Recently I’ve had a bit of a dry spell in not finding anybody to help, but this weekend changed that. Saturday afternoon I had been out at Triple L Ranch. I was coming home on I-20 near Walmart when I saw a truck pulled over. I pulled up to see if they needed help. Turned out, I knew a few of the guys from church and MCA. The truck was leaking fluid (I believe they determined it to be coming from the front differential). They decided to try and drive it to their destination, so I followed them down the service road for a little ways to make sure they were ok. After they waved me off, I turned around and headed back to a van along the interstate that had a flat tire. It was a young mother with her two kids. Another fellow had already stopped and was starting to jack up the vehicle, so I helped by getting the lug nuts off. In less than 5 minutes she was on the road again. I kids felt like a NASCAR pit crew member.

After the flat tire change, I was heading back down the service road to get back on the interstate when I spotted a pickup truck stalled along the road. They didn’t have any hazard lights, and it was dusk, so I pulled up behind to offer them safety and see if I could help. The father and son were working on the engine and diagnosed it was a fuel filter issue. Meanwhile, the young boy inside the truck talked and talked about where they were going, and that the truck had just stopped, and about the Cheetos he was eating. He was hilarious. The father got the truck running and since they didn’t live far away, they headed back home. I continued back onto the interstate and then came across a blown out semi tire in the middle of the road. It wasn’t just a chunk of it…it was the whole thing. It was getting dark and I knew it was a large road hazard. I pulled over, got out, waited for traffic to clear and then ran out and pulled the tire off the road and left it in the ditch.

So, on Saturday, all within about a 1 mile stretch of I-20, I made 4 different stops. It was pretty awesome.

Today, I was coming back from the Ranch again, and had just gotten off I-20 onto the Loop on the west side of Midland. I spotted a vehicle on the service road with its hazards on, so I pulled around and stopped. Turned out, it was a family heading back home to Dallas, and they had run out of gas. Their relatives were just a couple of minutes away with some gas, so I waited. They arrived, we got the fuel in, and the van started right up. I followed them to the next as station a couple of miles away, just to make sure they made it safely.

The funniest part is that almost every single person I help asks me if this is my job. When I tell them that I’m a computer tech and this is just a hobby, I usually get a weird look. It happens the same way almost every time. Nonetheless, I love it and thank God that he allows me to enjoy it, and keeps me safe.

Here are the best pictures I got of the lightning:

Here is a video that I captured with my iPhone while taking shelter under a metal shelter. The hail was deafening (as you can hear in the audio), but I was able to capture a sweet lightning strike. I would suggest turning down the volume on your computer before pressing play.

You can view the radar loop from Wednesday and see the storm really get ugly about 10pm.

• Albuquerque, NM
• Austin, TX
• San Antonio, TX

I’ve also never been to Austin nor San Antonio, so it would give me an opportunity to experience those cities–and my experience in Albuquerque was also limited in terms of urban exposure.

Feel free to keep me accountable to this goal.

After reaching the top of the trail (about 7 miles), we hiked another mile (over much flatter terrain) to the Sandia Park Tramway where we enjoyed a well deserved lunch at the High Finance Restaurant on top of the mountain. We then rode the tram down the mountain (which is the longest aerial tram in the world).

The rest of the day was spent recovering at home, which included a dip in the hot tub, steak for dinner, and going to sleep early (11pm is early for me, at least).

Sunday morning we attended church at the Albuquerque Campus of Mars Hill Church. I’ve recently started listening to Mark Driscoll’s sermons and really enjoy his teaching. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to experience one of their campuses. After church we said goodbye, grabbed some lunch, and left the mountains and dry air of Albuquerque and returned to hot and windy Midland later that evening. All-in-all, it was an awesome weekend of meeting new people, seeing new places, and enjoying new experiences.

Here are pictures that I took from the trip:

The week at work was spent primarily focusing on creating a logo/branding scheme for a newly renamed curriculum for an organization we’re working with. I’ll try and remember to post details on the new logo after the design gets fully finalized. The design isn’t complex, but it was difficult to create an idea for how to make it look good. It was certainly frustrating at times, but I was very relieved to get an idea finally approved on Friday.

Friday night was my first night out officially as a Citizens On Patrol volunteer. I went on patrol with a fellow COPS member and we patrolled Midland from 10pm-4am. We didn’t see anything too exciting happen. My partner drove, so I was the radio operator. I got some good experience on that based on a couple incidents we reported, but for the most part it was a quiet night.

Saturday night, I went out again with a different COPS member, but this time I drove. We went to briefing with the officers at 7pm (when their shift starts) and then headed out until 3am. In that 8hrs, we drove 142 miles around Midland. We did spot one driver who was driving a little weird. He was wandering around in the lane more than most drivers, so we thought he might be intoxicated. We called it in, but before a Midland PD officer could get to where we were, we left the city limits, so our info got relayed to the local sheriff deputies. A deputy caught up with us and pulled the vehicle over. The driver was clean, and to explain his driving, he claimed his truck had steering problems. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t have a drivers license, so he received a citation and had to have somebody come pick him up from the scene and drive him home. Around 2am, we followed a car from a bar. The driver appeared to be heavily intoxicated, so we reported it, but unfortunately for us (fortunate for the driver), she lived not far from the bar and was able to pull into her residence before the officer could get there.

