Week 13 of 52: Washington County Citizens Academy

One, or more new things per week for the 2013 year...

Week  13 of 52 (March 25^th, 2013 to March 31^st, 2013): Washington County Citizens Academy

                This week I started the Washington County Sheriff’s Citizen Academy. I am part of the 30^th class to go through the program and am accompanied by about 30 other law abiding citizens of Washington County who wanted to learn more about what the Sheriff’s office does. The Citizens' Academy is a continuing effort to help develop citizen awareness and understanding of the role of law enforcement in the community. I personally am interested in the class to learn more about the Sheriff’s office for either volunteering or having a career in law enforcement.

The academy is over 55 hours of training that consists of both classroom and hands-on instruction. Classes give citizens an opportunity to observe the inner workings of the Washington County Sheriff's Office. Students are actively involved in many interesting activities such as using police equipment, participating in jail activities, and several role-play scenarios. Sheriff's Office personnel from many fields explain and demonstrate the duties and responsibilities of their positions, and participants will tour the Sheriff's Office and other criminal justice facilities.

Because I just started the program, there is much more to be learned and things to experience, which I will be posting on a weekly basis. The first week we got an overview of the program, and briefly discussed the Search and Rescue portion of the Sheriff’s Office.

If you are interested contact your local Sheriff’s Office, or Police Department to learn more. If you live in Washington County the information for their program can be found on the website below.

http://www.co.washington.or.us/Sheriff/GetInvolved/LearnMore/citizens-academy.cfm

Minimum Qualifications to attend Citizens' Academy at the Sheriff's Office:

•          Minimum 18 years of age.
•          Willingness and ability to pass a thorough background check.
•          No history of felony or violent misdemeanor arrest.
•          Must not have been lodged in any jail in the last 10 years, and never in the Washington County Jail.

Week 12 of 52: Acupuncture!

One, or more new things per week for the 2013 year...

Week  12 of 52 (March 18^th, 2013 to March 24^th, 2013): Acupuncture

                This week I decided to get some Acupuncture done! I have had friends and family around me that have done it and have felt like it was a great way of treating certain illnesses or pains in the body. So for those of you who are wondering, what is Acupuncture? Let me tell you! 

Acupuncture is a collection of procedures which involves the stimulation of points on the body using a variety of techniques, such as penetrating the skin with needles that are then manipulated manually or by electrical stimulation. Sticking the body with sterile needles is by far the most common procedure. Acupuncture dates back to the Shang Dynasty (1600–1100 BC), and has been common among Chinese medicine ever since. According to the traditional Chinese medicine approach, stimulating specific acupuncture points corrects imbalances in the flow of qi (life energy or life force) through channels known as meridians (the path in which the qi flows).

Although there is no strong scientific evidence to back the use of Acupuncture to treat certain illnesses it has been found to be more effective than placebos in the relief of certain types of pain and post-operative nausea. Recent systematic reviews found that acupuncture also seems to be a promising treatment option for anxiety, sleep disturbances, and depression, but again no strong scientific studies have proven this. But those who have undergone the procedures have felt better as a result. Acupuncture has been effective enough for certain conditions that it has been endorsed by the United States National Institutes of Health, the National Health Service of the United Kingdom, the World Health Organization. So there are at least some people who believe in it!

I personally can say that my procedure was one of just simple relaxation. I didn’t go in with the intent of having anything cured, because I was lucky enough to not need anything cured. However, I can say that I did feel more relaxed by the needles. Wether or not this was a placebo effect, I don’t know. But either way, it was an interesting experience. I thought that it might hurt, but it didn’t. The needles are tiny and could barely be felt. The only adverse effect this had on me, was one of the needles placed in my hand made my hand feel a little sore for a few hours, but then it was gone and all was well! Until next week!

Week 11 of 52: You Got Served!

One, or more new things per week for the 2013 year...

Week  11 of 52 (March 11^th, 2013 to March 17^th, 2013): You Got Served!

                I work for a law firm and my job title is officially “file clerk”, however the responsibilities of my job are as far reaching as the attorneys or their paralegals need them to be! I am often making copies, scanning, getting mail, sorting mail, making coffee, running errands, etc. My days can change drastically, and I really don’t know what I will be doing when I come in for work every morning! This makes my job much more exciting, especially since it is a job to get me through school.

 Last Thursday however I got to do something that I have really never done before (in the three years I have worked at this firm), they needed someone to SERVE papers and they couldn't wait for a process server to do the job. They called me in, handed me the papers and sent me on my way. The nice part is that to serve papers you don’t need any sort of accreditation or training. You just need to simply serve the papers, mark the date and time in which you served the papers and sign an affidavit swearing before the courts that you in fact served the papers! The closest thing that I have done to this is post an eviction notice on someone’s door. It’s kind of like serving papers, but I didn't need to do it in person. Yes, I know, sometimes your job isn't all that fun. After all posting eviction notices or serving someone with lawsuits will never brighten someones day. But, it is a job, and it has to be done.

When I first heard that I would be serving someone the thought came to my mind, of the crazy stories process servers run into, I thank the show “All Worked Up” for that one! I thought I would be like Byron McElderley as he gets smashed into a wall or beaten up by the not so happy person being served. But, luckily for me it was to an attorney and the best part is I got to tell him; “ You've been served”, how often does someone get that opportunity, while actually serving papers? Not too many. I guess I count myself lucky!

