going to get down in that sunny southern weather And I’ll find a place inside to laugh Separate the wheat from the chaff I feel like I owe it To someone, yeah
Woke up this morning and it felt like my eyes 👀 were swollen shut. It was a struggle to get going 😴 but the eggs 🥚 and coffee ☕ helped. And now I’m moving forward on this Friday the 13th, showering and riding my bike to work.
Truth is that I am super paranoid about Friday the 13th probably for good reason, 👿 because as Mark Rudd of the SDS once said, “You aren’t paranoid if they are really out to get you.” That said, I do takqe my paranoia up one notch, always asking for second opinions on this date and knowing things will fail. I am sure there will be a major system outage today, and I will be damn sure to double check any commands I type into the ol’ SQL console so I’m not breaking shit.
It was kind of fun back when I had long curly hair, ✂️ though it ultimately got more in the way and was hot and sticky in the summer. I’m a dirty hick and long hair only is a place for mud and sweat to accumulate. Been a long time since I had curls, though during the pandemic for a few months until the heat and humidity pushed in, I had some pretty impressive side burns. It will be a fine day, and I’ll ride in and there is a good chance I won’t soaked in the afternoon ride home, especially if I bring a rain coat as they is good at repelling the rain. ☔ It’s Saturday tomorrow, going to rain.
I do like those old Crosby Stills and Nash album covers, you know the porch couch and the one with the gang hanging out with the old shot gun and random dog apparently random dog on Deja Vu. See I need a house with a porch, so I can have a porch couch. 🛋️ And a burn barrel and pig pen out back. And maybe a gun range. I was thinking it was a year ago I looked at that property next to my parents house, the weekend before the Juneteenth trip to Speculator and the Potholers, but it lacked a woodstove, had vinyl siding and neighbors too close to burn all kinds of shit, 🐽 and I walked away after touring it with the real estate agent. It had a lot of problems but it also was ultimately sold for only $120k. But then I wouldn’t be able to ride my bike 🚲 to work most days, like today. Plus I really want that off-grid property in a freer state without neighbors so I can burn whatever I want. 🔥
Without surprise gas prices are already going back up, ⛽ I am sure Trump will blame the woke liberals and not the fact he’s let everything in the world run out of control as the US has become the laughing stock of world, 🃏 with the joker in chief. A lot of things were broken with Sleepy Joe, but the rodeo clown 🤡 ain’t making things better. We will see how truly independent the US is from the world oil 🛢️ markets in coming summer. Right before the season of nice weather, maybe hopefully, 🏖️ I just hope the protests and the National Guard coming to Albany, won’t interrupt my commute, though usually the bike is much better at getting around such things then the city bus, which tends to get delayed when people are laying in the street protesting shit. 🚧 Turns out there isn’t a No King’s Day Protest downtown, so if I want to participate I’m going to have to drive to Colonie, and I don’t want to do that. I guess I could ride my bike upt here, but it’s a long ride. Instead, tomorrow or maybe Sunday, I plan to take Big Red 🛻 out for a nice ride in country. Could do an overnight, not sure, depends on the weather. And then next Thursday, it’s the Potholers or bust, 🏊 gotta to enjoy the summer weather before it’s done for yet another year.
I put the old chain 🔗 back on the bike. It’s not that old only two months but my tool said it was time for a change. But the old cassette of similar vintage did not agree or actually newer and I wasn’t ready to replace the cassette yet. I’m just going to ride the old chain now until the cassette is shot. Skipped a bit when I first put the old chain back on now but now good once the quick link stretched and freed up well.
Out to Five Rivers 🐸 now. Beautiful evening but again I’m tired. Second half of the day was super busy for sure. I had to write some custom code but once things were loaded into duckdb, things sure were fast. 💾 I sure don’t miss those late nights in the office. It’s nice though having that extra light in the evening – it will last for another month or so but quickly fades as August gets underway.
I would head out to Vermont or somewhere else to camp 🏕️ this weekend as it doesn’t look so wet but still cloudy and I’m so paranoid about Friday the 13th. And it’s not that nice of a weekend and I’m still thinking about the Potholers for Juneteenth and the start of the summer season. I kind of just want to cruise the back roads and maybe ride a bit this weekend like up at Partridge Run but it depends on how wet things are. Plus lately I’ve just been so tired and achy at times. It’s probably Lyme but I’m not sick enough to warrant a trip to the doctor. 🧑⚕️
So we should start this blog post out with RIP Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. And thoughts that next Thursday at this time is the start of the Juneteenth Weekend, getting bacon at For the Love of Bacon and then the long haul up to the Potholers for four days out in the sun. I’ll probably listen to Pet Sounds on the bike ride in as way to remember Brian Wilson as I like that green album cover with the meat goats on it.
I’ve always had mixed feeling about the Beach Boys, 🏄 always thought it was a bit crass commercialism, associated with Fast Food junk wrapped in paper garbage and the throw-away livestyle, but I’m also a bit obsessed with the woke culture. That said, I do like that occasional ice cream 🍦 treat at vacation, I toss the bowl and napkins in my truck and burn them so no landfill for me. That said, I think I more like listening to Frank Zappa and side two Waka Jaka when floating down the East Canada Creek, swatting at the deer fly, as I fully expect to be case on Juneteenth next weekend. 🪰 And then it will be a matter of lighting off sparklers and fireworks 🎇 as it gets dark out and having a good fire. 🔥 And maybe smoking a bit of grass with some beer. 🍻
But first to make it through the coming week. ☀️ I was up a bit earlier this morning and went to bed earlier last night but I still feel pretty crappy to say the least. Not sure why I do but all of yesterday until close to the end of the day, I was in a complete haze and kind of achy. In the evening, I was feeling somewhat better and rode out to Five Rivers for a while, and read until a little before the fiery sunset 🌇 from the wildfire smoke. Just the regular last night – fried onions, tofu and beans, with broccoli and apple-cinanom whole-wheat oatmeal pancakes with some of the peanut butter protein powder mixed into the mix. 🍏 Yes, I’m super woke with my eating habits but I hate all the junk that is part of the American diet, though I do not buy anything labeled organic of I can avoid it.
I may swap back on the old chain, 🔗 ⚙️ until the cassette starts skipping on that, but so far the preventative maintance thing of replacing the chain has been a failure, even though the new chain is breaking in well, but in the future, I think I will plan on replacing the cassette and chain always at the same time. I caught it early enough on the measuring stick I was suggested to get, but the new chain with the old cassette did not mate up well at first, though after 35 miles, it’s pretty good but still a bit of skipping at high. But I was told if I replaced the chain at 0.5 stretch I would be good without doing the cassette. Neither is expensive – chains are like $15 and cassettes at $15 too – so I guess I should wait. Annoying as shit though.
So watching next weekend to see what the forecast looks like for the Juneteenth Weekend. 🏊 I haven’t taken off Friday yet, as I need to as Juneteenth this year is on a Thursday, to make a four day weekend. Going to drive up early next Thursday, so I can enjoy all day at the Potholers and floating on the East Canada Creek, but only stay three nights to avoid needing a camping permit. 🎫 It will be nice to get away and have some quiet, and hopefully the weather will be warm and summer like – mostly sunny but with the expected thunderstorms and downpours at that are common. Past few years Juneteenth Weekend has a been a bit on the cooler side, but looks actually quite seasonable with the current forecast. ☀️