After getting home from patrol around 4am, I was exhausted. I ended up accidentally sleeping through my alarm and totally missed church. I finally woke up around 1pm. Went over to Steven’s apartment to drop off a PS3 game for him to borrow, and then came back home. I then went to a private residence this past, to attend a weekly Hope for Relationships seminar that’s being taught by a guy from Midland Bible Church. Although I’ve been through the material 2+ times already, there is always more to get out of it, and I haven’t heard this guy teach it, so I’m interested in his teaching style. Unfortunately, he had a board meeting that went into overtime, so he wasn’t able to make it. The above mentioned friends were in attendance, so we decided to head back over to the Dunn’s (they were out of the house) to watch a movie. We ate some food, played with their new puppy, “Coach”, and then watched 500 Days of Summer. It’s an interesting movie. It’s kind of like the TV show, How I Met Your Mother–just in movie form.

Coming home, I saw an ambulance head out on the Loop from Midland Drive. I followed it and discovered it was heading to an accident on Hwy 191 where it goes under the Loop. There was a single vehicle on its side–and a lot of emergency vehicles around. I have no idea what the condition of the driver was.

After getting home, I watched the latest episode of Southland. I just started watching this show a couple of weeks ago, but it is definitely my current favorite show (dare I say, even more so than The Big Bang Theory). You should definitely check it out, if you can.

Here’s a picture I took on Friday with my new 50mm f1.8 lens:

Now it’s 1:00am. I’m not really tired, but I should try and see if I can sleep. Ugh. Sometimes it really sucks to be a night owl stuck in a morning owl world.

You can view Steven’s pictures on Flickr as well.

Monday was foggy and cold all day. In the evening, the National Weather Service issued a freezing rain advisory for the rest of the night. About 8pm, the Midland Police Department shut down Loop-250 due to multiple accidents (you could still get around on the service roads). Almost all the roads were fine, except for overpasses, or where the road went over a culvert–then it was super slick. About 9:30pm, I decided to head out and go around Midland on the Loop as well as I-20 and see if there were any motorists in need of assistance on this dreary and accident prone night. I was heading east out of Midland and was about 200ft behind two cars, traveling about 45-50mph. All of a sudden, one of the cars hit a patch of ice, whipped around 180 degrees, and slid into the median and then flipped onto its side. I immediately sped over into the median, flipped on my safety lights, grabbed a flashlight and jumped out of the car. I debated as to whether or not I should call 911 first, but I decided I should findout what the condition of the occupants was first. This would allow me to give better information to the dispatcher, if necessary. When I got over to the vehicle (laying on its right side), I shined my light inside and asked if everyone was okay. There was only one lady inside and she said she was fine. She had gotten out of her seatbelt and was standing on the “floor” of her car (which was now her passenger side window). I was able to open the drivers door on the top, and after propping it open with a broomstick from my car, I helped her climb out and get onto the ground. She immediately called her husband and informed him on the situation.

Since we had to wait for her husband to get there, we waited in my vehicle. Thankfully, with my lights, people coming by were warned to slow down. A couple cars stopped to see if everything was okay, and I called the Midland PD non-emergency number to inform them of the road conditions and the accident, but to not bother sending out an officer.

After about 10 minutes, the husband arrived at the scene. We discussed the idea of using my tow rope and truck to pull the flipped SUV so that all 4 wheels were on the ground (so that they could just drive the vehicle home), but we discovered that two tires had come off their rims, so there was no way they would be driving the vehicle anyways. So, after receiving much gratitude from the family, I left them to wait for the tow truck and continued my trip around Midland.

I didn’t encounter any further incidents where I was able to offer help, but that one accident definitely made my trip out on the roads worth it. The family couldn’t believe I was a computer tech who was just doing this as a hobby. They assumed I was with the TxDOT or something. The whole event is pretty incredible to look back on. We both agreed that it was a perfect demonstration of God’s timing at work and we were all thankful that there was no personal injury (most of that can be credited to her seatbelt).

View all my pictures.

View Steven’s pictures.

Hopefully in December they will offer the COPS (Citizens on Patrol) class. This will certify me to be able to operate a police radio (they let you borrow one when you are out on patrol), and then meet with the officers before their shift begins and find out where the best places to patrol are.

In January, I will join the CPAAA (Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association) which will get me a badge, uniform, and the ability to help with traffic management (football games, concerts, church events, etc), security for the same type of events, and I also hope to get into the Vehicle Parking Enforcement division which will allow me to go out write tickets to people parked in handicap spots.

Now, the downside to all this is that whenever I do this, I’m required to have a partner with me at all times whether I’m doing traffic, patrol, or VPE. If you are interested in this, I’d be happy to tell you more and help you get signed up for the next class so that you can join and we can do this stuff together.