With all the bearing of bad news, I figured that I should do at least one more thing that I have never done, which perhaps would be more peaceful and much more uplifting! I decided that my time was very limited this week, as I work almost full time and attend school full time! Oh, did I also mention that this week is finals week!? Well, last night I got a moment to breathe and decided to learn how to make a paper crane. My Origami skills are not the best, but this is what I made! Until next week!

Week 10 of 52: Cool Ranch DLT!

One, or more new things per week for the 2013 year...

Week  10 of 52 (March 4^th, 2013 to March 10^th, 2013): Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos!

                On March 7, 2013 Taco Bell unveiled one of its most anticipated Tacos of all time… THE Doritos Locos Cool Ranch Crunchy Taco! I heard that Taco Bell announced that the taco would be available 1 day early, but when eager Taco Bell fans showed up the taco was not yet available! This sparked some rage and because of this people started to complain…  

                Needless to say I decided to go and see what all the buzz was about! Afterall, I have never tried a Cool Ranch Doritos Taco! I used to really like Cool Ranch Doritos a long time ago… so I decided that mixed with a taco might be good, right? Well not so much! Not saying that they are bad, but its not like some of the fans on the Taco Bell facebook page have described…

“my prayers have been answered”

“this is like a dream” 

“shutup and take my money”

                Really!?! Over a Taco? Welcome to ‘Merica!

                So how did Taco Bell and Doritos first start? Lets take a trip back to San Bernardino, California in 1946 where a 23 year old Glen Bell opened his first hot dog stand called “Bell’s Drive-In”. This drive-in operated for 6 years, before Glen sold it and opened a new one 2 years later, this time he exclusively sold tacos under the stand’s name “Taco-Tia” during this time Glen also opened several other restaurants, including “El Taco” which was later sold to his business partner for an undisclosed amount.

               

                Glen decided to keep going and in 1962 with a $4,000 investment opened up the first “Taco Bell” in Downey, California within a few years Glen Bell opened another 8 Taco Bells all with grand openings featuring live salsa music and free sombreros. The company exploded and in 1978 PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell for $125 Million!! Since then Taco Bell has seen large growth and has had several slogans over the years starting with “The Fresh Food Place” from 1976 to 1979, then from…

Late 1970s - "Just Made For You"

Early 1980s - mid-1980s - "All of The Above"

1987-late 1980s - "The Cure For The Common Meal"

Late 1980s - early 1990s - "Hello Taco Bell"

Mid 1990s - "Make A Run For The Border"

Late 1990s - "Spice Up The Night" (For Taco Bell's late night day part)

2001 - mid-2000s - "Grande taste. Loco value."

mid 2001 - 2012 - "Think outside the bun"

Current - "Live Más" (With the introduction of the Cantina Bell menu)

               

                So now that you know where Taco Bell got its start, what about Doritos? The original product was actually made at the “Casa de Fritos” located at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. 

The restaurant would use their unused (ready to be thrown out) tortillas by cutting them up, frying them and adding seasoning, which were traditionally called “totopos” in Mexico.  Arch West was the Vice President of Marketing of Frito-Lay at the time, and noticed the popularity. He made a deal with Alex Foods in 1964, the provider of many items for Casa de Fritos at Disneyland, and produced the chips for a short time regionally, before it was overwhelmed by the volume, and Frito-Lay moved the production in-house to its Tulsa plant. "Doritos" were released nationwide in 1966, the first tortilla chip to be launched nationally in the United States!

                Since then, Doritos has been a multi-billion dollar a year industry. Again… Welcome to ‘Merica!

Week 9 of 52: Guns and Silencers… Bond, James Bond.

One, or more new things per week for the 2013 year...

Week 9 of 52 (February 25^th, 2013 to March 3^rd, 2013): Guns and Silencers… Bond, James Bond.

The second amendment was adopted on December 15, 1791 and read…

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

                Notice how is says it shall not be infringed? This means that the government can not infringe on the rights of the people to own a firearm. I personally love firearms and own quite a few, I also own somethings that are not so common. One of these is a silencer for my Walther P22, which a person can own legally if they go through the proper channels. I went through almost a year long process to obtain one and finally got it about a week ago. This weekend I had the opportunity to go and shoot with it, I was pretty excited because I had never shot a gun with a silencer.

                Here is the difference in sound between 22LR Walther un-silenced vs a 22LR Walther that is silenced…

                Notice how the one is extremely quiet and the other is much louder? With a silencer I can shoot virtually undetected! So maybe you are asking yourself, why do I need a silencer? Well, besides the collector and recreational aspects… I can shoot the gun on private land (in areas where it is legal to shoot guns) without annoying neighbors with the noise. This is precisely why I bought it, to shoot on private lands without making noise when target shooting. Also, I no longer need to where hearing protection when shooting this gun. Makes it a lot more enjoyable!

                Here is a picture of the gun, with the Federal Tax Stamp that is required to purchase one.

                This weekend seemed to be filled with guns, I attended a 4-5 hour class that went over gun safety, training and laws for the state of Oregon, Utah and Arizona. Once I get my paperwork in, I will hold a license to carry a gun in 3 states; Oregon, Utah and Arizona which gives me legal reciprocity to carry a concealed gun in more than 30 states. This will be nice when I travel.

                This week has been a good week for shooting guns and trying out something new… a silencer. This was a lot of fun and can’t wait to go out shooting again! I think I also balanced out this weeks shooting with a proper dose of gun safety courses… always gotta be safe!