The strangest thing happened earlier today. He tells me we weren’t gone long at all. It seems like it was, to me, though. Did you miss me?
A madman in a blue box
August 17, 2013
fiction, geek, Humor, Personal Dr. Who, madman in a blue box, tardis 1 Comment
Oh, I didn’t just say that…
August 7, 2013
9-1-1, commentary, Personal 9-1-1 mishaps, 9-1-1 stories, dispatcher stories, hang gliding accident, paragliding accident Leave a comment
I can’t believe I said that to the 9-1-1 caller. It was unintentional, totally inappropriate, and had everyone in the room in fits of giggles.
Other dispatchers will understand the sometimes dark humor we express in our jobs, and how something that to an outside observer (or the brass) will seem completely humorless, but will have us guffawing and giggling for hours afterwards. Something like that happened to me yesterday, and it involved a crashed aircraft and it’s pilot stuck on a rockface above a lake.
I really meant it to be reassuring, but it sure didn’t come out that way!
Call 9-1-1 First!
July 23, 2013
9-1-1 9-1-1, armed robbery, Call 9-1-1 First, dispatcher stories 2 Comments
It happened again! Someone called someone else who called someone else, who called 9-1-1! SMH
An armed robber walked up to a food stand, brandished a firearm, and demanded cash. The clerk didn’t understand English, and the bad guy ran off. Rather than call 9-1-1, she called her boss, who called someone else, who called the police!
While all this was going on, an armed suspect was making his get-away, and since nobody bothered to tell anyone the description of the robber, we have no way to spot him while units are enroute.
RULE #1 – Call 9-1-1 first! It doesn’t matter what language you speak, we can get a translator on the line quicker than you can call someone else, tell them what happened, and then have them call.
Another Hayward City Hall fountain
July 20, 2013
Fans of Stargate Atlantis will find the design of this fountain a bit ominous! “Hallowed be the Or’i”
Want to piss off a dispatcher? Act like you’re the only unit on the radio!
July 5, 2013
9-1-1, commentary 9-1-1, dispatch, dispatcher stories, law enforcement, police radio traffic, radio procedures, TCSO, tulare county sheriff 3 Comments
We have procedures officers in the field are supposed to follow on the radio. They are designed to allow the quickest, most efficient transfer of information possible. It really gums up the works, and creates needless stress, when radio traffic is not conducted according to those procedures.
Last night, the 4th of July, was one of those nights that will have me cursing the name of a particular unit for a long time. Those in the know will probably figure out who I mean just from their own knowledge of the departments and personel involved, but I’m not going to name names (or unit numbers!) (even though my “about” blurb says the guilty will be hung out to dry! It is my job, so I have to be minimally diplomatic in this rant. I may still hear about it from upper echelons). I’m going to hope it’s simply a training issue, and not a case of “I’m the most important thing on this radio channel, and you better be able to handle what ever I do regardless of how many other things are going on!”.
How can any unit in the field not realize that there are 20-25 units on the same radio channel, it’s a national holiday, it’s hot as hell, and their dispatch center is a small room in the basement of the jail building? Are you not listening? You just key up and start talking? Really?
A neighbor gets nosy…
June 29, 2013
commentary, geek, Humor heat, jimmiejoe, kc6yru, nosy neighbor, visalia, webcam 1 Comment
Back in December I was forced to evict a relative from my home. Long story, but after six months of legal actions and $500, he was gone. I set up a webcam in a bedroom window to keep an eye on things, since he tried several times to come back.
Today, I had a visitor check out the camera close up.
Maybe he wasn’t being nosy, but rather was looking for a way to get inside and cool off, as it was 106 degrees outside! Poor guy… keep a-knockin’, but you can’t come in! Sorry!
Dispatching at warp speed
June 25, 2013
9-1-1, geek, Personal 9-1-1, 911 dispatch, dispatcher stories, dispatching at warp speed 2 Comments
Dispatching at warp speed. “Sub-space channels open, Captain!”
I think I’m a bit insulted!
June 22, 2013
geek, Humor, Personal demographic targets, embedded ads, targeted ads, youtube video 3 Comments
So the previous post has a video, in which I talk about having the perfect face and appearance for radio. Watching it from my website, I noticed the ad that was embedded. This of course reflects the Internet’s current scheme of targeting ads to users based on either some clever algorithm and slick NSA style tracking software, or a coven of crones stirring a caldron of vile liquid (I’m not sure which!). I wonder if this particular ad is age-based, and if so, just how much data-mining are they doing??
Oh, Internet, how poorly you understand me!
JimmieJoe / KC6YRU 
Full Moon Effect Disproven
August 21, 2013
Jim Reeves 9-1-1, commentary dispatcher stories, full moon, full moon effect, lunacy, police calls during full moon Leave a comment
People claim that emergency room nurses and police officers all swear by the “full Moon” lore, that insists everything goes nuts on a full Moon.
Well, last night I disproved it. Or, I should say, my dispatch center’s traffic levels disproved it.
Last night, at 6:45 pm Pacific Time, the Moon was full. It was a calm, peaceful night. No shootings, no stabbings (well, no stabbings by one person on another. There was one troubled kid who tried to stab himself, but for this discussion, he doesn’t count. He’s just a troubled kid, not a lunatic.) A few fights, a couple of loud music calls, a couple of badge bunnies, and a computer at one of the facilities that decided to let all the magic smoke out of it’s innards, setting off smoke alarms and scaring the DSOs. A really easy shift, all things considered.
Now, the night BEFORE the full Moon, that was just crazy town!
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